فصل 13

13

A Little Help

About ten minutes after the last transmission, the Elgen technician tracking the Joule turned back to Hatch. “They’re not turning around, sir.” Hatch stepped up to the console. “You’re sure?” “Yes, sir. They’re maintaining their southbound course.” “Are they still maintaining radio silence?” “Yes, sir. Shall we initiate the self-destruct?” “Only if we’re at a salvageable depth,” Hatch said. “How deep is the ocean where they are?” “I’ll check, sir.” He slid his chair to a computer and punched in some numbers. “Depth, two hundred twenty-seven knots.” “Well within our capacity. Is the GPS transmitter functioning?” “Let me verify. Yes, sir.”

“Mark the ship’s location and sink the Joule on my word.” “Yes, sir. You will need to type in the code for self-destruct.” “Of course.” Hatch stepped up to the console and typed in a string of numbers. A red light started blinking on the monitor.

“Self-destruct switch is hot,” the technician said.

Hatch leaned forward. “Blow it.”

“Yes, sir. Self-destruct mechanism activated.” He pushed the button. Nothing happened.

“They’ve disabled the self-destruct.” “How could they do that? It’s buried beneath six feet of metal.” “They could knock it out with a well-placed EMP. If the Glow Quentin is on board, he could do it.” “How would he know where it was?” The crewman looked up at Hatch sheepishly. “You just told them, sir.” Hatch looked at the man spitefully. “What’s the fuel level on the Joule?” “They’re running on reserve.”

“How far will that get them?”

“Auxiliary reserve will get them about eight hundred nautical miles.” “He’s got to refuel. What’s his options?” “Fiji and Samoa.”

“Which is closer?”

“Fiji.”

“He’ll go to Fiji. I want you to send out a message and find who of our allies are closest to Fiji. I want to intercept the Joule before she refuels.” “Yes, sir.”

“Now.”

“Yes, sir.” Just six minutes later the technician said, “The Philippine Navy is running exercises at one hundred seventy-six degrees longitude, eight hundred kilometers east of Vanuatu.” “How long would it take her to reach the north coast of Fiji?” “At thirty-five knots, six and a half hours.” “We’ve got them. Amon, get me Secretary of National Defense Lorenzana.” “Yes, sir.”

“Sir,” EGG Bosen said, “the ship is carrying the Glows. They’re too powerful for the Philippine Navy.” “Which is why we will send RESAT projectors and RESAT vests to the Philippine ships.” “What if they submerge?”

“That’s what depth charges are for, EGG.” “Yes, sir.”

“Admiral-General, Secretary Lorenzana is on the phone.” Hatch grabbed the mouthpiece. “Secretary Lorenzana. Thank you for taking my call. We have a small problem, one that is rather embarrassing. One of our submersibles carrying an extremely volatile cargo has been stolen. . . . No, not nuclear. But advanced technology. We’ve been tracking their movements toward Fiji. . . . Yes, I’m aware that you have ships in the area; that is why I thought to contact you first. We need your help to avoid an international incident. . . . Thank you, Secretary. I knew I could count on you. Let me fill you in on the details. . . .”