SSN - Tom Clancy [126]
The chief of the boat also needed to figure out how to keep the president and his heavies out of sensitive spaces. Being on good terms with them would be easier than trying to force the cooperation of the heavies, especially since no one aboard Cheyenne could match the sheer bulk of Jiang's bodyguards. The COB already had formulated an initial plan: lots of food, desserts, and movies in the "goat locker."
Mack had informed the executive officer to take care of the president himself. The executive officer's stateroom had two bunks, and so he would share his space with the Chinese leader. The second bunk had been used by the NSG OIC, but he and his detachment had been off-loaded prior to this last trip, acting as the couriers to Yokosuka with Mack's latest war patrol report under their guard.
It had been difficult for Mack to agree for the detachment to be transferred prior to this patrol. He was concerned about possible non-acoustic ASW aircraft, and had agreed mostly because he knew that if Cheyenne remained fully submerged for the entire transit they wouldn't be able to detect ESM contacts anyway. But he did add Cheyenne's ESM operators to the list of briefing attendees, just in case.
The briefing turned out to be one for the books. It started off dramatically when the briefing officer opened the meeting with, "Captain Mackey, our commander-in-chief sends his greetings." Then he dimmed the lights and nodded for the video tape recorder to be started.
Mack had half expected the briefing officer to be kidding, or to be referring to someone else, but he wasn't. As Mack and the assembled officers looked on, the face of the President of the United States filled the screen.
"Captain Mackey," the President said, speaking from the Oval Office, "the State Department will soon release a report of an impending summit between me, President Jiang Zemin, and Premier Li Peng in Beijing. Premier Li Peng is expected to relinquish his claim to power at that time." He paused for a moment before going on. "However," he said, "in all fairness to Cheyenne, no mention of your involvement in this historic event is authorized, at least not until you have successfully delivered the rightful Chinese president to Zhanjiang Naval Base." He paused again to allow his words to sink in. "Captain Mackey, the First Lady and I would like to wish you Godspeed, fair winds, and a following sea. Good luck to you, and to the heroic men of USS Cheyenne,"
The briefing officer ordered the monitor turned off and the room lights brightened, but few people noticed. Everyone was talking, with an excitement that was rare even in wartime mission briefings.
The President hadn't really said anything that they didn't know about, but the simple fact of the President talking directly to them added to the importance of Cheyenne's mission.
It took several minutes for the room to quiet down. When it did, the briefing officer continued with his presentation. And it didn't take him long to drop another bombshell.
The decommissioning of USS Los Angeles (SSN 688) had been canceled, the briefing officer said, and Los Angeles was nearly on station south of the Formosa Strait. There had been no traffic addressed to Cheyenne concerning Los Angeles, but the CTF 74 admiral confirmed her presence. Her mission, pending routing instructions that would prevent mutual interference between Los Angeles and Cheyenne, was to assist in escorting Cheyenne and President Jiang.
That was a serious mistake, Mack thought, but he kept his mouth shut. Los Angeles was the first of the 688s. He'd heard that her decommissioning had been postponed due to a lack of funds, but he didn't know that she still had enough crew left to even get under way,