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By Root 703 0

his men boarded the Paducah before dawn and were ferried back to the Dallas. The 688-class attack submarine sailed immediately and was back underwater before the sun rose. The Pogy, which had never entered port, would complete her deployment without her corpsman aboard. Both submarines had orders to stay out thirty more days, during which their crewmen would be encouraged to forget everything they had seen, heard, or wondered about.

The Red October sat alone with the dry dock draining around her, guarded by twenty armed marines. This was not unusual in the Eight-Ten Dock. Already a select group of engineers and technicians was inspecting her. The first items taken off were her cipher books and machines. They would be in National Security Agency headquarters at Fort Meade before noon.

Ramius, his officers, and their personal gear were taken by bus to the same airfield Ryan had used. An hour later they were in a CIA safe house in the rolling hills south of Charlottesville, Virginia. They went immediately to bed except for two men, who stayed awake watching cable television, already amazed at what they saw of life in the United States .

Dulles International Airport

Ryan missed the dawn. He boarded a TWA 747 that left Dulles on time, at 7:05 A.M. The sky was overcast, and when the aircraft burst through the cloud layer into sunlight, Ryan did something he had never done before. For the first time in his life, Jack Ryan fell asleep on an airplane.

Acknowledgements

For technical information and advice I am especially indebted to Michael Shelton, former naval aviator; Larry Bond, whose naval wargame, “Harpoon,” was adopted for the training of NROTC cadets; Drs. Gerry Sterner and Craig Jeschke; and Lieutenant Commander Gregory Young, USN.

Table of Contents

THE FIRST DAY

FRIDAY, 3 DECEMBER

THE SECOND DAY

SATURDAY, 4 DECEMBER

THE THIRD DAY

SUNDAY 5, DECEMBER

MONDAY 6, DECEMBER

TUESDAY 7, DECEMBER

WEDNESDAY 8, DECEMBER

THE SEVENTH DAY

THE EIGHTH DAY

FRIDAY 10, DECEMBER

THE NINTH DAY

SATURDAY 11, DECEMBER

THE TENTH DAY

SUNDAY 12, DECEMBER

MONDAY 13, DECEMBER

THE TWELFTH DAY

TUESDAY 14, DECEMBER

WEDNESDAY 15, DECEMBER

THE FOURTEENTH DAY

THURSDAY 16, DECEMBER

THE FIFTEENTH DAY

FRIDAY 17, DECEMBER

THE SIXTEENTH DAY

SATURDAY 18, DECEMBER

THE SEVENTEENTH DAY

SUNDAY 19, DECEMBER

THE EIGHTEENTH DAY

MONDAY 20, DECEMBER

Acknowledgements