Silent Waters

Chapter 52

The only place Sarah wanted to be right now was on a helicopter heading toward Long Island Sound, where they were in the process of rescuing any survivors on the damaged sub. She hoped and prayed that Darius had made it through alive.

The last communication with Hartford had been through the message that Darius had sent. He’d mentioned a deep sea rescue vehicle that he thought had been used to spirit the hijackers away from the sub. Right now, she and Dunn had to collect and analyze all the new data flooding in, in addition to overseeing the teams of investigators that were being sent to every inlet, every boat, every rickety dock along the coastline of Connecticut and New York that could harbor such a vehicle.

The map grids that sectioned off the coast were being studied and analyzed. The federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies had been called and assigned to search specific locations. Satellite photos of the area were continuously being piped to the command center at the Pentagon. The movement of all non-military vessels, be they ships or boats or trucks along the coast roads, continued to be restricted and monitored. Every government and research facility on the East Coast that had possession of a submersible vessel was contacted for its status.

She wanted to be there at the site. More than anything they could find on shore, Sarah believed the forensic evidence gathered from Hartford would provide the keys to the identities of the hijackers.

First thing, the submarine had to be kept afloat and eventually towed ashore. She didn’t know when that would be happening.

Bruce got off the phone, and Sarah went to him. Admiral Meisner entered the conference room and joined them.

“Did you get word of the action?” the admiral asked Bruce.

“Just now,” he replied, turning to Sarah. “Four torpedoes were fired at Hartford by USS Pittsburgh. Immediately after launching the weapons, they received a communication from McCann via a SLOT buoy that he and two others were still aboard and that the hijackers had escaped. We received the same information. The C.O. of Pittsburgh immediately began electronic detonation efforts on the torpedoes. Three of them were successfully destroyed before they made contact. McCann initiated emergency blow procedures in an effort to escape the torpedoes. The last one hit Hartford beneath the torpedo racks in the forward compartment, breaching the hull just as the submarine reached the surface.”

“We don’t know yet what caused the last explosion,” Meisner said to her.

“I was just talking to Captain Whiting, aboard Pittsburgh,” Dunn cut in.

“What did he say?” Sarah asked.

“He says the SEALs just boarding Hartford have communicated to them that the explosive may have been triggered by a timed device left by the hijackers. The rescue crews are about to go in, but the forward end is flooded, so the going is slow. And there’s the additional concern that there may be more explosives planted on board.”

“Any sign of survivors?” she asked.

Bruce shook his head. “Not yet, but they’re not giving up hope.”

“How is the sub staying afloat?” she asked.

Meisner answered. “Pittsburgh reported that they believe the forward and aft ballast tanks, as well as the engine room and the reactor compartment are still intact. The air inside them is keeping the vessel afloat, though it’s riding very low in the water.”

Bruce concurred. “Whiting says that from what he can tell, the breech in the hull is by the forward escape truck, where the DSRV — or whatever it was they used — must have hooked up. His guess is that the explosive was planted to make sure nothing would remain of the control room.”

“Or anyone aboard,” Sarah added.

“If McCann hadn’t gotten that sub to the surface,” the admiral said grimly, “Hartford would have taken the blast at six hundred feet below the surface.”

“With the added pressure down there, the sub would have broke in two and sunk to the bottom.”

“So much for collecting any evidence,” Sarah said.

“Well, we might still be able to gather evidence now. They may have left something down there that they didn’t think we’d get our hands on,” Meisner said. “I don’t believe they ever counted on McCann being able to pull off what he did.”

Sarah was greatly relieved that Admiral Meisner was referring to Darius as a hero and not as the one who engineered the hijacking. She hoped this sentiment was held throughout the Pentagon. If he could now just pull himself through this last hurdle… and survive.

Bruce turned to Meisner. “To bring you up to date on what we spoke about before, I’ve already sent a plane to bring Captain Barnhardt back from his trip. Two operatives have gone to Johns Hopkins to speak to Captain Erensen.”

“Good. We need to follow up on every avenue.” The admiral nodded. “When you talked to Captain Whiting, did you discuss possible perpetrators?”

“I did, sir.”

“And?”

“His initial remarks were, and I quote, ‘no fucking foreign terrorist could have pulled a job like this.’”

“Why?”

“It’s his position that no living terrorist sub driver has ever had a sub in Long Island Sound. There is no way anyone but one of our own could have maneuvered that sub through those waters the way he did.”

“We’ve been building a case that argues some of the crew members might have cooperated with the hijackers,” Sarah reminded them.

Bruce lowered his voice. “But no one aboard besides McCann had that kind of know-how.”

“If it wasn’t McCann, then it had to be a foreigner working with the crew still on board.”

“The ranking officer was Lieutenant Paul Cavallaro, and Whiting is certain he could not have handled the sub like that.” Dunn shook his head. “Whiting also believes that the probability that the crew was working with the hijackers adds to the argument that those behind it are home grown. It’s almost an impossibility that any sailor in the submarine service would sell his soul to any foreign terrorist. According to Whiting, it’s completely absurd to think that nine members of the same crew would.”

“That puts a new twist on things.” Meisner sat on the corner of the conference table, crossing his arms as he contemplated everything he’d been told. “From now on, you’ll keep all your findings between us. Access to anything you learn is hereby restricted to me and the half dozen people going up the ladder from me to the President. This includes whatever you discover on Hartford. Is that clear?”

“What if there are survivors?” Bruce asked.

The admiral considered that. “Including information about them. No one is to know. Not even their families. An extra night won’t kill anyone. There’s no telling what they might have seen. And if someone expected them to be dead, they might just come after them to finish the job.”

Sarah thought of Darius’s parents and Amy Russell’s children and how much difference a night would make. But she kept it to herself. There was no point in arguing when they didn’t even know if any of them had survived the two explosions.

“What’s next on your agenda?” Meisner asked them.

Bruce looked at Sarah. “We need to fly to Connecticut. If there are any survivors, we need to be there for the debriefing. Otherwise, we should be there for the recovery of Hartford.”

“Are you okay with that, Lieutenant?” Meisner asked Sarah.

Once again, Bruce Dunn had known exactly what she’d been looking for.

“Absolutely,” she said.