Darke Mission (43 page)

“The stowaway is getting worse,” advised Whitton. “His temperature is now 104˚F and he's helpless. If he doesn't get hospitalised in twelve to twenty-four hours then he's toast. Ding has the beginnings of a sore head,” he added.

“How about you, Gary?”

“I'm fine, Sir, so far. My temperature's steady at the 98.6˚F norm, as is yours.”

“Thanks Gary. Lieutenant Harris and I have a few things to figure out. Keep the sick as comfortable as you can, and let me know if anyone else is feeling rough.” The medic went back to his patients.

“Evan, we're going to have to surface and dock at Jejudo. I don't see any other option. I don't care about the stowaway, he rolled the dice and took his chance, but if Ding and Billy are sick then this submarine is not manageable, we'll never complete our mission. Joe Franks has clearly got a busted leg and the incubation time for this Dengue Fever seems variable. More of the team could get ill in the next few days. Not only do we need to get the sickos off the boat we need at least two warm healthy bodies to replace them. We also need medicine, water and food. We've no choice but to surface,” concluded O'Neill.

“It's a tall order,” judged Evan Harris. “We're allies with the South Koreans and we defend them to the max, so we'll likely get the official OK to dock at Jejudo, but what about the North Koreans spotting us and who can we get to replace Ding and Billy?”

“The North Koreans won't spot us unless they've got a satellite hovering over Jejudo. Their attack planes would not be allowed to get that far into South Korean air space before being shot down. Our sonars indicate that there are no surface or submersible sea vessels following us, not least of which because the stealth work on this beauty seems highly effective. There will probably be a few happy snappers at the Jejudo naval base. We can't help that but there are no markings on this sub and there may well be other subs already berthed. Unless some submariner spotting anorak happens to know a lot about naval vessels, their size, shape etc., we may get away with it. If we can organise it properly we might be visible for under thirty minutes,” concluded O'Neill. Evan Harris was in agreement. There did not appear to be a better option. O'Neill would urgently contact John Adams at the CIA to ask him to get the authority from the South Koreans to dock.

“What about the healthy warm bodies to replace the sick even warmer bodies?” asked Harris. There were no navy SEALs teams in the area and any regular US marines or troops were stationed at or near the DMZ. Both Harris and O'Neill knew this.

“We might just need to be a bit clever on that one,” replied O'Neill.

* * *

As JJ was entering PAU Travel in Gangnam, Carolyn Reynolds and Dannielle Eagles were exiting the undercover CIA offices.

“Hi Dad, bye Dad!” exclaimed Carolyn, very pleased to see JJ but clearly in something of a hurry.

“No, no, no, no bye Dad, Cally, what's going on?” asked JJ, equally pleased to see his daughter, if not her hasty exit.

“I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you!” laughed Carolyn, with no real intention of patricide on her mind.

“You're one cheeky princess,” responded JJ. “Take care on whatever you're up to. You too Dannielle,”

“Thanks Mr Darke,” said Dannielle as Carolyn gave her father a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Later, gator,” called Carolyn as she and Dannielle piled into one of the PAU Travel cars.

“Sure,” replied JJ. JJ continued on into the PAU offices. He spied Jim Bradbury.

“Hey Jim,” JJ called out. “Where are those two off to?”

“They tell me nothing around here JJ, I'm just the boss. All I know is that I got a call from John Adams. He's the CIA's Associate Director for Military Support and reports directly to the Director himself, Fred Goss. Adams knew that your daughter and Eagles were here and by his tone he also knew what they were up to. He said that they were required to join a top priority operation and that I should help them get their gear together and off to Gimpo airport.”

“Their gear, what all their computers and stuff?” enquired JJ having a squint through the open door of the communications room, which still seemed packed with electronic equipment.

“It seems not,” replied Jim. “Carolyn and Dannielle took their laptops and tablets with them but the trunk of that car is packed to the hilt with food, dozens of bottles of water and medical supplies. If they're off on a jaunt, it must be a dangerous, thirsty one.”

JJ mulled over his friend's information. Carolyn was not of the mindset to pop off on a quick vacation while on a job. She'd also be inclined to seek out good restaurants with fine food, not take a load of packaged stuff with her, and she didn't drink that much water. JJ had no idea what his daughter was up to, but it sure wasn't a holiday.

The PAU Travel car taking Carolyn and Dannielle to the helicopter pad at Gimpo airport was a Mercedes S-class, big car with a big trunk. The helicopter on the pad, awaiting its passengers, was an Mi-172 South Korean police commandoes transport chopper. It was of Russian construction and could carry up to thirty people, compared with only fifteen or so in a Blackhawk. Today, its occupants were not police commandoes, just two NGA officers, one paramedic and a whole lot of stuff. The airport was around 15km to the west of central Seoul. It had not taken the Mercedes long to get there and the flight time to Jejudo Island would be under two hours. It was a much brighter day than yesterday. While Carolyn and Dannielle checked their weapons and their surveillance equipment, the paramedic and the Mercedes driver loaded the food, drink and other supplies on board. The take-off was smooth and the journey seemed short.

“My god, Dannielle, there it is, the Borei,” said Carolyn as she pointed her finger at the starboard window of the Mi-172, now nearing its destination. “It's squeezed in between what looks like a couple of Chang Bogo class subs,” she continued, as their ride prepared to land at the naval base's helipad.

“They look a bit titchy by comparison,” said Dannielle, perhaps feeling that size mattered when it came to submarines.

“They do,” agreed Carolyn but hoping that the Borei class Russian sub did not stand out too much and attract unwanted attention. As the helicopter landed and its blades came to a halt, Carolyn and Dannielle could see Commander Mark O'Neill and another SEAL waiting for them. There also seemed to be a small, local ambulance beside the SEALs.

“Officers Reynolds and Eagles, good to see you both again,” said O'Neill. The Commander wanted off the island ASAP. “I can fill you in with all the details when we're on board. For the moment we need to get all your gear off the chopper and onto the sub and those three sick people onto your helicopter.” As the ambulance crew took out a stretcher with the stowaway Kim on it, attached to life-saving liquids, the NGA women also noticed that two navy SEALs were being helped into the Mi-172 as well.

“What's up with them?” asked Dannielle.

“The local is a KPN stowaway. We don't know if he deliberately stowed away or whether he was doing a check or something when we took the sub. He can't speak English but he's in a bad way and might not make it,” replied O'Neill. “The other two are Billy Smith and Yang Dingbang from my team. They are showing some early symptoms of what's ailing the Korean, so we need them off the sub and into a hospital.”

“What have they got?” asked Dannielle, thinking more of her own well-being than concern over the SEALs. Luckily, such self-centredness doesn't really show in a verbal question.

“Our medic is not 100% certain, but he thinks it's Dengue Fever. It can be contracted from mosquitoes. It's not easily transferred to other humans from the initial victim but it can be. It can be deadly in extreme cases. We couldn't take the chance with Billy and Ding. They could become helpless and may even spread the virus to the rest of the team. We probably wouldn't know for another two to four days. Then it would be too late to do anything. You ladies may be wondering why I requested you?” ventured O'Neill.

“We may,” responded Carolyn before O'Neill could continue. “Don't think for one second, Commander, that I've forgotten your ‘no girls on tour' comment to our boss, Henry Michieta.” O'Neill had indeed forgotten and now that he had been reminded it was clearly in his interests not to defend his quip.

“Ah… forgotten about that, sorry. Clearly this is one tour where girls are allowed,” he added meekly, recalling how feisty Reynolds was.

“Apology accepted,” said Carolyn, grinning internally.

“We're not SEALs or submariners, Commander,” said Dannielle. “How can we replace your two men?”

“We're operating the Borei with a skeleton crew. One of the guys, Joe Franks, broke his leg at Haeju. He's partly mobile now so that's OK. We couldn't manage the submarine for the rest of the mission with only seven SEALs. Billy Smith's main skill is as a sniper, and Ding's is radar. There are no other SEAL teams anywhere close and it would have taken too long and involved too much bureaucracy to get a couple of suitable marines transferred from the DMZ. You are both CIA trained, so you can shoot and since your main skill is surveillance for the NGA, I guessed you'd know something about radar,” O'Neill explained.

“You guessed right, Commander,” replied Carolyn. “Especially Dannielle, she's a dab hand with radar.”

With supplies, crew and guests safely on board, Tommy Fairclough and David McCoy started up the submarine. In about ten minutes they would be far enough into the Korean Strait to submerge into deep water. Mark O'Neill and Evan Harris were on the conn and the Commander had asked his skeleton crew to gather round.

“Gentlemen, these are Officers Carolyn Reynolds and Dannielle Eagles of the NGA. These ladies were the ones who originally spotted this submarine berthed at the Haeju docks. They're CIA-trained so they can look after themselves. As of now they are members of this team and will take full part in ensuring that our mission is completed. Billy and Ding are on a helicopter headed for a hospital in Seoul. I will give you updates on their condition as soon as I have any. A section of the living quarters will be partitioned so that Reynolds and Eagles can have some privacy. I expect you all to respect that and behave, at all times, in a manner befitting a US Navy SEAL. Any questions?”

“What will the NGA officers' duties be, on board, Sir?” asked David McCoy.

“Officer Eagles will familiarise herself with the radar system on the sub and take over Ding's responsibilities for that. She can speak and read Russian. Officer Reynolds will assume Billy Smith's general duties. In addition, she is fluent in Korean so that will help in deciphering some of the instruction manuals we discovered,” replied O'Neill. Carolyn wasn't so sure that she was ‘fluent in Korean', but in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king, or in this case, queen. For a few minutes after O'Neill's introduction, Reyonlds and Eagles made the acquaintance of the rest of the crew. After that, O'Neill briefed the NGA women on their mission. Carolyn in particular, was both amazed and intrigued that they were headed for Scotland. Her dad would have loved that had he known. Carolyn was trying to figure out why O'Neill had been ordered to drive the Borei to Scotland. She knew about Faslane and she seemed to recall that many years ago there was a US submarine presence on the River Clyde, maybe called Polaris, she tried to remember, but was short on memory detail. The NGA officers spent the next thirty minutes or so familiarising themselves with the layout of the Borei. Dannielle Eagles was straight into the instructions for the radar and seemed to assimilate all necessary information in a short space of time. Carolyn had set up her laptop and tablet, but before using them she thought she'd better check with O'Neill on the protocol for electronic messaging. She didn't want a rogue transmission to attract any enemy interest.

“Are you settling in alright?” O'Neill asked Carolyn.

“Yes, Commander. I was just wondering about the protocol regarding use of electronic equipment on board?” O'Neill paused for a moment, he did like Carolyn Reynolds. She was a looker and clearly had the brains to go with it. In different circumstances he would surely ask her on a date.

“We've prohibited any personal use of mobiles, laptops, tablets etc. We can get a signal down here which is how we contacted John Adams at the CIA. Barry Minchkin essentially our chief engineer on board, reckons that our position would not be compromised unless the tracking system was close by, something to do with signal strength but we keep it to a minimum, just to be safe,” answered O'Neill.

“Thank you, Commander,” said Carolyn returning to her various electronic gizmos.

With that, O'Neill went to seek out Evan Harris, they needed to get back to mapping out the best route to Scotland, interrupted as they were by the stowaway and his attendant fever.

While members of the crew went about their business, ensuring the smooth operation of the submarine and maintaining its stealth ‘invisibility', Dannielle Eagles was trying to figure out how to alert Igor Kruglov, head of the SVR and her ultimate boss. As far as Dannielle was concerned this was a Russian sub, stolen by Americans. It was a magnificent piece of Russian engineering, virtually silent because of the hydro-dynamically efficient hull which had a coating of anechoic tiles to reduce its acoustic signature to near silence. Even if there had been searching submarines or surface vessels in the vicinity, they would be most unlikely to locate this sub if it remained submerged between 400ft and 500ft below sea level. Sunwoo Chung's augmentation had made detection doubly unlikely, Dannielle could not use the submarine's computer system to contact Kruglov, it would be too obvious and could easily be checked or discovered by one of the navy SEALs. She could not use her laptop or tablet. Again, it was likely that her proximity to Carolyn or any other crew member would attract questions if she was tapping away on her keyboard. She concluded that the safest way was to turn on her satellite phone and leave it on, hidden somewhere in the submarine. When the SVR issued Dannielle the phone, Kruglov said ‘caveat utilitor' – let the user beware. Transmissions from satellite phones can be traced in several ways, through its own built-in GPS devices and by commercial tracking systems. The Polish firm TS2 and the Italian one Area Spa are well known for their signal tracking systems. Some people believe that it was the latter's equipment, sold to the Syrian government, which allowed the Assad regime's forces to lock on to the phone signals of two journalists and kill them with guided rocket attacks in February 2012 as they covered the assault on the Homs region.