(Source) |
"Gospodin prezident¹, it is so very good to talk with you once again. How may I be of service?"
"Vasily Aleksandrovich², the pleasure is mine. I was very happy to see that you had been appointed to be your country's ambassador to the United States, you have always been a forthright and honest man. Blunt at times, but that, to me at any rate, is refreshing in a member of the diplomatic corps."
"Well as you know Sir, I was not always a diplomat ..."
"Yes, Captain First Rank Volkov, you were once a feared submariner!"
"Garri³! You old seadog, why are you not in jail!"
Admiral Harry Fairchild laughed at that, Volkov had already been one of the Russians' best submarine commanders at around the same time Fairchild had been given his first command. After the incident in Ukraine, the Russians and Americans had sat down and peace, after a fashion, had been negotiated. At the negotiations Fairchild and Volkov had been members of their country's respective naval delegations. In the manner of sailors everywhere, the two parties had gotten along famously. To a sailor the first enemy is always the sea, the vast oceans of the planet do not respect ideology of any kind.
"I might ask the same of you, Captain Volkov."
After a short chuckle, Volkov got straight down to business, "Mr. Rutherford, I was under the impression that you were no longer the President of the United States, however, we here at the Russian Embassy are by no means ignorant of what is happening in your country right now. Are you part of this, this coup?"
Rutherford thought for a long moment, then answered the Russian Ambassador to the United States, "Yes, Vasily Aleksandrovich, I suppose I am."
"Are you one of the leaders?"
Rutherford looked at Colonel Tanaka, who nodded.
"Yes, I suppose I am Mr. Ambassador."
"Excellent, my government has a message for you."
"Conn, Sonar."
The Officer of the Deck (OOD), Lieutenant Lance Pendleton picked up the microphone, "Sonar, Conn, report."
"That contact that's been fading in and out at relative bearing 227, it's back and a lot stronger. I think we need to check the Sound Velocity Profile (SVP) for this area, I think the layer has moved."
Pendleton switched circuits, "Captain to the Conn, strong sonar contact 227 relative."
Moments later CDR O'Bannon entered the control room, "Captain has the Conn," the OOD announced.
"What do we have, Lance?" The captain stepped over to one of the Fire Control consoles and looked at the display.
"That contact has been out there for hours Cap'n, he thinks he's being sneaky. We updated the SVP, salinity and temperature have changed, this guy," the sailor on the console pointed at the contact, which was labeled S320, "doesn't seem to realize it."
O'Bannon picked up a the microphone, "Sonar, this is the Captain, you got a classification on Sierra Tree-Two-Zero?"
"Computer says it's a Sui-class boat, one of their older ones. My gut tells me it's Changzheng-24. We listened in on her trials a couple of years back, that boat had some odd flow noise characteristics, almost as if she had something sticking up from the hull, like something wasn't installed quite right."
"Thanks Chief." Heading back to the Conn, O'Bannon ran into the XO. "Tom, we have a recording of the time around we barely dodged that Shkval, right?"
"COB's got it cued up, Cap'n."
"Let's give it a look."
Vice President Robert Fallon had sought asylum at the Russian Embassy when he had been headed for the White House and noticed the significant military presence around that building. His own intelligence apparatus had warned him that a military coup was imminent. He had been too far from the Chinese Embassy to try and get there, so he went to the Russians.
They had been cordial at first, then when things had started to go south, they had become more formal and had restricted him to a small room used by the embassy's overnight staff for sleeping. He had demanded to be escorted to the Chinese Embassy under diplomatic cover, but had been refused.
A very serious man, Fallon suspected that he was FSB⁴, their Federal Security Service, the successor to the KGB⁵, had questioned him closely about why he had sought asylum. When Fallon had told them that he was working with the Chinese for "world peace" the Russians had stopped communicating with him altogether.
Now he was being led out of the room, he had a bag over his head and his hands had been zip-tied. "What is this outrage? I am the Vice President of the United States and I demand to know just what the Hell you think you are doing!"
He received no answer, he felt the cold air as he was led outside, he was beginning to be very worried. He heard what had to be the gate to the Embassy grounds being opened. He was pressed up against a metal pole, which he assumed was a light pole. Then his hands were released, then wrapped around the pole and zip-tied again. He heard the two men who had practically dragged him outside walking away.
"What, what is this?! How dare you?"
He then heard one of the men say, "Udachi tebe dolbanyy predatel'⁶."
From the tone of the man's voice, Fallon realized that he was in deep shit.
Captain Xue Xiaotong was preparing a report to the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party when the alarm went off. He rushed to the control room of his command, the submarine Changzheng-24.
"Report!"
"Captain! Torpedo in the water, we think it's from the American!"
"How the Hell could they know we are here? Navigator! Are we still below the layer?"
The navigator checked his instruments, then rechecked them, "Captain, I apologize, the SVP has changed drastically, probably because of the large storm which passed through yesterday. There is a clear sound channel to the American submarine."
"Maneuvering ..."
Before Xue could deliver his order, the Mk 48 TI1 detonated when it detected the Chinese submarine. The shock of the explosion actually "bent" the Chinese boat and caused massive flooding throughout Changzheng-24. Her crew never had a chance.
Colonel Jeff Tanaka knocked on the interim President's door, which is how they were referring to Rutherford at the moment.
"Enter!"
"Sir, we have the Vice President!" Tanaka placed a sheaf of documents on the desk in front of Rutherford.
The interim President studied them briefly. One document was from the Russians, it had dates, times, and even photographs of Fallon's meetings with the Chinese. The last document at the bottom was Fallon's resignation from the office of the Vice Presidency.
"Has a copy of this been sent over to the acting head of the Senate?" he asked Tanaka.
"Yes Sir."
"Have we had a reply?"
"Just verbal Sir, they are asking permission to contact the President at the White House to inform him and ask for his nomination to the vacated office. They made the suggestion that your name should be considered. The implication was that your name would be the only one the rump Senate would approve."
"How many Senators are going along now?"
"Sixty-four Sir. More than a quorum from my understanding."
"That's right Colonel, the Constitution says a simple majority in either house constitutes a quorum. Any idea when the current President will answer the Senate?"
"Negative Sir, but we're monitoring the situation."
"Thanks Colonel, hopefully this all works out well."
"Yes Sir ...," Tanaka hesitated, then said, "Sir, I must inform you that I have been told that there is a warrant out for my arrest."
"From who?" Rutherford looked outraged at that.
"My sources are trying to find out, Sir."
"Keep me posted, don't leave the building if you can help it Jeff."
"No Sir, I won't."
¹ Russian for "Mister President," (Господин президент).
² I borrowed the name from this man, who is certainly worth remembering.
³ Harry in Russian sounds something like Gary in English, the phonetic spelling given by Google Translate is "Garri," in Cyrillic it's spelled "Гарри."
⁴ FSB = Russian: Federal'naya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti
⁵ KGB = Russian: Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti, Committee for State Security
⁶ "Good luck you f**king traitor.
Great game of hopscotch, Sarge! Moving right along various paths now.
ReplyDeleteThere appears to be a bit of quickening in the less fictional world as well. Provocations abound. Sad to say we appear to be living in " interesting times"
Boat Guy
I keep wondering when the idiocy which is the current maladministration will collapse from its own inefficiencies, stupidity, and cupidity.
DeleteIf the laws of logic and physics applied, about six months ago. That it hasn't fills me with dread.
DeleteBoat Guy
Same here.
DeleteHmmm. Maybe the wedge that Nixon drove was that deep, but being part Ukrainian I always trust Russians 'bout as far as I can throw one.
ReplyDeleteI've known a couple of Ukrainians in my time, they, like most eastern Europeans, are not big fans of Mother Russia.
DeleteWow.....the "good ol boys" taking on the "peace keepers" got me going and now the political intrigue keeps me pasted to the story! You may have another book on your hands with this one!!!! As if getting the other one set up isn't enough!
ReplyDeleteThanks Coffee Man!
DeleteAs I said, the Russians are among the few "good guys" in the world today. As long as they can keep Navalny and the rest of his ilk away, we have a chance.
ReplyDeleteThe Russian people, perhaps, I don't trust their politicians. Well, I don't trust our politicians either, so that's a wash.
DeleteI've long thought if we could keep politicians and media out of it, Joe sixpack and Ivan litre o' vodka could sit down together and quickly discover they have more in common than not.
DeleteI agree!
DeleteAt least THEIR politicians want what is good for Russia. Ours? Nacho much.
DeleteI doubt that very much. Russian politicians are the same as those around the world, they tend to be venal, corrupt, and self-centered.
DeleteNice....more flesh on the skeleton.....very nice. As for "working for world peace"...sounds like any number of current Democrats could say that which is a most alarming thought.
ReplyDeleteThat phrase goes up my "you-know-what" every time I hear it.
DeleteI much prefer "I will make a desert and call it peace." As that is the only way we'll ever have peace in certain parts of the world, especially now since the current Resident and his people seem to have done farked up the Abraham Accords.
DeleteWhat have they not farked up?
DeleteThat's going to be a very short list. I'll start:
Delete1)
Bingo!
DeleteYou've got me thinking of doing a side story using a different location. With your permission of course and I'll run it past you before going anywhere with it.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, I'd love to read that!
DeleteI'll see what I can come up with.
DeleteNice!
DeleteI learned about Arkhipov about twenty years ago. He is a man to be honored, and is most definitely Badger Approved!
ReplyDeleteIndeed!
DeleteO'Bannon had best keep low profile about this, telling only whom he must, because Greenpeace would go nuts, if they find out what that shockwave did to the local fish.
ReplyDeleteHahaha!
DeleteBut others will eat so well for a while, not to mention those that will congregate around the new reef.
Delete👍
DeleteSarge, other commitments have kept me away from reading the last few days, but I was able to catch up just now. You are doing a great job with this story, I couldn't stop reading once I started. if reality ever imitates art, I hope the situation develops along the same lines. Oh yeah, what's happening with Ye? Just realized that thread was still out there, unless I missed something. Anyway, well done!
ReplyDeleteShe's still on the run, we'll get to her.
DeleteSome very wise person pointed out that once one becomes a refugee, one exists at the pleasure of one's host.
ReplyDeleteThe submarine jargon sounds all fancy (and almost a foreign language). Thanks.
I had not realized Vasily Arkhipov was the commander of the K-19 submarine. The movie with Harrison Ford was very worth watching, and gives an excellent example of how heroism is not just confined to one side or the other.
I am curious who put out the warrant for arrest.
Arkhipov was deputy commander of K-19, what we'd call the XO (Executive Officer).
DeleteThat was an excellent movie.
"Refugee", I used that term once with an older lady who left home because of some natural problem (I don't recall the event, maybe the fires in Calif?).
DeleteShe was offended by my use of "that" term.
If I could edit my reply I'd remove the ""that" term" and replace it with 'the word refugee'.
DeleteRob #1 - Well, if one is seeking refuge, what else would you call them? People with tiny vocabularies seem to be among the worst of the perpetually offended.
DeleteRob #2 - I really wish Blogger would provide a way to edit comments. 😒
DeleteSarge - thanks for the correction. In reading his biography on Wikipedia, two things strike me: The first is that he was (apparently) incredibly photogenic. The second is that he characterized as a shy and humble man, and liked to look for newspapers while on vacation to keep up with the world. Seems like the sort of man we need more of today.
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Arkhipov
Absolutely.
DeleteHmmm...re the arrest warrant ... maybe the current (in the story) old senile-ish president's Chief Of Staff had it issued?? Because Tanaka, if/when/as he succeeds, is going to take away lots of folks' power who think they are/should be special VIPs?? Since he has had the Senate and House top tier leaders executed (big fist pump!!) he is sure to be making others nervous? So the reason for the warrant?? He is a Marine (not AF) so maybe someone in the Pentagon who had an "in" with the Chief of Staff (and was not a Marine!) wanted to be sure their special "in" continued?? Hmmmm ... how convoluted is the Muse going to get???
ReplyDeleteThat's my WAG anyway ... guess I just have to hurry up and wait to see ... liking this one very much Sarge!! Very twisty and turny!!!
Our noble host did mention he needed to get 'around' to the State Department, and since that bunch of criminals have been doing anti-American things since at least FDR's administration, well, I suspect it came from that direction. Maybe.
DeleteSuz - I like the way your mind works, I may "borrow" an idea or two.
DeleteBeans - I'm not sure Foggy Bottom is organized enough to pull off something like that. They're not sharks, they're remoras.
DeleteAnd just to toss out something that I stumbled across as I was cleaning out/unpacking, I found this quote:
ReplyDelete"Follow your own destiny.
You don't have a right to the cards you believe you should be dealt.
You have an obligation to play the hell out of the hand you get."
Marcia White
Found in an article about why to do a "Second Act", in other words, whacha gonna do once you "retire" to still be a contributor.
Thought it was a bit relevant to lots of stuff going on in today's world.
A very good quote!
DeleteThat is a very good quote Suz. Thank you for sharing it. I fully intend to "liberate" it for future use.
Delete👍
DeleteTB--liberate away. ;)
DeleteOne of my favorite rants is everyone wants "rights" ... no one wants to know or deal with "responsibilities" that go with any right.
But I liked how that quote was a good twist on what I usually say.
Yes, responsibilities, something that gets ignored a lot.
DeleteHad to re-read the opening section a couple times, as it took a few to realize who was whom and who was doing what. Bleh, sleep fogged mind and all that.
ReplyDeleteGlad the ChiComs are now officially a hole in the ocean. Guess their squeaky sub will be quiet now.
And I like the way the VP was handled. Weird how currently the ChiComs and Mother Russia are fierce enemies, except where it involves the US, sometimes, in a weird way, that makes no sense to sensible minds. Still don't trust the Russians. They'll be making their own moves which will either frighten us or make no sense to us because we aren't Russians.
Want to see any sleazy ChiCom conspirator hanging from a light pole. Really do. Show trial, then yank the bastids.
So how long, measured in micro-seconds, after Rutherford is sworn in as VP, will the senile meat bag quit?
You're moving in the right direction. 😁
Delete(Don McCollor)...It is a very bad sign for the VP when the Russian, an enemy of his country, called him a traitor. To turn an old phrase, a friend of my enemy is my enemy...The Rooskies are a worthy foe, and they still play a masterful game of chess with the fate of the world at stake...
ReplyDeleteNo one likes, nor ever trusts, a traitor.
DeleteSarge, it seems an acronym escaped your footnotes. Please say what FSB is with respect to VP Fallon. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteYup, I missed that one.
Delete