"But not without sacrifice," Jordan murmured softly. "Jim Hanamura, Marv Showalter, and Dirk Pitt--
it was a costly operation."
"No word on Pitt?" asked the President.
Kern shook his head. "There seems to be little doubt that he and his Deep Sea Mining Vehicle were swept away by the seismic landslide and buried."
"Any sign of him from the Pyramider?"
"During the satellite's first pass after the explosion and upheaval, there was so much turbulence the cameras couldn't detect any image of the vehicle."
"Maybe you can spot him on the next pass," the President said hopefully. "If there is even the slightest chance he may still be alive, I want a full-scale rescue mission mounted to save him. We owe Pitt our butts, and I'm not about to walk away from him."
"We'll see to it," Jordan promised. But already his mind was turning to other projects.
"What news of Admiral Sandecker?"
"His surveillance aircraft was struck by missiles launched from the Dragon Center. The pilot managed to make a safe wheels-up landing at Naha Air Field on Okinawa. From initial reports, the plane was shot up pretty badly and lost all communications."
"Casualties?"
"None," answered Kern. "It was a wonder they survived with little more to show than a few cuts and bruises."
The President nodded thoughtfully. "At least we know now why they broke off contact."
/> Secretary of State Douglas Oates stepped forward. "More good news, Mr. President," he said, smiling. "The combined Soviet and European search teams have uncovered almost all of the bomb cars hidden in their territories."
"We have MAIT team to thank for stealing the locations," explained Kern.
"Unfortunately, it didn't help much on our end," said Jordan.
Kern nodded. "The United States was the main threat to the Kaiten Project, not the European alliance or the Eastern Bloc countries."
The President looked at Jordan. "Have any more been found within our borders?"
"Six." The Central Intelligence Director grinned slightly. "Now that we have some breathing space, we should track down the rest without further risk to national security."
"Tsuboi and Yoshishu?"
"Believed drowned."
The President looked pleased, and he felt it. He turned and faced everyone in the room. "Gentlemen,"
he announced, "on behalf of a grateful American people, who will never know how narrowly you saved them from disaster, I thank you."
The crisis was over, but already another had erupted. Later that afternoon, fighting broke out along the border of Iran and Turkey, and the first reports came in of a Cuban military Mig-25 shooting down a United States commercial airliner filled with tourists returning from Jamaica.
The search for one man quickly became lost in the shuffle. The imaging technology on board the Pyramider satellite was shifted toward world events of more importance. Nearly four weeks would pass before the satellite's eyes were turned back to the sea off Japan.
But no trace of Big Ben was found.
OBITUARY
November 19, 1993
The Washington Post