Two men dressed head-to-toe in weird-looking, shiny suits materialized in the wardroom out of thin air. In the split-second instant of shocked hesitation by the members of the submarine’s crew, both of them twisted something in their hands and gently lobbed two slender tubes onto the floor. There was a hissing noise. Mikhailov shot out of his chair, but didn’t even take two steps before his eyes rolled up and he collapsed. It took only a matter of seconds. All fourteen men were unconscious. At that same moment, the exact scene was replayed when one man materialized in the submarine’s control room, another in the engine room and one in the crew’s quarters. The invisible gas spread rapidly throughout the sub. There was never any chance of giving an alarm. The five men moved rapidly through the boat, already familiar with its layout. They released more gas, just to be safe, making certain that each member of the submarine’s crew was incapacitated. In less than five minutes, they controlled the boat.
“All right,” said their leader, over the comcircuit in their helmets. “Nicely done. Now let’s get that equipment on board.”
When Forrester had finished, one of the soldiers raised her hand.
“Sergeant Chan,” said Forrester.
She stood as she was called on. “Sir, assuming a small strike force of some sort actually did manage to overpower the crew of a Soviet submarine, how would they plan to operate it? Wouldn’t it require highly specialized training of the sort no longer offered in present time?”
Forrester nodded. “An excellent point, Sergeant Chan. We have two possible answers to that one. One, it is not beyond the realm of possibility for this to have been a long-range plan on the part of the hijackers. With access to warp discs, they could easily have clocked back to Minus Time, to the 20th century, and enlisted in the United States Navy, for example. The Navy had a nuclear-powered submarine training school in Idaho Falls and they might have obtained the necessary knowledge in that manner. However, that would have been doing it the hard way. If we are to presuppose an extremely organized, highly skilled group, then it makes more sense to assume at least one of their number was a therapist trained in re-education procedures. Getting their hands on the necessary equipment would have been child’s play after what they’ve already accomplished. Once they had overpowered the submarine’s crew, they could then condition them at their leisure to follow orders unquestioningly. Given the mentality of the Soviet military, that would not have been terribly difficult to do. The predisposition for unquestioning obedience would already have been there.”
Another soldier raised his hand. “Lieutenant Bryant?” said Forrester.
“Is there any indication of the purpose behind this act?” said Bryant.
“As of right now, no,” said Forrester. “There has been no contact, no demand for ransom, nothing. Temporal Intelligence believes the group is putting the sub through its paces, giving it a shakedown cruise while they familiarize themselves with its capabilities.”
Lucas raised his hand. “Major Priest,” said Forrester. “Just what are it’s capabilities, sir?” he said.
“The Soviet Typhoon-class subs were capable of sustained underwater cruising speeds in excess of sixty knots. Their titanium double hulls rendered magnetic detection virtually impossible and they were extremely quiet-running. They carried a full complement of ordnance, ranging from standoff missiles with a reported range of about 125 kilometers to cruise missiles, so-called “smart” missiles capable of being fired from the submarine’s torpedo tubes and flying as low as ten feet above the water, thereby defeating radar. They also carried a full range of torpedoes, from homing and wake-following to antisubmarine and conventional type. Last but not least, they were equipped with twenty ballistic missiles, capable of being launched from silos via hatches in the deck. These were of the MIRV type, or Multiple Independently Targeted Reentry Vehicle, with as many as fourteen or fifteen warheads on one missile, aimed at different targets hundreds of miles apart. These were launched when the missile reached the top of its trajectory, from the nose cone. This method was facilitated by use of an inertial guidance system. Measuring devices known as accelerometers recorded movement in every direction aboard the submarine and sent signals to the missile computers, which translated those signals into the sub’s exact position at any given time. Consequently, there was never any need to aim the missiles. If an order for launch was received, it would take only moments, if not seconds, to go through the procedure necessary to fire the missiles. One such MIRV missile could be fired every minute. No input into the ballistic computers was needed. The missiles would already know where they had to go.”
Finn expelled the breath he had been holding in a soft whoosh. He r
aised his hand. “Delaney?” said Forrester. “How deep could these things go, sir?”
“The Typhoon sub could dive to a depth of over four thousand feet,” said Forrester. “However, that is a conservative figure. We don’t know what the crush depth of the Soviet subs was and there’s every reason to believe they were capable of going deeper. Also, due to the fact the Soviets were always classification-happy, and due to the fact no one had ever succeeded in actually capturing a Soviet nuclear sub-”
“Until now,” Andre said, softly.
“-there is very little known about their actual capabilities. Without a pipeline into the KGB, we would have known even less.”
There was a profoundly uneasy silence in the room. Forrester glanced about grimly at all the tense faces.
“If there are no further questions for the moment, I’ll continue. I’ve received an order for complete mobilization of the First Division. Both Temporal Intelligence and the Referee Corps are proceeding on the assumption the object of the hijacking is blackmail, on a nuclear scale. It’s the only scenario that makes any sort of sense. We-”
Andre raised her hand. “Yes, Corporal Cross?” said Forrester.
“Excuse me, sir, but it occurs to me that we should have the means of dealing with a threat of this nature. Satellite detection, combined with BPW technology would-”
“If I may anticipate you,” Forrester interrupted, “there’s a basic flaw in your reasoning. It’s essentially good reasoning and it would certainly solve the problem if it were not for the submarine now being capable of temporal translocation. We can’t exactly put satellites in orbit in every conceivable period of time where the submarine might show up. It simply isn’t practical. Moreover, even if we had the logistics to accomplish such a task, there exist certain insurmountable problems. While Beam Particle Weaponry might well neutralize a ballistic missile threat, there are certain scenarios in which we would not be able to employ BPWs. For example, suppose the submarine was clocked into the 20th century. Its advanced design would still enable it to avoid detection by the world powers of that time. However, keep in mind the technological capabilities of the governments of the 20th century. It’s extremely doubtful we’d be able to deploy surveillance satellites and BPWs without their being alerted. The United States had their space shuttle already operational by the early 1980’s. The Soviets also had orbital vehicles of their own. If we put up so much as one orbital satellite, chances are it would be discovered fairly quickly and orbital missions would be launched to investigate. Do you really want either the 20th-century Americans or Russians to find a Beam Particle Weapon in orbit?”
Andre grimaced and nodded. “Yes, sir. I see your point. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. What we need now are ideas. If anyone has a brainstorm, fire away. The worst that will happen is your idea will be shot down. Meanwhile, we will proceed with the only other option currently available to us. Several teams are going to be held in reserve, in case any temporal adjustment missions come up that require immediate action while all this is going on. The rest of you are going to be clocked to various locales in Minus Time to investigate reports of sightings that could be the submarine. It’ll be like looking for a needle in a haystack, people, but there isn’t much else we can do at the moment. We have to locate the sub first. Then it has to be destroyed. I have here a list of assignments which I will give to Major Priest. Immediately upon receiving your assignment, you will report for mission programming, then draw your equipment and clock out to your designated time periods. You will have full Observer Corps and IAA support. In the meantime, there is already an extensive effort under way to locate the ERG these people are drawing on for power. If it can be located, then it can be destroyed or taken off-line, and at least then the submarine will no longer be capable of time travel or teleportation within any specific time period. However, I don’t need to remind you of the odds for locating their ERG. The trouble with an Einstein-Rosen Bridge is that it’s trans-temporal. It could be in our time period or in Minus Time. For that matter, it could be on another planet or on an asteroid or even aboard a ship somewhere in space. Don’t hold your breath waiting for it to be found. It ain’t very damn likely.”
Finn raised his hand. “Yes, Delaney?” Forrester said. “What happens if these people start issuing demands before we’re able to do anything about them?”
“In that case,” said Forrester, grimly, “we’re going to do exactly what they tell us to. The situation’s just too damn scary to attempt calling their bluff.”
Another soldier raised his hand. “Captain Sullivan?” said Forrester.
Sullivan stood up. “What about clocking a warp grenade out to Jan Mayan Island and blowing it off the face of the map before the hijacking could occur? Then the hijackers would wind up materializing in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. They wouldn’t survive more than a few minutes, at the very most.”
“The trouble with that suggestion is it would also kill the personnel at the meteorological station there,” said Forrester. “The question of whether or not that could be justified under the circumstances is highly debatable. It would entail some risk, in any case. However, what makes the point moot is the presence of the Soviet sub just off Jan Mayan. The last thing we want to do is set off any large explosions in the vicinity of a strategic missile carrier. It could have unfortunate consequences. Besides, any interference with the hijackers before the fact would raise the possibility of creating a timestream split. We already have proof they’ve managed to bring off the hijacking successfully. If we go back and prevent it, we’d be creating a temporal disruption and risking the creation of a parallel timeline in which there was a nuclear sub on the loose.”
Sullivan made a wry face. “I’m sorry, sir, I should have thought of that.”
“Nothing to be sorry about, Captain. You have a few things to learn yet about this unit. When you transferred in from Ordnance, you left the regular corps behind. In the First, no one’s going to jump on you for making mistakes. Here in Plus Time, it’ll only help you learn. In Minus Time, it’ll cost you. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, Captain. Just be sure you make them here.”