Rogue Defender by John R. Monteith

Author:John R. Monteith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stealth Books
Published: 2013-05-17T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

John Brody stormed into Secretary Rickets’ office and slammed the door.

“It’s over,” he said.

Rickets slouched in his chair behind a thick mahogany desk. He appeared wounded but resilient.

“It’s not over,” Rickets said.

“Suao Harbor is on fire. Two frigates are damaged — one a mission kill, the destroyer Ma Kong is on the bottom, and God knows how many patrol craft survived, if any.”

“I know,” Rickets said. “Renard just texted me.”

“You’re making national security decisions based upon an unsecure text from an international criminal?”

“There’s plenty of security protecting my cell phone,” Rickets said. “And he texted me all I need to know with cryptic information.”

Rickets stood and walked around his desk.

“Well?” Brody asked.

“Fourteen or fifteen. Proceeding,” Rickets said.

“That’s it? That’s all he texted?”

“I assume it’s the number of patrol craft that survived the air attack and are available for the egress.”

“Why are we speculating?”

“We don’t have to,” Rickets said. “I just got another text from him. He’s asking for a teleconference.”

Rickets sat in his chair and turned on the monitor.

“Are you going to sit?” he asked.

“I’ll stand,” Brody said.

The screen brought the Frenchman’s visage into form.

“Gentlemen,” Renard said.

“What the hell’s going on?” Brody asked.

“The Chinese launched a surprise anti-shipping attack from the air, but the convoy survived.”

“Define ‘survived’,” Brody said.

“Fourteen vessels are untouched or sustained minor strafing damage. A fifteenth is operational on one diesel engine and will continue on the mission. Two are damaged beyond use without major repairs, and one was sadly lost.”

“Fourteen or fifteen,” Brody said. “Your ranks are dwindling, and you haven’t even started yet.”

“The convoy will survive the minefield with enough integrity to provide anti-submarine coverage at the choke points.”

“You can’t assure that,” Brody said.

“No,” Renard said, “But within a matter of hours I expect to share with you news of our success.”

Brody judged a matter of hours too long for the Seventh Fleet to wait. He excused himself, and as he closed the door to Rickets’ office, he decided to lower his head, charge, and impale his enemy.

He marched through the hallway to give the order to mobilize a strike group in Hawaii to begin steaming towards Taiwan.

* * *

Renard swallowed saliva, accentuating his hunger. The Chinese interruption threatened his hunt, but his resolve remained. He would adapt his tactics to the changing wind, redirect his tracks, and outfox his prey.

“Admiral Brody remains pessimistic,” he said.

Rickets’ image moved with slight latency across the laptop monitor.

“His opinion doesn’t matter,” Rickets said. “All that matters is that you succeed.”

“He had an air about him of quiet defiance.”

“I’ll keep Brody in check.”

“Please do. I fear he may send American ships to places where they could only complicate matters.”

Renard inhaled the calming taste of his cigarette.

“Other than the loss of patrol craft,” Rickets asked, “have you made any adjustments to your plans?”

“Timing has slipped forty minutes as the surviving ships assess damage and regroup, but this is hardly a concern as we have forfeited any element of surprise. The Chinese learned of our egress and have certainly already dedicated every asset to it they see fit.

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