Sweetness in the Dark (34 page)

After Fort Knox in Kentucky, the New York Federal Reserve was the second largest depository of gold in the United States. The Federal Gold Depository at Fort Knox had been secure after P-Day. Being part of the group of states that had prepared for the calamity, the chaos had been minimal in Kentucky.

But the gold in New York was another case entirely. New York City had been consumed by violence as millions of people struggled and fought to survive. Many had fled the urban area, leaving gangs to pillage the city.

By last reports, the gold reserve was still intact. Six floors below street level sat the gold vault with twenty-foot-thick steel reinforced concrete walls. Billions in gold bullion sat as a huge prize. After this amount of time, the thugs would have been working on retrieving the prize.

The governors were determined to beat them if possible. The Committee traveled to Newport News, Virginia to meet with the Navy. With some of their ships back on line, the Idaho governor had an idea.

“Admiral, do you have a Marine Expeditionary Force ready to go?” the Idaho governor asked.

“Yes, Sir. The U.S.S.
Iwo Jima
and three thousand Marines are ready. We have support ships along with two nuclear attack subs operational and already at sea. They can be anywhere on the East Coast within twelve hour notice,” the admiral answered.

“And I assume the helicopters and the AV-8B’s weathered P-Day?”

The admiral looked at him with a curious look. “You know our business. Yes, they are operational. We don’t have GPS, so the smart stuff doesn’t work, but the dumb bombs still explode and our pilots are still smart enough to fly where we tell them to.”

“Thank you, Admiral, and yes, I am Navy myself. XO on the
Virginia
. Seems like ages ago now though.” The Idaho governor referred to his stint in the Navy aboard the Aegis cruiser U.S.S.
Virginia
. The governor responded to the admiral’s quizzical look. “Annapolis. Class of 1986.”

“Glad to have a veteran heading things up then, Sir.” the admiral responded. “Annapolis. Class of 1971 myself.”

“Excellent. I think the entire Committee will agree with me on initiating this mission. Get the MEF on standby for deployment. Their target is New York City,” the governor said. “We’ll lay out the objective on board.”

“Affirmative on that. We’ll be ready to sail by 0600 tomorrow. Glad to have you aboard.”

Paul and the governor returned to Richmond and joined the other governors. They voted unanimously to begin operations. The Idaho governor was voted to oversee the operation while the rest of the Committee met with local Army commanders to discuss a full incursion north.

Paul and the governor were back in Newport News just in time to board the
Iwo Jima
as she raised anchor and made way into Chesapeake Bay. Five other ships sailed with them, including a cruiser, two destroyers and a frigate. The nuclear subs had already left port and would set up a security cordon for the small battle group.

The admiral explained that no other nation had threatened the East Coast but he wanted the extra protection afforded by the subs. With the fighting on the West Coast between the UAS and Chinese forces, he was concerned that China may try to station one of their nuclear attack subs in the Atlantic.

When the admiral had finished explaining his force depositions, the Idaho governor spoke up, “Admiral, we need to develop a plan to interdict Lower Manhattan. We have no good intelligence on what hostile forces are in the area.” Seated in the ship’s conference room was the Marine general, his two subordinates, along with the admiral and his staff.

Paul sat in the back against the wall. He was a little out of his league, but was excited to see the operation. He’d been to New York City on a number of occasions in the past and was anxious to see the city now.

“What’s our mission, Governor?” the Marine general asked.

“The gold in the Federal Reserve Bank. We are to secure it if it’s still there, open up the vault and carry it to the ships. We will then return it to safety as determined by the Governor’s Council,” the governor said.

“Whew. This will keep my Marines interested. Handling that much gold will perk things up. I wouldn’t expect much opposition that my boys can’t handle,” the general said.

“No, I don’t think they’ll have any problems. And if we do meet resistance, your AV-8Bs will resolve it quickly.”

“Rules of engagement? Any civilians still in the city we have to worry about?” the general asked. He commented that he had never fought on American soil before.
No one had
, thought Paul.

”The Governor’s Council has issued only one order. ‘Retrieve the New York gold’.” Beyond that General, the field is wide open,” the governor said.

“Not like the old days then, Sir. My boys are tired of fighting with one hand tied behind their back and the other one holding a press release.”

“The old days are gone. Dead and gone, I’m afraid for too many of our countrymen.”

The meeting continued after an initial tactical assessment by the commanders. The governor stood up and motioned to Paul that they should leave the Navy to plan things without their interference.

The two walked to their assigned staterooms adjacent to each other.

“Get some sleep Paul. It will be very hectic soon,” the governor said as he closed his stateroom door.

Paul climbed into his berth. He lay with his eyes open, listening to the rumble of the ship heading north. The Task Force would be off New York Harbor in two days and he assumed the Marines would go in then.

Thoughts of Amanda took over his mind as he wondered what she was doing right now. She was still in Cheyenne meeting with other Convention delegates who had stayed behind as they worked out issues with the proposed constitution. She had been sad to see him go, but excited about her new friendship with Horst Petrasek.

Paul wasn’t so sure about her meeting with the Texan, and lay awake imagining Horst and Amanda together. The vibration of the ships engines slowly overcame the stress of personal affairs and he drifted off to sleep.

A loud clanging noise awoke him with a start. Still fully clothed from the night before, he jumped down onto the deck. Pulling his shoes on, he ran to the door into the companionway. Men were running by when the next door opened. The Idaho governor stepped out.

“Trouble I’m afraid,” he yelled over the clanging noise. “That’s General Quarters, which means the Task Force has spotted a threat.”

Paul followed the ex-Navy man up the ladder as they headed to the bridge. A Marine guard stopped them when they reached the companionway leading to the bridge. Under General Quarters no unauthorized personnel would be allowed near the ships Command Center.

Standing in front of the Marine, Paul felt frustrated not knowing what was happening. Finally the Marine general came down from the bridge and rescued the two civilians.

“I’m heading to the Com Center. Follow me,” he stated. “We’ve picked up a sonar hit. The pattern matches a Chinese attack sub. Helios are out dipping right now trying to locate it.”

They reached the Com Center and the Marine guard stepped aside to let the three men enter. Paul stumbled on the raised threshold as he entered the darkened room. Radios were squawking with reports coming in from the helicopters hunting the suspected sub.

Dipping sonar was being deployed at various locations that would triangulate the exact location of any underwater threat.

“Sir, we have her. It conforms to our noise recognition records to a Chinese Class IV nuclear attack sub. Three thousand yards south-southeast,” the petty officer manning the plot table announced.

“Take it out,” the admiral ordered. Then he noticed the two civilians in the room. “Any orders, Governor?”

“Carry on, Admiral. These are your ships to protect. No civilian interference.”

The admiral returned to his duties as everyone waited for the depth charges to do their business. The speaker from the sonar rumbled with explosions as the depth charges found their mark. Soon a clanking creaking sound was heard as the sonar picked up the sound of a Chinese sub breaking up and sinking.

Quiet returned to the room as everyone realized the sonar now emitted no sounds. The threat was gone.

“Sorry to wake you gentlemen, but it does seem that our Asian friends did have assets in the area. We’ll keep an eye out for others,” the admiral said.

“Good work, carry on,” the governor said.

“Sir, our Sea Stallion on patrol to the east reports a ship bearing for New York City,” the radioman said.

“Get a couple of jets out to investigate,” the admiral ordered.

His staff picked up the ready phone and relayed his orders. The ship soon rumbled as the ‘jump jets’ rolled down the deck and lifted off.

“Maybe we should head up to the bridge. You can see a bit more from up there. My staff can handle things here,” the admiral offered.

The bridge was expansive in its view compared to the enclosed Command Center. Paul put on his sunglasses to better view the action. Helicopters were returning from their sub hunt and setting down on the stern of the ship.

Two more jets were being moved into position on the flight deck to be on ready status. With the two other jets investigating the ship to the east, these two new jets were responsible for Task Force security. Paul looked at the other warships on either side of the Marine carrier.

The
Iwo Jima
was a small carrier compared to the Navy’s super carriers. Only able to operate Harrier-type jump jets, this carrier did not have the catapults that other jets needed. The Harrier short takeoff and landing fighter had been developed by the British. The Marines had loved the idea and had adopted the jet.

The AV-8B was an upgrade of the original Harrier. Major changes had increased payload and range, making the AV-8B one of the most versatile and effective war planes in history.

The Argentineans had discovered what a formable plane the Harrier was in the Falkland War. Argentine war planes would line up to shoot down a Harrier only to have the Harrier pilot simply stop in midair and ‘jump’ up out of the way. The Argentine jet would fly by to a Harrier now on it’s tail.

With its vectoring jet nozzles, the Harrier was the only war plane that could stop in midair. It could also fly slowly backwards. Enemy fighter pilots soon discovered that the Harrier could do things no other fighter could do, much to their disadvantage.

The pilots soon confirmed that a large freighter was heading north on a course that would take it into New York Harbor. The ship showed a Liberian registry and had ‘Monrovia’ painted on its stern, indicating the Liberian capital as its home port.

“I don’t like this. What would a freighter be doing heading into a New York City that for all intents and purposes is dead. There’s no one left that would be shipping goods into such chaos,” the admiral said. “Get a Marine recon team ready. We’ll board her.”

The staff again worked the phone and just as quickly two helicopters began warming up. Paul looked out the bridge window as twenty well-armed Marines walked out of the ships island and boarded the helicopters.

“We’ll know soon enough what their cargo is,” the admiral said to the governor. “Radio the pilots I want jet coverage for the helios. Tell them maximum effect. I don’t want any misunderstanding who’s in charge here. And if the ship offers any resistance to a boarding, the pilots are to respond in kind.”

The bridge remained quiet as they all awaited news from the Recon Team. It would take a while for the slower helicopters to reach the freighter. Paul noticed a frigate detach from the Task Force and turn to starboard. It appeared to be on a heading to intercept the mystery ship.

Finally, the radio crackled to life. The helicopters reported the ship in sight. The AV-8B pilots called in that they had the choppers in sight and that they were turning to buzz the ship as the first Sea Stallion went in.

“We have hostile forces visible,” the radio squawked. The bridge went tense and everyone waited for more information. Paul thought it took forever before another voice rang out.

“Marines on deck,” the radio said.

“We’ve repelled onto the ship,” the admiral offered. “I don’t know what the ‘hostiles’ report was for. We’ll have to wait.”

Paul watched out the bridge windows as the two waiting AV-8B’s suddenly had activity around them. The jet engines came to life and the flight deck crew worked to launch the aircraft. The roar was deafening, even inside the bridge, as one plane after another roared down the deck.

An elevator dropped down and two more jet fighters were positioned for the ready. Soon the first two jets flew by, arriving from the east. The foredeck was prepared for landing as the crew waved the jets aboard.

Paul marveled as each jet slowly matched the big ships speed and then slid into position over the deck. Then like a helicopter, the jet fighter lowered itself down onto the deck. Both planes were quickly taken below for rearming and refueling.

The admiral raced by grabbing the two civilians as he went. The three of them met up with the two pilots in the conference room.

“Report, Commander,” the admiral barked.

“Sir, we were lingering in the general vicinity when we spotted the helis approaching. We closed with the freighter to make our presence felt, when multiple hostiles appeared on the upper deck with weapons. They appeared to be getting ready to repel boarders.”

“And you showed them the folly of their ways Commander?” the admiral asked even though he knew the answer.

“Roger that, Admiral. I raked the deck with my 20 mm and that definitely removed all their enthusiasm. Marines were soon on deck by drop line and we confirmed their taking of the bridge. Our relief showed up and we headed for the barn.”

“Good work. Go check on your planes. We may have another sortie soon,” the admiral ordered.

The three men followed the pilots out of the conference room and the admiral led them back to the Com Center.

“Admiral, Major Lewis on the net.”

“Major Lewis, everything secure?” the admiral asked.