The Crucible. Joaquin De Torres

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СКАЧАТЬ an hour had passed since Ramon stepped into his office. The official agenda was complete and Antonio began shuffling his papers. He picked up both his and Ramon’s cup and left to refill them. Ramon bit his lip. He didn't want to pursue the final piece of business that he had saved until now. Not five minutes into the subject their voices were thundering. Antonio stood up and took a defensive position behind his desk, his face etched in anger.

      “No!” He shook his head. “Stop-loss is stop-loss! There’s no way, Ray! Forget it! I can’t do it!”

      “What I ask is not hard to--”

      “What you ask is impossible!” interrupted Antonio forcefully. “With all that’s going on in the world, you think SECNAV or the Bureau of Personnel is going to authorize it? You think Admiral Schmidt is going to allow a full commander with such credentials to separate? Are you fucking serious!? Admirals, commanders and captains throughout the fleet are awaiting orders for new commands when they should be retiring. Christ, Ray! It wouldn’t’t go any farther than Schmidy.”

      “Antonio, we’re not talking about any command! We’re talking about my daughter--your Goddaughter!”

      “The situation in the Pacific has gotten too intense. Look at what you’re facing, Ray. You’ve got a loon telling the world that he’s going to launch a nuclear strike and their people are murdering innocents. And on top of that, there’s no telling what China’s reaction will be when the shit comes down on that peninsula. If I were the Chinese, I’d invade Taiwan the very day North Korea launches an attack, because that’s when we’d be at our weakest.”

      “Don’t lecture me about what’s happening in my own backyard, Antonio! That’s why I need more carriers! And if you had any kind of backbone, like you had in the past, I would have had them already! The Pacific would have been locked down tight for months!”

      Antonio glared at him, allowing Ramon to continue his rant.

      “Tony, China has amassed upwards of a million troops on her coast. A million! Not enough for you and your fucking bureaucrats? How about the increased PRC recon flights over Taiwan; the movement of 25 squadrons of fighters down to Wuhai; and the 65 percent increase of landing craft forces across the Strait? What does that tell you, Antonio? It tells me that they’re waiting. They’re waiting for North Korea to make the move and then they will use that to make theirs. By slowing up the delivery of carriers to the PAC, you‘ve given my remaining battlegroups a death sentence.”

      “Everything you say is true, Ray,” Antonio breathed.

      “That’s why I’m here. I can’t let my daughter go out there and face that shit, Antonio.” Ramon’s voice softened with concern as he pondered the immense request that he knew Antonio was in no position to grant.

      “There’s no way to avoid what’s about to happen. The blockade has brought the North Koreans to the point of no return. It’s just a matter of time.” Antonio nodded emphatically. “I’ll do my best to get as many carriers back to you as possible from the Middle East; but you’re still lacking in surface ships to face their restocked navy.”

      “The North Koreans have no significant navy,“ retorted Ramon.

      “Ray, they purchased that small armada of ex-Soviet combatants, including two Kirov-class battlecruisers. The PRC loaned them the money to refit and fuel them. One is fully operational. The other is getting refitted.”

      “How many now?”

      “Thirteen surface combatants, seven ASW ships, and four attack subs. Basically the heavy hitters from the old USSR stock: Slavas, Udaloys, Sovremennys, Krivaks and Akulas. All packed with their old and some improved Soviet weapons. There's some other technology on the big boys, but you'll get a briefing on it soon enough.”

      “Remember those names, Tony? Seems like a million years ago.”

      “The Chinese are paying for it all, Ray. They want the North to attack. Like you said, they're counting on it.”

      “Sons of bitches!” Ramon huffed.

      “Those Kirovs are as big as a World War Two aircraft carrier,” Antonio continued. “They carry the nuclear Shipwreck missiles, and I got someone from WEPS e-mailing me about thermobaric weapons, too. Ray, if they get all these ships equipped with their entire original and upgraded ordinance, we will face a fleet as powerful as our own.”

      “A ghost fleet resurrected from the dead,” breathed Ramon.

      “Old, yes; rusted, yes; but armed and lethal nevertheless. Now put into the hands of captains frothing with vengeance.” Antonio stepped around his desk and stood in front of Ramon. “Ray, imagine what a fully-loaded Kirov battlecruiser could do to one of our ships.”

      Ramon closed his eyes and thought of Kristina. Antonio shook his head in regret.

      “I’m sorry, Ray; I can’t do it. I can’t let her go. She’s too good, too gifted, too valuable. She needs to command a ship. The new ships are coming, but we don’t have captains.”

      “Antonio, she won’t be able to handle the stress of battle. She still suffers from what happened on the McClusky.”

      “That was almost 16 years ago, Ray.”

      “She was only 18, a fresh enlistee onboard that ship. She watched 37 of her shipmates burn alive. You think she hasn’t carried that around with her?”

      “Yes, and you’re the one who still encouraged her to apply to the Academy. You wanted her to be an officer; you wanted her to stay in the Navy, Ray!” The vein in Antonio’s forehead began to pulse as his blood pressure began to rise.

      “Yes, I did. I orchestrated her career all this time.” Ramon's eyes registered regretful melancholy. “I used my influence to get her into a field in which she would never have to see real combat again.” Ramon put his hand over his eyes. “Now you’re going to throw my daughter onto the front line.”

      “She’s too good, Ray. She’s qualified in every warfare position onboard. She knows a ship like her own house, and if it weren’t for you, she’d have her own command. Your daughter is single-handedly revolutionizing our fleet. How can I let her go now?”

      More truths and realities flowed forth from Antonio’s words. Ramon knew that despite the pleas and the rationalizations, his brother was right. She was too good; in fact, she was golden. With her quiet leadership, and mastery of a ship’s weapons systems--systems she herself designed--she would make a magnificent captain.

      “Ray, you asked me to get her into the Navy’s weapons design program, and I did that for you years ago. That was for you. But now she’s turned that place around. She’s now the head project director.”

      “WEPS-ONE,” Ramon whispered.

      “That’s right. She’s designed an entirely new NTDS control system and five new prototype missile systems. We’ll be testing out these systems in about a week on the Gettysburg.”

      “You know I know this. I’ll be personally overseeing that mission.” Ramon’s eyes were sullen. He was going to lose this battle. He raised his head quickly.

      “Can you keep her at WEPS-ONE? Just one last favor for your brother?”

      “I СКАЧАТЬ