getting so there were a dozen or more top candidates for every position. That
was especially true with carriers. Fourteen flattops were all there were.
Even the chance of commanding a Naval Air Station rated somewhere between slim
and none.
Too senior to fly, but without the record to advance any further …
Stramaglia knew he’d been letting his own bitterness hamper him in dealing
with his subordinates, especially Magruder, but sometimes it just didn’t seem
fair.
Lee sat down next to him. “Looks like this is the big one, doesn’t it,
sir?” he said. The prospect seemed to excite him. “Did you see the morning
news?”
“Yeah,” Stramaglia said shortly. Both of Jefferson’s television stations
carried news programs, a mix of shipboard information and world news picked up
by satellite.
“I didn’t,” Magruder put in. “What happened?”
Lee looked at him. “You must be Commander Magruder,” he said, sticking
out his hand. “Welcome aboard. I’m Lee … Arthur Lee. Staff Intelligence
man. I’ve heard a hell of a lot about you. Some of it was even good.” He
grinned as they shook hands. “The UN vote finally went down last night.
Twelve to two, with China abstaining.”
“And it wasn’t worth a damned thing because of the Russian veto,”
Magruder finished for him grimly.
“So much for the ‘New World Order,'” Owens put in. “That’s what comes of
letting the bad guys have veto power.”
Stramaglia stayed out of their conversation, but inwardly he knew how
they felt. While the Russians cut through Norway’s defenses, President
Connally had been stalling American reaction until the United Nations could
act. It was as if he’d learned all the wrong lessons from the conflict with
Iraq, where America had mobilized UN support only after guaranteeing
assistance for Saudi Arabia. Resolution 782, calling for a peaceful solution
to the Scandinavian crisis and condemning the USSR for its aggression, had
gone exactly nowhere. And in the interim nearly a week of precious time had
been lost. Connally could claim now that he’d exhausted every peaceful means
before turning to a military response, but in the process he might just have
given the Russians everything they needed to make their attack on Norway
stick.
For nearly a decade Stramaglia had been regarded as a bit of a dinosaur
where the Russians were concerned. Hotshot youngsters at Miramar had been
fond of claiming that future conflicts would follow the pattern set down by
Operation Desert Storm: small, outclassed opponents facing the overwhelming
air superiority of American technology. But Joseph Stramaglia had never
entirely counted the Russians out, not even after Yeltsin had emerged as the
leader of the new Russian Commonwealth. There had been too many unknowns, to
Stramaglia’s way of thinking. Too many factions, like the hard-liners in the
military, who hadn’t been heard from.
And now it looked like he’d been right after all.
1100 hours Zulu (1000 hours Zone)
CVIC, U.S.S. Thomas Jefferson
The North Atlantic
“Attention on deck!” a junior officer called out as Admiral Tarrant
strode into Civic. Every man in the briefing room came to his feet in
response.
“As you were,” he said quickly, strolling purposefully toward the podium
at the far end of the long room.
As Tarrant reached the podium he scanned the lines of seated officers.
Brandt was sitting near the front, with his Exec, Commander Parker, and
several members of Tarrant’s Flag Staff. As he studied their faces, he
wondered what they were thinking.
He saw Captain Stramaglia and other officers from Jefferson’s Air Wing at
the back of the room. Most of the striking power of the battle group was
contained in the carrier’s air complement, and their role in the next few days
would be crucial. Tarrant hoped they would be up to the challenge.
Stramaglia had a good reputation, but he hadn’t been at sea for over a decade.
Did he still have the edge?
And then there was Captain Vic Gates of the Shiloh, the battle group’s
Aegis cruiser. He looked distinctly uncomfortable. His ship, with its
powerful radar systems and missile defenses, would be a key player if they
faced a major attack. In the Indian Ocean two years back Jefferson had come