through with minor damage, but her Aegis cruiser escort had been all but
crippled. Maybe Gates was thinking about that.
But they’d all have their parts to play, the DDGs Lawrence Kearny and
John A. Winslow; the battle group’s three frigates, Gridley, Esek Hopkins, and
Stephen Decatur, and the two 688-class submarines, Galveston and Bangor. A
carrier battle group was more than just the carrier itself. It was a balanced
task force in which each ship, each aircraft, each man had a vital role to
play.
Tarrant cleared his throat and stepped behind the podium. It was time to
let them know the score.
“Gentlemen,” he said formally. “You all know what’s been going on in
Norway. We’ve been watching the Russians overrun the country for close to a
week, and I’m sure most of you have been wondering what the United States
plans to do about it. Well, some recent developments have finally shaped our
course. We received orders from CINCLANT late last night, and I felt you
should all be brought into the picture. Commander Aiken will bring us up to
date on the military picture first. Commander?”
Commander Paul Aiken was head of OZ Division, the Intelligence branch of
Jefferson’s Operations Department. A small, precise man with a dry manner and
a face that betrayed no emotion, Aiken was responsible for coordinating all
information gathered by a variety of means and making it available to the
carrier’s command, air, and flag staffs. He advanced to the podium carrying a
bundle of papers under one arm. The lights dimmed as one of his officers
switched on the projector.
“The situation in Scandinavia has, quite frankly, developed in a totally
unexpected manner,” Aiken began. He gestured to the screen behind him, where
a map of the region had appeared. “During the Cold War it was always assumed
that any attack into Norway could be delayed by local forces long enough to
allow NATO reinforcement before the Soviets could make significant territorial
gains. The entire defensive posture of the country was predicated on this
assessment.”
He checked his notes before going on. “The Norwegians have a long
tradition of avoiding European entanglements, and they were somewhat reluctant
to get involved in NATO at all. However, the experience of Nazi occupation in
World War II showed them that it was necessary to seek protection from
stronger powers. Northern Norway guards the main approaches to the bases of
Russia’s Red Banner Northern Fleet in the White and Barents Sea areas, and
this has made the country both a strategic prize for the Russians and a
critical strongpoint for the West. Land-based aircraft operating from
Norwegian air bases could play havoc with any Soviet fleet sorties, and in
addition could protect our own ships making incursions into their waters.
Because the Northern Fleet also contains the bulk of the Soviet ballistic
missile submarine force, the defense of which takes top priority in Russian
naval thinking, the threat of a NATO strike has made it certain that the
Russians would seek to neutralize Norway as part of any larger war in Europe.”
Aiken stopped to take a sip from a glass of water on the podium. “In
this case, though, the outbreak of hostilities in Scandinavia does not seem to
be part of any larger war effort but rather an end in itself. As a result the
Soviets have been able to concentrate far more striking power against the
region than had been allowed for in any of our Cold War planning. The scope
of operations by Spetsnaz and other covert elements alone is on a scale that
has caught us completely by surprise.”
“Does that mean they were planning this all along?” Commander James
Tennyson asked. He was CO of the Lawrence Kearny, DDG-59, a big bear of a man
whose rough exterior concealed a surprising intellect.
“It certainly suggests it,” Aiken replied carefully. “But our
intelligence sources haven’t been able to confirm that theory. If the Soviets
had intended to provoke a conflict there seems little enough reason for their
President to negotiate a compromise agreement … unless we’re seeing an
extreme case of the breakdown of cooperation between the political and
military sides of their government. There is a temptation to see the