CARRIER 5: MAELSTROM By Keith Douglass
CARRIER 5: MAELSTROM By Keith Douglass
Synopsis:
As the war in Norway rages on, The U.S.S. Thomas Jefferson and the rest
of carrier battle group 14 continues to be the only American military
asset in the area. While the politicians in Washington argue over what
to do about the Soviet aggression, the men of CBG-14 fight for survival
against overwhelming odds. American technology and tactics are severely
tested as the fighting escalates to an explosive climax. Violence. 5th
novel in the “Carrier” series, 1993.
Also by Keith Douglass
ThE CARRIER SERIES:
CARRIER
Carrier 2: VIPER STRIKE
Carrier 3: ARMAGEDDON MODE
Carrier 4: FLAME-OUT
Carrier 5: MAELSTROM
Carrier 6: COUNTDOWN
THE SEAL TEAM SEVEN SERIES:
SEAL TEAM SEVEN
SPECTER
PROLOGUE
Close-up camera angle of Soviet T-72 tanks rumbling in column along a
highway, threading their way past heavy civilian traffic. Switch to shots of
APCs and trucks, then of Soviet MiG-29s flying in formation low above city
buildings.
“The continuing collapse of the Soviet Empire seems, ironically, to have
brought the world closer to destruction than perhaps any time since the height
of the Cold War. That, at least, is the private assessment of many military
officials here at the Pentagon.”
Shift to a slowly moving panorama of massed crowds gathered in a city
square, then to shots of politicians addressing a gathering, of joyful people
waving Czech and Hungarian and East German flags with the Soviet government
crests cut from their centers, of scenes of young people clambering
triumphantly atop the Berlin Wall as East German soldiers impassively look on.
“During the past eight to ten years we in the West have been witness to
truly astonishing changes in the shape of world power. In 1989 we watched in
amazement the so-called velvet revolutions, dramatic expressions of what came
to be known as ‘people power’ toppling Communist regimes in Eastern European
countries from the Baltic to the Black Sea. In 1991 we witnessed what
appeared to be the ultimate triumph of people power within the Soviet Union
itself, as old-guard Communist hard-liners attempted to wrest power from the
liberal reformers of Soviet economic and political policy, and failed.”
More crowd scenes, these of enormous crowds gathered in Moscow and
defending the Russian parliament building; of civilians surrounding and
shouting angrily at confused-looking soldiers; of civilians clambering on
tanks and APCs, waving Russian Federation flags; of massed demonstrators
shaking their fists and chanting in unison: “Yeltsin! Yeltsin! Yeltsin!”
The scene shifts, then, to shots of empty grocery shelves, of
weary-looking people standing in endless lines, and of an ominous-looking line
of Soviet army marshals watching a military parade.
“Sadly, however, the sheer inertia of a nation as vast as the Soviet
Union has always prevented any quick fix of the social and economic problems
plaguing that country. With the reformers unable to reverse the collapse of
the Soviet economy, unable even to guarantee bread on the grocers’ shelves
while half of the Russian harvest rotted in the fields, hard-liners within the
military have reemerged as a significant power behind the scenes within the
marble halls of the Kremlin. Where democratic forces sought to create a loose
federation of sovereign states, the militarists pursued the reestablishment of
a strong, central union. By late last year, it became clear that the
militarists had won out, as tanks put down popular demonstrations in Georgia,
the Ukraine, and within Russia itself.”
Rubble in a city street. People scattering in confusion and panic, Other
people gathered in crowds, looks of horror on their faces. Fire engines
playing streams of water on a demolished government building.
“Two weeks ago, a terrorist’s bomb assassinated the latest of a string of
reformist presidents of the Soviet Union as he attended a conference in the
capital of Norway. Amid confused rumors of a Communist coup within that
Scandinavian country and of possible civil war, Soviet military forces
launched an invasion of Norway.”
More scenes of Russian soldiers, of an endless line of tanks rolling down
a country road as helpless civilians watch. film footage Shows Norwegian
soldiers deploying from APCs, firing machine guns, and patrolling on skis.
“Soviet government spokesmen insisted that the invasion was intended to