Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

306 JEFF EDWARDS
“It’s a good name anyway,” the president said. “Your namesake was a
warrior and a patriot. It’s a compliment to have your name associated with
his.”
“I’ve always thought so, Mr. President,” the captain said.
The president paused for a few seconds. “Now Jim, as you’ve probably
guessed, I don’t make it a habit of calling my Navy captains at sea. You
don’t call me in the Oval Office, and I generally try to return the courtesy.”
He laughed briefly at his own attempted joke. Then he chopped it off, and
the humor was gone from his voice. “So the fact that I’m calling you in
the hour before battle must tell you something of how important this is.”
“Yes, sir,” the captain said.
“I know that this mission has personal importance to you. The lives of
your crew are at stake, and—obviously—your own life as well. The recent
loss of the USS Benfold is also, no doubt, on your mind—as it should be.
Your comrades-in-arms have fallen at the hands of the enemy that you are
set to face, and if there is an element of vengeance in your thinking, I don’t
believe that anyone could criticize you.”
“I must admit that it’s a factor, sir.”
“If you said otherwise, I’d be inclined to doubt your word,” the
president said. “But there is a larger picture here, and the stakes are
greater than you perhaps imagine. If Germany manages to deliver that
submarine despite the concerted efforts of our Navy, it will seriously
damage the credibility of our naval deterrence. It will also prove to many
of the nations who are watching that German military hardware, and
German military tactics, and German military training are the equal to—if
not superior to—our own. To say that this will alter the balance of power
in Europe would be a gross understatement. But even that is not the worst
of it. I’ve spoken at length to Prime Minister Irons, and she makes no
secret of the fact that she is preparing for war with Germany. I don’t
believe I need to remind you of what happened the last couple of times
England and Germany went to war with each other.”
“No, sir.”
“We may have a chance to prevent that war,” the president said. “If
you can send that last submarine to the bottom, we can paint this whole
thing as a military disaster for Germany. Really rub the German
government’s nose in it: in the United Nations, in the media, and in the
eyes of the man on the street. If we can do that, I think I can talk Prime
Minister Irons into accepting a symbolic defeat of Germany, in lieu of the
real thing.”
The noise level was dropping rapidly now, and that was a good thing,
because the president’s voice became softer. “I hate to put the pressure on