Fatal Thunder: A Jerry Mitchell Novel by Larry Bond Read Free Book Online Page B

modifications are actually quite minor. Nothing that requires the changes Dhankhar’s staff has approved.”
    Leaning forward, he went on with a hushed voice. “But I also went down to the torpedo compartment and inspected the junction boxes. Tubes one through four, the original fifty-three-centimeter torpedo tubes, have the proper boards with the connectors for the new wiring. Tubes five through eight, the converted sixty-five-centimeter torpedo tubes, do not.”
    Samant looked puzzled. “I don’t recall seeing any extra connectors. And I’ve inspected those junction boxes numerous times.”
    “I’m not surprised, Girish,” Petrov said with another wink. “They’re on the back side of the circuit board. You have to know where to look to find them. The boards appear to be original pieces of equipment. I tried to get the liaison staff to track down the serial numbers, but Osinov refused. He claimed he didn’t have the personnel or time for such foolishness.”
    “If the boards were there from the original transfer, why weren’t they replaced? All the other equipment capable of supporting nuclear weapons was removed.”
    “I suspect the shipyard just left them in place, because with everything else gone, it wouldn’t matter. They could save a few rubles by not replacing them.”
    “Did you ask about the extra wiring?” questioned Samant.
    “Of course, I told Osinov that the wiring didn’t appear to support anything and I asked him why I had to do it given the severely shortened schedule. He told me that if the ‘stupid Indians’ wanted the extra wiring routed, then by God we’d route the wiring. He wasn’t going to have another cabling debacle on his hands like the one with the Gorshkov aircraft carrier transfer. Oh, and the wiring work is to be performed by a technician named Evgeni Orlav. Rumor has it he has been working ridiculously long hours in an isolated area of the shipyard, and supposedly reports directly to Dhankhar himself, even though he’s assigned to an Indian naval engineer.”
    The two men paused their discussion as their meals were served. Petrov took a bite while the waitress moved out of earshot. “What did you find out from your masters in Mumbai, Girish?”
    Samant waited as he swallowed. “I had a very unsatisfying discussion this afternoon with both the heads of weapons developments at the Directorate of Naval Design and the assistant chief of naval staff submarine acquisitions. Both said basically the same thing, the only nuclear-armed weapons that will go on Indian submarines are ballistic and land-attack cruise missiles. When I asked about torpedoes or ASW missiles with nuclear warheads, they laughed. Apparently DRDO has some plans, but they are many years in the future. And, of course, there are no intentions to augment Chakra ’s weapons capability with any indigenous Indian ordnance—it’s against the contract we have with your nation.”
    Petrov nodded, then wiped his mouth. He looked around the room, checking to see if anyone was taking an interest in their conversation. “Here’s another tidbit for you, Girish. I was told by an Indian engineer that the combat system change was signed by Vice Admiral Bava on March tenth. The engineer was most unhappy with this, as it was a new requirement that interfered with some of his work and he wanted to coordinate scheduling with my technician. Not only does this confirm that a Russian national will do the modification to the combat system, but when this change was approved.”
    “The tenth of March? That’s the very day I was relieved of command!”
    “Coincidence?” responded Petrov skeptically. “I think not. Girish, all these events, the new modification, your reassignment, reactions to the Kashmir blast, everything seems connected. And all these connections come together at Vice Admiral Dhankhar’s doorstep.”
    “I agree that is how it appears, Aleksey. But how do we prove such an incredible theory? If Dhankhar is