The Fourteenth Day, Thursday, 16 December Summary

A group of intelligence officers is sent to the HMS Invincible to examine the Red October. During their descent to the HMS Invincible, their helicopter crashes and kills all of them. The rescue team recovers their mission orders. Jack Ryan and a British officer, Owen Williams, take over the mission. The various pieces of the plan, including the Ethan Allen and the Avalon, gather at the meeting point.

The plan is finally revealed. The crew that do not want to defect are taken off the ship. The decoy ship, the Ethan Allen, is exploded and identified as the Red October. The defectors take the Red October to a safe place in the US. On the Red October, Ramius tells the crew that the ship is damaged and must be abandoned. The crew will leave on an American rescue boat...