The destroyer Captain looked at the plot drawn in on the chart by one of the junior officers.
“If I were he? I’d head straight for the target!” he said calmly. “He’d like us to believe that he might go into the atoll itself but he knows we won’t believe that. It would be too easy to put the cork in that bottle and keep him inside. But he should head for the battleship. Before he gets there he will turn to starboard and head down the reef. We would have trouble following him with sonar if he did that, the reef would interfere.”
“I agree with you up to there,” the Professor said. “But if he follows the reef line he is restricted; he can only go in two directions, forward and to his starboard. He knows by now that we have a number of ships after him. We could wall him off if he went along the reef.”
“But he might make his turn in that direction, follow the reef for a short distance to fool us and then make his move to go to the open sea, hope to find a layer out there and lose us.”
“I think that is what he will do, Isoruku,” the Professor used his former student’s given name easily. “There are no layers in this area where we are now but there are some farther out.”
“You anticipated an attack close to the entrance?” The destroyer Captain’s eyes widened slightly.
“No, I did not,” the Professor said. “I anticipated an attack, one always does that. But the logical place for the attack would have been farther out to sea and with more than one submarine. I ordered the layer check so I could know conditions.”
“Contact!” the radio operator on the bridge sang out. “Eagle’s Feather Two reports it has the target on sonar and is pinging. Bearing three five five, sir. Target is at two five zero feet and moving slowly.”
The Professor bent over the chart. “He’s on a course to the target! He is doing what you had anticipated he would do! As I anticipated he would do! Which means that he is intelligent!
“Order Eagle’s Feather Two to maintain the contact. Eagle’s Feather One and Three will form up behind and to each side of the sonar ship. I suggest that we take position astern and see what this fellow does.”
Captain Mealey looked down at the plot Joe Sirocco had drawn of the attack, noting the positions of the enemy ships.
“We’re going to have to make a turn very soon,” he said. “What’s that son of a bitch thinking about up there, what are all those sons of bitches thinking about?” He touched his white mustache gently. He put his finger on the chart.
“We have several courses of action. We could run for the entrance and go inside and he won’t believe we’d do that because we won’t, it would be suicide.
“We could turn to starboard and run down the edge of the reef but if we did that we’d be restricted, no maneuverability. But we could do that and make the bastard think that’s what we’re going to do and then turn to sea.
“The problem is that we have no chance for deception. He’s got us on sonar and he’s going to know what we’re up to as soon as we start anything. So we’ll keep it simple, we’ll come left and go out to sea, or try to do that.” He looked at Nate Cohen.
“Do you have anything on the battleship?”
“The target is still under way,” Cohen said. “He’s going very slowly, I can only hear one screw. He bears zero zero five.”
“We crippled the son of a bitch,” Mealey growled. “Why the hell doesn’t he sink with six fish hitting him?”
“He might be sinking now,” Sirocco said. “He’s close to the reef, getting closer each bearing. He might be taking a lot of water and trying to get his bow up on the reef before he sinks.”
“Two ships bearing one zero six and two zero zero and making slow turns,” Cohen said.
“They’re waiting for us to make our move,” Mealey said. He studied the plot closely.
“Okay, let’s start the performance, gentlemen. Left full rudder and steady on course zero zero zero. Make turns for two knots. I’m not going to waste the battery any more than I have to.”
“Another set of screws crossing astern, sir,” Cohen said. The sound of the searching ship’s sonar beam hitting Mako was making a ringing sound throughout the ship. In the Forward Torpedo Room Ginty looked at Rhodes.
“Bastard has got us nailed! Why in fuck don’t he start droppin’ his shit?”
“He will,” Rhodes said. He went down the room touching each member of the reload crew and the room’s torpedomen lightly on the shoulders or arms.
“Let’s keep it very quiet, fellows. Very quiet! It’s going to get awful noisy in a little while!”
“Four hundred feet,” Captain Mealey said to Pete Simms. He turned to Sirocco. “We’ll let him get a half dozen good pings on us, enough to show him that his triangulation indicates we’re down deeper than before. That will mean he’ll have to reset his depth charger exploders and that will give us some time.”
“Steady on course zero zero zero, sir,” the helmsman said.
“Very well,” Captain Mealey said. “As soon as he starts his run — let me know, Nate, when he does that — as soon as he does we’ll go down to six hundred feet. Throw the bastard off!”
On the bridge of the destroyer designated as Eagle the radio operator sang out.
“Eagle’s Feather Two reports target is on course zero zero zero and is now at four zero zero feet, sir.”
“To all captains,” the destroyer’s Captain snapped. “Reset depth charge exploders for five hundred feet!”
The professor smiled to himself as he walked a few steps away from the younger officer. His face was glowing, this submarine captain was an expert! Few if any of his own Navy’s submarine captains had shown as much imagination as this American down below when they were acting as targets for his anti-submarine warfare school destroyers. A worthy opponent, this man down below him, a worthy opponent for a man recognized as knowing more about killing a submarine than any other Naval officer in the world!
“The target is steady on his course and depth, sir,” the destroyer’s Captain said. “Would you do me the honor of taking command of this depth charge run?”
“No,” the Professor said. “You are doing very well, sir. I leave that honor to you.” He stood at the bridge wing as Eagle took position to begin the first depth charge attack.
In Mako’s Control Room all eyes were on Nate Cohen’s lean back. Cohen raised his head lightly and Sirocco tensed, ready to pencil in the bearing he knew Cohen was about to give.
“Very slow twin screws bearing one eight zero, sir,” Cohen said. “That’s the ship that has been pinging on us. One ship bearing one six five, one ship bearing one nine zero. One set of twin screws had circled those three ships and is coming to a bearing, now he’s steady on one eight zero and he’s picking up speed! This is an attack run, sir!”
Captain Mealey picked up a telephone and pressed the talk button.
“This is the Captain speaking. All telephone talkers pass this word. The dance is about to begin. All men not needed to man stations get into bunks and stay there. Report any damage to the Control Room at once.” He turned to Nate Cohen.
“He’s coming fast, now, Captain. He’s committed!”
“Six hundred feet!” Mealey said to Simms. The Engineering Officer’s eyes widened in protest. Mako was built to operate at a maximum depth of 400 feet with a 50 percent safety factor. Six hundred feet was her theoretical maximum depth, one to be risked only if circumstances made the depth unavoidable. He turned to the men on the bow and stern planes.