January called to the XO still on the phone with the captain.
“XO, the DCA really saved the day here. This guy deserves a medal.”
“I figured.”
Hearing this, the DCA straightened a little, fully convinced now that he had done well.
“Okay, Weaps, so what happened in the VLS?”
“High temp alarms. Deluge system flooded it. Eductors drained the water overboard so we do not have a flooding problem.”
“Are the temps high now?”
“No.”
“Has anyone gone in there?”
“Not yet.”
“Okay we’ll get to that later. What is in there?”
“We have SM-2 surface to air missiles, Tomahawks, and four Vertical Launch ASROC torpedoes.”
“Damn, loaded for bear, huh?”
“Yeah. We’re deploying soon. We loaded out in Yorktown right before coming out here.”
“Okay. Listen gentlemen, I need you or a trusted representative here so that I can be in communication with you during this evolution. How are we coming, Senior Chief?”
“Ready, sir,” De Napoli answered.
Now Normandy’s XO, weapons officer, DCA, and all of Detachment Norfolk stood in a semicircle around Lieutenant Commander January. Ash and Zeke were prepped to go downrange. Each resembled a medieval knight dressed in olive drab bib and pants with Kevlar lining. They would each complete the ensemble with spacesuit-like helmets before exposing themselves to the missile.
“Okay. Ash is the P-1, Zeke P-2. I suspect we already know what the procedure is based on what the TECHDIV gave us, but we need a good recon to ensure we know up close and personal the status of the missile. They have already secured all electronic emitters except for their commercial surface radar, and that doesn’t pose any danger of setting this thing off with its e-mers.”
“E-mers?” the DCA inquired.
“EMR. Electromagnetic Radiation. We don’t know how this weapon is going to behave after the accident. It may receive a signal from EMR that may cause it to fire.”
“Damn, I knew we used our EMCON bill when transferring some types of ammunition, but I didn’t think an accident….”
“Oh yeah, but more on that later, DCA. We gotta get going. We’ll be using hardwire comms. Ash, Zeke, you guys ready?”
“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.
“Well, let’s get going.”
Normally at night, ships at sea only illuminate their navigational lights. Normandy now had all of her deck lights on to draw attention to herself and to give the EOD Techs some additional light to work with. On the bridge they passed word on Marine Band channel 16 warning all other ships to stay clear.
With their helmets in place, Ash and Zeke shuffled like toddlers bundled up for a day in the snow. They stepped through the hatch on the quarterdeck, and headed down the port side aft, to the VLS. Ash carried the response pack and Zeke brought the Mark-36 tool kit, spooling out the hard wire from the communications set.
Zeke set the comms box next to the helo, placed the tool kit on the deck and opened it.
“Anything else?”
“Nah, I’m good,” Ash responded, his voice fogging the face shield. Zeke leaned over to the microphone and raised his voice.
“P2 coming back up range.”
“CP, copy.”
Ash surveyed the scene. The whole aft VLS looked eerie. The deck lights cast long shadows over everything and reflected off water sloshing on the deck as the ship rolled. The helicopter hissed and dripped. The missile that had once been bright white and orange was now definitely black.
The flight deck photo that the weapons officer provided was accurate. No explosive residue or fuel steamed out of the round. The missile appeared to be held firm underneath the missile ejection rack which seemed firm on the pylon protruding from the helo’s fuselage.
“P1, CP.”
“P1.”
“P2 is back in the CP”
“P1.”
Ash stepped up to the missile with a flashlight in one hand and a pen and notebook in the other. He aimed the beam right on the seam where the MER met the pylon and where the missile met the MER. The seams were tight. Ash could not see the cable that sent the signal to the missile when the pilot squeezed the trigger.
Ash stepped back again. He drew a quick diagram on his notebook of the general layout of the missile. Next he pulled out the digital camera from his tool kit. He took several photos of the missile from different angles and several photos of the general layout of the scene.
“CP, P1. Initial look is as expected. Looks cooked.”
“CP, roger. Have you pinned it yet?”
“Damnit. Negative. Wait one.”
Ash went over to the response pack and pulled out two toggle pins. Stepping back to the helo, he pressed a button on the end of each and slid them into two holes on the MER. After releasing the button, he gently tugged on each to ensure they’d hold. Now the missile ejection rack would not accidentally release the missile or drop from the aircraft.
“CP, P1. Pins in.”
“Good P1, Look for the battery box. See if that’s an option.”
“Roger.”
Ash shined his light on the missile again. He found the first seam where the nosecone of the missile met the main body of the weapon. From there, he guestimated eight inches back. He put his hand to the deck, soaking it with water. Ash rubbed the missile body where he thought the battery panel was. It was still warm to the touch, but Ash was able to rub off enough burnt paint to find the edge of the panel.
“CP, P1. I found it. Anything else I need to do before I come back?”
“Negative. If you’re ready, come on home.”
NINE
Back in the CP, Ash stripped off all of his protective gear. Sweat ran off him like he was a melting snowman. January noticed it right away.
“Get some water, Ash. Calm down some, then we’ll talk about your recon.”
“Okay, sir. Check out the photos in the camera.”
January called to his team ten minutes later.
“Okay guys, circle up,” said January. “Willy suggested a plan that I like. It’s KISS — keep it simple, stupid. Everyone, lets’ see if we can shoot holes in it. Step one, we go down and remove the carts, putting them into a CMC.”
“What’s a CMC?” asked the XO.
“Closed metal container, sir, like an ammo box. It keeps the emers out.”
“Got it.”
“I talked with the pilot and he says they have the missile’s shipping crate in the helo hangar. We’re going to put it back in.
“First we access the battery compartment, disconnect the battery and put it in the emer safe plug on the two open ends. The aircrew has the plugs also. We’ll close the panel back up for good measure.
“Okay, next we set the missile crate right underneath it. To do this we’ll need two A-frames and two chain falls. Essentially, we lift the crate up under and around the missile. Then we disconnect it from the MER. It will fall a fraction of an inch to the bottom of the crate. Once it is free we lower the falls enough to put the lid on, then lower it down to the deck.”
The XO, weapons officer, DCA, and each member of the detachment quietly visualized each of the steps. The DCA spoke first.
“I have falls. I don’t have A-frames. But, I could make them. Heck, we could make you a tripod.”
“Actually better,” said January.
“How high?”
“Six feet,” Ash piped in. “Six feet will do plenty.”
Bailey, silent until now, rubbed his chin as he thought.
“I have a question.”