An impatient glance at the Israeli garnered a somber response.
“I don’t expect to use my veto unless you violate the agreed-upon weapon parameters,” the Aman officer said. “Otherwise, don’t expect me to say a word.”
“Just verifying,” Jake said.
He turned his head and watched Remy fidget with his screen and glance at the young technician beside him who assigned the targeting solution to the torpedo.
“I’m getting you a targeting solution.”
“You had a high bearing rate and knew its speed,” Jake said. “It should be a slam dunk.”
“It is,” Remy said. “I’ve got a range now. Six miles. The weapon is ready.”
“The ship is ready,” Henri said. “Are you planning to evade after shooting?”
Jake grunted.
“Evade from a deaf Shaldag? No. But from the submarine I hope is out there trying to protect it, yes. I’ll turn left one hundred and twenty degrees after shooting.”
“Understood.”
“But before we shoot, I want to aim ten degrees to the right of the target.”
The toad-head turned, stopped at a profile, and then mouthed the sonar guru’s understanding.
“I assume you want to shoot wide and steer the weapon back from a waypoint,” Remy said.
“Yes.”
“Would you like me to program the waypoint in case the wire breaks?”
“Yes,” Jake said. “Good recommendation. Eight miles out.”
“That’s farther than the target,” Remy said.
“I know,” Jake said. “I want the weapon to pass the target and come back. Eight miles.”
Remy watched over the young technician seated beside him as he made the guidance updates.
“The waypoint is set to eight miles out,” he said.
“Very well,” Jake said. “Shoot tube one.”
The pneumatic impulsion system beyond sight in the forward compartment thrust a weapon into the sea while sucking air into its piping. The rapid pressure change popped Jake’s ears.
“Tube one indicates normal launch,” Remy said. “I have wire control. I hear its propeller.”
“How long is the expected run before the seeker awakes?”
“Thirteen minutes,” Remy said.
“Left ten-degrees rudder, steer course two-eight-zero,” Jake said.
As the deck angled and settled, Henri crossed the control room and stood beside Jake.
“I think I know what you’re doing, but can you verify it?”
“Ye of little faith,” Jake said.
“No need for quoting Christ,” Henri said. “And I didn’t come here to pray with you, in case you were worried about it. I don’t sense pending death since our slow-kill weapons haven’t killed anyone yet.”
Jake checked his memory and frowned.
“We sank a North Korean submarine with a slow-kill.”
“I rather choose to believe that the North Korean submarine commander opted for suicide. We gave him more than adequate time to save his crew.”
“It’s a gray area, but I’ll agree with you for the sake of argument,” Jake said. “What would you like me to verify?”
“The waypoint is unnecessary for a deaf patrol craft. In fact, it extends the time to impact by almost five minutes. I would call it folly except that you’re taking a hidden variable into account, and I suspect that variable is a submarine we have yet to detect.”
“Go on.”
“I think you’re intentionally keeping our weapon in the water longer than necessary as a fishing expedition. You want to see if you can entice action from a hidden submarine by running our torpedo around the seas fifty percent more than needed.”
“Good guess,” Jake said. “That’s part of it. I’m also fishing farther north, closer to the blockade, as the point for our seeker to awake. Maybe that can catch us a submarine’s response.”
Henri frowned.
“I don’t like intentionally calling attention to ourselves.”
“Neither do I, but I don’t want to come up empty on Israeli submarines before Terry and Dmitry get here. I need to learn something about their presence, and I’m taking the risk.”
The Frenchman swallowed and assumed a shade of pale.
“On second thought, maybe we should pray.”
“You go ahead. I don’t see the need.”
“You’re still Christian, are you not?”
“Muddling through. But you can’t pray all the time, or else you wouldn’t leave time for anything else.”
“True, but I’ll do so anyway — silently at my station.”
The mechanic returned to the ship’s control panel.
Minutes later, the sonar expert broke a silence.
“Our weapon has reached its waypoint and is turning back for the target.”
“Very well,” Jake said. “Is the target still dead in the water?”
“Yes,” Remy said. “It must be inspecting a fishing vessel.”
“That’s what I was hoping for,” Jake said. “Sometimes, you need to have a little luck.”
He moved to the central plotting table and watched the icon of the torpedo pursue that of the patrol craft.
“Get tube two ready for the Shaldag,” he said.
“Tube two is ready,” Remy said.
“I may soon ask you to track the Shaldag and steer two weapons towards it,” Jake said. “So be ready.”
“We’re ready,” Remy said. “Our weapon’s seeker just went active. No sign of a reaction from the target.”
“This could get interesting,” Jake said.
“Detonation in thirty seconds,” Remy said.
Jake hoped for a hit, but hoped for something more — his victim’s perfect evasion.
“The target’s accelerating,” Remy said.
“That’s what I’m looking for,” Jake said. “Get me a course and speed.”
“Coming to flank, smartly. Bearing drift is to the right.”
“Steer our weapon sixty degrees to the left.”
“That’s pointing back at us,” Remy said.
“It’s far enough away. Impart the steer. Also, assume flank speed for the target and give me a course as you resolve the bearing rate.”
Remy nodded, and Jake waited while his tactician transformed sounds into information.
“I have a bearing rate and a solution I’m sending to the Subtics system.”
“Status on tube two?” Jake asked.
“The solution is ready,” Remy said. “The weapon is ready.”
“Shoot tube two.”
As the soft whine and pressure change hit Jake’s ears, he considered the geometry of the battle. His adrenaline kicked in when he grasped a possibility.
Henri joined him at the chart.
“What do you see?”
“A perfect evasion,” Jake said. “That patrol craft put our torpedo on the edge of its baffles while trying to slide sideways out of the acoustic seeker’s kill zone.”
“I see. That’s the same geometry we use when we run from torpedoes. Given that ship’s speed, it will outlast our first weapon’s fuel reserves.”
“Not if our second weapon slows it down enough,” Jake said. “It’s running right into it.”
“Nicely done. Even for you, that trap was impressive.”
Jake smirked.
“Maybe, but even an old French mechanic saw it coming.”
“I don’t know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult,” Henri said.
“Compliment. Hold on.”
Jake swung his hips around the table and positioned himself behind Remy’s chair. The sonar ace lowered one of his ear muffs.
“Let the young kids track the target and our torpedoes,” Jake said. “You know what I need you to do, right?”
“Listen for a hostile submarine in all directions,” Remy said.
“Yes.”
“I already am. You could slow to four knots to help me out.”