“What about the Liberty, then? That was intentional.”
Jazani delved deeper into his maritime history. “That was more than fifty years ago, and American politicians would do anything to protect their little bitch sister Israel. So, they covered it up.”
“Fine, sir. I can’t think of another example.”
“Then don’t underestimate their anger. We might be able to explain away one attack with a lightweight torpedo. We can say we mistook it for a robot. We can say they got too close to a live-fire exercise and drew the weapon by accident. We can say anything with plausible denial. But if we sink a second, we can’t claim anything but the intent to start hostilities.”
The short officer’s face flushed. “Even in our home waters?”
“Even in our home waters. We’ve already sent the message.”
The short officer scoffed. “Bah! The message. And now they’ve used these mercenaries to sink two of our submarines.”
Jazani considered the toll. After the Virginia-class submarine had helped a Scorpène evade a heavyweight, four of his navy’s submarines had set an undersea blockade preventing the invaders’ return. But the mercenary ship had hit Ghadir-949, slowly sinking it after it surfaced for its crew to escape. To the east, another mercenary submarine had crippled Ghadir-961 after it had launched a heavyweight torpedo at the Scorpène. “They sank only one of them, and everyone survived.”
“You know what I meant, sir. This is combat. Men are allowed to die. The Americans know that, especially when they’re in our waters.”
“Like it or not, you’re deprived of the privilege of philosophy. You have only the duty to follow orders, which brings us back to ours. And they clearly state that we’re not sinking Americans.”
“Understood, sir.”
“You’re still red with anger.”
The executive officer groaned.
“You’re forgetting one thing.”
“What’s that, sir?”
“Within the bounds of this engagement, we’re winning.”
Frowning, the short man glared at his commander’s nose. “How?”
“Assuming we find a damaged Virginia-class submarine, I guarantee you we’ve done more damage to the Americans than they have to us. Two damaged Ghadirs add up to nothing. They’re small and easy to repair or rebuild, but a crippled Virginia is worth a fortune.
“Okay, sir. You’re making a good point. I’ll also concede that we accomplished something when we made the Americans bleed, if we did. They won’t consider themselves invulnerable in our waters anymore.”
“I’m not sure they ever did. Don’t underestimate them. They’re still the biggest and the best.”
Looking away, the executive officer snorted and grinned.
“What’s that for?”
“Bah. I’m overthinking this, sir. And you were right. You made a good point about the trade sanctions. It’s strange that we’re playing deadly cat-and-mouse games with their navy while we’re hoping to expand our trade with them. It’s like we live in different worlds on land and at sea.”
Enjoying the shift to lighthearted matters, Jazani encouraged his subordinate. “Such is economics and warfare. So, if all of the American sanctions were lifted, what’s the first thing you’d buy?”
“That’s easy, sir. I want an iPhone.”
“You can already get them.”
“Yeah, but they’re smuggled in and marked up in price, and I’m always a generation behind. I want the latest and greatest.”
“No kidding?”
“No kidding. We have a great cell network, and I want to make full use of it. What about you, sir?”
Jazani envisioned a flat stretch of straight road outside the naval base of Bandar Abbas. “I want a new Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat.”
“You could find one already if you tried hard enough.”
“In my position as a submarine commander, I don’t think I should be caught owning something from a gray market. I also don’t want to throw my money away paying a gray-market premium.”
“Well, at least you’re dreaming large.”
Jazani reflected over the latest model’s specifications. “Over seven hundred horsepower. It can reach sixty miles per hour in under three and a half seconds.”
“What’s that? Ninety-six kilometers per hour?”
“Roughly.”
“That’s fast. And pointless. Why would you ever need such acceleration in an automobile?”
“For fun. And if you have to ask, you’ll never understand.”
A sonar technician called out. “I hear propulsion sounds of a Virginia-class submarine.”
With a rapid spike of adrenaline, Jazani’s attention returned to his submarine. “Any bearing rate?”
“Slight right.”
“What’s the range if you set the target’s speed to zero?”
“Just under four miles, sir. We’ve been picking up their sonobuoy decoys at three and a half miles.”
Jazani tapped an icon on his console. “I’m slowing us to all stop.” The digital display showed his creeping submarine drifting to motionlessness. “Now what’s the bearing rate?”
“Zero, sir.”
“It’s just another sonobuoy acting as a decoy. XO, radio this in and have a helicopter pluck it from the water. When you’re done with that, get us back up to search speed and take us east into our new patrol waters.”
Thirty minutes later, Jazani took Ghadir-957 eastward, using his submarine’s hydrophones to search for invaders while trusting the side-scan sonar of the nearby dive team’s ship to search the water around him for a damaged American submarine’s skulking hull. He steeled his endurance and patience for a long hunt.
His second-in-command stood and stretched his short frame towards the low overhead. “I assume you want me to run things during the midnight watch section, sir?”
Jazani nodded.
“Then you don’t mind if I run off to get an early dinner and some sleep?”
“Not at all. Come back and relieve me before midnight.”
The executive officer strolled past his commanding officer and out the back of the control room.
Alone with two young sonar technicians, Jazani led his submarine on a slow, disciplined, zigzagging search for hostile ships. Boring time passed without results, and then two new sailors replaced those seated before him.
Hours later, rubbing sleep from his reddened face, the executive officer returned. “What’s going on, sir?”
“Nothing. No signs of anything except commercial shipping.”
“I can’t say that I’m surprised. I’ll wake you if something unexpected happens.”
Jazani stood and stretched. “The watch is yours.”
After a quick dinner, the Ghadir’s commander retired to his stateroom. His sleep was deep, and he awoke refreshed the next morning. When he checked the time, he realized he’d have divers available. He toweled himself down with moist wipes and then hurried to the control room and to his executive officer’s side. “How was the night?”
The short officer was slouched in his seat. “Boring, except for the last hour when they deployed the divers.”
“That’s earlier than expected.”
“Yes, sir. I think they’re excited about the prospect of finding a wounded submarine. They’re on the bottom now. You can call up their video if you want to come shallow.”
Jazani sat. “Yes. I want to come shallow. I want as many eyes on the divers’ feed as possible so that we don’t miss any hard-to-find evidence.” The Ghadir’s commander took his ship upward, and the waves rocked the tiny vessel as he raised its radio mast.