His second-in-command toggled through screens. “The divers are looking at sediment.”
“That’s all they’ll be looking at until they find something.”
“But look here, sir. The dive ship has something on side-scan sonar.”
Jazani looked at the brownish image of the seafloor and the sunken fishing trawler lying on its side. “That’s no submarine, but it shows the impressive detail the side-scan sonar can render.”
“Real impressive, sir. We could go a little faster if we rely exclusively upon the side-scan.”
The Ghadir’s commander shook his head. “No. Let’s keep the divers in the water.”
“Of course, sir. I’m going to get some breakfast, if you don’t need me for a while.”
“No. Go ahead.”
The executive officer departed.
Alone, Jazani wondered if limiting his search team’s progress to the speed of his divers created an unnecessary delay. After the first hour of searching yielded to the second, the second decayed into the third. His enthusiasm for finding the lost treasure of a wounded American submarine yielded to hope, and then hope decayed into doubt.
A report from a diver distracted the Ghadir’s commander from despair. “I see a kelp forest to the south. We’re going to check it out. Give us an extra thirty meters of line.”
From the surfaced ship, the dive team’s leader objected. “That’s a negative. We need to continue on the search pattern.”
Jazani shot his arm forward and tapped an icon to speak. “Wait! Let them search. Your side-scan sonar can’t see in there.”
“No, but that kelp bed’s too small for an American submarine to hide in. I’ve been over it enough times in my career. It’s barely two miles wide now, and it’s been shrinking over the years while the oxygen levels drop. This gulf is horrible for sea life and only getting worse.”
The marine biology lesson annoyed the Ghadir’s commander. “I want them to look regardless.”
“As you wish. It’s your search, sir.”
Jazani watched the video as the diver approached the undersea foliage. His adrenaline spiked when he saw a matted section pressed against the seafloor.
A diver’s voice carried enthusiasm. “Is that what you were looking for, commander?”
Leaning into his monitor with his unblinking eyes feasting upon a discovery, Jazani smirked. “Absolutely. Walk that depressed area from beginning to end and mark its heading. Tell me what direction that depression runs in. Once you’ve done that, you’ll have solved for the direction of a damaged American submarine.”
“We’ll get it done, sir.”
The Ghadir’s commander switched circuits and hailed his leadership. “Task force commander, this is Shark One. Over.”
A high-pitched voice issued from an overhead speaker. “Shark One, this is task force commander. Go ahead. Over.”
Jazani recognized an underling on his task force leader’s staff. “Where’s the captain?”
“He’s at the morning briefing.”
“It’s urgent. I’ll wait while you get him.”
Through the circuit, the man scoffed. “You seem to have forgotten the rank structure. If you want to schedule time with him, I’ll put your request in the queue, lieutenant commander.”
Jazani inhaled through his nose and exhaled slowly. “Alright, sir. I forgot that you outrank me. I apologize for any disrespect. I request that you have the captain contact me when it’s convenient for him to see the evidence I’ve found of the damaged American submarine.”
“Why didn’t you say that? Learn how to give a report.” The staffer’s speech ended abruptly, but background murmurs from the command center suggested an open line.
A minute later, the captain’s deep voice came through the circuit. “Task force commander. Go ahead.”
“Sir, I know that we wounded the American submarine with our original lightweight torpedo. I know where it’s been, and I know where it’s going. I found the evidence on the seafloor.”
“Can you show me?”
“Yes, sir. If you can get a feed from the dive ship, you’ll see what the divers found. Something dragged a submarine through a kelp bed.”
The task force’s leader aimed his words into the distance. “Get me the feed from the dive ship. Yes, at my console. Right here. Good.” His voice returned to its normal strength. “I’m looking at it now, commander. Sensational… Excellent work. I agree it’s on the bottom and dragging itself or being dragged through shallow waters towards Pakistan.”
Prideful satisfaction billowed throughout Jazani’s chest. “Thank you, sir.”
“I’ll send a helicopter team and a frigate ahead of the target to stop it from reaching Pakistan. I’ll also send the submarines of our southern barrier northeast to give chase. Watch for the orders.”
“What about me, sir?”
“Nothing changes for you. Keep going. You’ll continue searching for the damaged target from behind. We’ve got it boxed in on all sides. But remember to search for its rescue team, both American and mercenary. They’re sure to be coming.”
CHAPTER 14
The prodding annoyed Jake. “Not yet, and stop asking me.”
At the Specter’s control station, the silver-haired Frenchman looked away. “Sorry, Jake. I’ll be quiet.”
A minute later, Jake looked at his colleague and thought the French mechanic might explode from the volcanic strength of his withheld opinion. “Is something on your mind?”
Henri winced as he pleaded. “If you don’t shoot now, I…”
Seeing a chance to turn annoyance into frivolousness at the mechanic’s expense, the Specter’s commander smirked. “Yes?”
The Frenchman sighed and faced his panel. “I’ve never seen you move in so close for a shot… unnecessarily.”
Seated at his captain’s console, Jake glanced at the image in his display. Launched from a littoral combat ship and rendering a slant angle from its flightpath over Omani waters, an MQ-8 Fire Scout helicopter drone had captured a shot of the Iranian dolphins’ mothership. The picture showed cranes swiveling one of the cetaceans towards its mate’s exposed fluke in a holding tank on the fantail. “I’m not ready to sink it just yet.”
The delay seemed to send the Frenchman into a subtle seizure. “I guess this is why you’re in command.”
Jake continued teasing his colleague. “No question about that.”
Henri crossed his arms, stared at numbers on his panel Jake knew he’d committed to memory, and lowered his jaw towards his chest.
To avoid laughing, Jake bit his lip. But a chuckle escaped.
The Frenchman sent him a sideways stare. “What’s so funny?”
“You want to call me names. You want to chastise me for crimes of omission and commission. You want to verbally skewer me. But you’re trying to prove to me, to yourself, and to everyone that you have too much class to do it.”
“I do have too much class.”
“Bullshit. Let it out. Steamroll me with your angst, you old codger.”
Henri turned and waggled his finger. “I’m letting you goad me only because you deserve it.” The silver-haired mechanic caught the toad-headed sonar ace turning red and smirking. “Oh, mind your own affairs, Antoine. If you ever had the nerve to stand up to him, then maybe you’d become incensed once in a while.”
“I just hear everything and report what I hear. No need for arguments from me.”
“That’s because I do all the dirty work, keeping him sane for all of us.”