His copilot nodded. “Piece-o-cake, boss.”
“Good. Now, go ahead and make your reports.”
The copilot keyed her radio. “SAU Commander, this is Firewalker Two-Six. I am prepping for my attack run, over.”
“SAU Commander, aye. Good hunting.”
About a minute later, the Sensor Operator reported that the weapon was ready to drop. “Standing by to launch on your order, sir.”
“All right, let’s do this,” the pilot said. He nudged the stick forward, pitching his aircraft into a dive. “Weapon away on my mark”
“Aye-aye, sir.”
The copilot punched a button. “Flares away.” Two brilliant flashes of light appeared at the edges of their peripheral vision and rapidly fell away behind the aircraft.
In the darkness the ocean was invisible. But it was down there all right, rushing up to meet them at breakneck speed.
“Stand by …” the pilot said, watching the numbers on his altimeter unwind. “Launch — now, now, NOW!”
The Sensor Operator smashed his thumb down onto the firing button, and the aircraft lurched as the torpedo dropped clear. “Weapon away, sir!”
The pilot pulled back on the stick, and the helo began to climb. “Pack a bag, kids, ’cause we are out of here!”
The copilot punched another button. Two more flares ignited and fell away into the darkness. “Flares away!”
“Here it comes!” the Sensor Operator shouted. “Missile-emergence, bearing one-three-six!”
“Holy shit!” Lieutenant Brody said as he jogged his aircraft into a sharp bank to the left, still fighting for every inch of altitude he could get. “The welcoming committee doesn’t fuck around!”
Something caught his attention at the lower threshold of his hearing.
His copilot was mumbling something. Her words were very soft, and he had to strain to make them out over the hammering of the rotors. “Hail Mary, full of grace … Hail Mary, full of grace … Hail Mary, full of grace…”
He looked over his left shoulder. “Where’s the missile?”
“I don’t know, sir!” the SENSO said. “I lost it!”
“Well find it!”
Below them, a circle of the night sky flashed yellow-white as the heat-seeking missile homed in on one of the flares and detonated.
“See that?” Lieutenant Brody said. “No big deal when you fly with the pros.” His cocky tone of voice gave no hint of the fact that he’d just been hit by a nearly overpowering urge to urinate.
The SENSO held his headphone closer to his ear. “We’ve got weapon startup, sir.” A few seconds later, he added, “Looks like good placement, sir. The weapon has already acquired.”
For the briefest of instants, a patch of ocean two thousand feet below lit up like daylight.
“Bull’s-eye!” the Sensor Operator shouted. “Loud underwater explosion with multiple secondaries! I think we just bagged us a submarine!”
“Outstanding!” Lieutenant Brody said. “Now comes Miller Time …”
His copilot looked at him. “Now comes what?”
“Miller Time,” the pilot said. “You know … the old beer commercials…”
Lieutenant (jg) Schramm shrugged. “Must have been before my time, boss.”
The pilot raised an eyebrow. “It all becomes clear, now. You’re the brilliant young Jedi apprentice, and I’m the toothless old codger who must educate you in the ways of the Force.”
“I don’t know about the toothless part,” the copilot said, “but the rest of it sounds dead on the money.”
“Uh … sir?” the SENSO said. “I hate to interrupt all that official pilot talk, but I think I’m getting a sniff on the third submarine.”
The pilot stared over his right shoulder. “Get out of town, kid.”
“I’m not joking, sir. Buoys three and four are coming up hot. I’ve got narrowband tonals consistent with a Type 212 diesel submarine. I think the other member of this wolfpack is about to crash the barrier.”
“You’re not shitting me?”
The SENSO’s eyes were locked on his display. “No, sir. This guy is getting stronger all the time.”
The pilot looked over at his copilot. “You wouldn’t happen to have a spare torpedo in your pocket, would you?”
“Afraid not.”
“Damn it!” the pilot said. “Make the call to the SAU Commander.
Tell him we’ve got another sub in our sights, and we are fresh out of torpedoes!”
USS Towers:
Chief McPherson listened to Firewalker’s contact report and shook her head. Ingraham was the only unit left that was capable of engaging the sub. But the frigate was not equipped with ASROC. Ingraham would have to close the submarine to within a few thousand yards and conduct a torpedo attack using her over-the-side torpedo tubes. An iffy proposition at best. The last place a surface ship wanted to be was within weapons range of a hostile submarine.
The chief stared at the dark screen of the powerless CDRT as if it still had the capacity to show her something. If she’d been in Commander Culkins’ shoes, she would have launched Gunslinger Four-One. Of course, the launch itself would take about five minutes. Add to that another ten minutes for the helo to get into attack position. Fifteen minutes minimum before the helo would be able to engage the submarine.
Fifteen minutes was a long time. The sub could launch more Vipers, or it might disappear again. Commander Culkins wouldn’t want to take that risk. He would go after the submarine himself, despite the risks.
Perhaps thirty seconds later, the SAU Commander responded to Firewalker’s contact report, and all of the chief ’s predictions came true.
“Firewalker Two-Six. All units, this is SAU Commander. Your contact designated Gremlin Zero Four. Maintain track and pass targeting data to all units. Break. All units, this is SAU Commander. Ingraham is detaching from the formation to pursue and engage Gremlin Zero Four.
Wish us luck, over.”
Chief McPherson’s eyes stayed glued to the useless screen of the CDRT. “Come on, baby,” she whispered quietly. “You’ve got the ball.
Now bring it on home to mama.”
CHAPTER 39
Engineman First Class Donald Sebring, the Engineering Officer of the Watch, stared at a cluster of instruments on the Propulsion and Auxiliary Control Console. “Oh, come on, not now …”
He keyed his mike. “Bridge — CCS. We’ve got high vibrations on the output side of the main reduction gears. In accordance with standard EOSS procedures, recommend slowing one major speed while we investigate.”
The reply came almost immediately, but it wasn’t the bridge; it was the commanding officer. “CCS, this is the Captain. Conduct your investigation but do not reduce speed. You are directed to maintain speed at all costs.”
The captain’s words took Sebring by surprise. Maintain speed? The casualty response was clearly outlined in the Engineering Operational Sequencing System. EOSS called for a reduction in speed while investigating out-of-tolerance vibrations. Didn’t the CO realize that he was risking the entire engineering plant?