“Then he’ll know I’m here under false pretenses.” How curious, Snow thought, referring to Caesar that way. Ships are automatically women. They become a she to the men who sail them. And here’s a computer that’s already been christened a male… even referred to that way. “Here.” He handed her a list. “Caesar’s going to conduct surface exercises with me today. From here on there’s nothing more than seventy-five meters of ocean under us.”
Her eyebrows raised as she scanned the list. “It’s easy enough to have Caesar do all this. It’s part of his program, but is it a good idea to override him in the middle of all this? Are your OODs ready…?”
“I think so. Anyway, I’ll be in the control room as soon as you get started. One of the first things the OOD will do is call me up there. If it looks too bad, I’ll ask you to put him back on the line.”
“What if any Soviet units approach when his sensors are down?”
“I’ve already talked with Andy Reed. He’s taken over the guard. No problem. If you accept the way I drive submarines, I’ll put all my faith in you and your friend, Caesar.”
“Fair enough. Let me call up the damage control program.” Waiting for Caesar to bring up the detail she requested, the thought that had been on her mind since they left the fishbowl finally erupted. It had been on the tip of her tongue so many times before. “None of you have ever sailed with a woman before, but is anyone going to accept that it’s finally happened?”
“Not on a submarine.” There was no change of expression.
“That’s not what I mean.”
“If I have to sail with a computer, I guess I can sail with a woman.”
“That’s still not what I mean. You know damn well I’m getting tired of the men staring at me. Some of them, the old-fashioned sailors, hate having a woman aboard. Some are curious, and… and I suppose some of them are just plain horny. I don’t know that I like that… I mean I know I can’t do anything about anyone’s attitude. Oh, I don’t know what I mean.” She sighed, her eyes still on the screen. “I guess it’s a lot like being the only black person surrounded by whites. I’m not scared of anyone… oh, do you see what I’m driving at?” It seemed impossible to put into words.
Snow was immediately uncomfortable. His answer was dry and elusive. “The captain’s supposed to be available to everyone aboard and listen to every problem.” He chewed at his lower lip for a moment. “Frankly — since you’re so frank — I was really hoping you wouldn’t bring it up, ’cause I wasn’t quite sure how to answer it… and I’m still not.” Snow folded his arms. “Do I bother you… personally?”
“No, that’s not it… not really.” The menu ran down the screen before her. She responded by typing more detail on the keyboard. It was easier to study the screen than to look at Snow. “Actually, I rather like you, Captain. And this isn’t the place for that, is it?” She poked at the keyboard again, then turned. “That’s why I wondered how long you’d been standing behind me. I don’t want you to think I’m paranoid, and I don’t want you to think I’m standoffish.”
Snow’s expression was an answer. “Well, that’s a different attitude than I’ve noted among any of the other members of the crew lately. It’s almost unheard of for any crew member to tell the captain whether or not they like him. As far as the crew’s attitude, it was probably something I would have avoided mentioning for another day or two myself.” What the hell else do you say, he wondered? This is why women have been barred from warships… what with the navy’s Victorian attitude toward women. “Since I am this ship’s only captain, I should have an answer for everything you’re thinking. I don’t,” he concluded with finality.
“I’m not the last unicorn, but I’ve been feeling more like one since we got underway.” She looked at him curiously, then turned back to the screen. “Enough said. Caesar says he’s ready.”
“Start at the head of that list. We’ll secure Caesar’s transmission lines forward of frame two hundred and try a fire in the forward pump room.”
Within moments, the familiar “Captain to the control room” echoed through Imperator. By the time Snow arrived in control, the OOD had employed remote control to secure the pump room area. Electrical cross-connections had been completed to check temperatures in the area. The drill was effective. If high temperatures had actually been recorded in any space, automatic sprinklers would have activated until a fire-fighting team took control. At the same time, engineers would have been at work restoring Caesar’s control to that section of the ship.
With the crew normally functioning in the after third of Imperator, more than eight hundred feet existed that were controlled mostly by a faceless, soulless computer. Remote sensors were therefore critical to normal operations. Computer monitoring became essential. Secondary units provided a backup to Caesar, their main purpose being to signal breaks or interruptions in the submarine’s engineering integrity. If Caesar was unable to respond to an emergency, his provisional features included a report to the control room concerning those areas of Imperator no longer under his protection.
Snow had always been an authoritarian, one who had determined that the best way to manage a submarine was by leaving no doubt about his absolute control. He was convinced Imperator’s size required a captain who exercised his powers without the slightest doubt in his own ability. Snow’s talents were legendary in the submarine force and the respect for him when he returned soon expanded into a sense of awe.
Snow’s normal method of command was to remain aloof, giving orders when needed, allowing his subordinates generally to manage the ship’s affairs. These exercises allowed him to develop a better grasp of each individual’s capabilities. It was one of the few times he actually became a part of the crew and involved himself in their exercises.
The commander of the marine unit, Colonel Campbell, joined them in the control room since the forward spaces now became the responsibility of his men. Campbell knew very little about submarines but before the day was over, he left no doubt with Snow that his men could manage the forward section of the ship in an emergency.
Each of Snow’s watch sections had the opportunity to respond to fires, flooding spaces, collisions, torpedo ruptures, steering failures, reactor scram, and a shopping list of other emergencies. Operational control was lost three times. Each time Caesar concluded that Imperator would also have been lost. He provided a printout of alternate methods to bring him back on-line shortly after he reported the submarine sunk each time.
The final exercise expanded Snow’s confidence in Caesar. He was shut down completely throughout the ship. The only access remained down in computer control with Carol Petersen. Communications to various sections of the boat gradually failed. Power winked out. Air grew stagnant. The loss of sensors left them blind to the world outside. Losing Caesar was akin to shutting off the sun. An aircraft carrier of the same size could continue through the wits and courage of the six thousand men aboard. The sixty people who sailed Imperator were unable to respond to their ship’s needs as Caesar slowly failed.
The sensation was eerie, similar to a large, complex city slowly coming to a standstill — subways, buses, construction, light, sound, everything would eventually disappear until decay hung ominously in the air. The pervasive whisper of silence was the most frightening. Under normal conditions, man naturally integrated with the hum of his environment until it became inaudible. As Caesar shut down, no different than a great city coming to a halt, the sense of doom became overwhelming. There was loneliness in place of confidence; a void supplanted the feeling of protection and well-being. Snow and each person aboard now understood Caesar’s significance in their lives. Caesar could give and Caesar could take away. He was their heart and soul. The sense of dependency, even for Hal Snow, was disconcerting.