“Too many to count. Thirteen ships of our navy sacrificed all for the future of their nation. So, we cozied up to Simbirsk on one of her magical appearances, and as I said, we followed. We needed a stabler platform because of the dangers of riding the old girl to this world, so we sent in our newest, strongest asset—”
“The Rostov-on-Don,” Jack answered for him.
“Yes, very good, Colonel. She is strong and very capable as you just learned, and she can submerge to escape the worst of the phase shift forces.”
“Why not just use a phase shift engine inside your submarine and copy the frequency of the transfer when Simbirsk moved?” Jack asked.
“For the simple reason their sciences couldn’t miniaturize the engine — it’s too big,” Henri said with a small chuckle. “They have no choice but to follow Simbirsk wherever she goes. Now that’s a plan, a stupid one, but it is a plan. You people will never cease to amaze me with your reach of power, even though that reach will cost lives.”
Salkukoff didn’t appreciate the Frenchman’s humor or point of view. His face was a mask of anger as he nodded at Farbeaux over their failures of science. He gestured, and several of the commandos approached and placed Jack’s and Henri’s hands behind their backs.
“There, you have successfully exposed our evil plans, Colonel, but there will be no salvation for you or any of the forces you have arrayed against us. You will remain here with these shipwrecked sailors, fighting the Wasakoo for the remainder of your lives, and live a life free of deciding who is evil and who is good in the world. Here, you can be good all you want. With the Simbirsk being immediately destroyed upon my return, there will be no going home for you, Colonel.”
Salkukoff turned and started toward the hatchway leading down into the phase shift engine spaces.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Jack said with a smile, and his voice made Salkukoff stop and turn to face the American and the Frenchman. He tilted his head, not understanding.
Jack moved his hands from behind his back before they could be tied. The Russian commandos seemed amused. Collins tore away part of his shirt, and then that piece was torn into four small strips. Two of these he handed to Henri, who accepted them with a nod. Both men stuffed the torn shirt into their ears and then went to their knees, making the Russians standing around them laugh and smile. Salkukoff was not among them as he realized too late what the American’s plan was.
Every man on the upper deck froze as the large number-three gun turret of the Russian battle cruiser started to rotate and the three barrels rose into the air.
The ancient warship had one last surprise in store for her passengers.
The crew strapped themselves down, men ran to their battle stations, and all were armed to the teeth with weapons as Houston was prepared to give her all to survive. With the detonations that had sounded through their loudspeakers from the surface of the sea, they knew even if they surfaced alive, there was going to be a possible fight.
“Okay, Rodriguez, warm up those pumps!” Thorne turned and looked at his young crew. They were as ready as he could ever hope; the men at their stations didn’t bow their heads in prayer, and there was no panic. They just turned to their duties and prepared for the worst. “All hands, prepare to surface.”
The chief of the boat hit the surface alarm, and the beluga call burst from the loudspeakers.
“Chief, blow all tanks, full rise on the planes, stand by for all-ahead flank, surface the boat!”
Every man aboard winced as the announcement was made. They saw the ballast control officer close his eyes as he blindly hit the aft and stern pumps that would activate the forcing of water from her bulk. Just as the ballast control officer turned the switch, they all heard the expansive explosion of water being forced from Houston’s open vents. The entire complement all closed their eyes when they heard Houston break away from the ledge. But also in accompaniment with the sound of releasing air came the sound they all dreaded. Houston started sliding before her tanks emptied enough to get them up and moving. The scraping and outside noise from her crushing bulk ceased almost as suddenly as it started.
USS Houston slid off the mountain ledge, and her bow dome dipped. The Gray Lady started a spiraling plummet to her death almost three miles down.
At three hundred yards, the defenders inside the mine opened fire. They caught the Wasakoo off guard. The front line of skirmishers was so busy trying to cool themselves with water they never knew what hit them. Thirty-five of the green-tinted creatures went down in the initial volley.
Jenks raised his head and looked. He saw the Wasakoo behind the first line of attackers scramble. However, it didn’t take them long to recover. This time, they didn’t come on slowly; it was as if they knew they were short of time. They charged. A thousand of the hideous-looking species came on while screaming and shaking long, lethal-looking spears at them.
Three grenades were launched down the mountainside, and they rolled right into the center of the Wasakoo advancing line. They exploded. The bodies flew in all directions, but the grenades didn’t have the desired effect of making them think differently about their assault.
Barrels were red hot as the marines kept up their constant fire. But everyone inside the mine’s opening knew they would run out of bullets long before the Wasakoo ran out of spears.
“Well, that does it. Cover me!” Jenks burst from the opening, and then with all the strength he could muster, he threw the smoke canister as far downhill as he could.
On the mountainside, the green smoke popped, and the Wasakoo flinched from the strange attack. They avoided even walking into the billowing cloud.
“I hope Toad shoots straight!” Jenks yelled as he burst back into the opening.
Down below them, the Wasakoo made their last charge.
Everett placed his eye to the powerful scope in the fire directory station two hundred feet above the main deck. At first, he couldn’t even see the mountain, much less the opening of the mine’s entrance. He adjusted the scope, and with one eye closed, he finally saw the green smoke rising from the midway point of the mountain. He made the quick calculation and then entered it into the fire control computer. Computer? He laughed as he thought about it. It was that in name only, as most of the calculations were already made by the operator. He looked down at the wind velocity and saw that it was near zero. The distant target was cross-sectioned, and then the distance was put in.
“God, I hope my math still holds up.” Carl went over to the starboard bulkhead and chanced a look down onto the deck where Jack was attempting to buy him the time they needed. It didn’t look as if the conversation was going well. He also noticed the crew of the Simbirsk was being lined up on their knees. He didn’t like the look of that at all. He noticed one other thing also. The bulk of the remaining Royal Marines were nowhere to be seen. That was the little bit of hope he was waiting for. With luck, those marines knew when to attack. He picked up his radio.
“Commander, are you ready?”
“No, I’m never that anxious to blow myself up. Other than that, the tubes are loaded… I think.”
“Okay, here we go.”
On the main deck, the aft number-three turret started to rotate. As it did, the three sixty-foot-long barrels rose into the air. Carl chanced another look as his commands were now automated. It would be up to Ryan to trigger off the first explosive rounds at an enemy by a heavy cruiser since the Korean War.