Taking in the strained silence that possessed the control room’s complement, Exeter prepared himself to accept the consequences of his actions. Instinctively crossing his fingers at his side, he could but pray that he had made the right decision.
Nowhere was the sound of the advancing torpedoes more audible than from the Razorback’s sonar compartment.
Perched before the console, Lefty Jackman clearly heard the dual, high-pitched whines of the pair of Mk-48’s. It didn’t take him much effort to determine which target they were intending to take out. Overjoyed that the Razorback was finally showing some teeth, he glanced to his left as Seth Burke unexpectedly called out, “That other sub, it’s moving!”
Having completely forgotten about this other contact, Lefty hastily switched frequencies. As he tuned into the sector of water that his coworker had been monitoring, he picked up a most familiar, distant, surging noise, the source of which was all too obvious.
“I knew it was that Victor!” cried the Senior Seaman.
“Just listen how they’re high-tailing it out of there! It’s like they can’t get into the open ocean quick enough. I wonder what’s keeping the Skipper from taking them out too?”
The authoritative voice of the XO broke from behind him.
“You’ve got to learn to trust your captain, Mr. Jackman. He know’s what he’s doing. Now, what’s going on with our torpedoes?”
Reaching over to flick on the compartment’s elevated external speakers, Chief Desiante channeled the sound of their attack for each of them to hear. In return, the room filled with the whir of the Mk-48’s as they prepared to make their final run.
As the frequency of this whine increased, a dull, bubbling blast of venting air could be picked up in the background. This was followed by a loud, continuous, vibratory hum. It was Lefty Jackman who identified it.
“They just blew their emergency vents! That hum is the sound of their main engines. Those poor bastards are trying to run for it!”
Each of the men listened to the frantic sounds produced by the diesel-electric sub as it attempted to reverse its ascent and pour on the speed. Yet continuing to overpower this rising racket was the hornet-like whir of the ever-pursuing Mk-48’s.
The XO’s gut tightened when the lead torpedo initiated its final approach. As its signature seemed to merge with that of its quarry, he braced himself for the explosive blast that should follow any second. Yet only a sickening silence ensued.
“The first Mk-48 overshot its mark,” observed Lefty, his tone clearly disappointed.
“We’ve got to get them with this last one!”
Again the XO picked out the high-pitched whine of the remaining Mk-48 as it initiated its final approach.
Drawing in a deep breath, he pulled his pipe from his mouth and nervously bent forward. An eternity seemed to pass, and then the room filled with a thunderous, resounding explosion.
“We got them!” exclaimed Lefty triumphantly.
“Yahoo added Seth Burke.
Hesitant to join in on the celebration just yet, Benton took in the joyous grin on the face of Chief Desiante. Unable to answer it with a smile of his own, the XO wondered if their torpedo had taken down a boat full of innocent men. Doubtful that they’d ever know for certain, he looked down at his watch. Even in the dim light of the sonar compartment, he could see that it was 1200 hours exactly.
The stroke of noon found Richard Fuller emerging onto the plateau that formed the summit of the canyon located immediately south of Ocean Beach Park. There the Nose researcher set his eyes on the back of Miriam Rodgera, who sat on the lip of the rock ledge, her gaze locked on the sea beyond. Without revealing his presence, Richard anxiously scanned the southern horizon.
The sky was a deep, clear blue, the fog having long ago lifted, and he was afforded an excellent view of mountainous Tranquillon Ridge and the hills that surrounded it. Checking his wristwatch, he wondered what was keeping the Condor from lifting off as scheduled. Since this vantage point would offer them an excellent view of the launch itself, it was most evident that there had been some sort of delay. Could it have been caused by something that the Razorback had chanced upon, while plunging beneath the seas off the coastline? Having no way to find out if this was indeed the case, Richard continued on to the summit’s western edge.
“Good afternoon,” he greeted.
“I hope I’m not disturbing you.”
Surprised by this voice, Miriam turned around and spotted her visitor only a few steps away. With that, a warm smile turned the corners of her mouth.
“Well, look what the wind blew in,” she answered.
“To what do I owe this honor?”
Halting at her side, Richard crouched down and kissed her on the lips.
“To tell you the truth, I could think of no place I’d rather be than with you at the moment.”
Catching a bit of weariness in his tone and expression, Miriam cautiously prohed.
“Is everything all right, Richard? You look beat.”
Calmed by her concern, the Nose researcher sighed.
“I guessed I didn’t sleep much last night. It’s the same old frustrating story again, Richard Fuller against the Establishment. You know, things haven’t changed that much since college after all.”
After kissing Miriam once more on her lips, he sat down beside her and angled his glance westward.
Taking in the view of the wide, sloping beach and the frothing surf beyond, he added, “Lord, is this a gorgeous day!”
Miriam followed the direction of his stare.
“I’ll say.
Since we’ve been in Vandenberg, this morning has topped them all. I can’t believe this visibility.”
“It’s as if that tidal wave washed away all the fog,” reflected Richard, who noticed that Miriam had a notebook and pen on her lap.
“I hope I’m not keeping you from your work. Joseph told me I’d find you up here.”
Miriam set the notebook down on the ground beside her.
“I was only making some entries in my journal. It was nothing earth-shattering. How are the kids doing down there, anyway?”
“The last I saw of them, they were digging away at the base of the canyon. That’s a mighty spirited group you’ve got down there, Madame Professor. How do you keep them so motivated?”
Miriam grinned.
“Actually, they do most of it themselves. That’s one thing about the kids today.
When they want something bad enough, they go after it with everything they’ve got. Not even the U.S. Air Force could keep them away from this dig.”
Richard once again checked his watch.
“Speaking of the devil, did you know that the space shuttle was due to be launched five minutes ago? I kind of thought you and I would have the best seat in town.”
“As always, that’s news for me,” returned the archaeologist.
“I didn’t think we were supposed to be seeing a shuttle flight for at least another year.”
“Neither did I,” reflected Richard, who suddenly remembered a fact that he wanted to share with his lover.
“By the way, there might be some sort of archaeological find awaiting you on the sea floor several miles off the coast here. I recently heard that one of the vessels that is searching for the debris of that downed Titan chanced upon some kind of stone monument that appears to be manmade and of great age-Genuinely interested in this revelation, Miriam abruptly turned towards him.
“Exactly where was this formation spotted?”
Most aware that he had her curiosity aroused, Richard pointed out to sea.
“That’s the weird part.