“Correct. So, you’d be in the semi-circle behind our line of sight to the Reagan?”
“Yes, sir.”
Chan recognized that Gao seemed electrified — everything his underling had learned about submerged warfare blossomed at the needed moment.
“Agreed. And now, assuming they’re in that semi-circle, would you launch every available weapon in an equally-spaced spread into that semi-circle? Slow-speed searches to distract them and possibly sink them while we creep away at four knots to the east?”
“Yes, sir. Brilliant! Exactly!”
“You’d also shoot two weapons at the Reagan, per plan, in case the message to Kilo three-six-six was a ruse. If questioned later in that event, we could say that we heard a transient sound to the west, suspected an enemy submarine, launched our salvo, and evaded.”
“Yes, sir!”
Whirring electronic sounds caressed Chan’s ear as he realized his conversation of whispers had culminated with Gao’s outburst. He patted his executive officer on the back, walked to his chair, and sat.
“You know what to do, Gao,” he said. “Make it happen.”
“Any sign of reaction from the Romeo?” Jake asked.
“No, Jake,” Remy said. “Our torpedo is going right at them. It’s still six minutes out, but it’s a kill shot unless they run soon. Even then, you could steer it and accelerate it after them.”
Henri stood from his panel and joined Jake by the charting table. He leaned and whispered, surprising Jake by speaking in French.
“Why not end this? You’re testing fate. Accelerate the weapon and launch two more, one each on a lag and lead angle, to bracket the target. Maneuver in closer to tighten the shots. You’re too far away.”
“No.”
“For God’s sake, why not? If you’re not going to do that, at least back off and let a helicopter finish this.”
Jake grabbed Henri’s starched shirt and, in his anger, switched to English.
“Do you see me flinching? When you know instinctively when to shoot and when not to, you can command your own submarine. Until then, do what I say or relieve yourself. Am I clear?”
The Frenchman nodded, and Jake released him.
“Get back to your station.”
“Torpedo in the water,” Remy said. “Air-dropped. And now another on a different bearing.”
Jake glanced at the lines on the chart corresponding to the weapons’ sounds. He recognized them as attacks on the two Song-class submarines.
“All submarines are accelerating,” Remy said, “except the Romeo. The remaining Yuan doesn’t have a torpedo chasing it, but it’s only a matter of time, I imagine.”
“Very well,” Jake said.
“And there’s the torpedo dropped over the Yuan,” Remy said. “Except for the Romeo, every Chinese submarine is under attack and running.”
“Is our torpedo active yet?” Jake asked.
“Not yet,” Remy said. “Three and a half minutes until the seeker awakes.”
“Very well,” Jake said. “This will be over soon.”
“Torpedo in the water!” Remy said. “Multiple weapons and launch transients from torpedo hydraulic systems. All from the Romeo.”
“Did they launch at the Reagan, finally?” Jake asked.
“Yes, I think so. I don’t know. I mean…”
Remy’s face contorted in the agony of ignorance mixed with the wonderment of awe.
“What is it Antoine?” Jake asked.
“This is the largest torpedo salvo I’ve ever witnessed. Ever.”
“That ship has eight tubes,” Jake said.
“And I think they just unloaded them all. I can’t track them all in my head, and Subtics integrators will need time to generate solutions for you.”
“But do they all have bearing rate?” Jake asked.
“Most, but one is at near zero bearing rate. And one is on our right bearing left.”
“Shit.”
“Jake, they’ve sent torpedoes in multiple directions and multiple targets. I don’t understand.”
“But one, maybe two is a threat to us?”
“Yes,” Remy said.
“Forget about the rest,” Jake said. “Focus on the two that we care about.”
Remy nodded and tapped the sailor seated beside him. Jake watched them split responsibilities to make sense of the two weapons of concern.
As a dark cloud crept up Remy’s face, Jake’s concern became fear.
“The zero rate weapon is drawing aft now,” Remy said. “But there’s still one on the right, drawing left.”
“Do you have a solution to it yet?”
“Yes,” Remy said. “A perfect shot to intercept us.”
CHAPTER 32
Jake bowed his head, unleashed evasion scenarios into his mental optimization machine, and prayed for wisdom to make the right move.
“Left ten-degrees rudder,” he said. “Steer course two-zero-five.”
From the corner of his eye he watched a Taiwanese sailor wiggle a joystick. The submarine’s angling deck forced him to shift his weight, and his stomach felt nauseous as Henri turned in his chair.
“This is hardly an evasion maneuver,” Henri said. “You must be decisive. Use a flank bell with countermeasures. We can get away from this weapon if you act quickly.”
Jake lifted his chin.
“We will evade,” he said.
“Then do something!”
“I am, you son of bitch. I’m relieving you.”
“You can’t. You need me.”
Jake swung his nose at Lieutenant Commander Jin.
“I assume you have a man qualified to handle the ship’s control station?”
“I do,” Jin said. “I have several. But my best man is not as good as Henri.”
Jake lowered his gaze and inhaled to calm himself against his rising heartbeat. He lifted his chin again and sought his colleague’s affirmation.
“Henri, my old friend. If you’ll take care of your job and trust me, I’ll get you and everyone else out of this mess, like I always have.”
“At least explain your intent,” Henri said. “If I am to trust my life to it.”
“If you trust Antoine, you’ll believe in his estimates of course and speed for the incoming torpedoes.”
“He’s the best,” Henri said. “But I still fail to see why you would take measures short of a complete sprinting evasion.”
Jake watched a crosshair on the chart trace a slow, wide arc away from the Romeo and its torpedoes.
“I kept our distance from the Romeo out of caution,” Jake said, “and that gives us time to evade its torpedoes without accelerating or using decoys. They have no idea we’re out here, and I’m going to keep it that way so that they can’t steer a weapon towards us.”
“I see,” Henri said. “And if I trust Antoine’s solutions to their torpedoes, we are in no danger.”
Henri relaxed and faced his panel, but across the control room on its port side, Remy twisted backwards in his chair and waved a finger towards Jake.
“What’s wrong, Antoine?”
“The Romeo is turning away. I hear down-Doppler on their screws.”
“Maintaining speed at four knots?”
“Yes,” Remy said. “I think so. I will confirm after they finish turning.”
“They’re heading deeper into the ocean.”
The sonar expert’s brow furrowed.
“I agree, but I just realized something,” Remy said. “I don’t hear any sounds of weapons reloads. They seem to be content with empty torpedo tubes.”