“Damn, Liam. We wounded one. We may survive this.”
“I wasted seven rounds when that vampire veered off course. I’m adjusting the cannons. Rounds thirty-three and beyond have a chance.”
A few rounds missed, but then the nearest CY-2 missile veered again. This time, it stayed dead.
“Round thirty-eight is a hit!” Walker said. “Splash one vampire! Engaging the next closest CY-2.”
“Very well, Liam. Keep it up.”
“Rounds thirty-nine through forty-four are too far away in angular displacement to reach the new target, but rounds forty-five and beyond will be well placed.”
Cahill watched the screen and noticed distances to the missiles dwindling. Assuming wise placement of the vampires’ warheads, he expected the first shots to travel farthest west, boxing him in from behind. The last two weapons would attempt to enclose him from the east, meaning they could drop their payloads any second.
As he considered shifting his cannons to the trailing weapons, Walker spared him the decision.
“Round forty-eight is a hit! Splash Vampire Two. Shifting to Vampire Three. Rounds forty-nine through fifty-four are in flight beyond the angular reach of the new target. Targeting Vampire Three with rounds fifty-five and beyond.”
Cahill pressed binoculars to his face and glared between rails of interlaced steel.
“Can you see it?” he asked. “Either of them? They should be cresting our horizon.”
Walker raised his optics.
“Do you really want an answer?”
“I don’t know.”
“I see one. At least I think I do. It’s just a spec.”
“Better that I don’t look.”
“Eighteen seconds until the first missile overflies us.”
Cahill glanced at his display and noticed that the missiles’ paths aimed at his starboard bow.
“Forget the cannons,” he said. “Coming to all stop. Coming hard to starboard.”
“What are you doing?”
“Turning us ninety degrees to give our laser a clear view of the vampires.”
He verified the status icon indicating that his laser was ready as he tapped a rudder command. The Goliath creaked during its tight turn, and an alarm whined.
“You’re overloading the hydraulic presses on the Specter,” Walker said.
“Damn. Easing rudder to fifteen degrees.”
“Torques have dropped below the limits on the hydraulic joints,” Walker said.
“Very well.”
“The laser is locked onto the nearest CY-2. Five seconds until the target is within laser range.”
“Neither remaining CY-2 is behaving like it’s trying to hit us, is it?”
“Agreed. No active seekers. They’re flying a predetermined course to drop torpedoes in predetermined locations.”
“Then we did the right thing coming for them,” Cahill said.
“In range!” Walker said.
“Fire!”
“Laser is engaging!”
The rumble reminded Cahill of a rocket as the weapons sped across the windows framed by interlaced steel. He watched one bend, crumple, and then tumble into the water.
“Splash Vampire Three!” Walker said. “Targeting the last CY-2 with the laser. Laser is locked on. Five seconds remaining in cool down prior to engaging.”
The final missile followed its predecessors towards the west, crossing the Goliath’s bow.
“Hurry!” Cahill said.
“Engaging.”
The weapon continued its flight.
“That thing’s still in the air!” Cahill said.
“The laser hit it, I’m sure. It just didn’t have time to inflict enough damage.”
“It’s going to drop a torpedo any second. Speed is our ally. Coming to ahead flank and turning left to open range to Vampire Four.”
“I agree, Terry, but we won’t have much time to run.”
Walker nodded to the display.
“The frigate-launched vampires have turned towards us,” he said. “We’ve given their seekers a high-speed target, and we couldn’t escape their search area. Their seekers have acquired us, and they’re coming for us.”
“Then we need to submerge and pray that the CY-2 doesn’t drop its torpedo for many miles to come.”
“Vampire Four just splashed!” Walker said.
Cahill knew better than to ask why. He had either gotten lucky and destroyed the weapons with his laser’s cut, or the missile had dropped its payload before committing suicide.
“Coming to all stop,” he said.
“Terry?”
“To listen.”
He tapped his screen to send his voice to the sonar room.
“Sonar team, listen for a torpedo in the water, bearing two-eight-five.”
The response rang from the loudspeaker.
“The towed array isn’t deployed.”
“I know that. Use the hull array. If there’s a torpedo seeker close enough to matter, you’ll hear it.”
“Nothing yet, sir.”
“Keep listening.”
“Inbound vampires will impact us in three minutes, Terry,” Walker said. “We need to submerge.”
“We may also need to run from a torpedo.”
“I’m engaging the closest vampire with the cannons.”
“Very well.”
Walker’s vocal pitch rose.
“You know this is pointless,” he said. “I don’t know how hard it is to beat a torpedo, but I guarantee you that we don’t have enough firepower, chaff, or luck to escape eight vampires. We’re dead men if you keep us on the surface.”
Cahill agreed.
“Shift propulsion to the MESMA systems. Secure all weapons. Prepare to submerge.”
“Weapons are secured,” Walker said. “Lowering all weapons. Propulsion is shifted to the MESMA systems. All weapons are sealed. The ship is ready to submerge.”
“Submerging the ship.”
He tapped his screen and looked over his shoulder. Behind and below him, bubbles rose from the Goliath’s submerged ballast tank vents under the starboard hull.
“I’m taking in water with the trim and drain pumps to make us heavy,” he said.
“Ten meters,” Walker said. “Eleven. Twelve.”
Bubbles burst from the Goliath’s central tanks under the Specter, and the seas reached the cargo submarine’s beam. As aqua crests lapped the bridge windows, Cahill thought he had orchestrated his escape.
“The Specter is still exposed to the vampires,” Walker said.
“We’re coming down fast. Jake will be fine.”
“I’ve lost communications. I’ve lost track of the vampires. Using the system solution and deduced reckoning, the first vampire will impact in forty seconds.”
“We’ll be under by then.”
“I hope so,” Walker said. “Fifteen meters,”
“We’ll make it.
Water crept up the bridge windows, darkening the sunlight.
“Twenty meters,” Walker said. “The ship is submerged. The cargo is also submerged.”
A wavering voice from the Goliath’s sonar team made Cahill shudder, but he remained calm.
“Torpedo in the water, bearing two-eight-zero.”
“Get us out of here!” Walker said.
“Wait.”
“We need to turn back to the east and run, Terry!”
“Just wait.”
Cahill ran through his checklist of techniques for outsmarting an air-dropped, lightweight torpedo. Silence surfaced as the platinum option. He tapped his screen.
“All hands rig for ultra-quiet,” he said. “Nobody move or touch anything.”
The mission commander’s assuring concurrence came as a soft semi-whisper in the loudspeaker. Despite the intentional low volume, the speaker sounded more angry than afraid.
“Good call, Terry,” Jake said. “I agree. We’ll stay quiet until we have the upper hand on these assholes again.”