“Well, shit,” Jake said. “Russian dolphins one, Goliath zero. I hope they’re out of ammo, because we have no way to stop them.”
“Can you replay the bridge video when they laid their weapons?” Cahill asked.
“Good idea.”
The video ran, showing shadows above his head approaching from outboard, laying the detonators, and turning back the way they had come.
“I don’t know the proper tactical response to that,” Jake said. “They’re silent, armed, and under the control of God knows who.”
“I think I know who.”
Cahill recognized Remy’s voice and his toad-like head as he leaned beside Jake on the Specter’s conning platform.
“All that dolphin noise had been bothering me even before they attacked. I’ve been rerunning the tapes, and there’s definitely a master dolphin giving orders.”
“A master dolphin?” Cahill asked.
“Yes. Whatever it is, it’s definitely a dolphin’s sound. It may be pre-recorded sounds, but it’s not manmade.”
“Do you have a bearing to this master dolphin?”
“I have a series of bearings, yes. I’m tracking the master dolphin at eight knots.”
“What range at that speed?”
“Far. Eighteen thousand yards.”
Cahill checked the tactical display.
“There’s nothing on the surface out there.”
“Right,” Jake said. “It could be some small ship that’s got a sonar system for communication with dolphins. That’s how I’d manage it, if I had attack dolphins.”
“But you don’t have attack dolphins,” Cahill said. “And you don’t have, or didn’t have, a bridge to protect. I’m going to be more pessimistic and say our master dolphin is a Russian Kilo submarine.”
“Yeah, we have to assume that. At least we’re heading in the right direction to get away from it.”
As Cahill allowed himself a glimpse of optimism that he may escape the Black Sea alive, he heard a report from a young sonar operator within the Specter.
“Torpedo in the water!”
Remy disappeared, and Jake’s face became stern.
“Is it an immediate threat to our ship?” Jake asked.
“No, it’s far. But it appears well aimed. On our left, drawing right. It looks like a perfect intercept shot.”
“I don’t have it,” the sonar supervisor said. “Our towed array sonar is still stowed.”
“That’s why we use the Specter’s,” Cahill said.
Remy reappeared next to Jake.
“I’ve confirmed it,” he said. “It’s a dangerous shot. I assume it’s being wire-guided, too.”
“Of course, it’s wire-guided,” Jake said. “That doesn’t bother me when the guiding ship is nine miles away. Even with these annoying scaffold shards still attached to us, they can’t possibly hear us. Are you claiming otherwise?”
“Sort of. I’m listening to the dolphins now. They’re pinging on us, and I’m sure they know where we are.”
Cahill watched Jake rub his forehead.
“Dolphins are pinging on us?” Jake asked.
“As nature intended,” Remy said. “It’s only a small challenge to notice them doing it. I just set the active sonar intercept alerts to the frequencies they use, and voila.”
“So what?” Cahill asked. “How do they tell a human on a submarine our exact coordinates, speed, and bearing?”
“I have no idea,” Remy said.
“Jake,” Cahill said. “Let’s get some insight from Pierre. Let him research what dolphins can do as far as such tactics are concerned. Maybe we can learn something useful.”
“Go ahead and take me shallow so I can link to Pierre,” Jake said. “No need to fear radar when Flipper’s already ratting us out.”
CHAPTER 10
Jake flagged the dolphins for future consideration and focused on the threat he understood.
“Prepare tubes one and two for the Kilo submarine. Prepare tube three for the Grisha.”
“Tubes one and two are assigned to the Kilo,” Remy said. “Tube three is assigned to the Grisha.”
“I want passive search while I have wire control. If I lose a wire, I want the torpedoes to shift to active.”
“That’s tricky, but possible. I’ll need a minute to work through the menus.”
“You’ve got a minute while I turn.”
He looked to his display and needed a second to reconcile Cahill’s face against the background of the Goliath’s tactical control room.
“Terry, point us at the Kilo. I don’t want my torpedoes running into your hulls during their wake up and wire clearance routines.”
“Got it, mate. I’m pointing us at the Kilo.”
Jake grabbed a railing as the deck tilted hard left.
“Easy,” he said.
“I got you. Me hydraulic arms are holding you in place.”
“Sometimes I wonder.”
“We’re facing the Kilo. I recommend you shoot now so we can get back on our evasion course.”
“Shoot tube one,” Jake said.
The torpedo tube’s pneumatic whine filled the Specter’s control room, and the rapid pressure change popped his ears.
“Tube one, normal launch,” Henri said.
“Shoot tube two.”
“Tube two, normal launch.”
“Shoot tube three.”
“Tube three, normal launch.”
The final whine decayed as Jake cleared his inner ear.
“Get us back on the evasion course,” he said.
“With pleasure,” Cahill said.
As the deck tilted hard the other way, Jake ordered the tubes reloaded. Then Renard’s voice came through weak and fuzzy.
“Can you hear me?” the Frenchman asked.
“Barely,” Jake said. “What’s going on?”
“I’m sending you as much data as I can on the tactical feed. The Russians are already attempting to jam our satellite connection.”
“Obviously. You’re cutting in an out. Pierre?”
Static and hissing overcame the Frenchman’s response.
“Pierre?”
“He’s gone, mate,” Cahill said.
“Yeah, I see. Take us back to the surface.”
“We’ll be exposed to aircraft and anti-ship missiles.”
“I know, but we need to get away from these dolphins and the torpedo. We’ll deal with the air threats as they come.”
“Right, then. Taking us to the surface.”
The rise felt imperceptible, but the rhythmic bouncing over the waves confirmed Jake’s desires. The Goliath had surfaced and pushed ahead at maximum speed.
“Thirty-three knots and change,” Cahill said. “Almost thirty-four. The broken stanchions don’t slow us when we’re surfaced, but I’m sure they’ll add drag when we’re below.”
“That’s a problem we’ll deal with later. There’s no time to send anyone topside to clear them.”
“I agree. Take a look at what me phased array sees, and also what Renard’s data feed gave us. His feed identified which ship is which. This is lining up pretty much like we expected.”
Jake’s overhead display showed the entire Black Sea Fleet readying to race towards him.
“This was going to be a narrow escape fighting our way out with both cannons,” he said. “Now we have just one, and that pair of Fencer fighters needs to be knocked out of the sky.”
“They’re less agile than modern fighters,” Cahill said. “We can take them with one cannon.”
“Good. Start shooting.”
The hypersonic crack filled the Specter’s control room.