“That was a helicopter, sir. You have a task force of cannons heading for it aboard ships that can survive its railgun rounds.”
“One shot,” Floros said. “One round from a seventy-six-millimeter cannon will end this. That’s all I need.”
“You’ll get it, sir. The Goliath must surface to fight since it can’t avoid the sonar systems you have encircling it.”
“Let’s make sure the circle forms smartly.”
He grabbed a stylus and dragged lines from the southerly combatants and drew them forward in a clamping formation around his enemy’s last surfaced location.
“This is what I want,” he said. “Twenty-five knots speed.”
“Twenty-five, even with anti-submarine zigzag legs?”
“No more anti-submarine legs. This is a race against a clock with that enemy submarine breaking through the southerly line.”
“I will relay the order to the task force, sir.”
Floros leaned over the chart as the chokehold began to subdue his enemy. As the radius of uncertainty to the vandal vessel shrank to less than twenty-five miles, he sought a new perspective of the waters.
“Show me the gunfire coverage for the cannon of each ship in the task force.”
Colored arcs extended from his frigates and gunboats to overlay half the area under which the transport ship hid.
“In an hour, I’ll have the Goliath under complete coverage.”
An icon appeared in a gap between his ships’ gunfire reach.
“Multiple ships have just detected the Goliath’s radar,” the Hydra’s commander said. “We have it located outside of gunfire range of our nearest ship, but I’m receiving several requests to launch anti-ship missiles.”
Floros saw red.
“Have these idiots learned nothing? Offensive missile attacks are feeble unless paired with torpedoes, and nobody’s within torpedo range. Defensive strikes are optimized at three missiles only — no more, no less. I won’t allow an uncoordinated wasting of our anti-ship missiles!”
“I’ll tell them to hold their fire, sir.”
Icons representing supersonic railgun shots peppered the display, and recalling his knowledge about defenses against railguns, Floros grabbed a microphone and sent his voice to his entire task force.
“To all ships,” he said. “This is the task force commander. When targeted by railguns, use evasive maneuvers, pop chaff, energize point defense systems, and combine your shipboard efforts with the support from our early warning and control craft to jam the railgun guidance. The Goliath can be overcome. We have the firepower and the will. Continue driving towards it with all your weapons ready.”
As he lowered the microphone towards its cradle, the images of his enemy’s projectiles flying towards his task force’s easternmost frigate stopped him. He hailed the targeted combatant’s commanding officer and heard the proper amount of fear and tension in the man’s voice.
“I’m under fire, sir.”
Through the radio circuit, he heard the rapid chainsaw rounds of the frigate’s close-in weapon system and the sonic booms of two simultaneous incoming shots. He was relieved that the riot of ripping metal failed to materialize.
“I know, commander. Stay calm. As your first measure of defense, launch three Harpoon missiles at your enemy. Three is the perfect amount to push those railguns back underwater.”
“Three Harpoons. Give me a moment to launch them, sir.”
Floros watched three traces appear on his display.
“Good. You’ll have only two more minutes to deal with incoming railgun rounds.”
“I’m sure you understand that two minutes is a deceptively long time when you’re under fire, sir.”
“I do. Again, stay calm. I think the Goliath’s commanding officer has access to satellite infrared to target you. I recommend that you generate black smoke and circle back underneath the hot cloud to conceal your thermal signature.”
“But that will prevent me from closing range, sir.”
“That’s fine, commander. The rest of the task force will close in while you dodge the incoming rounds.”
“Understood, sir.”
More chainsaw sabots and sonic booms.
“I also recommend you temporarily abandon your engineering spaces. Your propulsion equipment is the Goliath’s preferred target.”
“That’s a negative, sir.”
The next volley of chainsaw sabots and sonic cracks preceded the howling screech of punctured metallic flesh.
“What’s been hit, commander?”
“My bow, sir. The rounds are targeting my bow. I just lost part of my sonar system with that hit. Damage assessment is underway. I’m generating black smoke, but I’ll be exposed for several minutes while I turn back under the cloud.”
“Why isn’t your jamming working? You’re using your organic systems and getting assistance from an electronic warfare aircraft. The Goliath can’t guide its rounds throughout their entire flights. You must be creating some jamming effect.”
“I am, sir, but the accursed rounds are moving at Mach 7. Even when I jam their last miles of flight, I can’t move my ship out of the way fast enough. Until I get under my smoke screen, I’m exposed, and the Goliath will hit what it targets.”
“How’s your close-in weapon system doing?”
“As well as yours, sir. It can take down one incoming round but not the second of a salvo.”
“Very well, commander. You may take a few more rounds before you’re under your smoke screen, but I trust you’ll control any damage you may take.”
Returning his gaze to the overhead view of the battle, Floros dwelled on the Goliath’s new goal — sonar. The enemy commander was proving shrewd and adaptive.
“He’s developed a new tactic,” he said.
“What tactic?” the Hydra’s commander asked.
“He’s attacking our bow-mounted sonar. Get the undersea warfare officer up here.”
Twenty seconds elapsed, and then Floros saw a tall, thin officer enter the bridge. He gestured the man to his side.
“What advantage does the Goliath gain by destroying the bow-mounted sonar systems on the frigates?”
“That would eliminate the most powerful sonar systems we have for transmitting active acoustic energy,” the officer said.
“What’s the disadvantage of losing those systems while keeping our towed systems or our variable-depth systems?”
The officer frowned in thought before answering.
“I’m not entirely sure, sir. The variable-depth systems can transmit actively as well.”
“Think, man. The Goliath’s commander has the ability to strike whatever part of our ships he wants — propulsion, cannons, missiles, or sonar. Why sonar?”
“He obviously intends to evade submerged, sir.”
The railgun projectiles shifted direction, spraying their destruction towards another of the task force’s frigates. As Floros wondered if his adversary sought another sonar system, he overheard a report that the railguns had rendered the first frigate’s bow-mounted array useless.
“I see that. But can he hope to think that taking away three hull-mounted systems will deafen our entire task force?”
“No, sir. He may simply be playing the odds of weakening our sonar coverage and thinking he can take his chances against the helicopters and the towed systems.”
“He doesn’t strike me as a commander who plays with uncertain odds,” Floros said. “He’s calculating something.”
“He must know that our missile load among the task force is enough to force him to submerge while we close in on him. He also knows that he’d need some luck to cripple all the propulsion systems on every ship to prevent cannons from getting into range against him. So he knows his best odds of escape are while submerged.”