Sneakiest of all, there was the towed array, way off behind the boat.
All these ears into the depths made Nosey a little less human and a little more fish.
“Sir, I’m picking up a very faint reflection return.”
“Where from?” asked Franks.
“From deep, sir. There’s a suspected cold layer at 1,900 feet. It looks to be coming from that. Sir, it’s intermittent.”
Franks knew the Nosey was a bit of a wizard with sound. It hadn’t always been the case, but CPO Drakk had taught him well.
“Try to get a handle on it Nosey.” Franks walked back aft to speak to the Engineers, to make them feel wanted. The boat survived because of them. It was a necessary part of being a skipper; you had to blow smoke up their asses to keep them on your side.
Franks returned to the control room. “XO, all well?”
“Sir. All smooth.”
Franks started on his daily log.
“I’ve got the intermittent return pinned down sir.”
“Go on.”
“It’s the sea sir.”
Franks rolled his eyes. “You don’t say, Nosey?”
“The surface swell. We’re always getting the return from the north side of the wave. When the undersea side of the wave faces us, we get the return. When it faces away, we get nothing.”
Franks waited; Nosey was good but he got off on such things, you had to be patient. “And what do we have; with this trace you mentioned?”
“It’s an Akula class.”
“You what?”
“I think it is sir. That’s all.”
Sometimes Franks thought he could strangle Nosey. But only sometimes. “What’s it doing and where is it?”
“I think sir. I mean, I can’t be sure.”
“Go on,” said Franks with all the patience of a saint.
“It’s deep, around 1,200 feet to starboard of course, and about three miles astern. From his movements, depth and course changes, I think he’s tracking us.”
“So let me get this straight, Nosey. You’ve been listening to an Akula class tracking us and you’ve said nothing?”
“I couldn’t be sure sir.”
Franks shook his head. “Nosey, do you have a girlfriend?”
“Yes sir.”
“She has my sympathy. Poor girl.” Franks looked to Cortez. “What do you think?”
“We could put the ball in his court.”
“I agree. All stop. Trim for up bubble ten. Vent front and rear 20 percent. Time to play dead.”
The boat sank slowly to the seabed, kicking up a cloud of billowing silt. She settled on that dark clouded slope. The silt slowly drifted away east in the deep sea current. It was now up to the Russian SSN to find them. That is, if it was tracking them. Franks unhooked the intercom and pressed transmit.
“All hands, all hands. We are lying on the sloping shelf of the Black Sea, off the Turkish coast. Out there stalking us, is a Russian SSN. He will have weapons release authority from the CINC Black Sea Fleet. For the moment we are lying here on the seabed playing dead. He’ll be out there searching for us. USS NYC will assume silent state, I want this boat quiet until he passes us by. Then make no mistake we’ll rise from the dead and the hunter will become the hunted. For now, we will hide quietly, stealthily. This Russian will find that the dead hulk he passed has now become his nemesis. His time will have come. USS New York City will cast a fear into his heart. Captain out.”
The boat waited silently, not a stir, not an echo, nor the swish of a passing ghost was heard.
The Akula class noticed the disappearance of the American boat and her pump jet drive. Her Captain took action to reacquire her.
“Sir, I detect the Akula’s props are slicing reduced density water. She’s ascending, that’s my best analysis.”
“How deep is she, Nosey?”
“I can’t say sir.”
“She’s on her way sir. She climbed the slope. My guess is that she’s at a similar depth to ours now.”
The Russian SSN headed slowly west across the slope. Nosey sat, his head down, eyes covered. He was now in his deep-sea world of sound. His home, his realm.
“I can hear her prop beating, pushing her towards us.”
Franks knew that the stalking enemy could have a Type 53 fish loaded, tube flooded and ready.
“What the hell’s going on, Nosey?”
“Sir, I can put the feed on the control room speakers.”
“Do it.”
The speakers now hissed popped and then gave off a deep warble. Odd sounds from depths were broadcast into the room. Nathan looked to the XO, puzzled. What the hell were all these odd sounds? The XO saw him and shrugged. Time dragged on by. A noise like a threshing came from the speakers and then disappeared. There were more odd bubbling and gloop sounds. Then came the threshing again, louder this time. Nathan looked at the XO and then to the skipper. Franks had his head down. More threshing. A deep warble. More threshing. Nathan looked at Pigeon, she wore a tense puzzled look. A frown. It got louder.
Thrumm, thrum, thrum, thrum. It sounded like somebody, something was coming for them. It sounded malevolent, determined. Thrumm, thrum, thrum, thrum. Louder now. More gloop noises. Thrumm, thrum, thrum, thrum. The incessant march came nearer.
He saw Pigeon remove her headset and wipe away a rivulet of sweat, her face full of tension. Thrumm, thrum, thrum, thrum. How could Nosey listen to all this and remain sane? It got nearer. Thrumm, thrum, thrum, thrum. Nathan was sure he could now hear it through the hull as the enemy SSN pushed its relentless way through the nearby waters. Thrumm, thrum, thrum, thrum. He looked around the room; the XO, Franks, Pigeon, all of them wore looks of breaking tension. Thrumm, thrum, thrum, thrum. How could he stand this? Knowing that at any time an enemy fish could be launched towards them. Thrumm, thrum, thrum, thrum. God, make it go away.
Outside in the darkness the multi bladed prop spun and stirred up the silt from around the NYC, and a trail of billowing silt followed the SSN. He listened to the threshing sounds of death. Thrumm, thrum, thrum, thrum. This was breaking him. Then slowly, gradually, it started to recede. Thrumm, thrum, thrum, thrum. It was there, but starting to fade. Nathan started to breathe deeper. Slowly the tension started to recede. It was like a heavy weight being lifted from his chest. It was there, thrumm, thrum, thrum, thrum, but receding. He looked to Pigeon, she smiled, as relieved as he was. The menace, the shark had passed them by. Nosey switched the sounds back to his headset.
“Sir, it’s passed us by. I’m detecting its movement continuing towards the west.”
“Nosey,” said Franks, “that was just about one of the most awesome and chilling things I’ve ever had to listen to. You have my deepest respect.”
“Thanks sir.”
Franks stayed where they were for 20 minutes.
“Ok, let’s move on. Trim for bow up bubble ten.”
The boat slowly rose up from the slope towards the surface.
“Trim for depth 150 feet. Ready the communication buoy.”
The boat floated the buoy, and contact was established with a communications satellite. The buoy was retracted.