MSG END://
He read the message and frowned. “What’s this hold fast thing at the end?”
Nikki held her hand out, he passed it over.
“It’s from their national anthem sir,” she smiled, “Lead on comrades. Vanguards are ye. Hold fast your aim, by sun and star. Be earnest and brave.”
Nathan grinned at her. “How do you remember that stuff?”
She looked up at him knowingly. “I’m not a man sir, we do listen.”
“Speaking of which. Where is that Song Benson?”
“He’s five miles southwest of us, still heading south.”
“Nikki you and Benson figure out his direction.” The two gathered around Kaminski’s plot screen.
“Sir,” Nikki looked up at him with those bright blue eyes. “we think he’s heading for Taichung City.”
Nathan nodded. “There’s a surprise. Make eighteen knots, let’s catch up and shadow him.”
The boat slid her way south gaining on the Chinese boat. When they were seven miles away Nathan ordered a slow down to match his speed.
He paced the deck and walked over to the Chief of the Boat. The boat’s COB was Seamus Cox. If people called him Dick, he was ok with that. Dick yes, a dick, no way.
“Dick, if you know you’re dealing with a bad guy, but you can’t make the first move, what do you do? In Texas I mean.”
“You pull his chain, get him so pissed off at you that he starts it sir.” Nathan grinned at him, good idea, yeah, I might just do that. Let’s see, Deputy Dawg’s a good old southern boy.”
He turned to the Weapons Officer’s station.
“Weaps, are all the Pointers current on impersonation mode?”
“Yes sir.”
Nathan gave him a sly smile. “Then get Deputy Dawg out there sounding like a Hai Lung class boat. Let’s see what he does when the ROC navy’s on his ass.”
“Flood tube six,” ordered the Weapons Officer via his intercom. “Open outer doors.”
“Tube ready in all respects,” came back the reply.
“Launch tube six.” The Pointer known as Deputy Dawg was launched. The Pointer was a wire guided underwater drone and could relay data from its local passive or active sonar back to Mother. It could emit sounds, so it appeared to be almost any boat out there. The sounds could persuade an opponent that the Pointer had launched a torpedo attack. It had active sonar and could make sounds mimicking countermeasures if fired upon. USS Stonewall Jackson carried four of them. Pointers did make the battlespace a complex place for an opponent. He could have two hostile boats to port, when the real boat was to starboard. Knowing one or more were out there was just as bad. Is that the boat or a Pointer? There are sounds to south, which is real?
Using Pointers, you’d just handed the enemy boat’s Captain a shit sandwich.
“GET THE DAWG DOWN SOUTH of Taichung City, then turn around and come north in between Tango one and the city. Make like a Hai Lung, I want him to think there’s a local submarine on patrol off the city.” He winked at the COB. “Let’s pull his chain.” It took some time to get the Pointer in position, when he was ready Weaps turned it around and headed north approx fifteen miles off Taichung City.
Benson tapped his sonar screen. “Sir, I think he’s taken the bate, he’s slowed. Tango one is now making an aspect change. He’s sixty degrees off of a direct line to the Dawg.” A few minutes went by. “Second aspect change, Tango one has turned to port, he’s sixty degrees off center again. He’s getting the Dawg into his sixty-degree sonar lobes, he’s listening in hard.” Nathan didn’t look but he could hear Benson grinning. He knew his sonar man loved his Pointers, loved getting his foe all confused.
“Get the Dawg to head out further into the strait, and Weaps get the revs on. Give this PLAN bastard all the Hai Lung he can handle.”
“Yes, he’s turning away from the city, keeping the Dawg in the sixty-degree lobe. He thinks he’s got a real-life Taiwanese boat out there. I love this shit, sir.” Nathan closed his eyes and formed a mental picture of what was going on out there. He tried to think his way into the Song Captain’s mind. From the Song classes perspective, he had the city to his port rear quarter and an enemy ROC Hai Lung out off his starboard forward quarter. He’s here to carry out a reccy of the city but the frigging ROC navy are stopping him, bastards. He can’t ignore them but they’re stopping him doing what he’s here for. Can he sink the ROC boat? What are his ROE? Nathan didn’t know but they were pulling the Song’s chain, he knew it was time to give it a good jerking.
“Weaps, get the Dawg to flood a tube.”
“Aye sir, flooding tube one.” Just seconds went by.
“Tango one’s flooding a tube sir.”
“Open outer doors.”
“The Dawg’s opened her outer doors.”
Nathan knew he needed to play the dirty bastard. “XO, go blindman now.”
Larry Sayers opened his mouth in shock. Blindman was something they’d discussed long ago. All the boat’s mission parameters were stored on a large tape cassette. It was a kind of black box, a record of all that the boat had done, and could be accessed by a naval board of enquiry. Blindman was to manually eject the cassette, meaning the mission wouldn’t be recorded until it was reinserted. Strictly against regulations. Larry did it.
“Blindman is active sir.” Weaps looked over at the XO puzzled.
“Weaps, get a firing solution on Tango one. Tube one. Get the Dawg to launch his fish now.”
The Weapons officer couldn’t believe it. “Dawg, tube one launch, fish running for tango one.” It was only sound, but he knew the Song’s skipper didn’t know that.
“Fish closing, pinging, pinging.”
“Fish in the water,” Benson exclaimed, “fish running for the Dawg.” The PLAN boat had taken the bate and launched at the Pointer.
“Sir, shit. Sir,” Benson raised his voice, “Tango one, he’s turning in our direction, he’s coming fast about. He knows we’re here. Tango one’s flooding a tube, he’s going for us. Opening outer doors. The Song’s about to launch another Yu-6 fish, and it’s coming for us.”
Nathan turned to Weaps and stared at him fixedly. “Weaps, flood the boat’s tube one and open outer doors”
“Yu-6 Fish running in on the Dawg,” said Benson.
“Go quiet on the Dawg cut all emissions, dive him now. Launch tube one, go.”
“Tube one launch on Tango one.” The Mk48 wire guided torpedo left the tube, spinning off through the blackness on its way to Tango one.
“Fish running and hungry.” The seconds counted down. “Pinging, pinging. Cutting wire. Fish is terminal. Closing.”
“Tango one’s diving to port. He’s launched his fish in our direction.”
“Closing, closing.”
Benson stood and punched the air. “Hot datum, Tango one, hot fucking datum sir. Wait one, wait one, Chinese fish is heading off down deep, it must have been still on wire guidance. It’s lost that now.”
Nathan grinned. “XO, Blindman is over.”
“Sir.” The XO reinserted the tape and entered an error code.
Nathan patted the Weapons officer’s shoulder. “Weaps, get the Dawg back onboard and let him chew on a bone good tonight.”
“Control room now hear this,” Nathan looked around the room. “The Song class boat fired on the USN. He fired on US assets. The Dawg is the property of the United States Department of Defence and has a sovereign right to travel the high Seas. In duress, he can call on US vessels for his defence. Anyone disagree?” There was silence.
“Right, team. Up there General Jackson is proud of you.”
Nathan unhooked the intercom.
“All hands, all hands, USS Stonewall Jackson just scored a hot datum on a PLAN submarine. God rest ye bastards.” He replaced the intercom.