“Yes sir.” He set down the intercom.
“Chief”
“Yes sir.” It was the Chief of the boat.
“Get a group of ten or so crew, get down the engine room and do as the Chief Engineer says.” The Chief went aft, he heard him going through the crew cabins. “You lazy tosser’s get up and follow me, bring the rest of the bilge rats. You in there, Linda fucking Suckalot, get the bitches up and come on aft.”
Pike smiled. “Melanie, you may wish to take your fancy head set off for a few minutes.
The men and women all assembled in the engine room. The chief got a few grease monkeys to hand out steel bars, spanners, hammers and other struts and sundry items.
“Ok, people gather around this big cylinder and that pump there. Now when I tell you I want you to bang in the damn thing at the same time. One two tree etc… Don’t bang on it like you want to smash it to pieces. These are a generator and a water pump. They’re part of your boat, damage them and you’ll be in deep shit. But make bloody noise ok? Right when I tell you.” He picked up the intercom. “Skipper ready?”
“Revs full Wasim.” The drive sped up fast.
“Now.” They banged away, causing a bloody noise. He waited, “Stop. Revs down.” He waited, and they repeated it twice more. “Right that’s the fun over back to whatever you were doing.
Pike heard the banging din from aft. “Ok ears back on Mel, let’s see if it provokes him.” After a few minutes it happened.
“Sir, aspect change on the Shang, it’s turning this way.”
“Weaps, designate contact as tango papa one, Jin as tango papa two and the diesel electric as tango papa three.” Planes down ten, put her gently on the bottom and cut revs, Melanie help him.”
“Yes sir.” The bottom was eight hundred feet here, just right. The boat slid slowly toward the seabed as the Shang approached.
“Weaps, flood one, open outer doors.” Bellerophon came to rest and the silt billowed up around her, drifting slowly away in the gentle current.
“Sheng one mile away now, searching but no active pings,” said Petty Officer Mercer.
Pike picked up the intercom. “All hands, boat to quiet state, action stations.”
The minutes went by. “Sir, Sheng’s above us maybe three hundred feet, cruising past us. No sign he’s heard us. Wait sir,” an edge crept into her voice, “he’s slowing, now very slow, she looked up to Commander Pike. “Sir he may be detecting us on his MAD. He’s holding slow. He’s gone by sir.” A MAD is a Magnetic Anomaly Detector, sensing changes in the Earth’s magnetic field from a large metallic body. Five minutes later the Sheng returned. “Passing us by again, slowing again,” she paused, “now heading north again.” Pike waited. Sir aspect change on Tango papa one, he’s turning back, for another look.”
“Planes. Lift of the bottom, but nice and quiet.” After an abortive first attempt, the boat lifted clear.
“Seven sixty feet sir.”
“Thanks, planes hold us at six hundred feet. Range to Sheng?”
“One hundred meters said Mercer,” there was a wait, “two hundred meters.” Pike waited, his black hunter killer hanging there, invisible, unheard in the blackness. “Three hundred meters, turning towards us. Tube flooding. Outer door open”
“Weaps, launch tube one, tango papa one.” The Stingray torpedo was blown out of its tube and sped off.
“Sir, fish running, running pinging.”
“Sheng has revs on full,” said Mel.
“Running.” I was too late, the range too short.
“Hot datum Tango Papa one.” She punched the air and waved both fists. The Sheng blew apart, it’s stern gone, the forward end of the ship sank into the depths, already dead.
“Ok crew, let’s move in, one down more to come. Twelve knots, intercept course with tango’s two and three.”
A few minutes later. Mel piped up. “Contact ahead one mile, Song class, he’s bearing down on us.”
“Flood tubes two and three, open outer doors, Weaps.”
“Aye sir.”
“He’s active pinging us. One ping, two ping, pulsing, flooding tubes.”
“Launch tubes one and two at Tango two, ripple fire. One up and under, one from his left.”
“Launch tubes two and three, Stingray running, our fish are pinging.”
“Sir, Tango two has launched two fish, running in 1,500 yards, 1,100 yards.” Mel sounded tense, “800 yards. Pinging us.”
“Weaps, launch countermeasures both sides,” snapped Pike.
Mel kept calm, just. “550 yards, still pinging.
Sir, our fish closing, one fish, no now two fish. Hot datum on Tango two. She’s broken up, gas rising, huge bubble formed. Hull falling. Sir, fish still closing.”
“On my command blow one and two forward and ready full ahead.”
Melanie raised her voice in surprise. “What? What? The enemy fish sir, they’re circling downwards, pinging. What the hell?”
“They must have been still wire driven when we hit the Song, they’ve gone auto search,” said Weaps.
“We were lucky,” smiled Frank Pike at the XO, “we had an inexperienced Captain to deal with.” Right Nathan, there you are, the escorts are gone, the Jin’s yours now.
Chapter 20
BENSON TOOK OFF HIS headset off and gave his ears a rubbing. The Virginia Visionary looked to Nathan.
“I’ve played back the recordings several times and watched the spectrum analyser sir. Three explosions, the first was definitely a British Spearfish. The second two, probably were. They were close together in time and space. It makes the acoustic spectrum inaccurate, but close in space means one target. I can’t say for sure sir, but my guess is, yes, all three were Spearfish.”
Nathan nodded, he couldn’t believe Pike had been sunk. He could have been, but damn unlikely.
“I’m going to assume the escorts are gone. Ok so it’s us and Mr Jin, anything out there?”
“Not so far sir, I’ve been listening to the Bellerophon stuff. I’ll get on it.” He placed his headset on and looked at his screen. He was back where he belonged, the deep abyss.
“Lieutenant Kaminski. Get your Tablet and come with me.” He set off aft.
“Where are we going sir?”
“To the galley, It’s near that time, I’m going to treat.” A sailor walked by, “Sir,” he saluted.
“I’m going to treat my girl to some dinner and a drink. I can do that?”
She smiled. “Yeah, I guess so.” It was Mexican night, Grilled Chicken and fruit Tacos and Qusadilla. Drinks were a coffee each.
They took the food to a spare table. “How’s it going?”
“Ok, I guess.”
What do you fancy after this patrol Nik?”
“Something different.”
“Yeah, I could get that too. How about Europe. Paris, London, Copenhagen?”
“Sounds great.” He nodded and smiled at her.
“We’ll do it.” He pulled over her tablet.
“Not all fun I’m afraid.” Nikki pulled out her bottom lip.
“Tracks. Where will the Jin go?” She lit it up, picked maps and windowed into the Yellow Sea. Then zoomed out to the full Pacific.
“Well, he’s looking to get here.” She indicated a line back into the Pacific away from the north-western US coast. “From North California, south of the Oregon border, back here to a place about 900 miles north east of Hawaii. All along here is prime SLBM launching spots. The closer he is to the coast the further his bird’s will fly, with the JL-2 missile, north of Hawaii might be enough to hit NYC and Boston.”
“Yeah,” Nathan frowned, “3 MIRV warheads, 90kt each. Not nice.”
“It might be enough, but he’ll want closer,” she smirked, “I know how sub drivers like to get in close.” He tried to ignore her sultry gaze.