Shadow Tyrants

SIXTY-FOUR

To the Maurya, the Oregon had to seem dead in the water once her electronics were shut down. That’s exactly what Juan wanted their captain to think so he could draw the frigate closer.

The two torpedoes were running straight at the Oregon’s starboard side. Juan was counting on them being unguided.

“Max, get ready to give me a burst of speed.”

“It won’t last long.”

“That’s all we’ll need. Murph and Eric, are you set?”

“My fingers are twitching,” Murph said.

“I’ve got my telescope tripod set up,” Eric replied.

The torpedoes were now two thousand yards out and closing at fifty knots. Juan could see their wakes in the calm sea.

“Murph,” he said. “Fire.”

The Gatling gun spun up and unleashed its 20mm tungsten shells with a roar like it was Paul Bunyan’s chain saw. The tracer rounds splashed in a zigzag pattern by the first torpedo as Murph homed in on his target. The simple electrical stick was crude, without the precision of the computerized controls that he was used to, and aiming was tough, even for someone as skilled at video games as Murph was.

Finally, he hit it. The torpedo’s warhead blew out a geyser of water.

Murph switched his aim to the other torpedo, but after a few seconds of the tracers plowing into its wake he called over the radio. On its current course, it would slam into the bow of the Oregon.

“Sorry, Chairman. I can’t get the Gatling gun to aim any lower.”

“Understood,” Juan replied. “Max, give me full power in reverse… now!”

The Oregon shot backward as the main engines jetted water out the front of the venturi tubes. The torpedo passed just in front of the bow and continued into the open ocean.

“Eric, launch your torpedo.”

“Aye, Chairman. Launching.”

A torpedo was thrust out of its tube by a blast of air and steam. It trailed a fine wire linked to Eric’s joystick. As soon as it plunged into the water, an orange flag rose and cut through the water.

“Ninety seconds to impact,” Eric said calmly.

The Maurya must have seen the torpedo launch because she fired three more of her own and began evasive maneuvers.

“Three fish in the water,” Juan radioed.

“Main engines are down,” Max replied. “Thrusters only. We can’t evade another one.”

“If Murph can’t get them, prepare to turn our stern toward the torpedoes to reduce our profile.”

“Got it.”

The torpedoes passed each other halfway between the ships. Murph had gotten the hang of his control. He blew up the first torpedo before it reached the two-thousand-yard mark.

He got the second one right before the Gatling gun reached the limit of its travel.

Juan called Max. “Rotate hard aport!”

While the Oregon turned, Juan watched the Maurya through his binoculars. He could just make out the orange flag fluttering above the torpedo. The captain was doing a fine job of piloting his ship, its diesel engines pushing it hard, but there was no outrunning or evading the torpedo. Eric was too good.

The torpedo drove into the side of the frigate, detonating right at the midline. A huge fountain of water temporarily shrouded most of the Maurya. Then, it broke in half and began to sink.

Juan turned his attention back to the speeding torpedo coming toward them. It must have been a slower model than the ones on the Oregon, but it wasn’t slow enough.

“Brace! Brace! Brace!” Juan shouted into the radio.

The Oregon had almost completed its turn when the torpedo exploded near the stern, lifting the back half of the ship a few feet out of the water before rocking back and forth as it settled back. Juan had to grab hold of the wheel to keep from falling.

The Oregon’s armor was thick, but a torpedo that size had to have caused serious damage.

“Casualty report,” Juan called as he watched the two halves of the Maurya disappear beneath the surface.

“Engine room reports five injured,” Max said. “Doc is on the way with her team.”

“Damage assessment?”

“Flooding in multiple sections, but bulkheads holding. They said it’ll take a while to get the main engines back online even if Vajra is switched off. Some electrical lines on the starboard side of the ship may be affected.”

“Confirmed,” Murph said. “I’ve lost power to the Gatling gun controls.”

“Same here,” Eric said. “We can’t even launch a torpedo now, let alone guide it.”

Hali chimed in. “Apparently, they’ve already switched over to old-fashioned radio communication. I’ve been monitoring the signals from the command ship. We’re going to have more company in about thirty minutes. They have another frigate called the Kalinga, and it’s on the way to destroy us.”

“Then we have to turn off that Vajra satellite before she gets here,” Juan said. “Tell everybody to meet at the moon pool on the double. It’s time for Plan C.”