Honorable Enemies

Chapter 34

Like his crewmen, Commander Shigezo Takagi experienced a moment of paralysis when he heard the crunching sounds from the destruction of the American. attack submarine. Takagi rushed into the sonar compartment, grabbed a set of earphones, then listened to Bremerton as the sub purged air and sank to the floor of the waterway. The sound of quadrillions of air bubbles rising to the surface was intermingled with popping and scraping noises.

The startling destruction of the hunter-killer submarine caused Harushio's short, chunky skipper to relive his worst nightmare. On rare occasions, usually before a deep dive, he dreamed about being trapped in a sub and helplessly sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

Takagi was confused by the fact that Bremerton had suffered a massive structural failure and his crew had not heard an explosion or picked up the sound of a torpedo or the screws from a ship. The only audible noises had been generated by the propeller from the American attack boat and the distant explosive sounds that reminded him of depth charges.

Shigezo Takagi had never experienced the terror of having depth charges dropped on him, but he had not forgotten the recorded sounds of an actual attack that had been played over and over in submarine school.

Shaken by the disastrous event, Takagi listened until the two sections of Bremerton impacted the bottom of the strait, then returned to the control room and talked with his second-incommand, Lieutenant Commander Oda Kanjiro.

"Let's step into my stateroom," Takagi said under his breath and turned to go to his cabin. He didn't like to discuss important matters in front of his men.

Kanjiro wordlessly followed the CO down the narrow passageway and into the tiny sleeping compartment that was Takagi's sanctuary.

The CO quietly shut the door and leaned against the smooth bulkhead. He could always count on the man he was recommending to become the next Commanding Officer of Harushio. "Do you have an opinion, Oda?"

"We didn't hear a direct hit," Kanjiro observed and shrugged one shoulder, "so they may have collided with another submarine. We heard scraping and crunching sounds, and two distinct masses hit the bottom, so there may have been two submarines involved in the accident."

"That's possible," the skipper said at last, "but we didn't hear any other screws — not a single thing except the cluttered background noises from the distant ships."

Kanjiro folded his bony arms and frowned. "Let's take things in order, if you don't mind."

"Go ahead," Takagi said and closely studied the bright young officer.

"I think something hit the American sub…" Kanjiro trailed off, then continued. "What hit it is the unknown factor."

"Or," Takagi quickly interjected, "the American could have hit something they didn't hear, like a large submerged obstacle, another submarine, or a new type of quiet weapon we don't know anything about."

As always, Kanjiro nodded in deference to his CO. It was a habit he had learned early in his naval career. "Someone may have a torpedo similar to our new Sea Ferret."

"It might be extremely large," Takagi began, considering the various possibilities, "superfast, and capable of piercing the skin — actually puncturing the double hull of a submarine."

The frown returned to Kanjiro's face. "We don't know what happened, and we don't know if someone initiated an attack or if it was simply an accident."

"That's true," Takagi conceded, reviewing his sailing orders and the fact that his commander had been adamant about being aggressive. He had told Takagi not to hesitate to attack if he felt uncomfortable. The sub skipper also thought about his ultimate responsibility to Japan and the oath he had taken as an officer.

"Sir, I respectfully recommend," Kanjiro offered with measured confidence, "that we immediately close on the American fleet and prepare for battle."

Shigezo Takagi listened to his trusted second-in-command while he silently considered using the Sea Ferrets. The state-of-the-art torpedoes didn't use a conventional propeller, relying instead on the use of magnetohydrodynamics to supply the propulsion for the stealthy weapon.

Using the advanced technology of MHD, which is similar to a jet engine without a turbine, Sea Ferret had an open tube running the length of the torpedo. The long tube was surrounded by a ferro-liquid in a thin-sealed sleeve. A high-density, pulsing magnetic field produced tremendous sympathetic vibrations in the ferro-liquid.

This action caused a traveling wave, which resulted in the seawater in the tube being pumped out the back of the weapon. Sea Ferret was literally pulled through the water at a speed of 33 knots without making any perceptible sound.

"I'm in agreement that we should approach the Americans," Shigezo Takagi said and took in his friend's expression of delight. "Rig the ship for supersilent running and continue on our present course."

Kanjiro showed a moment of hesitation before he mustered the courage to speak. "Sir, do you want to seek permission to attack before we get too close?"

Takagi gave him a look that would freeze salt water. "I am my own authority."

"Yes, sir," Kanjiro replied in his practiced show of cordial respectfulness. One did not question the Captain of a Japanese maritime vessel, especially Commander Shigezo Takagi.

"Load and energize our two Sea Ferrets," Takagi ordered before Kanjiro could turn to leave, "and call the men to battle stations."

"Yes, sir," Kanjiro replied with a determined look on his face.

Alone in his darkened stateroom, Commander Shigezo Takagi sat in quiet meditation and experienced the heightened spiritual awareness and somatic calm of divine revelation. Like the other 10 million Japanese adherents of Zen Buddhism, the submarine commander thrived on experiencing the enlightenment and mental tranquillity that fostered spontaneity and fearlessness.

The practice of Zen gave Takagi a feeling of breaking through the boundaries of ordinary everyday logical thought. The special edge of ecstatic contemplation carried Takagi beyond the limits of divine incomprehensibility into the world of revelation.

He searched the depths of his mind, unraveling the unfathomable mysteries it contained. Revelation, as he had discovered over the years, transcended the categories of reason and rational thought.

At last Takagi turned on the soft, red-filtered light over his small writing desk and reached into the drawer that contained his personal belongings. He retrieved a faded, yellowed picture and stared at the photograph of his parents and late grandparents. His grandparents had died from radiation sickness less than three weeks after their modest home in Hiroshima was destroyed by the first atomic bomb dropped on Japan.

Using the single phone circuit to contact the submarine's control room, Takagi asked Oda Kanjiro to return to his stateroom.

Seconds later the devoted officer gently tapped on the door and entered the cabin. "Yes, sir?"

With total aplomb, Takagi looked up at Kanjiro. "My orders stipulate that I am free to use whatever measures necessary to protect Harushio in the event of a threat."

Beaming with pleasure, Kanjiro nodded in agreement. "I understand, sir."

"We are in a situation that I feel is extremely dangerous — the attack-sub incident and the unexplained explosions — so I have the responsibility to protect my crew."

Kanjiro felt a sense of elation, but he was cautious. "If we attack the Americans, they'll saturate the strait with ASW coverage."

Takagi worked his jaw muscles. "They will have a difficult time because of all the traffic. We will be okay."

"I have no doubt, sir."

"Set both torpedoes," Takagi calmly ordered, "to seek and destroy at a depth of ten-point-two meters. I'm going after their carrier."

Kanjiro swallowed and felt the adrenaline pump through his veins. "Yes, sir," he answered exuberantly. "Seek and destroy at a depth of ten-point-two meters."

From studying the displacements and dimensions of the American warships, the CO knew the depth of the vessel's keels below the waterline. The Kitty Hawk drew close to thirty-seven feet of water, while Chancellorsville and Cow-pens, the Aegis guided-missile cruisers, drew approximately thirty-one feet. Takagi would try to thread the needle and bag a U. S. carrier with the two stealth torpedoes he had been allocated.

"Continue to close on the American task force, but don't go any closer than nine thousand meters," Takagi ordered and glanced at the navigation readout next to his bunk, "then prepare to go to periscope depth."

Kanjiro gave him a nod. "Yes, sir."

"Any questions?"

"No, sir, no questions," Kanjiro said clearly and stepped out of the austere stateroom.

Shigezo Takagi stared at the picture of his parents and grandparents for a few minutes, then turned out his light and rolled into the built-in berth. He rehearsed the attack in his mind. The first order of business is to launch the torpedoes, then we'll quietly sail for the sanctity of the South China Sea. No one will know that we've been here, and I will have fulfilled my command responsibility in a high-threat environment.

A few minutes later, the skipper turned on his side and dozed peacefully.