Silent Waters

Chapter 46

“Torpedoes away.”

The second pair of torpedoes sped off into the dark waters of the Sound.

“Close outer doors three and four. Drain tubes and reload.”

The orders from the commander of Pittsburgh continued, and Captain Whiting, supervising the action, saw the effects of good training. It was a shame they were about to take out one of their own subs.

“Fire Control, I want a new solution on target.”

Whiting knew it was difficult for the skipper of the sub, too. He couldn’t bring himself to refer to Hartford by name. The deck officer approached the conn and handed the C.O. a message board.

The commander read it, looked at Captain Whiting, and handed the board to him.

Looking at the message, Whiting felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. One minute would have made all the difference. Now it was too late. It would take less than ten minutes for the fish to reach Hartford. If only this message had come in a minute earlier.

“It’s from Commander McCann, sir,” the young deck officer said, as if Whiting couldn’t read the damn thing himself.

“The authenticity code?” the commander barked.

“It matches, sir. It’s from Hartford. From McCann.”

Whiting read the short message again. McCann had regained control of the ship. The hijackers had left by way of what he suspected was a DSRV. The reactor plant was scrammed, and he was working on auxiliary to bring them to the surface. Three people were trying to run that goddamn sub — one of them a civilian.

They’d never make it.

The skipper was shouting orders. Radio was messaging the surface. Search for the DSRV would go to units in the air. Washington and Norfolk had to be immediately notified of the situation.

Whiting watched him turn to his combat. “Status of torpedoes?”

“At their cruising speed on the intercept course to the target,” the young petty officer told him.

“With his power shut down, he has no chance to outrun them,” Whiting commented. “He’s going to take the hit.”

One minute would have saved those three people’s lives. The commander had another communication sent, this time ordering the deep water rescue equipment.

“You might try the electronics, Skipper,” Whiting suggested.

“The fish are too far out,” the C.O. replied. “They’re out of range.”