Ghost Sub полностью

“So,” the captain said as they sat down. “What do you think of our little ship? We haven’t had much time to reflect together since you reported.”

“Loving it,” said Danny. “Ship and crew.”

“What are your first impressions? Any weaknesses? I value your opinion.”

“Well, captain, I can give you a good assessment of the engine room.”

The captain smiled at that. “You’re not enjoying your time back there?”

“Honestly — I think I could serve the ship better up here.”

“Maybe so,” said the captain, nodding.

Sheldon came in with their orange juice, and the captain waited until he left to resume. “He’s a good XO,” he said.

Danny nodded. “I didn’t know we were talking about the XO.”

“Bullshit. You’re pissed because he put you in the engine room. And I don’t blame you— a hot shot like you wants to be up front, where the action is.”

“Wouldn’t you, sir?”

“Of course. And trust me, this is a very small world we’re living in. If and when you are needed on the conn, you’ll be on the conn. I can personally guarantee you that.”

“In the meantime?”

“In the meantime, consider this a learning experience.”

“On the S6-G propulsion plant?”

The Captain shrugged. “It wouldn’t kill you. It is different than what you’ve learned before, and you are a lot more likely to run into the S6-G on future boats than another S8-G. And I don’t mind at all having one of my more experienced officers back there watching over that engine room. But that’s not all.”

“Sir?”

“Consider it a learning experience on how to work with difficult officers. Officers who aren’t like you. Officers who perhaps don’t have your talent, officers who are at different places in their careers. Trust me. Much like the S6-G reactor, this won’t be the last time you see one.”

The door burst open and V-12 entered the wardroom, bounding with energy.

“Captain! May I join you for breakfast?”

“Certainly, young man.”

V-12 turned to a cabinet behind them, opened it, and began rooting through a huge pile of single-serving boxes of cereal.

“We’re having bacon and eggs,” said the captain. “You can give Sheldon your order…”

“No thank you, sir,” said V-12, his back still toward them. “There’s Lucky Charms in here somewhere, I saw them yesterday.”

Danny worked on the charts for about two hours, fueled by coffee and the excitement that they were about to begin the hunt. Adequately prepared for the training, and utterly exhausted, he snuck down to his stateroom when the rest of the crew was gathering for lunch, and slept for forty-five minutes, fully clothed in his rack. That forty-five minutes was the only sleep he’d gotten in the last day, and it was interrupted twice: once by the radioman needing him to review messages downloaded at periscope depth, prior to routing to the captain. The second time an engineering laboratory technician from aft needed to remove Jabo’s dosimeter from his belt for routine measuring and chronicling of how much radiation he’d absorbed. He would have been interrupted a third time, by an ET needing a signature on a training plan, but V-12 intercepted him at the door and told him that it could wait, giving his roommate about ten more minutes of sleep before he had to head down to the wardroom and begin training.

Danny spread out the chart on the wardroom table. The last known positions of the Boise were on it in red X’s, the SOSUS hit and the BST buoys. He had also drawn an X for noise they’d heard that morning, and the bearing, at least, did fit along his predicted track.

Their position, too, was drawn over it, a series of slow snake-like motions across the Boise’s faint trail. They had slowed to eight knots, and were angling their way westward, listening keenly at the slower speed. They were hunting.

And he knew they were close.

Two of the three OOD’s arrived early for the training, and studied the chart, which Jabo appreciated: Lieutenants Perez and Burkhardt. The third OOD of the three-section watchbill was Bannick, who apparently didn’t feel he needed the extra time. They also looked over the special procedure, which the captain’s night orders the night before had required them to memorize. It contained the actions that would, theoretically, alert the Boise to their presence when they finally located her and got within range.

The three of them, Bannick, Perez, and Burkhardt, would be on the conn because they had the most time of all the junior officers on the boat — about two years each. They’d qualified everything and wore gold dolphins on their chest. Burkhardt and Perez were friends too, Jabo knew, sharing a stateroom. This was good, it meant they would trust each other and help each other out as things got tough.

“You guys have any questions before we start the official portion of this training?”

“Not yet,” said Perez.

“Yeah, maybe after this training.”

“Burkhardt, I saw your orders come through on the last broadcast.”

He nodded. “I heard — I’m going to the ROTC unit at Creighton.”

“Congrats,” said Jabo. That’s what I did. ROTC at Purdue.”

“Good time?”