“Captain, OOD, I have a torpedo tube door opening transient and a high frequency tonal that wasn’t present before,” Albanese said, his voice half an octave higher than usual.
“He’s going east, drives right past us and opens up a tube door,” Quinnivan said. “He’s going to shoot at an ice wall.”
“With a Gigantskiy torpedo?” Seagraves stepped to the navigation plot. “How far are we from when he stopped and spun around to the west in the first place, Navigator?”
“About thirteen thousand yards, Captain,” Lewinsky said, measuring on the electronic surface of the chart.
“That’s way too close to shoot a nuke, Skipper,” Quinnivan said.
“I have a torpedo in the water!” Albanese shouted. “Torpedo in the water, rough bearing from rear-facing, zero eight five!”
Pacino looked at Seagraves and Quinnivan. “We’re on the bottom, facing away from him. If he’s launching at an ice wall thirteen thousand yards out, we’re about to be next door to a hell of a shock wave. Is it safe to be on the bottom? Is it safe to have the shock wave hit our stern first?”
Seagraves bit his lip. “Which do you want more, Mr. Pacino? Propulsion or sonar?”
“One’s pretty much useless without the other, sir.”
“Let’s stay put,” Seagraves said. “But pass the word in all spaces, rig for shock.”
“Aye, sir,” Pacino said. “Pilot, pass the word to all spaces, rig ship for collision.”
“Torpedo is receding,” Albanese said, regaining his calm, his voice normal again. “I’ve lost the signal to Master One and torpedo is faint on the rear-facing.”
“Very well, Sonar,” Pacino said. “Any idea the speed that Gigantskiy goes?”
“Sixty knots,” Quinnivan said. “In about four minutes, we’re going to know how our day is going to end.”
“Or our week or month,” Seagraves said.
“Safety settings?” Alexeyev asked Weapons Officer Sobol, who had left the sonar and sensor console lineup and returned to the starboard side’s battlecontrol console.
“Anti-circular run is in. Standoff range is out,” she said. “We’re closer than ten miles, so I’ve defeated the interlock.”
“Unlock codes inserted?”
“Yes, Captain. Weapon status on nuclear arming is green.”
“Attention in central,” Alexeyev said. “Prepare to fire on the ice wall, large bore tube one, Gigantskiy unit one, weapon course zero eight five, weapon departure in swim-out mode, direct contact mode enabled, command detonate at six point five nautical miles enabled, run-to-enable one thousand meters.”
“Ship is ready, Captain,” Shvets said.
“Weapon is ready, Captain,” Sobol said.
“Battlecontrol targeting ready,” Senior Lieutenant Pavlovsky said from the battlecontrol console.
“Fire Gigantskiy unit one,” Alexeyev ordered.
“Fire Gigantskiy unit one, aye, Captain, and I have torpedo engine ignition,” Sobol said. “I have torpedo rollout. And torpedo is clear of the tube, Captain.”
“Sonar?”
“Weapon is steady on course zero eight five, Captain,” Palinkova reported from the sonar and sensor console, where she’d taken over for Sobol. “It’s a good shoot.”
“It’s not good till we see if it gets all the way there and detonates as it’s supposed to,” Alexeyev said, glancing at Kovalov, who shook his head slowly.
“Attention in central command,” Alexeyev said. “All hands strap in. Seat belts on and tight.”
