Panic Switch полностью

“Um,” Long Hull said haltingly. “Ship is at all ahead flank on the surface, heading zero seven zero. Three surface contacts.” He repeated the information they’d already gotten from Gangbanger. “Approximately eighteen nautical miles to the dive point.”

“What’s the sounding?” Short Hull asked. Long Hull gulped and grabbed the 7MC mike.

“Pilot, Bridge, report sounding,” Long Hull ordered on the microphone.

“Bridge, Pilot, aye… sounding is … six five fathoms.”

“Anything else?” Pacino asked.

“Captain has secured the command duty officer watch. He should be in his stateroom,” Varney said.

“Got it,” Pacino said. He looked at Short Hull. “Coop? You ready to relieve?”

“Yes, sir. Mr. Cooper, I relieve you as junior officer of the deck.”

Pacino addressed Varney. “Mr. Varney, I relieve you as officer of the deck.”

“We’ll snarf down midrats and relieve you from control in half an hour,” Varney shouted.

“Very well,” Pacino said formally. “Don’t let XO engage you in any bullshit entertaining discussions. Don’t be late.”

Varney and Long Hull Cooper pulled up the grating and lowered themselves down the bridge access trunk.

“Report our relief to the captain,” Pacino ordered Cooper.

Cooper picked up the 7MC and selected the captain’s stateroom. “Captain, Junior Officer of the Deck, sir.”

“Captain,” Seagraves voice responded immediately.

Cooper reported their having assumed the watch. Seagraves sounded bored as he acknowledged.

“Check out the visual contacts with your binoculars,” Pacino shouted to Cooper, his voice loud to overcome the hurricane wind of their passage. “Verify where they are and look for any new contacts that the contact coordinator may not have detected. You should have a mental model of the seaway like the radar screen, updating it from time to time from the contact coordinator’s reports, verified with your own observation. Radar and sonar both are shit in this sea state, and there might be a trawler ahead that has lights that are out of commission. At this speed, we’d run him over almost before we could react.”

“Bridge, Contact,” the bridge communication box boomed with Vevera’s voice. “Contact coordinator watch relief is complete. Lieutenant Vevera is contact coordinator.”

“Contact, Bridge, aye,” Cooper answered. “Report all contacts.”

Vevera went through the same litany as before, with no new ships out there.

“You’re actually pretty good at this,” Pacino commented, scanning the horizon for lights as a swell knocked him back against the port bridge coaming. “Captain might even call you ‘adequate.’”

“I was JOOD during sea trials,” Cooper said from behind his own binoculars.

“What did you think of midrats?” Pacino asked. “And I don’t mean the quality of the food.”

“It was mind-blowing, sir, I mean, Patch. Shooting the breeze with the executive officer? That would never have happened with our PCU XO. Or the PCU department heads.”

“Yeah. Quinnivan’s a trip,” Pacino said.

“Your old nickname, ‘Lipstick.’ What happened, if I can ask.”

“I heard that Quinnivan saw that I and Navigator Romanov were starting to develop feelings for each other and he wanted to put a stop to it, you know — good order and discipline — so when we pulled into AUTEC, he had our old weapons officer call in a favor from River Styxx. Back then, Styxx was admiral’s aide to Catardi, who was commander of the submarine force. So Styxx pulled me onto the dance floor. We were drinking pretty heavily that night. Next thing I know, I’m waking up in her bed in the Q. When I got to the boat, everyone saw my face was smeared with her lipstick from ear-to-ear, nose-to-chin. XO himself christened me ‘Lipstick.’”

“Wow, really? You don’t remember anything?”

“Nothing. But let me tell you, XO’s secret evil plan worked. Romanov was so pissed at me she was spitting nails for most of the Panther run after that. Wouldn’t even speak to me. It actually turned into a problem.”

“Did you two ever get together?”

“Yes and no,” Pacino said. “Just before we, the boarding party, departed for the Panther takeover, I called her up and told her I was sorry and that I had feelings for her. She eventually forgave me.”

“And?”

“Solved one problem, created another one. She was still married at the time. Her divorce was just coming through when the Vermont burned. Just before that, she decided it would be more professional for the both of us to remain friends.”

“Damn. The cursed ‘friend zone.’”

“And now she’s in a coma.” Pacino pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose, trying to hide his emotions.

“I’m sorry, Patch.”

“Hopefully she recovers and everything’s cool. Assuming this mission goes okay.”

“What? Why wouldn’t it?”