Shock of War by Larry Bond

Author:Larry Bond
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

17

The Gulf of Tonkin

Commander Silas put the night glasses to his eyes. The ocean was already heavy, even with the storm front some hours away. The waves had white crusts; the bow of the McLane crashed hard against them.

The Chinese cruiser Wen Jiabao loomed on his starboard side, pushing through the waves in a blatant attempt to cut the McLane off. She had her lights blazing, spotlights playing across the American destroyer.

Silas was strongly tempted to shoot them out.

“Steady as she goes,” Silas told the helm. “We’ve played this game before.”

“Aye, Captain.”

Bearing long, classic lines, the Wen extended some six hundred and ten feet, a good hundred longer than the McLane. When she’d sailed in the Russian navy, her decks were littered with unsightly ash-can tubes for missiles. The Chinese had replaced those with modern four-pack YJ-83s. The deck was still crowded, but the newer, more potent missiles added an ominous beauty.

She was a pretty ship, Silas thought. The Wen displaced in excess of 11,500 tons—again, a good deal more than the McLane or her sister Arleigh Burkes. The additional bulk did not slow her down; on the contrary, she was capable of mustering a knot or two more than the American destroyer, at least on paper.

At the moment, she had an angle on the McLane. One of the ships was going to have to turn off soon, or there would be a collision.

These weren’t a pair of canoes. Even a glancing blow would do considerable damage to both vessels.

“So, tell me, Captain,” Silas muttered to himself, as if speaking to the master of the Chinese vessel. “What will happen to you if your beautiful ship comes back to port with a big gash in her bow? Do they still hang captains in the Chinese navy?”

The only answer was a howl in the wind. Silas could see across to the ship’s lighted bridge, though he couldn’t quite make out the captain.

He couldn’t afford a collision, either. Not only was the McLane likely to sustain more damage, but any damage would undoubtedly mean that he wouldn’t reach the merchant ships before they got into Hai Phong, if that’s where they were going.

The Wen closed in.

“Hard right rudder,” said Silas suddenly.

“Starboard, Captain?”

“Aye, into the bastard,” he told helm. “Don’t worry. We’re cutting inside him.”

The destroyer began to pivot. As she turned in the choppy water, Silas gave another order to cut their power. The heavy waves quickly tugged at their momentum. The big Chinese ship continued past. The McLane’s bow came within a few yards of clipping the cruiser’s stern. If the Chinese had been towing an array, it would be Silas’s now.

Advantage mine, Captain, Silas thought. Your move.

The McLane turned smartly, straightening her course back to its original mark. The Wen, meanwhile, slowed. Silas watched for another few minutes—she drew to a parallel course aft, unnerved perhaps by the close call.

“Helm, if you need relief, holler,” said Silas.

“I can do this all day and all night,” said the man at the wheel.

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