Splashdown (LAND&SEA Book 1) by Blaine L. Pardoe

Author:Blaine L. Pardoe [Pardoe, Blaine L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: WarGate Nova
Published: 2023-01-11T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

USS Virginia, south of Jarvis Island,

the Pacific Ocean

Commander Titus Hill watched as Captain Stewart paced the control room of the USS Virginia, scowling and grumbling as he moved. He had been “in a mood,” as Master Chief Simmons called it, since they had picked up a message on the ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) system. “I’m not a big fan of these snipe hunts,” the captain muttered just within earshot of Hill.

“Sir?”

“DIA and ONI diverting us off our patrol route to look for a missing cargo plane. I pulled her stats from the mission file. This was a drone-piloted aircraft, Commander—no loss of life. Her cargo manifest was nothing critical. Why divert a billion-dollar boat to look for a missing cargo aircraft that went down months ago?” The gruff captain kept his voice low, so that only Hill could hear him.

Commander Hill understood. Most cargo aircraft were drones at this point, removing hundreds of pilots from the risk of a crash. FedEx had a massive facility in San Francisco for flight operations over the Pacific, and this was one of their birds. “Maybe we’re the closet ship to the crash area?” Hill offered in a hushed tone.

“Doubtful, Mr. Hill. If you’ve been around as long as me, you start to learn how to read between the lines when it comes to orders. Our mission here is peculiar. Damned peculiar.” For Captain Jacob Stewart to be edgy was something worthy of notice.

Titus had his own suspicions. They had passed on those unusual sonar readings only a month and a half ago, and now they were being diverted from a normal patrol. After the war, NOAA had thoroughly mapped nearly all of the Pacific, a result of submarines chasing WWII wrecks as possible Russian combat subs. Running the new “C-View” sonar, they would be able to compare those digital images to current readings. If that airplane was down here, the Virginia stood a good chance of finding it. Maybe, just maybe, these things are connected.

“Sir,” he said carefully. “Perhaps this is somehow related to our report to the DIA.”

Stewart turned to face him, his face solid as if his wrinkles were carved in stone. “I’ve had the exact same thought. And to be honest,” he said just above a whisper, “I think that’s exactly why we are here. I think we’re here because we have spotted something they cannot account for. Maybe it was behind this aircraft going down.”

“So how are these things connected, sir?”

Stewart shook his head twice. “I have no idea. I sent a follow-up to our sonar-readings report to DIA during our comms burst two weeks ago. You know what I got back?”

“No, sir.”

“Nothing.”

“Which means?”

“I’ve been in this business for a long time, Mr. Hill. When the spooks don’t talk, it’s time to get nervous.” Stewart turned to Chief Simmons. “Chief, are we on our target yet?”

Simmons walked over to the navigator’s station. “We’ll be there in three minutes, sir.”

“Very well,” Stewart said. “Take us down to six hundred and twenty-five feet.

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