Terror on the Alert by Robert W. Mackay

Author:Robert W. Mackay
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-77151-082-0
Publisher: Touchwood Editions
Published: 2014-09-30T00:00:00+00:00

6

REVELATION

October 21, 1962

Her batteries fully charged, Alert settled into deep search mode, a pattern of slow circles. The hull-mounted sensor array would pick up contacts at ninety degrees on either beam. In addition, the bow-mounted short-range sonar swept the seas all around, rotating in its housing much like a radar antenna did on a surface ship.

Eight hours into their search, Ted was back on watch in the control room, monitoring the submarine’s meandering progress three hundred feet below the surface. Which was fine with him. There was no risk of collision with surface ships, and as long as he didn’t think about the dark depths below him, he was able to cope. In the corner Gertrude, the underwater telephone, hissed to itself with background static. The conning tower lower lid was open, which meant Lawson was in his cabin, that lonely capsule stuck between the lower and upper lids, so small that it made Ted cringe even to think about it.

At the chart table, he made an entry in the log: depth three hundred feet, course various, speed two knots. Movement in the passageway forward caught his attention. Able Seaman Nixon, carrying a towel and shaving gear, heading aft to the seamen’s washplace.

“What do you think, Nixon, will we be granted shore leave any time soon?” Ted asked with a grin, his voice low, in keeping with Alert’s ultra-quiet state.

“Sir, my face itches like hell if I don’t shave. Not like the rest of the gorillas we have on board.”

Ted figured he qualified as one of Nixon’s gorillas, with his dark, week-old beard. “Personally, I like taking a break from shaving. Makes me feel like a real submariner. Not like our surface buddies who have to be spick and span.”

Nixon peered at the chart. “Must have been nice seeing your wife, sir. Pretty short visit though.”

“My wife?”

“In Gibraltar, sir. The message from the Wren.”

“Message? Have you been into the Pusser’s rum, Able Seaman Nixon?”

Behind Ted the ladder from the conning tower and the captain’s cabin rattled, as Lawson climbed down to the control room and approached the chart table. “All quiet, Hawkins?”

“Yes, sir.”

Lawson walked aft toward the heads, and Ted turned back to Nixon. “What was that about a message?”

“Just after we got to Gib, sir. A Wren on the jetty with a message from your wife. The XO said he’d—” The sailor must have seen something in Ted’s face. He stopped, reddening.

Ted clutched Nixon’s forearm where he leaned on the chart table, thrusting his face at the shocked sailor. “What message, damn it?” he hissed.

Nixon recoiled. “Your wife, sir. She wanted you to call her at her hotel. The XO said he’d give you the message.”

Ted rocked back on his heels, jerked upright. Anne-Marie in Gibraltar? Looking for him, trying to get him a message? God, turn this boat around! That wasn’t going to happen. But what did it mean, Anne-Marie in Gibraltar? She wanted to see him. Did she just want to finalize things, go her own way? Surely she wouldn’t track him down all the way to Gibraltar just for that.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.