Wolfpack by William M. Hardy

Author:William M. Hardy [Hardy, William M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781166125592
Amazon: B001VUR4HU
Goodreads: 12111836
Publisher: Dell
Published: 1960-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

PART IV

COUNTERATTACK!

WOLFPACK

As Hagfish submerged, leaving behind a scattered and confused convoy, the other two submarines of “Josh’s Jokers” had made contact with each other. The darkness which had spelled the doom of Hagfish’s victims, offered the beleaguered Remora a respite from her ordeal. Paul Harmon was confined to his bunk, still too shaken to assume active command of the sub, and Jake Bell, unexpected authority thrust upon him, wanted time to check the boat for damages inflicted in the vicious depth charging it had sustained. Accordingly, he took the Remora away from the convoy, then surfaced and commenced a battery charge. As soon as he was on the surface, he tried to raise the Lamprey on radio.

Josh Baker’s boat was actually only a few miles from the Remora at the time. After sinking the freighter that afternoon, Baker had held the Lamprey in an area well behind the convoy. Apparently his purpose was to guard against the possibility of any Japanese ship’s escaping in that direction. If his officers and crew questioned this reasoning, they kept their doubts to themselves, and Baker was beyond caring what they thought. The receipt of Remora’s message had a salutary effect on the entire crew. For Baker himself it meant the rolling away of a great weight which had been his own sense of guilt at not having gone to Harmon’s aid. The knowledge that Remora had survived was somehow a justification for his own actions. Within a matter of an hour the two submarines rode alongside each other. The time was just before 0300 hours.

Baker used a megaphone to hail the other boat.

“Paul, are you okay?”

The voice floated back across the water, strangely hollow in the darkness.

“Commander, this is the exec, Lieutenant Bell. The captain got shaken up. He’s below.”

Baker gripped the megaphone tightly.

“Is he okay?”

“Yes, sir. Just groggy.”

“Any damage to your boat?”

“Nothing bad. We’re seaworthy.” There was a long pause, then Bell’s voice came back. “Any word of the Hagfish?”

“Not yet.”

Baker had not allowed himself to think about Reardon’s boat. He had heard what sounded like explosions far off in the direction of the convoy. Hagfish must have engaged the enemy, but there had been no word. He must not concern himself with Reardon. Harmon was safe. That was the extent of his guilt complex for one day. There was no need in looking for any more.

He raised the megaphone.

“Lieutenant, I’m going to pull ahead of you for about five thousand yards. We’ll remain in this area for another hour. It’ll be getting light by then. We’ll run five miles north and then circle around back down. Keep in station off my port beam. If we don’t raise Hagfish by 0400, we’ll haul ashes out of here.”

Jake Bell’s reply was slow in coming.

“Aye, aye.”

Was there disapproval in that ghostly voice? Baker shook it off as he gave the order for Lamprey to head north, running at one-third speed.

An hour later he was standing on the bridge. He had been looking at the luminous dial of his watch continuously as the time dragged by.

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