Rogue Invader by John R. Monteith

Author:John R. Monteith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stealth Books
Published: 2017-05-17T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

Cahill heard the third starboard MESMA plant hiss to life.

“How are they doing on the port side?”

“Plant six is up,” Walker said. “Plant four is still being restarted. They’re waiting for your permission to enter plant two.”

“Are you sure you’re up for this?”

Walker placed his hand over the bruise on his forehead that had knocked him out.

“Just a bump. I was lucky to be unconscious when the helicopter’s torpedo hit us. I can’t imagine how scary that was.”

“I don’t care to live through that again,” Cahill said. “As for MESMA plants, four are enough for now. When we’re ready, we’ll continue south at four knots while we get our bearings.”

“I’ll head to the port hull to manage the damage control.”

“No,” Cahill said. “Normally, I’d agree, but the Greeks are coming at us with surface and air assets. Our cannons are our best defense, and I trust you with those things by yourself.”

“Are you sure you’re not taking it easy on me just because I took a bump on the head?”

“Just follow me to the tactical control room and run things from there, and don’t shoot any torpedoes without talking to me.”

Cahill opened the watertight door to the berthing area and then continued to the tactical control room. Consoles showed the Goliath adapting to its recent amputation.

The torpedo had struck the port bow, and the heaviness of the lost buoyancy forced the ship to pump water from its port trim tanks.

“It’s holding for now,” Cahill said. “Stable on depth.”

“The damage must be limited forward of port berthing,” Walker said.

“Hopefully. I’ll check on that soon enough. First, let’s see who’s watching us.”

He studied the sonar display and exhaled when he noticed silence in the surrounding water. Then a glance at Renard’s low-frequency feed verified the Frenchman had received his distress call. Greek warships approached to encircle him, but the closest, the Hydra, kept its distance.

“If you were the Greeks, would you consider us dead and move on?” he asked.

“That would be wishful thinking,” Walker said.

“True. But what’s their next move? Come in guns blazing to finish us off? That would just force us to fight back out of desperation, if we’re still alive. Come in quietly and see if we’re still here? That leaves the risk that they miss us and declare us dead by accident while we sneak away. It’s not as easy for them as you might think.”

“I never said it was easy for them. But it’s no laughing matter for us either.”

“Let’s see what we can see,” Cahill said.

Switching between exterior cameras, he tried to examine the damage, but darkness enshrouded the depths. He then energized external lighting to illuminate the port hull.

“Bloody hell, it’s gone,” he said. “The bow section is completely missing.”

“No kidding,” Walker said. “At least it was a clean break.”

“It may look clean, but I guarantee you there’s jagged edges. We’ll be noisy, mate. But I grant you we got lucky that there won’t be large chunks of metal hanging around to resist our propulsion.

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