The Arctic Chase: A Chase Fulton Novel (Chase Fulton Novels Book 22) by Cap Daniels

Author:Cap Daniels [Daniels, Cap]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Anchor Watch Publishing, L.L.C.
Published: 2023-07-23T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Blow It Up?

Back aboard the Polar Explorer III, Mongo leaned toward the display in the combat information center. “Show me the video of the stern section again, then I’ll tell you about the shark.”

Singer played it back until Mongo stopped him. “Freeze there. Can you blow it up?”

I shuddered. “Let’s not use phrases like blow it up when we’re watching video of nuclear weapons.”

“Good point,” Mongo said. “Can you zoom in?”

Although he’d never be as good as Skipper, our sniper did a nice job managing the video playback.

Mongo slid from his seat and moved to within inches of the display. “What’s that on the underside of the sub?”

Every eye in the room stared at the screen, and I said, “I don’t know, but it doesn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen on the hull of a sub. Get Weps down here.”

Clark squinted at the screen. “Why didn’t we see that when we were down there?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, but whatever they are, I’m glad the video caught them.”

A few minutes later, the weapons officer peered through his glasses perched high on his nose and studied the sub video. “Did you get any video on the way back up from depth?” I shook my head, and Weps leaned back. “You know that’s not a Russian boat, right?”

“Yeah, we figured that out from the writing on the bow and the markings inside.”

He steepled his fingers. “Were any of the missile tube doors open?”

I looked to Singer and Clark, and they both shook their heads.

“So, we don’t know for sure if there are missiles in the tubes.”

I asked, “Why would a boomer set to sea without SLBMs in the tubes?”

Weps sighed. “An American boomer wouldn’t, but I can think of a bunch of reasons the Chinese and Russians might do it—not the least of which being the ability to carry undetected cargo. Who’s going to open up a missile tube to make sure it contains a missile?”

Mongo spoke up. “Can GPR see through the tube doors?”

Weps seemed to consider his question before saying, “Maybe, but how do we get a ground-penetrating radar system to function underwater?”

Mongo smiled. “Give me a torch and some stainless steel, and I’ll show you.”

Weps turned to me as if questioning the sanity of our giant.

I said, “If he says he can build it, either help him or get out of the way.”

“That reminds me,” Clark said. “How are the engineers coming on the safe?”

Weps pulled a radio from his belt. “Engineering, Weps.”

“Go for engineering.”

“Do you have the box open yet?”

“Affirmative. We’re cooking the books now.”

Weps almost laughed. “Run the contents up to CIC when it comes out of the oven.”

“Roger, sir.”

He replaced the radio on his belt. “It sounds like they’re drying everything out now.”

I asked, “Do we have anybody on board who can read Chinese?”

He narrowed his gaze. “Mandarin or Cantonese?”

“I’d guess Mandarin, but I don’t know for sure. Whatever’s written on those documents is what I need translated.”

Weps waved his hand. “Don’t worry about that.

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