Larry Bond - Shattered Trident

“What, we’re being shadowed by a blender?” An idea began to form in Samant’s mind. “Right ten, steer three one zero. I don’t want to get too close. Current range?”

“Just under three thousand meters.”

Samant ordered, “Confirm there are no other contacts close by.”

“Confirmed, Captain.”

“Very well. Go active with the port flank array. One pulse.”

USS North Dakota

“Skipper, Chakra ’s gone active! She’s pinging Minot! Skat-3 sonar!” The UUV operator’s report mixed surprise with dismay.

“At that range, he’ll see the vehicle,” Covey remarked.

“Just keep us in trail. I’ll worry about the UUV,” Jerry ordered. “UUV operator, send Minot shallow, periscope depth.” The only chance of the vehicle breaking contact was to mix in with the surface return. If the Indian’s sonar beam had to point up, it would reflect off the surface, just like a radar beam from above the water. Hopefully, Minot could imitate a wave top.

“ Chakra is turning again, this time to port.” As the sonar operator reported the sub’s movements, Covey turned North Dakota accordingly. At this point, they were expecting radical maneuvers.

“She’s headed straight toward Minot,” sonar reported.

“Active signal from a Mouse Squeak sonar. She’s turned on her mine-hunting sonar!” the UUV operator warned.

“Minot is well and truly busted,” Jerry concluded. Chakra, and most subs, including North Dakota, had a sonar fitted in their sail specifically designed to look for submerged mines in the submarine’s path. Operating at high frequency, it was worthless for area search, but it would provide high-resolution bearing and range information about nearby objects, exactly like Minot.

INS Chakra

The MG-519 display showed a very small object 2,450 meters directly in front of them. It was about the size of a torpedo, but it was moving far too slowly.

“It’s a damn UUV!” Captain Samant shouted, banging his fist on the console. “That’s what’s been spoiling our attacks! It’s not Chinese, or Vietnamese, for that matter. And Japan and South Korea are our allies. They have no reason to shadow us with this thing.”

“We won’t be able to hit it with a torpedo,” Lieutenant Commander Jain complained. “The torpedo seeker will reject anything that small as a decoy.”

“Then we’ll ram it, Number One,” Samant said grimly. He was smiling, but Jain thought his expression was a little disturbing.

“Sir, may I respectfully remind you that the bow sonar dome is only fiberglass. We don’t know what this thing is made of.”

“Helm, left fifteen, steer two nine seven, make your depth five zero meters, increase speed to fifteen knots.” Samant turned to face his executive officer. “I understand the risk, Number One, but I intend to strike it with the upper part of our bow or the sail. It’s my decision.”

“The contact is drawing left, new course two five zero, still at ten knots. That may be its maximum speed.”

Samant smiled wickedly. “Number One, read off the contact’s bearing every fifteen seconds. Helm, match the bearing.”

The MG-519 operator reported, “Range is decreasing rapidly!”

Jain picked up the microphone for the ship’s announcing circuit, and looked to Samant, who nodded. He warned, “All hands brace for impact!”

USS North Dakota

“OOD, keep us behind him. Use whatever speed you need.” Jerry couldn’t worry about Minot right now. Chakra ’s radical maneuvers made it hard to stay behind the Indian sub. With the other boat increasing speed like that, Jerry could risk going faster himself, as long as he could keep astern.

“She’s pointed squarely at Minot,” the sonar operator announced. “Intercept course.”

“UUV operator, wait until the last minute and zig Minot to port.”

“Understood, skipper. Zig to port. UUV is still rising.”

Contact depth was hard to read with passive sonar, especially for a contact maneuvering like the Indian sub. With Minot rising, the question was, how well could the Indian skipper match the UUV’s depth? The only thing in their favor was that submariners were not taught ramming tactics.

“Zig to port sent,” the UUV operator reported hopefully.

The sonar rating called out, “Contacts have merged.” And Jerry found himself holding his breath.

INS Chakra

They braced for almost a full minute, long after the calculated time of impact. To the first officer, Captain Samant looked even angrier than he had yesterday when he’d lost the Chinese submarine.

Samant ordered, “Make a wide turn to starboard. Leave the MG-519 sonar on, and transmit on all three active arrays, maximum power. I expect it to maneuver, but it can’t get far with a maximum speed of ten knots. We’re going to get a longer run at it and build up enough speed so it can’t dodge out of our way.”

They waited as Chakra swung around the compass. At speed, nuclear submarines are agile—true sea creatures. They’d be pointed back at the vehicle in less than a minute.

“Sir, new active sonar contact, range ten kilometers, bearing one one five.”

“What? That can’t be the UUV.” Samant’s puzzled expression became one of alarm.

“It’s a weak return, sir, but it’s got to be much larger than the UUV if we can see it. Course is to the north, below us. It’s maneuvering.”

“Track him, but keep watching for the UUV. If he hasn’t shot at us by now, he’s not a threat. I think I know who that is.”

The mine-hunting sonar operator reported, “I have the UUV. Range is two kilometers. It’s much shallower, and above us, near the surface.”

Samant smiled. “He’s trying to hide it, but we’ll get there first. Helm, increase speed to twenty knots and match the contact’s bearing and depth.”

“Match the contact’s bearing and depth, Helm, aye.”

“Captain, rising at that angle, whether we hit the UUV or not, we’ll broach.”

“Sod that!” Samant answered. “I want to smash that thing while its master watches.”

South China Sea

Xing Bao knew there was a war going on. The television said so, but the empty ocean told him that as well. His fishing junk normally worked well south of the shipping lanes, but there were always merchant ships on the horizon, or sometimes passing by. Occasionally they’d get too close, and he’d have to quickly pull in his nets.

But for the past few days, aside from other fishermen, there’d been nothing but the flat horizon. And since everyone had their own spots, he’d worked his junk alone since just after dawn.

Luckily, warships didn’t care about fishermen. And with the war scares, prices had been—

“Captain, off the port quarter!” The lookout’s call became a scream of fear, and by the time Xing had put down his tools and turned aft, everyone topside was shouting, although the words made no sense.

Three hundred meters away, maybe less, maybe more, a patch of the sea was boiling, white with froth. As Xing and his crew watched, a round black shape roared out of the water and grew quickly until he could see the entire bow of what had to be a submarine. Other parts of it appeared, the conning tower on top, and a fin aft. Almost a quarter, perhaps a third of its length was out of the water.

It was immense, many times the length of his own boat, and he had one of the larger junks in the harbor. Behind him, he could hear his crew shouting, “I see it! What’s it doing?”

The vessel stopped rising, and the bow began to fall, landing heavily. Tons of water, enough to swamp the harbor, much less his boat, splashed out from the bow, and as quickly as it had appeared, the submarine was gone. The waves reached them, and he clutched a railing for support as the deck suddenly bucked wildly under him.