Inherited revenge, p.10
Inherited Revenge, page 10
“Assault flight, you’re clear, no pursuit.”
“Roger, Wraith, if we ever get the chance, first round’s on us.”
“Thomas, have fighter one rendezvous with killer one and prepare to attack the enemy airbase. Show me sat images of the enemy airbase.” The main screen shifted to sat images.
It was defended by SAMs but no triple A. “Killer one, you’ll make the attack runs. Fighter one, you’ll provide cover.”
“Understood,” came their response.
The enemy base never saw us coming. Killer one fired his rail gun from a standoff distance, destroying the SAM sites, then every aircraft, and then every building, never getting close enough for them to be engaged.
“Thomas, track the enemy’s satellite. On its next pass use our base’s rail gun to target and destroy it as soon as it’s in range. Have fighter one and Killer one RTB,” I ordered.
“Understood.”
“We might as well get this party started,” I said to myself.
Four hours later Thomas engaged their satellite with the base’s main rail gun as it passed overhead. “Tracking target . . . Target acquired . . . Firing . . . Target destroyed,” Thomas reported.
“Well, that should get their attention. And they’ll come looking to see why someone would destroy their satellite and what are they trying to hide,” I mused.
If I was attracting sharks, I was going to need bait to keep them interested. I sat down at the terminal and began to code. I wrote the enemy’s ECM code and how to counter it. I wrote a new targeting code, for “our” side, if I had a side other than my own. I wrote instructions on how to install the new targeting code on their radar and weapons systems.
I smiled and wrote: “Commander Rossen, you and your friends are going to need this very soon.” I signed it, “Wraith.”
“Thomas, find Commander Rossen’s email address at his desk and email this to him, including attachments.”
“Email sent,” Thomas reported.
“Does he have a secure cell phone or SATPHONE?”
“He does.”
“Text him to check his email.”
“Text sent.”
“I wonder how long it will take them to implement the new code?” I said to myself.
* * *
My eyes snapped open from a dead sleep. “I need a submarine,” I said. I sat up on the side of my cot, thinking. “Thomas, where is the closest active submarine base where they do their dry dock work?”
“The closest active submarine base where dry dock work is conducted is located at Point Harris, 860 miles up the coast.”
“Where is the closest inactive one?”
“It is 1,700 miles south, Homeshores Naval Base.”
“Do we have satellite images of the southern one?” The main screen came up, showing the base, or what was left of it. The only sub I saw there had been blown almost in half. I shook my head. “No joy there. Show me Point Harris.”
The screen changed scenes, showing multiple ships and subs in dry dock. I nodded. “OK, Point Harris it is. The only question is, how do I steal a sub from the middle of an active sub base? The short answer is you don’t. I’ll have to think of something else.” I thought for a moment. “I need to have a closer look at the covered boat slips here. Maybe I missed something that I can use.”
I checked each covered slip. They had all been hit by bombs. Some had taken more damage than others, and the boats inside were destroyed or close to it. There was one boat that had survived, but the entrance to the slip had caved in. I’d never be able to get the boat out even if I wanted to.
I swam to the other side of the harbor where the anchor handling tugs (AHT) were moored. They looked a lot like the boat in dry dock Becky took me to look at. They were jumbled together, and a couple were sunk. I climbed aboard one and went up to its bridge to look around.
I frowned, looking at an odd boat further back. Its electronics mast was folded down, and most of the boat was underwater. They had moored these AHT boats over the front half of the boat like they were trying to hide it.
I walked the sides of the slip trying to figure out what kind of boat it was. Whatever it was, it had a VTOL deck on its stern. Well, it would have had, but the stern deck plates had been removed, along with the boat’s motors and drives.
The motors and drives were sitting out on the docks. The ship must have been in for maintenance when the base was hit. I jumped in the water and swam the length of the boat. It was over four hundred feet long, with water jets rather than props for propulsion.
It had one turret cannon on its bow, with missile hatches behind the front turret. There were smaller remote turret guns on its sides. In front of the VTOL deck was a hangar, not huge, but my aircraft being navy, had folding wings so they might fit.
I swam along looking for damage but couldn’t find any. “I wonder?” I thought to myself, and swam down below the decks and found all the bilge valves open. “They scuttled the ship, then hid it.”
Since I was here, I closed all the valves and water-tight doors as I moved along. I swam through the rest of the ship; I decided to call it a ship since it was four hundred feet long. The closest I could come to naming its type was a fast attack ship. Whatever you called it, it was full of electronics and designed for a smaller crew. I had a lot to consider. I’d decide later if I would do anything with it.
* * *
I let my subconscious work on the problem of what to do, if anything, with the fast attack ship. I doodled and sketched on a notepad as I ate supper. I had heard some sayings from the old vets, but never realized what they meant. One was, “Win the skies, win the war.” The other was, “Rule seas, rule the world.” That sounded good, but I’m not sure how true it was.
Besides, I needed somewhere to go when I could no longer stay here. And the more of my war machine I could take with me, the better I’d like it. The fast attack ship might be the answer if I had enough time, and time was my biggest enemy.
I absentmindedly sketched on my notepad, not paying attention, just letting my mind chew on the problem. I made coffee, and while it was brewing, I checked all the security feeds. Not that I needed to, but I didn’t want to get out of the habit. The carrier group had moved five hundred miles up the coast. My thought was, they were going to provide additional cover for Point Harris. The battlegroup had moved five hundred miles down the coast. Not sure why, but as long as they left me alone, I was happy.
Coffee done, I poured myself a cup and went back to my desk. I took a swallow, looked at my notepad drawing, and frowned. I studied the drawing, then started adding to it. When I finished, my coffee was cold, and four hours had passed.
My new ship would not only have nuke-powered thrust propulsion, but also magnetic drives and shielding. A better name would probably be gravitational drives and shielding. Whatever you called it, it used the magnetic fields generated by the nuke power plants to push, or pull, the ship. The shields were an extension of the drive, repelling whatever came in contact with it.
I stared at the drawing. “That’s going to take a lot of power,” I said to myself. “At least six of the nuke power plants. I’ll have to pull them from the AHTs.” I considered the plan, shaking my head. “I don’t have much time.” I chuckled. “Now I sound like Tom.”
* * *
I stood on the dockside looking at the ship, then looked up. I controlled what the satellites reported, so I was good there. “The first thing I need to do is move the AHTs from over the ship,” I said, walking toward them.
It took me several hours to reposition the boats where I wanted them. I moored them along the seawall so that when it was time, I could pull their power plants without moving them again.
That done, I gathered water pumps and hooked up hoses to the drain plumbing, and started pumping out individual compartments. It was a tedious process, pumping 24/7, but a week later the fast attack ship was once again afloat. “Now the real work begins,” I thought.
Naval electronics were designed to be watertight if not waterproof, but nothing is perfect. I went through opening all the electronic cabinets and electrical panels to help them dry out.
The next thing I needed to do was get its propulsion system installed in case I had to evac the base. Once again, I was working long hours, but what else did I have to do? Working kept my mind busy. Thank God for maintenance cranes. Otherwise, I’d have never gotten the water jet propulsion units reinstalled.
Our enemy had not been idle. They were carrying out attacks on strategic points all over the sector, but nothing close to me. Our side seemed to be holding its own against the attacks. I guess they decided to install my targeting program after all.
I didn’t realize how big a four hundred-foot ship was, or how many systems there were until I started working on them. I concentrated on the propulsion and steering systems first. After a month, I had those completed. I still had the helideck open, because the six power plants had to go below decks. I needed to install them before I could replace the decking.
I powered up the propulsion units, and after a systems check, I eased the ship forward. I took it slow, as I had no experience moving anything this big. After a nerve-racking sixty minutes, I had the ship in position to pull the power plants from the first AHT.
It took all day to pull one power plant from the boat and set it below the decks on the ship. I was exhausted. Once I had the power plant set in place and secured, I ate and went to bed. It took me ten days to get all the power plants installed on the ship. That done, I took a few days off; I needed it.
Next, I moved on to working on the navigation, which included radar, sonar, any other “ars” they had lying around, plus SATCOM. At the six-month mark, I linked the ship and the command bunker together. I had Thomas install himself into the ship’s systems to help troubleshoot and run all the ship’s electronic systems, which were 75 percent of ship operations. Thomas helped, but it was still slow going.
* * *
“Warning! There are two large groups of aircraft entering our sector,” Thomas reported.
“Destination?”
“One group is vectoring south toward the battlegroup, the other toward the carrier group.”
I nodded. “Keep an eye on them. Let me know if anything changes,” I ordered, and went back to work.
“Understood.”
An hour later Thomas updated his report. “Warning, the two groups have altered course and have increased speed. Their new target is this base. ETA is twenty-two minutes.”
“Well, crap, how many aircraft?”
“Radar tracking is unclear, but in excess of three hundred. A number of those are probable cruise missiles.”
“So someone has figured out something is happening on this base and is not happy,” I said, heading for the bridge. “Launch both aircraft, engage and destroy as many enemy aircraft as possible. Begin active scanning with our radar and engage the enemy with our rail guns as soon as they are within range.”
“Understood, launching killer one and fighter one. Base radar is now actively scanning.”
“Estimate how many aircraft will make it to our base,” I asked.
“Based on ammo for the rail guns, one hundred enemy aircraft will survive our defenses.”
I shook my head, looking around. “Well we almost made it.” A thought struck me. “Thomas, find a system on the net that you can covertly install yourself on, and begin transferring yourself.”
“Understood, initiating the installation.”
I heard the rail guns begin to fire as they engaged targets. “Thomas, when all rounds have been expended, wipe all computer hard drives and self-destruct. Also, self-destruct all power plants on base ten minutes after the last round is expended, including Killer one and fighter one. Don’t destroy the power plants on the ship, but open all sea valves and sink her. Who knows, I may be able to come back someday and refloat her. Text my phone when you’ve successfully installed yourself in a secure location, and update me on the mission status. I’m moving to a safe location for evac.”
“Understood. I’ll contact you when the mission is complete.”
I shook my head, taking a last look around. “So close,” I said, walking to the stern of the ship. I heard sea water filling the ship from her open sea valves. After one last look around, I jumped overboard, went underwater, and started swimming.
I made it to my underwater go bag, stripped out of my clothes, and put on the wet suit. Even in eighty feet of water I could still hear the bombs exploding and feel their vibrations. I hoped the ship sank fast enough to survive the attack. I sat down beside the bolder and considered my next step.
“Should I go to Hampton Bay city, or would they still be watching for me there?” I wondered to myself. I shook my head; no, I’d err on the side of safety. One misstep and I was done. I’d head south for Homeshores naval base. I was sure I could find another boat somewhere.
Chapter 11
I received a text from Thomas that read: “Mission complete.”
I smiled. “A man of few words, that Thomas,” I thought to myself, and started swimming toward the open ocean.
I drifted south with the current, making good time. A curious shark came to investigate me but turned away when I growled, giving off an ominous vibration.
As close as I could tell, I was drifting about a hundred miles a day, which was fine. I was in no hurry, and the current was doing all the work. I drifted and ate fish when I was hungry. At night I slept wedged between rocks or reefs, which wasn’t the most comfortable. Not a bad way to travel, all things considered. Well, except for the sleeping part.
* * *
I arrived at Homeshores Naval Base early evening on the eighteenth day. Judging by the night’s lights, there was a good-sized boat community across the harbor from the base, though I didn’t see any lights on the base itself. It had been a long day, so I decided to wait until morning before checking the base. I found a sunken boat to sleep on and was out.
The sounds of boats passing overhead woke me. Fishermen heading out to work, I supposed. I caught and ate breakfast and headed toward the navy harbor. I swam the length of the navy’s pier, checking the slips and berths. The boats, and one sub, that were there were destroyed.
At the dry dock, it looked like they had tried to save the ships and subs by releasing them and letting them slide back into the harbor. They had all sank, but they were still hooked to the cables so they could be recovered. I guess they figured sunk was better than destroyed. I’d take a closer look at them later.
Just as I had done at Hampton, I found a storm drain and continued my search. I walked the drainpipe into the base proper. I sat at one of the drain grates watching for movement. I was about to go when a movement caught my eye, and I waited. When it moved again, I saw it was an armed security drone. I took my phone out and texted, “Thomas, establish voice comms.”
Seconds later I heard in my earbud, “Voice comms active, how copy? Over.”
“Loud and clear,” I replied. “Do we have real-time satellite images over Homeshores Navy Base?”
“Yes.” My phone screen came live. “I’ve been monitoring the base for the past week. I’ve seen very little movement on base, and no movement around the perimeter.”
“Yeah, they have security drones that are still active. Does this base have a war room?”
“According to records, no, not like Hampton. However, there is a base monitoring system in the provost marshal’s building. If you power up their systems, that should give me access to CCTV, drones, and other local surveillance nets.”
“OK, we’ll start there. Which direction to the provost marshal’s office?”
“Return to the last junction and turn right.”
I followed Thomas’s directions to the shore patrol’s provost marshal’s office. I watched from a drain opening for movement and listened for any activity. When I had convinced myself I was the only one around, I changed out of my wet suit and armed myself. I watched for drones to ensure it was clear, then climbed out of the drain and ran across the street to the provost marshal’s office.
I checked the offices to make sure they were empty, then powered up the emergency backup power plant for the building. The monitoring office was in the basement, where it was better protected. I powered up the surveillance systems. Once everything was online, Thomas installed himself on the local system and took over.
The monitoring screens came live showing different views through the local CCTV cameras. The screens from the cameras kept changing. “We have control of all local CCTV and drones. I’ve found no indication that there is anyone else on base other than yourself. Probably because of the active drones.”
“OK, keep the drones active, but I don’t want to get shot. Map me the locations of the supply warehouse and the maintenance areas.”
“Understood. You are now an authorized person on base, so the drones will ignore you. The map is on your phone. I will also give directions vocally.”
“Good. Well let’s get started,” I answered.
They must have had more warning to evac this base because there was less in these warehouses than there had been in Hampton. However, there was food and other items I could use.
“Let’s check the maintenance areas next,” I said. As this was basically a dry dock ship and sub base, the maintenance area was quite large with plenty of materials to draw on for repairs. Like most everything else, this area had been bombed. A lot of the maintenance equipment was intact, but you had to walk around the carnage to get to it.
I found a few usable maintenance vehicles and an ASV that I could do something with. But I wanted to stay near the water; it had kind of become my security blanket.
I sat up on a catwalk looking around while I ate a ration pack. I let my mind chew on my options. I really needed to take a closer look at the sunken boats and sub before I decided. Nodding, I finished my meal and went back to the harbor.
I changed into my wet suit, packed my things away, and dropped down into the water. I checked the sub; it was a newer design with jet propulsion. Inside she was basically an empty tube. They had stripped her bare for a refit, so she was useless to me.
