CROSSFIRE - Atlantis DSV - New Cape Quest

Parish smiled coyly. “Not... exactly. If it were an active return from the fighter‟s
acoustic array, then a contact would have been identified. This is more like... an echo. In
effect, the sonar is picking up the correct noise, but when compared to the same profiles
from other bearings, it is... delayed, but the very smallest of margins, as if someone was
transmitting the ambient noise of the fighters engine back to the sonar, second-hand. If I‟m
right, then it explains, almost perfectly, why the data on the hypersonar is missing.”
Coyle smirked, and nodded his approval at the ensign. “‟look for the place with no
noise...‟” he mused.
Parish frowned. “Sir?”
The Dark Angels leader shrugged. “There was an old adage among sonar operators
in World War Three that the best way to pick up a missile submarine was to quite literally
search for the point in the ocean that was too quiet, because it was easier to detect their
absence than their presence... so to speak.”
The ensign beamed. “Essentially perfect, sir.”
“So it‟s a stealth fighter,” Roberts dawned darkly.
“At least one, probably more,” confirmed Parish. “I only discovered it after I cross
referenced the theory with what we know of Macronesian SA-35s.”
Roderick stood up and briskly walked to the sideboards of her office next to Richards,
pouring a fresh lot of coffee in to her mug. “The interesting part of that, Commander Roberts,
is that the log would suggest you were being shadowed for as long as half an hour before
they withdrew.”
Roberts sneered, feeling as though a finger of blame was being levelled at her.
Something inside her roiled in silent fury at the possibility she – and her unit – had been
used. Roderick appeared to notice this, and placated her with another, calm smile. “...And
half an hour after that, Commander, is when that Alliance patrol went missing.”
“Ghost stories my arse,” Coyle growled.
Roderick grinned, and it was genuine, probably for the first time in a while. “I‟m glad
we‟re on the same page.”
She let the sentence hang for a moment, and regarded Ensign Parish with a grateful,
gentle smile. “Ensign, I‟ll but putting a note of commendation in with your superior. Brilliant
work.”
Parish beamed, and snapped his heels with a sharp salute. “Aye, ma‟am.”
Roderick saluted in return. “Dismissed.”
The Captain watched, and waited, as Parish left the office and closed the hatch
behind him. She traced his shadow through the frosted glass of the office front and waited
until he had disappeared from view before turning back to her officers, her face was darker
again as she eyed each of them. “I intend to find out who it is who is shadowing us, and I‟m
hoping we might already know who that is. If I‟m right, then we can hold every card that
matters.”
“How are you going to do that?” Richards asked.
Roderick smirked. “I‟ve sent a note to the Aquarius CIC,” she admitted. “Give it a day.
If we‟re lucky, they‟ll come to us.”
Coyle eyed Richards suspiciously, his gaze cold, and untrusting. “Then the only thing
we need to work out is what side we‟re going to choose.”
~
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