Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

96 JEFF EDWARDS
For the briefest of seconds, he considered throwing the mission out the
window and ordering his boats to the surface to mount a rescue operation.
His country would try him for treason, of course, but that wasn’t such a
high price to pay for averting a war.
But his men would pay the price with him, wouldn’t they? The
economy of his country would still collapse into ruins. And, even then, it
might not be possible to prevent war.
Gröeler flipped up the handles of the attack scope and stood back as the
burnished metal cylinder lowered itself into its recess beneath the deck.
He kept his face carefully neutral. It would not pay to allow his crew to
see the doubt that he was feeling.
He turned to his Officer of the Deck. “Make your depth one hundred
meters.”
“Sir, make my depth one hundred meters, aye!” the Officer of the Deck
said. He pivoted on his heal. “Diving Officer, make your depth one
hundred meters.”
The Diving Officer acknowledged the order and repeated it back.
Almost without pause, he issued his own order to the Planesman. “Ten
degree down bubble. Make your new depth one hundred meters.”
Gröeler watched his men only long enough to verify that they were
carrying out his order with their usual efficiency; then he turned his mind
back to the British ships. He almost couldn’t believe it. With the flick of a
switch, some fool had dragged the British into this—a development
Gröeler was certain the all-seeing strategists of the Bundeswehr had not
foreseen. One stupid, reflexive squeeze of a trigger and the plan had gone
to hell. And, who knew? Maybe the world would go to hell with it …
Like nearly all senior naval officers, Gröeler was a student of history.
Twice in the last century, his country had traded fire with the British. And
both times, the entire world had stumbled blindly after them into war. He
suppressed a shudder. Please, God, do not let history repeat itself.