Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

170 JEFF EDWARDS
A couple of minutes later, the Chief Engineer showed up, his coveralls
streaked with grease. He nodded toward the captain. “Sorry I’m late, sir.
I thought I had a get-out-of-jail-free card, but I guess I misplaced it.”
The captain waved him to a chair. “I’ll let you slide this time, but next
time you’ll have to bring a note from your mom.”
Everyone chuckled politely.
The captain held up a hand for silence. “How many of you have been
staying on top of the secret message traffic?”
Every hand in the room went up.
“Good,” the captain said. “Then you all know what’s been going on
with that wolfpack of German submarines.”
Everyone nodded, and there were gentle murmurs of assent.
“Excellent,” the captain said. He picked up a stack of papers and began
passing copies around the table. “Because we’ve just received orders to
form a Search Attack Unit with USS Benfold and USS Ingraham. We’ve
been designated as commander for the SAU. You can read these at your
leisure, but I’ll give you the short version for now. Our orders are to
proceed south at all speed, intercept the German submarines, and destroy
every one of them.”
The Supply Officer accepted his copy of the orders and stared blankly
at it. “Sir? Are we at war with Germany?”
“Not yet, SUPPO,” the captain said. “And maybe not at all. This may
be an isolated reprisal for the attack on the Kitty Hawk strike group.
“What I want right now is an up-to-the-minute status report. Are we
ready for this? What equipment is broken? Which systems are
degraded?” He turned to the Chief Engineer. “You first, CHENG. If we
can’t drive, we can’t fight. What’s the latest on the engineering plant?”
“The engines are in top shape,” the CHENG said. “So are the
generators. Prairie Masker is looking good. The installation on One
Alpha Fuel Oil Purifier is about ninety percent complete. With a little luck
we’ll have it back on line in a couple of hours.” His eyebrows narrowed
slightly. “I’m not crazy about the compressor on air conditioning plant
number three. I haven’t ordered a sound survey yet, but the A-Gang Chief
says he thinks it’s running a little loud. I’ve listened to it, and I think he’s
right. If we can’t get it back within specs, we may have to shut it down
entirely before we can set Silent Ship.”
The captain scribbled a note. “Number three AC feeds enlisted
berthing aft, doesn’t it?”
The Chief Engineer nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“The ambient air temperature is over a hundred degrees,” the captain
said. “If we have to shut three AC down for long, aft enlisted berthing will