Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

CHAPTER 35
U.S. NAVY CENTRAL COMMAND (USNAVCENT)
BAHRAIN
SATURDAY; 19 MAY
2240 hours (10:40 PM)
TIME ZONE +4 ‘DELTA’
Commander Moody stood at the foot of the admiral’s desk with a
yellow folder in one hand and a green folder in the other.
Admiral Rogers looked up at the clock. “What do you suppose would
happen if we actually knocked off before midnight some night?”
Commander Moody’s eyebrows went up. “One of us would turn into a
pumpkin, sir.”
“Which one?”
“I don’t know, sir. I’d have to check the duty roster. But I think it’s
your turn.”
“Figures,” the admiral said. He sighed. “What have you got for me,
Troy?”
Moody opened the yellow folder and flipped through several pages,
scanning rapidly. “The latest SITREP from USS Towers, sir. Per Captain
Bowie’s orders, Benfold and Ingraham are continuing to render assistance
to Antietam. The fires are out. They’re still pulling people out of the
water. Dead, mostly, but every once in a while they come across another
survivor. So far, they have forty-one confirmed dead, but it’ll probably be
quite a while before we get an accurate casualty count. There are still over
a hundred missing. Captain Bowie also thinks there may be air pockets
trapped in the sunken part of Antietam’s hull. There could be survivors
down there. He’s requesting a team of emergency divers to survey the
wreck and conduct rescue dives if they locate any survivors.”
The admiral nodded. “Bowie’s a good man. Drop what you’re doing
and get on the horn to OPS. I want a dive team in the air ten minutes ago.”
Moody smiled. “I’ve already taken the liberty, sir.” He glanced at his
watch. “They should be airborne just about now. In the meantime, the
Towers and a couple of the helos have set up a defensive screen around the
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