Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

250 JEFF EDWARDS
The TAO’s console lost power. He was about to report the failure
when the call came in.
“TAO—Weapons Control. Aegis is down hard!”
“What the hell happened?” the TAO snapped.
“We lost primary and alternate power to the computers, sir. Probably
one of the automatic bus-tie transfers, since they’re about the only pieces
of gear common to both primary and alternate legs of power. The Combat
Systems Officer of the Watch says his people are checking prints and
chasing cables now. As soon as they find the bad ABT, they can rig
casualty power.”
“TAO, aye. What’s your estimated time of repair?”
“The CSOOW is calling for ten minutes, sir. They might be able to cut
that in half, if they get lucky and find the bad ABT quickly.”
“We don’t have ten minutes,” Captain Vargas said. She looked up at
the darkened Aegis display screens. “We don’t even have five minutes.”
The TAO nodded. “I know that, ma’am.” He keyed his mike.
“Weapons Control—TAO. With Aegis down, two-thirds of your consoles
are dead. Send your unused operators down to assist the CSOOW’s crew
on chasing cables. Let’s try to speed this up.”
“Weapons Control, aye.”
Captain Vargas looked at the TAO. “Go out to SAU Commander on
Navy Red. Tell him we’ve taken a hit to the bridge, and we’ve lost Aegis.
We will not be able to make the backup VLA shots he ordered.”
The TAO nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” He punched in to the secure radio
channel and started his report.
USS Ingraham:
Captain Culkins gritted his teeth as Benfold’s status report came over
the speaker. “Well, ain’t this a pretty picture,” he said quietly.
Ingraham’s CIC was about half as well equipped as the ones on her
more powerful sister ships. But her crew was well trained, and the gear
they did have was good, even if it wasn’t quite state-of-the-art. She might
not have the most impressive weapons and sensors in the Search Attack
Unit, but at least her combat systems hadn’t crapped out in the middle of
the battle.
Captain Culkins allowed himself a tiny, humorless smile. Okay, maybe
that last bit had been a bit below the belt. Benfold had just taken a missile
hit right in the face; some equipment was bound to be knocked off-line. It