Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

256 JEFF EDWARDS
Captain Culkins smiled. “Nice shooting.” This fight was far from
over, but he could let them have a few seconds of self-congratulatory fun.
They’d earned it.
He keyed up Navy Red. “SAU Commander, this is Ingraham. We
have splashed all three of Benfold’s inbound Vipers, over.”
There was no reply.
Captain Culkins keyed up again and repeated his message.
Again, there was no answer.
This time, he went out to Benfold. “Benfold, this is Ingraham. Radio
check, over.”
“Ingraham, this is Benfold. Read you Lima Charlie, over.”
Captain Culkins frowned. Towers must have been hit pretty hard; they
were off the air. He went out over Navy Red again. “Benfold, this is
Ingraham. SAU Commander has taken damage and cannot respond via
Navy Red. You are next in seniority. Are you prepared to assume SAU
Commander at this time, over?”
The reply took nearly a minute. Rachel Vargas must have been tearing
her hair out over there. No commanding officer ever wanted to turn down
a position of command, especially in the heat of combat, but her bridge
was knocked out and most of her weapons and sensors were off line.
When she finally answered, the frustration in her voice was palpable.
“Ingraham, this is Benfold. I’d love to take the ball, but I’m in no shape to
run with it. This one is all yours, Mike. Good luck, over.”
“Ingraham, aye. Break. All units, this is the commanding officer of
USS Ingraham. I am assuming SAU Commander at this time. I say again,
I am assuming SAU Commander at this time, over.”
He released the mike button and scanned the tactical plot. He didn’t
have much of a SAU left to work with. Benfold was out of it for the
moment and so was Towers. That left Ingraham and Towers’ helo,
Firewalker Two-Six. His own helo, Gunslinger Four-One, was at Ready
Five. He could launch it in a matter of minutes if he had to. He decided to
hold off on that for the moment. So far, helicopters hadn’t faired very well
against the submarines. It wouldn’t pay to risk both of the SAU’s
remaining air assets at the same time.
He keyed up Navy Red. “Firewalker Two-Six, this is SAU
Commander. Say your current status, over.”
“SAU Commander, this is Firewalker Two-Six. My fuel state is three
hours plus zero two minutes. Three souls aboard. My load-out is one
Mark-54 torpedo and a mixed rack of sonobuoys. I am currently
monitoring passive buoys, tracking one POSS-SUB contact, designated
Gremlin Zero Three, over.”