Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

270 JEFF EDWARDS
According to the report, three unmarked fishing trawlers had spent
several hours cruising around off the coast of Siraj. Ordinarily, this
wouldn’t have even been worth mentioning, but the SUCAP aircraft had
spotted the trawlers several times, and none of the boats had ever made
any visible efforts to deploy fishing nets.
Lieutenant Commander Fisk looked up from the stack of paperwork.
He wasn’t particularly concerned, but it was a little strange. He picked up
the phone and punched the extension number for the Plot Supervisor.
“Plot Supe.”
“This is the Duty Intelligence Officer,” Fisk said. “I’m holding a
SUCAP locator report on some Siraji fishing boats that are acting a bit on
the squirrelly side. I’m sending a copy your way. I want each reported
position for the boats recorded on the master tactical plot. I also want you
to update the positions of the boats if any new reports come in.”
“Will do, sir,” the Plot Supervisor said.
As soon as he hung up the phone, Fisk realized that he hadn’t
mentioned the lack of nets. It probably wasn’t important anyway.
He summoned an orderly. “Here,” he said, handing the young Sailor
the SUCAP message. “Make a copy of this. Put the original back on the
Read Board and take the copy over to master tactical plot and give it to the
Plot Supervisor.
“Aye-aye, sir.” The orderly turned and walked away with the message.
The Duty Intelligence Officer went back to his stack of reports and
didn’t give the fishing boats another thought.
Four hours later, the on-coming Plot Supervisor examined the master
tactical plot as part of his preparations for assuming the watch. He pointed
to the track history for Lieutenant Commander Fisk’s fishing trawlers.
“What the hell were these guys doing?”
The off-going Plot Supervisor shrugged. “Fishing, probably. The intel
officer got a bug up his ass and made me put them on the plot.” He
laughed. “Why? Do you think they’re fishing in a manner that poses a
threat to the security of the United States of America?” The last part was
in an exaggeratedly masculine voice that was obviously meant to mimic
the overly histrionic narrators used in Navy training videos.
The on-coming Plot Supervisor didn’t smile. “I don’t think they’re
fishing at all,” he said. He pointed to the track history. “Look at all these
course changes, like they were weaving a blanket, or something. If they