Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

SEA OF SHADOWS 287
Chavez thumped his instrument panel, where a red tattletale was
flashing. “Oh shit! I’m showing a ‘chip-light’ on engine one.”
“Is it for real? Or are your instruments taking a dump?”
“You want to chance it?”
Lieutenant Brolan shook his head. “No way.”
According to the flashing tattletale, a sensor in the oil sump had
detected metal filings in the starboard engine. If the sensor was reporting
an actual condition (instead of an erroneous reading caused by instrument
damage), the engine could seize up, tearing the aircraft apart, or even
exploding like a bomb.
“Shut down engine one,” Lieutenant Brolan said. “I’ll mow the lawn,”
he said under his breath. “I’ll help the kids with their homework. I will
never look at another woman again …”
The aircraft took on a shudder so violent that it jarred Brolan’s teeth.
Only four hundred feet up, they were starting to lose altitude. The cyclic
and collective were becoming less responsive with every second, and now
he’d been forced to shut down one of his two engines. He hoped the
increasingly powerful stink of burnt oil was coming from the now-dead
starboard engine. If it was coming from the transmission casing or the port
engine, they were going to have to ditch in the ocean. And no matter what
the Navy’s air-sea survival courses taught, he knew that the odds for
surviving a helo ditch were not good at all.
The copilot keyed up the radio. “SAU Commander, this is Gunslinger
Four-One. My starboard engine is out, and I am losing altitude.” He
glanced at his Tactical Air Navigation screen before continuing. “My
ETA to Benfold is three mikes. Request emergency green deck, over.”
The reply came over the radio a few seconds later. “Gunslinger Four-
One, this is SAU Commander. Towers is designated as your home plate.
You have emergency green deck on Towers. Do not attempt to
rendezvous with Benfold, over.”
Pilot and copilot both stared at the radio. “What the hell are they
thinking?” Chavez asked. He immediately keyed the radio. “SAU
Commander, this is Gunslinger Four-One. I have an emergency. My
SENSO is injured, I am down one engine, and my aircraft is about to fall
out of the goddamned sky, over!”
On the TACAN, Benfold was approaching at thirty-five knots. Towers
was limping after her at eighteen and a half knots. Benfold would be
within range a hell of a lot sooner.
“Gunslinger Four-One, this is SAU Commander. I acknowledge your
emergency. Your ETA to Towers is six mikes. You are not, I repeat not
authorized to rendezvous with Benfold. Their deck is red to you, over.”