Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

296 JEFF EDWARDS
rupturing the fuel tanks. Sixty thousand gallons of diesel fuel marine
erupted into flame, instantly transforming USS Benfold into an inferno.
The blazing steel hulk had barely settled back into the waves before a
second torpedo darted in and hammered the ship again.
When the smoke and spray from the base surges of the explosions
cleared, all that remained to mark the last position of USS Benfold was a
debris field and a burning oil slick.
USS Towers:
Captain Bowie stood on the forecastle and watched the scattered pieces
of Benfold’s debris field slide past the bow wake and drift aft. The desert
wind was hot, and it carried enough sand to sting his cheeks. He felt,
rather than saw, the executive officer walk up behind him. He spoke
without looking over his shoulder. “Any more survivors yet?”
“No, sir,” the XO said. “Just the one man. A kid, really. I just came
from Sick Bay. He can’t be more than eighteen or nineteen. Doc says
he’s got burns over about 40 percent of his body.”
“He’s not going to make it, then,” the captain said.
“Probably not, sir.”
The captain nodded once, but didn’t say anything. It didn’t make
sense. It shouldn’t have happened. Despite the damage to her bridge,
Benfold had been operating at near full capacity, with her speed,
maneuverability, and firepower undiminished. Her captain, Rachel
Vargas, had been a skilled tactician and a master of sea-maneuver warfare.
Her USW team had been well trained and well prepared. And now they
were all gone.
The thoughts turned slowly over and over in Captain Bowie’s brain, but
they refused to become real for him. The U.S. Navy hadn’t lost a warship
in combat since World War II. And now a ship under his command was
gone, and—except for one burned and dying teenager—every human
being on board was dead. All three hundred thirty-seven of them.
Captain Bowie shifted his eyes to the horizon. Gremlin Zero Four—
God, what an innocuous sounding designation for such a ruthlessly
efficient killer—was still out there.
The captain turned toward the XO. “I’m going to head down to Sick
Bay for a few minutes. Get a hold of the Navigator and have him plot a
course to the coast of Siraj, using our best speed.”
“Aye-aye, sir.”