Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

CHAPTER 51
USS TOWERS (DDG-103)
NORTHERN ARABIAN GULF (OFF THE COAST OF SIRAJ) TUESDAY;
22 MAY
0358 hours (3:58 AM)
TIME ZONE +3 ‘CHARLIE’
The helo pilot’s voice came over the Navy Red speaker in Combat
Information Center, “SAU Commander, this is Firewalker Two-Six. I am
up for Towers control. My fuel state is three hours plus four zero minutes.
Three souls aboard. My load-out is one Mark-54 torpedo and a mixed rack
of sonobuoys, over.”
“Roger, Firewalker,” Chief McPherson said. “Proceed to your fly-to
points and begin seeding your buoys. You are at the edge of Siraji
airspace, so keep your eyes peeled and don’t wander outside our missile
envelope. You might get some company up there, over.”
“This is Firewalker Two-Six. Copy all. Roger, out.”
The chief switched her comm-set from Navy Red to the USW tactical
net. “Sonar—USWE. Go active. Stay sharp and change your equipment
lineup every couple of minutes until we find the combination that gives us
contact.”
“Sonar, aye.”
The chief looked at the CDRT and ran through the tactical situation in
her mind. She wanted to be sure that she hadn’t missed anything.
Navy Red warbled. “Towers, this is COM Fifth Fleet. I hate to follow
the president’s pep talk with bad news, but intelligence estimates indicate
that you are steaming into a Siraji minefield, over.”
The XO looked up. “A minefield? How much more good news can we
stand?”
“Tell me about it,” the captain said. He keyed up Navy Red. “COM
Fifth Fleet, this is Towers. Understand my unit is steaming into a
minefield. Request estimated boundaries of the field and any known safe
transit lanes, over.”
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