Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

336 JEFF EDWARDS
R-92:
The fifth-generation computer that formed R-92’s digital brain noted
the changes in signal strength caused by the target’s evasive maneuvers.
R-92 was not fooled by the target’s bobs and weaves. Over two-thirds of
the 152 miniature sonar transducers in R-92’s acoustic seeker head had
strong signal locks on the target. And then—improbably—the target
signal grew even louder, giving R-92 a better acoustic lock.
R-92 did a range calculation on the target and determined that it was
approaching optimum range for detonation. It sent a coded digital pulse to
its warhead, initiating the final arming sequence.
R-92 did not know anything about the people it was programmed to
kill. It had no understanding of politics, or national boundaries, or the
fates of men. The torpedo had no way of knowing that the successful
destruction of its target would point the future of the human race toward
all-out war, whereas the failure to destroy its target would create a respite
in which careful and thoughtful men might still be able to salvage the
peace. The machine that was about to become the axis upon which history
turned was not aware of history at all.
The weapon checked its depth and adjusted the angle of its elevator fins
to take it under the hull of the target. Satisfied that its calculations were
accurate, R-92 closed in for the kill.
The torpedo reached its optimum attack depth of twelve meters at the
same instant the target’s acoustic signal strength hit its peak. R-92’s
digital brain transmitted one final signal, and 250 kilograms of plasticizedhexite
high-explosive erupted into an expanding shock wave of fire and
vaporized water.
USS Towers (DDG-103) :
The torpedo impacted on the port screw, near the after-edge of the huge
hole left by the previous torpedo hit. The explosion crashed into the ship
like the fist of God, rolling the destroyer onto her starboard side, ripping
through the already damaged hull, and letting in tons of seawater.
All over the ship, people and unsecured equipment slid down the
swiftly tilting deck toward the starboard side. The angle of the deck was
crazy now, and still the wounded ship continued its roll.