The Hunt for Red October - Tom Clancy [150]
"We go up, too, Skipper?"
"Yeah, slow and easy."
The Invincible
The sky was half-filled with white, fleecy clouds, their undersides gray with the threat of rain. A twenty-knot wind was blowing from the southwest, and a six-foot sea was running, its dark waves streaked with whitecaps. Ryan saw the Bristol and Fife holding station to windward. Their captains, no doubt, were muttering a few choice words at this disposition. The American escorts, which had been detached the previous day, were now sailing to rendezvous with the USS New Jersey.
White was talking into the phone again. "Commander, I want to know the instant we get a radar return from the target area. Train every set aboard onto that patch of ocean. I also want to know of any, repeat any, sonar signals from the area . . .That is correct. Depth of target? Very well. Recall the second helicopter, I want both on station to windward."
They had agreed that the best method of passing the message would be to use a blinker light. Only someone placed in the direct line of sight would be able to read the signal. Hunter moved to the light, holding a sheet of paper Ryan had given him. The yeomen and signalmen normally stationed here were gone.
The Red October
"Thirty meters, Comrade Captain," Borodin reported. The battle watch was set in the control center.
"Periscope," Ramius said calmly. The oiled metal tube hissed upward on hydraulic pressure. The captain handed his cap to the junior officer of the watch as he bent to look into the eyepiece. "So, we have here three imperialist ships. HMS Invincible. Such a name for a ship !" He scoffed for his audience. "Two escorts, Bristol, and a County-class cruiser."
The Invincible
"Periscope, starboard bow!" the speaker announced.
"I see it!" Barclay's hand shot out to point. "There it is!"
Ryan strained to find it. "I got it." It was like a small broomstick sitting vertically in the water, about a mile away. As the waves rolled past, the bottommost visible part of the periscope flared out.
"Hunter," White said quietly. To Ryan's left the captain began jerking his hand on the lever that controlled the light shutters.
The Red October
Ramius didn't see it at first. He was making a complete circle of the horizon, checking for any other ships or aircraft. When he finished the circuit, the flashing light caught his eye. Quickly he tried to interpret the signal. It took him a moment to realize it was pointed right at him.
AAA AAA AAA RED OCTOBER RED OCTOBER CAN YOU READ THIS CAN YOU READ THIS PLEASE PING US ONE TIME ON ACTIVE SONAR IF YOU CAN READ THIS PLEASE PING US ONE TIME ON ACTIVE SONAR IF YOU CAN READ THIS AAA AAA AAA RED OCTOBER RED OCTOBER CAN YOU READ THIS CAN YOU READ THIS
The message kept repeating. The signal was jerky and awkward. Ramius didn't notice this. He translated the English signal in his head, at first thinking it was a signal to the American submarine. His knuckles went white on the periscope hand grips as he translated the message in his mind.
"Borodin," he said finally, after reading the message a fourth time, "we set up a practice firing solution on Invincible. Damn, the periscope rangefinder is sticking. A single ping, Comrade. Just one, for range."
Ping!
The Invincible
"One ping from the contact area, sir, sounds Soviet," the speaker reported.
White lifted his phone. "Thank you. Keep us informed." He set it back down. "Well, gentlemen . . ."
"He did it!" Ryan sang out. "Send the rest, for Christ's sake!"
"At once." Hunter grinned like a madman.
RED OCTOBER RED OCTOBER YOUR WHOLE FLEET IS CHASING AFTER YOU YOUR WHOLE FLEET IS CHASING AFTER YOU YOUR PATH