The sum of all fears - Tom Clancy [215]
"I don't believe it." Mancuso said.
"I do, skipper. It's not new technology. What do we know about Lunin?."
"She's in overhaul right now. Let's see." Mancuso turned to look at the polar-projection chart on his office wall. "If that was him, then if he headed straight back to base it's possible, technically speaking, but you're assuming a hell of a lot."
"I'm saying that this bird was just in the neighborhood when you fired that water slug, that you headed south, and so did he, that you gave him a hull transient which he reacted to, and then he broke contact on his own. The data is thin, but it fits - maybe, I grant you, maybe. That's what they pay me for, guys."
"I commended Ricks for rattling Omaha's cage like that " Mancuso said, after a moment. "I want aggressive skippers."
Jones chuckled to break the tension in the room. "I wonder why, Bart?"
"Dutch knows about that job we had on the beach, that pickup we did."
"That was a little exciting," Jones admitted.
"One chance in three "
"The probability increases if you assume the other skipper is smart. Dubinin had a great teacher."
"What are you two talking about?" Lieutenant Commander Claggett asked in some exasperation.
"You know we have all sorts of data on the Russian Typhoon class, lots more on their torpedoes. Ever wonder how we got all that data, Commander?"
"Ron, God damn it!"
"I didn't break any rules, skipper, and besides, he needs to know."
"I can't do that and you know it."
"Fine, Bart." Jones paused. "Commander, you may speculate on how we got all that information in one great big lump. You might even guess right."
Claggett had heard a few rumbles, like why the Eight-Ten dock at Norfolk had been closed so long a few years before. There was a story floated about, spoken only in submarine wardrooms far at sea and well below the surface, that somehow the U.S. Navy had gotten its hands on a Russian missile sub, how a very strange reactor had turned up at the Navy's nuclear-power school in Idaho for tests and then had disappeared, how complete drawings and some hardware from Soviet torpedoes had magically appeared in Groton, and how two night missile shots out of Vandenberg Air Force Base had not appeared to be American missiles at all. Lots of operational intelligence had come into the fleet, very good stuff, stuff that sounded like it had come from someone who knew what the hell he was talking about - not always the case with intelligence information - on Soviet submarine tactics and training. Claggett needed only to look at Mancuso's uniform to see the ribbon that denoted a Distinguished Service Medal, America's highest peace-time decoration. The ribbon had a star on it, indicating a second such award. Mancuso was rather young for a squadron command, and very young indeed to be selected for Rear Admiral (Lower Half). And here was a former enlisted man who'd sailed with Mancuso, and now called him Bart. He nodded to Dr Jones.
"I get the picture. Thanks."
"You're saying operator error?"
Jones frowned. He didn't know all that much about Harry Ricks. "Mainly bad luck. Call it good luck, even. Nothing bad happened, and we've learned something. We know more about the Akula than we used to. A weird set of circumstances came together. Won't happen again in a hundred years, maybe. Your skipper was a victim of circumstance, and the other guy - if there was another guy there - was very damned sharp. Hey, the important thing about mistakes is that you learn from them, right?"
"Harry gets back in ten days," Mancuso said. "Can you be back here then?"
"Sorry," Jones said with a shake of the head. "I'm going to be in England. I'm going out on HMS Turbulent for a few days of hide 'n' seek. The Brits have a new processor that we need