Warshot (The Hunter Killer Series Book 6) by Don Keith (dark books to read TXT) 📕

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Joe Glass eased the desk phone back down into its cradle. The call from Stanton Readly had left him with yet another major problem. At least the Canberra appeared to be under repair and would start limping back to Samoa shortly. The ramifications of one of his submarines sinking a Chinese sub had already been kicked upstairs to be handled by folks of a higher pay grade. He was also awaiting guidance on what to do with the two Chinese surface ships his people now held captive out there at the scene of the battle. He had also decided not to worry about the PLAN submarine that had tucked tail and fled.

The latest problem, though, had him in a quandary. Glass had no idea how he would solve it, but he certainly knew who to ask. Maybe the only person on the planet who might even possibly offer any hope. And Glass just happened to have on his desk the man’s business card with his satellite phone number.

He punched in the numbers to reach Dr. Rex Smith. As the phone rang, Glass reassured himself that if anyone knew of a way to reach that damned Chinese DSV stuck on the sea floor, and if he just happened to be close enough to do anything, it would be the ocean geologist from the Deep Ocean Explorer.

Smith sounded almost chipper when he finally answered. And quite confident once Glass explained the situation. He was well aware of the potential result if they did not get the people off that little submersible.

“Yes, I know Sun Ryn well, by the way,” Smith said. “His ship and crew, too. We did a project together off Wenzhou a couple of years ago. A good man despite it all, who tries to make the most of his situation.”

“Well, we got three souls about to die a horrible death if we can’t work some magic down there,” Glass shot back.

The two quickly concluded that the Deep Ocean Explorer would not be of any use. There was no way to get the slow-moving ship out to the site until well after the clock would have run out on any possibility of mounting a rescue. But as Joe Glass had hoped, Rex Smith had an ace up his sleeve.

Back when Smith and his ship had been captured by King Two-for-One’s henchmen, they had simply left the Sea Raptor, the scientist’s unmanned research submersible vehicle, lying at rest on the ocean floor. And in a spot not that far from where the Chinese were stuck on the bottom. Now, if there was some way to re-activate it, they might just be able to do something with it to rescue the DSV.

Exactly what that “something” was had yet to be determined. But Smith was already talking with his people about it by the time the call from Glass ended.

It took only thirty more seconds for Smith’s technicians to think of a major snag. To re-activate the Sea Raptor, they would have to disconnect the control and communications systems from the Deep Ocean Explorer, move them two hundred miles out to the site where the DSV was, set everything back up on the Chinese research vessel, wake up the UUV, and then, assuming the little gal responded to the wakeup call, put her to work rescuing the men stuck down there near the Tonga Trench. And all this would have to be done before the air ran out on the DSV.

Glass looked at his watch as if the instrument were a crafty adversary. If the chief research engineer on the Chinese ship was anywhere close to correct in his calculations, they now had only about eight hours left.

Rex Smith gathered up his team and set to work disconnecting all the electronic equipment that formed the remote-control system for the UUV. Everything had to be documented to be sure it went back together correctly. Other techs were tasked with assembling anything that they might possibly need, from manuals to patch cords to spare fuses. There would be no time to ask someone to bring out some part or gizmo they neglected to load.

Meanwhile, Joe Glass grabbed Lew Wooten, the skipper of the Chesty Puller, and worked to gather any parts or equipment that the massive Expeditionary Mobile Base ship might have to aid in the rescue. They would gather all the equipment onboard the big ship, mostly on the Puller’s expansive flight deck. The first load of electronics flew away on an Osprey, which quickly reached top speed of three hundred and fifty miles per hour, making it a relatively quick hop. Rex Smith, Mitch O’Donnell, and Sandy McDougal hitched a ride on that bird. Joe Glass and Bill Bix jumped onboard the CH-53K King Stallion helicopter for the ride out. The chopper carried several pallets loaded with heavier equipment. At a cruise speed of about two hundred miles per hour, it would take them a bit longer to get to their destination, but Glass figured the most important people and parts were on the Osprey.

Joe Glass checked his watch yet again as the two aircraft took to the air. The hands seemed to be spinning. The former submariner had had his own couple of experiences with too little and bad air while stuck beneath the sea. He did not wish that on anyone.

They now had about five hours left if there was to be any hope.

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It took two hours for the Osprey to reach the Zhang Jian and then hook up the Sea Raptor’s control and communications equipment to the research ship’s power supply. Sun Ryn, the Chinese chief research engineer, walked them through the ship’s hook-ups. Soon a rat’s nest of wires and cables ran around the command center, but everything seemed to check out. Sandy McDougal sat down in front of the command console and promptly sent out the “wake-up” signal to the Sea Raptor.

The little UUV came to life on the very first ping. Everyone cheered as