Chapter Ten
"Contact; bearing zero-one-five relative," Kowalski reported. "It's huge!" the seaman muttered to himself, his professionalism wavering only a moment as he tightened his resolve.
"Get me a clear shot, Mr. Morton," Lee ordered deciding not to use torpedoes at this close range and aiming for the coordinates Ski had called out while Chip immediately initiated a turn for a head on engagement. The turn was complete, but he estimated that the squid's giant mantel would be hard to miss at this range. He fired several blasts and then scrutinized the darkness for its result, catching a shadowy glimpse of the squid closing in and coming into view of his sights.
"Second contact…" Ski started to report when Seaview suddenly experienced a hard jolt that sent its crew crashing against the other side of the control room before over-correcting back to the other side in a series of extreme rock and rolls.
Lee found himself knocked hard against the bulkhead and then thrown to the deck. He managed to get to his feet and maintain a handhold at the portside bulkhead, riding out the incredible force slamming the crew from one side to the next. Steam burst through several overhead pipes and sparks flew from the NAV computer as Lee made a concerted effort to reach the laser sights. He grabbed hold of the frame from the laser's stow rack with one hand and attempted to aim with only one hand free to steady his aim. Planting his feet, he issued a direct hit, resulting in a powerful shake as the squid reacted reflexively to the sudden pain.
"Pressure building on the outer hull!" Chip yelled over the sounds of the boat under attack just as another pipe spewed out steam. "Kill that steam!" he ordered while reaching for a button and depressing without satisfaction. "Crash doors inoperative," he yelled, informing Seaview's Captain, who had no time to respond at present.
# # # # #
Lee fired again, but the sudden reaction from the squid was devastating, knocking him from his feet. Sparks shot out from another console as crewmen not firmly planted at their stations scrambled to their feet.
"Fire detail, get on that!" the Exec ordered helping Lee to his feet. "The next one will tear us apart," he advised his commanding officer before catching the horrifying sight of a flailing tentacle outside Seaview's window, the base of the tentacle so large that it obstructed the entire view as it made its way toward them.
Lee didn't have time to respond, he planted his feet ignoring the wet crimson blood sliding down his temple when the cut above his eye reopened. He aimed at a target that was now impossible to miss before the outside sights suddenly went dark, covered by a tentacle as the creature wrapped another deadly appendage around Seaview's hull. Firing blindly, Lee pulled the trigger in a sustaining blow that he hoped would either kill the squid or at least send the creature into retreat. The sudden rock and roll dispelled both of those scenarios when Seaview suffered the worse abuse yet, resulting in a subsequent loss of power and sending her crew crashing to the deck.
# # # # #
Lee blinked to clear his vision, then crawled back toward the laser. The deck was currently listing 15 degrees and emergency power had kicked in, bathing the Control Room in its red glow. Outside Seaview's windows, large suctions ominously obstructed the view. To make matters worse, he suspected the forward torpedo tubes were obstructed, making that option unusable.
He found his footing and fired the lasers, but frowned when he realized there was no response.
"Divert all power to the laser!" he yelled over his shoulder when a sudden jolt hit once again, this time however, it was accompanied by a reflexive loosening of the squid's hold as Seaview's windows suddenly cleared. "What happened?" he asked, not intending to look a gift horse in the mouth, but needing answers just the same.
"It's the flying sub!" Kowalski yelled to a brief cheer of relief from crewmen who, though valiant in their efforts, had begun to lose hope.
Lee didn't have time to celebrate however, finding his footing once again to make his way back to the laser. "I need that power, Chip!"
His urgent order refocused the entire Control Room at the realization that the battle wasn't over and the flying sub was now, most likely, the object of the creature's scorn.
# # # # #
"Direct hit!" Sharkey shouted victoriously; the Admiral's aim had been dead-on, hitting the squid right in the middle of one of its massive eyes. The result had been an instant release of its death grip Seaview.
Harry heard but ignored the Chief's celebratory remark, far too busy to acknowledge, while busy conducting evasive maneuvers in order to stay clear of the long reach of tentacles thrashing about in pain and looking for something to attack. FS1 barely escaped one such appendage and settled into relatively safe waters for the time being.
"FS1 to Seaview, come in," he hailed, but waited only briefly for an answer before calling again. "If you can hear me, focus all firepower between the eyes," he instructed and then repeated, calculating that even though the flying sub's radio antenna had been damaged, that at this close range Seaview's powerful radio might just be able to hear their transmission.
"It's going to put the squeeze on Seaview again!" Sharkey pointed out, having a ringside seat to the unbelievable view.
"Seaview, if you can hear me; focus all firepower between the eyes," Harry repeated urgently. Only a scratchy reply filled the cockpit as Nelson assessed their chances of successfully destroying the squid without Seaview's laser. The squid was already wounded, bearing the battle scars of several direct hits from the larger submarine but they had yet to subdue the creature. Targeting its brain was the best way to impair the cephalopod, he calculated, but based upon the creature's resilience thus far, it would take sustained blasts from both Seaview and FS1 to do it. "Repeat; focus all firepower between the eyes!"
"Admiral!" Sharkey yelled, when the squid managed to wrap an appendage around Seaview once again, and began shaking it violently.
Harry could wait no longer. He had no idea if the flying sub's firepower would be adequate, but he was left with no other option.
"Hang on, Chief, this might get rough," he warned his co-pilot before firing FS1's onboard lasers, targeting the beast squarely between the eyes.
# # # # #
"I need that power, Chip!" he yelled over his shoulder, ordering the Exec to redirect emergency power from everything, including air revitalization, to the lasers. The Admiral had bought them a short reprieve, but unless they became battle ready soon, the squid would crush Seaview and then turn on FS1.
He scanned the dark sea, the creature's violent thrashing in pain had subsided but it had stirred up a silty cloud. Focusing through the obscurity he found his target and waited for the power to be re-routed to the laser.
"Captain!" Sparks voice was heard over the com, "a message from FS1," he informed running the scratchy message over the intercom.
Lee pulled back from the sights to try and decipher the scratchy message, catching only a few words on the second hail from the flying sub; "Focus…ll…po…wer…." The rest of the message was inaudible, he started to lean back into the lasers but the sight out the windows stopped him cold when he spotted the large paddle of the feeding tentacle coming straight for them once again. There was no time for evasive action, and he feared that Seaview wouldn't survive another attack if the wounded squid got hold of her again.
"Ready the hull for a nuclear charge!" he ordered over his shoulder.
The order had barely been repeated and acknowledged when the tentacle found its target grasping the sub and sending everyone to the deck.
# # # # #
Lee battled his way to a hanging mic swinging with the inertia of the violent shake as the red emergency lights flickered.
"Engineering! Fire the nuclear charge through the hull, NOW!"
A few seconds passed before a glow was seen through the window. The violent shaking stopped, but though the squid was apparently stunned it managed to keep its tight hold on the large submarine.
"Again!" he ordered, finding his footing and heading toward the laser.
"FS1 is engaging the squid," Patterson reported, having found his way back to his seat and recognizing the distinct sound of a laser firing underwater. "Direct hit!"
A sudden tightening of the tentacle's hold reflected the Admiral's laser fire, but Seaview's second charge through the hull did the trick and the tentacle retreated.
"It's after the flying sub!" Ski reported.
Lee made it back to the laser, just in time to see the laser from the flying sub suddenly cease. He pulled the trigger, but the nuclear charge had drained the resources he needed for the laser.
"It's got the flying sub!" he heard from the control room. They were running out of time. It would take a few minutes for the laser to charge so he used his last option.
"Ready torpedoes!" he ordered.
"The concussion will destroy the flying sub," Chip warned, fulfilling his duty as first officer and giving his captain all the facts.
"It's the only chance they've got," he answered before ordering, "Fire one! Fire four!"
His order was immediately obeyed and followed by a slight shudder under the deck.
"Torpedoes loose," Kowalski reported.
"Target acquired," Patterson chimed in. "Impact, ten seconds."
"Rig for shock wave," Lee ordered and planted his feet, watching through the laser sights as two Mark 16 torpedoes whizzed through the water towards their target.