Chapter 2
Jack had just finished 'fancying' his room. He was now in his typical captain's uniform along with his headset. He settled in comfortably into his sneakers as he walked down the small halls of his nuclear submarine.
The submarine was on its way to Japan, they had left Guam a few hours ago and he had slightly rested up. His mind was still full of excitement at the adventure ahead of him.
Jack wanted to check out the submarine and since most of its crew were at their stations he could see what they were doing. It wasn't like anyone could stop him, he was the captain.
The submarine was 267 feet long, obviously all of this wasn't living space, but he intended to know every foot by the end of the school year. His mind raced as he tried to figure out what compartment to check out first, the torpedo room, the nuclear engineers, crew quarters, galley?
Within seconds he had made the choice to work from front to back, the torpedo room would be first. He began making his way forward, with the skeleton crew he only saw a few members. After a quick and simple salute, he continued on.
The doors throughout the submarine were open, save for the entrances to the nuclear reactor and the staterooms among others. Jack simply walked into the torpedo room before seeing Jake.
The torpedo room was big compared to most of the sub, it had to be. The 30 modified Mk 37 torpedoes were all in their racks lining the floor and walls. Each of them in line with one of the 6 forward torpedo tubes.
"Captain!" Jake said as he quickly snapped to attention and delivered a salute. The two other enlisted personnel in the room quickly doing the same.
"Jake, I told you, just acknowledge my presence, no need to be so formal."
"Sorry sir, what can I do for you?" His silver eyes in combination with the black hair seemed to poke a hole in Jake's soul. While he was only 5'10" his gaze seemed extremely intimidating.
"What can you tell me about our torpedoes?" Jack knew the specifications of the sub and torpedoes but wasn't an expert. Jake as the sub's weapons officer, was.
"Well sir the Pearl has 8, 21-inch torpedo tubes, 6 forward and 2 aft. The weapons department does have 2 more enlisted personal currently stationed in the aft torpedo room. We're equipped with 30 Mk 37 torpedoes." As soon as he said that Jack signaled him to stop with a raise of his hand as he began to speak.
"The Mk37, give me a run-down of her specs." Jack brushed his brown hair out of his face before adjusting his hat.
"She's a modified version of the original Mk37. All in all, our torpedo resembles an NT37. Powered by an Otto fuel engine capable of doing 36 knots to a range of 16,400 meters. She carries a 330lbs explosive charge. It'll sink most light ships and submarines but we'll need to hit the heavier ships more than once." Jake explained as he pointed at a diagram of the torpedo on the wall.
"She uses active and passive sonar, right?"
"Yes, she'll go active whenever you program her too or she'll passively track a target until she gets within 700m."
"Thanks, how do you think she'll do against the Girl's Marine Highschool?"
"Wonderful, I wouldn't be surprised if almost every torpedo we fire hits." With that Jack face slowly grew into a smile as his mind processed all this new information.
"Thanks Jake, I got to go so peace!" With that Jack left the room and begun making his way towards his next destination, the crew quarters.
Within seconds he walked into the quarters, it was devoid of life. He saw the bags inside the lockers and a few clothes on the bunks. They had their own reading light an air conditioning, a substantial improvement over the diesel navy.
The room was shrunk to accommodate the larger torpedo storage and the overall small crew. That doesn't mean it was cramped though, he walked through it once more before walking out to the galley. The smells of the different foods penetrated his nose as soon as he entered. The cook was clearly busy making something, Jack didn't know what it was, but he wanted it.
"Captain!" The cook, Buckman by his tag was a rather tall man with minorly out of shape figure, something rare in the high school submariner world.
"Hey Buckman, what are we making for tonight!" He asked as his nose began taking in new smells as he was at the cook's counter.
"Steak and mash potatoes sir, it's a USHSF nuclear tradition." He responded with a hearty laugh and a smile on his face. His cook only white uniform looking pure as milk.
"Great, God I can't wait!"
"Well sir dinner will be at 1800."
"Good, I'll leave you to it." With that Jack once again exited another room before heading into the med bay. In reality it had been the officer's wardroom on the submarine but as everyone ate at the mess on the school ships it was converted.
"Captain." David said as he and his staff our four walked around, preparing the 'med bay' for anything that might come around.
"How we doing in here?"
"We're trying, God knows all the things that could go wrong. Were in a cramped, metal tube 500 feet below with a damn machine that could spew radiation in an instant. Do you know how many ways you could die?" David's tone from earlier seemed to have disappeared as he was now full of worry, his southern accent only brining it out.
"We'll be fine, besides were the first high schoolers aboard this newest class of submarine, think about the adventure!" Jack joked as everyone in the room was still rushing around and finishing their jobs.
"Whatever you say, either way I can't wait to get some fresh air!" With that Jack walked out the room chuckling, David was clearly a pessimist, he'd fix that soon.
He continued on walking and listening to the noises around him. It was quieter than the surface but still loud, obviously if they needed they could make themselves dead quiet. He ran his hand along the cold metal to his side, feeling the texture of it as he took a turn into the sonar room.
"Hey Sonar!" Jack said as he walked into the small room, a myriad of instruments around him.
"Captain!" He replied as he begun flicking through various screens on his iPad. They sonar room was given two iPads which could both trace various signatures and noises and help the sonar man identify them. One for the sonar and another for the ESM mast and radar.
"Anything happening?"
"Nothing much, a family of whales was swimming by about an hour ago, some merchant ship's engine was acting up since it kept going on and off."
"Nice, let me know if you hear anything. We'll be starting drills here soon enough so get ready to hear some crushing."
"Crushing?"
"Yep, we're gonna see how deep she take it!" With that he walked out laughing, everyone was.
His last stop was the engineering department, where everything that actually kept the submarine going happened.
There wasn't really much color in the submarine aside from the various color-coded valves or monitors. Everything was just black and the lights, while they were strong didn't exactly help. He enjoyed the surface, the sun on his face, the wind in his hair but this was the life he chose. To be the terror of the deep and the nightmares of men.
His mind soon turned to a more lighter tone as he heard a familiar voice, George. "Fuck!"
"C'mon George your fine." Scotty joked as he slapped George on the back with a laugh, his Scottish accent beaming.
"Hey guys what's up?" Jack said as he walked in with a smile on his face, albeit a curious one.
"Just running some final checks on the systems, George has been taking a few bloody volts." As if God heard that within the second George got nailed once again. Then, out of nowhere, he began singing Frank Sinatra.
Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
"The hell? He seemed so normal a minute ago!" Jack said as he looked down at their ET-Comm now singing with one hell of an impression.
"He is sir!
Let me see what spring is like
On Jupiter and Mars
It's only after he gets a bloody good shock!" Scotty replied between the singing, the other two members of the engineering department continuing on with their duties.
"Alright then though you might want to get him to calm down soon, were about to dive!" With that Jack walked out and made his way over to his own territory, the conn.
It didn't take him long to walk through the various water tight compartments before arriving at his station and taking a seat.
"Captain!" Robert said as he walked up to Jack with a smile on his face.
"Hey, so how we doing?"
"Good sir! We're 68 hours away from Guam and on schedule."
"Good to here, I want for us to take a test dive." As these words were said everyone in the conn looked over at the captain, faces or worry and happiness filled the room.
"Understood sir, do you want to lead it?"
"You know it!" Jack let out a little cheer causing spirits in the department to lighten up.
"Nicholas, 20 degrees down bubble!" Jack ordered as his pilot soon began to fulfill the orders.
"20 degrees down bubble, maneuvering aye!"
The submarine quickly began to head straight to the sea floor. They were still traveling at 22 knots and he had no intention of slowing down.
"Dive, dive, dive, rig for deep dive!" Robert said over the comm headset as everyone began last second preparation such as making sure things were secure.
"150 meters, 200 meters!" David, the COB was calling out the depth as they dove. The crew could feel the sub begin to squeeze and the hull creak, while they were only going to test depth it would still apply pressure.
"Captain, I believe we've reached test depth." Robert said as he looked at Jack who was still sitting down on his captain's chair.
"No, I want to see how deep we can take her, continue on." He replied with a tone of steely confidence, one that seemed to inspire others.
"Yes sir!" A nervous aura now seemed to fill the submarine as they continued diving, the sounds of the hull compressing still present.
"No leaks reported sir!"
The submarine continued to bend underneath the thirty atmospheres of pressure. The men in the conn grew more and more nervous as they could now see cabinets and equipment coming towards them.
Within a second the valve on one of the many pipes leading through the submarine burst. As if from a movie it shot out at incredible speed and bounced around the room yet never hit anyone.
"Level her off!" Jack ordered as the submarine stopped its decent and begun to slightly rise.
"Maximum depth was 250 meters, sir!" David said, his eyes were trained on the depth gage the entire time.
"God, I love this job!" Jack yelled as he jumped up, the wildest grin on his face.
"That means that our crush depth is…325 meters sir give or take a few!" David said, test depth was typically 2/3rd of the crush depth. Since their submarine wasn't designed off of the tear drop hull as other modern designs they had a lower crush depth. Now it was higher than the previous submarine designs before it and would clearly have an advantage over anything diesel.
"Engineering, we need someone to fix a valve, pronto!" Jack ordered through the intercom, within the minute one of the enlisted arrived. A short white haired, brown eyed boy no older than 15 ran through before looking at the snapped pipe. Within seconds he quickly placed down a box of tools and began to attach a spare valve, the original being bent to hell.
"Done Captain!" He said as threw up a salute and ran back to Engineering. Jack simply responded by shooting thanks over by intercom before sitting back down on his seat.
"Alright guys what do you figure we should do now?" Jack asked, he wanted input from the crew and not just his own. He wanted everyone to be involved and to learn everything aside from their own jobs so that if anything happened they could be replacements.
"Well Captain, I figure we should probably shoot up to periscope depth and take a look around just to make sure everything is working." Robert had a look on his face, one that Jack couldn't decipher, and it unnerved him.
"Alright then, Nicholas bring us up to periscope depth, slowly."
"Bringing her up to periscope depth, maneuvering aye!" With that the submarine began to slowly rise, the hull slightly popping back as they ascended. Nothing broke although the occasional creak prompted one or two crew members to jump, much to the enjoyment of everyone else.
You could hear the water being pushed out of the ballast tanks as it was replaced with air. The ascent wasn't rapid so no one had the need to hold on as was common with the emergency blows submarines occasionally did.
Periscope depth on the Pearl was 12 meters, lower than the modern submarines but higher than most older models. The Skate class was the first production run of a nuclear submarine. Combined with the Nautilus almost all modern nukes owed parts of their design to them.
"Captain were at periscope depth!" David called out as the submarine began to level off.
"Up scope!" Jack ordered as the scope began to drop from the roof. The scope came down to just below his neck before he flipped out the handles on the side. He slung his arms over the handles as he looked through the eye piece.
He was greeted with a series of lines and a crosshair. The top of the scope was barely a few feet above the surface, giving him a limited view. The sight of the clear blue ocean and the sky was truly amazing.
"Take a look Robert!" Looking through the eye piece Robert saw the same clear blue ocean. The same expression of wonder was on his face, it really hit them the that they were on a submarine. This would typically be their only view of life above the surface, other than that they would be down under.
"Should we take her up?" David asked with an expectant tone, he wanted to get a full view.
"Down scope! Prepare to surface!" Jack ordered within the second, a smile growing across the officers' faces.
The submarine instantly began to slow down as it started towards the surface. Within seconds the sail had broken through the now choppy water. The submarine was designed to run on the surface yet was faster underwater so it rarely surfaced.
"Captain we're up!" Nicholas quietly said.
"Alright then David, Robert come up with me!"
They began making their way up to the sail, climbing through watertight compartments and into the bridge. They all had bright smiles across their faces as they opened up the hatch keeping everything sealed. Within a few seconds and some forceful spins, they had managed to climb onto the small platform.
Jack was the first one up as he took a look at the expanse in front of him, the feeling of the warm sun on his face. He rubbed his brown hair out of his face as began to slightly sweat, the heat on the surface much higher than that inside the submarine.
His gaze was quickly averted towards the horizon and straight at the sunset behind them. Standing on the sail seemed to give an aura of power as they looked out over the top of the submarine. They were cruising along at 15 knots now and the water around them was kicking up.
"You know that really looks amazing!" David was looking at the sunset when an idea popped into his mind. "Let's get a picture of us in this!"
"How?" They both asked in unison, none of them would take a selfie so how did he plan to do so.
"Well we need someone with a camera who could go and stand on the hull!" Both the boys facepalmed, the answer was so obvious and they were supposed to be smart.
"Alright then I'll go grab some enlisted guy and a camera!" Robert immediately shot back down the ladders into the conn. The darkness coming back to him and the air growing cold as he descended into the belly of the beast.
"Alright I need an enlisted with a camera…you!" He was pointing towards a short and not so happy looking seaman. Robert didn't exactly know why he was like this, but he figured it had to do with the fact that he was being called out for work. He also had a camera in his hand for some unknown reason.
"Now look…Kuz...Kuznet…Kuznetsov I need you to walk out onto the hull and take a photo, ok?"
"Yes sir." It was the most monotone reply anyone ever heard and the icing on the cake was the Russian accent. What was weird was that there was a Russian on board. The USHSF was almost all Americans with the occasional North American foreigner so why was this kid from Russia here, they had their own program?
"Nicholas make speed 10 knots!"
"Make speed 10 knots, maneuvering aye!" The submarine slowly began to slow down. It wasn't like they wanted Kusnetsov to get swept off the submarine, no matter how funny it would be.
"Captain got our man!" Jack and David both looked over this short Russian who still didn't look happy. Yet he continued with his job as he climbed down the sail and onto the hull.
"Try and get a picture with us and the sunset in the background!" Most ships had a dedicated person on board who would take photos and at the end of the year would make a compilation. The Pearl didn't have one so all photos were by the crew.
Within seconds he had made his way to the very front of the submarine and began to lift his camera. The view was amazing, the sail followed along with the rest of the submarine as the sun set with a myriad of colors. The three superior officers were all standing together with each other's arms around one's shoulders. Their uniforms contrasting against the sun in the background making the picture all the better.
"Got it sirs!"
"Alright now get one of us saluting and you can come back on board!"
A minute later Kusnetsov climbed his way back up the ladder, while the Russian was short he was muscular, and it showed.
"Kusnetsov what's your job?" David asked as he looked over the boy in front of him with a steely yet awkwardly nice expression, his blue eyes trying to get a read on him.
"Fireman sir!"
"You belong an Engineering, why were you in the conn?"
"JG Cooper sent me to inspect the ship, said he wanted me to learn the sub."
"Alright then go back to what you were doing."
"Yes sir." An aura of suspicion seemed to hang in the air as he ran away. They weren't sure if it was because he was Russian or just that it seemed odd for him to have learned the sub earlier.
"David keep an eye on him." Jack said as they began to make their way down below, each of them taking their last breath of 'fresh' air before sealing the hatch.
They all navigated down the various compartments of the submarine before making it back to the conn where everyone was staring at them.
"Orders Captain?" Nicholas asked with a curious tone, he enjoyed being in control of a multi-million-dollar nuclear machine.
"Make depth 100 meters, 22 knots!"
"Make depth 100 meters, 22 knots, maneuvering aye!" His tone one of sadness as he most likely wouldn't be seeing the sun for a while. The submarine quickly taking on the water in the ballast tanks as it dove.
"Captain, permission to speak informally?" Robert asked the thought on everyone's mind, at which point could they further drop the formalities. Jack knew what he meant and that was cussing.
"Dude you don't need to ask, Scotty and George were cussing up a storm earlier."
"I can't Goddamned wait to get to Japan and kick some ass!" A cheer came up from the crew, everyone was excited to go into fight. The exercises were due to start 2 days from now so and everyone was itching for a fight.
"Well then when we get there I want the best out of all of you, act proper on the surface. Underneath though I don't give a shit just show a little respect."
"Yes Captain!" The entire crew bellowed with a cheer once again some even throwing hands up in the air.
"So, David any ideas as to what the hell we should do next?"
"No Captain." For once the man in charge of all the enlisted sailors didn't have a clue.
"I do Captain!" Robert proudly exclaimed as an idea popped into his mind.
"Ok shoot." Robert brushed his brown hair out of his face before looking directly into Jack's soul with his icy blue eyes. All eyes were on him as he began to speak, his pale skin not changing a shade as he spoke.
"Let's see how fast we can push the Pearl!"
"Alright then so once were done with that then we should have all our preliminary tests out of the way, great!" Excitement filled his brown eyes as he switched on his headset to the frequency used by engineering.
"Scotty were going to run a speed test, are we good?"
"Not really." His Scottish accent came out in full as his department dropped everything and listened to the sound of their captain's voice.
"What do you mean not really?" The tone changed to one of frustration and that was not something you wanted to see.
"Well technically speaking I can get us to full power for a short amount of time but that might damage the hull. It'll be even worse if it damages the giant bloody nuclear nightmare waiting to happen!" Only the three head officers could here this conversation and if Scotty's tone unnerved them then God knows what it might do to the crew.
"Can you do it Scotty?"
"Only for a minute, any more than that and I'm cutting her off." A smile slowly crept around Jack's face as he uttered the words every captain wanted to say.
"Nicholas…punch it!"
"Aye Captain!" With that the submarine began to slowly increase in speed, the S4W nuclear reactor beginning to run faster and faster. Within seconds they were cavitating but it didn't matter, they had no need to be silent.
"Approaching 26 knots Captain!" They were above the official speed of the Pearl but Jack wanted more, he wanted to push it past the limits.
"Can you get me more Scotty?"
"I'm giving her all she's got Captain!" Still the submarine began to increase speed as the reactor began pushing itself harder and harder.
"28 knots Captain!" The sound of equipment starting to strain could be heard throughout the submarine now.
"Captain if we keep this up she'll rupture!" Scotty yelled over the radio. The entirety of the submarine was relaxed aside from engineering who was running around monitoring the situation.
"Got it, cut it back to ahead full!"
"Ahead full, maneuvering aye!" Nicholas quickly switched a switch causing the submarine to begin slowing down tremendously, or at least what was considered tremendous due to the relative speed.
"Scotty any problems?"
"Not yet Captain although it'll take us a few minutes to check."
"Understood, keep me posted."
"Captain a slight request, unless were about to die let's never bloody do that ever…ever…again!"
Jack laughed before responding with the simplest thing possible in the situation. "Noted."
"Captain the Skates' top unofficial speed ever measured was 25 knots, how'd we hit 28?" Robert asked with a questioning look, while he was the XO it didn't mean he knew everything.
Jack simply smiled before replying. "That's because the Skates' never pushed their reactor to the point of fucking blowing up!"
Everyone in the room chuckled uneasily at that. Were they really that close to going nuclear? What would've happened if they did and would they have survived.
"Captain for one I agree with Scotty, unless were about to die let's not do that every fucking again!" David said, the normally steely Master Chief now showing worry in his tone.
"Don't worry, don't worry, I don't plan to take us on a stay at home field trip of Chernobyl." An uneasy laugh spread across the crew, Nicholas looked directly into his eyes. His amber eyes seemed to show a nice peace with a hint of pain. It was awkward, but he decided it would probably be better not to press it.
"That's definitely reassuring Captain!" David replied with what had to be the biggest shit eating grin possible, his brown hair and blue eyes only making it worse.
"So, I know were not allowed to play music or bring speakers but does anyone by chance got one. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to play anything over the comms." Jack asked, the only thing left for the day was dinner and even though they weren't bored the music would make it better.
"Captain I got an aux in my room, give me a sec!" Steven said as he got up from his navigation table and jogged through the compartments.
"Any ideas for songs?" Everyone began to think long and hard on the subject, it wasn't like they had signal underwater so they hoped whatever they chose he had.
"Electro swing!"
"Country!"
Rock!"
"Rap!"
"Pop!"
"Dubstep!"
"Hip-hop!" Ideas for genres came out from everyone in the conn yet no songs, at least that was until Sonar poked his head through one of the ladders leading to the sonar room. "Well since the XO and Captain are both from places around Seattle let's play some band from there!"
A chorus of nods went around the room as Steven ran back into the room, aux in hand.
"The Pretender!" David burst out in excitement causing everyone to laugh before another chorus of nods took the room.
"Let me just put this someplace smart and connect my phone…got it!" It was placed directly on a cup holder on top of the navigation table so it wouldn't fall out and could be heard by all.
Keep you in the dark
You know they all pretend
Keep you in the dark
And so, it all began
The sound of a guitar pierced the air as a man began to sing the famous lyrics. Everyone in the conn and surrounding rooms could hear it and it was a nice break from the casual white noise that they were so used too.
As soon as the guitar picked up and the rest of the band joined in each of the boys felt an electrifying thrill go through them. Jack and Robert were singing along the entire way followed by a few other boys.
What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say I will never surrender?
What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?
The next few songs came on through the aux and the rock continued, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, all the famous bands were playing. The excitement continued through the sub.
"Hey Captain!" Sonar called through the intercom, the music blaring in the background.
"Yes Sonar?"
"I wonder if there are any other submarines or ships around listening to us?"
"Yeah good point, I bet whoever's listening is thinking were a party boat, no way you can tell were a submarine by the noise!"
"Actually, Captain I have an idea!"
"Shoot!"
"Well what if for a final drill before dinner we simulate being under attack, the crew won't know what's happening and we can tell weapons to 'fire' a torpedo."
"You know that might just be the best idea you've had all day!"
"Thanks Captain!"
"Hey look, I'm going to let weapons know about the plan, I'll let you know and I want you to shoot one active ping."
"Wilco!"
"David this is Jack, do you read me?"
"Captain I can barely hear you over the music y'all are playing. You need something?"
"Yes, were going to simulate being under attack, on my mark you tell me a torpedo is in the water. Only Sonar knows about this plan so try and make it convincing!"
"Wilco!" Jack immediately began to run a list of scenarios through his head. How would the crew react? What would they do? Would they question orders? Would they question about the Pearl being attacked hundreds of miles away from the combat zone? Either way he needed to start the drill so he quickly changed frequency to the sonar room and hoped no one had listened in on their conversation.
"Sonar now!" Sonar pushed a button on the monitor in front of him, the sonar sending out an impulse which if it hit something it would bounce back and tell them distance and form. The ping made a loud noise yet it was still barely audible over the music.
"Conn, sonar: we're being actively pinged!" All the officers in the conn had their headsets on so they immediately began to spring into action. Not questioning the news, much to Jack's delight.
"David sound general quarters!" There wasn't even a reply as David flipped a switch causing the lights to turn red and flash instantly getting everyone's attention.
"Rig for ultra-silent!" Jack ordered as the crew shuffled around to their set positions. The music was instantly cut and stowed away and no one made a sound. The engineering department quickly begun to flip switches causing all but the most essential equipment to shut-off. The submarine slowed down to five knots and awaited orders, the only noise from the sub now was the sound of the coolant being pumped.
Everyone's hearts began to beat faster and faster, the air becoming hotter and hotter without the air conditioning. Soon sweat started to form as the heat became an annoyance mixed with the nervousness of the crew, each of them listening for a sound.
"Conn, sonar: new contact bearing 260, designated Sierra 1."
"Sonar, classification?"
"Negative Captain, trying to get a read ASAP!" The room was once again filled with an electrifying vibe and a myriad of questions. What was tracking them? Who was tracking them? Were they going to be fired upon?
All of these questions stopped as those fateful words were uttered.
"Conn, sonar: torpedo in the water!" Hearts skipped a beat as the mood instantly changed in the room. Why were they being fired upon?
"Release ship from ultra-quiet, torpedo evasion!" Jack ordered as he stood up from his seat and into the middle of the conn. Everyone was in a frantic rush as the submarine quickly picked up speed to 22 knots in record time.
"Nicholas, 3 degrees down bubble!" The submarine slowly began to dive as water was taken in and the dive planes changed. Everyone was still listening for the sound of the torpedo but only Sonar could hear it.
"Conn, sonar: I have an accurate reading on Sierra 2, 3000 KYD, bearing 250, 120 meters depth, 15 knots speed!" The news came as a relief to the crew, they knew where there 'enemy' was but weren't sure as to what it was.
Jack looked down at the tablet in his hand and after swiping a few pages made it to the live weapons feed of the submarine.
The three head officers in the conn and sonar room had one that gave an updated view of what was happening around them from what updates they received courtesy of the sonar and navigation rooms. It was essentially a topographical map of the area, with live points showing what was around them that had been pinned. It was originally given to crews only a little after 2020 and was essentially a carbon copy of the mini-map in the game Cold Waters, they developed the map after it.
Both Robert and David were about to open their tablets as soon as they saw Jack do so but he shot them a glare. He didn't want them to tell the crew about the truth as there was no actual target. They seemed to understand that point as both of them returned to what they were doing just seconds ago.
"Passing 150 meters!"
The onboard computer had a firing solution ready and so Jack simply plugged in the orders he wanted. The Mk37 was to be passive up until reaching 700 meters of its arranged target in which it would go active. It would be running level and snake pattern until lock. The commands only took him a few seconds as he pressed a button sending the information to the now programmed torpedo with orders to launch from the 'pre-loaded tube'.
He wouldn't have to worry about whether or not the enemy would even have the chance of being detected as they were both below the thermal layer and facing relatively towards each other.
"Conn, torpedo room: firing Mk 37 tube 1, weapon is away!" All the officers head this call as their hearts began to race harder and harder. They knew it was a dummy torpedo used only for training but what if the torpedo fired back wasn't? Were they about to start a war?
In reality the torpedo was never fired and the tube never loaded but the crew didn't know that and they acted as if it were all real. The thing was that unless you were in the torpedo or sonar room you wouldn't hear it launch, it was a swim out.
"Captain passing 200 meters!"
"Captain where's the enemy torpedo?" Fletcher asked, what seemed like a hint of fear in his voice. He simply replied with a shake of the head which did not help his nerves at all.
"Fletcher level off!" Jack ordered as the submarine once again began to get to 0 degrees down bubble, or at least as close as it could get. A minute passed by as the crew still wondered as to what was happening, yet no word came.
"Conn, sonar: Fish gone active, acquired target!" A slight cheer went through the boys' minds, whatever attacked them was about to get a rude reply.
At that moment it occurred to Jack that they weren't running silent anymore, although it probably didn't even matter considering the drill.
"Conn, sonar: lost contact Sierra 1, last bearing 260, contact breaking up! Detonation confirmed, we got her Captain!" Every member of the crew cheered at what they thought their first victory, although the thought about the combat zone occurred no one mentioned it.
Jack switched on the submarines intercom as he began to speak through his headset, rubbing some of his brown hair out of the way in the process.
"Alright guys you did great! Now that was a drill, but you were never given warning, so you acted like you were in combat. Now I know these words sound a little disappointing, although if this is the way we are in combat, then I can't wait for it!" A cheer came through the submarine once more as everyone was happy at the compliment, seemingly not caring about the drill that scared a large percentage of the crew into believing death was probable.
"Remember though, don't get too cocky because once we start our drills those enemies will be real, and those factors won't be so easy next time. Captain Jack out!" The grew began to quiet down as all of the general quarters lights began shutting off in the sub. Sweat now cooled causing a few to shiver until they heard a few magic words.
"Attention guys, this is Culinary Specialist Buckman, dinner is ready!" The mood in the submarine rose to new heights as everyone cheered, the crew had an assigned roster for the rotation of shifts, the Captain and XO ate on the first shift.
All eyes darted towards Jack who simply smiled in return before wiping a bit of the now freezing sweat off his brow. "You heard the man, first shift out!" The first shift cheered once again as they walked towards the mess, Captain and XO included. Both had a smile on their rather white faces, the steak and potatoes would only make it better.
A sort of electrifying aura surrounded the crew, the anticipation of their combat drills filled the air. Everyone could feel it and they all enjoyed it, the thrill of combat was close. Jack felt confident, if this crew found itself in combat, they were ready!
That's it guys!
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and trust me, they'll be plenty more coming. If you guys haven't guessed my update schedule just know that next a new SEALs of Saunders will be coming out soon. If you guys noticed any mistakes, be it grammatical or factual please let me know. !Reviews are always appreciated!
I do not own Haifuri!