Second last chapter here, folks. I've decided there will be one more in this story. Also, I made an amendment to the last chapter. Mango reminded me that I'd confused my directions and bearing. Has been repaired.

This chapter required quite a lot of research in anti-submarine warfare. I hope its almost correct, but a bit was left to guesswork. It's shorter too... I didn't see a point in dragging out an inevitable end.

Enjoy and please review.

Chapter Twenty

Tense and jerky movements engulfed the Hammersley bridge. Every single member of the crew was somewhere important and ardently hoping that their robotic actions would be enough to secure a victory. The gunners, Sharkey and 2Dads, were at the EOD and on the Fire Control Radar respectively. A shot to destroy a submerged vessel would be a tricky one. Raffy had input the data into the computer to adjust the angle of incidence, but they were leaving a lot to chance. Unfortunately, they only had one chance to move. If the submarine got off got a shot with a guided missile, there would be no stopping it.

They were no longer required to make contact with the vessel before firing. The Parramatta had cast an exclusion zone around itself and its squadron, and had been broadcasting warning messages for over an hour. All deterrents had been put into place. All had failed. The Hammersley would have one chance to destroy the sub. If it were to surface to a depth of fifty feet, it would be able to fire on the Parramatta. But, at fifty feet, a direct hit from the Typhoon would be nigh impossible. The sub would need to half that before they could attempt a shot.

If there were small favours in the world, they seemed to be falling into Kate's lap. The submarine was rising too quickly to launch the torpedo at fifty feet. It needed to slow to at least 2 knots before it could fire. As they approached the surface, water resistance would slow them down, allowing them to get a shot off at approximately 20-30 feet. At this point, the Typhoon would fire. And it would be a waiting game. A game of luck. They were lucky, however, that the submariners onboard the enemy vessel didn't appear to be as proficient in seamanship as they were.

"Typhoon, aim at target," Kate said in a strong voice. There was no time for self-doubt at such a critical moment.

"Typhoon, aim at target," 2Dads repeated.

The CO of the Parramatta was on the radio again. Kate did not want to speak to him, regardless of the fact that he outranked her. He could wait until it was all over. In retrospect, by the time that happened, it could be too late for Commander Lindsay. RO was politely stalling and it became quite clear that perhaps the officer wasn't aware of the serious nature of the situation.

The submarine was surfacing rapidly, as Raffy expected. It was the marks of an undisciplined crew. He suspected that Hussein recruited them from anywhere. For such an important mission, he should really have picked them a little better.

"Forty feet," Raffy said quickly, and just a few second later, "thirty-five."

"Typhoon, prepare to fire," Kate ordered.

"Preparing to fire, ma'am," the young electronics technician answered dutifully.

Mike drew in a sharp breath as the next word came.

"Engage."

The typhoon fired off three rounds at a negative angle into the water. The explosion was delayed. But it came. They were successful.

Wave and unusual tide motion was rocking the boat. The aftershocks of the explosion were felt minutes later. There was some cheering somewhere on the Hammersley, but Kate took no notice. It was almost anti-climatic. One moment the threat was there and very real and then it wasn't. How vastly things could change in a moment.

The sudden reaction between their own highly explosive fire and the thermobaric torpedo that was probably in the shoot ready to be fired was immense. For the first few moments immediately after, nobody could move. Except for Raffy, that is, who was insistent on guaranteeing that the submarine did not get a shot off before it was destroyed. He didn't relax until he was sure that they hadn't.

"X," Kate said after a few moments. "Let the right people know."

"Aye, ma'am."

"RO," she continued. "Get me Commander Lindsay."

The R.O. rushed to her side with the readied radio.

"Commander," she began and it appeared to Mike that she was about to assume credit for the sinking of the enemy vessel. "What did you want to speak to me about?"

Apparently not. It made him smile.

"That's it?" Ethan asked confusedly.

"Well, it could've been a whole lot worse," Mike responded.

"We could've missed," 2Dads added with a boyish grin.

"X," Kate said as soon as her conversation with the Parramatta CO had come to a conclusion. "Get the RHIB's out for a look-around. See if you can recover anything that might shed more light on how this group came to possess a submarine."

"The Feds will be out here within the hour," Raffy told her. "They're flying in."

"You better not disturb their crime scene, then," Kate put in with a smile.

Raffy returned it and enthusiastically picked up the PA microphone. "Away seaboats. Away seaboats. Away seaboats."