Nathan could sense the sub was still around and was stalking him. He could feel it in his bones.
"I have to get out here." He thought as he engaged his engines.
His sonar detected the submarine as it followed him. Experimentally, he turned slowly to port, curious to see if the sub was listening or not. Turns out she was.
"They're turning with us sir." He reported.
"Damn. All hands prepare for Quiet 2!" Chandler ordered.
"Sir?" Nathan questioned.
"They can't track us if they can't see us. Quiet 2!" He repeated his order.
Nathan complied, slowing his engines. Running at Quiet 2 he made his way at an agonizingly slow four knots to the shoal nearby. He hoped the shoal would hide him long enough to fire off torpedoes into the sub.
...
Achilles cursed her luck when the destroyer disappeared off her passive sonar.
"Running at Quiet 2, clever." She chuckled.
Her sensors picked up a shoal nearby.
"If I was a destroyer who wanted to fire a few fish into a sub without said sub finding my hiding place, I'd go there." She mused and changed course accordingly.
...
Nathan heard the sub changed course and growled in frustration. This was a clever sub. Quietly, he began a 20 degree turn to port out of the shoal, in 5 degree increments, at random. If the sub decided to fire torpedoes now, she wouldn't know where to aim them.
He thought hard about the sub. Royal Navy submarines weren't known for stealth such as this. Unless of course, they were being upgraded. Only one though matched this sub.
"The sub is an Achilles class." Nathan said.
"Understood." Chandler replied.
"Of all the submarines in the world. I had to get one that's nearly as silent as one of our own!" Nathan thought to himself.
...
Achilles was quickly growing impatient. When her lunatic of a crewman took over, he'd promised her battle. He'd promised her blood, appealing to her natural instincts. So far, he had yet to deliver.
"Patience, darling." He purred dangerously. "Endless patience is the key."
Achilles growled, green eyes narrowing into fine little slits. "You promised." She accused.
"And I will soon deliver but we must be patient. This destroyer will not be an easy target." He said.
She reluctantly conceded. "We need to find them first though. We could if we could go active." She said.
"They'd see us though!" one crewman cried.
"Assuming they haven't already!" She shot back. "Captain, what do you say?"
The man was silent for a moment before nodding. "Do it!"
...
"Sir they've gone active!"
Nathan's blood ran cold at this. While he could easily pick up the sub's acoustic signature now it also meant torpedoes were soon on their way. Submarines only used their active sonar as a last resort.
Growling, he turned hard to starboard, engaging his engines to full speed, and launched 3 torpedoes over the side.
...
Achilles heard the fish as soon as they entered the water. "Damn that tin can!" She snarled and launched 5 of her own.
...
Nathan saw these on his sonar and fired more, using the torps' bearing to locate the sub's position. He made a hard turn to starboard, crossing over his wake to confuse the torpedoes as they came in.
...
Seeing the ordinance coming her way, Achilles snarled and immediately dived. She dived fast and deep too. An underwater canyon, barely big enough for her to fit, loomed ahead. Making a slight roll to starboard she managed to force her bulk into it.
"Ooh I really regret taking those human dinners now!" She grumbled as she tried to make the tight fit.
"Suck it in Achilles!" came the cry.
"Shut up! I'm working on it!" She growled back.
She'd just slipped through the canyon when the torpedoes flew by harmlessly overhead and realizing they had no target, detonated harmlessly.
Despite herself the sub chuckled. She may not have gotten the destroyer today, but she still had one last card to play.
...
Nathan recognized the sound of missiles firing at once. 26 in all. They were heading straight for the lab coordinates marked on his map.
Swiftly he countered with his own but only managed hitting 2. The rest were out of range. He gave the order for the labs to evacuate to at least a 2 mile distance. He wasn't sure if the message even got through.
"They don't want the cure." He realized.
"They want to destroy it." Chandler finished.
"A new race of superhumans. Immune humans." Dr. Scott whispered.
"Now why does that sound familiar?" Nathan grumbled. Clearly someone hadn't learned the lessons of history and Nathan vowed he'd do everything in his power to ensure this newcomer remembered them!
...
Achilles' hull was feeling the pain of the rocks as she bumped them. She was stiff, sore and tired. Before this whole mess began she was scheduled for 10 months maturity leave. Now she could feel her unborn shiplings bounce around inside of her.
"Calm little ones." She murmured in her native tongue. She couldn't risk revealing them to her madman of a captain. He'd just as soon terminate her pregnancy and then her.
Despite her pain, Achilles still felt the rush of battle in her ears. It was an exhilarating experience. Her highly tuned senses detected traces of blood in the water, apparently someone on board had been injured, their blood being washed from the scuppers. Her tongue flicked out to taste it and the submarine purred appreciatively.
"Let the hunt, began!" She chuckled.