Читать книгу End Game - Dale Brown - Страница 23

Captain Sattari was the next to last man out of the small submarine. The small interior smelled so horribly he nearly retched as he grabbed hold of the rope guideline and jumped onto the narrow metal gangway at the side of the hull.

‘Captain Sattari! Ship’s commander needs to see you right away,’ said the sailor leaning toward him at the end of the decking. ‘He’s on the bridge, sir. He asks you to hurry.’

Sattari glanced back as he entered the doorway at the side. Two other submarines had arrived; one was starting to unload and the other was just being secured.

The sailor ran ahead. Sattari did his best to keep up. Not familiar with the ship, he knocked his shin as he went through one of the compartments to the ladder that led to the bridge.

‘We have an American warship behind us,’ said the ship’s captain when he reached the deck. ‘He’s sent a helicopter to circle us. He may be tracking the submarines with passive sonar.’

‘Do we have all the subs?’

‘The fourth still has not come inside. I believe he is within a half kilometer at this point, or perhaps closer. I thought it best not to use the sonar.’

‘You’re sure these are Americans?’

‘Quite sure. The ship identified itself as the Abner Read. Devil’s Tail.’

The American littoral destroyer had made quite a name for itself in the Gulf of Aden in the few months it had been there. But it rarely ventured to the eastern end of the gulf, and Sattari had not seen it during his earlier scouting missions.

Beside the point now. It was here.

Discovery by the Americans would be catastrophic. Even if the Americans left them alone for the moment – and really, why would they help the Indians? – they would be on the lookout for his midget submarines in the future. It was one thing to evade the Indians and even the Chinese; quite another to have to deal with an American dragnet.

Not that he did not relish the day he would face them in combat. He welcomed the chance to avenge the defeat they had dealt his father.

‘Can you launch the decoy once Boat Four is aboard?’ Sattari asked.

‘With them this close, I would think it highly likely they would realize where it came from.’

‘Turn on the sonar as the submarine comes into the ship,’ said Sattari.

‘The sonar?’

‘For a brief moment. Then drop the decoy. Continue on as if nothing has happened.’

‘As you wish, Captain.’