by Jerry Ahern
Each Dog Soldier carried both an energy rifle and pistol; Michael had insisted that each also carry backup, high-capacity conventional handguns. Satchel charges, smoke grenades, flash-bangs and extra ammo hung from every assault vest along with medical kits. They had to be as self-sustaining as possible.
With their combat regalia, weapons, etc., they couldn’t cram ten soldiers in the compartment of any of the MANTAs. The penetration teams would be sixteen people strong. If anyone was injured, help would not be coming to them. Serious injuries meant a trip back to the surface... if they could.
If they couldn’t, they were stuck at a depth of over 34,000 thousand feet and pressures near to 15,000 pounds per square inch.
Chapter Eighty-One
The MANTAs, UUVs and reconnaissance drones were ferried to each end of the Trench; Red Team at the southeast corner, close to the Kamchatka Peninsula, Blue Team at the eastern end near Hokkaido, Japan. Once the MANTAS carried into position by Mid-Wake submarines, were launched they took up station at a depth of 300 feet. The MANTAs, UUVs and drones wore stealth, radar-defeating covering.
Communications buoys were air dropped. Their small containers broke open when they hit the surface of the water, and the buoys were released and began sinking to their proper depths. Total flight time over the area for the VTOL transport ships was less than thirty seconds and their flight paths never varied. Anyone monitoring their radar signatures would have not been aware anything had occurred.
Reynolds and Flores established communications control with their unmanned vehicles first, then with each other, and then the two forces submerged still deeper and moved closer to their staging point. They resembled large, swimming schools of fish being led by gigantic sting rays. On arrival at their stations, Reynolds and Flores sent their recon drones down to depth and monitored their progress on view screens at their pilot consoles. Aided by ocean currents, Red Team’s drone traveled slightly faster than Blue Team’s as the drones swept with front sonar for guidance, and side sonar and cameras for details of the Trench walls. Other sensors searched for indications of radio waves or electrical energy.
The Red Team drone had passed the halfway mark and was approaching the Blue Team drone when the first alarms beeped on the pilot’s consoles. Flores told Kuriname, “We’re getting something, heads up. Watch the screens.” Kuriname focused on the visuals, allowing Flores to monitor the sensor readings.
“I’m getting something on the south wall,” Kuriname said. “Getting closer but I still can’t make it out. Wait a minute!” he shouted. “There it is, mark the location on GPS. That is definitely man-made. It is amazing they were able to build at this depth.”
Flores shook his head. “I think they must have pre-assembled the structures, sank them to where they wanted them, then anchored them on the floor mechanically. Hold on, Blue Team’s drone is coming by ours... no, that’s good, about ten meters of difference between their depths. Wanted to be sure they didn’t smack into each other. Okay, I have a visual on the Blue drone... here it comes.”
Kuriname added, “And there it goes. Any activity on the sensors?”
Flores was frantically flipping switches and pushing buttons. He said as he keyed the mic, “Blue Team, you getting this?”
Reynolds said back, “Yeah, sensors are going nuts but no visual activity I can see.” Blue Team’s drone signal vanished; in the Trench a violent explosion sent blinding light into the darkness, rocked the walls and sent a cascade of debris falling into the depths.
Then—all was still again.
Reynolds looked over to Sanderson. “Well hell, the surprise factor is gone. That’s for sure. What do you want to do?”
Sanderson was still monitoring the sensors. “Standby here for a little while. Their drone made it through okay. Let’s see what happens next before we make our move.”
Reynolds nodded, keyed the mic and said, “Red Team, hold your position. Let’s watch things for a while.”
“Roger.”
Chapter Eighty-Two
Flores sat monitoring his drone. He sat more upright and said, “I’m gonna try something.” He flipped off several switches. “Damn... not a lot of maneuvering room down here. Let’s try this...” he said and pulled back hard on the joystick that controlled the forward motion of the drone. “Come on baby... that’s it baby... come on.”
“What are you doing?” Kuriname asked.
“Barrel rolling the drone. I’m swinging back for another pass, but I’m shutting down the front and side sonar system. I’ll leave the camera live and I’m slowing the speed.” He started a slow side-to-side movement on the stick. “I’m using the thruster to ‘swim’ it, like a big fish.” He looked over at Kuriname. “I’m playing a hunch... hold on.”
On the view screen, the image was swinging side-to-side. Flores said, “Let me know when I’m getting close, check the GPS.”
Kuriname tracked the drone; after a minute he said, “Getting close. Looks like 200 yards and closing.”
“You got anything on the sensors?” Flores asked, slowing the drone even more.
“No, I’m not receiving any impulses from the Deep Star,” Kuriname said. “Okay, fifty yards and closing. Forty yards and closing, thirty, twenty-five... fifteen... okay, we’re even with the facility.”
Flores was focused on the video screen and joystick. “Count off the distance as we pass it. Let me know if we get any response.”
Kuriname watched the pip on the GPS. “Fifteen yards, twenty... thirty-five, forty, forty-five... fifty yards past the facility and still going.”
Flores flipped the sonar back on and quit wiggling the joystick; the drone continued straight on its path. “Hmmm, still no response?”
Kuriname watched for several seconds before saying, “Nothing and we have rounded the cliff. The drone is safe.”
“Roger,” Flores said and keyed his mic. “Blue, did you just watch that?”
“Roger Red, I saw it. What are you thinking?” Reynolds asked.
Flores smiled into the mic. “I’m thinking the defenses did not recognize the drone as a threat this time. The speed and straight path of the drone on the first pass tripped the sensors and armed the system. My drone was out of range before it could launch, that’s when yours came into view and got blasted. I turned off sonar, slowed mine way down this time, and wagged its tail from side-to-side,” Flores said.
Reynolds said, “Like a fish? You swam past it?”
“Exactly.”
“Interesting,” Reynolds said.
“Very… patch in Comm for Sanderson and the Big Guy.” He meant Michael Rourke.
Reynolds hit two switches and said, “Go ahead, Red.”
“Okay, Gentlemen, I need some guidance here,” Flores said. “We just made another pass at the target, this time slower, no sonar and I swam it like a fish... and nothing happened.”
“What are you thinking?” Michael asked.
Flores took a deep breath. “I think I’m thinking the defense system was activated by the speed of the first pass and the sonar pings we were sending out. If I’m right, that means the system is on autopilot. That explains how our drone made it through the chute and yours didn’t. It took a few seconds for the automatic system to energize, lock on target and destroy it.”
Sanderson offered an idea. “What if it took a human monitor by surprise and that delayed him from responding in time to get both drones?”
Flores nodded and said, “That’s a possibility. However, this time my drone swam slowly by. A human who launched on the first pass would already be on alert. Would have been watching, able to see the drone, identify it as a bogey and... he should have launched against it. I think the defenses are unmanned. Make sense to you?”
Sanderson said, “Give us a minute... Okay, let’s say you’re correct; what’s the next step?”
Flores thought. “We have a GPS on the target. Let’s approach from the top of the Trench and then slowly drift over the edge of the Trench and
down. We turn off everything except propulsion, the video cameras and life support.”
Michael said, “Give us a couple of minutes. I want to take a closer look at the video feedback.”
“Roger that, Boss,” Flores confirmed. “Red Team on standby.”
Chapter Eighty-Three
Red and Blue teams moved to the top of the Trench above the target. The Comm link back to Captain Hasher was slow, slower than slow... finally he received the data he needed. “Red Team, listen closely,” Hasher said. “During the battle at the underwater Russian city, we learned the location of their airlock hatches were protected, and away from their armaments and defenses. Since it and Deep Star were probably built at the same time or near to it, I don’t think they would have changed something like this.”
“Sir,” Flores said. “I’ve talked to the people in Red One; we all have agreed to make the first try. After all, it’s my idea so I don’t want to put anyone else in the line of fire. My team is ready; let us see if I’m correct. If I can get down safely and find one of the airlocks, we can radio you and move everyone into position.”
“And what if you’re wrong?” Reynolds asked.
Flores said with a smile, “Then you don’t get the hundred bucks you loaned me last month. What do you say, Sir?”
Michael took the mic from Reynolds. “Okay, Red One, make the first attempt, everyone else is on standby. Red One, if you don’t make it, I’ll give Blue One the hundred myself.”
“Thanks Sir, but let’s be a little more optimistic. What if I do make it?”
Michael smiled. “Then I’ll promote you, Red One, and you can give the hundred back yourself.”
“Roger that, Sir, I like your style. All units standby... Red One going down.” He shut down the sonar system and slowly eased the throttle forward. Nearing the lip of the canyon, Flores angled the nose of the MANTA down; drifting into the abyss. “Slowly... slowly...” he mumbled under his breath. Watching the dials and gauges, he said softly, “God, here we go. Watch over these men and our families. Let us do this right.”
Then he was over the edge of the cliff and gone.
As they slowly drifted downward, Kuriname asked Flores, “We’re going to be facing Spetsnaz inside, right?”
Flores was monitoring all of the screens but he answered, “Yeah, but they’re not indestructible. They’re good, trained in everything from weapons and rappelling to diving and underwater combat.”
Kuriname said, “I heard they had a midget sub called the ‘Piranha’; carried six frogmen and their equipment and a two-man torpedo that was launched through an ordinary sub’s torpedo tube, it had two warheads.”
“Yeah,” Flores said, still watching monitors, “and larger ones. The Triton-1 could carry two combat divers and Triton-2s carried six. Troopers used the APS Underwater Assault Rifle and the SPP-1 underwater pistol. The APS didn’t use conventional bullets, too inaccurate and very short range underwater. It fired a steel bolt; the magazine held twenty-six rounds that were over four inches in length.
“The SPP-1 was better for close-up self-defense, not for attacking distant targets. Like the APS, it fired a sharpened steel bolt. At this depth, we won’t see that kind of fight. If we run into them, it will be when we’re in Deep Star. If the question is, what would Spetsnaz in this facility be using? The answer is... we don’t know.”
Kuriname nodded. “But we’ll soon find out, right?”
Flores said nothing, he just watched the screens.
Chapter Eighty-Four
Michael Rourke hated sitting on the ledge waiting for Red One to report. Hell, he thought, I might as well be in Honolulu. But he saw the logic in what Flores was trying to do. We just don’t have enough Intel about this place. I know we can’t and shouldn’t rush headlong into a disaster but... I have to know if my father is here and still alive.
“You got anything on your monitors?” Flores asked as he manipulated the thrusting system on the MANTA and slowed to a hover.
Kuriname shook his head. “No, I’m getting low-level, electrical readings but nothing like a launch or weapons coming on line. How much further?”
“See that rock outcropping right there?”
Akiro looked up. “Yeah, I see it.”
“Well, you better get ready, it’s just below that.” The tension inside the MANTA was electric; Flores heard the men behind him shifting positions to get ready... Get ready for what? he thought. Then they cleared the outcrop, there it was... massive! Heavy steel, small view ports... four hundred meters long... at least, Flores guessed. He saw torpedo tubes set to fire horizontally, missile silos set to fire vertically. “Research facility my ass,” he said aloud. “It’s a damn nuke base. Any readings? We are wide open if this thing wants to hit us.”
Kuriname said, “No change... a trap?”
“Probably, let the rest of the force know what we have. I’m gonna hover here for a minute and see what happens. Look off to the right, look like a docking station to you?”
Kuriname was typing as fast as he could to send an ELF message to the rest of the team waiting above them. “Yeah, it does. Message sent.”
“Good,” Flores said. “Are we getting all of this recorded? If we get hit, I want the boys upstairs to know what they’re walking into.”
“Yeah, the recorders are in a constant ELF transmission mode.”
“Okay, hang on guys,” Flores said over his shoulder. “We’re going in. Keep your fingers crossed.”
Chapter Eighty-Five
The rocking chair beat a soft rhythmic tattoo on the floor as Sarah tried to lull Eddie to sleep. Emma, sitting on the overstuff couch said, “It is so quiet with the kids gone. So still.”
Sarah smiled. “I know, I miss them already but I have to admit... I’m enjoying the quiet. No television, no music... It’s exactly what I needed and exactly where I needed to be.” She brushed a lock of hair back off her grandson’s forehead. Frowning, she placed her hand on the baby’s head and then his cheek. “Emma, come over here; is it me or does he have a temperature?”
Emma rose and put her hand on the baby. “No, it’s not you. Let me get a thermometer.” She returned, having fetched the thermometer from the medicine cabinet in the master bathroom and checked. “Yup, we have a temp... only a hundred right now. I thought he was acting a little cranky earlier. I’m going to give him some children’s fever reducer,” Emma said returning to the medicine cabinet.
After giving Eddie the proper dose, Emma said, “Probably nothing but we should watch it.” Sarah hummed softly and began rocking the baby again.
Chapter Eighty-Six
Flores was taking his time, inching the MANTA toward the hatch. At any second he expected to be blown out of the water. Akiro Kuriname’s uniform shirt was soaked with sweat; he continued to call out distances to Flores. “Twenty feet... fifteen... ten...”
Flores kicked the nose of the craft upright, and using belly cameras kept inching forward so the hatch on the bottom of the MANTA would align with Deep Star’s hatch. This is probably when we get destroyed. He pushed the thought out of his head and focused on the alignment.
Kuriname said, “Five feet... contact in seven, six, five, four, three, two, one... contact.” A clank reverberated through the MANTA. “Magnetic couplings... engaged, collar seal... confirmed. Initiating drain sequence... drain complete.”
Flores wiped sweat from his face and sat back heavily in the pilot’s chair. “Damn, we made it this far.”
Kuriname’s men had already activated their side of the airlock to stabilize pressure within the MANTA. “Alright, get ready... once we break this seal we have to open Deep Star’s hatch. Be ready for anything. Switch to suit air, they could try to gas us when we open their hatch,” Kuriname said, as he moved to the hatch and put on his face mask. He turned on his suit air before turning the wheel on the MANTA’s hatch.
He grabbed the dog wheel, turned it and swung the hatch on its hinges. “Here we go, Gentlemen. Go hot.” Selector sw
itches were engaged, two of his troopers moved; one went low and the other high to cover the inside of Deep Star when Kuriname opened the hatch. The Deep Star’s dog wheel didn’t turn, he reset himself and tried again, straining. Slowly, almost microscopically, it moved. “Damn they dogged the hell out of this hatch,” he said, more to himself than anybody else. After the first few inches, the wheel spun freely, it was open.
Kuriname pushed against the hatch, to shove it inside the Deep Star; it didn’t budge. He put his shoulder to it and shoved, a creaking sound came from the hinges as it swung open. One man mirrored the inside of the airlock, collapsed the telescopic handle and stuck it into his belt. The high man stepped inside the airlock, rifle at the ready. “Clear.”
Kuriname stepped into the airlock, looked out the small portal in the door, nothing... no one to be seen. Walking to the control panel, all indicators showed green. At the last gauge, he nodded. “Air pressure normal on the other side of the door. I’m cracking it... now.” The hatch opened... no one was there.
“Caution men, let’s find the bastards,” Kuriname said. The Dog Soldiers formed up on the other side of that hatch. Slowly, carefully, they moved down the passageway to an intersection twenty feet away. Again using the mirror they checked the new passageway in both directions. Kuriname and four men went left; the last four set up as rear security walking backwards down the passageway, rifles at the ready for any threat from that direction.
Kuriname noticed he could see his men’s foot prints in a fine layer of dust on the deck. He frowned. The only sound was the quiet hum of machinery. He turned off his suit air and spat out his mouth piece, keying his throat mic. “Red One to Blue One, over.”
“Go ahead, Red One.”
“Zero contact so far. Bring down the cover ships and move your MANTA left of ours; there’s another airlock about fifty feet from the one we used. See if you can gain entrance there and work your way toward us, over.”