Katya's War (Russalka Chronicles) Read Online Free PDF Page B

silent permitted the sonar receptors to pick up the new contact. Katya quickly brought the hydrophones to bear. Any faint hope that it might be a Federal patrol boat was quickly shattered.
    “Ninety per cent likelihood contact Beta is a Jarilo Mark 4 class heavy carrier submarine of the Federal Maritime Authority,” the computer told them. “It is therefore designated an ally .” The contact’s symbol flicked from yellow to blue.
    “A transporter,” whispered Sergei. “It’s bound to have an escort!”
    On the screen, the Alpha contact slowed and faded. The Yags were coming about for an attack pass. “They’ll fire and run,” he said. “Those poor bastards…”
    Katya’s eye fell on the database readout currently displayed on one of her secondary screens. The Jarilo was listed as having a standard crew of twenty. Twenty men and women who would probably die in a few minutes. Then its unseen escort or escorts would engage the Vodyanoi/2 and soon there would be more blood in the water.
    “No,” she murmured. “I can’t let that happen.”

 
    CHAPTER THREE
    FALSE FLAG
     
    Sergei’s eyes were unattractively wide. Fear did that to them.
    “Katya, we can’t get involved! We’re in a minisub, a tiny bug! Even a close detonation will break us open!”
    “Then we’re just going to have to make sure nothing goes off near us then, aren’t we?” Katya was already pulling up the operations screens. “Arm a noisemaker and stand by to dive.”
    Sergei did neither. “What? No! You’ll kill us!”
    “Not part of the plan, Sergei. Just do it.”
    “What plan? We’re nothing more than krill compared to the hunter-killers out there! Just stay still and silent and we should weather this out!”
    “I am not standing by and letting this happen, Sergei. Noisemaker! Arm one!” But Sergei just looked at her as if she was insane. “I am the captain here, Sergei Illyin! You will obey my orders!”
    On the screen the Alpha contact faded away entirely. The Beta contact in contrast grew steadily stronger. It would only be a matter of moments before the Yagizban boat launched torpedoes.
    “You can’t order me to commit suicide,” said Sergei. “ Captain .”
    Katya glared at him, then turned her attention to the controls. In a few quick moves she had frozen Sergei’s work station out and taken full control of the Lukyan .
    “Noisemaker 1 armed,” reported the computer. Katya checked the settings she’d given it, and then flipped the cover on a “Commit” button. As a security and safety measure, some functions could not be activated through the touch screens – it was far too easy for accidents to happen that way. These functions, many of which were associated with weapons, had to be confirmed with the actual push of a physical button. Technically, noisemakers were considered weapons in terms of their interface functionality and the fact that they were expendable and expensive supplies. Nobody wanted to launch one accidentally. Katya’s fingertip hesitated for half a heartbeat, and then pushed the button with a sense of finality.
    A slight click sounded through the hull as the noisemaker’s mounting clamp released it. “Noisemaker 1 away,” said the computer.
    Katya made a point of not looking at Sergei; she knew full well what expression he would be wearing at that moment and it wouldn’t be one that bolstered her confidence.
    Without pause, she opened the tactical options sheet on a secondary screen and ordered a slow descent below the next thermocline. The computer gauged that they would reach it in about ten seconds, which was encouraging as that was the timing she’d based the noisemaker’s programming upon. Now she could only hope that the Yagizban would not open fire in those ten seconds, that her plan – such as it was – would work, and that they didn’t get killed in the next few minutes.
    Dying would be bad enough, but having Sergei spending their last moments saying “I told you so”