End Game by Dale Brown Read Free Book Online Page B

sort of problem. He may be using the tanker to turn around and check behind him, just as we theorized, Storm. He’s done everything we thought he would, just slower.”
    â€œWe didn’t think he’d split himself into four equal parts.”
    â€œYou really think we’re chasing four submarines?”
    Storm folded his arms in front of his chest. The truth was, they’d had all sorts of glitches with their equipment from the moment they’d left port. It was to be expected—the gear was brand new and the bugs had to be worked out.
    â€œAirforce find anything on that tanker?” asked Storm.
    â€œNegative. Tanker checks out. They do a run down to South Africa from Iran. Goes back and forth every couple of weeks.”
    â€œLet’s give the submariner a few more minutes to make a mistake,” said Storm. “Then we’ll turn on the active sonar. At least we’ll find out how many of him we’re chasing.”
    â€œAye aye, Captain.”
    Off the coast of Somalia
0208
    C APTAIN S ATTARI 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.
    â€œCaptain 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 wentthrough one of the compartments to the ladder that led to the bridge.
    â€œWe 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.”
    â€œDo we have all the subs?”
    â€œThe 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.”
    â€œYou’re sure these are Americans?”
    â€œQuite 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.
    â€œCan you launch the decoy once Boat Four is aboard?” Sattari asked.
    â€œWith them this close, I would think it highly likely they would realize where it came from.”
    â€œTurn on the sonar as the submarine comes into the ship,” said Sattari.
    â€œThe sonar?”
    â€œFor a brief moment. Then drop the decoy. Continue on as if nothing has happened.”
    â€œAs you wish, Captain.”
    Aboard the Abner Read ,
off the coast of Somalia
0215
    â€œS HARK G ILL SONAR ! D EAD AHEAD — HE MUST BE RIGHT UNDER that oil tanker!” Eyes’s voice was so loud Storm thought he would’ve heard him without the com set.
    â€œExcellent,” said Storm, though in truth he felt disappointed. Shark Gill was the NATO code word for the sonar used in Russian Kilo-class submarines. Most likely he had been trailing