SSN

    Mack's plan was a good one, but it was circumvented by events. Even as he was critiquing their most recent battle, sonar reported regaining contact on the Alfa, Master 31. The Alfa was proceeding north toward the sounds of the Han's demise, and Cheyenne's turn toward the south during the torpedo evasion nicely closed the range.

    Mack's attack on the Alfa started out the same as the attack on the Han, except that this time Captain Mackey elected to exercise torpedo tubes three and four. But that was as far as the similarity went. The Alfa, with its forty-knot speed, was able to evade both torpedoes.

    The Chinese had learned to drive the Alfa, Mack realized, but fortunately they still had things to learn about their submarine. If that had been a Russian crew on board that submarine, Cheyenne might have had to contend with their torpedoes.

    Mack wasn't ready to take on the Kilo SSKs, which were probably lurking in the shoals while communicating with the Alfa, so he decided to withdraw to the deep water to the northwest. From there he could report the Han and Aifa attacks to CTF 74. He didn't need to return to McKee yet since Cheyenne still had sixteen torpedoes. And he had to clear the area before Independence could steam north to the Spratlys.

    His message was quickly acknowledged by CTF 74, who passed traffic from the SEC and ASWC on board Independence. Cheyenne turned to the southwest and prepared herself for shallow water operations.

    "Conn, sonar, sonar contact bearing 195. Sounds like the Alfa, Master 31, coming back for more."

    The captain ordered the towed array to short stay as Cheyenne ventured inside the 100-fathom curve south of Fiery Cross Reef. He intended to confuse the Chinese by operating in the shallow water. The Alfa SSN, he knew, would remain outside the shoals, unable to hear Cheyenne until-if things went according to plan-it was too late. A shorter range attack would preclude the Alfa from responding and evading the torpedoes.

    Battle stations were manned once again as the range to the Alfa closed to inside 40,000 yards-and none too soon, as sonar reported transient noises bearing 125 and 135. Mack nodded. As he'd expected, the Alfa was out in deeper water, but the Chinese Kilos had remained in the shoal waters, massing for guerrilla operations against Cheyenne.

    They could have been a problem, but Cheyenne was ready with two outer doors already open.

    "Snap shots, tubes one and two, bearings 125 and 135 respectively," Mack ordered. That order meant that the Mk 48s would have to do their own thing in detecting, tracking, and sinking two of the Kilos, but Mack didn't have the luxury of assisting them.

    It worked. The two torpedoes quickly acquired the Kilos. The two SSKs tried to flee, increasing speed and cavitating heavily, but to no avail. Both torpedoes found their marks and destroyed the SSKs, but Mack wasn't satisfied. Where was the third Kilo? he wondered.

    He didn't have long to wait before finding out.

    "Conn, sonar, we have transients bearing 180 that sound like Christmas balls falling off a tree and breaking… like a tinkling sound. Seems that the third Kilo was spooked by our torpedoes and ran into a coral reef."

    Mack grinned. He was happy to take the kills any way he could. Only the Alfa remained, and Cheyenne had lost contact after the first explosion against the Kilos.

    Sonar was not able to reacquire the Russian submarine, and Mack gave the orders to take Cheyenne out of the area. They'd have another chance at the Alfa, he hoped, before he had to submit the next patrol report.

    The only question that was bothering him was how the Alfa had slipped away. He hadn't expected that from a Chinese crew on a Russian submarine.

    Then Cheyenne moved into deeper waters. As she resumed her patrol, Mack found himself wondering whether the Alfa had acquired a Russian adviser, or, worse, a full Russian crew.

    A few days later, Cheyenne had been ordered to head to the south to meet up with McKee, anchored near Brunei, for a quick reload and resupply. Then she was to rendezvous with the Independence Battle Group and await further orders from CTF 74. Mack didn't know it yet, but they would not have the chance for a briefing in McKee's war room for some time to come.

5. Interdiction

    The Independence Battle Group, to which Cheyenne was assigned as the sole SSN(DS), was operating south of the Spratly Islands. Having completed a quick reload and resupply, Cheyenne was with them, patrolling around their position, keeping the surface ships safe. Only this time, Mack's patrol area was not the forward 180 degrees, which he preferred. Instead, it was an area the shape of a donut: a full 360-degree annulus, centered on Independence, with an inner diameter of forty nautical miles and an outer diameter of eighty nautical miles. Mack didn't like being reined in like that.

    "Radio, conn, stream the floating wire," the OOD ordered.

    "Conn, radio, stream the floating wire, aye, sir."