The crew of the USS Nebraska swung into action. Later, I'm sure the XO would take some pride in the quiet ballet that ensued. Volume is not appreciated on my boat.
"Full down bubble."
"Full down bubble, aye."
"Flood front ballast."
"Get below the thermocline, XO", I interjected.
"Make your depth 500m", he directed without skipping a beat.
I got on the con to the whole crew.
"All hands, all hands, General Quarters." I knew my people would already be on their way after the sudden manoeuvre, but they needed to hear my voice, calm and in control. Even if I wasn't.
"Sir. Contact has increased speed. ETA 20 seconds"
Increased from 1200 knots? I didn't react beyond a nod, but this was going to be close. We'd barely be underwater before it got here.
"We expecting anyone?" The XO pointedly looked at the message in my hand as he asked.
"Nope", I answered. Now was not the time. "I'm not hanging around to find out if this is a trick or a treat."
BOOOOOM!
The bridge jerked wildly as something slammed into us. I asked for a damage report, as I picked myself up. The news was better than I'd hoped. We were still descending, the reactor and hull were fine. The Diving Officer and Helm were the only sub-optimal reports.
"Rudder is not responding, Sir."
"Planes are still responding on the bow but the stern is not reacting. We will not be able to manoeuvre rapidly, Sir."
"That's OK guys. Right now I'm only interested in down. Sonar, active ping, I want to know what just hit us."
"Contact is above us, Sir. It's tracking our dive. It doesn't match anything we've got on file."
"Comms?"
"Still nothing, Sir."
"OK", I said, beckoning my XO over so I could speak to him in private, "I'm going to presume this is a hostile until I know anything else. Work up attack scenarios with the Mk48's, given our lack of manoeuvrability, but lets not engage unless we...."
"Sir. Surface contact has split apart. Seven pieces. They are diving towards us."
"Helm, can you give me anything evasive?"
"No Sir, we've got up and we've got down."
CLANG
"Damage report! Did one hit us?"
"Sir, all 7 pieces are alongside us. They must have hit as one."
"No damage, NO WAIT. Hull breaches! 7 of them, across several decks."
"Seal the bulkheads", I ordered, expecting flooding. I was about to instruct my team to reverse the dive, blow ballast and surface, when a new piece of information changed everything.
"Sir, we are not taking on water."
I paused, and in that millisecond Sherlock Holmes came to mind. It was improbable, but on this most improbable of occasions, it was the only remaining scenario I could see. I said something no-one on a Nuclear Submarine has ever had to say.
"Master-at-Arms, open the armoury. All hands, prepare to repel boarders".
