Shields leaned over Maddock's shoulder in his office on the sixth floor of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection in Canberra and stared hard at the computer screen.
"Are you sure, Arthur?" she asked. "How much bigger can you make that picture?"
"If that's not a submarine, I'm a monkey's uncle," he said as he clicked on the screen and expanded the photo.
"Well, I'll be damned," she said. "Those Navy boys lied to me. They HAVE got a submarine up there."
"I don't know if that's entirely correct," he said. "Look at this."
He pointed to the sail, forward of the centre section of the craft. "This is not a Collins class submarine. Our Navy is using a Collins Class as its submarine weapons platform. This is something else."
He expanded the photo further to look closer at the sail.
"Yes," he said. "This looks more like a Los Angeles Class boat that the Americans use. See? It looks a little shorter than a Collins class submarine but it doesn't have the diving planes on the sail like the Collins Class sub. The Los Angeles class Boomers were built like this, except they were much longer. They have their diving planes on the bow and they are retractable. I can't see where the diving planes are on this one ... Oh. There they are, just forward of the sail, on the side. See the doors on the side. This one has retractable planes as well. "
"What's that mean?" asked Shields.
"It's a foreign boat. It's not one of ours. We've got six Collins class boats. This is not a design I have ever seen. See the tail? It looks really big and tall. Most modern submarines have gone to the "X" shaped tail plane configuration and this one also has no separate stern light mast. It looks as if its stern light is mounted directly on the tail fin. This has been designed by an engineer from the old school with a vertical tail."
"I'd better call my contact in the Navy. If we have a foreign power on our soil, they are going to want to know – that is, if they don't know already."
"Just hold on a second," interjected Maddock and he flicked up another photo. It looked almost the same. And then another, and then another again. They all looked similar. He flicked back and looked closely at the second photo and noticed a bright light on the sail.
"I think it must be disabled. Whoever this is, they're repairing it. That's a welder at work in this photo. It's been there several days." He flicked to another photo. "There it is again in this shot."
"Is that a repair facility on the shore?" Shields pointed at some structures and vehicles on the beach.
"It looks like it, although they are all small transportable shelters, by the look of it. Whoever it is, has got inside help."
"We need to find out what this is. Do you mind if I use your phone?" said Shields.
"Sure. Go ahead."
She picked up the phone, dialled a number and waited.
"Oh, Gary, It's Moira Shields from Border Protection ...Yes.... How are you? ... That's good. Hey listen. We've got some hi-res satellite images of the coast up near the Sir Charles Hardy Islands in North Queensland and there looks to be a submarine of some sort that's been sitting up there for the last few days off a remote beach. Do you know about that? ... You do?" There was a long pause.
Maddock flicked up more images and on the last one caught his breath. He pointed at the screen and looked up at Shields whose eyebrows went up.
"Hold on, Gary," she covered the mouthpiece. "What's that?"
YOU ARE READING
Calypso's Mast
AdventureSomething smashed into her, knocked out all of her wind and spun her around. A vice clamped over her mouth and crushed her chest. A second later, she was behind a bush and looking eye to eye with Suzi. Suzi growled. "Shut-up, Suzi," hissed Banni...
