Liberators

Sneaking In

 Chapter Eight: Sneaking In

 Aboard the submarine K-312

Somewhere in the Kara Sea

October 5, 2008 0320 Rivymiyitevko time (October 4, 2008 2320 Krakozhian time)

"Although it does not meet all of the expectations it has been given, the KL-135 reactor core is a success and therefore should be recommended for use in all of our fleet's nuclear-powered ships." Captain Tanya Kalinina read the sentence again before finally saving it into her laptop. It was part of a performance report on the new reactor core that her submarine was using—luckily, it was installed before Krakozhia declared war on Rivymiyitevko, therefore they had time to break it in before actually using it in a combat situation. Using a unique mixture of uranium and plutonium, the K-312's two nuclear reactors were now capable of producing 26,000 horsepower each, equivalent to 2.6 megawatts, enough to power a large city for six hours. The result was that the submarine now had a top speed of thirty-eight knots, a vast improvement from the thirty-five knots that the old DZ-80 core used to provide. And for a behemoth like the K-312, speed was somewhat of an essential.

She, along with her sister sub the K-287, was escorting the fleet oiler Ivan Igorovsky to the safety of Yerotsk Bay. Although a transit at such an early hour would cover her from the threat of anti-shipping missiles, nothing could protect the Igorovsky from any hidden submarines with a decent sonar outfit except another submarine with better sonar. They were travelling at a leisurely ten knots, the Igorovsky's top speed fully laden with supplies and fuel for the Krakozhian Navy. Easily the biggest consumers were the Project 1010 battleships, with their 58,000 ton weight and top speed of thirty-two knots.

The cabin telephone rang, its low warbling tone shaking Kalinina from her thoughts. Shutting down her computer, she reached for the telephone and said, "This is the captain."

"Captain, sonar wants you to come down and check something out. Don't ask me; Anna didn't tell me anything," Natalya Tudenko quickly added.

"Fine. I'm coming over." Kalinina hung up and went to the sonar room. There, she found Captain Lieutenant Anna Poverin at work on her console and being helped by her assistant, a seaman. "What is it?"

"Oh, Captain!" Poverin turned around and removed her earphones. "Well, something came up on the sonar." She pointed at the waterfall display on the screen. "The Igorovsky is on bearing one-eight-oh, and K-287's over on bearing one-five-six. The contact on bearing two-eight-nine came ten to fifteen minutes ago. We're getting only tonals so far, and I'm still going through it."

"Range?"

"50,000 yards, Captain. A rain squall just erased the convergence layers." Suddenly, Poverin raised her hand. "I have it! Contact on bearing two-eight-nine is a probable Romeo-class submarine, with a single five-bladed screw making turns for ten knots. Should I assign it a Number designation?"

"Fine. I'll be in the conn." Kalinina took a few more steps before reaching the conn, located just in front of the sonar room. "Captain has the conn," she said as soon as she stepped in.

"Aye, Captain has the conn."

"Sonar, conn, report when range to Number-16 closes to 30,000 yards." Number-16 was the designation of the Romeo.

"Aye, conn."

"Helmsman, turn to bearing two-eight-nine and maintain course. We don't want to shoot at our own ships." The deck shuddered as the helmsman made the course change, the submarine churning through the unyielding water.