Battlecraft (2006)

'Right,' Brannigan replied. 'Okay, folks. Remember our orders when we caught her heading at two-seven- zero. General quarters! Did you get that course, Watkins?'

'Course three-five-zero, aye, sir!'

Lieutenant Veronica Rivers had her weapons system humming as per standing operational procedures even though they knew the dhow was unarmed. She checked her scopes for signs of aircraft. 'Three aircraft off to the northeast at five miles.'

'That would be the Hornet Escort,' Brannigan said. He turned to the patrol frequency. 'Hornet Escort, this is Battlecraft. Over.'

The voice of the F/A-18 flight leader came back. 'This is Hornet Escort. Over.'

'We've got the dhow on our scope and are moving in,' Brannigan said. 'How about a security sweep around the area? Over.'

'Roger, wilco.'

.

HORNET ESCORT

'DID you monitor that transmission from the Battlecraft? the flight leader radioed.

'Roger,' his wingman replied. 'Lead the way, Boss.'

The wingman's RIO came on the air. 'I've got a blip just about due east at maybe fourteen miles. Moving rapidly in a southern direction. She's got warship written all over her.'

'Let check it out,' the flight leader said. 'It might be an awkward situation if some Middle East navy observes our activities up close.'

The two F/A-18s moved toward the suspect blip, then went down from angels ten to angels two as they closed in. 'We're almost there,' the RIO reported.

'Okay,' the flight leader said. 'I've got a visual. She's a warship all right, but I can't make out the nationality. Let's make a close orbit around her.'

The pair of aircraft began a flying a tight circle around the vessel that sped across the expanse of water below them.

.

FLAGSHIP HARBI-MIN-ISLAM

THE officer of the watch stepped in from the signal deck. 'The two aircraft are American,' he reported. 'Super Hornets.'

'Alert the Exocet crew' Commodore Mahamat ordered. 'Lock and fire on the aircraft.'

Mike Assad's knuckles turned white from his hard grip on the bulkhead railing. He trembled with impotent rage, taking deep breaths to keep his emotions under tight control.

.

HORNET ESCORT

'WE'RE locked on!' the RIO yelled. 'Missile launch!'

Both the flight leader and his wingman reacted as quickly as possible, kicking out chaff and flares as the former broke left and the latter right in violent collective maneuvering.

It was too little too late.

The French MM-40 missiles had very little airspace to pass through and they found their targets easy marks. An American F/A-18E and F/A-18F were blown from the sky in instantaneous detonations of orange and red. Numerous pieces of the aircraft trailed smoke and flame, fluttering all the way down to the sea.

.

ACV BATTLECRAFT

'JESUS Christ!' Lieutenant Veronica Rivers yelled out. 'Those Hornet Escort guys disappeared off the scope. They were locked on and hit.'

'Where the hell did the ordnance come from?' Brannigan asked. 'Nothing was fired from the dhow.'

'Ship approaching from zero-zero-three at a high rate of speed!' Veronica reported. 'They gotta be the bad guys.'

Brannigan flipped to the inter-ship nautical channel. 'Unknown vessel, this is United States Navy ACV Battlecraft Identify yourself. Over.'

'We're locked on,' Veronica calmly informed the skipper. 'Missile launch. Evade! I am launching chaff and flares!'

Paul Watkins, responding with instincts honed during their battle drills, went into a wide turn as he pushed the throttle to flank speed. Brannigan raised the Dan Daly's CDC. 'This is Battlecraft We are under attack by an unknown naval vessel. Readings indicate this ship has blown away the two aircraft of the Hornet Escort. Over.'

'Roger, Battlecraftthe tactical action officer responded. 'Wait.'

Brannigan yelled over at Watkins. 'Continue to take evasion action!'

'Continue to take evasion action,' Watkins replied in a businesslike tone. 'Aye, sir.' He abruptly steered the ACV onto another heading as Veronica kicked out more chaff and flares.

'Battlecraft' came the voice of the tactical action officer. 'You are to immediately break off all contact and return to the home ship at flank speed. Over.'

'This is Battlecraft,' Brannigan said. 'That vessel destroyed two American fighter aircraft. We have the capability of making a deadly response to that unprovoked action.'

'I say again,' the tactical action officer said firmly. 'You are to immediately break off all contact and return to the home ship at flank speed. Over.'

'Roger, wilco,' Brannigan said through clenched teeth. 'Rivers, what's the course back to the Dan Daly?'

'One-eight-seven,' Veronica replied.

'Watkins,' Brannigan said. 'Steer to course one-eight-seven at flank speed.'

'Course one-eight-seven at flank speed, aye, sir.'

Veronica Rivers gave Brannigan a startled look. 'What the hell is going on? I have a solid lock on that damn warship!'

'We're turning tail,' he replied.

Chapter 12.

USS DAN DALY

INDIAN OCEAN

VICINITY OF 5deg NORTH AND 65deg EAST

21 OCTOBER

0800 HOURS LOCAL

THE ACV Battlecraft had been pulled from the water and hauled up into the loading bay of the ship for its first scheduled overhaul. Bobby Lee Atwill, the gas-turbine system technician, was able to handle the work on the Poder-Ventaja engine without help. He was very much aware that at that time, he was the only sailor in the entire United States Navy who knew the power plant inside and out. After spreading tarpaulins around the small wardroom, he began dismantling the engine to give each separate part a thorough inspection and cleaning. Within a quarter of an hour of beginning the task, he was happily lost in the greasy work, performing his version of exploratory surgery on the machine he loved more than any of his human shipmates.

The radar, weapons, and navigational systems were a different story. Lieutenant Veronica Rivers kept ahead of that game by a continuous self-imposed program of monitoring and adjustments. However, she and Jim Cruiser were both tasked with all the paperwork regarding the overhaul procedures and results. This consisted of two booklets of forms that had to be filled out and signed by them; countersigned by Lieutenant Bill Brannigan; then counter-countersigned by the skipper of the USS Dan Daly.

They also had to use all previous maintenance and repair procedures listed in the electronic, weapon, and engine logs as references. Not even a yeoman who could type a hundred words a minute would be able to lend a hand in this ponderous administrative procedure. It was a matter of filling out lengthy forms requiring signatures on each one. Jim and Veronica loaded all the documents into a couple of boxes, then lugged the weighty load of data