‘Enter,’ he said, and his First Officer opened the door. ‘Sir, we’ve got something on sonar. It could be the target boat,’ the First Officer reported. ‘Show me,’ the Captain said, getting up from behind his desk and following the First Officer down the short corridor that led from his cabin to the sonar station. ‘What have you got, Niles?’ the Captain asked as he looked over the operator’s shoulder. ‘I’m not sure, sir,’ the man replied. ‘It’s moving too fast to be another boat.’ The Captain studied the display and quickly realised why his men were unsure about what they’d found. The contact was too fast and too quiet to be a sub. Niles put the sound from the contact over the speaker mounted above his station so that the Captain could hear the rhythmic throbbing. It might be quiet but it was undeniably mechanical. ‘What do you think?’ the Captain asked. ‘Hell if I know, sir. I nearly missed it – nobody’s got a boat that quiet when it’s moving that fast.
