Page 54 of Clive Cussler Ghost Soldier

“You want me to surface?” Callie asked.

“You have that box secured yet?”

“Need another minute.”

“Take it. We need that box.”

“You sure?”

“TheOregoncan handle herself,” Juan said. He meant it. And Max was a fine commander.

But at that moment Cabrillo would have given his other leg to be in the Kirk Chair taking the fight to the enemy. TheOregonwas his lady, and there was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect her.

But down here, thousands of feet below her keel, he was useless.

?

Aboard theOregon

Alarms sounded on Murph’s early-warning screen.

“Air defense is tracking two high-speed missiles heading our way. They have radar lock on our position.”

Max turned in the Kirk Chair.

“Hali, sound general quarters.”

“Aye, Max.” Hali Kasim punched the alarm button. An old-school Klaxon shrieked throughout the vessel as red GQ lights flashed.

“Wepps, distance and speed?”

“Approximately five miles out, one hundred eighty-two degrees relative. Closing at Mach Eight. Estimated impact: twenty-seven seconds and counting.” Murphy put up a giant digital clock counting down the impact.

Max wanted to make theOregona smaller target.

“Helm, hard about. I want bow-on to those things. Wepps, activate automated air defense weapons.”

“Aye,” Eric said, his hands on the helm controls.

“Roger that,” Murph said as he punched a button on his weapons station.

TheOregon’s electric engines spun up at nearly the speed of light as the vector thrusters rotated into position. The big 590-foot vessel turned on a dime. Everyone in the op center grabbed their station desks. Belowdecks, plates crashed, books flew, and heaven help any poor slob stuck in the head.

Before theOregoncompleted her turn, the two air defense systems immediately engaged, and both displayed on separate wall screens for everyone in the op center to see.

“Wepps, put your missile radar tracking screen on one of the wall monitors.”

“Done.” Murph tapped a few keys and one of the wall screens showed his radar tracking display. Now everybody could watch the action as the two missiles sped toward the bull’s-eye at the center of the screen—theOregon.

The first air defense system to deploy was the Laser Weapon System (LaWS) emerging out of the top of theOregon’s fake smokestack. The telescope-looking device rotated instantly to the direction of the missile attack.

The second was the Kashtan combat module, a close-in weapons system. A steel sleeve lowered at the top of the forward crane tower revealing the twin thirty-millimeter rotary six-barrel cannons spinning up, designed to deliver ten thousand rounds per minute of explosive-tipped tungsten projectiles. The Kashtan also featured anti-aircraft missiles that upon explosion projected an impenetrable fifteen-foot-diameter wall of fragmented steel, destroying anything in its path.

“LaWS is locked on. Kashtan is prepared to fire.” Murph waited for permission to engage.

“Release fire controls.”

“LaWS firing.”