Free Submarine Warriors: The Enemy Beneath by Rob Tiffany

the sub but was instead pointing at the surface of the water. The reflection caused by the churning waves resulted in the laser-guided bomb making erratic course corrections as it fell through the atmosphere. These course corrections pushed it closer and closer to the boat the SEALs were on. Recognizing this, the SEAL Petty Officer switched off the laser and the bomb splashed harmlessly into the water about one hundred yards from their boat.
    The F/A-18 Super Hornet dove towards the submerging Alaska and fired its 50 caliber guns angrily while the sail disappeared beneath the surface.

    USS Alaska
    The kids put their hands over their ears and screamed as the fighter jet strafed the Alaska from above. The impact of high-caliber bullets striking the hull of the sub sounded like the most terrifying hailstorm anyone could imagine. Fortunately, the bullets were harmless to the thick, double-hulled, Leviathan. In another minute, the sound of the attacking jet faded as the sub sank deeper into the strait.
    “Diving Officer, make your depth two hundred feet,” the Admiral ordered.
    “Make my depth two hundred feet, aye,” replied Caroline. “Can we really go that deep in here?”
    “Some parts of the strait are nine hundred feet deep,” responded the Admiral. “Our downward-facing, high-frequency sonar will let us know how much wiggle-room we have between the keel and the ocean floor.”
    In the sky above, the hovering news helicopters banked to the southeast and headed back to Seattle. Everything that had transpired was now streaming to the rest of the world. Underwater where it was less vulnerable, the submarine silently accelerated at flank speed away from the danger.
    “I sure am glad we didn’t steal a destroyer or some other surface ship,” Annie said to the Admiral. “We’d be sitting ducks.”
    “You’re going to make a great submariner,” said Admiral Connery with a grin.

    The White House
    Back in the Situation Room, a messenger handed a piece of paper to the President.
    “We’ve lost the sub.” The President read the message out loud. “Damn it! How could this have happened?”
    “There’s more, sir.” The messenger spoke quietly. “I’ve got the Russian President waiting to speak to you on a secure line.”
    The President put the phone to his ear. “Yes, Dmitry?”
    “I’ve been watching the news on TV and I understand you’ve lost one of your ballistic missile submarines,” the Russian President stated flatly. “Would you like our assistance in finding her?”
    “It sounds to me like you’ve been watching ‘The Hunt for Red October,’ and not the news,” the President retorted.
    “The irony didn’t escape me,” replied the Russian President. “We would’ve tried much harder to sink the sub if it had been one of ours. And we wouldn’t have allowed a spectacle like this to be captured and broadcast for all to see on television. We will have no choice but to put our military on high alert and raise our defense posture immediately.”
    “I assure you, we’ll get her back,” the President responded, hanging up the phone.
    He turned to face the rest of the Joint Chiefs.
    “This has gotten way too out of hand for half-measures anymore. I’m ordering you to dispatch the entire Pacific fleet, if necessary, to hunt down and sink the Alaska. A Trident submarine with enough firepower to destroy China has been stolen and has now left US waters.”
    “Take us to DEFCON One.”

Chapter 6 > Finding their Fathers

    Defense Condition One represents the American military’s highest level of alert, putting bombers in the air, getting troops ready to deploy, and preparing the land and sea-based nuclear arsenal for launch toward their target packages.
    The United States has never found itself at DEFCON ONE…until now!
    West coast naval stations in San Diego, Pearl Harbor, Everett, Bremerton, and Bangor received urgent messages to recall their sailors in preparation for heading out to sea to