Read Online To Kill the Potemkin by Mark Joseph - Free Book Online Page B

to
it
for a moment and turned it
off.
"Is it going to work?"
    "I
can't say,
sir. I haven't had it in
the water."
    "What
about a
magnet?"
    "I
got one."
    "Well,
then."
Pisaro looked over
his chart and jabbed his finger at a spot in the middle of the Gulf of
Pozzuoli. "It's one hundred twenty feet down. Can you handle it?"
    Sorensen
peered
at the chart and nodded.
"No problem."
    "Okay,
you need
to take someone with
you. Who's it going to be?"
    "Fogarty."
    "The
kid? Is he
qualified for
scuba?" Pisaro opened his personnel files and pulled Fogarty's records.
"So he is. Is he any good at sonar?"
    "He's
a sharp
cookie, Commander. He's
got good ears."
    Pisaro
studied
the file. "There's
something about him I can't put my finger on. He's kind of sullen. I
don't
think he really likes the military—"
    "For
cryin' out
loud. Commander, I don't
like the military. I don't think you like it very much. If you'll
pardon my
saying so."
    Pisaro
pretended
not to hear this. He was
reading Fogarty's file. "He went to the University of Minnesota for a
year. Hmm. Electronic engineering. Another wizard, I suppose. Why can't
I get
more guys like Willie Joe? Just a good old boy who loves his submarine.
Instead, I get the likes of you and this Fogarty. Get outta here. Go
swimming."
----
    In
wetsuits
Sorensen and Fogarty popped out
of the after hatch and carefully made their way along the deck. From
the
portside forward diving plane Hoek was supervising the loading of the
dummy
torpedoes. All of the torpedoes for the exercise, six Mark 37s and two
Mark 45s
were wire-guided. Each torpedo was equipped with a reel of fine wire,
miles
long, that remained attached to the submarine when the weapon was
fired. By
means of an electronic pulse transmitted along the wire, the weapons
officer
could guide the torpedo to its target. The gleaming weapons were
painted
brilliant orange to indicate they were unarmed.
    The
two sailors
dropped into a waiting rubber
boat. Sorensen cranked up the outboard motor and a moment later they
were
skimming across the bay, heading for the Gulf of Pozzuoli.
    Sheltered
from
the swell of the Mediterranean
by the shoals of La Gaiola, the bay was calm. Shadows crept down the
slopes of
Vesuvius. The air was heavy with diesel oil and thyme.
    Fogarty
was
awestruck by the crumbling
magnificence of Naples. After ten days underwater he seemed to have
surfaced in
paradise. Waving his arms, he shouted into the wind, "It's like a
dream,
it's beautiful."
    "You
know what
they say, kid. See Naples
and die."
    Sorensen
had
visited Naples many times but
had never looked at it as anything more than a backdrop for a debauch.
He
wasn't looking now. His face was turned into the sun.
    As
they rounded
the point and entered the
gulf, Sorensen slowed to get his bearings. Fogarty chattered excitedly
about
the villas along the beach, the icecream town of Pozzuoli visible four
miles
away, the range of mountains that loomed over the gulf.
    "C'mon,
Sorensen.
Which one is
Vesuvius?"
    "How
do I know?
The one blowing smoke
rings."
    "Where's
Pompeii?
It's supposed to be
around here."
    Sorensen
became
annoyed. "Look, Fogarty,
I know this is all new to you, but try to restrain yourself. I'm not a
tour
guide and we've got a little job to do." He started putting on his
scuba
gear. "You check your tanks, kid?"
    "Yeah."
    "Look,
I don't
mean to be hard on you.
You'll have plenty of chances to play tourist. Hey, you know what you
get when
you nuke Naples?"
    "What?"
    "Plutonium
pizza."
    "Jesus,
Sorensen,
you're a sick
man."
    "You
think it's a
joke?"
    "I
hope it is."
    "Well,
it's not.
Listen, I live in a
submarine. I'm a bubblehead, and that gives me a certain point of
view." He
paused to gesture widely, taking in the entire region around Naples.
"This
is a target. As long as Naples is the home port of the Sixth Fleet it
will be
destroyed in the first salvo. A million people are going to die here,
blasted
by the Russians. As far as I'm concerned they're already dead.