Matilda and the rest of the team continued sweeping through the Conservatory, recovering more material connected to HELIX.
...
Up north, the first naval sweep left Saicine Harbor shortly after sunrise that same morning.
Triton One led the surface group through the northern entrance, followed several hundred meters behind by Sentinel One and Sentinel Two.
The Wraiths were already somewhere ahead. Only their System markers showed where.
Beyond the breakwater, the sea looked less threatening than it did during the first Saicine operation.
The surface remained calm. Underneath was a different matter.
Triton One’s sonar picture continued building as the frigate moved away from shore.
The seabed fell gradually outside the harbor before dropping into the deeper channel north of Saicine. Wreckage remained scattered near the approaches, enough to create irregular returns close to the bottom.
Biological contacts appeared among them. Most were small, and the frigate ignored those.
The first large return appeared several kilometers ahead of the formation.
Then a second, and soon, a third.
Their spacing did not match a school, nor did their size.
"Three large biological contacts. Bearing north-northeast."
Conrad Halestar watched the shared picture from the Combat Information Center.
The largest contact was already inside the area covered by one of the Wraiths operating ahead of the surface ships.
"Wraith Two has the first contact."
The submarine’s track appeared beside Triton’s.
The creature continued north before turning sharply west.
It might not have noticed the surface ships yet, but the same could not be said for the submarine.
"Wraith Two. Maintain track."
"Wraith Two copies."
The submarine changed course instead of pursuing directly.
Triton maintained the contact from farther back.
The other two returns continued north while the first moved along the edge of the deeper channel. Its speed changed twice before settling again.
Conrad watched the track.
It was reacting to Wraith Two.
"Keep shadowing."
Wraith Two stayed off its flank and held fire.
The contact continued west until the seabed dropped steeply, causing its return to weaken.
Triton One held an uncertain track for several seconds before the creature appeared again farther down the slope.
Wraith Two adjusted with the change while Conrad kept watching.
The creature no longer tried to swim away in a straight line. Every time the submarine closed from one side, it changed depth or moved closer to the uneven seabed before continuing.
It seemed to have learned that something was pursuing it in the depths.
The other two contacts behaved differently. One continued north without changing course. The third slowed near the deeper channel and remained there.
By the time Conrad returned to the first contact, it was farther from the submarines and moving deeper into the channels the marine contacts used after the bombardment days earlier
"Wraith Two, engage your contact. Wraith One, take the northern pair with Triton."
Both submarines acknowledged.
Wraith Two fired first.
The heavy torpedo cleared the submarine and accelerated almost immediately, its long cylindrical body disappearing into the dark water behind a widening trail of disturbed current.
It was larger than anything Conrad associated with the smaller anti-submarine weapons carried by the surface ships.
The distance between it and the contact shortened faster than the creature could react.
Its marker turned sharply toward the deeper slope, but the torpedo followed the change instead of continuing straight. Wraith Two still held the track, feeding corrections while the weapon closed.
Farther behind them, Triton One fired.
Two ASW missiles burst from the frigate and climbed above the sea. They remained airborne for a short while.
Only when they reached the projected search area did their payloads separate. Two smaller torpedoes dropped toward the water.
They struck the surface before disappearing under, where their own propulsion took over.
The first heavy torpedo reached Wraith Two’s target seconds later. The marker made another abrupt turn, but it was too late.
The detonation filled the sonar picture with interference and disrupted the return.
When it recovered, the creature was still alive, but barely maintaining speed.
Wraith Two fired again, sending another heavy torpedo racing through the water. This time, the creature no longer had enough speed to escape the approaching projectile.
The weapon struck and the marker disappeared after the explosion.
Farther north, the two remaining contacts reacted as the torpedoes entered the water.
One dove toward the seabed while the other accelerated into deeper water, but the lightweight torpedoes were already searching for them.
The fleet kept both tracks.
Conrad watched the contacts separate.
"Don’t let them leave."
Wraith One moved after the deeper target while Triton kept the other inside its sonar picture.
The first lightweight torpedo found its target soon afterward.
The creature tried to dive, but the weapon entered the water much closer than Wraith Two’s earlier launch. It corrected downward and closed before the contact could reach the seabed.
The explosion cluttered Triton’s sonar for several seconds. When the picture returned, the marker moved slower.
The torpedo may not have killed it outright, but most of its speed was gone.
The second lightweight torpedo entered the same search area farther north and turned toward the wounded contact after the first explosion.
The wounded creature never recovered enough speed to escape as another detonation followed and its marker soon disappeared.
The last contact tried to escape into deeper water.
It stayed close to the seabed as it moved north, using the uneven terrain to weaken Triton’s track whenever the frigate tried to hold it from farther away.
Wraith One was much closer and kept a firm track.
Its marker followed the creature deeper into the channel while the shared contact remained firm across the fleet network.
Wraith One fired a heavy torpedo.
The torpedo closed from behind while the creature continued along the bottom. It changed direction once, then again when the weapon followed.
Neither turn bought enough distance. Seconds later, the torpedo caught it.
The torpedo hit. The red biological marker broke apart and disappeared.
Confirmed three kills, Triton One," Wraith One reported over the comms channel.
Conrad checked the waters farther north.
More biological markers began appearing as Triton widened the sweep beyond the approaches Saicine’s artillery covered days earlier.
"We’re only getting started. Continue the sweep."
The formation continued north. The next several contacts did not give them another fight.
Two larger markers turned away before the Wraiths reached them, while several smaller returns scattered into deeper water as Triton advanced along the coastline.
Conrad let them go since they were already leaving the waters he wanted cleared.
The pattern continued for several kilometers until Sentinel One picked up something above the surface.
"Structure ahead. Offshore platform."
Conrad brought the surface picture forward.
One of Saicine’s extraction platforms stood farther out from the coast, its upper decks still rising above the water despite visible damage along one side.
Triton’s sonar filled in what the surface picture could not. The water around the platform was anything but empty.
Several red markers moved through the water around it.
One marker was larger than the three they just killed, remaining close to the platform’s supports.
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