NOVEL NEXT Chapter 25: 25. Lured away
"Attention all. Like Lt. Commander Wainwright said, I'll be your new commanding officer. Last night one of our patrol boats encountered and sank an Occitanian submarine trying to sink it. We just received an ultimatum from them to surrender the men responsible or we'll face dire consequences. Now I don't know about all of you, but after yesterday I'm in the mood to strike back at those bastards for what they did to our base. What about you?"
A small round of clapping erupting from the crew before falling silent when Jack began to speak again.
"We know they're out there and rather than wait for them to come to us at the moment of their choosing, we're going to sneak up on them and give them our own form of deliverance."
At that moment, the ship lurched to life as it pushed out from the dock into the harbor. Abigail passed over to Jack a pair of binoculars, and together they walked over to the front window of the bridge.
"Lt. Burns, please radio to the Valiant and the Tiger to follow in our wake," said Abigail, turning attention to a middle-aged man near the rear of the bridge.
"Aye, ma'am!"
Soon enough, the Destiny began to inch forward, picking up speed slowly as she worked to clear the harbor and get out past the jetty. Jack looked over to the dock and was pleased to see the Valiant pushing out while the Tiger was already moving forward to slot in right behind them.
Once clear of the jetty, the Tiger positioned itself on the rear port side of the Destiny while the Valiant took the starboard side.
The first time this task force has sailed together and hopefully not the last, thought Jack. It brought a grim smile to his lips at being in charge of such a unit. If there was any force that could bring the Occitanians to justice, this was the one.
They made good speed getting out of the bay and heading on a course due west. As the whole task force cruised at a speed of twenty-four knots, it took them just over a half hour to reach the point that the radar had identified as being the last spot of the Occitanian cruisers.
Once they were right over target, both Jack and Abigail scanned the horizon for anything that might prove to be the enemy.
"This sector is clear," said Jack before moving to the other side of the ship. "No smoke, no silhouettes. Nothing."
"As is the east side, Jack. It's quiet over here," said Abigail before putting down her binoculars.
"Where could they have gone," Jack whispered to himself.
"You don't think they lost their nerve, do you?
Jack shook his head. "Maybe if they hadn't shelled the base already. But they've already committed acts of war. I don't expect them to pull back now."
"Do you think they might be sucking us into a trap?"
"I don't know."
Abigail chewed on her lip. "Well, we really only have two options. Either we keep heading west in hopes that we'll find them or steam back toward the base in case they've double-backed back that way."
"I don't want to get too far from the base. Without us there, they're practically defenseless."
She turned to look at him. "What are our orders then, sir?"
Jack looked back out to the horizon. If it were him in charge of the Occitanian cruisers, what would he do?
What could be the point of drawing them out here from the base just to disappear from sight? It's almost like they wanted him to come away from the—
"Shit, turn the ships around!" Jack yelled. "We have to get back as soon as possible. They lured us out here to get us away from the base! They want to shell it again without the possibility of us hitting back."
Abigail's face paled as she began to issue orders back to her crew as well as to the other ships. The rudder swung and soon the ship went into a hard turn to port. On either side, the Valiant and the Tiger completed the same move as well so the entire task force moved as one unit.
After the turn was completed, they were back on their way but at that moment Jack's radio creaked out a message that seemed to confirm his worst fear.
"Commander Easterbrook, return to base. We're under attack!"