We are still running short of Pre-Orders and it would be great if you could help spread the word to your fellow Inkshares members, Facebook friends, and Twitter contacts. I know it’s a lot to ask so I’m giving you something in return. Below is Vignette #2 code named "Churchill". This is a snapshot into the occurrences of book two in the series, Crow’s Haven. Of course for the second book to happen I need to get Crow’s Gambit published...just sayin...

Captain Winslow studied the sonar display. The Churchill could have tracked the surface ship’s cavitation wave from the other side of the Atlantic if they needed to. It was screaming ‘here I am’ for anyone to hear. 

“Is that our target?” he asked the sailor on sonar duty. 

“Yes sir. There is a match with the vibration profile on record. The civilian transport Hermes. Registered to Darrow Shipping under U.S. flag.” 

“Are you absolutely positive son?” Winslow secretly hoped there was some doubt. 

“Positive. Its profile, course, and location are all an exact match. That’s her.” 

“Very well.” The Captain turned back to the rest of the Control Room with a sigh. “Deck officer, take us to battle stations. Stand by to launch UUVs.” 

The officer turned a quizzical face toward him. “Sir?” she asked. 

“Release the hounds Lieutenant.” 

The Lieutenant nodded and issued the orders. Several small unmanned underwater vehicles sped away from the Churchill and toward the surface craft. The Churchill was a Manta class hunter-killer submarine. Built for speed and standoff stealth. While her onboard weapons were substantial the real power was in the fleet of drones she could deploy. 

“Deploy in attack pattern beta Lieutenant.” 

“Attack pattern beta, yes sir.” The Lieutenant scrutinized the work of two sailors as they issued commands to the drones. “UUVs are in position sir.” 

“Very good. Sensor station do you have any other signals in the area? Anything else on the surface?” The Captain silently waited and prayed for divine intervention. 

“The surface is clear Captain. No other signals in the area.” 

Winslow’s shoulders slumped as he let out a large sigh. “Weapons officer, arm the UUVs and prepare to fire on the surface craft.” 

“Captain?” The Lieutenant frowned at him. 

He handed her the small printout he had been clutching in his fist for the last hour. “Our orders are to destroy the vessel Lieutenant.” 

“But sir, that’s a civilian vessel. There are over 300 passengers and crew on board.” 

“Ours is not to question why Lieutenant.” He gave her an understanding smile. “For what it’s worth I will make sure to note your concern in my log. Weapon’s officer on my mark.” The young sailor nodded uncertainly, his finger over the execute button. “Fire,” Winslow commanded. 

In the distance two of the drones accelerated and executed an inverted parabolic course intended to bring them up directly under the target. As they closed the distance their internal electronics automatically armed the detonators to their high yield H-9 explosives. The Weapon’s Officer counted down to impact. 

“Five…four…three…” 

“Transients,” the signals officer suddenly called out. “Multiple fast movers!” 

Almost simultaneously the weapons officer chimed in. “We’ve lost contact with the UUVs.” 

“We’re getting wide bandwidth diffraction on EM and optical,” the Lieutenant reported. 

“Squid drones,” the Captain concluded. Small highly maneuverable drones that threw out clouds of sharp edged reflective particles that could confuse communications and sensing. If there was a school of squid drones out there then somewhere nearby there was an American Concord class fast attack submarine. And it had probably just watched them fire on the civilian vessel. 

“Helm, make our depth…” 

“New transients!” the signals office interrupted. “Pulse jet propulsors. Positive identification as Mark-72 torpedoes.” 

Yes, the Captain thought to himself. They had been watching.