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Raht he was a hotshot So he said we&039;d take these two Con-5s, hi one, me the other It was a touch match in the bay, first nose-hit the winner You know, I took --"

"All right, all right," said Bonnett "I&039; to make a point I don&039;t want a blow by blow That&039;s a young a time out of school You haven&039;t"

"Oh"

Bonnett chuckled "I used to be pretty good at it, too Tell you what: e get back let&039;s hunt up a fish school and I&039;ll challenge you to a snag match There&039;s the fun"

Ramsey sobered "The skipper doesn&039;t make mistakes, does he?"

"Not about people," said Bonnett "Or abouton the bow planes "And e get back ho too many fish And what about all those spare parts?"

Raroup is the integrative forcethe logos Of course this crew has the top rating Sparrow is -

"It makes my blood boil when I think about it," said Bonnett

Sparrow cah the doorway onto the control deck "What makes your blood boil?"

"All the stupid red tape back at base"

"It&039;s supposed to make your blood boil That&039;s why it exists How far to that seamount?"

"Five ood you are at Con-tag" Sparrow gestured toward the torpedo board at Bonnett&039;s left

"How&039;s Joe?" asked Bonnett

"I just shot him full of de-carb If that hot stuff settled in his bones, he&039;s a cooked engineer"

Ramsey approached the torpedo board slowly

Bonnett said, "We caught hiood as new in a couple of days No calcium, no carbonate, no --"

"Just call him rubber bones," said Ramsey "No about a little quiet?"

"The maestro is about to perform," said Bonnett

Rauide screens, arers And there in front of him was the little blue stick that made a Con-5 perform He chose one off the top of the rack, keyed it to the controls, said, "Standing by How far is down?"

"Twenty-two hundred feet," said Bonnett "You can go any tiines until they were barely

"We&039;ll have hose to spare," said Sparrow

"Shall I et some muck for our hull snooper?" asked Ramsey

"No We have to make this one fast An EP may pick up our control pulse If the bottom&039;s hot, then we&039;ll have hot oil and they can use it to lube atoines"

"Now?" asked Rahts on that hose reel"

"They&039;re already on," said Bonnett

Rauide screen to the nose eye in his Con-5, activated the multi-wave projector beside the nose eye The screen showed a pattern outline for the hull of the Ram, picked up in waves beyond the norlow of the side light illu the hose reel A second super-imposition showed the relative positions of the Ram and the tiny Con-5

"A little more ship speed, please," said Ramsey "It&039;ll steady us"

Bonnett moved the throttle bar forward a fractional notch and the Raht the deadly torpedo in closer He could not see the fin prongs on his torpedo, but he knehere they were -- forward projecting edges of the stabilizing fins, designed for hydrostatic balance and set just back of the needle curve of the torpedo&039;s nose

"Blink the side light," said Raht switch off, on, off, on

The glow on Rauide screen went on and off to the movement of the switch

"Wanted to ht," said Ramsey He flashed the Con-5 in close and

hovered it over the light The hose projection was visible ahead, jutting at a forty-five-degree angle frooes" He dropped the Con-5 back ten feet, threw full power into the torpedo&039;s drive It surged ahead, swooped down onto the hose, seeot it," said Bonnett

"What else?" asked Ramsey He slacked off the speed of his torpedo, looked at the counter dial which showed how fast the hose was unreeling Abruptly, the dial showed a showling down, slacked off to zero

"Lost it," said Sparrow

Ra curve The snaky line of the hose was the superiht the little torpedo in fast, tipped it at the last ain had the hose in tow "Got a better hold on it that ti us around on that seamount," said Bonnett "I have you on the search board I&039;ll warn you one hundred feet from bottom You can take it in visually from there"

"I picked up the hose about ten feet fro the minute I touch the nozzle into the muck; that&039;ll hold her there I don&039;t want to hold that firing pin any closer to a target any longer than I have to"

"Pulanced sideways, saw Sparrow at the tow board Sparrow&039;s hands moved over the controls "Line checks clear to the ballast compartment," he said

Rah the tow controls and into the web e re that hose end into ballast muckif

"One hundred feet," said Bonnett "You&039;re bearing along the east face of the seamount"

"I have its outline," said Ramsey, eyes on screen

He e," he said "That&039;ll have muck"

"Pray it&039;s cool," said Sparrow

"Pray it&039;s ballast," said Raed the torpedo and its hose end closer to the bottom, closer, closer

"She&039;s in!"

"Pu," said Sparrow

Raht it up away fro," said Sparrow "We &039;s bow is co down," said Sparrow He hit the switch of a ballast snooper "It&039;s cool"