Submarine Warriors: The Enemy Beneath by Rob Tiffany

tug out of action. With that, the Alaska made its way north towards its next obstacle, the Hood Canal Bridge.
    Fulfilling their part of the mission, an SUV containing Mike’s and Chrissie’s moms headed northwest out of Poulsbo toward the Hood Canal Bridge at a high rate of speed.
    “ I hope we don’t get pulled over by the cops,” Chrissie’s mom Ashley spoke frantically.
    “ Don’t sweat the small stuff,” replied Mike’s mom Michelle. “Our husbands might be alive, our kids are heading into danger on a stolen submarine, and the Marines are shooting at them.”
    “ Good point,” Ashley commented. “I guess we just need to play it cool and act like we know what we’re doing.”
    The Hood Canal Bridge was created by the military and serves as the only way for people living in the northern Olympic Peninsula to cross North America’s largest fjord. The bridge can only be opened by the Navy to allow submarines in and out of the Hood Canal, greatly inconveniencing motorists on either side who need to get across. It has a control tower near the center where naval personnel can open or close this submarine gateway.
    Admiral Cunningham from Squadron 17 placed a phone call to the petty officer manning the bridge.
    “ Petty Officer, the USS Alaska has been hijacked by an unknown group of hostiles and is heading your way,” Admiral Cunningham announced. “Under no circumstances are you to let that submarine through.”
    “ Yes, sir, Admiral,” the Petty Officer replied. “No one’s getting through here today.”
    “ One other thing.” The Admiral paused. “Make sure that your sidearm is available, just in case. This situation is critical to our national security.”
    The SUV arrived at the bridge and Ashley and Michelle made their way into the tower. “I know you’re scared,” Michelle whispered. “Just act tough and let’s do the SWAT team thing.”
    “ Got it!” Ashley whispered back as she kicked open the door to the control room to let Michelle inside.
    “ Open the bridge right now or I’m taking you down!” Michelle pointed her son’s airsoft gun menacingly at the Petty Officer. “Don’t make me kill you.”
    “ I’m afraid I won’t be able to do that,” the Petty Officer replied, turning around with his 45 drawn. “Conspiracy to steal a Trident submarine with 24 ICBMs is treason and punishable by death. I don’t know which government you work for, but you won’t get very far in this business using a gun with an orange muzzle on the tip.”
    Ashley was hiding just outside and called her daughter to let her know that they had failed in their mission to subdue the Petty Officer and get the bridge opened. Chrissie relayed the bad news to the Admiral and everyone else in the sub’s control room.
    “ There’s no going back,” Admiral Connery proclaimed. “Chief of the Boat, do we have any Torpedomen down below?”
    “ Yes sir,” replied the Chief of the Boat. “What in the world do we need torpedoes for?”
    The Admiral picked up his sound-powered phone and twisted the dial to the torpedo room.
    “ Torpedo room, Conn, make torpedo tubes one, two, three and four ready in all respects,” the Admiral ordered through the phone.
    “ Make torpedo tubes one, two, three, and four ready in all respects, Conn, Torpedo room, aye,” replied the Torpedoman on the other end of the line.
    Down in the torpedo room, the men began the process of getting the torpedoes ready to launch. Fortunately, torpedo tubes one, two and three were already loaded. Using a sophisticated block-and-tackle system, they lifted the fourth torpedo off its rack and carefully loaded it into the open tube. They quickly ran diagnostic tests on the tubes to verify they were ready to shoot.
    “ Conn, Torpedo room, tubes one, two, three and four are loaded and ready to go,” the Torpedoman exclaimed. “I’m not comfortable with arming torpedoes inside the Hood Canal sir.”
    “ Do your job and keep your comments to