Oracle (36 page)

He gripped Bones
’ shoulder and looked into his eyes when he turned around.
Okay
? Bones held up a thumb and finger in a circle, the universal diver’s
okay
sign. They began their slow dance toward the warship once more. Dane hoped the trail of silt they kicked up might confuse the dolphins’ echolocation, causing their pings to bounce back before reaching them. The animals began to circle around them like sharks, moving slower now, studying their quarry, looking for a weakness.

The next time Dane looked up from his compass he was rewarded with the sight of the dark underbelly of a U.S. Navy destroyer. Perhaps fifteen feet above them and another ten feet away, it represented their objective. The dolphins stayed with them as they passed under its hull into near darkness, the massive ship blotting out the sunlight. They could hear vibrations coming
from the war machine, not its propulsion system but various machinery on board as sailors carried out their business.

When they were directly under the middle of the hull
, Dane signaled to Bones to stop moving. They looked up and saw the metal surface, painted black with antifouling paint, a mere ten feet above them. Dane unclipped the snaps on his mine pouch.

The dolphins were still right there, chattering incessantly. They, too, seemed to know that this was the endgame. Dane was tempted to make a dash for the underbelly of the vessel, but suppressed the urge. They
’d come too far to get careless now. He summoned some of the discipline SEALs were known for and forced himself to think.
What would work here
?

The
tanks back-to-back was the thing. They had to stay in that formation. He signaled to Bones that they would ascend together in the same orientation. He was relieved to see the Indian simply nod his agreement. He must also be surprised they’d made it this far. Then the dolphins disappeared and Dane guessed they were going to the surface to take a breath. Dolphins typically surfaced to breathe every few minutes and they’d been down longer than that.

No
w! He widened his eyes at Bones and the two of them began a slow and careful ascent toward the ship’s metal underside, spinning slowly in a circle as they neared the surface where they would place a mine. Dane slipped the heavy disc, a ballistically inert training model, from his pouch and waved it in front of Bone’s face, his message clear:
I’ll place the mine
.

The dolphins were back by the time Dane was within arm
’s reach of the metal structure. Very aggressive now, they darted in and nosed around Dane and Bones’ midsections. seeking access to the scuba tanks. Dane gripped his own magnetic disc tightly in his hand, waiting for an opening. He didn’t want a dolphin to nose it out of his grasp. When he saw both dolphins move to Bones’ side, teaming up on him, Dane made his move.

He thrust an arm up until he felt the mine snap onto the hull with a satisfying
clack
. The LED on the explosive device turned from green to red and began to blink. Dane knew that it was now transmitting a signal to the training officials that the mine had been triggered.

Although technically they had won the exercise, since a suicide bomber
’s mission would be complete at this point, not caring if he were caught or killed, Dane still wanted to reach the surface without being tagged at all, if possible. Extra points. He was glad to see Bones fall into formation by his side and together they awkwardly swam their way out from under the ship. The dolphins still followed them but seemed to have lost some of their fight, perhaps knowing the game had been won.

Still together as a unit, Dane and Bones surfaced next to the destroyer. They were still untagged as their heads broke the surface and the first thing Dane heard was the dolphin trainer
’s whistle. Immediately, the dorsal fins of their two adversaries sliced through the water in the direction of their holding pen on the floating docks.

Looking up at the destroyer, Dane saw the excited faces of the sailors leaning over the rail, many of them clapping and cheering.

Dane held his hands up and pantomimed an explosion.

“
Gotcha!” he called up to the crew.

“
Nice work!” “Got lucky!” The calls came down.

As a small Zodiac inflatable boat neared Dane and Bones for pickup, a gruff voice issued over the ship
’s PA system.

“
Maddock, Bonebrake: Come on up to the Commander’s office--now!”

Coming October, 2014