Lawson looked at the navigation display.
Their location was classified.
Only a handful of people should have known exactly where the submarine was operating.
The tapping returned.
Different now.
Three.
Three.
Two.
The sonar operator suddenly leaned forward.
“I have something.”
Everyone turned.
“What?”
“Very faint.”
A small metallic signature appeared near the submarine.
Too close.
Lawson called the commanding officer.
Within minutes the control room shifted from confusion to alertness.
Evan stood beside the acoustic station listening.
The knocking stopped.
Then a voice came through an underwater communications channel.
Distorted.
Weak.
Almost impossible to understand.
The operator adjusted the signal.
A fragment emerged.
“…help…”
No one spoke.
Then another word.
A name.
“Cole.”
