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With No Strings Attached
An Excerpt from the book-
The United States Submarine _Ambitious Brill_ slid smoothly into her
berth in the Brooklyn Navy Yard after far too many weeks at sea, as
far as her crew were concerned. After all the necessary preliminaries
had been waded through, the majority of that happy crew went ashore to
enjoy a well-earned and long-anticipated leave in the depths of the
brick-and-glass canyons of Gomorrah-on-the-Hudson.
The trip had been uneventful, in so far as nothing really dangerous
or exciting had happened. Nothing, indeed, that could even be called
out-of-the-way--except that there was more brass aboard than usual,
and that the entire trip had been made underwater with the exception
of one surfacing for a careful position check, in order to make sure
that the ship's instruments gave the same position as the stars gave.
They had. All was well.
That is not to say that the crew of the _Ambitious Brill_ were
entirely satisfied in their own minds about certain questions that had
been puzzling them. They weren't. But they knew better than to ask
questions, even among themselves. And they said nothing whatever when
they got ashore. But even the novices among submarine crews know that
while the nuclear-powered subs like _George Washington_, _Patrick
Henry_, or _Benjamin Franklin_ are perfectly capable of
circumnavigating the globe without coming up for air, such
performances are decidedly rare in a presumably Diesel-electric vessel
such as the U.S.S. _Ambitious Brill_. And those few members of the
crew who had seen what went on in the battery room were the most
secretive and the most puzzled of all. They, and they alone, knew that
some of the cells of the big battery that drove the ship's electric
motors had been removed to make room for a big, steel-clad box hardly
bigger than a foot locker, and that the rest of the battery hadn't
been used at all.
With no one aboard but the duty watch, and no one in the battery room
at all, Captain Dean Lacey felt no compunction whatever in saying, as
he gazed at the steel-clad, sealed "What a battery!"
The vessel's captain, Lieutenant Commander Newton Wayne, looked up
from the box into the Pentagon representative's face. "Yes, sir, it
is." His voice sounded as though his brain were trying to catch up
with it and hadn't quite succeeded. "This certainly puts us well ahead
of the Russians."
Captain Lacey returned the look. "How right you are, commander. This
means we can convert every ship in the Navy in a tenth the time we had
figured."
Then they both looked at the third man, a civilian.
He nodded complacently. "And at a tenth the cost, gentlemen," he said
mildly. "North American Carbide & Metals can produce these units
cheaply, and at a rate that will enable us to convert every ship in
the Navy within the year."
Captain Lacey shot a glance at Lieutenant Commander Wayne. "All this
is strictly Top Secret you understand."
"Yes, sir; I understand," said Wayne.
"Very well." He looked back at the civilian. "Are we ready,
Mr. Thorn?"
"Anytime you are, captain," the civilian said.
"Fine. You have your instructions, commander. Carry on."
"Aye, aye, sir," said Lieutenant Commander Wayne.
The United States Submarine _Ambitious Brill_ slid smoothly into her
berth in the Brooklyn Navy Yard after far too many weeks at sea, as
far as her crew were concerned. After all the necessary preliminaries
had been waded through, the majority of that happy crew went ashore to
enjoy a well-earned and long-anticipated leave in the depths of the
brick-and-glass canyons of Gomorrah-on-the-Hudson.
The trip had been uneventful, in so far as nothing really dangerous
or exciting had happened. Nothing, indeed, that could even be called
out-of-the-way--except that there was more brass aboard than usual,
and that the entire trip had been made underwater with the exception
of one surfacing for a careful position check, in order to make sure
that the ship's instruments gave the same position as the stars gave.
They had. All was well.
That is not to say that the crew of the _Ambitious Brill_ were
entirely satisfied in their own minds about certain questions that had
been puzzling them. They weren't. But they knew better than to ask
questions, even among themselves. And they said nothing whatever when
they got ashore. But even the novices among submarine crews know that
while the nuclear-powered subs like _George Washington_, _Patrick
Henry_, or _Benjamin Franklin_ are perfectly capable of
circumnavigating the globe without coming up for air, such
performances are decidedly rare in a presumably Diesel-electric vessel
such as the U.S.S. _Ambitious Brill_. And those few members of the
crew who had seen what went on in the battery room were the most
secretive and the most puzzled of all. They, and they alone, knew that
some of the cells of the big battery that drove the ship's electric
motors had been removed to make room for a big, steel-clad box hardly
bigger than a foot locker, and that the rest of the battery hadn't
been used at all.
With no one aboard but the duty watch, and no one in the battery room
at all, Captain Dean Lacey felt no compunction whatever in saying, as
he gazed at the steel-clad, sealed "What a battery!"
The vessel's captain, Lieutenant Commander Newton Wayne, looked up
from the box into the Pentagon representative's face. "Yes, sir, it
is." His voice sounded as though his brain were trying to catch up
with it and hadn't quite succeeded. "This certainly puts us well ahead
of the Russians."
Captain Lacey returned the look. "How right you are, commander. This
means we can convert every ship in the Navy in a tenth the time we had
figured."
Then they both looked at the third man, a civilian.
He nodded complacently. "And at a tenth the cost, gentlemen," he said
mildly. "North American Carbide & Metals can produce these units
cheaply, and at a rate that will enable us to convert every ship in
the Navy within the year."
Captain Lacey shot a glance at Lieutenant Commander Wayne. "All this
is strictly Top Secret you understand."
"Yes, sir; I understand," said Wayne.
"Very well." He looked back at the civilian. "Are we ready,
Mr. Thorn?"
"Anytime you are, captain," the civilian said.
"Fine. You have your instructions, commander. Carry on."
"Aye, aye, sir," said Lieutenant Commander Wayne.
- GenresScience Fiction
29 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 7, 2009
1 person is currently reading
11 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 8, 2024
🖋️ Semi-entertaining. “A man will always be willing to buy something he wants, and believes in, even if it is impossible, rather than something he believes is impossible. So ... sell him what he thinks he wants!”
📙Published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, 1963 February.
🟢The e-book version with the original illustrations can be found on Project Gutenberg.
🟣 Kindle.
🚀●▬●💫🪐💫●▬●🚀
📙Published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, 1963 February.
🟢The e-book version with the original illustrations can be found on Project Gutenberg.
🟣 Kindle.
🚀●▬●💫🪐💫●▬●🚀
August 2, 2020
Dealing with the dim-wits is always the biggest obstacle in every worthwhile endeavour.
November 1, 2024
The US Navy tests a miraculous new battery to power one of their submarines, but is the inventor legitimate or a conman?
August 7, 2025
Interesting scifi short story, with nice ending!
December 28, 2016
OK story...He's writen better, though.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews