The Dragon in the Sea Read Online Free Page B

eyebrows, the look of a brooding hawk.
    Orphan foundling. Raised at Cape Neston Home for the Unwanted.

    For the Unwanted! thought Ramsey.
    Married four times. Two children—one by each of first two wives. Maintains marriage relationship with wife number four: Helene Davis Bonnett. Age twenty-nine. Miss Georgia of 2021.
    The Unwanted , thought Ramsey. He’s carrying out an unconscious revenge pattern against women, getting even with the mother who deserted him.
    Qualifications: navigator—good; supply officer—excellent; gunnery officer—superior (top torpedo officer of subtugs four years running); general submarine competence—excellent plus.
    Ramsey looked at the note in the psych record: “Held from advancement to his own command by imperfect adjustment to deep-seated insecurity feelings.”
    The Unwanted , he thought. Bonnett probably doesn’t want advancement. This way, his commander supplies the father authority lacking in his youth.
    Ramsey tossed the folders back onto the coffee table, leaned back to think.
    An association of twisted and tangled threads.
    Sparrow and Bonnett were Protestants, Garcia a Catholic.
    No evidence of religious friction.
    These men have evolved a tight working arrangement. Witness the fact that their subtug has the highest efficiency rating in the service.
    What has been the effect of losing Heppner, the other electronics officer? Will they resent his replacement?
    Damn! Heppner was the wrong one to go! A case history with no apparent clues. Quiet childhood. Calm home life. Two sour notes: a broken love affair at age twenty-four; a
psychotic blowup at age thirty-two. It should have been someone like Bonnett. The Unwanted. Or Captain Sparrow. The frustrated mathematician.
    â€œSleeping?”
    It was Reed, the constant tutor.
    â€œIt’s three o’clock,” he said. “I brought a layout plan of the electronics shack on these Hell Divers.” He handed a blueprint to Ramsey, pointed as he spoke. “Bench here. Vise there. Wrench kit. Micro-lathe. Vacuum pumps. Testingboard plugs.”
    â€œOkay, I can read.”
    â€œYou have to be able to plug into that test board in total darkness,” said Reed. He sat down squarely in the rattan chair lately occupied by Dr. Oberhausen. “Tomorrow you’re going to start training on a mock-up.”
    â€œTomorrow’s Saturday, Clint!” Ramsey glared at him.
    â€œYou don’t get out of here before 1800,” said Reed. He bent forward over the plan. “Now, concentrate on that plug layout. This here is emergency lighting. You’ll be expected to find it the first time.”
    â€œWhat if it takes me two tries?”
    Reed leaned back, turned his flinty gaze on Ramsey. “Mr. Ramsey, there’s something you should understand so thoroughly that it’s second nature to you.”
    â€œYeah? What’s that?”
    â€œThere is no such thing as a minor accident on a submarine.

    Commander Sparrow trotted down the ramp from the tube landing, slowed as he stepped into the cavernous,
floodlighted gloom of the underground submarine moorage. A fine mist of condensation from the rock ceiling far away in upper blackness beat against his face. He picked his way through the pattern of scurrying jitneys, darting, intent people. Ahead of him, the bulbous whale mound of his subtug rose above the pier; a 140-foot Wagnerian diva center stage beneath banks of floodlights.
    Instructions from the final Security session jangled through his mind.
    â€œYour crew has the top Security rating of the service, but you must remain alert for sleepers.”
    â€œIn my crew? Hell, man, I’ve known them all for years. Bonnett’s been with me eight years. Joe Garcia and I served together before the war. Heppner and—” His face had crimsoned. “What about the new E-officer?”
    â€œYou won’t need to worry about him. Now, the inspectors assure us there