The Last Wolf (The Talisman Series)

by Stephen Ward

  Further up the submarine, Forrester saw Keller. This time there was no transparency. The figure looked completely solid. “You cannot stop the inevitable, Commander. The mission will be completed.” The figure moved towards him menacingly.

  Forrester began to feel scared. He had no idea what the full extent of the spectre’s powers were, and didn’t really want to find out. Then, just as Keller came within metres of him, Stein appeared and blocked the way.

  “Move away, Captain. I told you before that this is not your concern.”

  Stein shook his head and stood firm, gesturing to Forrester to continue his task. With shaking hands the commander reached further inside the hatch and finally managed to disconnect the terminal. Stein walked towards Keller and faced him down. Then a shocked Forrester watched as the two figures locked together in a silent struggle. Keller's eyes were dark while Stein's burned with a fire that the commander had never seen before. Continuing from one torpedo to the next, Forrester kept one eye on the job in hand and the other on the unbelievable spectacle unfolding beside him. Dropping each screw through the grating ensured that the hatches couldn't be sealed. One last shell remained. As he began to unscrew the final panel he found one screw wouldn't budge and to make matters worse, Stein seemed to be losing the battle, his figure becoming gradually less solid. As the pair locked together, rolling from side to side, Keller wrestled his way on top and now had the upper hand.

  Forrester made a final desperate attempt to turn the recalcitrant screw his cold hands and fingers trembling with the effort. At long last it moved, only a little, but then he hissed “Yes!” as it turned. The panel shifted and lifted away. Watching the spectres from the corner of his eye, he fumbled, groping the wires and pulling with all his strength until they came away in his hand. Then, standing shakily, he knew he had to help Stein if he could, but how? He had no idea of what would happen if he jumped into the fight, but there was only one way to find out! Moving over towards the two figures, his presence obviously surprised Keller but then the spectre smiled. A bolt of blue arced from a panel hitting Forrester in the chest, winding him and sending him to his knees. He recovered to see Stein looking weaker but Keller's actions were becoming noticeably slower. “That's it! This makes him lose strength. Come on then. You want a fight. Fight me!” The commander leapt in between the figures, as he felt he owed it to the captain to at least try. Another arc hit him, less powerful this time, and hurting less.

  The fight was suddenly cut short as a boom like a cannon sounded and again the sub rocked wildly. The lights went out and all around nuts and bolts popped shooting across the compartment.

  Whatever Talisman was doing up there, she was now right above them and on target. The screech of buckling and groaning steel ceased and Keller was nowhere to be seen.

  Chapter 77

  Forrester came to painfully. His body was icy cold save for a patch on his neck which seemed warmer than anywhere else. Sitting up he gingerly touched his head. Looking at his hand he saw it was covered in blood and realised he must have hit his head during the last explosion.

  Water dripped from the pipes above and the tracks beside him rocked backwards and forwards with a low hum and click. Getting to his feet, he looked them over. “Good!” he thought, “Just as long as they're still out of action.”

  Whatever had happened, it had done something radical when it exploded because the sub now had a pronounced list to starboard. For the second time on this horrible day Forrester had, yet again, no idea of how long he'd been unconscious. The last thing he remembered was the blast. As he moved, he kicked something with his foot. Stooping down Forrester retrieved the remains of the small radio. “Well, that's had it,” and he dropped the bits into his pocket.

  A sudden rage built up inside him, “What the fuck, man...... it's a machine and machines break! I'm damned if I'm going to die in this bean can coffin. Come on, think!” Gradually the seed of an idea began to germinate …..

  Checking the tracks once more and ensuring the bio torpedo had blocked the others from being loaded, Forrester made his way astern. There was still no sign of either Keller or Stein but at that moment in time, he was past caring. Something was bugging him, niggling in the back of his mind. Bow torpedo control had four tubes; Aft had one. “That's it!” he realised. The tracks didn't go backwards. Only the bow tubes had auto feed. The green light was illuminated so the Aft tube was loaded. Looking above, he noticed a second torpedo lying in a cradle. Beside it was a block and tackle mechanism so it must have to be loaded manually. Forrester realised that if he managed to disable that torpedo the sub should be defenceless. He struggled for what seemed like an hour to get the door open for it to fire, but to no avail.

  Okay then! He had to contact Talisman. Hoping against hope that Keller's bloodlust and passion for revenge made it imperative for him to shoot at something, Forrester had to try to get the ship to act as bait and tempt the killer into firing this torpedo.

  Right then. That radio had to work. Moments later found him tinkering with the broken bits. He wasn't, as a rule, a religious man but he was praying it would function, although it was clearly a long shot. Jamming the batteries in he pushed the holding wires against torn off solder joints and was rewarded with a sudden crackle and hiss from the tiny speaker.

  Pressing the button gently, Forrester spoke quietly, “TALISMAN. I REPEAT TALISMAN. THIS IS FORRESTER, OVER.” He repeated the call until a faint voice responded, “WE READ YOU, COMMANDER.”

  “LISTEN CAREFULLY AS NO FURTHER COMMUNICATION WILL BE POSSIBLE. ALL FORWARD TORPEDO TUBES SABOTAGED. ONE AFT TUBE LEFT ACTIVE. ONE TORPEDO READY TO FIRE. SET UP SUBMARINE WITH AFT TUBE SHOT ON TALISMAN. ONLY WAY. PLEASE CONFIRM.”

  A voice began to speak then silence as a small whiff of electrical smoke emanated from the radio and then there was no more. That was it. He'd done all he could. Now it was time for waiting and praying that they'd understood what he meant. Returning to the aft torpedo tube Forrester fervently hoped Keller would take the bait. Another explosion boomed and shook the sub, this time from a distance away, followed by a blast from closer range, then silence.

  Bracing himself against the bulkhead, the commander listened and heard the diesels in the next compartment change tone and the sub listed further. The diesels quieted and a humming from the generators took over.

  “That's it,” he thought. The sub began to creak and groan. It was diving on battery power probably to firing depth. Over the gentle hum, faintly, but with increasing volume, the unusual, yet unmistakeable, sound of cavitations began ….. Talisman's telltale sound, and she was moving fast. Then as he continued to listen, he heard a clunk. “The door” thought Forrester. “The bloody outer door!” As he leapt to his feet to watch, the gauge began to rise, the needle stopped, the green light flickered, dimmed and changed to red followed immediately by a rush of bubbles. The torpedo was away. Quietly he counted as the seconds ticked by. Then a feeling of chilling horror, “What was he doing?” That fish may be out of the tube but it was heading straight for Talisman! Moments later there was a sickening thud of an explosion very close by. The sub seemed to rear up and yet again the air was filled with jets of water from pipes, joints and seals. Forrester listened intently.

  Still the cavitations continued......

  Chapter 78

  Klaxons sounded loudly as Winters walked over the deck and down the gangplank on his way to move the car. There appeared to be a buzz of activity and far off in the distance he could hear rumbles of what sounded like thunder. Something was definitely going on. Sailors ran in all directions. Winters hurried across the dock, keys in hand. The Ford Granada sat on the otherside of the fence beyond which a crowd of people had begun to congregate. Flashing the pass he had just been given by Commander Steel, he made his way past the MPs.

  “Donald. Hello!” called a familiar voice and he turned to see Alison Turnbull. “What's going on?”

  Winters knew he had to get Alison and the boys away from Portsmouth.r />
  “Come with me, please, my dear,” he replied urgently, “I've very little time to explain.” Taking her arm and making sure the boys were following close behind, he moved away from the crowd.

  “I've been waiting for Laurence,” she said quietly, “but when I saw your ferry and with him being so late, I knew something was very wrong.”

  “I haven't been told much, Alison, just that Laurence is OK, but there is something wrong out there and he would want you safely out of Portsmouth.”

  “Donald, tell me what you know. Please.”

  “All I know for sure is that something is threatening Portsmouth and Laurence is trying to stop it. Now, please. Take these keys for the Ford Granada over there and drive. Go back to London. The Admiral will be in touch soon, I'm sure.” Opening the back doors for the boys to jump in excitedly, he held the driver's door open for their grandmother.

  “But what about you?” she asked timidly.

  “I'm going out on that American ship to see what I can do to help Laurence. Now go!”

  The big car purred and Winters watched as it moved out of sight.

  Both docks had become noticeably busier, as far off in the distance there was the rumble of yet another explosion. Running as fast as possible to the dockside he jumped over the gap just as the gangplank was being removed. The engines made the deck tremble as the destroyer moved from her mooring, passed Berlin which was now starting her engines, her stack slowly building up thick grey smoke. Winters found his way to the Bridge where Steel and Filmore were waiting, watching as Kentucky moved beyond the wall and out into the Solent.

  “There, sir!” shouted a lookout pointing as he stared through his binoculars. Winters picked up a pair from the map table and looked out to sea.

  “Good God! Is that Talisman?”

  “It is. She looks to be in a bad way, sir. Multiple fires and heavy damage to her bow and side. She's still going though. We're closing on her,” he reported to Commander Steel.

  Filmore scanned the surface of the water. “Donald, is that a …...?”

  Winters finished the question “..... snorkel? Yes it is,” as it went out of sight below the surface.

  “It's firing,” stammered Filmore.

  Steel shook his head, “Talisman can't take another hit but we might. Helmsman, put us between Talisman and the last sighting of that sub.” Picking up the intercom, he ordered, “All hands, clear forward compartments A through D. All decks, close all watertight doors and prepare for impact.”

  “There, bubbles! Now speed!” The white trail led straight forward and hit with a huge explosion that rocked Kentucky and knocked the two civilians to the floor.

  “Helm, evasive action. Avoid Talisman,” shouted Steel. The two huge ships turned broadside, seemingly so close the crews could shake hands, but due to the skill of both helmsmen neither ship received a scratch!

  Steel stood up straight and dusted himself down. “Helm, keep us between whatever that is out there and Talisman. Radio, raise the Talisman and ask if they require any assistance from us.” Then regaining the intercom, Steel ordered, “All hands to damage control parties. All department heads report in ten minutes. I repeat, report in one zero minutes.”

  “Commander, I have Admiral Turnbull for you.”

  Taking the radio, Steel asked, “ADMIRAL, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”

  Turnbull's voice came over shaken but clear, “COMMANDER STEEL, I THANK YOU. THAT WAS ONE BRAVE MANOEUVRE. OUR CASUALTIES ARE HEAVY BUT WE'LL BE FINE. I TRUST YOUR VESSEL IS OK?”

  “IT IS, SIR. I'M WAITING FOR A FULL REPORT.”

  “COMMANDER, WE'VE BEEN GIVEN INFORMATION FROM A CREW MEMBER STUCK ABOARD THAT THING, THAT SHE MAY NOW BE UNARMED.”

  “UNDERSTOOD, ADMIRAL. AM I TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS NOW A SEEK AND DESTROY MISSION DESPITE YOUR LOST MAN.”

  A silence, then one word came over the receiver, “AFFIRMATIVE.”

  “UNDERSTOOD SIR. ADMIRAL, I HAVE TWO CIVILIANS ABOARD. THEY MIGHT BE OF SOME INTEREST TO YOU.”

  “LAURENCE, HOW ARE YOU?”

  “WINTERS, IS THAT YOU?”

  “YES, ADMIRAL. IT'S ME. I WAS ON MY WAY TO DO SOME RESEARCH IN LORIENT AND I SEEM TO HAVE GOT CAUGHT UP IN THIS.”

  “DONALD, I MEANT TO CONTACT YOU REGARDING THAT SUBMARINE THAT YOU WANTED HELP WITH, BUT I'VE BEEN SIDETRACKED BY THIS EXERCISE.”

  “LAURENCE, BETWEEN YOU AND ME, I THINK WE BOTH KNOW THIS ISN'T THE RIGHT TIME. LISTEN, I'VE MANAGED TO SEND ALISON AND THE BOYS TO SAFETY.”

  “GOOD MAN!” grunted Turnbull in relief. Now he knew he had to tell his old friend more.

  “LISTEN, DONALD. WE SEEM TO BE DEALING WITH A U-BOAT.”

  “IMPOSSIBLE!” gasped Winters.

  “I KNOW, BUT I HAVE AN OFFICER STUCK ON IT.”

  “THAT SUB WAS LAST SEEN FORTY YEARS AGO. A MEMBER OF THE CREW CONFIRMS SHE WAS REAL, A REAL BIG ONE.

  “ANYWAY, YOU'RE QUITE CORRECT, THIS ISN'T THE RIGHT TIME. TURNBULL OUT.”

  Chapter 79

  Forrester realised he couldn't do anything useful down in the bows of the sub so climbed upwards as quickly as possible until he finally managed to squeeze through the half closed hatch in the control room. Stein hovered to one side, almost invisible and obviously spent. Keller stood further away, eyes glittering malevolently. Neither seemed to notice Forrester's appearance, or if they did, neither reacted. The spectres appeared to be locked in a silent stare down!

  Only when the commander entered the room did Keller acknowledge him, “So, your friends live for another day. Look!” and with a gesture, the periscope slowly descended. “Take a look,”

  Forrester peered through the viewfinder. After his eyes had taken a moment to adjust he scanned 360 degrees.

  “Do you see now? I have shot my last torpedo and you have sabotaged my bow tubes. Three against one – hardly sporting of you now, is it?” sneered Keller. “Look at that.”

  Coming out of the port, Forrester saw Berlin.

  “Why don't you stand down?” queried Forrester. “You know you can't win this.”

  “Perhaps not, but I can cause maximum pain just as I suffered.”

  “Do you think your family would want more blood shed? We can end this.”

  “How dare you?” hissed the spectre. “What do you know about me?” Losing his temper and with a flick of his hand, the periscope spun round hitting Forrester who felt a sickening, stinging pain as the blood flowing from his burst nose, streamed down into his mouth.

  “You cannot stop me Your vessels may destroy this submarine but as you can see, we are very close to our target.”

  “You have no weapons, Keller.” spluttered the commander.

  “That remains to be seen,” smirked Keller.

  The deck began to shake as the engines revved harder and the speed increased. The controls on the Bow plane moved and danced as the needle began to rise.

  Forrester was amazed. “You're surfacing?”

  “Yes.”

  Grabbing the periscope the commander looked ahead.

  “Look! we are already entering the Solent.”

  The commander watched as water sluiced from the deck soon leaving it completely clear of the sea. The sub surged past Berlin which was now some seven hundred yards astern.

  “Now, witness my revenge,” hissed Keller.

  The huge deck gun cleared itself of netting as the recoil from its shell fire ripped through. The gunfire repeated, moments later to be followed by massive explosions on land that sent plumes of smoke high into the air.

  “Now for the dockyards.” Keller chortled. The gun aimed again, firing two more salvos, this time shattering Victory, whose masts fell, taking with them her rigging. A succession of shells followed. Soon nearly every building on the seafront was ablaze.

  “Ah! We have company.” Kentucky was now astern and some way behind was the badly listing Talisman.

  The sickening thuds and explosions as the shells found their targets were awful.

  “You see! You a
re no match for my armour. While it is true I cannot sink the vessels I can soon reduce them to burning hulks.”

  The sub rocked as two large shells straddled the deck, peppering the hull with shrapnel.

  “I wonder why your German friends, as you call them, do not attack? Is it possible that they too wish for revenge over their victors?”

  The figure of Stein began to move forward to try to stop the controls at the helm.

  “No you are mine, Captain. You cannot control this vessel, just as you couldn’t control it when you were alive”

  A further salvo from the deck gun found a target on Talisman. This time it was answered by a blast from the only remaining forward gun on the destroyer. It hit its mark on the deck, throwing Forrester down. In the hull, water could be heard sloshing, filling the lower spaces. However, the guns still fired. Keller stood calmly, though his figure was not quite as substantial as before.

  “At last, Wolf, you will fight and win as your destiny allows.”

  Chapter 80

  Kentucky was now taking fire.

  “Sir! We can't shelter Talisman any longer. We're taking a heavy beating.”

  “Fire control have the fires out, so we're not at risk yet. Stay close to Talisman. That's an order.”

  “Sir, Berlin, the sub's leaving her alone.”