"Shall we break off, sir?"
"No, I won't even give that Norwegian the satisfaction. Let him duck out of the way like a little child. I'll stay respectable looking to the end."
The submarine continued forward.
"He's not flinching sir."
Joniec nodded.
"We've got to break off!"
Joniec clenched and loosened his fist a few times. Lauritz was showing no signs of slowing down.
"First Admiral, give the order to break off!"
The man suddenly realized Lauritz had no intention of breaking off the attack.
"He's suicidal," Joniec whispered, then yelling, "Move out of the way! Break off the attack run! Move out of the way!"
But it was too late. As the Eastern sub began slowly to turn, the Norwegian sub slammed into it full force. If Joniec hadn't chickened out at the last moment both submarines would have been destroyed by a head on collision. As it was Lauritz managed to cut a huge hole in Joniec's hole and slid over top of the sub, sustaining little damage to the Olaf V.
***
"Are you insane, Lauritz? Or just suicidal?"
Joniec sounded distressed to say the least. Yost drew his lips up into a malevolent smile.
"Probably both, but what do you care? You want me dead. At least you did seven years ago," then he turned away from the radio and yelled to his crew, "Turn around for another ramming pass at him. Would you care to do it again, Joniec? Maybe if you don't move you won't look like a coward this time."
"Lauritz, you are pathetic little man. You're seeking revenge on me and I don't even remember who you are. What do you think you're proving?"
"Proving? I'm proving nothing. I'm just going to kill you. I told you that already."
***
"Sir, we've had a sighting."
"A sighting? What do you mean?"
"The men have all heard rumors about a ghost ship, an impossibly big carrier that's been winning the war for us. One of the men thinks he saw it, and all the scanners and radar are going insane."
Bruno Olensheim took a pair of binoculars from around his neck and looked out.
"I don't see anything."
"That's why they call it the ghost ship."
"Maybe..."
Olensheim was cut off by a huge explosion in the water. Pieces of submarine were churning upward.
"One of ours?"
"No, that was Eastern."
"Where did the shot come from?"
"I don't know. Nowhere, apparently."
"The ghost ship," Olensheim whispered.
***
"The bastard," Joniec said, wiping away tears.
"We're taking on water, First Admiral. We've suffered heavy damage. The Norwegians are coming around to ram us again."
"Bastards," Joniec said again, weeping pathetically.
"First Admiral, what are your orders?"
"Get out of the way! Run away from them! Do you want to die?"
With animosity mounting towards mutiny the crew turned the tail of the submarine and ran.
***
"They're running, Captain Lauritz."
The crew let up a cheer. Lauritz was all smiles, but he was not satiated.
"I'm not letting that craven monster get away. Try another salvo of torpedoes, and aim at the damaged parts of his sub."
"Yes, sir," the gunner said.
Yost looked out of a porthole and saw the missiles streaking toward the Eastern submarine which was speeding hastily away. The torpedoes struck again and again, and in a few moments the enemy sub was a large underwater inferno.
"That's it," Yost breathed, "My quest is over."
The Olaf V shook suddenly.
"Not quite over. I almost forgot there's still a fleet out there."
***
"Where is it all coming from?"
Olensheim was looking around the sky in utter puzzlement. Missiles, depth charges, and mines were raining down upon the Eastern fleet, but Olensheim had no idea where it was all coming from.
"General," a yeoman called out, "The captain thinks you should hear this."
Olensheim footed it to the bridge. The captain of the ship was standing by the radio receiver listening in joy to a message.
"The ghost ship?" Olensheim asked.
The captain was nodding gleefully. The radio message had already begun.
"...Vice Admiral Gus Waber of the Australian ship Leviathan. This message is to inform our German allies that we are here to aid you, though you can not see us right now. We are a very powerful ship and we want all the German ships that can to break away from this battle and head to the German shores. We can hold back the Eastern fleet from here. Take back your country!"
The Germans were cheering at their salvation, though they didn't understand it or know where it was. The fleet began to move towards the shores of Germany, leaving the exploding Eastern ships behind.
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