Captain Weber's eyes narrowed immediately.
"Track it."
"Yes, sir!"
The sonar operators worked rapidly across their consoles while the massive underwater contact accelerated upward through the Philippine Sea.
The thing was huge.
And now it was rising directly toward the approaching destroyers.
Above the ocean surface, the lead Arleigh Burke-class destroyer cut through the dark waters at high speed while its SPY-1 radar system scanned continuously across the surrounding sea and sky.
Inside the Combat Information Center, tension filled the compartment.
"Submarine reports hostile contact ascending rapidly!"
"How deep?"
"Contact passing one hundred meters!"
The destroyer captain immediately issued orders.
"Deploy active sonar."
"Aye, Captain!"
Moments later, powerful active sonar pulses erupted downward from the destroyer into the ocean below.
PING.
The acoustic wave traveled through the dark water before bouncing back toward the ship's sonar arrays.
