Slowly excruciatingly slowly the gauge began to move. 208, 207, 206, then there was a terrifying grinding sound as the boat lurched even further to port throwing a few of the men against the wall. I held fast against the periscope housing as a million thoughts ran through my head, a picture of what was happening outside the ship refused to clarify in my mind. Between groans from some of the men, a terrible ripping, stretching sound came from the forward torpedo room. Petre and Bull came flying into the room, feet leading the way.

"Kap, stop!" Bull shouted, "there's something happening up front!".

"Dammit Chief, put us back down!". The boat rolled a bit more, then we felt the sand and mud as the rear of the ship settled once more on the bottom. Even before we started forward through the doors, the noise rose in pitch. It sounded like metal against metal, tearing and ripping sounds drowned out anything else.

Along the way I grabbed some small pieces of cloth, jammed them into my ears and stepped through into the torpedo room. I stood in the wrecked remains of a once proud room as water sipped against my feet and chains were haphazardly strewn everywhere. Repairs were being made, a pipe was being clamped and then the noise diminished slightly, rose in octave, then suddenly stopped.

I pulled the cloth from my left ear tentatively, and was greeted to normal sound. Bull pointed to the port side above the tubes and yelled "it's coming from there Kap". I climbed up and listened. The sound of water and bubbles could be heard but nothing else.

"Whatever it was it stop... wait, listen". A groaning sound started to rise in pitch. It rose a few decibels then evened off and died again. The hair on the back of my head stood up.

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I stood on the piping, feet cramping and listened to what was going on outside the hull. Every few moments that groaning rose in pitch, flattened off and then stopped. I glanced around at the crewmen, exhaustion written in their posture, their breath labored from the mounting Co2. Then another sound began, slightly metallic, but very soft.

"What the hell is it?" Bull's voice cut through the silence, yet it continued. I turned back to the bulkhead, placed my ear against it and then, there it was, no, just my imagination. "Bull, get me a cup". A few moments later I leaned heavily against the wall and placed the cup open end up.

Glubbing sounds of bubbles and ocean currents rolled through my ear. I pictured slightly jostling coral reefs filled with anemones, small fish and crabs dancing as the ocean breathed deeply. As my mind painted the picture, images of our position flooded through. We were near Scapa Flow, a region on the Northern tip of Scotland known for its sandy bottom and relatively shallow depths.

The battle came back to me then vividly clear and concise. Our fish running through the water, the ships plunging headlong into the waves fighting for every inch, and her crew praying their engines and luck would hold. Us turning away from the ships and diving, going silent. My eyes locked on the clock as I counted off the turn, Victor handing the contact report and .."Schiete!"

"#2, get Hans back here with his last report on those screws". I climbed down gingerly, my feet screaming for solid ground and sat on a box. I hoped I was wrong, and reached for a cigarette, remembered our condition and Hans appeared a few moments later, report in hand and a bandage wrapped over his left eye.

0302 Sonar Contact
Single screw, moving slow, short range.

I read it again and again. Hans stood at attention, the torch he held shook slightly in his hand.

"Hans, about this contact", I began "What else do you.."

"Kap, I didn't hear it until she was right on top of us. It happened all so fast". He trembled some more, then gathered his strength "I don't know where she came from, but I swear I was monitoring everything".

I stood up clasping his shoulder and raised my voice slightly, "You did everything correct, don't worry about it. I need your ears, there's something out there and well I need you to confirm it".

Hans climbed up and listened intently, we could all hear that slight tinging sound. A minute passed, then another then Hans spoke under his breath "verflixt und zugenäht". The hair once again stood up on my neck. He climbed down, eyes wide and handed me the cup. "It's a ship Kap as sure as I live and breathe and she's right on top of us".

"Are you sure Hans", Bull grabbed him and stared. We all gathered around him, the nagging thought I had was true. He nodded, then continued "That tinging sound is her bell rolling in the current and the groaning is her coming apart at the seams".

"We may only get one chance, so make it count" Chief's voice broke the silence like a hot knife through butter. Sweat rolled down my face as I stood beside Petre, all eyes and ears focused on the task at hand. #2 had the stopwatch in hand, keeping track of the distance we traveled.

"Make our depth 207".

"Aye Sir, 207"

In a moment we felt the muck release the boat, "Full reverse!".

Slowly as we started to move everyone held their breath, hoping we could clear the wreckage in front of us, and rejoin the world. Then the groaning intensified, rose in pitch and then it happened so quick we were all caught off guard.

Silence.

I turned to Hans, his eyes focused on the sonar array, yet he spoke up "All clear Kap, no contacts".

"Mr. Leopold, bring us to periscope depth. Petre, prepare the watch. Mr. Joseph, damage control parties stand by".

A flood of "Aye Sirs" echoed through the ship as laughter and relief flooded through my mind.

"Kap you need to see this". I looked up at the ladder as Bull's inverted face greeted me. I chuckled "I'll be right there" then looked at Petre, "you mind joining me?". My dear friend smiled, shook his head and grabbed his hat "something's got them excited".

When we had made it topside, everyone was gathered up front, near the net cutter - a rarely used accessory from WWI to help a U-boat escape dangerous nets and booby traps. "Make a hole" Petre yelled.

When we made it to the front, Leopold and Chief were kneeling down, blocking our view. "Chief what's going on?". As they heard my voice, Leopold moved to stand and a flash of sun brightened metal bedazzled me. Caught in our cutter was a partial wood and metal structure. It wrapped through the cutter, and dangled down off the side of the boat. But in the center, hanging off one of the straps was a brass bell.

"I'll be damned" I whispered, watching Chief wipe the metal gently.

He looked up at me, tears flowing down his face "War is hell Kap. I learned to deal with the death a long time ago, it's either them or us, but this is different".

I knelt down beside him, a hand going to his shoulder instinctively, he a respected member of my boat, and a leader of the crew. I tried to think how to console him, knowing full well there wasn't anything i could say to ease this pain, this misery. Each of us has to deal with it, either make peace with it, or lose ourselves in the infinite flood of agony and despair.

His hand shook as he grabbed the bell and turned it. I followed the movement, more concerned about him when a name swung into view.

HMS Hood

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"Officers meeting in 10 minutes. Chief, get that scrap off my boat and secure for dive..." Chief's head snapped around, but I silenced him with a stare "...and secure the bell".

***

"Drop it in the drink and be on our way", Hubert said gulping down some coffee and grimacing "bad luck to keep dead man's possessions on board".

"We can't drop it over the side, you saw the look on Chief's face" Bull offered, voice rising in pitch, face turning red.

I saw Viktor, a young officer short on words but respected for his work ethic. He looked like he was a thousand miles away. "Viktor, what say you?".

He glanced up from the corner, eyes coming into focus "Well I was thinking sir, if we take it back to base it'll help morale but at what cost. I've never seen Chief so distraught, so mortal. Maybe we could give it back".

"GIVE IT BACK?!" Bull roared to life, only quick thinking by Petre and Hans saved Viktor's life.

"Bull..HOLD!!" Chief's voice cut through the din, and staggered the room into silence. He stormed into the room and sat the bell gently down on the table, all eyes focusing on its brilliance and what it represented. He placed a shaky hand on Bull's arm, then turned to me.

"Kap, I'm torn. It's a grand war prize and something that could indeed raise hope and give this boat, our fleet and nation a much needed shot of patriotism. Viktor's right, we could give it back, perhaps show a little humanity in a lifeless, endless sea of misery. Instead I thought of the hours we laid trapped on the bottom and the lives we lost. The pain and agony we endured to get this wonderful boat to breathe fresh air again. Yet, if it wasn't for this bell.." he stroked the metal tenderly "we wouldn't be here"

His voice trembled, he grabbed a cup, drank deeply then continued "Cap, you need to see something". His hand began to shake.

***

A few moments later we were topside again. Chief glanced at some paperwork, then looked up. "I wasn't sure about this for a long time, but I kept reading all the reports, running tests, checking times and making calculations. Perhaps I was too tired to see it". He drifted off for a second then continued "While we were doing repairs up here, Gustav noticed something". He began to walk back towards the conning tower, around to the aft deck. "There can be no doubt".

He stopped and looked up.

The conning tower was severely damaged. Part of the metal was buckled inwards and formed a deep depression. A few seams looked split, torn asunder by some terribly strong force. Our symbol, the Triple Infinity had a concave appearance like the face of a spoon.

"Depth Charge" Bull stated flatly, glancing away towards the rear of the ship for some other damage.

"Nay, look closer" Chief said.

I, like the others shielded my face from the sun and stepped into the shadow of the tower. What greeted me was that same deep depression, the symbol chipped but still intact and seams exposed with broken welds.

Only where I should have seen blackened metal I saw instead deep cuts. Not haphazard like a depth charge but instead in a fairly even row. Running perhaps from the 10 o'clock to 4 o'clock position. Viktor reached up and ran his finger around the edge of one of the cuts. "What am I.."

Bull spoke up "Chief what is it?".

Chief said mysteriously, "it's as plain as the nose on your face".

As Bull stared at him, Chief's arm came up and pointed past us towards the front of the boat. We all turned to see what he was talking about and saw.. nothing.

Chief half laughed-half cried, "don't you see?" He took off then, running through us, pushing his way forward to stand at the narrowest part of the boat.

Petre grabbed his arm "Chief get hold of yourself man!"

"Don't you see? Don't you understand?" Chief bellowed.

As one we all stepped back and I believed he had completely lost his mind, when he grabbed the wire above and hung sideways off the boat. He pulled himself up and landed with both feet on a metal bar.

"Chief?". I began "What?..."

Bull grabbed my arm, recognition dawning on his face "Cap..the net cutter!!"

I like where this story is taking us,not sure where,but gripping AND puzzling non the less,great stuff:yeah:

good story. gotta love all the writing going on lately. :D

For the 3rd time in as many hours the hair stood up on my neck.

A message was immediately relayed to BDU. As the minutes passed, I ran my hand over those teeth-like depressions and reconsidered all the evidence. This could explain everything:

The sonar report - single screw, moving slow, short range and Hans' inability to capture and report it in time. The massive collision that sent our boat sideways and ass over tea kettle moments after loosing our fish on the convoy. The immediate Depth Charge attacks, and the Net Cutter-like teeth on my tower. It was almost too much...

"Kap, BDU report, your eyes only".

I grabbed the report and cleared the deck, leaving the watch on duty above me and the ocean as my only solace.

***
FROM: BDU
TO:U-8008
North Atlantic

U-103 reported Convoy Southwest of Scapa Flow 0100 hours August 5.
U-25 reported Convoy South-Southwest Scapa Flow 0619 hours August 5
U-25 sent operational status and 3 ships on board 0904 August 6.
U-103 overdue.

Reported positional and verified 1602 August 7.

Proceed to Rendezvous point Mark L-52 August 9.

***

I called for Chief, "Get some measurements of our cutter and compare their bite to these, if they match we .."

"No need Kap, those marks are from a Type VII"

DAMMIT!!

I slammed my fist into the tower, leaned heavily against the cool metal and tried to think of something else. But that sickening feeling refused to go away, dampened only by the realization that we were still alive, if for only another day.

We reached the rendezvous point ahead of schedule, and took a leisurely two hours securing the boat, cleaning up where we could and preparing for possible visitors. Hans reported two contacts coming in slow and a quick peek confirmed they were friendly.

2 merchants greeted our weary faces and we spent a few hours securing our lost friends, packing letters and money with the bodies in hopes it could help their families. After a quick check of messages, we were soon decked with fresh supplies, a ton of shiny fish, new orders and a bonus - 3 cases of booze.

Spoils for the living and toasts to our fallen comrades would soon follow. Petre stood beside me as we turned to the North. "Where to old friend?".

"Back to the Flow".

Very nice job of framing your characters.:up:

Doing a very colorful job of underlying your subplots, keep up the good work!:salute:

My sincere appreciation for all of the kind words, and for being honest with what I've written. It is because of you the community that I continue this tale, and as I said some time back I'm really not in charge, just writing what they tell me to.

Cheers,

We were low on food, and while a single fish had pierced the heart of the British fleet, the cargo ship listed oddly to starboard refusing to sink. We waited in the silence of the deep, and when nightfall came I gave the order to send her to her grave.

Now not a ship, nor even a sound other than ocean waves and gurgling had greeted us for 17 days. Victor and Hans were beside themselves, exhausted and straining to hear anything, and yet absolute silence. The crew was on edge. I checked our course too frequently, but still the idea of inactivity would lead to our demise. We had a few distant contacts but they quickly disappeared leaving each of us even more desperate for action, any action.

It's ironic in a way, we cherish our lives and want to live. Yet, when your on a U-boat you crave the adrenaline that battle brings, the cat and mouse game of our very existence.

I considered options, going North around the Flow, or back to the South and into traffic lanes that BDU had reported.

I sat at the table, looking at maps and reports while drinking cold coffee. A glint caught my eye and I glanced at the brass bell that held an honored place amongst our crew. Set on a makeshift holder made of scavenged wood it dominated the table and for good reason. Chief had muffled it, padding the inside so that it wouldn't rob us of silence and discretion.

In the end it was an easy choice, keep the bell that had saved our very lives or turn it over and allow it to be used as propaganda. I chose to keep it.

"#2" I called, " set course for Port, we're going home".