"No, there was no ship; they came walking through the breaking waves as if they had followed some road across the sea bottom."
"A sub!"
"What is that?" Torgul demanded.
"A type of ship which goes under the waves, not through them, carrying air within its hull for the breathing of the crew."
Torgul's eyes narrowed. One of the other captains who had been summoned from the two companion cruisers gave a snort of disbelief.
"There are no such ships—" he began, to be silenced by a gesture from Torgul.
"We know of no such ships," the other corrected. "But then we know of no such devices as Jazia saw in operation either. How does one war upon these under-the-seas ships, Ross?"
The Terran hesitated. To describe to men who knew nothing of explosives the classic way of dealing with a sub via depth charges was close to impossible. But he did his best.
"Among my people one imprisons in a container a great power. Then the container is dropped near the sub and—"
"And how," broke in the skeptical captain, "do you know where such a ship lies? Can you see it through the water?"