A Mile Below
Summary: Cassandra "Rae" McRae is a professional cave diver and rock climber. She used to work with the best in the world before a fight made her leave. Now she works with a salvage crew out of Anchorage, Alaska. But when her old crew catches up with her it turns her world upside down when they ask for her help with a new expedition in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania.
Chapter 1: The Crew of The Midnight Sun
Rae ran up to the top deck and looked at the boat they were pulling along behind them. It was listing on the starboard side. "Oh man, you've got to be kidding me."
She grabbed the radio from the belt of her harness. "Murphy, she's listing on her starboard side."
"Greer is on the way you're going over," he replied.
She hopped up on the platform as a tall, muscular black man came up from below and hopped up there with her with a carabiner in his hand.
He hook her up to the zip line above them as another member of their crew joined them.
"She's listing bad man," he stated as he helped Greer secure her to the line.
Rae looked at him. "Stand by Dodge I may need your help with it. Depending on how bad it is."
"You haven't left yet?" Murphy's irritated voice came over their radios.
Rae rolled her eyes and grabbed Dodge's radio from his belt. "Keep your pants on Murphy, I'm going."
She released the radio and looked at Greer. "Are we all set Greer?"
"Just about, Cassie," he grunted as he tightened the rope she is currently attached to.
"There," he exclaimed. "You're good to go, Cassie."
He and Dodge grabbed Rae's ankles and started running to push her down the zip line.
"Rae, get your ass off my tug boat," Murphy growled.
With one good push she was on her way down the line towards the boat they were hauling. She pulled herself along once her momentum began to slow.
She made it safely to the other boat and unhooked herself. "Off the rope, safe," she told Greer over the radio.
"Copy that Rae," he replied. "Coming over."
Rae ran over to the cargo hold with rope slung over her shoulder. She made quick work of securing the rope and repelling down.
The cargo hold was full of at least six feet of water. "Oh shit," she said. "This isn't good."
"Rae, Dodge and I are over where are you?" Greer asked.
"Down the main cargo hold," she replied. "There's a big tear in the starboard stern."
"Leave it, we don't have the time to fix it. Get back over here," Murphy said.
Rae shook her head and pulled out a flare from her belt.
"Come Cass, you heard the man," Dodge called down.
"No way," she yelled back dropping the flare into the water below. "It took us four months to get her off the bottom and I'm not about to lose her now."
She quickly unhooked herself from the harness and dropped into the water.
"Christ," Dodge exclaimed, throwing his gloves to the ground.
Greer looked at him. "Come on Dodge, you're the only underwater welder we got. Let's go save Cassie from herself."
They both jumped into the water beside Rae and dove under the water.
Dodge had his underwater welding gear with him and started to fix the tear in the metal.
They reemerged for air and Rae wiped the water from her eyes. She looked at Dodge who was to her right. "Good is good?"
He nodded, wiping the water off his face. "Good is good."
Greer emerged to her left and let out an exasperated laugh. "Murphy is going to be so pissed."
Dodge laughed. "What else is new."
"Rae, do I have to come down there and kick your ass? Because I'll do it," Murphy's voice came over the radio that Rae left clipped to her harness.
The two men looked at the red-head, who had a cat got the cream look and she laughed.
Greer frowned at her. "Great, now you've gotten me in trouble, again!" He splashed her and she shirked.
Then Dodge followed suit. "Yeah, thanks a lot."
"How old are you guys?" she asked, laughing and wiping the water from her eyes.
"Come on guys, let's get back before the big guy blows a gasket," Greer said.