Chapter 28

Tony did a double-take when he saw the skyQuest. He'd been on the other side of If Island when it was approaching, so his first glimpse was at about two miles. Brightly colored triangular sails and that triple hull were clues enough, but the UEO flag and "Sky Quest" emblazoned in the front-most sail clinched it. Dang, how did they build a sailboat so fast? And speaking of fast… she is really ripping. He dove underwater and listened. Sure enough, there were motor sounds. It could have been MR-3, but Tony couldn't think of any reason the launch would need to move right now. Her propulsion had been shut down since they got here to conserve fuel. Life support and a few depth stabilizers were all she needed to maintain position. This was a big prop, or maybe water jets, like the kind they used on recreational PWCs.

"Nice of you to join us, skyQuest," Tony said into his radio. "I'm about two miles directly ahead of your bow, so watch where you're goin'."

"We've got you on sonar, Orca." It was Kendall's voice. "We're not coming in that close just yet. I think we need a face-to-face briefing. After you get aboard Titanic, let's move her somewhere we can confer without us being in the middle of the sea lanes. I'm thinking between Ratonneau and Pomègues."

While he wouldn't try to guess how to spell them, Tony recognized the names of the larger islands because he'd let the computer read him the files. "I thought we couldn't get there, 'cause they put in piers."

"The piers were built at least 300 years after the château. If we're too early for the château, then we're too early for just about everything else. Am I correct that Cousteau can hold down the fort so the rest of you can come pay us a visit?"

"Triton, this is Cousteau on Titanic. That's affirmative on holding down the fort."

"Much thanks for that, Cousteau. Follow us in and set down close by. There's a subsurface airlock on the center hull, portside aft. It was built to accommodate Captain Ahab, so please invite him along."

Tony affirmed first: "Aye, aye, Triton. Ahab's with me now. Give me a few minutes to reach Titanic."

Then Forrester's voice spoke. "Neptune and Poseidon are suiting up."

"Copy that, Cousteau. We'll leave the porch light on. SkyQuest out."

The regal trimaran veered northwest toward the rendezvous point, but curiously, it didn't take the extreme western course behind the large island, which would have hid it more effectively from If. Tony had to hand it to Kendall: the guy had balls. He was going to sail right past If.

Darwin seemed to sense that the sailboat was friendly because he turned to head toward it. Tony let go of the dorsal fin and whipped out the portable vocorder. "Chief Kendall is on that sailboat. I have to go with the launch, but we're going to meet them in a little while. You want to come with us or swim by yourself?"

"Darwin stay with Tony."

Tony wasn't sure whether he felt babysat or befriended. "Okay, buddy. The launch is this way." He gently directed the dolphin's beak to the south.

Darwin didn't bother clicking a reply. He probably knew where the shuttle was even better than Tony did. The human had to rely on portable instruments and sight while the dolphin had echo-location. He just nodded amiably and waited for his swimming companion to secure the vocorder before moving on. Tony boarded the shuttle through the diving airlock, but they didn't dare surface. SkyQuest was innovative for this era, but a submarine might be taken for a sea monster or worse. They were way too close to the harbor right now. Darwin was perfectly capable of following them to the rendezvous.

Nichols and Tate piloted the launch while Forrester sat in back, shuffling handwritten papers. The scientist had taken extensive notes during radio conversations and various discussions in MR-3 during all their recon trips. "I'm sending all my notes with you, Piccolo."

"Got it, Doc. You sure you're okay with being here alone?"

Forrester grinned. "Are you kidding? My notes are going to help plan what is sure to be the rescue of the century and Kendall is trusting me to watch an expensive piece of equipment rather than throw me in some dinky cabin and tell me to stay out of everyone's way. I couldn't be happier."

Tony shook his head, chuckling. "Well, if you put it that way, okay." The civilian would probably be safer than anyone else. SkyQuest was fast and Tony didn't think Kendall was so thick as not to bring some weapons, but that didn't mean his vessel was invincible. Her hulls didn't look like wood, but he was pretty sure a cannonball would knock a hole in her, no matter what kind of polymer or fiberglass those engineers had cooked up. Sails were probably flammable, too. The UEO's best naval officers had been snatched right off the bridge of the most sophisticated submarine of 2019. There was no telling what kind of weapons they were up against.

If the worst happened, Forrester could always get back to the Black Sea. He was smart and he still had a radio. Someone from seaQuest could talk him through. Letting Forrester stay on MR-3 was best for everyone.

Tony didn't bother trying to dry off much, just enough so he didn't drip everywhere. They arrived at the coordinates within twenty minutes. Tate and Nichols donned SCUBA gear for the first time since leaving seaQuest. Kendall had said to enter from underwater—pretty darn sneaky idea, building an airlock into the hull of a sailboat.

Darwin played escort between the two airlocks, which was fortunate, since Tony promised to bring him along. The horizontal airlock on the skyQuest was much more dolphin-friendly than the vertical one on the shuttle, and there was room for two at once. Inside, there was a tank of seawater about quadruple the size of the portable tank on the shuttle. It took up the entire bow section of the hull, to a depth of three feet. Tony saw vocorder electrodes already in place. Darwin swam right into it.

"Welcome aboard, Captain," Kendall said, rubbing Darwin's melon. "Sorry we couldn't make the tank bigger." He turned to Tony and offered his hand to help him stand. "Piccolo."

"Thanks. Tate and Nichols are right behind me." He looked around and couldn't resist repeating the same line he'd said when he first boarded seaQuest: "Nice digs."

Kendall slapped him on the back. "Not bad for engineers and science geeks, eh?"

Tony grinned as he tilted his head and slapped his temple with the heel of his palm to get the water out of his ears. The chief pressed a button to seal the airlock and reset it for the next two arrivals. Lights on a control panel let him know when the door was shut so he could open the outer hull door again.

"We have to open the outer door manually," Kendall said apologetically.

Tony snorted. "What, no time to design an automated system?"

The engineer started cranking. The door made a ratcheting sound as it slowly opened. "That and no materials either. Not like I could requisition parts. We had to build her with what we had on hand, or what we could scrounge up. None of the locals had watertight motor housings."

"Hey, you don't gotta explain it to me. I'm think it's cool you got an underwater door at all."

Kendall shrugged. "Had to make our captain feel welcome on his own boat."

"I bet Brenton loved that."

"He wasn't on the building committee or the sailing crew. I don't care what he thought. It wasn't only for Darwin anyway. We can launch an amphibious assault, completely undetected, while keeping skyQuest anchored at a safe distance."

"As a decoy."

The XO nodded. "Exactly."

A light indicated the divers had pressed the ready button from the inside. Kendall cranked in the opposite direction to close the hull door. A 'thunk' sounded when the door slipped into its slot and sealed. "And that means we can let them in." He flipped a switch and a hum sounded while the inner door slid back, revealing a diver disguised by SCUBA gear.

Tony looked through the mask and recognized the diver as Tate. He removed his mouthpiece. "Permission to come aboard?"

Kendall offered a hand up even as he chuckled. "Don't ask me. Captain's over there." He crooked the thumb of his free hand in the direction of the big tank.

Once Tate was standing, he helped Nichols up. He pulled off his mask and mouthpiece, then silently gestured with his head for Tony and Tate to line up beside him. Tony had been out of the military loop so long, he almost blurted out, "What?" but he caught himself just in time and scooted into place.

The three of them saluted together. Nichols spoke for them all. "Petty Officer Nichols, Seaman Tate, and Seaman Piccolo reporting for duty, sir."

Kendall returned the salute. "As you were. I called this meeting to plan our attack. Who do think we should include?"

Tate chuckled. "We don't even know who you brought."

"I saw Dagwood on deck," Tony said. "We need him, for sure."

"Really? I only brought him because he can man the capstan by himself."

"Cap-what?" Tony asked.

"It's a big winch-like thing. We didn't have a pneumatic windlass. All those big ships out there have capstans, but they need four guys to operate theirs. It's for raising the anchor."

"I thought we were planning to leave skyQuest anchored as the decoy while we went in."

"Well, we don't want to cripple her completely. We can't get everyone back to seaQuest without her."

"Uh, Chief, you remember the bridge security records, don't you?" Did he have to spell it out? A couple of big brutes had carried off their people, two at a time.

Understanding dawned in Kendall's eyes. "Oh yeah. Good thinking, Piccolo. Has he ever used SCUBA gear?"

Tony shrugged. "Hell if I know."

"But GELFs can hold their breath a real long time," Nichols put in.

Tate cast a glance at the airlock. "I don't think you made this exit big enough for Dagwood and a SCUBA tank anyway."

"So let's lower him from the deck and let him swim with me and Darwin," Tony said. "If he has to come up for air a couple times, so what? No one is watching the water for swimmers, or we'd all have been captured while doing recon."

Nichols and Tate nodded assent. Kendall didn't even look at them. He was already convinced. "Dagwood is yours. Who else?"

"How about you give us anyone who isn't needed here?" Nichols suggested.

The chief nodded. "Done. I'll stay back with Vinson, Gaines, and Hernandez. The four of us can raise the anchor if need be. That leaves Dagwood, Bishop, Clark, Parker, and Sanders to go with you three. Darwin can go as far as he wants."

Wow, sounds like the best soldiers seaQuest had left, Tony thought.

Nichols counted on his fingers, then his jaw dropped. "You sailed all the way from the Black Sea with just a crew of nine?"

Kendall nodded. "Had to. We couldn't build skyQuest any bigger and she has to hold eleven more for the return trip. Will you have enough to do your job?"

"Let's get all of them in here and brainstorm. We'll make it enough."