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Chapter Three
"Commander, I'm not getting any response from the shuttle," Lieutenant Tim O'Neill looked up from his station with a frown on his face.
"Ortiz, what have you got on WSKR's?"
"That quake was a big one, Sir. I'm still trying to analyse data for a clear picture. I'll be able to tell you more in a few minutes."
"Understood." Ford let out a slow breath and waited for his sensor chief to fill him in. He didn't get time to as alarms began sounding around him.
"Commander, we've got another shockwave on the way!"
"Sound "Collision"!" Ford grabbed the handrail again as he heard the klaxon ring out. "Here we go again."
This time the impact was far worse than the previous time. Ford was knocked off his feet as the submarine rolled to port before righting itself again. All around him men and women were thrown about as the enormous submarine was tossed around like a toy in a bathtub.
"Commander, we just lost two WSKR's! Mother and Junior are down."
"I'm not surprised, Miguel. What have you got on the other two?"
"The seafloor is buckling underneath us. A lava vent is opening up off to starboard. We need to get out of here. Now!"
"Helm, all stop. Full reverse!" Ford looked up hoping that they could back up in time. The WSKR view on the main screen showed an enormous fissure on the seafloor that was spewing out lava at an alarming rate.
Doctor Westphalan came running onto the bridge with another science officer in tow.
"Commander Ford! We need to leave this area immediately. The ocean temperature is rising and will soon exceed hull tolerance."
"I know that Doctor. We're working on it. Hitchcock, what's our position?"
The young woman was battling with the helm controls and didn't answer immediately.
Ford moved up beside her station and asked again, "Katie? Our position?"
"Sorry, I'm having trouble maneuvering. The bow planes aren't responding."
"Ortiz! Get me a WSKR view. What's happening out there?"
Before he could respond another violent shudder ran through the boat followed by a series of smaller tremors. The seaQuest began to list to port and the crew were forced to grab hold of whatever was nearby in order to stay standing.
"Ortiz?"
"Sir, the lava eruptions are increasing in intensity and we're too close. We have a hull breach! It looks like it took out a piece of the rudder and propulsion."
"Evacuate the area and seal the watertight doors in that compartment."
Hitchcock looked up in alarm. "Commander, the magnetic drive impellers are de-stabilising. We have to shut them down before they overload!"
"If we do that we're dead in the water," Ford looked back at her with a look of frustration. "We can't stay here much longer. The bio skin will start to break down."
"If we don't shut them down and they overload we won't have to worry about that. We'll explode!" Hitchcock looked back at her station display keeping a close eye on the readings before her. They were getting scarier by the second.
"Commander, if we blow the ballast it will get us out of immediate danger and we can cut power to the drive train."
"Do it! We're out of options. Blow main ballast." It only took seconds before the seaQuest began to rise as the ballast was blown from the tanks. He looked over at Hitchcock while she ran through the shut down procedures for the magdrive.
"Mr Ortiz, sound off."
"Aye Sir. 1200 feet … 1100 … 1000 … 900 …"
By the time he got to 300 feet Hitchcock had succeeded in shutting down the impellers. The sub was now adrift in the water but at least they were out of reach of the lava below them. The shockwaves had mostly subsided and an eerie calm settled over the bridge.
Before anyone could speak an emergency beacon began to beep insistently on the main screen.
"We're rising into the sound channel. Commander, I'm picking up an SOS. It's the captain's shuttle!" O'Neill called out as he tried urgently to home in on the location of the emergency signal.
"Try hailing them, Tim." Ford stepped up to the communications display, hoping to speak to the captain and find out if they were all right. He just hoped they hadn't been hit by anything as bad as the seaQuest had just experienced.
"seaQuest to Shuttle One. Come in Shuttle One … this is seaQuest calling Shuttle One. Captain Bridger, do you read?" O'Neill had a bad feeling about this.
"Sir, the signal's being refracted. I can't get a lock on the location. I don't know if they would be picking up our hail. The shuttle doesn't have the range we do."
"Keep trying, Tim. At least get me a general idea of where to start looking and we'll narrow it down from there." Ford turned back to Commander Hitchcock who was still working on her diagnostics display.
"How long to get us up and running, Katie?"
"I can't tell from here. I need to get down to Engineering and check it out first hand … but it isn't going to be a quick fix, Sir."
She looked at him with concern written all over her face. They both knew that emergency beacon meant the shuttle was in serious trouble. What they didn't know was how much time they had left to find it.
Ford walked back into Engineering, knowing full well that he would find Katie still here. He had spent the night trekking back and forth between the bridge and Engineering as his crew battled to repair the stricken submarine. He found her wedged half way inside a console with wires dangling everywhere. Streaks of dirt were evident on her face and the dark circles under her eyes showed the hours she had been awake. Two other crewmembers were working away at another console that looked to be in the same state as hers.
"Katie, you really need to take a break. Your team have been at this for nearly fourteen hours."
"The captain and Lucas can't afford for me to take a break. We have to get moving again." She looked him in the eye and stood her ground.
They had no idea what state the shuttle was in and had received no word from the captain or Lucas since the earthquake the previous evening. The emergency beacon was still broadcasting and they had finally managed to get a lock on its position. They just couldn't get to that position!
"They only have a limited air supply on board, Sir. We know the shuttle is down somewhere and we don't know if they are injured or…." She just couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence. "I have to get back to it, Sir."
The man sat on the beach watching the waves roll relentlessly back and forth in front of him. His arm throbbed and his vision was still blurry but he was able to stay sitting upright.
He looked down at the red inflatable jacket he was wearing and tried to recall how he came to have it on in the first place. It obviously wasn't put on properly because the cords were tied around his arm. He tugged at them but they stubbornly refused to shift as the knots had tightened in the water.
He pulled harder but the intense pain that shot up his arm made him stop. Gritting his teeth against the pain he tried again to undo the knots. The rope was cutting into his upper arm but he just couldn't make it budge.
"I need something to cut it off," he said to himself as he looked around the beach for anything that could be useful. Nothing in his immediate vicinity looked like it would do the job but his thoughts were interrupted by the squabbling seagulls further down the beach.
"Yeah…" he said to himself, "seagulls like rock pools and where there's rock pools there's shellfish." He set off in the direction of the seagulls, walking unsteadily along the sand. It didn't take long to find what he was looking for – oysters glued to the rocks in the tidal pools.
Finding a decent sized rock he began to hammer at an oyster shell, trying to pry it loose. As he was forced to use his left hand the blows didn't always hit their target but it wasn't long before he had broken away a useable piece of shell.
He sat down on the rock and started to saw away at the rope tied around his arm. It wasn't easy to keep it steady given that his right arm was throbbing painfully and he still couldn't see clearly.
After cutting himself several times with the jagged shell the rope finally separated and he pulled his arm free. From there it was easy to pull the jacket off over his head.
He looked down at the clothes he was wearing and noticed the logo embroidered onto the front of the uniform. Pulling at it awkwardly with his left hand he managed to turn it a bit so he could get a closer look.
"seaQuest DSV?" It didn't sound even vaguely familiar but whatever it was it made him feel comfortable. "Gotta be something I like I guess."