Chapter Six
The flying sub dropped effortlessly from her berth as she was launched into the inky depths of the South Pacific, leaving behind the shelter and relative safety of the larger submarine.
"FS1 has cleared the bay doors," Chip announced.
"Very well," Admiral Nelson's voice was heard on the com.
Lee watched from the windows as the flying sub engaged its engines and glided into his view, illuminated by the flood lights on Seaview's bow.
"Report, sonar," the captain ordered.
"Large contact fifty-two degrees off the starboard bow, Sir."
"Hydrophones?" he inquired, moving behind Ski's chair to evaluate the contact for himself.
"Some sort of biologic, Sir," Patterson reported.
"Very well, keep on it," he admonished, reaching for the mic on the periscope island. "Admiral, sonar reports a contact off your starboard, about two miles out."
"Affirmative, Lee. We have it on our scope as well," Harry responded, "engaging the low-frequency emission."
"This had better work," Chip noted quietly while sidling next to Seaview's Captain as they both studied the green sonar screen.
Such frequencies were already in use by scientists in order to keep curious sea creatures from damaging sensitive equipment beneath the sea. In this case, however, no one knew the effect the frequencies might have on the mutated sea life.
"It has to," Lee responded, his concern for the two occupants of the flying sub kept barely in check. He continued to watch the monitor his eyes narrowing in approval at the sharp turn the contact made before raising the mic to speak again. "Admiral, it looks the biologic responded and is moving away."
"Good, good," Harry responded emotionlessly.
Lee expelled a silent breath, the momentary relief overshadowed by a heavy feeling in his gut. He resisted the urge to rub his forehead, the gauze over his brow a constant reminder that it should be him out there taking the chances. Likewise, he ignored the constant weariness of a body that demanded more rest than he was willing to give it just now. There would be no rest until the fissure was closed and Harry was back aboard safely. After that, their focus would turn toward neutralizing the killer squid, and finding out just who had gone to such extreme lengths to secretly open the fissure in the first place.
"Keep a sharp eye out, Kowalski," he admonished. "We may not have too many chances to get this right."
"Aye, aye, Skipper," Ski responded dutifully as the entire Control Room felt the gravity of their dangerous mission.
# # # # #
Like Lee, Harry was pleased that the low-frequency emission he had modified seemed to be working, but he hadn't the time, nor the inclination to celebrate the feat as of yet and turned his attention to the task at hand.
"Camera ready?" he inquired of his co-pilot.
"All ready, Sir," an exuberant Chief Sharkey replied.
"Steady now," Harry instructed before activating his mic and leaving it open this time. "Lee, we're approaching the fissure."
"Aye Sir, good luck."
Harry resisted a smile, though he never relied on such things, a little bit of good fortune just now would be highly welcomed. His lips pursed in concentration as the flying sub's floodlights reached ahead to reveal the wreckage of the imploded sea dome, once Dr. Sterling's undersea laboratory, now merely a host for barnacles and sea life. Very little of the yellow dome was visible as the sea claimed the doomed lab for its newest habitat. A twinge of regret passed through him as he remembered the lovely Karen Sloane, so devoted to the scientist that she refused to leave the dome even after Sterling went mad, her unfailing love sealing her fate in the cold depths of an unforgiving sea. He refocused as FS1 approached the fissure and circled it.
"Are you getting this, Lee?"
"Aye Sir," he acknowledged distractedly while taking in the white plume of a chimney smoker, a hydrothermal vent fueled from geothermal heat directly from the earth's core.
Harry banked the agile, yellow submarine and circled widely, studying the vent from every angle. By his second pass he had analyzed the situation and was ready to offer a solution.
"It looks like we're going to need two precisely aimed, simultaneous laser strikes to cork the vent and fuse the rocks into a seal." He banked for another pass, continuing to scrutinize the vent. "With Seaview's help, I think we have a good chance of sealing the vent," he added confidently.
"Aye, Sir, we'll move in."
"I need a few minutes to collect water samples from the vent," Harry interjected.
"Admiral…"
"We'll collect the samples remotely, but if we're successful, this will be our only opportunity to obtain the most elemental rich and concentrated samples."
A short pause indicated that Seaview's Captain was considering the proposition before he spoke again.
"Very well, Admiral. Will fifteen minutes suffice?"
Harry chuckled lightly at the question, which he correctly interpreted to mean that Lee was anxious to seal the vent and that fifteen minutes was on the generous side of what he could offer.
"Fifteen minutes will do nicely," Harry answered calmly, his smile fading as he turned his attention to the matter at hand. "Chief, stow the camera and ready the robotic arms to retrieve three water samples."
Sharkey's acknowledgement was immediate as he got down to business while Harry decided upon the best location to station the flying sub.
"This will do," he announced a moment later as he settled FS1 into position. "Ready, Chief?"
"Aye Sir," he responded, testing the robotic arms with his double joystick controls.
"Very well, proceed."
Harry watched as the first sample was obtained and stored inside the collection chamber.
"Got it," Sharkey announced, pleased with his work thus far and stowing the robotic arms.
"All right, let's move to our next collection coordinates," Harry said, moving to the next sample retrieval point which had been carefully selected to optimize data relevance. A few minutes later, Sharkey was busy retrieving another sample as Harry, pencil in hand, documented their position on his clipboard. Once completed, they moved to their third position and quickly finished off the desired samples.
"Do you really think we can seal it up, Admiral?" Sharkey inquired in his usual candidness with the four-star admiral.
"There's always the possibility that something could go wrong, but yes, I think we have a real chance of sealing the vent," he replied.
"But all that pressure?" Sharkey questioned, referring to the tremendous amount of pressure propelling the gas from the earth's core to the seafloor.
"I'm aware of that," he answered less-than patiently, "but once we seal the fissure the gas will have to find another path, and there's a good chance that it will settle into whatever alternate route it was utilizing before it was unnaturally opened," he finished with all the fervor of a man passionate about his science.
"I don't know about such things, but if you say so, Sir, that's good enough for me," he stated in complete confidence of Seaview's creator, before realizing something. "Wait a minute!" he interjected, "You said 'unnaturally'. You don't think the fissure was opened by someone on purpose?" he asked incredulously.
"It's looking like that, Chief," Harry replied, ending the conversation and reaching to his throat mic to switch from manual to VOX, where the voice activated communication system would keep the line open for continual communication with Seaview.
"Lee, we're ready for you now," he informed.
"Aye Sir. Deterrent Frequency engaged. Ahead dead slow, Mr. Morton."
Sharkey studied FS1's sonar monitor, tracking the large submarine's approach and listening to the normal course of orders being relayed and acknowledged via the VOX mode, while Harry continued to study the vent, satisfying himself of the best places to target the lasers in order to seal the fissure.
"Admiral?" Sharkey interrupted.
"Hmmm?" Harry replied, dividing his interest between the vent and the Chief's inquiry.
"What do you make of this?" Sharkey asked, but before the Admiral could respond he yelled, "The seamount is moving!"
Followed immediately by Captain Crane's exclamation from Seaview, "Admiral, it's the squid!"