Chapter 3
AQUATRAZ
MARINA knew she had to do something quick. Being unable to speak, she couldn't call out to Troy or Phones about the leak. Instead she grabbed the coffee tin from the table and banged it as loud as she could.
Troy was too busy battling with the controls and assumed the noise was just a part of stuff being thrown around by the spinning in the whirlpool. Phones however noticed a distinct pattern in the clanging and looked over his left shoulder. His heart was in his mouth when he saw what was wrong. "TROY - THE HULL'S CRACKING!" he yelled.
Troy now looked over his shoulder and saw it too. "DAMN IT! THE PRESSURE'S TOO GREAT! THIS IS DEEPER THAN THOSE SUBTERRANEAN SEAS WE'VE BEEN IN!" He switched Stingray to automatic controls, not that it could do much in the whirlpool but it meant he could move away from them.
"We're shipping water fast, Troy!" said Phones.
"I can see that!" snapped Troy. "I've got to seal that up quickly! Get the Air Tanks, Phones!"
"Air Tanks?" repeated Phones. "What are you…Wait, you're not!"
"The hull has to be sealed from the outside," said Troy. "Or the hull could cave in."
"But in a whirlpool?!" protested Phones. "You've be thrown out of it!"
"DON'T ARGUE, PHONES!" shouted Troy as he hastily donned his swim gear. "GET ME AN AIR TANK! THAT'S AN ORDER!"
Phones reluctantly complied. He found Troy an Air Tank and gave it to him as Troy took himself into the Air Lock with a sealing gun. Once inside, the Air Lock filled with water. Troy knew Phones was right though so before the outer hatch opened, he attached himself to the wall with a safety-cable. Once the hatch was open, Troy felt himself get pulled out into open water.
Everything was still spinning as they were still firmly caught in the whirlpool. Troy could only grit his teeth as he used suction pads to pull himself along the hull from the nose along the left side of the cabin to where he found the crack.
"I've located the crack, Phones. I'm going to anchor myself and then start sealing."
"Hurry, Troy!" Phones answered over the radio in his mask. "It's getting worse in here!"
"Not for long!" said Troy bravely. He used electro magnets to attach himself to the outer hull close to where the crack was located. Then he set to work with the sealing gun, spraying waterproof sealant into the crack to close it up and make it watertight again. "It's working, Phones. The compound is sealing the fracture. How's it looking from your side?"
"You're doing it, Skipper!" Phones answered. "Just a bit more."
Troy soon reached the top of the crack and stopped. "How's that?" he asked.
"Sheesh. That was close," said Phones. "It's worked, Troy!"
"Good," said Troy with relief. Then he noticed something. "Hey, I think the whirlpool's ending! We're slowing down."
"I'll get us clear then you can get yourself back in," said Phones. "Hang tight."
As soon as they were clear of the whirlpool, Phones lowered Stingray's landing legs and settled the super-sub down on the seabed. Troy was now able to unfasten himself and make his way back inside.
Once inside he removed his mask and went to investigate his work from the inside. "Yes, that ought to do the trick," he said. "How's the air pressure, Phones?"
"It should be back to normal in about fifteen seconds," said Phones.
"Good," said Troy as he returned to the controls. "Stingray has been upgraded since that first Subterranean Sea encounter we had when we chased that Big Gun back to its base. We shouldn't have had any problems this time."
"We are deeper, remember?" said Phones. "Maybe it was just a weak seam?"
"Maybe," said Troy. "But I think we're forgetting a much larger problem, Phones?"
"We're now in another Subterranean Sea…meaning we've got to find a way out now. That Terror Fish must be miles away by now. Looks like we've failed this time, Phones.
Phones' heart sank. They sat in silence. They felt awful. Commander Shore had entrusted them with saving the life of Marshal Ketov…and now they had no means of doing so.
Troy eventually broke the upsetting silence. "Start sound scan, Phones. See if you can find us a way out of here."
"I'll do my best, Skipper," Phones replied. He put the hydrophones back onto his head and started listening. It wasn't long before he picked up a signal. "I have something!"
"Already?!" said Troy with surprise. "Well that didn't take-"
"No, hold it, Troy!" said Phones. He was listening very intently. Troy and Marina waited with baited breath. What was it that Phones could hear?
"What is it, Phones?" asked Troy, noticing the stunned look on his friend and colleague's face.
"Troy…I don't know how this is possible but…I'm picking up a Mechanical Fish signature!"
"What?!" exclaimed Troy. "But the hell is that-" He broke off as a realisation hit him. He started up the motors once again. "Plot a course, Phones! We need to find where that Fish is going!"
Stingray lifted up off the seabed and turned before heading off in the direction of the Terror Fish signal. As they went, they too saw a large number of weird and unpleasant looking marine life that lived in this deep, uncharted ocean.
Some miles ahead, the Terror Fish was approaching one of the large sunken vessels that made up the complex of Aquatraz. It was an old World War Two Battleship which had somehow remained largely intact and not rusty although it was covered in marine growth like everything else was.
One of the Aquaphibians made a call over the radio and a large section of the vessel's hull opened up to reveal a bright yellow light coming from inside. The Terror Fish moved slowly inside and then the hull sealed up again. Then it surfaced, revealing they were actually in some kind of air lock. It was soon alongside a small walkway and docked before a hatch opened in the side. The two Aquaphibians were greeted by two more and together they marched the prisoners out of the Terror Fish at gun-point.
"How do you feel, Captain?" Reef asked O'Shea.
"Better now," O'Shea replied. "The paralysis is wearing off."
One of the Aquaphibians sharply pushed her in the back with the end of its gun. "No talk! Move!" it gargled forcing them to be quiet.
They were soon inside a Travel Tube car which moved them from the vessel they were in towards another. It passed through an old Cargo Ship before coming out into another tube. Now they could see a very old galleon-like ship which was in fact the very middle of the prison complex. Once inside there the car stopped and they were forced out of it.
"Say, this is the brig of an old wreck," said O'Shea.
"Yeah, but these fish-faces have sure done some work on the place," agreed Reef.
That was an understatement. The old wooden interior of the vessel had been replaced with thick, solid steel and a modern layout. There were many thick steel doors lining both sides of the corridor they were being walked down. All contained prisoners from different undersea races who had opposed Titan in the past. Ketov, O'Shea and Reef were the only humans in the entire prison complex.
They reached another large door and came to a stop where to their surprise, the Aquaphibians began to untie them whilst another opened the door.
"Inside!" ordered the Aquaphibian. "You shall be dealt with later."
The three walked inside and the door was sealed behind them. It was a large square room with nothing in it. No table. No chairs. Nothing. The only things they did notice were a pair of strange-looking pipes on opposite sides of the door that faced downwards.
O'Shea examined the walls. "This cell looks water-tight to me," she observed.
"And there's a camera up there," added Reef, pointing to the far end of the cell. "We're going to be under constant watch."
"That's all very interesting," said Ketov gruffly. "But what do they plan to do with us? That's what I want to know."
"I wish I knew, Marshal," said O'Shea. "But I can promise you whatever they have in mind, it's not going to be pleasant. And there's no escape from here." She sighed sadly. "I wish I'd been successful in our escape attempt."
Reef put a caring hand on her shoulder. "You did what you could, Aurora," she said. "It's all any of us could have done."
O'Shea did her best to find some comfort in that. "Thanks, Aerial. I do still wonder if my emergency message was picked up by anyone though."
Stingray wasn't too far away. Phones had been busy tracking the Terror Fish signal, but had lost it when it had entered the hull of the Battleship. "I've lost the trace on the Fish, Skipper," he said. "But I'm picking something else up instead."
"Can you identify it?" asked Troy.
"Actually, yes," replied Phones. "There's a number of objects just ahead of us. Some metal and some wooden."
"Hmmm," said Troy thoughtfully. "They could be ships."
"Ships?!" repeated Phones. "In a Subterranean Sea?"
"Given all we've seen during our time together, Phones, can anything surprise you anymore?"
"Not much," said Phones.
"Exactly," said Troy. "Reduce speed to low-safe-cruising. Let's see what's over that ridge."
Stingray slowed right down and came to the edge of a rocky ledge on the ocean floor. It dropped down and from where they sat, they had a panoramic view of several sunken vessels, all connected via see-through tubes.
Phones whistled. "They are ships, Troy! And they're all intact, too!"
"Yeah!" said Troy. "What is this place?" And then it hit him. "Aquatraz!"
"Come again?" said Phones.
"I just remembered!" said Troy. "When we were first captured by Titan, do you remember we were put onto a Terror Fish when Marina then rescued us?"
"Sure?"
"I remember Titan telling me that our destination was somewhere called Aquatraz," said Troy. "This must be it!"
Phones looked at the number of ships. "But if Marshal Ketov has been brought here, where exactly could they be?"
"We'll need to get inside first," said Troy. "Let's see how close we can get with Stingray first."
Stingray began to move slowly forwards and at a crawling pace. All unnecessary lights were turned off to make it less visible to anyone who might have been watching.
"What does the sound-scan tell you, Phones?" Troy asked in a hushed voice. "Are there any patrol ships moving about?"
"Not that I'm picking up, Troy," Phones answered. "And I don't see any Aquaphibians swimming about either."
Troy pondered. "So either Titan believes this prison is so out of the way that it doesn't need patrols, or there are hidden surveillance cameras that we can't see. Either way, don't let your guard down, Phones. "I have a hunch they'll realise we're here soon."
Troy was right of course. At that exact moment, Stingray had passed over a motion sensor hidden in the seabed. It sent a warning alert to the security control room of Aquatraz, which was on the bridge of the old Battleship. The two Aquaphibians on duty inside had been watching the terrainean prisoners on a monitor screen. But now their attention was drawn to another. One flicked a switch turning on a concealed camera hidden amongst the seaweed. There was no mistaking the shape of the vessel that was sneaking towards them.
"Emergency alert!" cried one of the Aquaphibians. "Stingray has found a way down to us! Hunt and destroy!"
"All defences…missiles green!" said the other. It flicked a switch. Four concealed tubes opened up in the side of the Battleship. "Fire!" A button was pressed and four old-fashioned but still deadly torpedoes were spat out of the tubes and headed towards the approaching Stingray.
Marina, who was standing behind Troy and Phones as their extra pair of eyes, was the first to notice the danger, pointing in the direction of the old Battleship. Troy and Phones looked and saw a large explosion of bubbles from where the tubes had launched the torpedoes. Then Phones picked up their propeller noises on the hydrophones.
"Troy! They've fired old-time torpedoes at us!"
"Red-Six-Zero! Rate 2!" ordered Troy.
Stingray responded with a will, turning sharply to the left as it picked up speed. As Troy had predicted, the torpedoes did not have the technology to track their targets, nor did they have the speed to match Stingray's. They therefore continued straight on and slammed into the rocky cliff that Stingray had come down from.
"Phew! That was close," said Troy once they were out of harm's way.
"Is there anything we can do to stop them, Skipper?" asked Phones.
"What do you suggest?" asked Troy.
"A couple of sting-missiles would take care of that old battlewagon…" said Phones. His voice trailed off when he noticed Marina shaking her head vigorously, telling him she did not approve of his idea at all.
"No, Phones, we can't do that," said Troy. "We don't know where the prisoners are housed, let alone how many there are. If we start firing sting-missiles we could end up killing them all."
"Ah…of course," said Phones, now annoyed with himself for even suggesting the idea.
"Put her down behind these rocks," said Troy. "I guess we'll have to make our own way over."
Stingray settled down on the silt behind some large rocks that concealed it from Aquatraz's view. Troy was still in his swimsuit from when he'd gone to fix the crack in the hull. He therefore adjusted his air tanks whilst Phones got himself changed into his own.
"Their detectors won't be able to pick us up if we swim," said Troy. "At least I hope they can't."
"And Marina looks after Stingray?" Phones asked.
"You okay with that, Marina?" Troy asked.
The beautiful girl from beneath the sea nodded. He could tell she was anxious about their safety, but she knew there was no other alternative.
Once in their swimsuits, Troy and Phones exited Stingray via the forward airlock in the nose and began to make their way towards the Aquatraz complex. They carried two additional tanks of breathing equipment each as well as a cutting torch and their stun weapons.
"Keep to the rocks, Phones," said Troy. "Maintain radio silence unless its necessary."
Phones nodded to show he understood.
Marshal Ketov, O'Shea and Reef hadn't said much since being placed inside the cell. None of them really knew what to say. Ketov had kept muttering to himself. O'Shea and Reef couldn't understand as it was in his own language, but they were pretty sure he was cursing Commander Shore once again.
"Wait…do you hear that?" Reef said suddenly.
Ketov stopped his muttering and listened. So did O'Shea. There was a strange rumbling sound coming from somewhere inside the walls.
"What is that?" asked Marshall Ketov.
O'Shea had been leaning against the wall beside one of the two weird-looking pipes. "It seems to be coming from over here," she said. "It sounds like-AAAAGH!" She jumped back in alarm as a great gush of water began shooting out from both of the pipes, spreading out rapidly across the floor like two bath taps.
"The cell's flooding!" O'Shea gasped. "We're gonna drown!"
For a brief moment, panic had gripped the trio, but Ketov was the first to pull himself together and stand straight and strong. "Enough of this! You're W.A.S.P.s., aren't you?!" he barked. "If I am to die, it will be as a brave man."
Reef and O'Shea looked at each other. They exhaled and stood up straight too. "Sorry, sir. You're right," said O'Shea. "There's no way out anyhow."
Suddenly, the roaring sound of the water quietened down until it went silent. They looked over at the pipes and saw there was no longer any water coming out.
"They've stopped…" said Reef, confused. "Now what?"
Ketov and O'Shea didn't know. They were just as confused.
Troy and Phones had managed to sneak across the seabed from where they had left Stingray undetected. Using the rocks and plants as cover, they now found themselves in the shadow of the old Battleship. Its great imposing superstructure and old guns towered above them.
"How did Titan even get these down here?" Phones whispered. "Intact as well!"
"I don't know, Phones," said Troy. "Maybe one day if he ever surrenders, we could ask him?"
Phones scoffed. "I think Titan would rather die than surrender," he said.
"You're right," agreed Troy. "Say look, there's a light up on the bridge."
"The control room?" asked Phones.
Troy nodded. "Must be. Come on."
As carefully as they could, they made their way along the hull of the old ship until they were underneath where the bridge was. Then they made their way up the side onto the deck and then up the superstructure to just underneath the windows. Troy signalled to Phones to stay put whilst he cautiously took a look through the window. Inside was the control room with the two Aquaphibians at their stations. Neither of them noticed Troy as they were busy making final preparations.
"It is time for the terrainean prisoners to die," said one of them.
"Operating floor hatches," said the other.
Troy ducked down and pulled out his pistol. "This is our way in, Phones," he said. "On my mark, rise and blast that window!"
"Just say it, Skipper," replied Phones, pulling out his own.
"Okay…MARK!" said Troy.
Both men pushed themselves up and simultaneously fired their pistols at the reinforced glass. It was designed to withstand the pressure from the deep water, but not the intense heat from the pistols. It shattered. The ocean roared into the control room, taking the Aquaphibians completely by surprise. They were knocked off their feet as the rushing water swept Troy and Phones inside. Soon the room was completely full and Troy and Phones took full advantage of the disorientated Aquaphibians. They switched their weapons to 'stun' and quickly felled both of them. They weren't worried about them dying because they could breathe in or out of water like Marina could.
However, they hadn't been quick enough to prevent the Aquaphibians from opening a concealed hatch in the bottom of one of the walls in the execution chamber. Unseen by Marshal Ketov, O'Shea and Reef, a deadly giant electric eel began to slink out of its holding tank and into the chamber itself!