The Girl Beneath the Sea (Underwater Investigation Unit #1)(83)

Dad swims underneath and pokes his head into the compartment.

“How much air?” I ask him, indicating the sub’s interior. I hear a small hiss in the background.

He takes the regulator from his mouth. “Winston put in a rebreather. One oxygen cylinder is good for at least twelve hours. The other one seems to be defective.” He points to the ceiling, where a small aluminum plate is riveted to the hull. “All I had to do was put that patch there and repressurize. Everything else is fine.”

“Can we take it to the surface?” I ask.

“You can. Just do your safety stops. The depth gauge will tell you where you’re at.”

“We need to get back before they do something to George. The divers may be badly hurt, but the guy up there isn’t.”

“What do you need me to do?” asks Dad.





CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

BREAKER

The Kraken glides more smoothly than I expected. I’ve used underwater vehicles before, but they all felt like slow-motion versions of land craft. This is different. Winston designed an extremely low profile that lets it cut through the water like a knife.

Wedged between the cases in a crouch with no seat doesn’t make for the most comfortable ride, but it works well enough. Going full throttle dislodged the sub from the sand and shot the sub forward, almost hitting Dad, who was guiding me.

Now that I have it under control, I’m tilting the control stick to the side and spiraling up toward the surface.

Dad follows along, swimming up the center of my corkscrew. We want to hurry, but going too fast could lead to serious problems as air expands in our tissue.

I finally surface near the bow of Fortune’s Fool and am immediately tossed to the side and battered in the heavy surf.

I pull myself backward through the confined space of my minivessel and open the bottom hatch. Water splashes in as the sub tilts and air escapes. The Kraken could sink again, but I’m not worried about that right now.

I dive into the water and swim for the bowline. My glow stick is still dangling where I left it. About twenty feet away, I catch the outline of a small craft. This must have been what the divers used to sneak up on us.

Now we’ll see if I can play the boarding game as well.

I pop my head out of the water and spot a small ladder hanging over the bow of the Fool. It appears to have been attached to a cleat on our boat. That must be how Mario got the drop on us.

I grab the bottom rung and start to climb the ladder. It’s a challenge in the waves. Half the time you’re being tilted up into the air, the rest you’re underwater.

I finally reach the top and slide myself onto the bow. The ocean tries to toss me back in, but I hold fast to handholds I improvise from the hatches and navigation lights.

When I pull myself up to the bridge, I can see through the cracked windshield.

Sonic has George flat on his stomach with the gun pointed at his head while his other hand uses the gaffing pole to help one of the divers, who’s dragging the third.

Blood is trickling from George’s head across the wet deck.

Damn it.

I slide onto the bridge, above and behind Sonic. I could shoot him from here, but for some reason, I can’t bring myself to do that. My hand falls on the fire extinguisher behind the captain’s chair.

I slip it from its mount and take the ladder down to the stern.

One of the injured divers sees me and calls to Sonic.

But not fast enough.

I smack the metal cylinder across his head so hard he falls backward and cracks it again on the railing.

Mario raises his gun at me. I fire the extinguisher at him, then hurl the heavy device in his direction.

When the cloud clears, Dad has a knife to the unconscious Sonic’s throat and his gun in hand. I take it and toss his knife into the ocean.

George rolls over and sits up. There’s a gash on his scalp and blood all over his shoulder.

I need to help my father. “Can you manage?”

“I’ll hold.”

I cut George’s plasticuffs and hand him the gun I liberated from one of the SEALs on the sea bottom. “Keep your eye on him.”

Signaling to my father, I run to the rope attached to our Zodiac and drag the raft alongside the boat. George’s gun glints in the light on the bottom of the craft. I reach down and recover it.

Good thing I saw that. It could have been bad, considering what I have planned.

I pull the Zodiac alongside the Fool and toward Dad. “Tell them to get in!” I shout over the wind.

I yank the fuel line from the engine and toss it into the water.

Dad understands what I’m doing and pushes Mario and Link toward the raft.

He backs off and lets the slightly less injured Link climb over and help Mario aboard the Zodiac.

“This man needs medical attention!” Link shouts. “We both need oxygen!”

Pure oxygen is how you prevent decompression sickness. We have a cylinder aboard the Fortune’s Fool, but they’re not getting it.

Dad pulls himself over to the dive platform and pulls himself up. I motion to Sonic’s slumped body. “Help me out.”

We roll him over the edge and into the Zodiac. George has pulled himself up into a standing position and has the rifle aimed down at them. “What’s your plan?”

I feed some line out, letting the current drag the Zodiac away, giving us some distance. “Keep them back there. Tow ’em in to shore.”