“What did we hit?” I asked. Max caught up to me seconds later.
“We’re not sure. Either struck sum’in at the bottom of the ocean, or sum’in hit us. Our radar didn’t pick up anything.” Lankey looked worried for the first time since I’d met him. His usual calm demeanor was shaken, and it unsettled me.
“Well, we can fix it, right? There’s got to be something we can do?” Max asked.
Lankey looked to his Chief Engineer and then back to Max. “We were hit near the rear of the ship, one of the last quadrants. Three bays have already filled, and if a fourth does, I’m afraid there’s no going back.”
“Why don’t we just surface?”
“Too far down. We’d never make it,” Lankey lamented.
Max ran his hand through his hair while he paced.
I stood there dumbfounded. I didn’t have any idea how to fix the problem.
“What about the main drain pump? There’s got to be one on this ship. It can pump out the water so it doesn’t keep filling, right?” Max’s eyes lit up with enthusiasm, but the look on the two men’s faces spoke louder than words. They glanced to the adjacent room already filling with water.
“There is a main pump that is trying to work, but a seal on the shaft was broken during the impact. The pump can’t keep up without the seal being closed,” the engineer responded.
“Where’s the seal?” I already knew the answer before I asked.
Both men’s gaze fell on the adjacent room.
“Damn it,” I mumbled.
“We have escape pods ready to get e’ryone ta’ safety. Only we be quite away from the United Isles still and be exposed at the surface. If Coleman were ta’ spot us…” Lankey didn’t have to finish his sentence. It was a huge risk, and not one I wanted to take.
Max pushed his way past the two men and looked through the window into the room already knee-deep with water. “That’s the seal we need fixed?” Max pointed to a long metal pipe with a crack in the seam where two bolts had popped off during the impact.
“Yes, that’s the one.”
“And if the seal is closed, we can start the main pump? We can drain out the water?”
The engineer looked suspiciously between Max and Lankey, “Yes, once the pipe is sealed, this button will turn green and the pump will activate,” he pointed to a panel just outside of the door where a button blinked a cautionary orange, “but the water flowing out of it is much more powerful than it looks. It would take a lot of strength to close up that pipe.”
“I can do it.” Max stole the words right from my mouth before I even had a chance to speak.
“What? No, you can’t do it. You won’t be able to close it. I’ll do it,” I protested, but Max wasn’t listening.
He already had taken off his shirt, tossed it aside, and rummaged through a toolbox at his feet, grabbing what he needed.
“Max! Are you listening to me?” I shouted.
“What is this tool, Sawyer?” He lifted something long with a metal claw at the end and a few twisty nobs at the top. “And what about this one?” He held up another to my slack-jawed expression.
I didn’t know. And I knew we were running out of time.
“Exactly.” He nodded to the engineer who looked to Lankey for approval.
“We can only open this door once. By the time it reaches the glass, it be too far gone, and we won’t be able to open it ‘til the main pump pulls out enough water. Ya’ understand that, aye, son?” Lankey said.
“Yes.” Max nodded.
About the Author
AJ Eversley is the author of the Watcher series. A true north Canadian girl, AJ currently lives in Central Alberta with her husband and dog. When she’s not writing, she can be found binge watching Harry Potter, quoting various movies in every day conversation, and eating copious amounts of candy.
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More by AJ Eversley
Carbon - Book 2 in the Watcher Series
And see where it all began:
Kenzie – A Watcher Series mini Novella
Max – A Watcher Series mini Novella
Coleman – A Watcher Series mini Novella
Now Available exclusively at www.watcherbook.com
Aelish & The Ladies of the Muted Forest
– A Watcher Series mini Novella
(Coming Soon)
Watcher (The Watcher Series Book 1) Page 25