by Roland Smith
Ted was right. The shark did not come back for thirds.
“What happens if you turn the field up to full power?” Marty asked.
“Death,” Ted said. “But worse is the pulse matrix. Hopefully we won’t have to use that. It will kill everything within fifty yards of us. But I would rather eject than use that option.”
“Eject?” Marty and Lepod said at the same time.
“Our aquasuits are tailor-made versions of the Orb … without the defenses. They’ll keep us alive for a good hour, which would give us ample time to reach the surface.”
“What about decompression?” Lepod asked.
“We can go straight up without worrying about the bends,” Ted answered. “Like the Orb, the suits adjust automatically to the pressure.”
“Remarkable,” Lepod said. “This will revolutionize undersea exploration. Perhaps we can coauthor a paper.”
“All of this is experimental, Dr. Lepod,” Ted said. “As we told you up at the Moon Pool, no one, and I mean no one, can be told about this.”
“Of course,” Lepod said. “I just meant when you’re ready to release the information.”
“Right. I’m going to switch to radio silence to conserve power.” Ted punched a button and looked at Marty. “I just cut Lepod’s speaker. He can’t hear us. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to bring him with us. We needed a squid expert aboard, but I’m not sure he’ll be able to keep his mouth shut about all this.”
“Have Al talk to him about it,” Marty said. “Lepod will keep his mouth shut.”
“Good idea. I’ll have Al debrief him when we get back up. He’ll scare him into silence.”
“I have a theoretical question,” Marty said. “Let’s say we have to eject and on our way to the surface we get a visit from Mr. Humongous Hungry Great White Shark and he decides to eat us?”
“The aquasuit is absolutely impenetrable,” Ted answered. “In other words, it’s bulletproof and shark-tooth-proof.”
“Good,” Marty said.
“But,” Ted continued, “it’s not crunch-proof, meaning if a great white got ahold of you and started shaking you around, it wouldn’t take long for the suit to turn into a golden bag of bones and guts.”
“I think I’d rather be shot,” Marty said.
“I hear you,” Ted agreed. He switched on the dolphin cam. Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod were half a mile away, at a depth of sixty feet. They were smack in the middle of a school of tuna and gobbling them down like potato chips.
“They may not be serving a purpose,” Marty said. “But they’re having fun.”
“They sure are,” Ted agreed.
“Exactly why did you need them as decoys?” Marty asked.
“When you all got back to Cryptos from the Congo, we cleaned house, knowing that we had spies on the island. And not just Blackwood’s people. I think we had corporate and foreign spies as well. We’ve invented a lot of things over the years, but nothing like the Orb. When something this revolutionary comes along, it’s usually turned over to the government, which is better equipped to handle secrets. But as I told you before, we still haven’t decided what we’re going to do — or who we’re going to share the discovery with. And that’s why we brought Al in.
“The press and the scientific community wanted to know how we were going to catch a giant squid. We had to tell them something, so we gave them Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod to throw them off. We even went so far as to bring Yvonne aboard. She’s probably the best marine mammal trainer in the world. This got everyone thinking about how we might use the dolphins to catch a giant squid, and it never occurred to them that we had something very different in mind.”
“How long have you known Al Ikes?”
Ted laughed. “Al, Wolfe, and I went to kindergarten together. We lived on the same block. Except when Wolfe was off on safari with his father, the three of us were inseparable all the way through high school. Everyone was pretty happy when we split up and went to different universities. I went to MIT. Al went to West Point. And Wolfe went to vet school at UC Davis. But even though we were pursuing different interests in different parts of the country, we stayed in close touch, getting together whenever we could … and getting into a lot of trouble together just like when we were kids.”
“So, you knew my mom when she was a kid?”
“Little Sylvia,” Ted said. “Al had a crush on her his whole life and was devastated when she married Timothy. Wolfe’s dad didn’t take her on safari, so she filled in as the third troublemaker when Wolfe was away. I was a little sweet on her myself, if you want to know the truth. She had as much grit as her big brother … maybe more.”
Marty didn’t want to think about his parents in the past tense.
“How did you end up with Cryptos Island?” he asked.
“Al was behind all that. He hasn’t always worn a three-piece suit. He was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency right out of West Point. Something came up that he needed Wolfe’s and my help with. But I think it would be better for Wolfe to give you the details than me. All I can say is that the three of us got in trouble again, but it worked out well for everyone, including the U.S. Government.
“Now, let’s get back to work. We have a squid to catch, and the sooner we get it, the sooner we’ll be able to get away from Blackwood. I’m going to run a systems check.” Ted started flipping switches and pushing buttons. “That’s not good.”
“What’s the matter?” Marty asked.
“Hopefully, nothing,” Ted answered. “We’re having a communication glitch with the Coelacanth.” He turned on Lepod’s helmet speaker. “Have you punched any buttons back there, Dr. Lepod?”
“No,” Lepod said. “I’ve just been enjoying the ride. It’s remarkable … beautif —”
Ted switched off Lepod’s helmet again.
“We have a major problem,” Ted said.
* * *
Luther had no problem finding Bo, because Bo found him.
She was pounding on the outer Moon Pool door, and Luther didn’t like the way she looked. He showed the Gizmo to Wolfe.
“What’s gotten into her?” Wolfe asked. “She looks crazed. But don’t worry, your hair is safe. That door is blast-proof.”
“Yeah,” Luther said. “But is it Bo-proof?”
Bo had given up pounding on the doors with her hands and was now taking running starts and hitting the doors with both feet. As they watched, they heard an odd sound, as if a turbine was powering off. The lights went out, replaced a second later by dim emergency lights.
“What the …”
Wolfe started hitting buttons on the control panel, to no effect. “You hear that?” he asked.
“I don’t hear anything,” Luther said.
“Exactly,” Wolfe said. “The power’s down throughout the ship.” He keyed his radio. “Cap?”
“Yep, we’re dead,” Cap said. “I just talked to the engine room crew. They said they heard a series of small popping sounds, then everything went off. Our ship-to-shore radio is out, too. And our satellite radios have been jammed. Our secure radios work, obviously. And so do the crew’s two-ways, but there’s so much chatter you can’t get a word in edgewise. I’ve tried to get them to calm down and shut up, but they aren’t listening.”
“How about the ship’s PA system?” Wolfe asked.
“Dead.”
“Butch,” Wolfe said.
“No doubt,” Cap replied. “Small explosives, perfectly placed. Professional job. It will take hours, if not days, to get the power back on. He blew the engines, too. We’re up a creek without a paddle. I have some guys searching for other explosives just in case he has something bigger in mind.”
“Good idea,” Wolfe said. “If they find anything, get ahold of Al or Joe. They’ll be able to defuse them. How long will the auxiliary power last?”
“Hopefully long enough for us to get the power back up. The only thing the batteries will run are the lights.”
“How about th
e Moon Pool doors? Can we close them when we need to?”
“Maybe. But they use a lot of juice. If you try it’ll probably drain the batteries dry and it’ll be pitch-dark below deck. Can you get ahold of Ted? He might be able to come up with some way to work around this.”
Wolfe looked at the blank monitors. “Ted’s not available. He’s on his own — I mean we are on our own.” Cap had never met Ted Bronson and didn’t know he was aboard disguised as Theo Sonborn.
Al broke into the conversation. “We’re suspending the search for Roy,” he said. “The lights are probably just a prelude to something much worse. I’m sending all available hands topside to set up our defenses.”
“Good,” Wolfe said. “I’m going to have to stick down here for a while and try to get in touch with our friends.”
“No problem. We’ll have it covered up here.” Al signed off.
During this exchange, Bo had given up on the Moon Pool doors and was scampering down the companionway on all fours looking for her next victim. Luther followed her with the dragonspy while Wolfe tried to figure out a way to get at least the radio communication back online with the Orb.
It was harder to fly the dragonspy in the dim emergency light, and it wasn’t helpful that the ship was now in chaos. Crew members were running in all different directions, and confused scientists were emerging from their labs asking why they had lost power. Some of the answers Luther over-heard were:
“We’re under attack!”
“There was an explosion!”
“Hide! The chimp has rabies!”
Wolfe was right about Bo’s behavior. When she’d been trying to yank out Luther’s hair, she’d looked liked she was enjoying herself. It was a game. But there was no joy now and this was no game. She was in a rage, banging on the doors she passed and slapping aside anyone standing in her way. It looked as if she had lost her mind.
Bo ran into a dark corridor, and Luther had to slow the dragonspy down so he didn’t smash it into a wall. When he reached the next turn, Bo was gone.
* * *
“What do we do?” Grace asked in the dimly lit lab.
Bertha was out of the bunk with her shotgun in one hand and her radio in the other, monitoring the situation.
“We stay right here,” the former general answered. “Butch, or whoever blew out the power, is trying to create chaos. And by the sound of the radio chatter, he’s doing a pretty good job of it. Bo didn’t get out of her cage on her own. Someone let her out just as sure as someone cut the power. He’s probably done some other things to maximize the pandemonium. When it peaks, he’s going to show up here and try to grab you and the hatchlings.”
“That might be a good reason for us not to be here when he shows up,” Ana said.
Bertha shook her head. “He’s close by. He knows where we are. He’s waiting for us to open the door and come out.”
One sat up, which roused Two. They both yawned and started mewing.
“And it’s feeding time again,” Laurel added.
* * *
“I don’t like it,” Ted said. “Everything checks out here, which means the problem’s aboard the Coelacanth. There are three backup systems on the ship. The only way they could lose all of them is a complete power failure. Maybe we should —”
Their ears were assaulted by a nearly deafening pinging noise followed by a series of equally loud clicking sounds.
“What is that?” Marty shouted, putting his hands on either side of his helmet.
“You don’t have to shout,” Ted said. “And it won’t do you any good to cover your ears through your helmet. Just turn your speaker volume down.” He pointed to the switch.
Marty turned it down, but his ears were still ringing. “So, what is it?” he repeated.
“Sperm whales,” Lepod answered. “Five or six of them. All females, if I’m not mistaken.”
“How do you know that?” Marty asked.
“I’m fluent in sperm whale,” Lepod said.
“Do you mean sperm whale, as in Moby-Dick the sixty-foot behemoth? The kind of whale that swallowed Jonah in the Bible? The largest toothed whale in the ocean?” Marty asked.
“The same,” Lepod said calmly. “And I can’t tell you how delighted I am to hear that you have so much knowledge of this wonderful predator.”
Marty wished he didn’t know so much about them. “Think they’re interested in gulping down an Orb?”
“That’s an excellent question,” Lepod said. “By the sound of their echolocation, they are definitely hunting, but I don’t know how they would respond to our little ball.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ted said. “If they come after us, we’ll be able to outmaneuver them. Oh, and I should warn you both. If we have to do that, you might get a little queasy. Try not to vomit in your helmets. It won’t hurt any of the electronics inside, but it will be kind of unpleasant.”
Marty was happy he hadn’t eaten breakfast before they left.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about your ability to outmaneuver them,” Lepod said. “They are excellent group hunters.”
“We’re not going to give them a chance to try,” Ted said. “We’re going back up to see what’s going on aboard the Coelacanth.”
“I think that would be a mistake, Dr. Bronson,” Lepod said.
“Call me Ted. And why would that be a mistake?”
“We should get closer to the whales,” Lepod answered. “They’re among the most intelligent predators on earth. They would not have expended the energy to get to this depth without a high expectation of finding food. If they are here, there are squid nearby. In fact, one of their echolocations was a sound I haven’t heard before, and I’m very familiar with their lexicon. The unusual sound may have been emitted to actually bring a giant squid out of its lair. I’m speculating, of course. We know virtually nothing about giant squid and sperm whale interaction, but this may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn something about their predator-prey interaction and share it with the scientific community.”
Not without a way of communicating that information, Marty thought. And not if the Orb becomes the prey and gets crunched in their powerful jaws.
“We’re going back up,” Ted said, to Marty’s relief. “If everything’s okay, we can come back down.”
“But the whales may not still be here,” Lepod persisted. “They’re doing our work for us. Without them we could search this canyon for months without seeing a single giant squid. The whales are our beacons. After they get their fill, they’ll move on.”
Ted didn’t say anything for a long time, which Marty took as a bad sign. Lepod’s argument made sense, but it was clear that Ted had a bad feeling about what was going on aboard the Coelacanth. Noah Blackwood and Butch McCall were not in the area on a pleasure cruise, as Butch had already proven.
“Thirty minutes,” Ted said. “Forty-five tops, then we go up.”
“Excellent decision!” Lepod said.
Terrible decision, Marty thought.
Ted turned the Orb in the direction of the hunting whales.
* * *
The predator aboard the Coelacanth could not be more pleased about how his prey were responding. They were running back and forth along the corridors like blind cats. His old pit bull, Dirk, would have loved this.
Wolfe had changed the code on the secure radios, but it didn’t matter anymore. Butch had switched back to Blackwood’s frequency and had talked to him several times in the past hour. Everything and everyone was in place, waiting for Butch’s word. He put Roy’s radio to his clean-shaven face and said, “Come and get ’em.”
“Copy,” Blackwood responded. “We’re on our way. We’ll give them a fifteen-minute head start, then the fun will begin.”
Butch clipped the radio to his belt and stuck the earphone in his ear. He chambered a round in his automatic and stuck it behind his back into the waistband of his pants. He checked to make sure his green armband was securely in place and started to but
ton his white lab coat, but thought better of it. He would need quick access to his gun and radio. He adjusted his wig and eyeglasses.
“Dr. O’Connor’s goin’ huntin’.” He started down the companionway toward Lab Nine.
* * *
“Dr. Wolfe?”
Wolfe was lying on his back under the control panel with a flashlight clamped in his teeth, trying to figure out a way to reroute what little power they had to the Orb’s communication system, when Yvonne’s voice finally broke through on the two-way. With difficulty, he unclipped the little radio and brought it to his lips. “Where have you been, Yvonne?”
“I was in the infirmary with Dr. Jones playing chess. I didn’t have my two-way on. He said it disturbed his concentration. As soon as the lights went out I turned it back on, but there was so much chatter I couldn’t get ahold …”
The inane chatter interrupted Yvonne’s transmission.
Wolfe cursed and waited for a lull in the frantic exchanges, wishing he had given Yvonne an encrypted radio. The lull finally arrived and he keyed the mic and held it down so no one could interrupt the transmission.
“Yvonne, switch to channel eighteen,” he said. “And if I hear anyone using channel eighteen in the next ten minutes, I will personally keelhaul you. In fact, stay off the two-ways unless you have something urgent to communicate.”
He switched to channel eighteen. “Are you there, Yvonne?”
“Yes,” Yvonne said. “What do you want me to do?”
“Bo is loose.”
“I heard.”
“But there’s something the matter with her. She’s hurting people, which isn’t like her. I think she’s been drugged.”
“Who would do something like that?”
“Someone who wants to hurt us,” Wolfe said. He told her about Butch McCall.
“What does he look like?”
“We don’t know exactly,” Wolfe answered. “He’s a big guy and he could be posing as a scientist. You need to stay clear of him.”