by Rob Tiffany
“Awesome,” Caroline replied. “I’m sensing their confusion.”
She continued to cut the gauze off of Petty Officer Timbers, after freeing Petty Officers Love and Grant.
“I’m drained,” commented Petty Officer Love, as he crawled slowly on the ground.
“Me, too,” echoed Petty Officer Grant. “I’ve got nothing in the tank.”
“Just do the best you can. Crawl down that hall toward the open door which will lead you out of the pyramid,” Caroline told the freed crewmembers. “I’m almost done with Mike’s dad.”
Meanwhile, Nick had a grim look on his face as the light from the first flare died out. A second surge of Underworlders was approaching. Nick reached into his pocket to load another shell into his flare gun when an intense wave of heat forced him to drop the gun on the deck.
“Ahhhhh!” Nick screamed in pain as he was enveloped in burning heat. One of the approaching Underworlders sent a blast of heat from her outstretched hand. Once she lowered her hand, the heat disappeared.
Nick quickly reached down to pick up the gun, but a stream of white gauze shot at him and wrapped around his wrist. He looked up to see multiple streams of gauze coming at him from the open mouths of the oncoming Underworlders. The gauze wrapped around each of his arms and legs and lifted him up in the air. The creatures halted their approach and began reeling him in.
“Caroline, they’ve got me,” Nick called out as he struggled in mid-air.
Caroline had just freed Petty Officer Timbers and sent him on his way toward the pyramid exit.
“I’m coming, Nick,” she yelled, leaving her mummified father and Lieutenant Wyatt behind. In her haste to grab Nick, she accidently stepped on the flare gun and slipped to the ground. Seeing a flare shell on the deck, she quickly grasped it and loaded it into the gun next to her. She rose to her knees and pointed the gun toward the Underworlders. Closing her eyes, she squeezed the trigger launching a fireball between Nick and the creatures.
The burning flare sliced through the multiple streams of gauze and Nick crashed to the ground. The gauze connected to the Underworlders caught fire and the flames quickly moved toward the creatures who had tried to capture Nick. They shrieked with fright as the fire raced up into their open mouths.
Caroline and Nick winced as the Underworlders’ heads smoldered and then turned to ash. The other Underworlders quickly backed off as they watched their comrades die before them. Nick handed Caroline the rest of the flare shells from his pockets and she repeatedly reloaded and fired the flare gun toward their new enemy. The fireballs and subsequent explosions looked like the grand finale from a Fourth of July fireworks show. The blinded and charred Underworlders were now in full retreat.
“The Underworlders are on the run, but I don’t think it will be long before reinforcements return,” said Nick.
“I agree,” Caroline replied. “The other crewmembers should be out of the pyramid by now, so let’s just drag our dads back to the Omaha Beach and get out of here.”
With that, they cut down their fathers from the wires and began to drag them through the corridor toward the exit. It was slow-going, getting Captain Connery and Lieutenant Wyatt through the umbilical tube and down the hatch into the DSRV. Caroline made quick work of cutting off their gauze cocoons once inside the sub.
“We honestly didn’t expect to see you guys again,” Nick’s father exclaimed. His eyes began to tear up.
“It’s not just us, we brought the USS Alaska,” replied Nick as he hugged his father tightly.
“You came for me.” Captain Connery reached out and touched his daughter’s face. “I love you, Dad.” Caroline smiled at her father. “Of course I came for you. I’m a Connery. Uncle Charley risked his career and sent me a message telling me where you are.”
“I’m sure the XO didn’t intend for you kids to come rescue us,” Captain Connery commented. “I would’ve expected SEALs.”
“Commander Keller isn’t onboard,” Caroline said. “We brought Granddad, um, I mean Admiral Connery and all the rest of your kids. We kind of stole the Alaska. Those SEALs you were expecting to save you tried to kill us with a laser-guided bomb. To make matters worse, last we heard on the radio, the entire Pacific fleet is after us.”
“You dragged my dad out of retirement for a suicide mission to come rescue us from these Underworlders?” Captain Connery looked incredulous.
“Actually, it was the Admiral’s idea,” replied Nick. “He needed a crew, so that’s why we came along to help out.”
“Like I said,” Caroline raised her voice, “The entire Pacific fleet is on our tail, so we really need to get out of here.”
“Hey, the lights are back on,” Petty Officer Timbers remarked. “Some kind of tractor beam pulled us down here and disrupted our electrical systems.”
“Yeah, but that disruption kept us from blowing ourselves up,” added Petty Officer Love.
“No worries, we blew up their magnetic beam with one of Alaska’s Mark 48 torpedoes,” Admiral Connery proudly proclaimed as he emerged from the shadows.
“Granddad, what are you doing here?” a surprised Caroline yelled out.
“I figured you might need an extra deck hand,” replied Admiral Connery. “Of course, I had to muscle my way past a shark to get here, but that just makes for a better sea story. It’s time we get these engines fired up and close the forward hatch.”
“Firing up the engines now,” the Lieutenant Wyatt responded.
A weary Captain Connery stumbled over to embrace his father. “Thanks for not giving up on us, Dad,” he whispered to the Admiral.
“It was your kids who didn’t give up on you.” Admiral Connery looked into the Captain’s eyes. “They just needed an old bubblehead to teach ‘em things like how to drive a submarine, take risks, shoot first, and ask questions later. As it turns out, risk-taking already seems to be in their DNA.”
Meanwhile, Petty Officer Grant popped his head up through the forward hatch to see if the coast was still clear. It wasn’t. Three Underworlders were running straight for him through the red glowing tube.
“We’ve got company!” Petty Officer Grant shouted to the crew below.
One of the Underworlders pointed his hand in Grant’s direction; the Petty Officer felt a wave of intense heat come over him, causing him to fall down through the hatch.
“Gotcha,” Petty Officer Love said, catching his falling shipmate.
The Underworlder chasing Grant wasted no time in diving through the hatch in close pursuit. The creature crashed onto the deck of the control room and began shrieking and writhing in pain in the fluorescent light-filled compartment.
“I guess nobody told this freak that the Omaha Beach got its power back.” Nick backed away from the Underworlder who was flipping around the deck like someone having a seizure. “FYI, Caroline and I found out that these creatures can’t stand our kind of light. Oh gross, it looks like its skin is sizzling.”
The crewmembers covered the shrieking Underworlder in dark blankets and locked him in the one of the staterooms.
Admiral Connery grabbed his sidearm and raced up the ladder, out through the hatch and into the glowing red tube. An Underworlder tackled him and the two struggled on the floor of the tube. The Admiral was protected from the heat of the creature’s hands since he was still wearing his deep-sea diving suit. He reached over and struck the Underworlder on the head with his gun and managed to break free. Admiral Connery crawled towards the hatch and stuck his head down through the opening.
“Get this sub moving,” the Admiral shouted. “I’ll hold off these monsters so you can get away!”
“Noooooo!” screamed Caroline. “We’re not leaving you!”
She rushed up toward the open hatch and was immediately restrained by other members of the crew. She punched Petty Officer Timbers, knocking him to the deck. Finally, her father grabbed her and pulled the young warrior down the ladder as she kicked and screamed wildly.
“You heard the Ad
miral,” exclaimed the Lieutenant Wyatt. “Let’s get out of here!”
With that, Admiral Connery slammed the hatch shut from the outside and turned around to face the two remaining Underworlders. He lunged toward them, firing a fatal shot at one of the creatures. As the Underworlder fell to the floor of the tube, the Admiral pointed the gun at his other foe. The lone Underworlder quickly opened his mouth and fired a stream of gauze that wrapped around the Admiral’s gun and yanked it out of his hand. Without missing a beat, the Admiral punched the Underworlder in the head, sending the humanoid falling to the floor. The Admiral quickly jumped on him trying to finish the fight. At that moment, he began to feel searing heat coming from the Underworlder’s hands as it reached up and grasped his throat. Just as the heat became too unbearable to take, they both found themselves enveloped by the icy waters of the deep ocean as water rushed into the tube.
The Underworlders’ umbilical tube ruptured as the DSRV’s turbines came to full speed, allowing the Omaha Beach to make its escape upward from the ocean floor. From the giant display screen inside, everyone could see the ongoing underwater battle between the Admiral and Underworlder behind them. A shroud of bubbles began to encase the combatants as the creature’s burning hands caused the water around them to boil.
“We can’t leave Granddad!” Caroline cried uncontrollably as the image of the fearless Admiral became smaller and smaller. “Goodbye.”
Chapter 8 > The Escape
The ocean floor trembled violently as the crystalline pyramid rose out of the sea bottom. Within minutes, the pyramid had completely dislodged itself from the sand and started to move slowly through the water. It became apparent that the structure only looked like a pyramid when buried underground with its tip exposed above the ocean floor. In fact, this vessel looked more like a giant diamond the length of a football field. An unknown energy source emanating from the Underworlder craft generated so much heat that the seawater around it boiled uncontrollably.
“Are you guys seeing what I’m seeing?” Nick asked everyone in the control room, as he stared at the diamond-shaped craft coming toward them. “Petty Officer Grant, I think we need to get the Alaska on the phone right now.”
“I’m on it,” replied the Radioman. He found the USS Alaska listed on the communications display and tapped on it with his finger to place the call.
A couple of fake ring tones later, Chrissie picked up the headset and answered the call. “Uh, hello, this is the Alaska. Chrissie speaking.”
Still distraught after watching his father perish in an undersea struggle, Captain Connery staggered over to the communications panel and put Chrissie on speaker.
“Chrissie, this is Captain Connery on the USS Omaha Beach,” the Captain announced. “What is your status?”
“Wow, you’ve been rescued,” Chrissie replied to the message with delight. “Is everything okay?”
“Far from it,” said the Captain. “We need to make a quick getaway. The Underworlders are not too happy with us at the moment, so we need to put some distance between us and them.”
“What’s an Underworlder?” Chrissie asked.
“I’ll explain later, just pull a Crazy Ivan and make your way to the surface on an easterly course at flank speed.” answered the Captain curtly.
“Sorry. I don’t know who Crazy Ivan is. Can you please send Admiral Connery back over to us so he can tell us what to do,” Chrissie replied. “We’re mostly a bunch of kids over here, so we’ll probably need his help.”
“My father didn’t make it,” replied the Captain. “He lost his life fighting off Underworlders so we could escape.”
Chrissie put her head in her hands and sobbed quietly for a moment. “The Admiral is dead,” she announced to everyone in the Alaska control room.
The Alaska crewmembers and children were stunned and looked back at Chrissie in disbelief.
Back on the Omaha Beach, a teary-eyed Caroline embraced her father.
“You’re going to have to do this on your own, Chrissie,” the Captain spoke. “There’s no more time to chat. I’m putting you in charge, so you need work with your friends and what’s left of my crew and get the Alaska moving now.”
Chrissie reached for the 1MC and broadcasted the news of the rescue and Admiral’s death to everyone else on the sub. A mixture of somber faces, joy and outright crying erupted throughout the Alaska as everyone listened to the news.
Seconds later, she pushed the talk button on the 1MC microphone and announced:
“This is Chrissie and I’m taking command of the ship,” she spoke with a wobbly voice. “Annie, bring us right to course zero-nine-zero and give me flank speed.”
“Bringing us to course zero-nine-zero, all ahead flank, aye,” Annie repeated, steering to the starboard and twisting the engine order telegraph to flank.
Back in Maneuvering, the Eng quickly responded to the flank bell by bringing more steam from the reactor.
“Mike, start filling the ballast tanks with air and then jump into the Planesman seat to control the stern planes,” Chrissie ordered.
“High pressure air is filling the tanks and I’m jumping in your old seat,” replied Mike.
“Chief of the Boat, you have the Conn,” Chrissie announced as the Chief entered the control room. “I’m taking over as Diving Officer.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the Chief replied.
The Alaska made a 180 degree turn and began to accelerate upward. The Omaha Beach tracked in behind the Alaska and followed. The crews of both subs began to feel a bit of relief as they pulled farther away from the slow-moving Underworlder vessel.
Just as everyone was settling in for a speedy evacuation, a muffled voice was heard unexpectedly over the 1MC speaker in the Alaska control room. “Hey, let me in.”
“Who is this?” Chrissie asked through her microphone.
“I’m trapped in the escape trunk. Somebody get me out of here.”
“Who knows how to operate the escape trunk?” Chrissie looked around the control room.
“I watched the Chief of the Boat help Nick and Caroline get in there,” Mike replied.
“Perfect. Annie, hold Mike’s stern planes steady while he checks it out,” ordered Chrissie.
Mike bounded out of his seat and headed down the passageway to the escape trunk. Upon arriving, Mike pushed the intercom button to communicate with whoever was inside the trunk.
“Who’s in there?”
“Please let me out,” replied the unfamiliar voice.
Mike unlocked the hatch and spun the wheel until it started to open. Suddenly, he was knocked to the deck as the occupant inside lunged out of the escape trunk. As he picked himself up off the floor, Mike came face to face with a pair of glowing, ultraviolet eyes.
“Stupid boy, you never open the door for uninvited guests.” The Underworlder dropped his scuba rebreather on the deck, raised his hand, and unleashed a wave of heat that sent Mike flying backwards down the passageway.
“Ahhhh!” Mike screamed as he slid across the deck with his sunburned skin and smoldering clothes.
Mike wasn’t the only one feeling the pain. Looking up at the Underworlder, Mike could see smoke coming off the creature’s skin. Finding the source of his discomfort, the Underworlder smashed the fluorescent light tubes above his head bringing complete darkness to the compartment.
“What’s wrong with you? Can’t handle a little light?” Mike taunted the creature.
“It’s just like a sun-worshiping Overworlder to bring the light of a burning star beneath the sea. You’ll pay for your insolence, boy.” The Underworld began walking toward Mike using his biological night vision.
Remembering the glow stick his father gave him on the Delta pier, Mike quickly pulled it out of his pocket and bent it until it snapped. The Underworlder was almost upon him when the ultraviolet light of the glow stick began shining from Mike’s outstretched hand. The creature immediately recoiled in fear and pain as its translucent skin began to sizzle.
&
nbsp; Jumping to his feet, Mike pressed forward toward the monster using the glow stick as a torch.
“You’re a scared child and I don’t think you have what it takes to finish me off,” the Underworlder goaded Mike as he backed into a corner.
“I might have been a boy when I set foot on this sub, but I’m a Underworlder slayer now! Eat this!” Mike jammed the glow stick into the Underworlder’s mouth causing the creature to scream uncontrollably.
Mike grimaced as he watched the Underworlder’s head turn into glowing cinders and then flake away as ashes on to the floor. Still in shock from what had just transpired, Mike was suddenly jolted back to reality as he heard the announcement over the 1MC speakers.
“Conn, sonar, the towed array is telling me that the large object to our stern is increasing speed and closing the distance between us.” The intense heat of the diamond-shaped vessel propelled it ever more quickly toward the fleeing submarines.
Mike scrambled back to the control room as Chrissie ordered the Chief of the Boat to communicate this news to the Omaha Beach via their underwater messaging link.
Sonarman Timbers on the Omaha Beach replied to the Alaska through his headset. “Alaska, thanks for the heads-up. We’ve got our own sonar suite and it looks like our luck is going south. I’m picking up thirty surface contacts and three submerged ones in front of us. My computer has classified the three submerged contacts as Seawolf-class submarines and they’re heading in our direction with their torpedo tube outer doors open.”
In all the excitement of rescuing their fathers from the clutches of the Underworlders, the pre-teen crew of the Alaska and Omaha Beach had forgotten that they were fugitives from the United States Navy. The Abraham Lincoln battle group had arrived at the scene after following the source of the underwater explosion. Their intelligence officers had also been monitoring some of the message traffic between the Alaska and the Omaha Beach.
“Conn, Sonar, I hate to say it, but things have just gone from bad to worse,” announced the Alaska Sonarman. “I’m now picking up twenty-four Mark-48 torpedoes heading our way from the three submerged contacts. Our own submarine fleet is here to destroy us.”