Z-Boat

by Suzanne Robb

  Chapter Eleven

  Ally located an area to surface with clean enough air for them to fill the tanks before they continued to the rescue coordinates. The location was also calm and clear- a bonus when surfacing, as it made things easier to navigate. She hit the communications panel for the engine room.

  "Marcus, we're going to surface in a few hours. Start prepping the tanks for refilling."

  Ally then hit the communications panel for an announcement to be heard by everyone.

  "Surface in three hours. Anyone who wants fresh air or just needs to get out for a bit, do it then."

  Ally turned back to her navigation panel and started plotting the surface coordinates. She made sure all systems were running perfectly when they refilled the oxygen tanks. Blowing up was never a good thing. Ally also made sure that when they surfaced, she could take some time to go sit on deck with Marcus.

  ***

  Maxine heard the announcement and grabbed her communications chip. She hoped she would be able to contact her bosses. She needed to tell them about Kramer's involvement in the operation. She convinced herself they didn't know about his presence. To think otherwise was unpleasant.

  ***

  Ivan stood in his room, thinking about how he was going to contact his bosses. He had a communications chip, but he worried about using it and getting caught. He guessed most people would go up top to soak in the fresh air. While they did, he would attempt to make contact.

  ***

  Tom was so excited to get out of the sub that he practically vibrated. He grabbed the photo of his family. It seemed to have a calming effect on him. Not to mention it was the only thing he had to look at other than the naked images with which Ventura decorated the walls. He examined Kramer's bunk and wondered if the guy slept there yet.

  ***

  Nina hated going up for air. She much preferred the recycled air of the Betty Loo; it was cleaner and didn't make you feel dirty afterwards. She would spend time with Dutch as usual. They would smoke cigarettes and wonder why the idiots up top were polluting their lungs with 'fresh' air.

  ***

  Ally finished everything on her list and then put the sub on autopilot. She knew there was nothing to worry about. After everything that had happened, Tom needed to get out, so she didn't ask him to stay behind. She had done hundreds of refills as the only pilot, so she didn't stress about going up top for a few hours. She was met at the door by Marcus, who held a blanket in one hand and some packaged food in the other.

  When they climbed the narrow hatchway to exit the sub onto the observation deck, most of the other crew were already there. The only people missing were Dutch and Nina. Ally assumed they were smoking and wondered why they polluted their lungs with the toxic fumes. She looked around once more and realized Ivan and Maxine were missing too.

  "Hey, let's go sit over there." Marcus walked them over to their usual spot.

  They had surfaced just before sunrise. Ally timed it. She smiled; it was going to be a beautiful one. She loved this part of the job, floating out in the middle of the ocean watching an amazing sunrise with Marcus.

  "Here, have some of this." Marcus handed Ally a warm cup of coffee and some packaged eggs, heaven to her.

  "How are things going so far with the Betty Loo?" Marcus shifted his position so Ally could lean against him.

  The added bonus for her: he wrapped his arms around her.

  "They look okay so far. No major problems. As for the depth, Dutch is convinced we can make it." Marcus didn't sound convinced to Ally.

  "What do you think?"

  "I think this sub was built almost fifty years ago. At the time, technology let subs dive to about ten thousand feet. There have been upgrades, and we do have the titanium hull, but we're still looking at almost sixteen thousand pounds of pressure per square inch."

  "The pod is newer, so we can at least use it if worse comes to worst."

  "I'm sure everything will work out. Let's just enjoy the sunrise." Ally could sense the tension in Marcus and dropped the topic.

  Both fell silent as the light broke over the edge of the ocean. A horrible thought planted itself in Ally's mind: This might be their last sunrise together. She tried to shake it off, but it held tight.

  A noise off to the side alerted Ally to the arrival of Ivan and Maxine. She watched as they awkwardly stood and stared out towards the ocean. Ivan watched Maxine with a critical eye. For her part, Maxine wore a sour expression and seemed to be eyeing Kramer with disgust.

  Well, this is going to be a fun trip, Ally thought, then snuggled deeper into Marcus.

  ***

  Ivan saw most of the crew up top. His message had gotten through, and the only response he received was Watch the doctor. He assumed they meant Doctor Williams, as he already knew to keep an eye on Doctor Kramer. More than a little annoyed that they gave him no other information, he signed off with nothing new. Again, he felt as if he were on a doomed mission.

  ***

  Maxine was not happy. Her message went through, but there was some sort of interference, and the response she received was garbled. She suspected someone else was doing the same thing as she was. As a result, her message might be compromised. The last thing she heard was to watch the doctor. The only other doctor on board was Kramer, so she assumed she needed to keep an eye on him.

  ***

  From outward appearances, all the crew seemed calm and serene. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

  When it was time to return to the sub, they climbed down the ladder one by one and resumed their places on board. Ally, Iain, and Tom all went into the control room.

  Ally went to her 'control center' and started to prepare the sub for diving. Marcus called up to let her know everything was okay on his end, and all tanks had been refilled.

  "Tom, why don't you take shift now? I can cover when you have to pilot the pod for the practice dive."

  "Sounds good. I'll see you later."

  Ally left the room.

  "How long until we reach a suitable depth for the practice dive?" Iain felt left out of the decision-making process, and he hated it.

  "I'm guessing we'll hit ten thousand feet in a couple of hours."

  "Make an announcement so Nina and Johnny can prep."

  "Yes, sir."

  "I'll be in my room. Let me know when we're ready for the dive."

  ***

  Nina still felt like crap, but it was time for the practice dive with Ventura. They had been at sea for several days, and no other major events had taken place. She was starting to think things might be okay after all. She pulled herself out of bed and went to the diving room.

  Marcus and Dutch were both there to help her into her suit. Johnny was already halfway into his.

  "Hey, Johnny, ready for this?"

  "Yep, I am, but what about you? You don't look so great."

  "It's nothing, just tired."

  "All right, you two. Let's get you suited up and into the water. It's a practice run, so nothing fancy."

  The next half-hour was spent getting the two divers in their suits. They reviewed every last detail twice, from communications to range of movement. Ivan entered the room a few minutes before the dive was to commence. He stood off to the side, watching the goings-on.

  ***

  Ally noticed their location and put an all stop to the Betty Loo. They would sit motionless for the next two hours while Nina and Johnny went out and took a few random samples. Tom would be in the submersible in case something happened.

  "All right, guys, you're set to go."

  ***

  Marcus and Dutch left the room, dragging Ivan along with them. The room went dark as special lights lit to give the divers visibility. Nina went to the hatchway leading outside of the sub and began to turn the large wheel. It was a slow process but eventually started to work.

  Johnny, for his part, hooked up the umbilical cords that would help keep both him and Nina securely attached to the Betty Loo. When th
e hatchway opened, both Johnny and Nina let the water flow in so they could adjust to the change. Once the chamber finished filling, they put the lights on inside the masks of their suits so they could see what they were doing.

  Nina exited first, with Johnny a few seconds behind her. Inside the sub, Tom watched from the rescue pod. Ivan, Dutch, and Marcus watched from a small observation room. The dive routine was just to take a few samples and get readjusted to wearing the suit for when the search and rescue came up.

  On search and rescues, they didn't always need to use the suits, but on more than one occasion, they had to cut into a badly damaged sub to gain access. Until they arrived at their destination, they never knew whether or not they would need to use them. Either way, having divers out was always a nerve-wracking experience. So much could go wrong.

  Nina looked around at the various things floating in the water around her, always amazed by the variety of sea life one could find. She opened the collecting areas on her suit and watched the internal display on her mask as they filled. There were a few unique ones she tried to capture on her own, with some success.

  Johnny did the same, waiting until his collection pockets were full. As he did, he also looked for squish. He wandered over to a darker area. The best quality was found in darkness, and as an added bonus, it put him out of Nina's immediate view. They were still in radio contact, but it didn't really matter.

  "Johnny, where the hell did you go?"

  "Saw something cool, going to go check it out. I'll be back in your line of sight in a few minutes."

  Johnny spotted what he was looking for, just a few feet further on. He started to swim for it and felt his umbilical get stuck. He looked over and saw it caught on a rock outcropping. He swam back to try to loosen it.

  "Johnny, what's going on? I can hear you struggling with something."

  "Nothing to worry about. Just trying to get out of this rocky area." Johnny pulled roughly on his umbilical.

  "Give me a few seconds. I'll be right there."

  "No, it's okay. I can handle it. Get the samples."

  "Not how it works, remember? When we're out here, we're a team."

  Johnny kept struggling and pulling. All he could think about was the prime sample he had seen. If he didn't get loose soon, he wouldn't be able to get it. He'd already used up Nina's stash. If he didn't score more, he would be screwed. This made him pull harder. His umbilical started to fray from the friction.

  Johnny, this is Marcus. I can see your vitals rising. What's going on?

  "Nothing, just stuck on this stupid thing."

  "Okay, I'm here. Let's get you out of this."

  Johnny looked behind him, annoyed to see Nina. She'd found him, and now he would never get the one thing he needed. He pulled the umbilical in an angry motion, causing it to come loose and also causing a small rockslide.

  "Johnny, look out..."

  Too late. Several rocks fell on top of Johnny. His suit light went out, and the display panel in the sub went blank on his vitals. Marcus tapped into Nina's communications channel.

  Nina, do you have eyes on him? Can you see Johnny?

  "I can see him, just not sure what I can do about it." Nina started to move towards Johnny, but more falling rocks made her stop.

  "The rocks here are too unstable. If I keep going, there's a good chance I'll get buried too."

  Let me get in there. Nina, move back into the sub. Tom was already manoeuvring the submersible.

  In less than ten seconds, Tom arrived and used the mechanical arm to pull the rocks off of the unmoving body. He positioned the submersible in such a way that any more falling debris would be diverted. Several minutes later, he finally got Johnny free and pulled him back to the opening of the sub.

  Nina grabbed the body, guiding it into the room. As soon as the pod and umbilical cords were clear, she started the process to empty the room of water and return it to normal pressurization.

  Five minutes later, the room had emptied completely. Nina tried to do what she could for Johnny. She took inventory of his injuries, checked for tears in the suit, felt for any obvious signs of broken bones, and worked on waking him up.

  As soon as the room pressurized, Nina pulled off her helmet and carefully removed Johnny's. As she did, a small pool of blood started to form beneath his head. Nina noted the large crack at the back of his helmet.

  Marcus and Dutch rushed into the room to help. Marcus sat beside Johnny with a med kit. Dutch helped Nina get Johnny out of his suit- a delicate process, as they had no idea how extensive Johnny's injuries were. They also had to pay attention to the suit itself, an expensive piece of equipment they couldn't afford to damage further.

  Moments later, Maxine came into the room, followed by Ivan. He had gone to get the doctor, thinking it might be too dangerous to move Johnny until they had a better idea as to how severe his injuries were. A moment later, the suit removed, Johnny lay on the ground in the simple Lycra suit divers wore for added warmth.

  Blood pooled around the body. His left arm lay at an odd angle, obviously broken. A large gash on the back of his head leaked blood profusely. Nina applied pressure to try to slow the flow of blood.

  Maxine knelt beside him with the med kit and used a scanner to get a more detailed summary of his injuries. She started at the top of his spine and worked her way down. He had a fracture of the fifth cervical vertebrae. Paralyzed, she thought. Scans of the ribs showed that four were broken, his lung was punctured, and there was a massive amount of internal bleeding.

  "He needs to get into surgery now, Doc," Marcus yelled.

  "Get him into the med lab. I'll need someone to help me prep him and aid in surgery."

  "I will do it. I have some experience in these things." Ivan spoke for the first time since the accident.

  Dutch came into the room, carrying a stretcher. Nina, Marcus, and Ivan worked together to get Johnny onto it without causing any more damage to him.

  "Easy, guys. Let's get moving."

  They tried to go slowly so no jerking motions would make Johnny's injuries worse, but time was an issue. Doors opened and closed in a flurry. Once in the med lab, Ivan went to work clearing the operating table. Maxine went to the cabinet and started pulling out gauze, surgery packages, and saline bags.

  Johnny lay hooked up to monitors indicating his blood pressure, pulse rate, and body temperature.

  A beep sounded, and his pulse rate started to plummet.

  "I need adrenaline now!" Ivan yelled.

  Maxine gave him the needle and watched as he plunged it deep into Johnny's chest. His heart beat began to pick up.

  "Doctor Williams, you must prepare for surgery!" Ivan yelled at her.

  Maxine went to the washbasin and pulled out some alcohol-soaked gloves. She pulled them on and grabbed a sealed package containing a gown.

  "People who don't need to be here, get the hell out," Maxine was not happy with the turn of events.

  Marcus, Dutch, and Nina all left the room. Nina still lumbered around in half her suit.

  "Ivan you need to prepare; you're the only one who can assist me." Ivan didn't say a word.

  She watched as he donned gloves and a gown. Within seconds, the two of them stood next to an unconscious Johnny.

  "We need to stabilize him. His lung is punctured, and there's massive internal bleeding." Maxine didn't know what to do. She hoped Ivan would jump in.

  Ivan worked at getting an IV into Johnny's arm. Maxine retrieved gauze, a bone saw, and a laser scalpel. Then she intubated him and administered a strong drug to keep him knocked out. Maxine seized the bone saw and prepared to cut down the center of his chest.

  "What are you doing? His ribs are too damaged; we can't open his chest."

  Maxine put the saw down and took up the laser scalpel. She cut along the side with the punctured lung. With the incision large enough, she reached her hand inside and readjusted the ribs puncturing the lung. A frothy blood mixture spewed from Johnny's mouth and nose.


  "We need to..." A beep sounded, then the sounds stopped.

  Johnny lay there lifeless. Maxine looked down and shook her head.

  "More adrenaline, Doctor!"

  Maxine jerked at Ivan's voice and grabbed another adrenaline needle. She opened it and jabbed it into Johnny's chest. This time, his heart beat did not come back up.

  "The damage was too extensive. There's nothing we could have done."

  "I suppose you are right, Doctor Williams. I will leave you to this and inform the other members of the crew."

  Ivan dropped his gown and gloves into a trash bin as he exited the med lab. They were automatically sucked down to an incinerator. He looked at Johnny sadly, then at Doctor Williams with a bit of a question on his face. Maxine went to pull the IV out of Johnny's arm, avoiding Ivan's gaze.

  As soon as the door shut, and she was sure Ivan could not hear her, Maxine slammed her fist down on the nearest thing to her, which happened to be Johnny's broken arm.

  "Goddammit, you stupid son of a bitch, now what the hell am I supposed to do?"

  She was screwed and she knew it. There was no way they would not question her skills as a doctor or perhaps even blame her for the death of Johnny. She hadn't been trained for this type of thing. The man was in bits and pieces and bleeding everywhere. What did they expect her to do?

  She looked down at the corpse and started to pull out the rest of the tubes. She stuffed everything down the incinerator. When finished, she ran the disinfection light and destroyed all traces of blood and gore. Now all she was left with was the dead body.

  She grabbed a sheet and threw it over the corpse. She rolled the table to the corner of the room and secured it to the wall. She would wait a few minutes before asking what to do with it.

  ***

  Ivan, unsure of what just happened, walked down the aisle way. He'd been trained in battle triage, and from what he saw, Johnny could have been saved if the doctor had been competent. Was she even a doctor? She seemed to know less than he did. He would have to investigate into the background of this Doctor Williams and find out exactly why she was here.