Mission Titanic

by Jude Watson

  “Ready?”

  “Ready.”

  Amy and Dan braced themselves behind a wall of cushions.

  “One, two, THREE.” Hamilton pressed the switches on the hydraulic lifts for supports 1, 2, 3, and then dove into the cushion fortress as the modular structure began to tilt.

  “Here we go!” he yelled.

  Dan had only a moment to look at his sister’s terrified face, and they were falling, fast and hard, tilting and sliding. He bounced hard against something and shouted from the impact. The window was suddenly in front of him, and he saw sky and then rushing ground and snow.

  The crash sent him flying, hands over his head. He heard a horrible, wrenching crack. He tumbled again, flying through the air and landing hard, his face in snow.

  Snow! He was outside!

  He couldn’t breathe. Was he hurt? He didn’t know. Gingerly, he rolled onto his back.

  Pieces of blue wall lay splintered on the snow. The modular base had cracked open and spilled them out. Dan looked for Amy. He saw a spot of red on the snow. It looked like blood.

  “Amy!” He screamed the word, torn from his lungs. He fought his way through snow and debris toward her.

  It was the red parka. She was lying flat, face to the sky.

  “Amy?” He tripped and stumbled and landed on his knees. “Amy?”

  Her eyes opened. “Sky,” she said. “We made it.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m okay.” She raised herself, wincing. “Hamilton?”

  “WOO-HOO! RIDE OF A LIFETIME!” Hamilton stood on a slight rise, the broken pieces of the station around him.

  “We’ve got to get” — Amy flipped over onto her hands and knees and struggled to her feet — “to the ship. We’re only a half hour away from the blast!”

  On shaky legs, they ran past the skeleton structures of the whaling station and the rusting tanks. The Zodiacs were still on the shore. They raced toward them.

  But they were deflated, the knife slashes still evident.

  Amy felt tears spring to her eyes. “Jeff disabled them. We’ll never get out of here in time.”

  “There’s no such thing as ‘CAN’T’ or ‘NEVER’ in the HOLT UNIVERSE!” Ham shouted.

  “Oh, Ham, I know,” Amy said. “But we can’t cruise out of here on hope alone.”

  “No, dude.” Ham took her head gently and turned it. “We’re going to cruise on out of here on Ian’s ZODIAC!”

  Ian rammed the boat up on the beach and leaped off, his bright yellow parka billowing behind him. Relief was evident on his face, but he held his body stiffly, as though he was trying not to hug someone or whoop with joy.

  Instead he raised his chin and said, “Only for you would I ever put on this jacket.”

  “We’re just glad you’re here,” Dan said. “You and your jacket.”

  “Cara got a message through to me. The ship —”

  “Is going to explode in less than thirty minutes,” Amy finished. “We know. Tagamayer rigged it. He just took off in a helicopter. We don’t know how he did it, or how to stop it.”

  “Sammy sent a text about how to stabilize the fuel. Something about phenolic compounds and methyl esters and the oxidation stability of UVO.”

  “What does all that mean?”

  “It means I broke into the ship’s kitchen and stole four gallons of used canola oil,” Ian said, gesturing to the Zodiac. “We’ve got to get it inside the fuel tank. It will gum up the valves, but the ship won’t blow.” He patted his pocket. “I managed to lift a key card from a crew member.”

  “So let’s go,” Amy said, starting toward the Zodiac.

  “One second,” Ian said. “I saw Alek Spasky aboard the ship.”

  “Are you sure?” Amy asked. “But why would he be there, too?”

  “If I were running this operation, I’d have a backup, wouldn’t you?” Ian said. “He’s probably got a plan to disembark, but considering we have no time and there’s a trained assassin running around, the odds are not in our favor. There’s a strong possibility we won’t make it. So … there’s no reason for all of us to go. I just came here to make sure you were all right. I have emergency supplies in the Zodiac that I can leave with you. Cara knows where we are. Some of us can be rescued. All of us, in fact. Except for one.”

  Amy looked hard at Ian. She’d seen him step in front of a gun. He had the courage to face death.

  But he couldn’t sentence the rest of them along with him.

  He couldn’t order them. Couldn’t bear to. And the chances of him doing it alone were so, so slim.

  Dan shot a look at her. She understood him in an instant. They had to take the choice away from Ian.

  Dan pushed past Ian and got in the Zodiac. Amy followed. Hamilton clambered in.

  “Guys, I do think we should consider —” Ian started.

  “Just push us off and get in the boat,” Dan said. “It’s time to go save the Titanic.”

  Ian pushed them off the beach and climbed in. Amy steered through the ice floes back toward the ship. They motored fast through the narrows and hit the open sea. Snow pelted their faces. Amy barely felt it. Every nerve was screaming to get back aboard that ship.

  Hamilton looked like a bandit with a scarf pulled up to his eyes. Dan held on to the sides of the Zodiac, peering ahead, watching for the ship. She met Ian’s eyes briefly. She knew he was torn up inside. The responsibility was killing him. She could see it.

  Amy concentrated on weaving through the ice floes. A massive iceberg lay ahead and to their right. She saw the Titanic II emerge from the mist and snow.

  And a metal spear whistled through the air and thudded into the side of the Zodiac.

  “Get DOWN!” Ian shouted, and they all ducked as another spear whistled past them and thudded into the opposite side of the boat.

  Ian yanked out the spear. It had a ring in the middle. Cara had sent him a photograph. It was the same weapon that had killed Rollo Hardcastle.

  Dan and Hamilton flattened themselves on the sides of the boat. Amy had slid down to the wood planks at the bottom, keeping her hand on the steering mechanism and her face forward. Her face was pale, her lips pressed together.

  “There are air compartments in the boat!” Hamilton shouted. “We won’t sink!”

  Unless he shoots out too many compartments and they fill with water, Ian thought. Too many to stay afloat.

  Just like the Titanic.

  The bow was deflating as the boat bumped over the sea. Ian lifted his head to peer behind them, through the pelting snow.

  Another Zodiac was chasing them down, its bow lifted with its speed. Ian could see Alek Spasky at the helm, steering with one hand. The other held something spinning….

  “DOWN!” Ian shouted.

  Amy zigzagged to the left, and they jounced against the boat.

  This time the spear punctured the boat just inches from Ian’s head. He could hear the hiss of air as the cushion deflated.

  Seconds later, another spear punctured the stern.

  He was going to shoot out the compartments, one by one.

  Alek must have a plan. Maybe he was supposed to leave on the same helicopter as Tagamayer. He wouldn’t re-board the Titanic II now. He wouldn’t want to blow up with the ship. He would sink them, and then watch the ship blow.

  Because the Zodiac was sinking. It was dotted with spears and was low in the water, flabby and losing air by the second. Dan’s face was grim, and Hamilton looked at the Titanic II as though he could physically tug it closer to them with his gaze.

  Ian looked at the ice floes in the gray water. How long could one last in water this cold? Ian had read that experts estimated that some of the Titanic passengers had lasted twenty minutes in the ocean, but this water was even colder. And there were those predatory leopard seals that might make the experience even more unpleasant.

  He thought of the victims of the first Titanic disaster, the shock of hitting that freezing water, the temperatures that shut
down their body systems as they desperately tried to stay afloat….

  “We’re going to make it!” he cried. “Just keep going!”

  But they weren’t going to make it. The massive iceberg was to their right, preventing Amy from escaping that way. Alek’s boat was now to their left. Ian stared at the massive iceberg. Through a narrow tunnel in the ice he could see whirling snow on the other side. Up this close, he could see how the surface of the berg was fractured and uneven and contained shades of blue that were unearthly in their beauty. As he watched, a crack above widened and a chunk broke off to fall with a spectacular crash into the sea. He felt a jolt of fear. If they’d been closer, it would have sunk them.

  Another spear thudded into the right side of the boat. Only three compartments were still inflated.

  “DOWN!” Ian shouted, and another spear hit.

  Amy turned the boat to the right and Ian glanced nervously at the iceberg. He could see fissures widening into cracks, and cracks widening into fractures. If Amy got any closer, they’d be in danger.

  “Amy, I think the iceberg is calving!” he yelled. “Watch it!”

  Amy glanced over, her eyes roaming over the berg. “I’m going to try something!” she yelled. Ian could hear the terror and desperation in her voice.

  “Everybody … just hang on tight! Ian, tell me when Spasky spins the spear!”

  Ian twisted, hanging on while keeping his gaze fixed on Alek. Alek dipped his hand down into the Zodiac, then Ian saw the glint of metal, spinning and gathering velocity….

  “NOW!” he yelled.

  Amy yanked the steering at the last minute. The spear splashed into the gray water, and Hamilton cheered as the Zodiac surged to the right.

  Ian lost his breath. Amy was steering straight for the iceberg!

  The iceberg that was beginning to calve, the split now visible at the top as a chunk the size of a railroad car began to split off …

  And tumble …

  Chunks of ice rained down, and they covered their heads. The spray of snow blinded them, but Amy never let go of the tiller. Even over the engine they heard the massive cracking of the ice. The Zodiac zoomed into the ice cavern as the huge chunk of the berg crashed into the sea. Ice and snow splashed into the sea, and pieces as big as Ian’s fist landed in the Zodiac.

  “Hang on, we’re going to get backwash!” Amy yelled.

  The water moved as though a leviathan was beneath them, tossing them forward and bumping them against the craggy walls of the iceberg. They were well inside the iceberg now, and everything was gray and blue and showered with snow. More fissures appeared, cracks radiating down from the top.

  The roaring of the engine and the ice mingled as they shot out of the tunnel while another massive chunk calved off the berg and crashed behind them.

  They rode the rolling wave back to the Titanic II.

  Hanging on to the side, Ian wiped the snow out of his eyes and swept the bay behind them. Alek was having trouble keeping the Zodiac floating in the backwash of the water. He tried to navigate past the huge railroad-car-size berg, and gave up. He turned the boat around and headed back toward Deception Island. Heading for the helicopter, Ian thought. The one that wasn’t there.

  Amy rounded the stern of the Titanic II and bumped the boat up against the platform.

  “That was a little close,” Hamilton said.

  “It’s about to get closer,” Dan said. “Ten minutes until she blows. Run!”

  Titanic II, Antarctica

  They skidded to a stop in front of the door marked ENGINE ROOM CREW ONLY.

  Ian swiped the panel and pushed open the door. They found themselves in a small locker room. Hard hats were piled in a box, and orange coveralls hung on hooks. They each took a hard hat and put it on.

  A crew member walked through the door. “What are you kids doing down here?”

  “We’re meeting Mr. Zimmer for a tour,” Amy said. “He should be here any minute. We are super excited!”

  “Get a look at the guts of the ship, eh? Don’t forget your earplugs.” He pointed to a case. “And don’t go in there by yourselves!”

  “Of course not,” Amy promised, and waited obediently until he’d passed through the exit door before grabbing earplugs and leading the way into the engine room.

  Immediately, they were hit with heat and noise. They were in the bulkhead of the ship. They walked out onto a catwalk that ran above and through massive machinery painted bright green. Everywhere they looked they saw a confusion of machines, gauges, pumps, pipes, and controls. Three stories of catwalks and ladders crisscrossed the space. Below them, a thick yellow shaft ran the length of the space.

  “That looks like the prop shaft,” Ham said, leaning in so they could hear him.

  “Can you find the fuel tanks?” Amy asked, trying to keep the urgency in her voice tamped down.

  Hamilton anxiously peered down into the guts of the ship. “There. Come on.”

  “We’ve got four minutes,” Dan said.

  They scrambled down a ladder to the lowest level of the engine room. A mechanic with his back to them was walking toward a staircase. They waited until he climbed up, their nerves taut and straining. Luckily, it was so noisy that no one could hear them, so they just had to move quickly and hope they weren’t spotted.

  Even through the earplugs, the noise of the machinery thudded against Amy’s eardrums. She felt the engine power in her body, in her bones. Each heartbeat counted out the seconds.

  They ran behind Hamilton to a massive metal tank. Ham climbed a small ladder to the top and unscrewed the valve.

  He motioned, and Ian passed up the first gallon of oil. Ham poured it in, tossed the empty back down, and motioned for another.

  The oil seemed to pour impossibly slowly.

  Dan held up two fingers. Two minutes.

  Ian pointed to a touch screen with several monitors. “Keep your eye on the pressure gauge. It’s spiking, but it should go down once the oil mixes in.”

  The gauge was in the red. Amy watched as it edged farther into the DANGER zone.

  Hamilton kept pouring.

  The gauge stopped moving. The needle trembled.

  Dan held up one finger.

  Ham reached for the last gallon and poured in the oil in a steady stream.

  He closed the valve and stood still, waiting.

  The gauge began to sink back down into the green zone. Slowly. They watched it, their heartbeats hammering against their chests.

  “It’s at a normal level!” Ian cried. “HOORAY!”

  He straightened his cuffs. “I mean, good show. I knew we could do it. Though Sammy wasn’t one hundred percent sure it would work. Did I mention that?”

  “No,” Hamilton said. “Thanks for leaving that part out.”

  Amy smiled at Dan. Her legs felt weak.

  “We did it,” Dan said. “This Titanic won’t sink.”

  Ushuaia, Argentina

  Jonah let out a whoop as the text came through.

  “They made it. They saved the ship!”

  Cara jumped up and threw her arms around him. They bumped hips in a dance.

  They made it, they made it, they made it….

  Jonah’s phone buzzed again and he ran for it.

  “It’s Nellie!”

  IF WE DISAPPEAR ASK MABEL

  WHO IS MABEL? Jonah tapped out.

  SAVE MY KIDDOS

  WHO IS MABEL, Jonah tapped again.

  There was no response.

  Attleboro, Massachusetts

  The Outcast smiled. At last he had the place to himself.

  So little resistance from the rest of the Cahills, he mused. It was something of a surprise. He’d planned for it, of course, even looked forward to it, but no resistance came. That Kabra boy was weak. Pathetic. No wonder his father had disowned him.

  Now they were happy, thinking that they’d bested him.

  They would soon learn how wrong they were.

  Let them race all over the world
, let them try to beat him, and he would be right here. Right where he wanted to be.

  It was lucky for him that the children had chosen to rebuild Grace’s mansion almost as a complete replica of what she had. Of course they had made changes — that extra floor with the digital suite and the apartments for visiting Cahills — it would all have to go. He didn’t want guests. He wanted solitude. And memories to fuel him.

  He climbed the stairs to Grace’s library. This room they had reproduced exactly, down to the molding and the windows and the fireplace surrounded by green tiles. He remembered it all well. The same window seats covered in deep green velvet, and it looked as though — yes, very nearly — they’d replaced almost every volume in the bookshelves.

  Even the entire set of Shakespeare.

  He ran his hand along the spine of Much Ado About Nothing.

  Very funny, Grace. But I would have thought you would choose Macbeth. Considering your penchant for blood.

  The hidden compartment slid out. So. The children replicated everything.

  The safe was inside. It was fireproof, so it had survived.

  And he still knew the combination.

  He spun the dial and heard the clicks. The door opened and he reached inside.

  He tossed aside the flat velvet box — priceless pearls didn’t interest him. He withdrew a folder.

  He took it over to the comfortable armchair by the window and began to leaf through the documents.

  Oh, yes. Very interesting.

  And just what he needed to destroy them.

  Sneak Peek

  Amy and Dan might’ve prevented a disaster at sea, but they’ve only scratched the surface of the Outcast’s dangerous plans. What’s going to happen next? Find out in DOUBLECROSS Book 2: Mission Hindenburg!

  Copyright © 2015 by Scholastic Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, THE 39 CLUES, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2014953663

  Cover images: ship and pieces by Freddie Bethune for Scholastic; gears © cherezoff/Shutterstock and © stiven/Shutterstock; blueprint © amgun/Shutterstock; ship blueprint © Hein Nouwens/Shutterstock: Titanic drawing by the-blueprints.com. Interior images: vial page 10 © studioVin/Shutterstock; vial labels page 10, smartphone page 145, and emei piercer page 170 by Charice Silverman for Scholastic; ship page 145 by Freddie Bethune for Scholastic.