Mosaic (Breakthrough Book 5)

by Michael C. Grumley

  Inside the Pathfinder’s small comms room, he looked back at his screen. “Did you hear that, Ali?”

  “Yes. I did.”

  74

  Chris Ramirez clicked back on the line.

  Ackerman almost came unglued when he heard him over the mike. “Jesus Christ, what now?!”

  There was a momentary pause before Chris replied dryly. “Alison says to hold on.”

  Ackerman glared at his men. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  Now Chris’s voice was sarcastic. “I think it means hold on.”

  Angrily, Ackerman opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by another wide swing from the rear. The skirt in front screamed like a wailing beast, trying desperately to remain connected.

  “Close the hatch!” yelled Ackerman. “We’ve got to–”

  Suddenly there was a bump somewhere against the small sub’s hull.

  “What was that?”

  The bump came again. Followed by another, and another.

  Inside, all three men scanned the inside of the hull, listening.

  The bumps continued. And quickly became more rapid.

  Outside, against the opposing side of the hull, dolphins slowly eased in and lowered their heads, placing them against the hard metal. One by one, they created a line down the Mystic’s entire starboard side. Then another full line repeated itself above. And another above that. Dozens of dolphins moved into place, all positioning themselves carefully along the entire side of the sub.

  Behind them, Alison spoke through her vest, still holding onto Sally. “Fast! Fast! More on top!” And to her relief, IMIS did not let her down. Her incredible computer system translated every word, quickly and accurately.

  When there was no more space left, Alison called out as loud as she could through IMIS. “Now PUSH!”

  Ackerman and his men stumbled after the jolt and looked at each other in confusion. They then turned to watch the rear of their sub. Ever so slowly, it began to move. Against the current, and back into place.

  75

  “What the hell is happening?”

  Ackerman turned to Smitty and Odonnell, both of whom shrugged. Behind them, the squealing of the rubber seal began to lessen.

  From the bridge, Captain Emerson gripped both sides of the tabletop to steady himself and leaned into the microphone. “Commander, what’s going on down there?”

  Ackerman shook his head. “Not sure, sir. But we seem to be stabilizing.”

  Chris Ramirez’s voice interrupted the conversation. “It’s Alison.”

  “What?”

  “It’s Alison!” he repeated with frustration. “And the dolphins. They’re trying to hold you in place!”

  Ackerman was stunned.

  “And she has a message for you,” Chris added.

  “What?”

  “She says get Tay out now!”

  76

  It was all Ackerman needed to hear.

  “Get the ring in place!”

  All three rushed forward and lifted the heavy ring back up. At almost two hundred pounds, it took all three men squeezing themselves forward through the hatch to get it into position.

  There were only inches to spare between it and the edges of the drilled hole. The rest of the wall was still ablaze in bright, white light. Once in place, Smitty squinted through the black opening and noticed something unusual. Around its edges, where a small gap appeared, he could see something moving. Barely.

  He got closer.

  The edges of the strange wall, now encircling the ring, seemed to be…bubbling. No, not bubbling, more like crawling…inward.

  Borger was right. The thing could actually heal itself. And judging from what he was now witnessing, it was happening incredibly fast.

  “Get the package!” yelled Ackerman.

  The chief and Odonnell disappeared back inside the hull, leaving Smitty to hold the ring in place, propped up on the bottom edge of their opening. He tried to hold it still with his trembling hands, fascinated at the wall, which continued to constrict around it, millimeter by millimeter.

  He twisted his head and called out behind him. “I think we’re about to find out just how strong this ring is.”

  There were pounding steps to his rear, and Ackerman’s head popped back through the hatch. He could see what Smitty was observing, just as the gaps around the edges finally disappeared. Instantly, the ring seized, now frozen in place.

  They both stared at it for several long seconds with apprehension. Until Smitty reached forward and gingerly touched the inside of the titanium. His eyes immediately shot back to the chief.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s vibrating,” he said. He waited a few more seconds and closed one eye. “And I think it’s getting stronger.”

  ***

  “Captain.”

  Emerson turned around to find his executive officer fixated on a different screen. Displaying the Doppler image of the storm in real time, the rotating image was now larger and highlighted with red, orange, and yellow.

  Officer Harris looked at the captain. “Storm upgraded to a category one hurricane.”

  Good God. Was anything going to go their way? Emerson turned back to the microphone. “Ramirez, can you hear me?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I want you to patch Ms. Shaw into our main channel.”

  “Happy to. One second.”

  Emerson and his officers knew the moment the mike in Alison’s mask was added. They could hear her yelling to the dolphins over the noise from Ackerman and his men.

  “Shaw! Shaw, can you hear me?”

  “Yes, Captain. I can hear you, barely.”

  Emerson raised his voice further. “How long can your dolphins keep us in place?”

  “I don’t know. We’re kind of winging it.”

  Emerson glanced back at the Doppler image. “Listen. Our storm is not passing as far away as we hoped, and it’s now a category one hurricane. Which means if we don’t hurry–”

  “Almost there!” yelled Ackerman. Together, he and Odonnell shuffled awkwardly to the hatch where Smitty was waiting.

  The package was a small, tightly covered object resembling, of all things, a miniature torpedo. Wrapped in thick plastic and silver duct tape, it was a supply kit for Tay. Everything they could think to give him, compressed down into a shape tight enough, and hopefully small enough, to make it through their opening.

  Ackerman squeezed to the back to help Odonnell push as Smitty gently edged the front of the package through the ring. “Okay! We’re in!”

  Together, Ackerman and Odonnell lunged and forced the torpedo through. It caught only briefly on the metal ring before giving way. Both men almost fell forward as the package cleared and disappeared into the blackness.

  “Now get the harness!”

  77

  Tay watched the object appear, then fly through the air, tumbling and striking several of the metal shelves on its way down. Hitting the water with a powerful splash, it landed less than fifty feet from where he was paddling.

  He looked back up and was still watching when a balled material shot through the hole, attached to a thin metal cable. After a few dozen feet, its line grew taught and descended more slowly, swinging and bouncing from shelf to shelf while the line was fed through from above.

  It took almost two full minutes to reach the bottom, where Tay swam forward and clutched it with trembling hands.

  ***

  Floating just outside the hull of the Mystic, Alison was caught off guard by the strength of yet another storm surge. The captain was right. Things were getting worse fast!

  She studied the small sub’s hull as it began to move again with the current, in spite of hers and the dolphins’ efforts to force it back into place.

  Inside, the engineers halted abruptly when they felt the Mystic lurch again and heard the rubber seal shriek, even louder.

  Ackerman brought his microphone to his mouth. “Alison, can you hear me?”
<
br />   “Yes.”

  “We’re moving again.”

  “I know. We’re trying, but the currents are getting too strong. Hurry!”

  ***

  Treading water in the shadows, Tay wrapped the second strap around his chest and pulled hard with both hands on the metal cable.

  There was no response.

  He looked up and visually traced the line back to the opening. It was too long for them to feel his jerking.

  Cursing under his breath, he reached up and grabbed hold of a higher ledge. Managing to scramble up onto it, Tay held the line out as far as he could to ensure it was straight.

  With a deep breath, he took three steps and launched himself off the edge of the shelf trying to clear the cable. His leap took him out and over the glittering water just before his fall ended. At which point his entire body was yanked hard. He then swung back into the giant wall with a violent thud.

  But it was enough. High overhead and through the opening, Smitty yelled over his shoulder. “I think that’s him! He’s on! Pull him up!”

  ***

  Water strong Alison.

  “I know!” she yelled, feeling the sub’s hull move again. “Push! PUSH!”

  We push.

  A desperate Alison let go of Sally and kicked forward as hard as she could, both legs fighting to move against what now felt like an underwater wall. She pumped harder and harder, unrelenting until the surge receded and allowed her to shoot forward.

  She reached the hull and quickly pressed in between two dolphins, kicking as hard as she could along with the other mammals, all of whom were pumping their tails fiercely.

  “Harder!”

  78

  “Captain!”

  Emerson spun to find his XO staring forward with a look of worry. He followed the man’s gaze out through the heavy windows of the bridge and out past the cresting waves smashing into the bow of the ship.

  In the distance, highlighted by dozens of muted sunrays punching their way through the clouds, were lines in the water. Thick dark lines. Waves. Darker and farther away than they should be. And much larger than normal.

  Emerson immediately grabbed the mike. “Alison, are you on?!”

  “Yes.”

  “Listen to me! All of you! We have some big swells coming in! And I do mean big. If you’re going to get Tay out, you’d better do it right now!”

  “Sally!” From her position against the hull, Alison twisted and tried to find Sally in the dark, seeing little more than the water swirling wildly all around her. “Sally! Where are you?!”

  There was no response. Her earbuds were filled with snippets of translations from the dozens of other dolphins surrounding her. Fragmented and unintelligible. With only occasional words she could recognize. But nothing from Sally.

  “Hang on!” she screamed, as loud as she could through her vest.

  As soon as the first giant swell hit, Ackerman knew it was over. The Mystic swung so powerfully and so quickly, there was no chance, no time, to keep it in place, even with the dolphins’ help. Inside, with their hands still guiding the cable out through the opening, all three men heard the sudden and final wail of the rubber skirt. Fighting for its last moments before one side of the seal broke open and was ripped forcefully from the smooth surface of the alien wall. In one fell swoop, the hydraulic pressure was lost, followed by a massive, explosive escape of pressurized air.

  79

  Water burst through the nose of the Mystic like a broken hydrant.

  “Close the hatch!” screamed Ackerman.

  Both of his men let go of the line and threw themselves forward. Together they grabbed the giant metal handle and pushed with everything they had in an attempt to close the door. To no avail. The thin cable still running through the opening was preventing the nose hatch door from being sealed shut.

  Water sprayed in every direction while Smitty and Odonnell pushed desperately with their shoulders, trying to keep the water pressure from forcing the hatch back open any further. But their efforts had little effect. Water was now quickly spilling in and rising, filling the sub’s small, confined interior. In mere seconds, the level had already risen by several inches, causing Ackerman to claw desperately through the water, searching for their tools.

  “Cut the wire!” Smitty yelled.

  “I know! I know!” Ackerman shook his head in frustration. “Where’s the goddamn–”

  Suddenly he stopped and plunged both hands beneath the surface, triumphantly pulling the cutters back out of the water. He sloshed forward, stumbling, and fell onto his knees directly behind Odonnell.

  He scrambled to get the claws around the small cable and pressed the handles together as hard as he could.

  “Cut it!”

  Beneath a shower of cold seawater, Ackerman gritted his teeth and pressed harder. It was too thick.

  Smitty and Odonnell lost traction when the hatch door opened wider, sliding them backward.

  The water level continued rising relentlessly.

  “CUT IT, OR WE DIE!!”

  Now almost invisible through the raging torrent, Ackerman turned the large tool and placed one handle against his chest. He gripped the other side with both hands and pulled as hard as he could, screaming. “AAAGGHH!”

  ***

  Tay looked up when the wave of water exploded through the opening above him. With a look of panic, he scrambled along the wall, desperately trying to reach one of the shelves. He managed to get a hand on one only seconds before he felt his safety line go limp.

  His fall commenced just as the massive torrent of seawater from above reached him.

  ***

  Outside, Beene and Corbin had been pushed back toward the hull by the surge. They were caught in the suction created by the pressure of the funneling water, now shooting through the wall’s small opening. They fought to escape, but the unrelenting force pulled them down as though being sucked toward a massive drain.

  “Shiiiit!” Beene kicked and clawed at the water, helplessly.

  He spotted Corbin less than a dozen feet away and tried to reach for the other man’s outstretched hand. But he was fighting just as hard as Beene, trying to keep himself from being consumed by the current. His hand remained too far away.

  The gap between the two men slowly increased, then accelerated. One fought, barely able to remain in place, while the other was pulled inward into the glaring white light. Water was swirling clockwise toward and then through the tiny hole.

  The lactic acid in his legs told Beene that fighting the underwater currents for the last hour had been a mistake. His energy stores were now depleted, and the strength in both legs was preparing to give out.

  He couldn’t fight it. The burn was the warning sign. That his legs simply didn’t have anything left. And if he waited until his legs were completely spent, he would have no chance at all.

  Beene made a life-or-death decision in less than a second. With one final look at Corbin, he motioned and then stopped. Letting his body relax, Beene gave in to the unrelenting suction.

  His body accelerated and after several long seconds of being sucked backward, it slammed hard into the wall. Rolling and tumbling, he fell toward the opening. Using his arms, he forced himself over onto all fours, spotting the hole several feet away through the blinding glare. He clambered to keep himself from sliding, but there was nothing to grasp. Nothing to grip. Just the smooth dull-gray wall allowing him to be dragged up to and over the opening.

  “NOOO!” Beene growled in anguish, struggling to keep himself from being sucked in. He tried to lock his arms before they buckled at his elbows under the incredible pressure.

  But the power of the water was simply too much for his lingering strength. His shoulders began to wobble under the strain, followed by shaking in his back.

  He yelled again, resisting with everything he had. Until there was virtually no point.

  Beene closed his eyes and prepared to let go when something suddenly slammed against the wall ne
xt to him. It was Corbin! His legs quickly straddled each side of Beene with knees firmly planted against the surface.

  Corbin grasped his friend’s vest on each side and pulled as hard as he possibly could, adding his own strength to the fight.

  Together, both SEALs howled inside their masks with muscles shuddering violently under the crushing force of the water.

  Yet, what neither man could see, nor feel through their gloved hands, was a slight trembling within the alien wall itself. A vibration, increasing rapidly around the titanium ring directly in front of Beene’s chest. And when it happened, it was too fast for either diver to comprehend. All at once, the ring bent and finally collapsed under the pressure, breaking into several pieces and disappearing instantly into the darkness inside.

  With no more resistance, the strange material within the wall began to heal…and close.

  80

  Unaware of his friends’ struggles hundreds of miles away, Will Borger struggled with an entirely different problem.

  And he had no good news. With help from Bruna, he’d found a desk and managed to plug into the center’s network. But from there, tunneling back into his computer in D.C. took time. Now, after almost forty-five minutes of searching, what he found was a whole lot of nothing.

  He had already managed to get into the computer logs of the local cellular carriers, attempting to triangulate using the towers around the hospital on Trinidad Island. But nothing was standing out.