adjusted the color images in a golden hue so that the occasional rock
or mound on the bottom cast a brown-tinted shadow. She studied the
monitor closely, watching the same monotonous sea bottom glide by.
Suddenly, a dark smudge appeared on the top right side of the screen
and grew larger as the readings rolled down. The smudge was a shadow,
she quickly realized, created by a long tubular shape that was crisply
defined in a dark shade of russet.
"My word, there it is!" she squealed, surprised at her own voice.
A small crowd gathered around Summer as she replayed the image at a
slow speed several times. The distinct outline of a submarine was
clearly evident, complete with an upright conning tower that cast a
long shadow to one side. The image roughened near one end of the
vessel, but Summer measured the object at well over three hundred
feet.
"Sure looks like a submarine, and a big one," she said, not sure
whether to trust her eyes.
"That's our baby," Dirk said confidently. "Looks just like the image
we scanned of the I-403."
"Nice work, Summer," Morgan offered as he approached the commotion.
"Thanks, Captain, but Audry did all the work. We better pull her
aboard before she makes her way to China."
Summer typed in a new handful of commands and a signal was relayed from
the transducers to the underwater vehicle. In a matter or seconds,
Audry terminated the search pattern and propelled herself upward, where
she broke the water's surface a quarter mile away from
the Sea Rover. Summer, Dirk, and Morgan watched as a retrieval team in
a rubber Zodiac scooted over to the idling yellow sensor and clamped it
to the gunwale. The team slowly made their way back alongside the
research ship, where Audry was hoisted out of the water and replaced in
her cradle on the stern deck.
As the second of the two transducers was hoisted back aboard, Dirk
admired a large exploration vessel that was inching past them a mile
away, a Japanese flag wafting off its high bow platform.
"Cable-laying ship," Morgan said, catching Dirk's gaze. "She followed
us out of the Inland Sea."
"She's a beauty. Doesn't appear to be in any hurry," Dirk said, noting
the vessel's slow speed.
"Must be operating under a daily billing rate contract," Morgan
laughed, then turned his attention to ensuring the transducers were
securely aboard.
"Maybe," Dirk replied, smiling, but a vague caution tugged at the
recesses of his mind. He shook off the feeling and refocused his
thoughts on the task at hand. It was time to take a look. at the
I-411 up close and personal.
The crew of the Sea Rover wasted no time in making preparations to
investigate the submerged target. Captain Morgan brought the ship
around and positioned it directly above the target, using the GPS
coordinates identified by Audry. Computerized side thrusters on the
research vessel were activated and the Sea Rover was parked in place,
constantly self-adjusting its position against the wind and current
with the thrusters to remain fixed within a few inches of the
designated mark.
On the aft deck, Dirk, Summer, and First Officer Ryan carefully walked
through a pre dive checklist for the Starfish. Specifically designed
for deep-water scientific exploration, the Starfish was a high-tech
submersible capable of operating in depths up to two thousand meters.
Resembling a giant translucent ball on a forklift, the Starfish
cat-tied two operators in a six-inch-thick reinforced acrylic bubble
that offered a panoramic view of the sea. Wedged into a bright orange
supporting buttress, the see-through sphere was filled with a myriad
of
sensors, still and video cameras, and coring devices. Four sets of
adjustable thrusters were mounted behind and beneath the bubble, which
provided the sub with a high degree of maneuverability. Adding to the
functionality were a pair of steel articulating arms mounted on either
side of the bubble, which could be used for collecting samples and
manipulating the multiple data analysis devices. Since the right
mechanical arm was larger in size than the left, the whole submersible
took on a crablike appearance when operating on the seafloor.
"I think we're set," Summer said, eyeing the last item on her
clipboard. "You ready to get wet?"
"Only if I get to drive," Dirk grinned back.
Clad in aqua-colored NUMA jumpsuits, the two siblings threaded their
way into the tiny chamber through a hatch in the rear. Though cramped
inside, Dirk and Summer sat comfortably in a pair of padded captain's
chairs, which faced out the front of the acrylic bubble. Dirk slipped
on a communications headset and spoke to First Officer Ryan.
"This is Starfish," he said, checking the system. "Ready when you are,
Tim."
"Prepare for deployment," Ryan's voice rang back.
An overhead boom reeled up a thick cable attached to the submersible by
a pair of eyelets, raising the underwater vessel straight into the air
and suspending her three feet above the deck. As the Starfish hung
floating in the air, Ryan pushed a button on a side console and the
deck suddenly split open beneath the submersible, sliding on rollers to
either side of the deck. Exposed beneath the dangling submersible was
the pale green water of the East China Sea. Ryan hit another switch
and a circular band of underwater floodlights burst on, outlining the
perimeter of the large moon pool cut into the Sea Rover's rear hull
section. A large meandering grouper was caught illuminated Dy the
sudden flash of light and quickly bolted from beneath the odd hole in
the ship's hull. The orange submersible was slowly dropped through the
hole and into the water, the lifting cable released after Dirk
confirmed that all systems were operational aboard the Starfish.
"Cable is released," Ryan's voice announced over Dirk's headset. "You
are free to swim. Happy hunting, guys."
"Thanks for the drop," Dirk answered. "I'll honk the horn when we get
back from the store."
Dirk tested the thrusters one last time as Summer opened a ballast
tank, allowing a flood of salt water to fill the chamber. Negative
buoyancy was quickly achieved and the submersible began slowly dropping
into the depths.
The pale green water gradually dissolved to brown, then faded to an
inky black as the Starfish sank deeper. Summer flicked on a switch and
a powerful bank of xenon arc lights illuminated their path, though
there was little to see in the murky water. Dependent on gravity to
reach the bottom, it took about fifteen minutes to make the nearly
thousand-foot descent to the seafloor. Despite the frigid water
temperatures outside, the occupants soon became warm from the
electronic equipment churning about them in the insulated acrylic and
Summer finally turned on an air-conditioning unit to keep themselves
cool. Attempting to make the time go faster, Dirk rehashed a few of
Jack Dahlgren's stale jokes while Summer brought
her brother up to date
on the sea pollutant survey taken off Japan's eastern coast.
At nine hundred feet, Summer began tweaking the buoyancy level to slow
their descent and avoid smacking hard on the bottom. Dirk noticed the
water visibility had cleared, though the seas were devoid of much life
at that depth. Gradually, through the murk, he eyed a familiar dark
shape looming up beneath them. "There she is. We're right on her."
The shadowy black superstructure of the I-411's conning tower reached
out to them like a tiny skyscraper as the Starfish descended amidships
of the giant submarine. Much like he had found with the I-403, Dirk
observed that the I-411 was sitting upright on the bottom, tilted at
just a fifteen-degree angle. Surface encrustation was much less severe
than on the I-403 and the big sub looked as if she had been
underwater only a few months, not years. Dirk activated the Starfish's
thrusters and backed away slightly from the approaching vessel while
Summer adjusted their buoyancy to remain neutral at 960 feet, just even
with the submarine's deck.
"She's enormous!" Summer exclaimed as her eyes took in the sub's huge
girth. Even with Starfish's bright lights, she could see only a
portion of the entire vessel.
"Definitely not your run-of-the-mill World War Two U-boat," he replied.
"Let's see where she got hit."
Maneuvering the thrusters, Dirk propelled the submersible along a path
down the starboard flank of the submarine, gliding just a few feet
above its rounded topsides. Circling around the stern, Summer pointed
out the tips of the I-411's two giant bronze propellers poking out of
the muddy bottom. Moving forward along the port side, they traveled
about fifty feet before a huge gash appeared at the waterline.
"Torpedo hit number one," Dirk called out, eyeing the fatal impact from
one of the Swordfish's torpedoes. He positioned the Starfish so that
its lights shined into the irregular opening. Inside, a circular mass
of twisted and jagged metal shined back at them, like the open jaws of
an iron-toothed shark. Turning and moving forward again, the
submersible crept along the silent wreck another thirty feet before a
second opening appeared.
"Torpedo hit number two," Dirk said.
Unlike the first gash on the port flank, the second hole was oddly
centered higher up, along the edge of the topside deck, almost as if
the explosive force had been delivered from above.
"You're right, this must have been the second torpedo impact," Summer
speculated. "The stern must have already dropped under from the first
hit, and the sub rolled back from the initial recoil when the second
torpedo hit her here."
"Pretty good firing from the Swordfrish. They must have caught her at
night, while she was running on the surface."
"Is that the aircraft hangar?" Summer asked, pointing to a large
tubular appendage that ran lengthwise along the rear deck to the
conning tower.
"Yes. Looks like it was blasted open in the explosion," he said as
they glided over toward the opening. A twenty-foot section of the )
hangar adjacent to the deck had simply disappeared in the carnage.
Under the beam of the floodlights, they could see a three-bladed air|
craft propeller mounted on the backside of the hangar wall as they
floated outside peering in. Applying power to the thrusters, Dirk
turned the vehicle and zoomed forward, gliding past the I-411's
conning tower with its multiple gun platforms still in place. The
Starfish proceeded down the forward deck before turning and hovering
off the bow near one of the large diving planes, which sprouted off the
submarine like a giant wing.
"That concludes the scenic portion of the tour," Dirk said. "Let's see
if we can find out what she carried."
"We better check in with the gang upstairs first," Summer said,
slipping on her communications headset and pushing the transmit
button.
"Sea Rover, this is Starfish. We've found the Easter Bunny and are
proceeding to hunt for the eggs."
"Roger," Ryan's voice crackled back. "Be careful with the basket."
"I think he's more concerned about his submersible than he is about
us," Dirk deadpanned.
"A typical man," Summer mused, shaking her head. "Places emotional
feelings on inanimate mechanical objects."
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Dirk replied
facetiously.
As he spoke, he gently guided the Starfish above the submarine's bow
section, studying the forward deck. After several minutes, he spotted
what he was looking for.
"There's the forward hatch to the upper torpedo room. If they follow
suit with the I-403, that's where the biological ordnance would have
been loaded and stored."
Dirk maneuvered the Starfish in front of the hatch before setting the
submersible down onto the deck of the I-411 and killing the
thrusters.
"How's your breaking and entering skills?" he asked of Summer.
Unlike on the I-403, the forward hatch was closed and battened tight by
a flush-mounted wheel. Summer activated a joystick control hidden in
the armrest of her chair and powered the hydraulics to the
submersible's right retractable arm. As she manipulated the controls,
the metal appendage sprang from the side of Starfish and extended
forward in a clumsy stretch. Slowly she dropped the arm down toward
the hatch, adjusting the toggle control with short flips to maneuver
the device. With the precision of a surgeon, she opened the clawlike
hand and dropped it down to the hatch, wedging the fingers into the
open slots of the hatch wheel on the first attempt.
"Nicely done," Dirk admired.
"Now, if she'll just open," Summer replied. With the flick of a second
toggle control, the articulated grip of the mechanical claw began to
twist. Dirk and Summer both pressed their faces to the bubble window,
intent on seeing the wheel turn. But the seal that had been locked for
sixty years didn't budge. Summer tried toggling the grip back and
forth a half-dozen more times but to no avail.
"So much for my hydraulic grip," she finally muttered.
"Keep a hold on the wheel," Dirk instructed. "We'll try a little
leverage."
In an instant, he powered up the thrusters and lifted the Starfish a
few inches off the deck. With Summer gripping the hatch wheel with the
claw, Dirk applied full reverse thrust and tried to break the seal with
the momentum of the entire submersible. The wheel held tight, so he
began rocking the Starfish forward and backward, trying to get a quick
burst of leverage against the hatch.
"I think you're going to rip the arm off," Summer cautioned.
With silent determination, he kept trying. On the next tug, he
observed a barely perceptible movement in the wheel. Another blast and
the seal broke at last, the wheel jerking a quarter spin. "That's
showing it who's boss," Summer said. "Just don't tell Ryan that his
baby's right arm is now a few inches longer than it used to be,"
Dirk
smiled.
Hovering over the hatch, Summer was quickly able to spin the locking
wheel to its stops with the articulated claw. Dirk then backed the
Starfish away, and, with Summer holding on, the hatch finally swung up
and open. Repositioning the submersible in front of the opening, they
peered into the hole but could see nothing but a black void.
"I guess this is a job for Snoopy. You have the controls," Summer
said.
Dirk pulled out a laptop control module and pressed the power on
button. A row of lights lit up green as the unit was activated.
"Ready, go fetch," he murmured while pressing a toggle switch that
engaged a tiny thruster.
From an external cradle tucked beneath the acrylic bubble popped out a
small tethered Remote Operated Vehicle. No larger than an attache
case, the tiny ROV was little more than a self-illuminated video camera
wedged against a small set of electronic thrusters. Able to probe and
prod into tight spaces, Snoopy was an ideal tool for exploring the deep
and dangerous niches of a submerged wreck.
Summer watched as Snoopy sprang into view and quickly ducked into the
open hatch amid a spray of small bubbles. Dirk punched another console
button and a live video feed from the ROV appeared on a color monitor.
Watching the monitor to steer, he guided the vehicle around the
now-familiar torpedo room. Snoopy skirted down one row of torpedoes,
where the camera showed all five of the huge steel fish still resting
in their racks. Circling to the other side of the bay, a duplicate
Dirk Pitt18-Black Wind Page 23
