Z-Boat

by Suzanne Robb

  "Submersible, this is the Betty Loo, what's everybody's status?" Ally closed her eyes as she waited for the response.

  Betty Loo, this is the submersible. Nina is injured, but everyone else is okay. The submersible has taken some bad hits, but I believe we will be able to make it back to you.

  Ally sighed in relief. Marcus was okay. She forced back the surge of emotion threatening to take over, and went back to running systems checks to make sure that when the submersible docked, they could begin their ascent as soon as possible.

  The Betty Loo was still taking on more water than the bilge pumps could deal with, and life support was still at a minimum. Looking at the screen, she knew they had enough power left to last a few hours, then they would be floating dead.

  Unless they surfaced, got the solar panels charged, refilled the oxygen tanks, and took the time needed to repair the Betty Loo properly, they weren't going to make it. Then again, making it to the surface would be a miracle in its own right.

  Uh, Ally, this is Dutch. We got a problem. Ally stared at the communication panel in shock. Dutch never used them.

  With the beginning sensation of knots in her stomach, she replied, "What's the problem, Dutch?"

  The umbilical is tangled with one of the docking arms. They won't be able to get a proper seal.

  "Can we do anything to fix it?"

  "No. Even if we had a suit, we don't have any divers."

  "Thanks, Dutch. I'll let them know."

  Ally sighed and shook her head. Why was nothing going right with this damn mission? She got on the radio and contacted the submersible.

  "Submersible, this is the Betty Loo. We have a problem on our end preventing you from docking correctly. The umbilical has gotten entangled with one of the docking arms."

  Ally waited, knowing they were trying to figure out what to do.

  ***

  Ivan closed the radio channel.

  "All of you heard: The only option we have is for me to get in one of the suits and detangle the umbilical from the arm." Ivan began to stand up.

  Marcus interjected. "Ivan, wait a minute. Who's going to pilot this thing? Nina's out of it, I'm just a mechanic, and those two are... whatever the hell they are. Not to mention the umbilical is heavy as hell. It's a two-man job."

  Iain coughed in the background. "I'm not a total fool. I can pilot this thing well enough to get us back to the Betty Loo."

  "All right, Iain, you can pilot this with Ally's help talking you through it." Iain gave a dirty look at the last comment, but didn't reply.

  Ivan stood there with a contemplative look on his face. Marcus had to be one of the ones to stay in the submersible in case there were any other mechanical issues he needed to tend to. Nina injured, so he was left with Maxine or Kramer. Considering the weight of the umbilical, Kramer had to be the one. He hoped Kramer didn't cause him more problems.

  "All right, Kramer, you are with me. Marcus needs to stay here in case any more emergencies occur or the current solutions do not hold. Plus, it helps that you are already half dressed."

  Kramer sat up straighter with a terrified look on his face. "Are you insane? I'm not a diver, and if something happens to me, you're screwed, because I'm the only one who knows everything about oceanic phenomena. You need me."

  Ivan smiled. "Really, we need you? Then tell me what happened to the crew back there. What can we do to prevent it? Is it contagious? Are we infected?"

  "I need to study what I found. I doubt we're infected, because some of the crew on The Peacemaker were infected; others were eaten."

  "Thank you for providing us with invaluable information. Now finish putting your suit on. This is not up for debate."

  Kramer sat back and crossed his arms. "I'm not doing it."

  The sound of a click echoed in the tiny space. Iain stood next to Kramer, gun in hand, and began to speak. "Look, you little bastard. I don't like you. I don't care if you're scared; we all are. You're going to go out there and help Ivan, or we're all going to die. Do you understand? As the man said, this is not up for debate."

  Kramer nodded slowly and started the process of getting into the rest of the suit. Ivan also got his suit on. In record time, both men were dressed and ready. Marcus gave them both the once-over to make sure everything was plugged in where it should be.

  "We'll be in radio contact with you, but when you go into the pressurization hatch, there's a good chance some of the fixes I've made might give in, due to the pressure change. If that happens, we can't reopen the hatch to let you in. You'll have to go in via the docking bay on the Betty Loo. Problem is, Betty Loo took a lot of damage diving this low, so Dutch might not be able to get the room to pressurize."

  Ivan nodded. "I understand. We might be stuck out there." He turned and headed back to the small pressurization room.

  "The suits might have enough air to take you to the surface if the power cell lasts. There's always a chance."

  "Thank you, Marcus. Hope to see you on the Betty Loo."

  "Wait, I didn't sign on for this," Kramer protested.

  Marcus pushed Kramer until he stood in the small area with Ivan. "Yeah you did. It's in the small print of your contract with the devil, you bastard." Marcus smiled.

  ***

  Marcus turned, shut the door and hit the release button. He watched as Ivan put the safety rope on himself and Kramer, then the room began to fill with water. A moment later, the back hatch opened, letting the two men out.

  The hatch shut behind them, and Marcus hit the button to pressurize the small chamber. He held his breath, hoping it would work. He heard Iain up front.

  "The window's beginning to spider again, and the leak is back with a friend. The electronics are starting to fry..."

  Marcus knew he had to get to those things, but he also know it was irrelevant if the room didn't pressurize. Finally, the water level began to go down, albeit slowly.

  Marcus ran to his toolkit and retrieved the items necessary to deal with the leaks and cracking window. On the leaks, he used more epoxy, as it was his only choice. On the window, he improvised.

  He pulled out another poly-plastic glass sheet and opened it up. Instead of placing it directly on the window, he used a spray sealant first. Afterwards, he placed the clear sheet on top of it. Wires fell down around him, some live and sparking, others dead.

  "What the hell is that? I can barely see." Iain was obviously annoyed.

  "No choice, Captain. The sealant will help reinforce the hold, but it isn't transparent, not meant for windows. Just do the best you can. I need to get these wires taken care of."

  Marcus grabbed the wire routers from the tool kit and realized the wires were for the hatch door. The pressure was too much. Ivan and Kramer didn't have the option to come back on board the submersible.

  "Great. You could have told me. I'm going to radio Ally to let her know what's going on."

  "Captain, we have another issue. These wires are for the back hatch. If we try to open the door, the submersible won't be able to take the pressure. You have to ask Ally to get Dutch to check if the diving room can do a re-pressurization."

  Marcus went back to the leaks to keep an eye on them. He listened as Ally and Iain talked. He didn't mention that they hadn't heard from Ivan or Kramer yet.

  "Ally, this is Iain. I'm piloting for now. Ivan and Kramer went out in the suits to clear the umbilical. As soon as it's done, we need to know if they can enter the Betty Loo directly. We're worried if they try to come back on here, the submersible won't be able to take another pressure change."

  There was a moment's silence, then Ally's voice came on. Captain, I asked Dutch to look into it. He's going to get back to me. In all honesty, from what I can see of the electrical system, Betty Loo might be too fried.

  Iain lowered his head as he responded, "Let us know what you find out."

  ***

  Ivan slowly made his way through the water. No light penetrated this deep, and the small amount of illumination his suit
gave off seemed to be swallowed by the ocean around him.

  Kramer stayed close, which was good. He didn't want to have to run off and look for the guy if he was stupid enough to get himself lost. He looked down at the panel on his left arm. According to the tracking system, he was five hundred and eighty-nine yards from the Betty Loo. As long as he kept heading in a northeast direction, he should bump right into her.

  He tried to radio the submersible but received no response. He changed frequencies and tried contacting the Betty Loo.

  "This is Ivan. We are on approach. Do you read, Betty Loo?" Seconds went by, and Ivan began to feel the blackness of the ocean closing in on him.

  This is Betty Loo. We read you, Ivan. Ivan released the breath he'd been holding.

  He glanced down at the panel. Five hundred and thirty-seven yards to go. He could do this; he had to. Lives depended on it. Even though his mission was over, he knew Kramer and Maxine had taken something from the sub they shouldn't have. Ivan needed to stop them and make sure whomever they worked for never got their hands on it.

  ***

  Ally sat in the control room, watching the progress of the submersible. Every blip brought Marcus three yards closer to her. She hoped Dutch could figure something out, but as of yet, he had not gotten back to her.

  That meant one of two things. One: He was working on a fix to the problem, or two: He had no idea what to do and was trying to think of a solution. She thought number two was more likely.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Ivan looked at his display. Three hundred and eighteen yards to go. Kramer trailed behind him- closely, Ivan noted with relief. The water around them was so black that Ivan felt as if the light his suit gave off were being sucked away from him.

  As long as he got to the Betty Loo and untangled the umbilical, things would be okay. He chose not to think about what might happen if he and Kramer were stuck outside. Both the submersible and sub were in bad shape. He hoped Marcus was right and a small chance existed that he could make it to the surface in the suit alone. He sighed and read the display again. Two hundred and thirty-seven yards.

  ***

  Maxine maneuverered herself so she sat next to Kramer's bag. While Nina lay there unconscious and Marcus ran around trying to plug holes, she rummaged through it. This was the perfect opportunity to figure out what he was after in the lab. As she rifled through the contents, she found several sample jars and a few data chips.

  What was he hired for? she thought.

  ***

  Iain gripped the control stick as if his life depended on it. The film Marcus put up made it incredibly difficult to see where he was going. He depended solely on the navigation screen at this point. His nerves were shot, and he desperately wanted a drink. He glanced behind him and saw Marcus plugging another leak and Maxine fussing over Nina.

  Iain reached into his pocket and grabbed the bottle of pills Maxine gave him earlier. He popped two and hoped they did the trick. The submersible rocked to one side, then another. Iain tried to hold her steady, but the damn thing kept fighting him.

  "Captain, try to be more careful. We can't have Nina being tossed about like a rag doll."

  "It's not his fault. We barely have navigational control on this thing, and with every passing moment, we run the risk of imploding, so try worrying about that."

  Iain watched as Marcus came and sat next to him, soaked to the bone, a gash on his arm bleeding all over the place.

  "Looks like a nasty cut." Iain nodded to the arm.

  "Yeah, one of those zombies got me. No biggie."

  Iain felt a stab of ice in his gut. They knew nothing about the zombies on the other sub, which meant they had no idea how the infection spread. Iain didn't say anything, but he would have to tell Ivan. If Ivan died, he would have to tell Ally. He really hoped Ivan didn't die.

  ***

  Ally watched the progress of the submersible and the other two smaller blips representing Ivan and Kramer. They would be at the sub any minute and untangle the umbilical. She keyed in the communication panel.

  "Dutch, you got anything yet? We need a miracle if you got one."

  Ally went back to watching the screen, diagnostics running in the background. The sub was ready to begin surfacing as soon as the submersible attached safely.

  If I divert the power from life support temporarily, we can depressurize the room to let those two in. Problem is I don't know if I'll be able to get it back online.

  Ally thought for a minute. "Do it, Dutch. We take everyone back; that's the rule."

  Doing it now.

  Ally keyed in a different set of numbers on the panel. "Ivan, this is Betty Loo. We figured out a way to get you back on board. As soon as you finish untangling the umbilical, we're going to open the diving room. You get your asses in here as soon as you can so we have to force out as little water as possible."

  ***

  Ivan and Kramer reached the Betty Loo. The exterior lights were low, but bright enough to let them see the umbilical tangled in the releasing mechanism. Ivan tapped his headset to talk directly to Kramer.

  "We need to get the mechanism free. We'll start at the top and work our way down."

  Kramer didn't say anything; he just followed Ivan. The two hefted the large cord and, after several tries, were able to remove it from the groove in which it had lodged itself. Ivan looked over everything, and from what he could see, no significant damage had been done.

  "Betty Loo, this is Ivan. The umbilical has been removed; the submersible can dock safely."

  Thanks, Ivan. Stand back, we're going to prepare the diving room so you two can come in, and the others should be right behind you.

  Ivan motioned to Kramer to back up a bit, and within seconds, a glow emerged behind them. He watched as a sliver of light appeared underneath the entry hatch. It got about halfway, then stopped.

  Ivan, you have to come in now. There isn't enough power to open it further. Hurry!

  Ivan grabbed Kramer, and the two headed towards the open hatch. Ivan went in first and pulled Kramer in. The hatch began to shut, and Kramer's foot got stuck. Ivan yanked as hard as he could, Kramer screaming into the headset the whole time. The foot finally dislodged as the hatch slammed shut. Kramer went silent in Ivan's ear.

  Seconds later, the room depressurized, and a loud metallic bang echoed as the submersible successfully docked with Betty Loo. Ivan sat down on the ground and let out a huge sigh of relief.

  ***

  Ally sat in the control room, watching the status of the submersible as it docked. She almost had a heart attack when Dutch told her there wasn't enough power to open the hatchway entirely, and then when it started to close on Kramer, she thought he was a goner for sure.

  Thankfully, he got in, and the room depressurized. With the submersible finally attached, she took a breath for the first time in what felt like hours. Marcus was on board and alive. As soon as she got word that they were all out and the hatchway secured, she was going to get them to the surface as fast as possible.

  She tried the radio several times, but the submersible's must have been fried. Ally needed to hear Marcus.

  Ally, it's Dutch. The submersible is docked and sealed. People are getting off, Nina first since she's injured, and I'm trying to get Ivan and Kramer out of their suits. Looks like Kramer's foot is broken. Also, that thing we talked about with life support... it won't come back online.

  Ally didn't need to respond; she needed to get them to the surface now. Current readings indicated they had at least three hours of air left, but the temperature drop would affect them sooner.

  She waited, thinking about where she could draw some extra power to get them to the top before time ran out. If she didn't think of something, the lack of power would make it seem like she was paddling the behemoth to the surface.

  ***

  In the medical lab, the body of Johnny Ventura began to twitch. His arm rose straight in the air, and he sat up rigidly. His skin was a greenish grey pallo
r, his eyes devoid of color other than a milky white swirl. Slowly, he got into a standing position. His chest was visible through the shirt Maxine had cut open to see his injuries.

  The incision on his side where she reached in to straighten his ribs was swollen and angry-looking, with pus oozing out.

  Johnny, or what used to be Johnny, stood there thinking. He wanted something, something he could smell close by. Drool began to form at the sides of his mouth, and he moved forward. His movements were jerky at first, but after a few moments, he walked normally, perhaps faster than normal.

  He opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. He looked across and saw another door, where the smell of the thing he needed was strongest. He had taken a few steps when noises off to his left caught his attention. Not wanting to be caught, he ran down the hallway to find a place to hide.

  ***

  Iain had never been so glad to be back on board the Betty Loo. He crawled through the opening with Marcus close on his heels. They had a lot to do and little time in which to do it.

  Iain saw the chaos inside the diving room. Cables ran through it, coming from everywhere, and the red emergency lights flickered. He didn't want to think about what Dutch and Ally had to do in order to make this happen.

  "Maxine, Marcus, get Kramer to the med lab. Dutch, you help me get Nina there. Let's move, people."

  They ran around grabbing things. Maxine kept her bag close as they went to work doing as Iain ordered. As a team, they made their way through the maze of wires and the dimly lit hallway towards the med lab. As soon as they had Nina on a cot and Maxine sedated Kramer, Ivan, Dutch, and Iain left the room.

  When they were out in the hallway, Iain was about to give out orders when the door opened. Marcus stood there, a guilty look on his face.

  "Marcus, your arm needs to be checked..."

  Marcus cut in. "By a doctor, which Maxine isn't. God knows what she's going to do to Kramer's foot."

  Iain sighed. He had a point. "Fine, but I want you to sterilize it and have Ivan take a look at it. He has triage training."