by Scott Cook
“That’s it,” he said in a reverent hush, “that’s got to be one of my boats…”
It turned out he was right. As the Ballard swung around on her circular course, the video camera as well as the sonar got a solid look. We flew almost directly over the object and as we grew closer, there was no doubt as to what it was.
Although a variety of soft and hard growth coated the hull, the distinctive lines of something manmade became clear. And as we flew over, Ariel used a stern-facing camera to give us a very clear picture of a Balao-class conning tower complete with cigarette deck. Her deck guns were still mounted and clearly definable through the crust of age.
“My God…” Lambert breathed, “It’s Bull Shark!”
Madre de dios…” Juan’s tinny exclamation filtered to us over the intercom. He was on the bridge with McClay.
There was a quick round of applause in the lab. Although we hadn’t found Ariovistus, she couldn’t be far away.
“Sweet Jesus…” McClay muttered, “Marking this spot. Should I drop anchor?”
“Damn straight, son!” Lambert said with a whoop of delight, “But get us a boat length away first. Don’t’ want the hook to disturb anything.”
“Aye-aye, Master Chief,” McClay said excitedly.
Al-Rajid came over and shook my hand vigorously, “Damned fine bit of detective work, Scott!”
Brody clapped me on the shoulder, “he’s right. Couldn’t have done it better myself.”
I beamed in spite of myself. I’d plotted a possible resting point for the wrecks within a mile. That was a major piece of luck.
“So what now?” Audrey asked, her voice sounding excited and free of wrath for the first time in days.
“Now we get a closer look!” Brody said, rubbing his hands together.
Chapter 31
“You better believe I’m going!”
Audrey Lambert was squared off with her grandfather at the water tight door that led into the submersible hangar compartment. She was angry and yet concerned for him at the same time. It was the first truly human thing I’d seen from her in what seemed like a long time.
“Granddad…” She said sternly, “For Christ’s sake! It’s bad enough you’re even on board this ship… and now you want to dive?”
“Bunny,” he said kindly, “I want to go for a ride in a submersible. I’m not strapping on a tank and taking a plunge. I’ll be fine. I’ve come all this way, and after so much time. I can’t just sit back and wait.”
“You’re being foolish,” Audrey said, “At your age—“
“At my age,” Lambert said firmly, “I’ve damn sure earned the right to do as I please. The only person who could ever tell me what to do was your grandmother, God rest her soul. Your mom and dad haven’t had any luck, and neither will you. I’m going, and that’s final.”
“It’ll be all right,” Brody said from the open doorway, “The sub is quite comfortable and safe. And really, it’s a very shallow dive.”
She glared at the man, who was not in the least phased by it.
“I’ll keep an eye on him,” I said.
“As will I,” Ariel tried to reassure her.
Audrey’s glower raked the two of us and she sneered, “That’s supposed to make me feel better? Maybe I’d better come, too.”
“No way,” Brody said flatly.
Audrey scowled at him, “and why not?”
“Because your attitude sucks, that’s why not,” Brody said, “The last thing I need is to be confined in a soup can with you bitchin’ the whole time.”
Audrey’s face reddened at that. It was Juan who stepped in and saved the day.
“I’ll watch over him, senorita,” Juan said kindly, placing a hand on Hank’s arm.
The young man’s complete lack of guile seemed to mollify Audrey. She drew in a steadying breath and let it out slowly, “Okay, Juan… okay. Thanks.”
“Por nada,” He said with a grin and looked to Brody.
Brody smiled thinly, “Glad to have you.”
Audrey then glared balefully at me, “And you had better make sure nothing happens. You and your tramp.”
“Young lady!” Lambert exclaimed in that all-too-familiar Navy tone, “I think that your time might be best spent waiting up here and thinking about things long and hard. Your behavior since we arrived has been inexcusable. I’ve had just about enough of it. I’m not quite sure what’s going on with you lately, but you’re not the Bunny I know. I think it’s time you gave yourself an attitude adjustment. And when we get back, you’re going to owe everyone an apology. Especially to Scott and this young lady. Dismissed!”
This last was snapped out as a command. A command that he fully expected her to obey. Amazingly, she still wavered.
“Dammit, granddad—“
“That’s enough!” Lambert barked, “Now you march yourself right back up to the bridge and monitor. Not another word, Audrey.”
She clenched her teeth, balled her fists and stalked off down the narrow corridor that led past the crew’s quarters. Brody stepped up and put a hand on Lambert’s shoulder.
“Goddamn, Master Chief. You haven’t lost your edge.”
Lambert huffed, “I hated to snap at her… but… anyway, let’s get this show on the road.”
We entered the ocean access hangar and I got my first real look at the mini sub. It hung overhead and was supported underneath by railing like members attached to the downward opening sea doors. This allowed a nearly five-foot high space beneath the sub. This space allowed for direct access to the diving lockout hatch located in the forward third of the vessel. This was the primary crew entrance as well as where equipment and supplies were loaded.
I’d had some time to study the specs on the craft and it was truly an impressive piece of engineering. The submersible was just over forty feet long and looked simplistic in design. A cylinder about seven feet in diameter with a single screw and rudder assembly at the stern. Two identical two-foot diameter cylinders were mounted on either side, each slung below the mid-line. These acted as both ballast tanks and were reinforced on their underside to act as skids when the submersible was set down on the bottom.
This low-slung ballast design allowed for three sets of large Lexan ports, three per side that would no doubt give breathtaking views when the little sub was submerged.
There was a small tower-like structure mounted on the top surface amidships, which offered an airlock that opened above the mini as well. This would be a single person lock and a little cramped unlike the large lockout chamber with its wide downward opening hatch.
“She’s based loosely on the Advanced SEAL Delivery System,” Brody explained as he led us to the craft, “With some improvements and some corrections from that failed project.”
“From what I know of that program,” Lambert said, “It had several design issues.”
Brody nodded, “Yeah, they didn’t have lithium-ion batteries on the first one, so it was way under powered. The Rodney Fox does. She’s also smaller and less heavily fortified since this isn’t a combat vessel. Additionally, our hull is made from composite material. She’s got a test depth of over a thousand feet, although since we use her as a diving support platform for the most part, we never really go below what’d be safe for heliox or tri-mix dives. We’ve pushed that to around five hundred, but we usually work above three-fifty.”
“Wow,” I remarked brilliantly.
“She’s broken into three water tight compartments,” Ariel added, “Not including the propulsion and power section. A control pod forward, of course, then the diving lockout chamber and a passenger and equipment bay aft of this. The habitable area is about thirty feet long.”
“I don’t see any salvage gear,” I commented, pointing at the smooth bulbous bow, “I’m surprised you don’t have a vacuum or anything.”
Brody grinned, “That’s planned for an upgrade. A built-in vacuum collection system and even a Waldo… a manipulator arm. As I said, she’s mainly a pla
tform to get us down so we can stay down longer. That and we can spend a lot more time on the bottom in shirt sleeves reconnoitering.”
“What’s she displace?” Lambert asked.
“Twenty-seven tons,” Brody said proudly.
“Damn…” The old Navy man said with an appreciative whistle, “if I recall, the ASDS was more than twice that.”
“True,” Ariel said, “But that submersible was steel hulled, larger and had a lot more bulky equipment. This ship has twenty years more technology development behind her. She’s a prototype, really. Jack and I are already working on an improved version for deep dives. But she’ll do seven knots for about ten hours. We can stretch her running time considerably at lower speeds. And as a bottom platform, she can stay down for several days. We carry some water and can make more and there’s storage for food and a small head in the rear.”
“Well, I’m as giddy as a school girl,” I said, rubbing my palms together, “Let’s get aboard… so… can I drive?”
“Te loco,” Juan said with a chuckle.
Ariel laughed and the other two men grinned. She put a hand on my arm, “We’ll see if there’s time for a lesson.”
“It’s actually fairly simple to operate,” Brody said, “We’ve made things as user-friendly as possible. Joystick control for the rudder and stern planes and simple controls for the ballast tanks. The communications gear is pretty standard and we’ve installed an extendable photonics mast along the rear of the sail, too. Gives a periscope depth of about fifteen feet at the keel… or the bottom of the ballast tanks to be accurate.”
“There isn’t much room between the keel and the base of those tanks,” Lambert said, ducking to look beneath, “I assume you can’t use the lockout chamber when bottomed?”
“Oh no,” Ariel said with a grin. She pointed at a set of structures tucked between where the curves of the smaller cylinders met the larger main hull, “Four extendable landing legs. We can set her down on the tanks or use this to prop her up five feet off the bottom.”
“How times have changed…” Lambert mused.
We ducked down and Brody led us to the open lower hatch. He went up first and then Ariel. A ladder was lowered down to the deck and clipped into place along the rim of the hatch.
“Do you think you can manage the ladder, Master Chief?” Brody called down.
Lambert stood up straight so that his head and shoulders vanished into the open circle of the hatchway, “I ain’t dead yet, son.”
Juan stood next to me and looked concerned. I only shrugged as if to say, you know how he is.
Juan grinned at me and stood close to Lambert as he went up the ladder. It was slow going and I stooped beneath ready to catch him or boost him if needed. But the old mule managed it all on his own.
Juan went to make his way up the ladder but I stopped him. He looked at me questioningly and I jerked my head in the direction of the open end of the hangar.
When we were a few feet away, I leaned in close, “Juan, I know you want to go… but I think I’d like you to stay aboard.”
“Why?”
I sighed, “How well do you know Audrey?”
He shrugged, “Not well… she’s visited a few times since I work for Hank.”
“Is she usually… like this?”
“No… her behavior… es no Bueno…” Juan said in bewilderment.
“Yeah,” I agreed, “Juan… there’s some weird shit going on here, amigo. I can’t explain it now… but I’d feel better if you were here keeping an eye on her.”
He frowned at this. He was devoted to the old man. That was clear. He didn’t like the idea of leaving him to go on a submarine ride.
“Hermano,” I said, gripping his shoulder, “Yo comprende, pero el patron ese n buenos manos. I’ll take care of him, and you can help me best by making sure… by making sure everything es simpatico up here.”
He grinned at me, “Ju speak good Spanish, senor Yarvis. Okay, I’ll keep watch.”
I shook his hand, “Gracias, amigo.”
The interior of the little submersible was lit in a pleasant soft glow that provided plenty of light. The diving lockout chamber was about ten feet long and had enough headroom for me to stand fully upright, although my hair was brushing the overhead. A smaller circular hatch was centered above and a little astern of where the lower hatch was. This obviously led to the tiny sail. A variety of diving gear was hung from the bulkheads and there were a couple of benches for use in gearing up. Two vertical hatches led fore and aft, one to the control compartment and one to the passenger compartment.
“We’re set up for seating, aft,” Brody said, indicating the compartment beyond, “Feel free to sit anywhere, Master Chief. I’d like you too buckle in until we’re out of the hangar, please. Same for you, Jarvis.”
Brody ducked through the forward hatch and joined Ariel at the control station. I ducked my head in to take a quick peek. A full quarter of the bulbous bow was clear Lexan, providing a view of the hangar’s bulkhead but that would provide a spectacular view of the oceanscape once we were free.
They sat at a simple looking console with a joystick between the two seats that either pilot or co-pilot could use. To the left and right of the seats were two sets of twin video screens that displayed a variety of information. I was envious.
I went aft and sat across the tiny aisle from Lambert and buckled in. Each of us were next to a two-foot long viewport that started at the equator and ended just at about the forehead level of a seated passenger.
“You all right, Hank?” I asked.
He grinned, “I feel like a kid again.”
“I know,” I admitted with a grin, “Like we just stepped into a Jules Verne novel.”
“Where’s the kid?”
“I asked him to stay behind. McClay might need a hand. It’s only him and Audrey otherwise.”
Hank frowned slightly but then shrugged it off, “he’d love this.”
“He’ll get a ride, that’s a promise.”
“Rodney Fox, Stand by for undocking,” Came Joe McClay’s voice over the mini’s intercom.
“Fox secure,” Ariel said over the same circuit, “Hatches show red, power system switched to internal. Ballast is negative ten percent. Ready for hangar flooding.”
The old Master Chief and I grinned at each other as we heard a set of clanks and then a low thrumming as a set of powerful servos began to actuate. Outside our ports, we saw seawater rapidly filling the hangar. It stopped a few feet below the lip of the ports.
“Must be the waterline,” I stated.
Lambert nodded, “Sea level and internal water level are equalized.”
“External and internal water levels equalized,” McClay announced.
Hank and I laughed like a couple of kids full of ourselves.
“Opening hangar doors,” McClay stated, “Stand by on propulser… stand by for winch brake release…”
The floor of the hangar seemed to drop away as the two halves of the hangar swung open to reveal a bright blue-green emptiness below us. Another whirring sound and the now vertical leaves of steel began to slide past as we descended. Within a few seconds, we’d passed below the doors. A small display on the bulkhead over the hatch showed our depth at twenty feet.
There was a slight jolt as if something suddenly let us go. I could see now that we hadn’t been attached to a series of cables. Rather, what looked like two giant grabbers had opened to release the submersible. I assumed that when we docked again, the mini would maneuver into the grabbers and they’d clamp on and draw us up.
“We’re free,” Came Ariel’s voice, “We’ll be moving away from the ship and then floating a communications buoy.”
“Was wondering about that,” Hank said, “How they’d talk to the mother ship underwater. Other than a hydrophone-based telephone like the Gertrude.”
“Probably more efficient to just float a com buoy,” I chimed in, “since we’re not operating at any great depth or in secret.”
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There was a burst of bubbles outside as the pilots released some of our compressed air. I heard the low but distinct sound of the electric motor engage behind us and the vessel began to move forward and angled down slightly.
“Five degree down bubble…” Hank murmured almost to himself, “Ahead slow, make turns for two knots…”
I chuckled, “Diving officer, blow negative to the mark…
Ariel ducked into the compartment and grinned broadly at us, “How are you doing, sailors?”
Hank grinned, “I feel like a million bucks, young lady. I assume we’re headed down at a shallow angle at a minimum speed.”
She nodded, “yes.”
“How much air did we lose?” I asked.
“Not much,” She replied, leaning against the hatch combing, “We shift most of it into holding tanks so we can reuse it or use it to blow out the airlocks. But some is lost when we allow seawater in. We’ll blow negative to about a hundred and forty feet and then establish neutral buoyancy.”
“Then drive her up and down with the stern planes,” Lambert finished.
I shook my head in wonder, “It was only a few days back I was replacing a window in my office… and now I’m diving a shipwreck in an advanced mini sub… can’t ever claim my life is mundane.”
“It’s going to get even more interesting,” She said with a sultry smile, “Jack asked if you’d mind suiting up. He wants to do an EVA once we arrive at the U-boat.”
“We’ve got to find it first,” I said, “We’ve only found the Bull Shark so far.”
“The U-2626 can’t be too far,” Lambert interjected, “We were only three or four hundred yards away when our fish hit and maybe a little further when we went down… can’t be more than a third of a mile at best. And probably due west or close on.”
Ariel patted his arm, “We’re going to institute a search pattern that way then. Thank you, Henry.”
“Well, duty calls,” I muttered, unbuckling my safety belt and following Ariel into the lockout chamber.
“The water temperature is fifty-four degrees at this depth,” Ariel stated, “There are wet suits hung here. There’s an extra-large that I think will fit you. Are you familiar with closed circuit apparatus?”
