Tony’s run from lab to bridge seemed like a marathon. The run through Deck Three was terrifying. He could hear Ian and Jim slamming around inside the power plant, still making the most horrid sounds he’d ever heard. Once, he could have sworn he heard his name called out in the screeching.
By the time he reached the bridge, he was soaked with sweat and completely drained. He called out from the hallway and Jessica and Theresa had the door unlocked by the time he got there. They slammed it behind him and sealed it closed.
“Thank God you’re back,” said Jessica as she hugged him.
“We’re moving,” said Theresa quietly.
Tony hugged them both, then moved to the bridge console. He pressed the button for the MC.
“Warning—unauthorized landing rod jettison. Warning—unauthorized landing rod jettison...”
“I know. Be quiet. What’s our current depth?”
“Current depth is twenty-one thousand two hundred and twenty-two feet. Rate of ascent, five feet per minute . . .”
“Five feet per minute? We’ll be down here for another month! MC! Emergency surface! Flush ballast tanks!” screamed Tony.
“Unauthorized surfacing sequence. Ballast tanks cannot be authorized without Commander Bell’s authorization . . .”
“MC! Commander Bell is dead! We need to surface!”
“. . . cannot be authorized at this time . . .”
“Fucking VAL, I knew it! We’re gonna have to do it manually,” said Tony.
“How are we going to get into the power plant?” asked Jessica.
“I have no idea . . .”
***********
Tony drank a bottle of water and refilled it with alcohol. He told Jessica and Theresa about the worm creature that used to be Jim’s finger, and how it reacted to the alcohol. At least they had something that resembled a defense. They sat on the bridge, Tony exhausted both physically and mentally after running the gauntlet, and quietly watched their depth changing ever so slowly. They were moving too slow to even feel it, and the black smoker slowly heated up the hull as they moved up its side.
The MC announced hull cautions as the vent heated up the side of the hull. “Uneven hull pressure. Increase internal pressure to two bars. Check external diagnostics . . .”
“That’s great. Just what we need,” said Tony.
“Is that from the vent?” asked Theresa.
“Yeah, we’re moving up the side and the widest part of the ship is even closer than the top was. It’s gonna get hot as hell and expand while the rest of the ship is getting squeezed.”
“So what happens?”
“Worst case, we don’t have to worry about getting eaten any more.”
She looked at him blankly.
He raised his eyebrows and explained. “Because we’ll be dead, Theresa. The hull breaches and we’re all fish food within a few seconds. I don’t think it would hurt.”
“That’s very comforting. And best-case scenario?”
“We move past it, cool off, and float to the surface.”
Jessica was still looking at the screen.
“We’re still moving way too slow. We have to dump the ballast tanks. If the MC won’t do it, we need to get into the power plant.”
Tony exhaled very slowly. “Yeah. I know.”
Theresa pondered a moment, then spoke thoughtfully. “Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Ian and Jim are alive on this ship, filled with bacteria, and are now no more than hosts for this superstrong stuff that acts like a new organism. Do you think it is trying to kill us, or just trying to eat?”
“What’s the difference?” asked Jessica.
“Well, if we’re a threat and it wants us dead—we’re at war, so to speak. If it just needs to feed, maybe we can give it a bunch of food from the lab freezers and keep it fat and happy long enough to get into the plant.”
Tony and Jessica looked at each other. “She has a point,” said Tony.
“Or—take it one step further,” said Theresa, thinking out loud. “We used the bluefish for bait and caught the tube worms. Maybe we can use it for bait and hook these two things.”
Tony made a face. “You didn’t see these things, Theresa. They came across the room like a bullet and had Ted’s body ripped open in seconds. I don’t want to go fishing for these two things.”
Jessica interrupted. “What if the bait is just a distraction? We set out the food and lure them into a trap.”
“That would be great if we had something to kill them with. I’m not sure throwing a water bottle full of alcohol is gonna do it,” said Tony. “I’m not even sure I killed that worm thing. I might have just pissed it off.”
They all sat in deep thought.
“Still, the food idea is good. Maybe we can keep them eating long enough to blow the ballast tanks,” said Jessica.
“That means a trip back to the freezers in the lab on Deck Five. Which is through Deck Three last time I checked,” said Tony.
“We’re going to Deck Three next anyway,” said Theresa.
“Thanks,” said Tony.
Jessica stood up and started pacing. “What about if we increased the oxygen on Deck Three only and poured alcohol into the power plant and lit it. It would go up in flames in two seconds. We could burn them out.”
“Um, Doc? You know what happens when you have a fire on a sub in an oxygen-enriched environment?” asked Tony. He didn’t wait for a reply. “We all die.”
“It was just an idea.”
“Not one of your better ones. We’ll try the food. We’ll rest up and eat, then make a dash for the lab. We’ll take as much baitfish as we can carry and throw it into the power plant. If they eat it, maybe they’ll calm down or sleep or something.”
“This is a really shitty plan,” said Theresa.
“Why? You got a better idea?”
“Most deep-sea creatures don’t sleep like you’re thinking about sleep. They may slow down if they’ve just fed, but they’re alert and still looking for their next meal. Fish that sleep soundly end up as somebody else’s dinner. We gotta kill these things.”
“We have anything that looks remotely like a weapon other than bottles of alcohol?” asked Tony.
“There’s a gaffing hook in the lab.”
“And I have hazmat suits in sickbay. We can protect ourselves a little bit, anyway,” said Jessica.
Tony rubbed his face and groaned in frustration. “I hate this. The one time I’m on a sub with no weapons is the one time I need a weapon. Okay. We suit up, we get the food and the gaffing hook, and we carry alcohol and go into the power plant. And then probably get slaughtered.”
“Thanks for bolstering my confidence,” said Jessica.
“We have to kill them, or at least hurt them enough so they retreat long enough to blow the ballast tanks. Hey—you do know how to do that, right?”
“Yeah,” said Tony. “The pipes are clearly marked by the desalinization plant. You open four valves and the pressurized air blows the water out.”
“Okay. It’s settled. We kill whatever killed Mike and our crew and we get the fuck out of here,” said Theresa.
“You’re cursing like a sailor,” said Tony. “I’m proud of you.”
She looked at him in total seriousness. “Fuckin’-A, right. It’s called being scared shitless.”
“Roger dat,” said Tony. “Eat a snack, and we’re outta’ here.”