The evening passed so slowly it hurt. Tony had rubbed Jessica’s back and soothed her until she fell asleep, and then he and Theresa had sat by the door armed with alcohol, trying to sleep in shifts. Neither one of them had managed to doze much. The things outside kept up their unholy chorus for hours. Occasionally, they’d hear the sound of something smashing or falling, but they had no idea what was happening. Eventually, Tony gave up on sleep and sat at the helm. He had turned off VAL hours before because the monsters outside were annoying enough. He turned her back on.
“How may I be of assistance?” asked VAL in its annoying civil tone as it rebooted and started running diagnostics.
“Estimate time to five hundred feet below sea level,” he said.
“Estimated time to five hundred feet is fifty-one hours, ten minutes,” she replied.
“Run ship diagnostics and report only abnormalities or problems,” said Tony.
There was a brief pause, and Tony watched as lines of codes flew across his screen. After a moment, VAL replied, “All systems are normal except for power plant fuel supply. Fuel supply shows critical systems failure.”
“What’s wrong with the fuel supply?” he asked, picturing the things that used to be his friends lying on the floor.
“Severe damage to biofuel tanks. Ship’s fuel supply at forty percent and dropping. Suggest energy-saving actions.”
Tony thought as fast as he could. “VAL, turn off all lights and electricity on Decks Two, Three, Four, and Five. Leave bridge at full power.”
They couldn’t see it from the bridge, but below them, lights and systems began shutting off. Tony watched as VAL continued to run diagnostics, with line after line of code whipping across the large screen. The word “failure” kept appearing. Tony could feel himself starting to sweat.
“What’s wrong, VAL? Is there a problem?”
“Severe damage to biofuel tanks. Multiple system failures in desalinization plant. Multiple system failures in power plant. Power supply at thirty-nine percent and dropping . . .”
Tony looked over at Theresa. She was looking at him, waiting for him to explain what was happening. “Those things are tearing up Deck Three. Probably breaking up the pipes and tubes and who knows what. Thank God we started surfacing already.”
“So what happens if everything is broken on Deck Three?” asked Theresa.
Tony shrugged. “Not sure. We have battery backups. Enough for a few hours, anyway. This room is pretty big. Even if the air supply gets knocked off-line, we’d last in here long enough for the DSRV to get us out. I think.”
“The air supply is going to go off?” she asked excitedly.
“Not necessarily. It’s the number-one priority on the ship. I just don’t know what those things are doing on Deck Three. Jesus. I think there’s a way to flood us via the desalinization plant. I mean, you’d have to know what you were doing, but Jim would know how.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, now getting up and walking to Tony.
“The desalinization plant uses outside water, brings it in, and causes condensation, which is fresh water for drinking. There are valves that control the seawater. It takes a lot of safety overrides, but you can open the seawater into the ship. We’d fill and sink pretty fast at this depth.”
“Jesus, Tony.”
“I don’t think they could do it—I’m just sayin’ . . .”
“You’re just trying to lift my spirits?”
“Sorry—just thinking out loud, I guess. I’m trying to figure out what those things want. They want to just eat us? Or they want to get back to the seafloor? Do you think they can think? Reason? Or are they just worms trying to get a meal?”
“I don’t know,” Theresa replied. “Tube worms—they just exist and feed and reproduce. They aren’t having conversations about the meaning of life. But Jim—I don’t know. You saw him. Do you think Jim was still inside there somewhere?”
Tony shook his head. “I don’t think so. What I saw wasn’t human. God, I really hope not.”
Theresa looked at Jessica, who was fast asleep. “I’m jealous. I wish I could sleep and just wake up to a navy rescue.”
Tony smiled. He looked at Jessica, so pretty and relaxed in her sleep. He was hoping she was seeing something peaceful and beautiful in her dreams. What was outside the door wasn’t so nice.
Theresa looked at Tony—caught him watching her. “You two really hit it off, huh?”
He smiled. “Yeah. Started off as a joke, ya know? Then maybe something a little physical, like a nice distraction at twenty thousand feet. I ended up really fallin’ for her. Been a while since I found someone I was really into.” He was talking to himself as much as he was speaking to Theresa. When he looked up at her, she was teary-eyed.
“Sorry,” she said, wiping her eyes. “It was like that with Mike and me, too. Totally unprofessional and not cool, ya know? He was such a wiseass. But I really miss him.”
Tony shook his head and stared at the floor. “We had a good crew, Theresa. I think Ted did something that got us here. But Jim was a good skipper and a good man. And Ian and Mike knew their shit. This should have been a dream mission.”
As if on cue, the things outside started their shrieking and howling again.
“Fifty-one hours,” said Tony quietly. “We just gotta keep that door locked for fifty-one hours and pray the DSRV is here in time.”
“And you really think they can get one here in time?” she asked.
“The sub tender had a small one aboard. I saw it on the rear deck. They can use a Super Stallion and fly it here. A big helicopter,” he translated.
“So you think we have a chance. For real?” she asked.
“Hell, yeah. Those are my guys out there! They ain’t gonna leave my ass out here underwater!” He pulled up his shirtsleeve and showed his US Navy tattoo with the large anchor.
She forced a smile. “If you say so,” she said. She looked at the door and listened to the cacophony from outside. She grabbed some alcohol bottles and placed them on the floor by the door and sat down with her back against it. If the door moved, it would wake her up. She closed her eyes, bottle in hand.