That night and next day were simply torture. The three of them sat locked in the bridge, listening to VAL warn about the ship’s multiple system failures while God knows what was outside tearing the place apart and screaming like a B horror movie for hours. They were exhausted and stressed, but did their best to stay positive. Jessica had woken up from her nap feeling better after some sleep. They took turns talking about their worst and best relationships, planned their next vacations, discussed life in the navy—whatever they could do to take their minds off the situation they were in.
Jessica shivered in the ever-dropping temperature of the bridge, the heating system from the desalinization plant having ceased its functioning. Tony rubbed her back briskly, then Theresa’s as he joked that he was an “equal opportunity employer.” It was starting to get noticeably colder since they lost power below.
They ate some food from the cans and reminisced about Mike’s great cooking. A strange noise from outside the ship interrupted them. Tony leaped up into the air and sent his food airborne.
“A ping!” he screamed so loud they all jumped.
“A what?” asked Theresa.
“A ping! They have a sub! They just pinged us! Bounced a sonar signal off our hull to tell me they’re there!” Tony was screaming and moving in fast motion, but he looked so happy he could jump in the air and celebrate. He hopped over to the console and began typing like mad. “VAL! Send sonar ping! Find sonar contact and lock cameras!”
“Sonar contact confirmed. Locking position and repositioning cameras,” she said calmly.
Tony transferred the camera images to the main screen and there, in the deep black water, were the approaching lights of the DSRV. The three of them screamed with joy at the sight. The DSRV, at fifty feet long and eight feet in diameter, looked tiny as it approached the massive white sphere.
“PING!”
VAL sent the sonar signal to the DSRV.
“PING!” came the reply.
Tony leaped up and grabbed his fellow crew members. The three of them hugged and allowed the tears to flow.
But their joy was short-lived. The things outside didn’t like the noise, apparently, and began shrieking and moaning louder than ever.
“Can we radio them or something?” asked Jessica.
“No, we don’t have that type of communication equipment aboard. Maybe the one thing the NASA boys forgot when they built this thing. But the DSRV knows we’re here, and we know they’re here! That’s all that matters. They’ll position themselves over the hatch and lock on; then we’ll open up and get the fuck outta here!”
For the next thirty minutes, the three of them did their best to ignore the horrifying noises while they watched the sub come into view on camera. The tiny vessel circled and positioned itself over the hatch above their heads. They listened in excitement to the sound of metal on metal as the DSRV locked on over their hatch. It seemed to take forever. Inside the DSRV, the rescue personnel worked quickly to stabilize the seal as the two joined vessels now slowly ascended together.
“When they open the hatch, Jessica goes first, then Theresa, then me. You climb straight up and get out as fast as you can. As soon as you two are up, I’ll start flooding the ballast tanks again and then get out. We’ll send them all down to Davy Jones’s locker.”
They nodded but didn’t speak, instead just staring at the hatch, willing it to open.
After what seemed like forever, the sound of a metal wrench banging on their hatch made them scream and throw their hands up in victory.
“Jess! Get up and start spinning that lock!”
She raced up the ladder and began turning the handle, feeling it moving on the other side as the sailors in the DSRV turned from their end. Tony sat at the console and began typing and speaking with VAL.
“VAL! Prepare to flood ballast tanks for descent!”
“Preparing ballast tanks . . .” she said politely.
The hatch opened and a masked face appeared, hanging upside down in his hazmat suit, as instructed by Tony’s emergency beacon. He smiled behind the Plexiglas faceplate, looking like a college kid. “Someone call for a taxi?” he asked with a toothy grin inside his hood.
Jessica screamed with delight. “Thank you!”
Jessica and Theresa climbed up quickly, with two pairs of hands helping to pull them up. The sailor climbed down and stood by the ladder. “Tony Martinez?” he yelled. “I was under the impression you wanted to get the heck out of here?”
The sounds of pounding on the door, followed by the loudest shrieking yet, made the man spin and face the door in stunned horror.