Aaron surfaced, sputtering and coughing, while behind him Jason raised the pipe high.
“AARON!” Ashley shouted through the din.
Aaron looked up just as his mother tossed the pipe wrench, catching it with one hand, while Jason’s blow glanced painfully off his shoulder. He spun around with all the force he could muster, smashing Jason high in the throat. Blood spewed from between Jason’s clenched teeth as reflex sent his hand to his crushed larynx. In disbelief he looked squarely at Aaron, then his eyes rolled up, and he fell face first into the rising water.
Chapter 63
Katya and Ashley stood dazed, waist deep in bloody seawater, being hit from all sides by the relentless, freezing spray. Aaron gathered them into his arms and held them for a long moment.
Just then the lights went out. Katya screamed, cowering back in disgusted horror. Something in the dark water had bumped into her hip.
The lights blinked on again, and Aaron saw that it was Fagan’s dead body, its flesh gray and swollen. He tried to turn Katya away, but she saw it and screamed again, causing Ashley to scream as well.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Aaron shouted through the deafening spray, and at last they headed out of the Aft Torpedo Room.
Aaron swung the watertight hatch cover closed, sealing them off from the massive flow of water, but the Electric Motor Room was flooding as well now. Sparks arced and spit from the huge motors and control panels, and Aaron was concerned that they would all be electrocuted.
They moved on, passing through the Engine Room and Machinery Control Room before climbing the short stairway into Compartment Four, where they were out of the deepest water for a moment. Boxes of rice and other food items floated in the water near the Galley, as they moved along the tilted corridor.
They stepped through the watertight hatch into Compartment Three, and Aaron closed and sealed that hatch as well.
For a moment he just stood there, looking around the Control Room, casting desperately about for an idea — any idea. There had to be a way out of this. The air was thick and heavy, smelling of diesel oil and burnt wiring, becoming more and more difficult to breathe.
He looked up into the conning tower, but he knew that with the weight of half the bay sitting on top of it, he’d never be able to get the fin hatch open without first flooding the submarine to equalize the pressure.
Just then the boat shuddered as its bow rose slightly. The stern was filling with water, leaving an air pocket toward the bow. Aaron knew they would have air as long as they kept moving toward the front of the ship.
He saw a coil of rope hanging near the chart table, and suddenly an idea came to him. It was crazy, and extremely risky, but it was all he had.
He steeled himself and grabbed the rope, draping it over his shoulder. Then he looked at the shivering girls.
“I think I have a plan,” he said, sounding as confident as he could. “Are you guys ready to get out of here?”
There was a light in Aaron’s eyes they hadn’t seen in a while, and they nodded hopefully.
“All right,” he said. “Follow me.”
Chapter 64
The second their flight touched down at San Diego International, Harness placed a call to Naval Command in Point Loma.
“Who did you say this was?” the receptionist asked, her tone arrogant and patronizing.
“I’m Detective James Harness,” he repeated, slower this time. “I work in a small precinct on the East Coast.”
“And what’s this regarding?” she said.
“I’d rather speak to someone higher up. This is a matter of national security.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t transfer you till I know what this is regarding.”
“It’s about a possible assassination attempt on the President,” Harness said impatiently. “We’re wasting precious time here. It’s happening as we speak!”
“Hold please,” the receptionist said, and she was gone.
Harness waited for what felt like an hour. He was just about to hang up when the receptionist returned to the line, sounding like a digital recording. Harness could not get a word in edgewise.
“We appreciate your concern,” she said. “However, I’ve been instructed to assure you that sufficient security has been arranged for the President’s visit. If you have any further questions or concerns you may try our website at…” She gave Harness a complicated website address and hung up.
“Damn it,” Harness mumbled to himself. “I’m an officer of the law… and they couldn’t care less.”
He briefly considered calling the SDPD, but he knew that dealing with another bureaucracy and another patronizing receptionist would cost him valuable time. And he’d lost too much time already.
Darkness had settled on the city when Harness and Holt took a cab from the airport to the Maritime Museum of San Diego, and when they jumped out and ran down to where b-39 should have been, they were surprised to see nothing but a huge, white plastic tarp.
“What the hell is this all about?” Harness said.
They crossed the wooden gangplank, and when they pulled back the flap they discovered that the entire submarine was missing.
Very clever, Harness thought, admiring the ingenuity. Enclose the sub in a weathertight shelter, and no one will ever know you’re gone.
He spotted the Zodiac tied up to the dock and threw a glance at Holt.
Holt gave him a look that said, No way, Detective. I’m not going out on that huge bay in the dark in that thing!
“If you’ve got a better idea, I’m all ears,” Harness said.
Holt didn’t.
“After you,” Harness said.
They stepped into the Zodiac and headed off across the black waters of San Diego Bay.
Chapter 65
The ship continued to tilt upward and to the side, and as Aaron, Ashley, and Katya moved toward the bow they faced a steep, awkward incline. The sub was almost totally flooded now, and it seemed that no matter how high they climbed they were always waist deep in seawater.
At last they reached the bow of the ship, and the hatch leading to Compartment One, the Forward Torpedo Room. They ducked inside and Aaron cranked the hatch cover closed.
The water was only knee deep there, and at first Aaron thought it wasn’t rising, but he was wrong. It was rising faster than ever.
Aaron found it harder to breathe in there, as well, as if all of the bad air from the entire submarine had been compressed into the small space they were in. He tried to breath only through his mouth, but it didn’t work. We’re running out of oxygen, he thought, panic teasing his insides.
He looked around and found the Submerged Escape Apparatus hanging where he and Uri had seen it earlier. He removed it from its hook and turned to the girls.
“Here’s the plan,” he said. “This is a rescue breather — a lung for breathing underwater. We’re going to use it to swim out through the torpedo tube.”
The girls looked at him as if he’d gone completely insane.
“Can we do that?” Ashley asked.
“To be honest, I’m not really sure,” Aaron said quickly. “All I know is, I read about a guy who did it once and lived to talk about it.”
The freezing seawater had risen to waist deep, and the girls huddled together in a vain attempt to keep warm.