The lights continued to flicker dangerously, threatening to cut out once and for all. Aaron knew that if he and the girls were plunged into total darkness before he was ready, they were done for.
He checked the lung; the gauge indicated that it still had a small amount of oxygen in it. “This lung is very old, and won’t be very effective,” he said. “So we’ll have to move fast.”
“Th-that’s the only one?” Katya said, shivering uncontrollably now.
“Yes,” Aaron said. “You two will have to share.”
“But what about you?” Ashley said.
“I’ll be fine,” Aaron said quickly, and he could only pray that that was true.
He gave the girls a quick demonstration on the use of the lung. “Just breathe into this mouthpiece. The air will come automatically.”
The girls looked at the device doubtfully.
“And no matter what happens,” he said, “don’t follow me into the tube until I signal you, okay?”
The girls nodded.
Aaron showed Katya the button that would open the torpedo tube’s outer door. “Remember, don’t open the door until the seawater level reaches the top of the tube,” he said. “We have to fill this compartment enough to flood the entire tube, if we’re going to have any chance of equalizing the pressure.”
“Understood,” Katya said.
The water level was rapidly rising, and the lights continued to blink off and on, making it nearly impossible for Aaron to concentrate. He handed one end of the rope to Ashley, tying the other end around his waist, and then, saying a quick prayer, crawled into the tube.
Space was tight there in the tube. The only thing Aaron could get a grip on were the thin lands, raised strips of steel running the length of the tube. He muscled his way to the muzzle end and grabbed hold of the crossbar that stiffened the tube’s outer door.
At last the water in the torpedo room reached the level of the tube. Aaron felt the change in pressure in his ears, and what little light he had was pushed out as the cold bay water rushed in, filled the tube, chilling him to the bone.
He took one last breath and held on to the crossbar as the water swirled in over his head. The darkness was complete.
Press the button, he thought. Come on Katya, the tube is full, girl… I need for you to press the button.
The cold, watery blackness inside the tube was intolerably close. Panic gripped Aaron’s heart and tried to rip it from his chest, and he was certain this hellish, black-steel tube would be his grave.
Suddenly, with banging rush, the muzzle door opened. Aaron held tight to the crossbar and he was drawn part way out of the tube's mouth. Lungs bursting, he thrust his arms outside and pulled his body through into the dark freezing waters of the bay. It had been half a minute since his last breath.
The girls had climbed up the torpedo rack in order to breathe in the small pocket of air that remained.
Ashley felt Aaron tug on the rope. “That’s the signal!”
Suddenly the Forward Torpedo Room went dark as the last of the reserve power shorted out.
The two women groped desperately for each other in the terrifying blackness, the choking seawater up to their necks.
At last Katya’s hand found Ashley’s face. “Are you with me, Ashley?” she cried, spitting water by the cupful.
“I’m here,” Ashley coughed. “Let’s do it!”
Summoning every last ounce of their willpower, they gulped what would likely be their last breaths and ducked under the icy black water.
Darkness covered the entire bay now. Harness could barely see ten feet in front of the Zodiac.
They had decided to head for the nuclear submarine base at Point Loma first, but they had motored almost all the way to Ballast Point without seeing anything. And as they cruised past the row of bait barges, little did they know that forty feet below them, Aaron, Katya, and Ashley were fighting for their lives.
The men continued on out toward the mouth of the bay, venturing a short distance into the Pacific Ocean.
To the south, a few miles off shore, they could see the distant lights of a cruise ship, most likely heading for Cabo, but the USS Hampton was long gone, and Cobra was nowhere to be seen.
Holt’s head hurt from peering into the darkness. “It’s been an hour already and I ain’t seen nothin’,” he said.
“You’re right,” Harness said. “Let’s head back up the bay and take one more look.”
And at that point they turned around.
Katya went first, feeling her way into the dark, narrow torpedo tube, blindly following the rope, while clutching the rescue breather to her breast. Ashley scrambled in immediately behind her, and she, too, used the rope as her only guide.
Aaron’s head and lungs were about to explode, his eyes close to popping from their sockets. But he held tight to the rope.
Come on guys, he thought desperately, You can do it! Be strong, ladies! Be strong!
Katya squeezed as far into the tube as she could, waiting for Ashley’s hands touch her feet, and then she tugged hard on the rope. Aaron quickly took up the slack and then braced his feet on the sub’s outer hull. Then, with everything he had, he started pulling the rope toward himself hand over hand. It had been over a minute since his last breath.
At last, just as Aaron was about to black out, Katya emerged from the tube holding the lung. She took a quick breath and then feeling in the dark she passed the lung to Aaron, who took two quick breaths before passing it back and pulling Ashley through. Katya took another big hit and then she found Ashley’s face and pressed the mask over her mouth, forcing her to take a lifesaving breath of her own.
Finally, due to Aaron’s skill and wealth of diving experience, the three escapees managed to buddy breathe their way through a cold, dark, disorienting, and terrifyingly long ascent to the surface.
They came up together, splashing, choking, and gasping for air.
Aaron quickly got his bearings. They had drifted into the middle of the harbor and were facing a long swim in every direction. The girls were clearly nearing exhaustion, unable to tread water much longer.
Suddenly, out of the darkness, an inflatable outboard came racing toward them from the south, and for a desperate moment the survivors thought they’d been spotted.
They yelled and screamed and waved and splashed with everything they had, but soon it became clear that on its present course, their best hope of rescue would pass them forever.
Detective Harness held on as the Zodiac bounded across the bay, his eyes straining to see through the blackness.
Suddenly he saw what looked like a commotion on the water. He looked again — there were swimmers in the water, and they were in trouble.
“Come about, Holt, hard to port!” he shouted.
Holt yanked on the tiller and the Zodiac arced hard left.
“Hold her on course,” Harness commanded. “We have three swimmers dead ahead.”
He grabbed the boat’s only two life vests from under his seat and prepared to throw.
Chapter 66
The toss was perfect, the life vests landing within reach of all three swimmers.
Aaron made sure his companions had a firm grip, and then he grabbed a handful of the orange canvas for himself.