At least they knew what they were dealing with aboard the Valant oil rig. All they needed was a very small team, few munitions or weapons expected, and passageways that were easy to use as bottlenecks.
The Pathfinder ship was a different story.
They knew about the transfers back and forth from the rig to the science vessel, although Belov himself confirmed that the ship was where their prize still lay. Or prizes. And military ships, even science vessels, carried munitions with well-trained crewmembers. Most U.S. Navy science ships had a round-the-clock security detail of three to four men, likely armed with M-16s.
Taking them out would be hard enough, but if the Spetsnaz team was forced to turn to one of their backup plans, things were going to get messy. For everyone.
73
“Easy!”
Elgin Tay pulled hard on one of the stabilizing lines, helping to slow the drill after a large swell rocked the Pathfinder from side to side. The roll caused the giant piece of machinery to sway, its tip missing the edge of the ship’s stern by less than a foot. Tay and his men desperately shuffled their feet, trying to maintain their footing as the steel deck was splashed by wave after wave of warm saltwater.
Tay shouted, hands gripping the line like a vice, and arched his short frame away for leverage. “Wait ‘til it steadies and be ready to drop!”
Smitty nodded from several feet away with one hand on the winch controls. Lightfoot was on the other side, near the edge, trying to control the thick black power cable attached to the top of the drill.
It wasn’t the waves they were worried about. They had dropped their remote vehicles in far worse conditions. It was the drill itself. If the tip hit anything on the ship, the damage could be irreparable. And with their custom designed bit, there were no spare parts.
Fully assembled, the thing was monstrous, almost six feet across at the back where the powerful electric motor resided. A motor so powerful that if they were to unleash its full potential, it would literally rip the rest of the drill into pieces.
If this couldn’t open a hole in the alien hull, nothing would.
Tay’s men waited for a break in the swells. When the ship was level enough, Smitty used the controls to extend the winch’s hydraulic arm further out over the water, where the steel arm strained under the excessive weight of the drill.
Tay raised his hand over his head, watching the approaching swells. After another, more mild, rock of the ship, they reached the trough and Tay dropped his hand. Smitty instantly lowered the drill, sending it splashing into the beginning of the next crest.
Tay nodded and extended his thumb, signaling Smitty to begin rolling out the line. Lightfoot joined in by stepping beneath the winch and feeding the power cable out at the same speed.
Waiting in the water were Gorski’s men, Corbin and Beene, both of whom moved into place on opposite sides of the drill and began guiding it away from the ship.
A short distance away, Alison provided another set of eyes on the surface, looking for any noticeable warning flags. When the heavy drill dipped below the waves, she ducked below as well and swam closer.
The bright beam from her helmet illuminated one side of the drill as it continued a gradual descent into the dark waters below.
“Everything looks fine from here,” Alison called into her microphone. After Tay replied, she turned and was amused to find dozens of dolphins surrounding her, watching the operation in fascination. One of whom was Dirk.
Alison. What do?
“We’re studying the metal below, Dirk.”
She could hear the wild chatter around her from the other dolphins, conversations IMIS still had trouble following unless Alison had her vest facing them. Instead of allowing fragmented exchanges through, they had elected not to have IMIS attempt to translate them at all. Rather, they simply allowed the clicks and whistles through as background noise. It would at least make them aware of external conversations without overloading the system.
Floating in front of her, Dirk’s eyes were still following the drill.
How metal do?
Alison frowned at the question, again left struggling to find a way to make things clear with their limited vocabulary.
“It’s hard to explain, Dirk.”
When the drill dropped beyond the bright wash of Alison’s lamp, Dirk twisted his head back toward her.
Alison. You come now.
“Come where?”
We show now.
She smiled inside her mask. “Show me what, Dirk?”
He repeated. You come now.
Dirk turned and moved away, parting through the rest of the dolphins. Alison was left floating behind.
Lee’s voice cut in over her earbuds. “What is he saying?”
“I’m not sure. I guess there’s only one way to find out.”
Dirk slowed, allowing Alison to catch up, where she then extended a hand and wrapped it gently around his dorsal fin. He accelerated, pulling her behind.
Illuminated by her lamp, tiny specs in the water appeared from the darkness and zipped past as Dirk continued forward. After several minutes, she could feel Dirk begin to slow. Alison looked at her dive computer and found that they were still less than twenty feet below the surface.
Together they rose over a wide reef, covered in glowing green vegetation, and descended the other side into a large circular area, protected from much of the swaying of the ocean’s soft current.
From aboard the Pathfinder, Lee could hear Alison stop breathing suddenly through his headphones. “Ali, you okay?”
There was no answer.
“Alison? Are you there?!”
Still nothing. After several seconds, he opened his mouth to try again when Alison’s voice replied in a whisper.
“Yes.”
“Are you okay?”
Lee couldn’t see Alison nodding absently, almost frozen.
“I’m okay.”
Her wide eyes stared out through the glass face mask, mesmerized at what she was seeing.
“Ali?”
Again, she failed to answer. Lee began typing and brought up the video feed from her vest. When the image appeared on his screen, he was just as stunned.
The picture was dark, but Alison’s LED lamp and the soft glow from the plants below was enough for him to see the scene before her.
Lee was almost afraid to speak. “Is that what I think it is?”
Alison smiled. “I think so.”
Below her, around the reef, were hundreds of dolphins. All swam around in the same direction, forming a veritable wall around the circular depression in the reef. But what had truly taken Alison’s breath away was what she saw in the middle. Dozens of dolphins were all moving slowly, in short and tight motions — each one accompanied by another dolphin trailing cautiously just behind the first.
It was the dolphins in front, moving back and forth, that Alison watched in anticipation. Because below each one was a short tail protruding out from their belly. Or more specifically, from their birth canal.
“Wow,” Alison whispered. “Can you see that, Lee? They’re birthing!”
Lee nodded. “I can. That’s amazing.”
“It’s more than amazing. It’s never been seen before in the wild. Only in captivity. God, there must be fifty of them! Maybe more.”
Together, with Alison floating in place and Lee on the monitor, they continued watching in silence as the mothers moved back and forth, helping their calves to emerge, tail first. Until they were finally out, whereby the mother would guide the new child to the surface for its first breath.