The Sedna had indeed made it back to the surface, and a body wearing an escape suit lay on top of her hull.
CHLOE COULD HARDLY concentrate as she maneuvered the Sedna towards the Wanderer’s stern. She had managed to get to her brother, but Gordon had already floated up to the surface, and they had no means of giving him air for an underwater decompression. Their only alternative was to get him inside the Wanderer’s hyperbaric chamber as quickly as possible.
The bubble canopy had been partially opened and Izzy had pulled herself onto the top of the Sedna’s hull. Now she was kneeling beside Gordon, doing her best to comfort him as he writhed in agony. “Hang on, Gordy, we’re almost there.”
Chloe’s teeth chattered as she kept adjusting the thrusters, allowing the Sedna to drift to within a few meters of the waiting ship. A small group of crewmembers from the Wanderer had positioned themselves by the stern of the boat, ready to assist once the submersible got close enough.
Ethan stood alongside the crew, and he quickly patted the shoulders of a burly crewman wielding a long hook pole. “Okay, get her in!”
The big bearded crewman acknowledged as he leaned out, hooked his pole onto the top of the Sedna’s hull and pulled with all his might. Within a few seconds, the submersible was close enough for a couple of crewmembers to jump onto the Sedna’s hull and haul Gordon up onto the aft deck of the boat.
After shutting the engines off, Chloe pulled herself out from the submersible’s bubble canopy and quickly moved towards a nearby ladder, making her way onto the Wanderer’s deck with a hefty assist from the others.
Dr. Lillian Daway was already inside the hyperbaric chamber located near the forward part of the ship’s stern deck, giving directions to the crewmembers carrying Gordon as they placed him inside the capsule. “Easy does it. Get ready to seal the hatch on my command.”
Chloe ran up to the entry hatch. “Wait, I’m going in too.”
The small crowd parted to make way for her as Chloe shoved herself in through the hatch before turning around and giving a thumbs up to the crew. “Okay, seal it.”
Gordon’s hood had been removed as he lay on the side of the cramped chamber. His eyes were closed, with shallow breathing and occasional spasms indicating serious signs of decompression sickness.
With the hatch now sealed, Lillian activated the intercom system. “Start the recompression.”
Chloe inched her way through the narrow chamber until she crouched right beside her brother. “Hang in there, Gordy. You can make it.”
Less than a minute later, Gordon opened his glassy, bloodshot eyes and began to alternately cough and hyperventilate as his body was racked with seizures.
Chloe used her arms to keep her brother from injuring himself. “Gordy, calm down. You’re safe, you’re okay.”
Gordon groaned loudly as he tilted his head up and began vomiting out blood.
Lillian’s eyes widened and she reached sideways for the medical kit she had brought inside the capsule. “Barotrauma! Possible pneumothorax or arterial gas embolism.”
Chloe looked up at the other woman with panic in her eyes. “What can we do?”
“Get the rest of his escape suit off. I need to examine his chest.”
Both women hurriedly peeled off Gordon’s SEIE suit and tossed the crumpled remains to the side. Lillian worked fast, first checking for signs of a collapsed lung as Gordon began shaking uncontrollably, with more blood seeping from his nostrils.
“Let’s turn him over so he lays on his left side,” Lillian said.
Both women quickly propped Gordon sideways as his breathing became shallower.
Chloe had tears running down her cheeks. She wanted to scream, and only her professional experience as a saturation diver kept her from having a complete psychotic breakdown. Remembering her stress training, she began her own tactical breathing procedure to calm herself down.
“Multiple air embolisms and a collapsed lung,” Lillian said tersely as she held out a large syringe and plunged it into the side of Gordon’s ribcage, drawing out the trapped air from his damaged pulmonary system in order to allow him to breathe easier.
Chloe continued to clutch her brother tightly, doing her best to keep him from convulsing too much.
Gordon made a low moan and his chest began heaving up and down.
Chloe shrieked. “What’s happening to him now?”
“I… I think he’s having a heart attack,” Lillian said as she reached sideways and pulled out an intravenous packet from her bag and attaching an arm needle to it. “Hold on, I’m going to administer a thrombolytic.”
Chloe held Gordon’s head in her arms as the tears continued to drip down her cheeks. “Hang in there, Gordy, hang in there!”
Gordon’s eyes locked onto hers. He forced a strained smile as frothy blood oozed from the sides of his mouth. “Sis. You… you always… saved me. I… paid you back… for once.”
“Gordy!” Chloe sobbed as her brother closed his eyes and his body stopped shaking.
47
ONCE THE Deep Dog had been secured at the Queequeg’s aft deck, Liger grabbed the meter long canister from one of the Russian crewmembers and strode down towards the ship’s sonar room. It was already late afternoon, and the boat had turned in a northeasterly direction, back towards the semi-submersible rig.
Throwing the double doors open, he could see both Sandor and Yamamoto standing at the other end of the room. Liger moved closer to the two men, his fuming anger still unabated.
Sandor raised an eyebrow as he held out his hands in anticipation of receiving the canister. “So it looks like a job well done.”
Instead of giving the object to him, Liger placed it on the table beside them, before abruptly whirling around and landing a solid punch on the left side of Sandor’s jaw. The corporate executive dropped to his knees from the near stunning pain before doubling over onto the floor and uttering a tortured, semiconscious groan.
Liger loomed over his victim. “That’s for delaying this job and getting both my dive mates killed, you knobhead.”
Yamamoto sauntered closer to the table and picked up the sealed canister, his attention completely focused on the container. “Yes, such a priceless find. I should have brought it with me when we evacuated Typhon Base for the first time. At least now my work can still continue.”
Liger turned and grabbed the other man by his shirt collar. “I’ve just about had it with you too, mate. You and your bloody mad science caused all my friends to die.”
“I was watching the remote video feeds,” Yamamoto said calmly. “Seems you sacrificed one of your own, so you can’t blame me for that.”
Liger let go of the other man’s shirt and stepped back while cursing some more. “I had no choice! If I picked up Pete, then that damned monster would have killed us both. Even those armored dive suits you got for us are no match against that thing.”
Yamamoto nodded, his eyes sparkling with wonder at the thought of his creation. “Yes, such a marvel of genetic engineering, isn’t it? The two pistol claws I designed for it are so powerful they can shatter multiple centimeters of steel as if the material was just paper. The kinetic energy it generates equals that of a submarine’s torpedo.”