got away, as well, but we lost them in the fog. There was a rush for the lifeboats when the boilers blew and most of them were caught in the explosion. This one was literally blown off the ship and Jules swam for it. We managed to pull Devries out, but he’s in pretty bad shape. We looked for other survivors, but with the ship going down so fast and the fire and the fog…” His voice trailed off.
“How the hell did you get out of the cabin?” Finn said, looking at Verne.
The author grinned weakly. “I have some slight skill with a lockpick,” he said. “In all the excitement, you seemed to have forgotten that.” His clothing was completely soaked and he was shivering in the cold night air. The heavy fog wasn’t making things any easier.
“Christ, it all happened so fast,” said Finn.
Andre flopped down in the bottom of the boat. “Ned spotted it first,” she said. “He’d been keeping his eyes peeled for it ever since Farragut announced that reward for whoever saw it first. Several of the men were cleaning the forecastle gun and they were able to bring it into action almost immediately. I think they had time for two shots, three at the very most.”
“Can we do anything about Devries?” said Finn.
Lucas shook his head. “I think he’s got internal injuries. He’s hanging on, but we haven’t got anything aboard the boat to help him with. We don’t even have any fresh water.”
“Speaking of water,” Andre said, “has anyone noticed this boat is leaking?”
They all exchanged glances. They were all thinking the same thing. The three of them could escape by clocking out, but that would still leave Verne and Devries. They couldn’t simply abandon them.
“Quiet,” said Verne. “Do you hear something?”
They fell silent, listening.
Lucas frowned. “No, I-”
“Listen!”
This time, they heard it. Somewhere, off in the mist, someone was singing.
“So I grabbed ‘er and I kissed ‘er, bent ‘er down across me knee,
And I said to ‘er, me bonny, this is how it’s going to be,
If you want to love a sailor man, then best learn to be true,
For if you daily round behind his back, he’ll beat you black and blue-”
“It’s Ned!” said Andre.
“So I struck ‘er on the bottom, kept it up til she cried, ‘Hold!’
She gazed up at me so tearfully, yet saucy and so bold,
Says she, ‘In ports across the sea, I know you wasn’t true,
So if you love those foreign wenches, I’ll go down for half your crew.’ “
“Ned!” shouted Andre, leaning out over the side of the boat and trying to see through the fog.
The singing stopped. “Andre? Is that you?”
“Keep singing, Ned!” cried Finn. “We’ll row toward the sound of your voice!”
“Put your back to it, my lad!” Land shouted, then began singing once again, louder than before and with considerable gusto.
“So I slapped that wench upon ‘er hum and threw ‘er to the floor,
Looked down at ‘er and hated ‘er, the bloody little whore,
I said it was all done with, that her words made up my mind,
And I told her I was leavin’, I was finished with ‘er kind.
“She looked up at me with fury and came at me with a blade,
I was faced with the most fiery wench the good Lord ever made,
I twisted round and felt that deadly steel scrape my side,
And I knew if I lived through it I would take ‘er for my bride.”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” said Finn.
It loomed before them, shrouded in the mist, its teardrop-shaped hull like a steel island rising out of the waves. They could see the huge conning tower with its winglike sailplanes and tall periscopes, the flattened top portion of the deck with ominous round hatches, beneath which lurked ballistic missiles in their silos.
“What in the name of God is that?” Verne whispered, awestruck. “What is that?”
“A submarine,” said Lucas.
Land stood upon the deck, gazing out into the fog. When he spotted them, he waved.
“I’ve found your sea monster, Jules!” he shouted. “Come, have a look!”
“Finn, the sail!” said Lucas, grabbing his arm and pointing.
Delaney looked where he was pointing and saw a figure standing up on the bridge at the top of the conning tower. At the same moment, a hatch opened in the boat and uniformed men came streaming out, carrying automatic weapons. Land put up a struggle, but they overpowered him. A stream of bullets from an automatic rifle stitched the water close beside their boat.
One of the sailors barked out a command in Russian and waved them in.
“I think we’re being invited on board,” said Lucas.
“We must go,” said Verne. “We cannot abandon Ned.”
“I have no intention of abandoning Ned, Jules,” Lucas said. “We came here looking for that submarine. Well, now we’ve found it.”
Under the watchful eyes of the Soviet sailors, they came on board and, one at a time, went down the hatch.
They were taken to a cabin which slept six, with the bunks built into the bulkheads in tiers of three. By each row of bunks there were lockers and the cabin was equipped with a table, bolted down, as well as chairs. The bunks were close together, giving hardly any headroom, though there was plenty of space for a man of six feet to stretch out. Each bunk was equipped with a fluorescent light for reading and with a stereo headset. Moments after they were brought in, a crewman entered with coffee and a change of clothing for them, jumpsuits like those the others wore.
“Looks like we’ve got officers’ quarters,” Finn said. He opened the door to the cabin and was not surprised to see an armed guard confronting him. “Well, they’re willing to give us some privacy, but it seems we’re not to be allowed the run of the ship.”
“Boat,” said Lucas. “A submarine is called a boat.”
“One this size ought to be called a ship,” said Finn. He began to strip off his wet clothes.
Verne, still in something like a state of shock, caught him by the arm. “What are you doing?” he said.
“Taking off my wet clothes, what does it look like I’m doing?” Finn said.
“But, my good man, have you forgotten? There is a woman present..” His voice trailed off as he saw that Andre had stripped down to the buff and was stepping into one of the jumpsuits. He gaped at her, then quickly turned his head. “Mon Dieu!”
The diving Klaxon sounded and Verne jerked as if stung. “What on earth was that?” he said, alarmed.
“Unless I miss my guess,” said Lucas, “it is the signal the submarine is about to dive.”
The submarine tilted as it began its descent and both Verne and Land, not knowing what to expect, were thrown off-balance. Lucas sat down at the table and caught the tray with the coffee cups. It had started to slide.
“I suggest we all drink some of this coffee,” he said. “You, especially, Jules. You’re shivering like an epileptic.”
“I cannot cease marveling at this!” said Verne, sitting down at the table. “The water outside is freezing, yet it is as warm in here as on a summer’s day. What a superb accomplishment this vessel is! I must know more about it. What is its power source? How is the air stored for us to breathe? How-”
“I’d leave all those questions for later if I were you, and get out of those wet clothes,” said Finn. “Andre, turn your head so Jules doesn’t die of embarrassment.”
