Temple of the Gods

one of the monitors to show a view looking directly upwards from their own hatch. ‘Just got to line it up properly…’

‘Can we do anything to help?’ asked Nina.

‘Yeah — wait by the hatch, and when I tell you, pull the yellow lever down as far as it’ll go. That’ll lock the docking clamps. Soon as they’re secure, I can drain the collar and we should be able to open the other sub’s hatch.’

There was an edge to his voice that suggested he was far more worried about the operation than he was letting on. ‘Matt, is something wrong?’

‘There’s a lot of things wrong!’ On the screen, the Mako’s hatch came in sight. He slowed to line up with it. ‘You just get ready on that lever.’

Eddie and Nina exchanged concerned looks, but moved to the hatch as requested. The Sharkdozer stopped beneath the other vessel. ‘Okay, it’s lined up. Here we go…’

A brief blip of the throttle, and the Sharkdozer wobbled upwards. A shrill of metal against metal was overpowered by a louder thunk that reverberated through the hull. More power, then: ‘Pull it!’

Eddie and Nina grabbed the lever and hauled on it with all their combined weight. It moved a few inches — then jammed. ‘Matt!’ Nina shouted. ‘It’s stuck!’

Matt didn’t reply, eyes fixed on the monitor. He turned the sub a few degrees before sharply bringing it upwards. The vessel shook with another impact. ‘Now!’

This time, the lever moved all the way. A dull clunk came from above the hatch as the clamps locked into place, holding both submersibles tightly together. Matt gasped. ‘Ah, Christ! I wasn’t sure that was going to work.’

‘Now he tells us!’ said Nina, releasing her own sigh of relief.

A loud hiss of compressed air as the water was forced out told them that the docking collar was clear. Matt double-checked a gauge to make sure the seal was holding, then cautiously unlocked the hatch and pushed it open. Nina jumped as seawater gushed over the edge of the opening, but it was merely the last undrained dregs. Matt raised the hatch higher. The ASM-DT clattered down into the crew compartment, Eddie catching the rifle before it hit the deck.

The Mako’s belly hatch was visible at the top of the docking collar, cold drips falling from the white-painted steel. ‘Can we get in?’ Nina asked. ‘Is it locked?’

Matt climbed the ladder and pulled the other hatch’s release latch before turning the wheel to unseal it. ‘Submarine theft’s not exactly an everyday problem, so no.’

‘Just because you saved our lives, that doesn’t give you the right to be a smart-ass.’ But she managed to smile at him.

He opened the hatch. There was a rush of air as the two vessels equalised their internal pressures. Matt was about to ascend the second ladder when Eddie stopped him. ‘Better let me go first,’ he said, holding up the gun. ‘Just in case.’

He clambered up, stopping below the top of the shaft and peering warily into the cabin. No movement. Gun ready, he climbed the rest of the way.

The only sound was the low hum of the ventilation system. The cabin was almost infinitely more luxuriously appointed than the Sharkdozer’s pure utilitarianism, leather loungers arranged to give each passenger a view through their own porthole. But Eddie’s eyes were fixed on one seat in particular: the pilot’s.

Its back was to him, but he could see an arm hanging limply over one side. Fixing the gun on the chair, he advanced to find the pilot alive, but out cold, face bloodied.

One of the monitors, he noticed, showed what looked like a navigation chart. At its centre was what he took to be the Mako’s current position, a red line weaving away from it. A record of its course?

‘Is it safe?’ Nina called, head poking over the top of the hatchway like Kilroy.

‘Yeah,’ Eddie answered. He jabbed the pilot with the rifle. The man moaned faintly. Nina ascended, followed by Matt. ‘Matt, what do you make of this?’ He pointed at the map screen.

‘It’s an inertial navigation system.’

‘Is that line its route?’

The Australian took a closer look at the display. ‘Yeah, it came from…’ He looked back at Eddie. ‘The start point’s less than four kilometres from here! And it’s not on the surface — there’s a depth tracker as well. The mother ship’s another submarine.’

‘A sub that keeps smaller subs inside it?’ Nina asked, sceptical. ‘Does anyone even make submarines like that? We’re not in a Bond movie!’

‘Yeah, they exist. If a megayacht’s not showy enough for you, there are companies that build them — if you’ve got the money. There’s the Phoenix 1000, and I know that a Russian firm had a couple on the stocks a few years ago.’

‘Glas would have the money,’ said Eddie.

‘Maybe,’ said Nina. ‘But what do we do now?’

‘We should get you back to the surface,’ said Matt. He headed down the cabin.

‘Where are you going?’ Eddie asked.

‘Got to detach the Sharkdozer, mate! It’s way too big and heavy for this thing to drag along.’ He dropped into the other submersible.

Again, Nina picked up on something in his voice — a forced lightness, cheer covering concern — and this time Eddie noticed it too. ‘Matt, what’re you doing?’ he called as metallic clunks came from below. He and his wife exchanged worried looks, then rushed for the docking port. ‘Matt!’

They reached it just in time to see the Sharkdozer’s hatch slam shut. The latches closed. ‘Christ, what’s he up to?’ Eddie said, jumping down. He tried to reopen the hatch; the handle moved fractionally before sticking. The Australian had wedged it with something. He thumped a fist on the steel. ‘Matt!’

Matt’s voice crackled from the Sharkdozer’s underwater PA system. ‘Sorry, mate, but I’ve got to do this. The only way I can release the docking clamps is from in here — and the moment I do, the collar will flood. So you need to shut that hatch so you can get out of here.’

‘No!’ said Nina in horror. ‘We can’t leave you! There — there’s got to be another way!’

‘There isn’t. Like I said, the Mako can’t haul this thing with it.’

‘But you’ll…’ Her breath caught. ‘Matt, you’ll die.’

‘Not necessarily. I got a load of fresh air in here when we docked, and since there’s only one person aboard now, it might last long enough for me to reach the surface.’

‘Bullshit!’ said Eddie. ‘You said it was about to run out of power!’ He yanked at the handle again, but it still refused to move.

‘For Christ’s sake,’ Matt said, ‘will you two listen to me and do what I tell you for once? Someone has to release the clamps from in here. The Sharkdozer’s my sub, I designed it — and now I’ve found out that not having a remote release is kind of a serious design flaw! So, ah… it’s my responsibility.’

‘No way.’ Eddie started to climb back into the Mako. ‘I’ll wake up that twat in the driver’s seat and make him do it.’

‘Yeah? How’s that going to work? You going to threaten to shoot him through a thick steel hatch?’ A resigned sigh came through the speaker. ‘Eddie, you’re a great mate, but you’re really not as smart as you think you are.’

Eddie stopped. ‘Would you have ever said that to my face?’

‘Why do you think I waited until there was a thick steel hatch between us?’ Both men were trying to sound jocular, but their attempts fell very flat.

‘Matt, please,’ begged Nina. ‘You can’t do this.’

‘If I don’t, none of us’ll get out of this. So please, just… just shut the hatch.’ A tremble entered his voice. ‘I’m going to release the clamps in twenty seconds, so if you don’t want to get very wet, that’s how long you’ve got.’