“This makes sense. Based on this, getting taken out by one of our ships, probably through depth charges, would be my bet. Natural causes, so to speak, is also a possibility.”
“Or it was the Devil’s Triangle,” interjected Bear.
“Shut up about the damn devil!” admonished Cam.
Gunner laughed. “Maybe you’re both right. Think about it, back before science and advanced technology, man tried to explain unusual occurrences based upon the knowledge base that existed at the time. According to the Woods Hole scientists, this region of the Puerto Rico Trench is known for its large deposits of methane gas below the ocean floor. When this gas wants to escape, it blows open a vent of seven-hundred-degree gas and water mixed. This can cause some hellacious turbulence in the ocean.”
Bear felt vindicated. “See? Hellacious equals the devil.”
Cam was about to browbeat him again when Gunner raised his hand. “At least as far as mariners and scholars knew at the time. Now we know these huge methane bubbles may push water away from a ship, causing it to sink. And think about it. If the highly flammable methane then rises into the sky, it could ignite in an airplane’s engine, causing it to explode and disappear.”
Cam furrowed her brow and added, “I heard about something like this happening in Alaska. The tectonic plates rubbed together, and the sea floor burped. It took a ship down in the process.”
Gunner’s cell phone notified him of a message. “It’s from Jackal. The Sea Searcher II will be there about the time we connect with the chopper at the Coast Guard facility in San Juan. They have this on board.”
He showed Bear a photograph of DSC-6, the similar submersible to the one piloted by Masterson to the U-boat wreckage.
“I can handle this. No prob. I won’t know jack about the onboard computers, though.”
“Good,” said Cam. “Then you won’t touch any of it. Let’s get down there. Learn more about the U-boat’s cargo and out again.”
“Roger,” said Gunner. He leaned back and recalled his mission into space. The weightlessness of zero gravity and the odd feeling of walking on the lunar surface. He closed his eyes and thought of Heather. He recalled her words and wondered if it applied to the bottom of the ocean.
Every day is a good day when you’re floating.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Aboard the Sea Searcher II
One Hundred Seventy Miles North of Puerto Rico
North Atlantic Ocean
It took eight hours for the Gray Fox team to rendezvous with the Sea Searcher II. An unexpected thunderstorm developed over Puerto Rico, which grounded the Sikorsky helicopter for an hour. The rescue ship was also delayed as it awaited the arrival of a hazardous material crew to arrive as well as a team of medical specialists to examine the bodies. This was a massive effort that originally was to be a rescue effort but was now the maritime equivalent of a CSI investigation.
For Gunner and his team, they were investigating the possible cause of the mass killing. The answers were twenty-eight thousand feet under the Atlantic. By the time they’d arrived, the ship was stopped, and members of the hazmat crew were suiting up for their journey to the Sea Searcher I full of decaying bodies.
The three of them were immediately taken to the bridge, where they marveled at the advanced sonar and navigation equipment. The captain explained the different purposes of his ship and the Sea Searcher I, which was located a thousand feet off their bow.
After leaving the bridge, they were taken below deck to meet the chief survey technician. He explained the geographical features of the Puerto Rico Trench and especially the Milwaukee Deep located near the wreckage. The gas blowouts measured one hundred fifty feet deep and up to half a mile wide. The underwater methane was released and formed gas bubbles capable of creating massive blobs rising to the surface. If they encountered one of these bubbles while navigating to the ocean floor, it could either carry them back up or send the HOV into an uncontrollable tumble.
While Bear assured the gentleman he could navigate the DSC-6 to steer clear of the vent holes and the steep drop-offs associated with the Milwaukee Deep, the chief survey technician provided him a cheat sheet with global position coordinates to follow.
Next, they met with the scientists in the acoustics lab. They’d already begun to map the floor where the wreckage was located to provide Gunner’s team a more complete overall picture of what they were about to tackle rather than photographs taped together and affixed to a bulletin board. The sonar surveys reminded Gunner how large the U-boat was. Based upon Ballard’s videography and the sonar survey provided to him, Gunner was able to plot a direct route into the cargo hold to save time on the ocean floor.
At last, it was time. Gunner spent half an hour with the technical engineers, getting checked out on the exosuit. His experience in space gave him a huge leg up on anyone who’d never worked in a weightless environment. It took Gunner a little time to learn how to use the V-clamp hand and the accompanying five-digit grabber on the other side.
Again, based on their mission, he was told to focus on carefully retrieving two of the canisters without breaching their seals or accidentally opening the tops. Although none of the crew of the Sea Searcher II had ventured on to their sister ship yet, based upon blown-up images taken by a drone flown directly over the deck, it appeared the canisters were designed to contain something. They just didn’t know what. They did know the contents might’ve been responsible for killing everyone on board.
After all the warnings, admonitions, and wishes of good luck, the team was ready to go. Gunner took one final look across the rolling sea at the Sea Searcher I. The deck was crawling with scientists wearing bright
