Jake ducked down the hatch to avoid the bite of the blade, which struck the combing, then grabbed for the handle before Heydrich could raise it again.
Heydrich was screaming now, keening steadily. His strength was unbelievable. He raised the ax with Jake grimly holding on to the handle… and dragged Grafton up into the compartment. The lantern went onto the deck.
They struggled. Jake felt the ax bite him, but he was beyond caring. This maniac stood between him and life!
Grafton went nuts. He kicked, gouged, bit, hammered at the insane diver, all the while fighting for the ax.
Then he realized he had it in his hands. He reversed it, drew it back at his waist, and swung with all his strength. He buried the blade in Heydrich's stomach. The man doubled over, collapsed on the deck.
Jake grabbed the lantern, climbed into the lock, and closed the hatch.
Instructions! In his condition he found that the printed words on the bulkhead were indecipherable. He stopped, took three deep breaths, tried to calm himself.
'You're going to make it, Jake Grafton,' he reassured himself. 'This is your chance. God gave you one more.'
A hood. He didn't have an escape hood.
Well, he would have to go without it.
There was a tool to open the water valve, which was a safety handle. He used both hands. The water began coming slowly, then faster and faster as he opened the valve. He opened it all the way. As the water flooded in he looked at the hatch above him, examined it with the lantern light.
The water was cold. Cold as death.
He fought the urge to attack the upper hatch.
No. Wait. Not yet. He could hear a voice talking to him. Not yet, Jake Grafton.
The battle lantern stayed lit even though covered by water. The rising water was rapidly compressing the air that Grafton was breathing. There was a hood, a shelter of clear, thick Plexiglas, and he stood so his head was in it as the water poured in, filling the space.
He concentrated on breathing as he watched the rising water. Thank God for the battle lantern!
How deep was the boat?
If it was too deep, he would never make the surface….
The water filled the last of the space. Standing with his head in the hood, he could still breathe. He felt a great calm.
The wheel that rotated the dogs was stiff. Whoever had left in the minisub had really cranked this thing down.
He let the air fill his lungs, then turned the wheel with all the strength that was in him.
The handle rotated and the hatch flew open.
Jake took his last breath, ducked down under the edge of the Plexiglas hood, then climbed and kicked his way up through the open hatch. Into absolute darkness.
Far above he could see light, the dawn lighting the surface of the ocean.
He exhaled steadily. If he didn't, the submariners had told him, his lungs would burst as he rose.
Up, up, up, exhaling as slowly as he could, sure he would run out of air before he reached the surface.
He heard a great roaring in his ears, fought the fear, fought his way up toward that light on the surface of the sea, fought his way up toward life.
Jake Grafton shot out of the water, his head and shoulders rising above the swells. He gasped for air as he fell back with a splash.
Amazingly, he still had the lantern.
The sky in the east was a bluish yellow. In minutes the sun would rise.
He turned, looking, and saw two hydrofoils. Roaring, snorting, exhaust plumes cutting the air.
He waved the battle lantern, pointed it at the nearest one.
And it came toward him. As it approached he saw the flag over the bridge streaming in the breeze, the Stars and Stripes.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Written on the hulls of the hydrofoils in large black letters was 'U.S. Navy.' Jake Grafton had never been so glad to see anything in his life. One of the boats settled into the water upwind of him. As the marines on deck lowered a rope ladder over the side, a man wearing a wet suit leaped into the ocean to help him.
Climbing the rope ladder took all the strength he had. Jake clambered over the rail, puking seawater. Toad Tarkington was the first person he saw — the Toadman was grinning as if his face would split. He grabbed Jake and collapsed with him in a heap on the deck as Jake continued to retch.
Lying in the open sea, the hydrofoil wallowed and pitched in the swells. After what Jake had been through, the corkscrewing deck and salty sea breeze felt absolutely terrific. He wanted to hug Toad, but as his stomach did somersaults the best he could manage was a death grip on his leg.
'Don't ever scare me like that again, boss. I don't know if my heart can take it. When I realized you hadn't made it out, the big Uh-Oh got loose and started chewing on my ass.'
Toad wrapped him in a blanket while Jake vomited the last of the seawater.
When he could finally sit up, Jake saw that Tommy Carmellini and Sonny Killbuck had Zelda stretched out on the deck. They had stripped her to her panties and were slapping fresh bandages on every wound. The marines in helmets and combat gear hunkered nearby pretended to look the other way.
By the time Jake could stand, the hydrofoil crew had her in the only bunk. The corpsman wrapped her in blankets and plugged in an IV.
'How's she doing?' Jake asked Carmellini when he came back on deck.
'I dunno,' the CIA officer said. 'She's lost a lot of blood. In shock, I guess.' He examined the place on Jake's arm where Heydrich's ax had taken off a small hunk of hide, smeared it with antiseptic, and put a bandage on. When he was finished with that he slapped Jake Grafton on the back.
'Risking your life to save those pirates wasn't the smartest thing I've ever seen done, but I'd like to shake your hand.'
'I wasn't trying to save anyone but little ol' me,' Jake protested. 'I was trying desperately to get myself through that hatch. I felt like a salmon swimming up a fire hose.'
'Right! Just what I expected you to say.' Carmellini pumped Jake's hand, gave him a hug, then looked a little embarrassed. 'I'm just glad I know you.'
When he got his legs under him, Jake went to the hydrofoil's wheelhouse, a tiny bridge, and talked to the captain, a master chief petty officer. 'Your foil is sure a pretty sight.'
'We were waiting for that beacon, Admiral. When the P-3 picked it up, we mounted up and headed out. I'm telling you, I was the most surprised man on Earth when that submarine surfaced and people started bailing out.'
'The beacon was in a backpack,' Jake explained. 'Saltwater activated. I tossed it over the side of
'Worked great,' the master chief assured him. 'We've been on the radio to
'Callie Grafton? My wife? Is she okay?'
'Fine, sir, according to General Le Beau. He said everything is under control aboard
'You're sure you were talking to General Le Beau?'
The master chief had close-cropped gray hair and a tanned, lined face. 'Yes, sir,' he said. 'The general is pretty salty.'
