The Steel Shark

Chapter 34

Joe thought he was ready for anything — he’d chosen the right boat, he’d equipped it with long-range sonar so they would be able to detect the Shining Pearl before she detected them, he had long-range cameras, he had drones, he had the Pearl’s schedule, he had the schedule for the boat delivering the oxygen generators. He had the gear.

But he hadn’t planned on getting seasick.

Instead of manning his equipment, he was crouched down in the head, wishing he’d never left dry land, both hands on the toilet seat, waiting to hurl.

“I got ginger ale from the captain,” Vivian called from his cabin. She sounded horrifyingly chipper. She was fine. He’d heard from the captain that she’d been out testing the equipment. The captain seemed to be eating out of her hand, and even that Marshall guy was treating her with a lot of deference. He wondered what she’d done to impress them. Probably kicked somebody’s butt. She was a tour de force.

He let out a moan and contemplated death. Death didn’t seem so bad.

She came in through the open bathroom door. As soon as he could stand up, he intended to lock that.

“And air-sickness bands for your wrists. Marshall swears by them.”

She pressed a cold glass into his hand, and he took a swallow. It stayed down, which was a miracle. She handed him small gray bands, and he slipped them on. They had a plastic ball in the middle that dug into his wrists. He didn’t see how they could possibly help.

She reached over and positioned the ball in the exact center of the inside of his wrist. “They use pressure points.”

“Go watch the monitors,” he croaked.

“That’s another thing. I’m thinking you probably shouldn’t be looking at those monitors so much,” she chattered away. “Looking at a close-up point of focus might be making you sick.”

“The ocean is making me sick. Let’s not talk about it.”

“Right.” She backed out and gently closed the door. Edison went with her.

He thought about locking the door, but didn’t want to stand up. Instead, he sipped the ginger ale. It’d give him something to throw up. When it stayed down, he hauled himself to his feet and tottered out to his cabin.

“I’ve been watching the Pearl on sonar. She’s been traveling at a pretty fair clip due east, but she started to slow.” She tapped the screen. “See? Her engines have changed pitch.”

The yacht rolled, and he barely made it back to the bathroom. The ginger ale tasted worse coming up than it had going down. Like everything.

“I’m going to alert Captain Glascoe,” she called. “We need to maintain our course if we can, but we can’t run over them either.”

“Yeah.” Joe didn’t have the strength to say anything more.

Vivian’s footsteps receded, and he closed his eyes. Maybe he could get a little nap in. He couldn’t be seasick if he was sleeping.

“It’ll be dark soon.” She was back and talking through the door. “I figure if the Pearl and the sub are going to meet up, it makes sense they meet at night. Sure, we can track them, but if there are any satellites taking pictures of random ocean, they’re not going to set off any red flags.”

He staggered back out and lay down in his bunk.

“Do you want another Dramamine?” she asked.

“It gave me all the bad dwarf attributes.”

She looked over at him. “What?”

“It made me sleepy and dopey.” He closed his eyes.

“And grumpy,” she said under her breath.

“Heard that.”

She looked back at the monitors.

“I bet they’re slowing to a preset position so they can rendezvous with a helicopter,” he said.

“Helicopter?”

“The Pearl has a helipad, and I’m guessing that’s how the oxygen generators will be delivered. They haven’t gone into a harbor since the generators were ordered.”

“Are you sure the oxygen generators are for our sub?”

“Not positive, no, but all the data seem to support it. It’s the right kind and make, and I don’t know why anyone else would order them through a third-party vendor. Most militaries have their own sources, and it’s not the dark web. Once they’re aboard, the sub will come right to us.” He hoped.

“We have a drone up. It’s pretty high up, not visible to the naked eye,” she said. “Should I bring it back if a helicopter’s coming? They might spot it.”

“Maybe.” He’d hate to mess everything up if the helicopter pilot saw the drone.

The images on one of the monitors pitched sickeningly, and he closed his eyes.

“I see a helicopter!” Vivian said. “It looks like a Bell 204.”

“Can that carry a ton?”

“They’re rated up to three thousand pounds, including passengers.” She’d considered becoming a helicopter pilot once upon a time.

“Get as far back as you can,” he said. “We don’t want them to see us.”

“On it.” The screen monitoring the drone showed them winging away from the Shining Pearl at full speed.

The helicopter had arrived. The submarine couldn’t be too far behind. He hoped.