***** Vol.1 Chap.17 Dire situation on ocean floor *****
What was that?
There was a slight jerk on the sub. A sudden gust of current came through and the sub responded with a creaking noise.
Kristin immediately manipulated her cameras to see what caused the commotion. The yacht was still there, causing her to breathe a sigh of relief. However, the location of the yacht had moved slightly towards the ravine. After watching intently for a few more minutes, she noticed that now and then there were circular currents around the reef. Each time the currents came, the yacht slid a little more towards the ravine.
“I am sure the good captain has a foolproof rescue plan in place by now and would call me anytime.” Kristin said aloud to comfort herself.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
The seconds ticked away slowly as she sat back to wait. She agonized over every passing second.
Not wanting to wait any longer, she opened the communication channel.
“Jennifer calling Mayflower, Jennifer calling Mayflower.”
“Mayflower here.”
“May I speak with the captain, please?”
“Captain here.”
“Captain, the boat is slowly sliding towards the edge into a ravine.”
“OK.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Stand by. We will contact you. Over.”
“Jennifer out.”
Meanwhile topside, Jonas had assembled his team of divers in the control room. They studied the video sent back by Kristin. Rescue would not be easy. The yacht lodged roughly at 1500 feet down, too deep for ordinary divers. It sank vertically, causing the stern to crack and fracture. The bow and the cabin was intact.
At this depth, the yacht was too deep to be reached by divers wearing only wet suits and oxygen tanks. Rescue must be performed with divers wearing heavy and clumsy metallic atmospheric suits. With the fractured stern, the structure of the boat might be severely compromised. Any additional force on the yacht may accidentally tear the structure apart, consequently killing any survivors instantly. Jonas and the divers went back and forth on their plans pouring over the transmitted videos, but were unable to decide on a viable course of action.
Kristin thought the slant should have allowed the cabin to contain and trap the much needed air supply and so the occupants would still be alive. The captain, having given up all hope of rescue, referred to the present effort as a salvage operation. He and his crew went back and forth on different alternatives for a long time. Still, they were no closer to the solution than when they first started. The atmosphere in the room became one of gloom and silence, as compared with elation and excitement at the beginning.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
In the meantime, Kristin had been sitting in her sub for close to an hour now. Her oxygen supply was dwindling fast, and her battery power was depleting as well.
“Jennifer calling Mayflower. Jennifer calling Mayflower. Over.”
“Mayflower here, go ahead.”
“Captain, better make the rescue efforts quickly. The yacht seems to list more than before. I would like to request permission again to go outside the sub, tie a cable to the sunken boat, and check and see if the occupants are still alive or not. I thought a light moved inside. If that was true, we should somehow contact them and let them know that help is on the way.”
“Negative. We are coordinating the rescue effort up here.”
“Captain, time is of the essence here.”
“The rescue is a delicate matter and requires a lot of planning, especially for any contingencies.”
“I don’t think we have much time left.”
“We know.”
“I like to go outside and survey the boat once more and see where the damage is.”
“Negative.”
“Perhaps I can confirm if the occupants are alive or not.”
“Just standby. Captain’s out.” The radio went silent.
“Aye, aye, sir.” She spoke to the thin air unenthusiastically.
Kristin sat there in the pilot’s seat. She was getting unbearably restless now. The caffeine worked double time on her nerves.
A school of brightly colored fish swam by. She followed them with her camera, though she had no idea what they were called or even had a name. Under the light of the sub, the bodies of the fish shimmered colorfully. The bright blue color from the entire school formed a beautiful sky under the water when illuminated by the sub’s light. She paused briefly to marvel at the sight. She had seen nothing like that before. They sparkled with many twinkling stars in this make-believe sky. But right now, she had no time to pay attention to the school.
After a while, she caught herself and turned her attention back to the boat. The yacht had continued to slide towards the ravine. One strong current at any time would push the yacht deep into the canyon and be lost forever, including all the occupants trapped inside. She was convinced that the occupants were still alive and trying to make contact by moving the flashlight. But they may be too weak to make any kind of meaningful signals at all. She twiddled around with the controls of the camera and caught sight of dust swirls from the ocean floor. The circular current was definitely picking up.
“Jennifer calling Mayflower. Jennifer calling Mayflower. Over.”
“Captain’s here.” A scruffy and impatient voice came through on the other end.
“Captain, I am registering a current of five knots and rising. I don’t think the yacht could stay in the present situation too much longer. If you like …”
“Negative. Don’t bother us again. We are really busy here trying to work out a foolproof salvage, er… rescue effort up here. We cannot have any more interruptions like this.”
“But Captain …”
“Don’t call us again unless it is an emergency. We have to concentrate on the rescue plan here. Is that clear?”
“Aye, aye, sir.”
The conversation ended abruptly. Disappointed, she thought the captain did not have a clue how to raise the yacht, much less how to rescue the people. With a sense of urgency and the sense of responsibility being hers, not the captain’s, and being only fifteen feet from the yacht, she was convinced that the people were still alive. The sub rocked again. The ocean current without doubt had gotten stronger. As she looked over to the yacht being rocking from side to side, she jumped, not knowing how much longer the yacht could withstand the current.
Permission or not, she had to do something.