***** Vol.1 Chap.38 Getting to the submersible *****

Kristin dropped straight down to the water from the porthole. It was not a long fall. But the water was colder than she had expected. She looked back at the ship, now a behemoth, rising from the water. She had spent many trips inside the ship, but the view from the water provided quite a contrasting view. The anchor chain flapped a few feet from her providing a handhold after she swam and hung on to the chain for a minute. She bobbed up and down several times to give her body time to acclimate to the cold water while all the time moving her arms and legs treading on the water to keep warm and to stay afloat.

A thick overcast covered the dark sky. Not a single star shone through the clouds. Waves hit the side of the ship, making a slapping noise, so she reasoned that no one heard her dropping into the water.

She imagined what was happening inside the ship. At this hour, everyone would be asleep in anticipation of an exciting day. Her thoughts wandered to Jonas. If he is not asleep, he must be making a toast for himself for a job well done in getting rid of her. That made her mad, no, more than mad. The image of Jonas made her furious. But she had to put away Jonas’ image and concentrate on the task at hand. There would be many more opportunities to think evil of Jonas later.

Right now, she had to get to the sub first.

She swam slowly to the stern of the ship and climbed up the ladder. She estimated only 15 feet separated her from the sub. But in between, a guard sat next to the sub. She ran through the sequence of things that she had to do. First, she had to dash through the deck unseen. Second, she needed to put the crane on the remote mode. Third, she had to get inside the sub and bolt the door. And last, she had to launch the sub into the water. What an impossible escape plan. And she had to do all that without being seen by the guard.

She hoped that there would be sufficient power and oxygen left in the sub. In the past, standard procedure required the sub to be fully charged with power, filled with oxygen, and fully stocked with supplies for emergency purposes. With all the events happening tomorrow, most likely the sub would be all prepared and ready to go.

Perhaps she climbed onto the lower deck, sneaked behind the guard, and knocked him unconscious without the guard seeing her first. That maneuver seemed too risky when she noticed a stun gun in the holster secured to the guard’s belt.

Maybe she would wait for the guard to fall asleep and then run to the sub. But she noticed that the guard was drinking a cup of coffee from a huge thermos. Certainly, the guard would not fall asleep soon. She did not want to confront the guard, if possible, but would rather prefer to accomplish everything clandestinely.

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There must be another way to get to the sub. Yet the more she pondered, the more hopeless the situation became.

Suddenly, a ghostly figure appeared near the stairs from below. The figure appeared to be waving at her. This must be water dripping over her eyes. An optical illusion. The shadowy figure might be shadows of things on the deck. She rubbed her eyes and looked again. The figure waved at her again. She jumped when she realized the figure was George!

She waved back.

But what is George doing there?

George stumbled out of the stairway with a pot of coffee and pretended to fall, spilling the coffee all over the deck. He tried to be clumsy and kept making all kinds of noises.

“Who is there?” The guard shouted. He jumped up and ran over there to investigate in earnest.

“It’s George.”

“George, what are you doing here? You scared me to death.” The guard walked closer to George.

Without waiting for a cue from George, Kristin did not waste another second. As soon as the guard left his post, she stealthily dashed over to the crane control, putting it in remote mode, then tiptoed to the sub.

“Oh, I like to bring you guys a fresh pot of coffee. I must have kicked something in the dark and fell.”

“Well, George, very nice of you. Are you okay?”

“No, I must have twisted my ankles. Hold the coffee and let me steady myself?”

The guard tried to help George stand up. He faked falling a few more times. In the meantime, Kristin quietly opened the door to the sub and climbed in.

“I am okay now. Thank you,” George told the guard after noticing that Kristin had slipped inside the sub.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I guess I spilled the entire pot of coffee. I will go downstairs and make you a fresh cup.”

“Oh, it’s okay. My shift will end in 15 minutes, anyway. Go get some sleep.”

“I will get something to clean this mess up.”

“Okay, good night then.”

George waved. The guard waved back. But she acknowledged that he was waving at her. She waved back also, though unsure if he had seen her waving back.

She wanted to wait a little while before she made her move. She did not want her escape to be linked to George. So, she sat there inside the sub, watching everything on the lower deck. In reality, only the back of the guard’s head was visible. He had gotten himself a chair to pass the time reading a dirty magazine using the meager light from one of the hanging lamps on the lower deck. She dared not turn any lights on inside the sub. She did not need any light inside the sub because she had every control memorized.

After about twenty minutes, another guard came by.

“Everything okay?”

“It’s been quiet.”

“That’s good. I guess I am taking the next shift.”

“Thanks, I am ready for bed after 16 hours of guard duty.”

“Lucky you, I still have another 4 hours to go guarding this stupid and ugly thing.”

Kristin was offended by that remark. She made an ugly face at the guard.

“Well, it’s all yours.”

“Thanks.”

“Have they found the Sobin… person yet?”

“Nope. Everybody now talks as if she is a ghost.”

“Everyone except our insane captain.”

“Well, you’ve said it.”

“I better get going and get some shut-eye; it will be another long day tomorrow.”

“You go on. I will get myself a cup of coffee from the galley and I will be back up to guard this ugly thing. You don’t have to wait for me. This thing would walk away by itself.” Both men chuckled a bit.

Kristin stuck her tongue out with another ugly face at the guard with the rude comment.

“Gee, thanks. Good night.”

“Bye.”