The Mahogany Ship (Sam Reilly Book 2) by Christopher Cartwright Page B

each of the propellers, confirming that she
was ready to maneuver herself, and then said, “Maria Helena, we’re ready to
disengage.” 
    “Copy, Sea Witch, disengaging now.”
    They took one last glance topside through the small
porthole, which allowed the submarine’s occupants to observe the attachment of
the crane’s cables. Tom saw Veyron, thumbs up, giving the all clear sign.
    “Sea Witch, you’re clear. Best of luck.”
    Sam arched an eyebrow. “You ready, Tom?”
    “Yep, let’s do this.”
    Sam flooded the main diving chambers. Immediately the Sea
Witch began sinking.
    Tom looked at Sam, who was now whistling, as the submarine
dived, and said, “So, 50:50 chance we don’t get crushed to death before we exit
the escape hatch, hey? How do you feel about those odds?”
    Sam grinned and Tom shook his head. Sam was giving him that
damn demonic smile, the smile of a madman about to do something stupid and try
to get away with it. But in Sam’s case, he usually did.
     “Listen here, Tom, and I’ll tell you exactly how we’re
going to pull this off.”
    *
    Michael answered the phone.
    “Yes?”
    “Mr. Rodriguez, the water has reached mine shaft number two and
it’s already starting to overflow into three!” His underground manager sounded
out of breath. “Once it reaches number four, there’s nothing we can do for the
men below.”
    “Reilly’s in the water. They should have the hole blocked
within the next 45 minutes…”
    “And if they don’t succeed in the next thirty, about 1000
miners are going to die.”
    “Understood, Roberto.”
    The briefest of smiles curled on Michael’s lips as he
reflected on the wonder of human nature.
    Fascinating how my underground manager beat the odds and
reached the surface, despite sending the rest of the men to work further below
the waterline.
    *
    Sam could see the entrance of the pyramid up ahead on the
sonar screen.
    Tom, who was now in control of the submarine, slowed to a
crawl and asked, “Okay, it’s 40 feet ahead. Are you going to share your plan
with me any time soon, Sam?”
    Sam attached his dive belt.
    “All right. Now’s probably as good a time as any. Basically,
the plan, as discussed with Veyron, was that we would take Sea Witch close to
the entrance of the pyramid until its massive pull sucks us in towards the main
point where the tunnel narrows, just before splitting in two. Thus, we’re going
to block the entrance, as a plug would a bathtub.”
    “That much I already knew.”
    “Good to see you were awake.” Sam handed Tom his new dive
helmet. “Veyron’s done the math, and the Sea Witch will survive being used as a
giant plug. What he wasn’t certain about was whether or not the sub would then
implode after it had been weakened by the initial force of striking the wall as
it blocked the entrance to the pyramid.”
    “Right… yeah, he said he gave us about a 50:50 chance of
implosion.”
    “Based on calculations of our hull already being completely
airtight, and then we would escape through the escape hatch, return to the
diving bell, having achieved our mission…” Sam looked up, and, reassured that
Tom was following, said, “But what if the Sea Witch was already flooded?”
    “You want to flood the interior of the sub?”
    “Sure, why not? It’s going to be wrecked after this anyway.”
Sam’s face showed genuine disinterest.
    “The power will short out the instant the main chamber
becomes flooded, and we won’t be able to maneuver it.”
    “That shouldn’t be a problem. After all, it’s going to be
dragged in by the undercurrent anyway. Then, instead of imploding, it should
just lodge itself in the opening. Probably…” Sam mused with a fatalistic grin.
“Why, have you got a better idea?”
    “No… I don’t. So I guess we’re all out of options.”
    Sam turned the dive tanks to on, and locked his dive helmet.
    “You ready?”
    “No, but we don’t have much choice,” Tom replied, checking
his Hydrox