Arrival (21 page)

“
Don’t worry about it. Well be back to shore soon.
”

“I’ve got water up to my shins. I don’t like this.”

“
Okay, just stay calm. We’ll be out in ten minutes. Just keep on eye on it, okay
?”

Back on the beach, Lynn was listening to Tony’s concerns. “Something is wrong. Tony’s got water in his suit.”

“How much?” Maria asked.

“I’m not sure. Up to his shins, I think.”

Lynn and Maria exchanged worried glances.

“If he gets too much water in his suit, he’s going to get hypothermia,” Maria warned.

The pod continued its journey toward the beach, with Frank and Tony acting as its escorts. But Tony was having a difficult time.

“Frank, it’s up to my knees. I’m having trouble walking.”

“
Try dumping some of the rocks,
” Frank suggested.

Tony reached down and began pulling rocks from his pockets, dumping them on the seabed as he made his way into shore. “It isn’t helping, Frank. It’s mid-thigh now.”

“Don’t worry, I’m coming.” Frank fell back behind the pod and moved across to Tony, taking care to keep his safety line from tangling with the pod or with Tony’s line.

“Stop taking up our slack, a second. We’re stopping.”

“
You want us to stop the winch?
” Lynn inquired.

“No, keep it going.” Frank reached around to Tony’s control module on his chest. “I’m going to turn up your suit pressure, that should slow up the leak.”

Frank turned up the pressure, causing the suit to inflate slightly, forcing Tony’s arms and legs out to his sides.

“
Well, this isn’t going work.
” Tony complained.

“Yeah, you can’t walk this way. Damn it, where the hell is that water coming from?” Frank looked around Tony’s suit, but was unable to find the leak. “Listen, Tony. I’m going to drop all your counterweight and max out your suit pressure. You’ll float to the surface, and they can pull you in. Once you’re on the surface, the water pressure will be lower than your suit pressure, so you should stop taking on water.”

“
But my air will be leaking out,
” Tony surmised. “
Won’t I start sinking again?
”

“They should have you back on shore by then.”

“
How are you gonna get the pod in by yourself?
”

“No problem, the winch is doing all the work. I’m just taking the pod for a little walk,” he added as he turned Tony’s suit pressure up to maximum, causing Tony’s suit to inflate like a blow-up doll. Immediately, Tony began rising to the surface.

“
Lynn, Tony’s floating to the surface. You need to get him to shore before all his air leaks out.
”

“Start pulling him as fast as you can!” Lynn ordered. “Mac! Help them pull Tony in! Quick!”

“What about the winch?” Mac asked as he abandoned the ATUV and ran down to the water’s edge to help Laura and Sara.

“I’ll handle the winch,” Lynn replied as she headed for the ATUV at the top of the sandy slope.

Laura and Sara started pulling on Tony’s safety line, hand over hand, as fast as they could, with Mac joining them a moment later.

“
Start the winch,
” Frank instructed over Lynn’s comm-set.

Lynn arrived at the ATUV and activated the winch again, but its nose suddenly dug in deeper and the entire vehicle started sliding forward. Lynn quickly shut it down.

“Frank! The pod must be stuck, it’s pulling the ATUV down.”

“
Shut off the winch!
”

“Already done.”

Frank watched Tony float on the surface above him as he was slowly pulled onto shore.

“How are you doing, Tony?”

“
I’m fine, go check on the pod.
”

Frank turned around and looked at the pod. It was stuck in between two coral walls.

“I see it. It’s stuck on the reef. I’m on my way.” Frank started walking toward the trapped pod. He could hear squishing from inside his own suit as well, and he realized his own feet were getting wet. “Shit.”

“
What is it?
” Lynn asked over the comm-set.

“Nothing,” Frank lied, not wanting her to worry. There was enough going on. Frank made his way underneath the edge of the pod, which was stuck about one meter above the ocean floor. “I’m gonna try to push the pod up a bit. Standby on the winch.”

“
Standing by,
” Lynn responded.

Frank pushed with all his strength, but the pod wouldn’t budge. “Damn! It’s really stuck. I’m gonna get my back under it and try pushing up with my legs.”

“
Be careful, Frank,
” Lynn warned. “
That thing is heavy.
”

“Most of its weight should be offset by the floatation collar,” he reminded her. He moved further under the pod and placed his back against the pod’s heat shield. Again he pushed with all his might, groaning as he tried to move the massive pod. But still it would not budge.

“Shit!” Frank swore in frustration. He moved under the pod and out the front end. He climbed up the coral ridge, pulled out his hand pickaxe and started chipping away at the coral. “Lynn, disengage the winch and back the ATUV up to the top of the hill. The winch line should be more than long enough.”

“
What the hell for?
” Lynn protested.

“We need traction under the tires, and the higher angle might give me a little lift to get this damned thing unstuck
.
”

“
Frank, maybe you should come in. We can rethink this thing and try again later.
”

“Just do it, Lynn! I’ve got water up to my knees and I don’t have time to argue with you.”

“
Frank, get out of the water!
”

“Not until I get this fucking pod free! It’s now or never, so move it!”

Lynn released the winch brake and climbed into the driver’s seat. “Standby on that line, Laura!” she ordered as she started up the ATUV and slipped it into gear.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ve got to back this thing to higher ground.”

“What?” Laura had no idea what was going on as Lynn started backing up the hill full-speed, the winch line paying out as she backed away.

Frank finished chipping away the coral on one side of the pod. He pulled the rocks out of his pockets to decrease his ballast as more water leaked into his suit. It was up to mid-thigh now. He climbed across the pod and onto the other side and began to chip away at the coral again.

“
I’m at the top of the hill, Frank!”
Lynn announced over the comm-set.

“Standby, I’m almost ready.” Frank finished chipping away the last of the coral impeding the pod on that side. He climbed back over to the previous side and jumped down to the seafloor, landing hard. He was even heavier now that the water was up to his waist. He moved back under the pod and again placed his back against the floatation collar. “Start the winch, Lynn!” he ordered as he pushed his back up against the pod.

The pod slid forward half a meter. Coral broke away from the sides and tumbled down. Frank adjusted his stance and groaned loudly as he pushed as hard as he could with both legs. The pod started to move, only a centimeter at first, then suddenly it broke free, moving away quickly under the force of the winch. Frank fell backward, landing hard on his back. He felt something in his life-support pack give way with a sharp snapping sound, followed by the hiss of escaping air. His comm-set crackled and then went completely dead as the cable yanked away from its connection at the back of his helmet.

The winch started taking up cable normally again.

“Frank, it’s working!” Lynn called out over the comm-set.

The hissing sound was still there. Frank looked at his wrist display. His oxygen pressure was dropping fast.

“Lynn?” Frank called, suspecting that there would be no response. He got to his feet and started chasing the pod toward shore. The water was up to his abdomen now, and it was a struggle to maneuver. He emptied the rocks from his pockets as he moved, and pulled the bags of rocks from his belt. It helped, but only a little. The water was coming in fast.

Mac and the others had gotten Tony to the beach and were opening his faceplate. As they started taking off his helmet, the pod’s nose finally broke the surface of the water.

“There it is!” Laura yelled.

“Frank! We can see the pod!”

Frank didn’t answer.

“Frank? Can you hear me?” Lynn repeated. “Frank!”

The water was now up to Frank’s chest. He was getting cold and could barely move. There was still at least seven meters of ocean over his head. And he had to be at least forty meters from shore. The water in his suit was rising too fast, and he was running out of air.

Lynn couldn’t raise Frank on the comm-set.

“Laura!” she yelled from the hilltop. “Pull him in fast!” Laura started pulling up the excess slack as fast as she could. Mac heard the fear in Lynn’s voice and ran over to help Laura with Frank’s safety line.

Frank’s breathing was shallow, and he was shivering from the bitter cold of the seawater. Frank slowly trudged along, barely able to make any headway against the weight of the water that now filled his suit up to his neck.
What the hell went wrong?
he wondered.

Suddenly there was a strong tug at his feet as the slack on his safety line was taken up, catching his foot, and sending him tumbling over. He landed on his right side with a thud and a grunt. He tried to get back up, but the tether was pulling on him and kept him from finding his balance. Now that he was horizontal, the water in his suit was leaking up through his collar and sloshing around his face and head. He rolled clumsily onto his back to get his face above the waterline inside his own suit. Coughing and sputtering, Frank accidentally took in several mouthfuls of seawater.

“I can’t pull in the line!” Laura yelled. “I think it’s stuck!” Laura let go of the rope to reposition herself and allow Mac some room in front of her.

Frank knew he had one chance. He hit the release on his life-support pack harness, dropping the heavy pack onto the seafloor below him. Taking in a deep breath and holding it, he twisted his helmet release ring and allowed the helmet to finish filling with water. Then he removed the helmet and dropped it away as well.

Mac stepped in front of Laura and positioned himself on Frank’s tether. “Ready? Pull!”

The rope suddenly pulled at Frank as he tried to untie it from around his waist. The rope pinched his finger, crushing it and ripping the skin, sending a stream of bright-red blood into the water. It was all Frank could do to keep from screaming out in pain and letting the last of his precious air out of his lungs. He reached down with his left hand, pulling out the knife that Mac had lent him, and cut the rope.

On the surface, the rope suddenly gave way, sending Mac and Laura tumbling backward.

“What the fuck!” Mac cried out as he got back to his feet and started pulling the rope in madly.

The pod was now safely beached, and Lynn shut down the winch and ran down the sandy hill to join the others.

Finally free of the rope, Frank was only seconds from drowning. He spotted his life-support pack only a meter away, still releasing precious oxygen, sending a stream of bubbles to the surface. He grabbed the pack and placed his lips over the leak, carefully sucking in the last little trickle of oxygen as he tried not to choke on the water that came along with it. With a new breath of air, Frank now had an extra minute. He unzipped the torso from the leg section of his suit and removed it, then kicked off the lower section. The water was freezing, and he could hardly think. But the bubbles reminded him what to do, and after sucking in one last breath of oxygen from the leaking life-support pack, he followed them to the surface. Instinctively, he kicked his legs and moved his arms in the way that Tony had demonstrated. It might not have been graceful, but it was working. He was moving slowly toward the surface. In the back of his mind, he remembered Tony saying something about breathing out while you ascended.
Something about my lungs exploding.

He continued to kick even though he couldn’t feel his feet. He continued to move his arms even though he couldn’t feel his hands. His mind was starving for oxygen, and he didn’t know where he was or what he was doing. All he knew was that something was telling him to get to the surface. His hearing was gone, he was surrounded by silence. His vision was dimming around the edges, and all he could see were the bubbles he was chasing to the surface.

Mac pulled the last of Frank’s tether in, stopping when he reached the frayed end where it had been cut. He held it up and looked at it in disbelief, as did everyone else.

Frank’s head broke the surface, gasping for air as he slipped back under.

“There he is!” Laura screamed.

Frank’s vision was coming back from the fresh dose of oxygen in his lungs. His head came up again, and he took another breath before he went under.

Everyone ran to the water to help, but he was too far away. Mac went in up to his chest, but couldn’t go any further without drowning.

“Get me out of this suit!” Tony demanded. “I can help him!” Maria was closest and began taking off Tony’s life-support pack, with Laura quickly joining in. Lynn stood helplessly at the LRV, watching through her view-scope as Frank bobbed up and down, his arms flailing in the surf trying desperately to keep his head above water.

“Don’t take your eyes off him, Lynn!” Mac demanded.

Lynn kept her view-scope trained on Frank, zooming in further. “Oh my God,” she gasped. “He’s not wearing his suit!”

Frank could hear the others yelling from shore, and could see where he was. Unfortunately, with the return of cognitive thought came fear. He tried to think, tried to remember what Tony had told him about how to swim. But he was freezing, and he still couldn’t feel his extremities. The best he could do was flop his arms around and kick a little. As the rolling waves raised him up momentarily, he could see that someone was going into the water from the shore. If he could just stay afloat long enough…

Finally free of his suit, Tony ran into the water to rescue Frank. He wasn’t graceful, but he was swimming, much to the amazement of everyone on the beach.