Submarine Warriors: The Enemy Beneath (11 page)

“
That crystal pyramid looks transparent too, but I can’t quite see inside it,” Nick added. “Weird. Anyway, I guess we need to find a way to enter the Omaha Beach.”

The two kids proceeded across the ocean floor, climbed on top of the DSRV, and searched the outer hull looking for a way in.

“
Hey, this looks like the same kind of hatch we just exited from on the Alaska.” Caroline looked down at the metal steering wheel on the hull.

As the two of them knelt down to turn the wheel, they noticed a shadow pass over them.

“
Oh my God Nick, it’s a shark!” Caroline screamed as she watched the man-eater swim off into the distance.

Caroline and Nick put all their strength into turning the stubborn wheel. It wouldn’t budge at first, but then it slowly started to move.

Nick looked up and noticed the shark circling back toward them. “It’s coming back! We’ve got to try harder!”

Normally, the pressure of the seawater, combined with an empty escape trunk, would make it next to impossible to open the hatch. The Omaha Beach came equipped with hydraulically assisted arms that helped Caroline and Nick open the lid as water came rushing in to fill the empty room below. The two of them were caught off guard and sucked in with the rest of the seawater.

Dazed and disoriented, Nick stood up in the flooded escape truck and reached for the upper hatch to seal it shut. He recoiled in terror as the giant teeth, jaws and head of the shark came at him through the opening of the hatch.

“
Get on the deck!” Caroline screamed as she pulled Nick downward to the floor of the escape trunk.

The shark was too large to fit through the escape hatch, but gnashed its teeth at them and violently whipped its head from side to side.

“
I don’t want to be eaten alive,” Caroline cried.

“
I think he’s stuck.” Nick pointed upward. “He can’t get in past his fins, and he’s completely sealed the hatch opening. It doesn’t look like he can get out either. I guess they didn’t teach him how to go in reverse at shark driving school.” Nick managed some humor realizing that the immediate danger had passed. “We need to get the water drained out of here.”

Looking across the room, Caroline noticed a clearly marked green button on the wall, and pushed it to force all the water out of the compartment. Once the escape trunk was empty, the shark began to suffocate since its gills were no longer moving through the water. The kids quickly took off their diving helmets and descended into the DSRV. Caroline took one last look at the dying monster above her and then sealed the lower hatch shut.

“
The lights are on and everything seems to be working,” reported Nick. “Maybe the power came back on after we torpedoed the tractor beam.”

The two of them searched every compartment in the Omaha Beach but found no one around. They finally plopped down on a couple of seats that faced various control panels. Nick looked up at the giant display screen which gave him a view of the undersea world, including the USS Alaska. Caroline was staring at something more ominous.

“
Hey Nick, look at that control panel above the weapons console.” Caroline pointed above her head. “Do you see those two keys inserted in the panel?”

“
OMG, I think those keys are inserted into the self-destruct system,” Nick exclaimed. “They’ve both been turned to the right and the protective cover over the self-destruct button is open.”

The two of them sat in silence for a moment as the gravity of what they had just seen sank in.

“
I’m calling Granddad.” Caroline walked over to the communications station. “I hope this fancy phone works.” She placed the headset on her head and turned to the communications display. As luck would have it, the USS Alaska was listed as the last call placed, so she tapped on the screen and selected 256-bit encryption to make the call secure. A fake dialing sound helped Caroline pass the time while the connection was made to the Alaska.

“
Silverdale Pizza, may I take your order?” Admiral Connery answered.

“
I’d like a large Dyes Inlet special,” replied Caroline.

“
Nice to hear from you, granddaughter,” the Admiral said with a smile on his face. “I’m glad you remembered our secret code. The Radioman didn’t want to break radio silence but I was certain that the connection was coming from a nearby source.”

“
Granddad, Nick and I are on the Omaha Beach and the place is deserted,” Caroline said. “Worst of all, we discovered that Dad and the crew tried to blow up their DSRV, after all. The self-destruct mechanism failed for some reason. But the self-destruct keys are still in!”

“
It probably failed for the same reason all our electronics went haywire before we blew up that magnetic tractor beam,” responded the Admiral. “Caroline, I need you to turn both of the keys counter-clockwise and pull them out. Keep one key in your pocket and give the other one to Nick.”

“
I’m doing it now, Granddad.” Caroline turned the two keys and removed them from the panel.

“
Where do you think everyone went?” Admiral Connery asked.

“
I’m not sure, but the forward escape hatch is open with some kind of umbilical tube sealed over it,” replied Caroline. “It looks like the tube leads to that large crystal pyramid structure that we saw sticking out of the seabed. Oh, one other thing. There’s a red light shining from the hatch.”

“
I suppose if your dad and the rest of the crew aren’t on the DSRV, then they must have left through the forward hatch and into the tube you’re talking about,” the Admiral said. “I’m sure they didn’t leave the Omaha Beach willingly. They were probably taken, which means you could be next. I want you to get out of there and return to the Alaska immediately.”

“
Granddad, we’ve come too far to give up now.” Caroline felt exasperated.

“
Don’t worry,” the Admiral replied. “When you get back, I’ll send some armed Alaska crewmembers to investigate.”

“
My Dad could be in danger right now,” Caroline exclaimed. “I think Nick and I should go find him and the others.”

“
Under no circumstances are you allowed to enter that tube, young lady,” barked the Admiral. “That’s an order. Now get back to the Alaska.”

“
We can’t go back now,” Nick whispered to Caroline.

Caroline nodded, and then spoke into her headset.

“
What was your last transmission?” Caroline asked. “Bzzzzz. There’s some kind of interference and you’re voice is breaking up. Crack, Bzzzz”

“
I said get back to the Alaska this instant,” repeated the Admiral.

Caroline placed the headset on the counter in front of her and motioned to Nick to get going.

“
I totally dissed Granddad,” Caroline said sheepishly. “We need to make our way through that tube and find our dads.”

“
Do you think it’s safe?” Nick asked.

“
Granddad doesn’t seem to think so,” replied Caroline. “I’ve got my Swiss Army knife, but let’s try to find a gun or something.”

“
I don’t see any weapons lying around, but there are a couple of those heavy Maglite flashlights mounted to the bulkhead,” Nick said. “I’ve seen cops carrying those around.”

“
I guess we could always whack someone pretty good with one of those.” Caroline smiled. “Hey, here’s a rescue kit with a flare gun and a bunch of extra flares inside.”

“
That’ll have to do,” Nick commented. “Bring ‘em.” Nick handed Caroline one of the flashlights and they both climbed up the ladder through the forward hatch and into the tube. Once inside, they were bathed in an eerie red light. As they walked, they could see the ocean around them through the transparent walls.

“
I wonder why they use red lights instead of natural or fluorescent light?” Nick asked.

“
No telling,” Caroline replied. “Look ahead to the end of the tube. It looks like there’s a door to get into the crystal pyramid.” When she reached out to turn the door handle, a blue bolt of electricity arced from the handle to her hand, causing her to fly backwards through the tube with a shock.

“
Caroline!” Nick screamed as he ran over to her motionless body on the floor of the tube. “Oh, please be alive. Please start breathing.”

Using the CPR training he learned in middle school, Nick started chest compressions as fast as he could. “Wake up, wake up, wake up!” Nick repeated with every compression.

After twenty seconds of furious effort, Caroline’s eyes opened and she slowly sat up gasping for air. “I’m having trouble breathing,” she said, between erratic inhales and exhales. “I think I just got struck by lightning.”

“
You got electrocuted by the door handle,” said Nick. “I don’t think we’re going to get through that door with our bare hands. Got any ideas?”

“
Gimme a sec,” Caroline replied. “I’m just getting over not being dead. I feel really strange and I’m seeing all kinds of unfamiliar images in my mind. We obviously need to open the door with something that doesn’t conduct electricity.”

“
Like a piece of wood?” Nick asked.

“
I doubt we’ll find any wood on the Omaha Beach,” said Caroline.

As Nick turned away from her, Caroline noticed the rubber hose dangling from the air tank of his deep sea diving suit.

“
Hey Nick,” Caroline piped-up. “Since we’re not swimming through the ocean and you’re not breathing through your regulator, why don’t we rip off your rubber hose and use it to turn the handle on the door?”

“
Good idea,” Nick replied. “That should keep us from being electrocuted.”

Caroline reached over and unscrewed the hose from Nick’s air tank.

“
You get to open the door this time.” Caroline smirked. “What could possibly go wrong?”

Nick wrapped the rubber tubing several times around his hand and proceeded to walk back to the pyramid door.

“
Turn the handle to the left and then push it in toward the door,” said Caroline.

“
How do you know?” Nick replied.

“
Don’t ask me how I know.” Caroline pointed at the handle. “I just know.”

Reaching out with his rubber-wrapped hand, he grasped the electrified handle, turned it to the left and pushed. The door made an electronic buzzing sound followed by a metallic clank as the locking bolt retracted. With that, the door swung open inside the pyramid. The kids flipped on their flashlights and walked in.

No sooner had they entered the pyramid, an Underworlder lunged at Nick from behind the open door. He dropped his flashlight and they both fell to the ground. Nick felt a tremendous amount of heat through his heavy deep-sea diving suit in the places where the Underworlder’s burning hands touched him. Nick began punching the creature in the face and kicked it in the gut with his knee.

“
What are you?” Nick yelled out at the hairless creature, gazing into its ultraviolet eyes.

“
Only your worst nightmare,” the Underworlder snarled. “You and the rest of your filthy Overworlder species will soon vanish from the Earth.”

Caroline immediately ran over to help Nick, but was repelled by a beam of intense heat, as the Underworlder pointed his hand in her direction, sending her flying across the corridor. The creature then turned his attention away from the sunburned girl and back to Nick.

“
I’m finished with you Overworlder.” The strange humanoid hovered over Nick. “For your sake, I hope you can hold your breath for a very long time.”

Looking down at him, the Underworlder opened his mouth and a gauze-like substance extended from out of his throat and started wrapping itself around Nick’s neck.

Nick looked up in horror as the gauze coming out of the Underworlder’s mouth continued to wrap around his head covering his mouth and nose. “I can’t believe I’m going to die this way,” he thought to himself.

“
Help me!” Nick yelled out through the last opening in the gauze.

“
I’m coming!” Caroline responded weakly as she slowly lifted herself from the floor.

Just when things faded to black as the gauze covered Nick’s eyes; the flashlight rolling on the floor shone its beam of light on the creature trying to mummify him. The Underworlder shrieked in pain as the rays of light made contact with his translucent skin. Wherever the light touched, smoke arose from its charred membrane. The Underworlder stopped wrapping Nick’s head and reached for the flashlight. A weary but alert Caroline picked it up and trained the blinding light at the monster’s face. Unable to endure the pain, the Underworlder gave up the fight and quickly disappeared down the glowing red corridor.