Sea of Greed

THE SUN was dropping toward the horizon by the time Kurt and Joe climbed back onto the Raleigh’s main submersible. To the east, the sea continued burning, a nautical vision of Hades, obscured by smoke and blurred by waves of heat.

With Joe already at the controls, Kurt climbed in and sealed the hatch.

Kurt took the briefest glimpse of the inferno and then gave a thumbs-up to the crane operator. The submersible was lifted off the deck, swung out over the side and lowered into the water.

“Once more unto the breach,” he said, settling in beside Joe.

“We’re going to cause our own breach,” Joe said. “So technically…”

“Right,” Kurt said. “Let’s go.”

Joe opened the valves and the sound of air rushing out of the tanks roared in their ears until it was replaced by a soothing quiet as the submersible dived beneath the waves. A mile from the nearest fire, the sea appeared serene — at least until a flickering glow became obvious in the distance.

“Coming up on the outer fires,” Joe said.

Their progress was being monitored by Brooks, Cox and others back in OSLO. Brooks replied to Joe’s comment over the radio. “Outer fires confirmed. Steer five degrees to port and you should have smooth sailing through to the next danger zone.”

“Strange that they have a better view of things up there than we do down here,” Joe said. “I imagine the tiny icon of our sub looking like the miniature sub in Fantastic Voyage.”

Kurt laughed. “And yet I’m stuck in here with you instead of Jessica Chastain.”

As Joe made the course correction, Kurt slid a control panel with a lighted keyboard in front of him. From it, he could control the submersible’s robotic arms.

“Leveling off,” Joe said. “Continuing east.”

“We see you,” Brooks replied. “In a quarter mile, you’ll be closing in on what’s left of the vertical shaft that blew out under the Alpha Star. All you’ll see is a column of fire, but sonar confirms there is still metal debris in there, so watch yourselves.”

Kurt could sense a backseat driver situation forming, one drawback to having the OSLO system in full swing.

“Campfire dead ahead,” Joe said. “Hope you brought the marshmallows.”

“Fresh out,” Kurt said. “How about fifty pounds of C-4?”

“That ought to liven things up.”

The radio came to life again. This time, it was Cox. “You boys are approaching the main transfer line now.”

“I’m not seeing anything,” Joe replied.

“The line is buried, but you’ll see a distinctive bulge running perpendicular to your position. Follow that and it’ll lead you back beneath the Alpha Star.”

Kurt spotted the bulge in the sediment and pointed.

“I see it,” Joe said. “Commencing turn.”

They followed the raised line of sediment toward their destination, passing between two fiery eruptions along the way. Kurt noticed the columns of flame beginning life in narrow, concentrated jets and then widening as they went upward.

“Whatever this hydrophoric gas is, it’s blasting out of the pipes at high pressure.”

As they neared the fires, a rumbling sound reverberated through the steel hull of the sub.

“Sounds like a freight train,” Joe said.

Kurt would have agreed but the racket became so intense that it blocked out all conversation. Up close, the fountain of flame became too bright to look at and Kurt averted his eyes, looking beneath the point of ignition. He saw a crater in the seafloor and a broken pipe, bent and splayed outward.

With the fire behind them, the sound levels returned to normal and the seafloor ahead was lit up like a sandy beach on a sunny day.

“Next thing you should see is a group of exposed pipes. A three-into-one connector and then the valve assembly sticking out of the silt like a tree trunk. Fifty feet beyond that is the best spot to place the explosives.”

Joe brought them over the valve assembly and down onto the raised section of sediment. “This looks like the spot.”

“Hold her steady,” Kurt said.

Using the keyboard, he activated one of the submersible’s robotic arms, powering up a water jet contained in the arm and blasting away the sediment. A swirling cloud engulfed, drifting away only after Kurt shut off the water jet and focused on the newly exposed pipe, which was as thick as a telephone pole.