Submarine

Clang! That was all — Hicks was flailing with the palm of his hand at the hatch release- and floated again into the blackness Woolf-Gault followed, chasing the flippers, beating steadily in front of him. Hicks continued swimming, judging his relative movement with the shadowy casing scraping beneath their, like a trout nosing into the weeds. With a swift movement Hicks slid to port, pointing with his hand. Woolf-Gault saw the needle-sharp splinters from the cable, splayed outwards like an old shaving brush. Even from where he was he could see that the wire was only three-quarters severed where it quivered two feet above the casing.

Reeving the bight of the line around the wire, below the cut Woolf-Gault lashed Hicks loosely against the wire; then he toot a leg-purchase round the wire from where it extruded from the trunnion joints of the hydroplane.

Hicks, bracing himself against Woolf-Gault, began methodically to saw. Eleven minutes had already slipped away Although he had not been working as hard as Hicks Woolf-Gault was already feeling weary, unable to relax for an instant against the remorseless pressure of water.

Hicks' saw-strokes were becoming feebler and more spasmodic as exhaustion overtook him. He and Woolf-Gault had found the knack of bracing against the wire, and Hicks was not going to relinquish his part of the job, unless he was forced to: precious minutes would be spent in relashing each other if they exchanged roles. The strands were flicking apart more easily now — only one to free. Hicks' eyes behind his mask had that dazed, fixed look of frenzied concentration while his weary arm barely moved. If the wire parted uncontrollably, they would both fall backwards as the mine above them sprung free and the weight came off the lower section. Woolf-Gault had to use force to stop Hicks, whose eyes slowly registered understanding: Hicks must hold on to the hatch lid to recover his strength, while Woolf-Gault finished off the strand with his long-handled cutter.

Slipping the bight of the line, Woolf-Gault kept hold of the exhausted man until he was safely at the hatch. He swam back to the wire and, after immense difficulty, succeeded in fixing the cutter in place. Swimming steadily, just clear to port of the. wire, he cut through the final strand. It parted with a slick of streaming phosphorescence and, as his head jerked upwards, he glimpsed the hideous cylinder spiralling above him, gliding upwards and aft into' the blackness. He tried to continue with his regular breathing, his eyes rivetted on the dark void as he waited for the cataclysmic explosion… but nothing, only the sibilant hiss of the sea against the hull, while Hicks trod water, keeping one thumb pointing upwards from the rim of the upturned hatch to show that he was okay.

Woolf-Gault canted his head to throw the light beam upon the starboard plane. The bare end of the wire had whipped backwards to ensnarl its frayed strands inside the upper end of the mooring-wire from which the sinker must be dangling two hundred metres below. He yelled in jubilation inside his headset: they had won the main battle — now they couldn't all be blown to bits.

Slipping the lanyard of the long-handled cutter around his wrist and swimming with slow leg strokes above the starboard plane, he could make out the final snag: if he could prise one of the handles of the cutter beneath the bare end at the same instant as the plane was brought back to rise the nip could be freed. If Orcus could be going astern at the same time he was certain the wire would clear- but he'd have to hurry for he was beginning to suffer waves of dizzyness. He'd drift backwards and tell Hicks to return to the boat, so that he could explain things to the captain: they must then reflood the tower and have its upper lid ready and open for Woolf-Gault's return when the job was complete.

It took him an eternity to get the message across, for Hicks was about all-in. Hicks then dropped down into the escape chamber. Woolf-Gault, using up much of his failing strength, helped to push the lid down upon its seating before swimming back to the plane. Jamming his right foot against the fairing and leaning against the stream, he managed to prise the end of the long handle of the cutting tool beneath the upper end of the severed wire. Bracing his back, he levered upwards, gently at first, then with all his strength.