Pitt dropped the submersible to the deck level and faced the object. Its perfectly square shape was disrupted on one side by a protruding dial and handle.
“It’s a safe,” Ana said.
“Probably for the ship’s payroll,” Pitt said. “The salvors must have recovered it from the captain’s cabin.”
“It still looks locked and sealed,” Giordino said. “I wonder why they left it here.”
Like an asteroid from the heavens, a faint light approached from above, gradually growing brighter. The glow morphed into a half dozen xenon lights that radiated from the top of a massive lifting claw. The giant grapple drew to a stop midway between the safe and the submersible, dangling a few meters above the deck. Ever so slowly, the device extended its titanium-tipped fingers like a cat extending its claws.
Ana watched, mesmerized. “It’s big enough to hoist a car.”
“Or rip open the deck of a ship,” Pitt said.
As if it had a mind of its own, the claw eased over the safe, using a bank of side thrusters. It hesitated, then reversed course and accelerated toward the submersible. Pitt had eyed the heavy thrusters mounted on the claw’s frame and reacted instantly. Hovering the submersible against the back of the Kerch’s superstructure, he drove the craft sideways across the deck.
“What’s it doing?” Ana asked.
“Trying to shake hands.” Pitt applied full power to his own thrusters.
The streamlined claw was quick to move laterally and pursue the submersible, guided by its multiple video cameras.
As they approached the rusting remains of the side rail, Pitt had no choice but to ascend. The action scrubbed off just enough speed for the claw to close the gap. As both machines slipped over the rail, the claw retracted its fingers to grab the submersible.
A metallic scraping reverberated through the interior as the claw grasped at the submersible’s topside. Pitt jammed the thruster controls forward and tried to descend. The grating abated for a moment, then they heard a secondary clang. The submersible nosed forward and jolted to a halt. Ana shrieked.
Pitt turned the thrusters
and tried to pull away, but the heavier grapple countered with its own propulsion. The lifting claw rotated, throwing the submersible against the hull of the Kerch. The submersible struck hard by the bow and skittered.
Immediately, the claw spun in the other direction.
Pitt countered the move with his own power, but it wasn’t enough. The submersible was whipped around and thrown stern first against the wreck. A clatter churned the water as the main thruster broke free and was smashed to bits.
Giordino reached back and pulled Ana’s safety belt as tight as he could. “Hang on, sister, we’re in for a ride.”
Powerless to counter the salvage grapple, Pitt, Giordino, and Ana clung to their seats as the vessel was pummeled from side to side. The submersible was repeatedly slammed against the old ship until its exterior resembled a dented soup can. Only when the vessel’s lights flickered out and a stream of bubbles sprayed toward the surface did the hydraulic claw cease its thrashing and release its grip.
The salvage grapple returned to the Kerch’s deck and clasped its fingers around the ship’s safe. With its prize secure, the claw reeled upward toward the surface. As it rose from the bottom, its video cameras caught a final glimpse of the NUMA submersible. Lying inverted and still, the battered craft was left to the silence of the blackened depths beside the long-dead warship.
7
All Pitt could see was red.
It wasn’t blood but a tiny emergency light that pulsed near his face. He blinked away a shooting pain in his head and shoulder, then called into the darkened interior. “Everybody okay?”
“I’m good,” Ana said with a frightened voice.
Giordino grunted. “I guess we survived the tumble dry setting.” Like Pitt, he had been pitched forward from his seat when the submersible flipped over and he lay prone on its ceiling. He rose to his knees, splashing water around him.
“I don’t like the sound of that.” Pitt noticed his own wet feet.
Both men had water up to their ankles as they awkwardly stood. Around them were sounds of hissing and crackling mixed with an acrid, burning odor.
Pitt found a small flashlight and scanned the interior as Giordino helped release Ana from her seat.
“Pressure seems to be holding,” Pitt said. “Must be a hairline crack or a viewport seal.”
“Good thing we’re not a thousand feet deeper,” Giordino said. He knew that a similar breach at those depths could flood the submersible in an instant.