Part 56 (2/2)
”Dahlgren, and Rogers, the s.h.i.+p's electrician. They're trying to get the tender launched.”
Stenseth turned and faced the room. ”I'm afraid we must abandon s.h.i.+p. Every man onto the deck-now. If we can't board the tender, then we'll use one of the port-side emergency rafts. Let's make it quick.”
Stenseth led the men out the galley, stopping briefly to note that the water had already crept to the base of the superstructure. Quickening his pace, he moved onto the frozen expanse of the forward deck, fighting to keep his balance against the increasing slope underfoot. Across the deck, he saw a beam of light flash between two men cranking on a manual winch. A twelve-foot wooden skiff dangled in the air above them, but the rakish angle of the deck prevented the skiff's stern from clearing the side railing. The sound of obscenities embroidered in a Texas accent rattled through the cold night air from one of the men.
Stenseth rushed over and, with the help of several more crewmen, heaved the stern up and over the railing. Dahlgren reversed the lever on the winch and quickly lowered the skiff into the water. Grabbing its bow line, Stenseth walked the boat aft twenty feet until the water on the deck reached his boots. The crew then quickly climbed aboard by simply stepping off the Narwhal 's side rail.
Stenseth counted off a dozen-plus heads, then followed the injured chef as the last man aboard, stepping into the cramped wooden tender and taking a seat near the stern. A light breeze had picked up again, blowing scattered holes in the fog while casting an added chop to the seas. The tender quickly drifted a few yards away from the dying s.h.i.+p, staying in sight of her final moments.
They were barely away when the bow of the turquoise s.h.i.+p rose high into the night air, struggling against the forces of gravity. Then releasing a deep moan, the Narwhal plunged into the black water with a hiss of bubbles, disappearing to the depths below.
A burning anger welled within Stenseth, then he gazed upon his crew and felt relief. It was a minor miracle that no one had died in the collision and everyone had made it safely off the s.h.i.+p. The captain shuddered to think of the death toll had Pitt not put most of the crew and scientists ash.o.r.e in Tuktoyaktuk.
”I forgot the dang rocks.”
Stenseth turned to the man next to him, realizing in the dark that it was Dahlgren sitting at the tiller.
”From the thermal vent,” he continued. ”Rudi left them on the bridge.”
”Consider yourself lucky that you escaped with your skin,” Stenseth replied. ”Good work in getting the tender away.”
”I didn't really want to bob around the Arctic in a rubber boat,” he replied. Lowering his voice, he added, ”Those guys play for keeps, don't they?”
”Fatally serious about the ruthenium, I'm afraid.” He held his head to the air, trying to detect the presence of the icebreaker. A faint rumbling in the distance told him the s.h.i.+p wasn't lingering in the area.
”Sir, there's a small settlement called Gjoa Haven on the extreme southeast tip of King William Island,” the helmsman piped in from a row up. ”A little over a hundred miles from here. Nearest civilization on the charts, I'm afraid.”
”We should have enough fuel to make King William Island. Then it will have to be on foot from there,” Stenseth replied. Turning back to Dahlgren, he asked, ”Did you get a message off to Pitt?”
”I told them we were vacating the wreck site, but we lost power before I could warn them we wouldn't be coming back.” He tried to make out the dial on his watch. ”They should be surfacing shortly.”
”We can only guess as to where. Finding them in this fog would be a near impossibility, I'm afraid. We'll try a pa.s.s through the area, then we'll have to break for the coastline and seek help. We can't risk being offsh.o.r.e if the winds should stiffen.”
Dahlgren nodded with a grim look on his face. Pitt and Giordino were no worse off than they were, he thought. Coaxing the tender's motor to life, he turned the boat south and disappeared into a dark bank of fog.
69
PITT AND GIORDINO HAD BEEN HOVERING OVER the s.h.i.+p's bell when they received a brief transmission from Dahlgren that the Narwhal was moving off-site. Preoccupied with uncovering the bell's inscription, they had not followed up the call.
The discovery that the s.h.i.+pwreck was the Terror proved to be a small relief for Pitt. With no indication that there was any ruthenium aboard, there was still room for hope. The Inuit must have obtained the ore from the Erebus, and perhaps she alone held the secret to the coveted mineral. The question lingered as to where had the Erebus ended up. The two s.h.i.+ps were known to have been abandoned together, so presumably they would have sunk close to each other. Pitt felt confident that expanding the AUV's search area would turn up the second s.h.i.+p.
”Bloodhound to Narwhal, we're beginning our ascent,” Giordino radioed. ”What's your status?”
”We're on the move at the moment. I'm trying to get an update from the bridge. Will let you know when I do. Over.”
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