Deception Point Page 84

Jesus, the pilot said. Eighteen-knot actual? Dont fall overboard He laughed.Rachel did not laugh. Mike, you didnt mention this megaplume, magma dome, hot-current situation.He put a reassuring give on her knee. Its perfectly safe, trust me.Rachel frowned. So this documentary you were do by here was ab forbidden this magma dome phenomenon?Megaplumes and genus Sphyrna mokarran.Thats right. You menti wholenessd that earlier.Tolland gave a coy smile. Sphyrna mokarran love warm weewee, and right now, every last one for a hundred miles is congregating in this mile-wide circle of heated naval.Neat. Rachel gave an uneasy nod. And what, beg tell, are Sphyrna mokarran?Ugliest fish in the sea.Flounder?Tolland laughed. Great dunderhead shark.Rachel stiffened beside him. Youve got hammerhead sharks around your boat?Tolland winked. Relax, theyre not dangerous.You wouldnt say that unless they were dangerous.Tolland chuckled. I gamble youre right. He called playfully up to the pilot. Hey, ho w long has it been since you guys salve anyone from an attack by a hammerhead?The pilot shrugged. Gosh. We havent saved anyone from a hammerhead in decades.Tolland turned to Rachel. See. Decades. No worries.Just last month, the pilot added, we had an attack where whatsoever idiot skin diver was chumming-Hold on Rachel said. You said you hadnt saved anyone in decadesYeah, the pilot replied. Saved anyone. Usually, were too late. Those bastards kill in a hurry.101From the air, the flickering bulge outline of the Goya loomed on the horizon. At half a mile, Tolland could construct out the brilliant deck nimblenesss that his crewmember Xavia had wisely left anxious. When he saw the lights, he felt identical a weary traveler pulling into his driveway.I thought you said sole(prenominal) one soul was onboard, Rachel said, looking surprised to see all the lights.Dont you leave a light on when youre home alone?One light. Not the entire ho map.Tolland smiled. contempt Rachels attempt s to be lighthearted, he could tell she was extremely apprehensive close creation out here. He wanted to put an arm around her and ascertain her, but he knew there was postcode he could say. The lights are on for security. Makes the ship look active.Corky chuckled. Afraid of pirates, Mike?Nope. Biggest danger out here is the idiots who dont know how to read radar. Best defense against getting rammed is to make sure everyone can see you.Corky squinted down at the glowing vessel. See you? It looks equivalent a Carnival Cruise line on New Years Eve. Obviously, NBC pays your electric.The Coast accommodate chopper slowed and banked around the huge lit ship, and the pilot began maneuvering toward the helipad on the stern deck. Even from the air, Tolland could make out the gaga current pulling at the ships hull struts. Anchored from its bow, the Goya was aimed into the current, straining at its extensive anchor line like a chained beast.She really is a beauty, the pilot said, laugh ing.Tolland knew the comment was s waiverastic. The Goya was ugly. Butt-ugly according to one television reviewer. One of exclusively s stillteen SWATH ships ever built, the Goyas Small-Waterplane-Area Twin-Hull was anything but attractive.The vessel was essentially a massive horizontal platform floating thirty feet above the ocean on four huge struts affixed to pontoons. From a distance, the ship looked like a low-slung drilling platform. Up close, it resembled a deck barge on stilts. The crew quarters, research labs, and navigation bridge were housed in a series of tiered structures on top, giving one the rough impression of a giant floating coffee table supporting a gallimaufry of multistaged buildings.Despite its less than streamlined appearance, the Goyas design enjoyed significantly less water-plane area, resulting in increased stability. The suspended platform enabled better filming, easier lab work, and fewer carsick scientists. Although NBC was pressuring Tolland to let t hem buy him something newer, Tolland had refused. Granted, there were better ships out there now, even more stable ones, but the Goya had been his home for almost a decade now-the ship on which he had fought his way back after Celias death. some nights he still heard her voice in the wind out on deck. If and when the ghosts ever disappeared, Tolland would consider another ship.Not yet.When the chopper last set down on the Goyas stern deck, Rachel Sexton felt only half-relieved. The good news was that she was no longer flying over the ocean. The evil news was that she was now standing on it. She fought off the shaky thaumaturgist in her legs as she climbed onto the deck and looked around. The deck was surprisingly cramped, particularly with the whirlybird on its pad. Moving her eyes toward the bow, Rachel gazed at the ungainly, stacked edifice that do up the bulk of the ship.Tolland stood close beside her. I know, he said, talking obstreperously over the sound of the raging cu rrent. It looks bigger on television.Rachel nodded. And more stable.This is one of the safest ships on the sea. I promise. Tolland put a hand on her lift and guided her across the deck.The warmth of his hand did more to calm Rachels nerve than anything he could have said. Nonetheless, as she looked toward the rear of the ship, she saw the roiling current streaming out behind them as though the ship was at full throttle. Were sitting on a megaplume, she thought.Centered on the first off section of rear deck, Rachel spied a familiar, one-man newt submersible pause on a giant winch. The Triton-named for the Greek god of the sea-looked nothing like its predecessor, the steel-encased Alvin. The Triton had a hemispherical acrylic dome in front, making it look more like a giant fishbowl than a sub. Rachel could think of few things more terrifying than submerging hundreds of feet into the ocean with nothing between her face and the ocean but a sheet of micturate acrylic. Of course, acc ording to Tolland, the only unpleasant part of riding in the Triton was the initial deployment-being slowly winched down through the trap door in the Goyas deck, hanging like a pendulum thirty feet above the sea.Xavia is probably in the hydrolab, Tolland said, moving across the deck. This way.Rachel and Corky followed Tolland across the stern deck. The Coast Guard pilot remained in his chopper with strict instructions not to use the radio.Have a look at this, Tolland said, pausing at the stern runway of the ship.Hesitantly, Rachel neared the railing. They were very high up. The water was a good thirty feet at a lower place them, and yet Rachel could still feel the heat rising off the water.Its about the temperature of a warm bath, Tolland said over the sound of the current. He reached toward a switch-box on the railing. Watch this. He flipped a switch.A wide arc of light spread through the water behind the ship, illuminating it from at heart like a lit swimming pool. Rachel and C orky gasped in unison.The water around the ship was filled with dozens of ghostly shadows. Hovering only feet beneath the illuminated surface, armies of sleek, dark forms swam in parallel against the current, their unmistakable hammer-shaped skulls wagging back and off as if to the beat of some prehistoric rhythm.Christ, Mike, Corky stammered. So delighted you shared this with us.