Cliff Ryder - The Ties That Bind

Jason looked at the three lights that indicated various damage points on the Scorpion.

"Now that pisses me off," he muttered.

He swung it around and charged at the back of the second submersible. They were bigger than the Scorpion, but not as agile. He used one control arm to grab hold of the back and the other to slash at the oxygen system. He spotted his target and took the shot, launching the arm forward and puncturing the air tank. The pressure separated the two vehicles and sent the Scorpion spiraling backward. The damaged submersible took little time in getting away and heading toward the surface for air.

The third craft charged forward into the Scorpion. Jason saw it coming and dodged at the last second, pushing off the side of the vehicle.

"Hang on!" he yelled to Tina.

Jason hit the booster again and charged toward the first submersible. He locked in and shot a harpoon into its side from the arm of the Scorpion. The submersible lurched backward and tugged at the Scorpion as it went. They plunged toward the bottom of the ocean, pulling the submersible behind them. The pressure increased around the Scorpion, but the strong shell held up against the force of the water.

The submersible pulled away from the Scorpion, but Jason was relentless. He pushed the engines to their limit trying to drag the vehicle farmer under.

The towline broke and the submersible took off like a shot. Jason looked at his radar, but they weren't on-screen.

"Where did they go?" Tina asked.

"They're here somewhere. They must be jamming our radar."

They both looked intently into the black, trying to catch a hint of the other vehicles. Small fish swam by, but the water looked undisturbed otherwise. Jason maneuvered the vehicle in a circle.

"There!" Tina cried, pointing up.

The two submersibles were descending on them, and Jason didn't have time to move as they crashed on top of the Scorpion. Jason guided the Scorpion lower, trying to get out of their range. The third submersible came around and Jason could see the pilot, and felt his jaw go slack.

It was his brother.

"No," he heard Tina gasp.

Jason moved the controls forward and rammed into the cab of the submersible. A chunk of the Scorpion's armor broke as they collided. He pulled back and was about to ram again when he realized that his anger was making him a sitting duck for the other pod. He changed course and the Scorpion dived. Looking at his radar, he saw what he was really looking for and turned toward the first pod.

"What are you doing?" Tina asked.

"I'm drawing him in closer."

"Why?"

"I have an idea."

Tina braced her hands on the frame of the cockpit and said, "I hope it's a good one."

The first submersible hit and Jason punched one of the keys. A small explosion rocked the outside of the Scorpion and small pieces of it began falling away along with a small oil slick. Jason turned the pod and pulled away from the other two. Adjusting the variable on the shield, he moved the Scorpion off to a rocky outcropping and shut everything down but the radar and the life support.

"Some idea! Now we're sitting ducks," Tina said.

"That's the idea."

"This was your clever idea? To disable us in the middle of the ocean!"

Jason smiled and looked at Tina.

"No, that was just the idea I wanted them to believe."

"I don't understand."

Jason pointed at a radar image as a large submarine came on-screen. "I wanted them to think we were out of the way so I can follow that."

Jason and Tina sat in awe as the submarine passed in front of them. He would have given anything to snap pictures of the exterior because he had never seen anything like it. To say it was large would have been an understatement. Jason estimated that it was at least as big as the largest sub in the American fleet. The Scorpion's cloaking device kept them hidden, but they sat in silence, afraid that the submarine's sonar might pick up them up. Jason tried to memorize every detail and let his instruments record as much data as possible.

The submarine continued to move forward and far enough out of range that it was safe to talk.

"I need to go after it," he said. "The scoop on the front is proof that they're using some form of cavitation, but it's not what I need — I need the design."

"Proof of what?" she asked. "Cavi-what?"

"They've developed a nuclear sub with supercavitation capabilities."

"Super-what?" she said. "Would you mind speaking a language I happen to know?"

"Supercavitation," he repeated. "I won't bore you with the science, but the easiest way to explain it is that they have a sub that can travel twice as fast as anything we have in the water."

"That can't be good," she said. "Okay, let's go."

"There is no way to get the Scorpion close enough without being detected. I have a dry suit on under my clothes and there is dive gear on the Scorpion."

"I'm not really keen on the idea of you just popping the hatch. I'm not the Boy Scout that you are, and I left my dry suit in my other pants," Tina said.

"You won't be getting wet, I promise," he said. "This thing comes complete with an escape hatch."

"You're not going to leave me here, are you?" she asked. "Alone?"

"It's the only choice I've got," he said. "You'll be fine."

"What if something happens?" she asked, panic filling her voice.

"Calm down," he said, soothingly. "Nothing is going to happen."

At least, that's what he hoped.

Jason typed in his wish list of dive gear on his computer. Room 59 had been very thorough in giving him the equipment that he wanted. The only thing missing was a particular regulator that he liked, but the one in inventory would work fine.

He slipped into his equipment and dialed in the escape hatch. The floor beneath his feet became translucent, and he could feel the power shield surge as he placed his feet along the edges.

"I see water, but we're not sinking," Tina said. "That's a good sign."

"The portal actually retracts and is covered by a thin layer of positively charged energy, kind of like static electricity. It tells the water to stay out, but isn't dense enough to cause me harm. Plus, the oxygen exchangers keep the compartment filled with fresh air — in other words, it keeps everything afloat. As soon as I'm through, I'll close the hatch. I have a remote to open it when I return."

"So you're really going to just leave me here. What if something happens to you?" Tina asked.

He pointed to the control panel. "See that red button on the center of the console? If you think I've gone to the great beyond, then just press that. It's preprogrammed to go to the last beacon point, which is up on the shoreline. Just be quick getting out — you'll only have a minute. A secondary protocol will go into effect, and it will return to its primary base of operations. In this particular case, that's not a place you want to visit."

"Good to know," she said. "How long…"

"Should you wait?" he asked. "I don't know, but if I'm not back in two hours, hit the button. If I'm still alive, I'll get back to shore on my own."

She was silent for a moment, then said, "You're the real thing, aren't you?"

"The real what?" he asked, confused.

"Superspy," she said. "It's not like a desk job, that's for sure."

"You don't strike me as the kind of person who'd be very happy sitting at a desk yourself," he said.

"I wasn't," she replied, maneuvering herself around to face him more directly. She kissed him lightly on the lips. "Be careful."

"It's practically my motto," he said.

Jason sealed his face mask and slipped through the portal into the cold ocean depths. The water enveloped him and he adjusted his gauges to the current depth, pressure and temperature. The dive suit itself was another Room 59 marvel — a flexible skin that would keep him warm in the extreme environment, but was strong enough to repel small-arms fire. His dive equipment included a suite of modified tracking sensors and a radar-distortion device that would make him look like nothing more than another sea creature to the sonar on a submarine or other seagoing vessel. He detached the personal propulsion system from the hull of the Scorpion and made some quick adjustments, then tapped a few buttons and he was off, headed after the submarine.