Кеннет Робсон - Death in Silver

"It did," Monk told him calmly. "This iron fish was a whiz when it was first built. And it has been improved on ever since. I told you that when Doc invents something for a submarine, he tries it out on the Helldiver ."

Eying his sword cane, Ham put in. "And that reminds me of something: Where did these Silver Death's-Heads get their sub?"

Monk grunted, "I've been wondering about that, too."

"That may not be so mysterious," Doc offered.

"Eh?" Monk stared at the bronze giant .

"Do you recall my telling you that Lorna Zane said Paine L. Winthrop gave her 5-months' vacation with pay last spring?" Doc queried.

"Sure," said Monk.

Rapid Pace exploded. "I was given a vacation at the same time! So were all of the regular employees of the Winthrop Shipyards. It was very mysterious. When we got back to work, we found that the shipyard had been in operation during our absence. We never did find out what had been built."

"That," said Doc, "explains it."

"So the submarine was built in Winthrop's yard!" Ham clipped grimly. "Winthrop was in on this. He got cold feet. Or fell out with his partners or something. And they killed him with a shell fired from the submarine in the East River."

"Fantastic!" Rapid Pace murmured. "Utterly fantastic, yes sir!"

The Helldiver had now passed the last of the radio buoys shown on the map which Doc had gotten from the Indian Head Club.

"What now?" Monk wondered aloud.

"We will keep on and hope the map did not show all of the radio guides," Doc said.

Sure enough, the directional apparatus picked up more of the bursts which bad the sound of static . The buoys, it seemed, continued out toward the open sea.

Following the trail — always beneath the surface — they veered to the right, out of ship lanes. They were now heading down the Jersey coast but a number of miles offshore.

"Pretty slick," Monk said. "Having a string of radio buoys to guide them right into New York harbor. Boy oh boy! What a perfect get-away idea!"

"It required the expenditure of a lot of money," Ham pointed out.

Monk started to say something … and his mouth flew so very wide open that it seemed he was trying to yawn. His right arm jutted out like a bar, pointing.

"I'll be a whale's brother!" he choked. "Look!"

- — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

In the stern-view screen had appeared an object which resembled a steel egg viewed from the front. It might have been a fish coming head-on for they had seen other fish on the screens. But this was of a steely color and certain rudders and protuberances marked it for what it was.

"Submarine!"Ham ejaculated.

The other subseas craft was traveling more swiftly than the Helldiver and therefore was gaining.

Doc Savage advanced the throttles. The Helldiver picked up speed. But so did the other ship. It continued to gain.

"This bus was not made for racing," Monk grumbled. "The ice-protector rails cut down the speed."

Rapid Pace cried anxiously, "How about torpedo tubes?"

"None aboard," Doc advised.

"What about depth bombs, then?"

Doc Savage shook a metallic head. "The Helldiver is not equipped for fighting. It is primarily a scientific experimental vessel."

The bronze man changed their course a trifle.

Monk was scowling at the screen. "One consolation — that other iron fish hasn't got torpedo tubes, either."

The pursuing sub swung slightly sidewise to follow the Helldiver , and they could observe the length of the craft. It was considerably smaller than the Helldiver , being more slender and scientifically streamlined.

"Seems like I've seen that bus somewhere before!" Monk grunted. "Or maybe it was a picture."

"It was a picture," Doc told him.

Monk little eyes. "I can't remember where I saw it. Do you?"

"Not long ago, United States newspapers carried a photograph of a small 2-man submarine which the Japanese were testing," Doc advised. "It was a craft closely resembling that one. Probably the design of the Japanese submarine was copied in making this one."

The smaller underseas boat was now only a few yards behind. In the front of the conning tower, they could see a round glass porthole.

Rapid Pace barked, "I wonder what they plan to do?"

Not altering expression, Doc said, "Nothing pleasant, you can rest assured."

Pace moistened his lips, then glanced down at his bands. He held them out in front of him. They were steady. This seemed to surprise him.

"Hurrah!" he shouted.

Hugh McCoy glared at him and snarled, "I don't see anything to be happy about!" McCoy's exquisitely handsome face was greasy with perspiration.

Rapid Pace grinned widely. "Gentlemen, I believe my association with you has ridded me of something which has hampered me all my life. I am speaking of my cowardice. I usually scare and get so frightened that I am positively a wreck. But now I feel like a daredevil. Positively, a daredevil!"

McCoy groaned, "What are we going to do? Why don't we rise to the surface? We can't outrun them."

"See that streamlined hatch on the other sub?" Doc queried.

"Y-yes," McCoy stuttered.

"That undoubtedly covers the 3-inch gun," Doc assured him. "They cannot fire it underwater. But wait … let us see if this helps."

The bronze man reached over and jerked a brass lever. The rear-view screen suddenly became black. But the viewing device had not failed. The blackness was from without — an inky cloud was pouring from receptacles in the skin of the submarine.

"Blazes!" Monk gulped. "This is a new one on me!"

- — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Doc Savage put the wheel hard over, then cut the motors to half-throttle.

"Remember when we went under the Polar ice in the Helldiver ?" he asked.

"Do I?" grunted Monk. "I'll never forget!"

"We put tanks in the submarine skin to hold a chemical mixture you invented, incidentally, which would melt ice when released," Doc recalled. "That was to free us if we got trapped under the ice pack."

Monk nodded. "Sure."

"The chemical solution I just released from those tanks is my own invention," Doc told him. "It turns saltwater black. The secret is now in the hands of the United States Government. It may come in handy should there be another war."

Doc now manipulated the sonic locators. These showed that the small submarine of the silver men was astern, wandering in its course, baffled by the sepia water.

Doc cut the motors of the Helldiver entirely. The craft lost headway, sank, and came to a rest on the bottom of the Atlantic which — at this point — was hard sand according to the charts.

McCoy mopped perspiration from his too-handsome features and groaned, "I don't see where this is going to help us!"

Pace grinned at him. "We're alive, anyway."

Glaring, McCoy snapped, "You don't need to be so damned cheerful!"

In his new personality of a man who was not afraid, Rapid Pace was a different individual from the nervous, rapid-talking efficiency expert. He even spoke more slowly, firmly, and did not repeat himself as much.

"From now on, you use a civil tongue when you speak to me," he told Hugh McCoy grimly. "Otherwise I am going to do my best to knock hell out of you!"

Monk growled, "For just about the last time, I'm telling you guys to cut that out!"

There came a loud, metallic clank . The rubber-ribbed floor tilted, throwing all but Doc Savage off balance. The bronze man's grip on the controls kept him erect.