Read Online Into the Abyss (Tom Swift, Young Inventor) by Victor Appleton - Free Book Online
Authors: Victor Appleton
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groggily.
“We’re saved!” I told him. “You’re going to be all right!”
“Thank you.” He smiled, then closed his eyes again, exhausted but happy.
“Don’t bother to thank
me
” I heard Q.U.l.P. say.
Sometimes I think I made him
too
human.
7
Rescue Mission
The tank ran out of air, but now we were well within shouting range of
Nestor
.
“Tom!” I heard Yo screaming, even as I saw her long arms waving at me. Bud was right next to her on the deck, jumping up and down and raising his arms to the sky in triumph.
The
Nestor
looked damaged somehow, though I couldn’t figure out in what way. It was only when I was brought on board, hauled up by the strong arms of two crewmen, that I realized what was wrong.
The ship was listing to starboard. Not terribly, but she was definitely not level anymore.
Or maybe it was me. I was more than exhausted—I was practically in shock from being out in the water for three hours. No, it was the ship. … It was definitely tilting to the right.
Captain Walters noticed me looking around, confused. “We’ve got water in two of the ballast compartments,” he said. “Should have it pumped out by tonight.”
“Any other damage?” I asked.
Before he could answer, Bud and Yo ran up to me. Yo threw her arms around me in a hug.
“You stupid idiot!” she yelled in my ear. “Why didn’t you hold on tighter?” she asked, with tears in her eyes.
There was no good answer. I had been holding on tight—but the wave had been so powerful, it didn’t matter. I could have been superglued to the wall, and I
still
would have been washed overboard. But I knew Yo would never believe that.
I could see that the
Jules Verne-1
was not sitting on its mountings aboard the
Nestor
. So it was clearly still down at the bottom of the ocean.
I broke free from Yo. “I’m fine,” I said. “Really. It’s that other guy who’s hurt.”
“Who is he, anyway?” Bud asked.
“No idea,” I said. “Looks like he was out at sea on his boat, doing some diving, when the quake and the wave hit. It trashed his boat. That’s what’s left of it down there.” I pointed over the side at my raft.
“Okay,” Bud said, whipping out his note pad. “I want the whole story, from the minute you hit the water. Man, this is gonna make the front page of the
Gazette
for sure!”
“Maybe later, Bud,” I said.
“What are you, a machine?” Yo said, grabbing Bud’s notebook out of his hand. “Tom’s dad is still down there, remember?”
“Sorry, Tom,” Bud said, looking down at his feet.
“I’ll tell you all about it when we’re safely back in port,” I said.
Then I turned to the captain. “Any word from the
Vente-1
?”
The captain shook his head sadly. “Nothing since the last transmission you heard. Our monitors detect no movement and no signal.”
I stared at him blankly. It took a few seconds for the meaning of his words to fully sink in.
“You mean …?” I said.
Captain Walters swallowed hard. “They … may still be alive somehow,” he said. “The submersible has enough air for eight and a half more hours—if her hull is still intact.”
“Is there any way to haul them back to the surface if the sub’s disabled?” Bud asked.
The captain pointed to a spool of strong, thick cable. “We’ve got fifteen thousand feet of that,” he said. “Assuming we can find the sub. But we’d need someone down there to attach the cable. They can’t swim out of the submersible to do it—they’d be crushed by the pressure.”
“Can I ask a stupid question?” Yo said.
“Fire away.”
“How come the cable wasn’t attached to the
Verne-1
in the first place?”
“We had twelve seismic monitors to deploy,” the captain explained. “And the submersible was scheduled to explore the entire fracture zone of last month’s earthquake. It needed more mobility than it would have had while attached to the cable.”
Okay. I’d been listening carefully to everythingthe
“We’re saved!” I told him. “You’re going to be all right!”
“Thank you.” He smiled, then closed his eyes again, exhausted but happy.
“Don’t bother to thank
me
” I heard Q.U.l.P. say.
Sometimes I think I made him
too
human.
7
Rescue Mission
The tank ran out of air, but now we were well within shouting range of
Nestor
.
“Tom!” I heard Yo screaming, even as I saw her long arms waving at me. Bud was right next to her on the deck, jumping up and down and raising his arms to the sky in triumph.
The
Nestor
looked damaged somehow, though I couldn’t figure out in what way. It was only when I was brought on board, hauled up by the strong arms of two crewmen, that I realized what was wrong.
The ship was listing to starboard. Not terribly, but she was definitely not level anymore.
Or maybe it was me. I was more than exhausted—I was practically in shock from being out in the water for three hours. No, it was the ship. … It was definitely tilting to the right.
Captain Walters noticed me looking around, confused. “We’ve got water in two of the ballast compartments,” he said. “Should have it pumped out by tonight.”
“Any other damage?” I asked.
Before he could answer, Bud and Yo ran up to me. Yo threw her arms around me in a hug.
“You stupid idiot!” she yelled in my ear. “Why didn’t you hold on tighter?” she asked, with tears in her eyes.
There was no good answer. I had been holding on tight—but the wave had been so powerful, it didn’t matter. I could have been superglued to the wall, and I
still
would have been washed overboard. But I knew Yo would never believe that.
I could see that the
Jules Verne-1
was not sitting on its mountings aboard the
Nestor
. So it was clearly still down at the bottom of the ocean.
I broke free from Yo. “I’m fine,” I said. “Really. It’s that other guy who’s hurt.”
“Who is he, anyway?” Bud asked.
“No idea,” I said. “Looks like he was out at sea on his boat, doing some diving, when the quake and the wave hit. It trashed his boat. That’s what’s left of it down there.” I pointed over the side at my raft.
“Okay,” Bud said, whipping out his note pad. “I want the whole story, from the minute you hit the water. Man, this is gonna make the front page of the
Gazette
for sure!”
“Maybe later, Bud,” I said.
“What are you, a machine?” Yo said, grabbing Bud’s notebook out of his hand. “Tom’s dad is still down there, remember?”
“Sorry, Tom,” Bud said, looking down at his feet.
“I’ll tell you all about it when we’re safely back in port,” I said.
Then I turned to the captain. “Any word from the
Vente-1
?”
The captain shook his head sadly. “Nothing since the last transmission you heard. Our monitors detect no movement and no signal.”
I stared at him blankly. It took a few seconds for the meaning of his words to fully sink in.
“You mean …?” I said.
Captain Walters swallowed hard. “They … may still be alive somehow,” he said. “The submersible has enough air for eight and a half more hours—if her hull is still intact.”
“Is there any way to haul them back to the surface if the sub’s disabled?” Bud asked.
The captain pointed to a spool of strong, thick cable. “We’ve got fifteen thousand feet of that,” he said. “Assuming we can find the sub. But we’d need someone down there to attach the cable. They can’t swim out of the submersible to do it—they’d be crushed by the pressure.”
“Can I ask a stupid question?” Yo said.
“Fire away.”
“How come the cable wasn’t attached to the
Verne-1
in the first place?”
“We had twelve seismic monitors to deploy,” the captain explained. “And the submersible was scheduled to explore the entire fracture zone of last month’s earthquake. It needed more mobility than it would have had while attached to the cable.”
Okay. I’d been listening carefully to everythingthe
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