Read Online Undersea by Geoffrey Morrison - Free Book Online Page A

the floor sat on wheels extended from flush mounts integrated into their hulls.
    “I thought we were going to take one of transports?” Ralla asked as the lock sealed itself shut.
    “This will be better. They’re missing some of these already because of the attack, so when they go down to clean up the mess we’re about to make, they won’t know one is missing.”
    “A little cramped, don’t you think?”
    “I do think that, yes.”
    “It looks like there’s barely room for the two of us in there.”
    “Technically, they’re one-seater attack subs,” Thom said, eying them closely. He missed Ralla’s glare. Thom continued to scan the bay, and found what he was looking for. He made his way over to the tool bench and grabbed an oversized wrench from a hanger on the wall behind it.
    “OK, go get in...” He looked around at the stable of subs, and chose the closest one to the pool. “That one. There’s probably a single glowing button. Press it.”
    They moved in different directions, their footsteps echoing though the quiet bay. The air smelled like seawater and grease. Thom moved towards the lock they had entered and opened it. He stuck his head out into the corridor, looked both ways, then looked up and down the jam where the door sealed itself against the bulkhead. Holding the wrench over a certain spot, he hit the button again. The door slid back, pinning the wrench between the jam and the door. The door motor whined.
    He jogged across the bay, past the sub where Ralla sat. He heard it making noise, its systems coming alive and its engines spooling up. Near the outer wall, next to the pool, there was a small console. Thom stood over it and looked from the pool and closed lock back up at Ralla. She had the cockpit canopy open, and gave him a thumbs up. Thom pressed a button on the middle of the console, and it was as if he lit off a war.
    Alarms pierced the silence and echoed into cacophony. Blue strobes flashed from locations all along each wall. Thom pressed the button again, and sprinted toward their new sub. Jumping up towards the cockpit, he half pulled himself in and half got pulled in by Ralla. The water in the pool started to churn.
    The seating position in the sub was severely reclined, and Thom and Ralla squeezed into it the best they could. Thom took up most of the seat, and angled himself so his left side was partially against the bulkhead on that side. Ralla folded herself into what was remaining of the right side, nestling rather uncomfortably into the space between his arm and his torso.
    Thom scanned the controls and within a few moments got the craft moving. The electric motors in the wheel hubs provided minimal speed, but got them around till they were facing the ramp at the fore-most corner of the pool. The water was getting increasingly turbulent. Waves had formed and water had started spilling over the top of the pool and onto the deck.
    The lock started opening slowly, but rapidly increased its pace. Due to the speed of the Pop, water surged up and over the stern-most edge of the pool. As the lock reached its fully open position, a continuous wave of water inundated the end of the bay. The surge crashed into the far wall, and started echoing back, bringing once parked subs with it like toys. The wave, now not much higher than knee height, hit the forward wall, completing the flooding of the bay. Air screamed out of the bay though the braced-open lock, seawater rapidly taking its place. It wasn’t more than a few moments before the water level was at the bottom of Thom and Ralla’s sub.
    “Hang on,” he said. Ralla braced herself against the cockpit and Thom as he throttled up the dry engines and eased the craft into the water using the electric hub motors. The turbines behind them screamed in the open air. The second the bow touched the water, the current took it, jerking them sideways and pulling them deeper into the water and towards the rear of the ramp. The port turbine submerged