display, “just get us moving!” All three enemy blips were closing on the center of the screen.
Matt opened the throttles, steering the Sharkdozer clear of the temple. “She’s slow,” he warned. “Feels like a damaged thruster.”
Eddie reached past him to take one of the manipulator controls. “What are you doing?” said Nina.
“Seeing what’s wrong.” A monitor screen showed the view from the starboard arm’s camera as it moved out from the sub’s side. He brought it around to look back along the hull.
Matt made a sound of dismay at the sight of one of the thruster pods, the casing of which had been torn away to expose the propeller blades within. “Eddie, move it down and look under us,” he ordered.
Eddie did so. The camera revealed that both the port-side skids had been bent underneath the Sharkdozer by the collision with the temple … and the buckled metal had trapped the ballast slab in place beneath its keel. “The thing’s stuck under there! How long will it take to get back to the surface using the thrusters?”
“Too long!” Matt pointed outside as the vessel continued its turn. A set of spotlights was visible in the dark water.
Closing fast.
The approaching submersible took on form as the Sharkdozer’s own spotlights illuminated it. Unlike Matt’s utilitarian craft, this was sleek and purposeful in design, its sharp prow resembling that of a powerboat. Instead of a hemispherical viewport, it had a pair of long windows set into its bow, giving the impression that it was watching them through slitted eyes.
The wreck of the Evenor came into view. “Matt, go down there,” Eddie told him. “We can use it as cover.”
“Yeah, and we might get snagged on it if we get too close!” But he tipped the Sharkdozer into a descent.
Nina stared at the LIDAR. All three enemies were changing course to intercept. “Can we outrun it?”
“The sub?” said Matt. “Not a chance, even if we had full power. It’s a Mako; I know the bloke who designed it. It’s a pleasure boat, a millionaire’s toy—but it can still shift.” He frowned. “No way it could have gotten out here on its own. Max range is only about a hundred kilometers …”
He turned his full attention back to piloting as the wreck loomed ahead. Torn metal stabbed outward from the crushed hull, the area around it strewn with debris. Nina watched the approaching jagged shards with growing nervousness before glancing back at the LIDAR. “Oh my God! One of them’s right on us!”
A smaller blip had closed to within fifty feet of the Sharkdozer’s stern. Eddie hurriedly moved the arm to bring it into the camera’s field of view. More lights shone in the darkness.
He recognized their pattern immediately. A deep suit, a halfway house between traditional scuba gear and full-body deep-diving systems; the torso and bubble helmet were rigid, allowing the user to breathe ordinary air without risking the dangers of the bends, while the limbs were enclosed in standard neoprene dry suits. Eddie had used deep suits himself on several occasions, and knew their capabilities—which included high-speed movement with the aid of their built-in thrusters.
He also knew what the diver’s weapon could do.
Their opponent held an ASM-DT rifle, a Soviet-designed weapon for use both underwater and above. In air, it fired the same 5.45-millimeter ammunition as the Kalashnikov AK-74 rifle; beneath the surface, it used identical cartridges to propel not bullets, but six-inch-long hydrodynamic nail rounds.
And the gun was pointing at the Sharkdozer.
“Incoming!” was all he had time to shout—
The diver opened fire on full auto, blasting a stream of nails at them. Matt was already taking evasive action, but it was too late—the lumbering submarine was an unmissable target at such close range.
Piercing clangs rang through the pressure compartment as the nails struck the hull. There was a flat thump, followed by a fizzing sound—and the Sharkdozer jolted. An urgent warning siren hooted, more red lights flashing. “He hit an air tank!” Matt reported.
Nina pointed at the Evenor. “Matt, there!” A large hole was visible in the side of the survey vessel’s hull, angling upward toward its main deck. “Can we fit through it?”
“It’ll be tight, but if it stops us getting shot I’ll have to try!” Matt replied, changing course.
Eddie shifted the arm to keep their attacker in view. The diver was fumbling with his gun, changing the large and awkward magazine. “He’s reloading—we’ve got a few seconds.”
“I dunno how much I can do in that time, mate!” Matt told him