a crumpled wreck. Something had exploded against its side, tearing a ragged hole – and the crew compartment had instantly collapsed, crushed like a soda can under the wheel of a truck. The inside of its viewing bubble was smeared with a pale red film.
The remains of Hayter and his crew.
Matt grabbed the controls, pulling his sub up and back from the wreckage. The LIDAR trilled again. ‘There’s someone else down here!’ he cried.
Now clear of the temple walls that had blocked its view, the sensor showed three new signals nearby – one large, two small. The larger intruder was ahead and off to the left, higher up, the others moving in from behind.
Eddie squeezed forward to look at the screen – and immediately saw a new threat. ‘Matt, watch out!’
Another blip had detached from the signal ahead, heading straight for them. Very quickly. ‘Torpedo!’ the Australian yelled. He turned the Sharkdozer away, but the big, heavy submersible was sluggish—
Another explosion, much closer. The sub rang like a gong as it lurched sideways, smashing against the ruins. Nina screamed as the impact threw her across the cabin. The lights flickered before coming back on – noticeably dimmed.
Alarms shrilled, numerous indicators on the instrument panels flashing a warning red. ‘Is the hull breached?’ Nina asked, frightened.
‘If it was, we’d be dead,’ Matt replied. ‘We’ve lost main power, though – we’re on the reserves. And there’s a lot of other damage.’
‘We need to surface,’ said Eddie urgently.
‘Too bloody right we do! Hold on, I’ll dump the emergency ballast.’ He reached up to a large, red-painted lever on the ceiling and pulled it.
There was a deep thump from beneath them, the sub shuddering . . . but nothing else happened. Matt pulled the lever again. Still no result. ‘Aw, shit . . .’
‘What?’ Nina demanded. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘The ballast’s not dropping, that’s what’s bloody wrong! We should be flying up like a helium balloon right now!’
‘Is it broken?’
‘There’s nothing to break! It’s a bloody big slab of pig iron held on by an electromagnet – cut the power, it falls, we float!’
‘Forget floating,’ Eddie warned, watching the LIDAR display, ‘just get us moving!’ All three enemy blips were closing on the centre 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 round 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 long 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 got out here on its own. Max range is only a hundred kilometres . . .’
He turned his full attention back to piloting as the wreck loomed ahead. Torn metal stabbed outwards from the crushed hull, the area around it