Deep Blue - The Descent

41: Saving the World

Nick trudged his way through the rising water in the Moon Pool, leapt over the railing and onto the wing of the M.A.N.T.A.

"Syndi, can you start up the engines?", Nick asked.

"Yes Lieutenant Commander."

"And pop the rear hatch."

"Yes Lieutenant Commander."

The rear hatch of the M.A.N.T.A. opened as Nick ducked his head below the rising door to enter. The ship's holodisplay controls were still blinking to life and moving into place as he threw himself into the pilots seat. Nick cringed as a sharp pain stabbed his ribs, reminding him of his still untreated injury.

His grimace and sharp increase in heart rate didn't go unnoticed by Syndi.

"Lieutenant Commander, you still have not been treated for your broken ribs.", Syndi scolded.

"One crisis at a time Syndi.", Nick said as he completed the M.A.N.T.A. start up procedure.

"Are you all aboard?", Nick asked as he made his final ~pre-launch checks.

"No.", Syndi reported. "I'm afraid I've only successfully transferred 24.6% of my programming to the M.A.N.T.A.'s computer."

"24 percent!"

"24.6.", the A.I. corrected.

"Syndi, that's not enough.", Nick stated. "How long before...all of you is in the M.A.N.T.A.?"

"The transfer should be completed in 22 minutes.", Syndi calculated then added, "Unfortunately, the water level in the room will reach the servers in approximately 8 minutes and 54 seconds."

"Syndi!", said with an exasperated expression. "That's not okay."

"I'm sorry Lieutenant Commander," the A.I. apologized. "But I have no way of decreasing the flow of water to the room or speeding up the transfer..."

The M.A.N.T.A. rocked and dropped several inches suddenly as the station shifted once more.

"We've got to get out of here.", Nick said stating the obvious. "Can you transfer while we're on the move?"

"Yes. It's a wireless process."

"Great.", Nick said as he pressed a button releasing the M.A.N.T.A. from the station's moorings. The ship rocked back and forth as it attempted to level itself as Deep Blue released it's grip on the small craft.

"Then we've got a torpedo to catch."

Nick steered the M.A.N.T.A. toward the large open doors that led to the ocean beyond.

The shift in the stress points on the station caused the collapse of yet another main support under Deep Blue. As the ship approached the bottom moon pool opening, the cool blue of the M.A.N.T.A. suit made a noticeable jump toward purple as Nick watched the opening he was headed for fall away. The central sphere of Deep Blue was collapsing and if the M.A.N.T.A. didn't make it out before the sphere hit bottom, it would become a permanent resident of the station.

Nick pushed the twin engines to full power as he altered course and slipped through the opening, scraping the tops of the turbine casings against the moon pool doors, just before it crashed into the sandy ridge below.

"Woooo!", Nick shouted. "That was a little close."

Outside the moon pool, in the thick, murky water with zero visibility, Nick was piloting strictly by instrumentation and instinct. The doctor's data of the surrounding area again provided a triangular display of the surroundings informing Nick exactly when he flew beyond the ridge that Deep Blue rested on even though couldn't see it.