Phantom Prospect - Alex Archer [103]
Holly came up behind her. “Annja, it’s time to go.”
“All right.”
Annja let herself be helped to her feet. The strain and struggle of everything she’d been through finally caught up with her and her legs buckled as she took a step.
Holly caught her. “Okay, okay, I got you. Just let me get you inside the shark. You can rest there.”
“I’m fine,” Annja said.
A sudden roar filled the air and Annja looked up.
The roof of the cavern started to fall apart. Massive boulders came down in chunks.
“We’ve got to get out of here now!”
40
Holly and Annja scrambled aboard the shark. Dave checked to make sure that everyone was in and then slammed the hatch. He pointed at Annja. “Are you okay?”
“I think so.”
“Good, because I’m going to need your help to maneuver us out of here. We’re going to be dodging boulders the entire way out.”
Annja shook her head. “Why is the cavern collapsing like this, anyway? Was it unstable to begin with?”
Dave shrugged. “I may have used a little too much explosive on the mine I put on Henderson’s sub. It’s possible the explosion caused the water to draw out into the open ocean and the pressure became too great for the cavern.”
Dave pointed. “Get up toward the front there and you’ll see a small observation visor. It should give you a view of the water ahead of us. Try to see if anything is going to come crashing down on us from above. I’ll steer us clear until we can get into the tunnel.”
Dave powered the engines while Annja squatted by the viewfinder.
“Coming around,” Dave said. “Give me a read, Annja.”
“Clear as far as I can see,” Annja said. But as she said that, a huge chunk of the cavern roof broke off and plummeted toward the water twenty feet from them. A wave from the splash washed over the mechanical shark and caused it to loll sideways.
Dave righted the shark and looked at Annja. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Now try to make sure we don’t get another one of those.”
Annja nodded. “Go right. Ten degrees.”
Dave made the course correction and kept his bearing. Annja could see the entrance to the tunnel but it seemed so far away through the tiny visor. More and more rocks came showering down from above.
“Go left now! Fifteen degrees!”
Dave jerked hard on the steering as another boulder crashed into the water on their right side. Another wave washed over their bow and Annja took a moment to catch her breath.
“You’re doing fine, Annja,” Dave said. “Now just keep us on our heading and we’ll be okay.”
More rocks tumbled out from the cavern ceiling, showering the water with stones of every shape and size. Annja could hear the smaller ones bouncing off the metal hull of the mechanical shark.
“We’re almost there,” Dave said.
Annja saw another section of the roof start to crumble. It was directly ahead of them, over the mouth of the cavern. “Twenty degrees to the right.”
Dave corrected and then brought the shark around again as the rocks tumbled in alongside their left.
“Almost there,” Annja said.
Dave throttled up the engines and the shark lurched forward. Annja could see they were a scant twenty feet from the opening of the tunnel mouth.
A huge clang sounded on the exterior of their hull. Annja looked at Dave but he waved it off. “Can’t be helped. If we took any serious damage, we’ll just have to weather it for right now. We can’t stop.”
Annja peered out again through the viewfinder. The water in the tunnel was turning into a vortex of rushing waves that carried the shark along with it. She could hear them scraping against the sides of the tunnel.
“Can’t we get out into the middle of the tunnel? We’ll be smashed to bits if we stay here.”
“I’m trying,” Dave said. “The current’s too strong now. I can’t risk breaking the rudder by manhandling it too much. It might be better if we just let the current eject us as it wants to rather than fight it.”
“There might not be anything left of us if we do that,” Annja said.
Dave shook his head. “We’ll be all right. Just hold on a little