Chapter 18: Dock

Warren came back in with Joe and Ilia tailing just behind him. Tina was still looking over the keypad in front of her with a frown.

According to the men Crispin had questioned then put back to sleep, there were seven men down on the base and only those seven men had the code for the pad. They wouldn't be coming back up for a while because they were waiting for Ozera so they could resupply the sub and it could be on its way.

The good news though was that the men down below weren't armed. There was no need for them to be on the underwater dock. In fact, Ozera forbade it. He didn't want any of his men getting any bad ideas while he was around. And there were no other men stationed here, just the twelve that were already either in this room or down below.

The bad news was that she couldn't simply break into the elevator and go down manually to the dock. The place was pressure tight so that the water wouldn't rise and flood the room and it couldn't be broken into because of that. There was no way for Tina to get down there.

Which was the single most frustrating thing she had ever encountered before.

“The vulture lady looks constipated.” was the first thing out of Ilia's mouth when they walked inside.

“Shut up.” Tina responded without heat. She was too focused on finding a way past the keypad.

“So, what's going on?” Warren asked.

Tina didn't bother to respond but Crispin stepped forward to tell them what the men had told him. As he was signing, Dallas entered the room, his rifle stored back in its case.

Ilia, who didn't read sign language, walked past Crispin and joined Tina in staring at the keypad.

“Pretty.” she admired. “That's a nice one.”

Tina looked over at her. “You know this lock?”

Ilia nodded. “Sure. It's pretty picky. You get one shot with the numbers and if you fail it short circuits so you can't open it. Kind of annoying actually. We used to play around with bypassing locks like these in my-”

“You can pick it?” Tina asked eagerly.

Ilia frowned at the interruption but looked below at the console. “Maybe.”

“Then get to work.” Tina ordered and turned from the keypad and give her space. “I guess we're on standby until she finishes.”

Mumbling darkly about her being bossy and overbearing, Ilia had Warren fetch her screwdrivers and wire strippers and other things she needed from around the room. Luckily, all the maintenance on the machine had to be done from here so all the tools she needed were nearby.

For a while, the only sounds came from Ilia as she broke the keypad console open and began fiddling around with the components inside. Dallas kept a watch out for anyone else who might come but they remained undisturbed. None of the locals came by this area thanks to Ozera's men.

Tina, to keep herself occupied, started going through a few of the crates that were scattered around the room. She wasn't all that surprised to find bottled water and canned and dehydrated foods. She even opened some of them and began eating them. It didn't matter to her whether or not Ozera's men got food. The others followed her example. There wasn't a great deal of variety on board their tiny vessel and freeze dried ice cream didn't taste all that bad after so long on the water without treats at all.

Tina actually got a little mad that Ozera's men ate so much better than they did.

It took less time than Tina expected – and still too long for her liking – for Ilia to call out her victory in conquering the keypad.

“And I am a genius.” Ilia declared as they all turned from their impromptu picnic.

“That was pretty fast.” Dallas admired as he brought her some freeze dried banana chips.

“Alright, Ilia you stay here with Joe.” Tina ordered, dusting off her hands. “Eat some food. It's actually not bad. We'll go down and deal with the men down there. If we're not back in half an hour, or if someone other than us comes up, get to the boat and leave.”

“As you command, captain.” Ilia saluted, grabbed a banana chip, and tossed it happily into her mouth. “You ready to go down?”

Tina, Crispin, Dallas, and Warren lined up in front of the elevator. Tina nodded.

Ilia reached into the console and connected two wires.

With a soft sigh, the elevator doors, for there were two of them, slid open. It was quite big and, when they four of them stepped inside, they had plenty of room to maneuver.

“Is this a good idea?” Warren couldn't help but ask as the doors sealed shut.

“You're not getting scared now, are you?” Tine grinned. “We know they're unarmed. If anything, I feel bad for them. This isn't a real fight. This is a warm up to when we take down the sub.”

Warren shrugged. “I just wanted to make sure we don't get too cocky but I can see it's already too late for that.”

Crispin chuckled silently and Tina shot him a glare.

“Something funny, pretty boy?” she asked him angrily.

He reached up sweetly and swept a strand of her hair behind her ear. Then he signed, “I enjoy your confidence. It's very nice to know I need never concern myself with your self esteem.”

“Focus.” Dallas told them before Tina could respond.

As if to punctuate his word, they felt their stomachs drop as the elevator was lowered down into the tube.

“Here's the plan,” Tina said, “Warren and Crispin go in first as they're the best at hand to hand. Dallas, you and I will bring up the rear.”

Dallas nodded his understanding. In such close quarters, so deep underwater, his gun was not only useless but pretty dangerous for all of them so he had left it behind.

“We're the front line.” Warren nudged Crispin as they got into position.

The elevator had two different doors on it, one before them and one behind. Tina imagined it was the one behind them that would open onto the dock. There were no windows inside, she couldn't really tell how fast they were going, but she knew they were moving.

They fell silent, tense, as they waited for the elevator to come to a halt. Tina's words that this was a warm up were made in jest. They all knew every fight was serious. Especially this one. They were so close. The one thing they couldn't allow to happen was for the men inside to press the panic button sending word Ozera.

Tina supposed she could have taken just Crispin down with her and let his voice deal with the men. But there was still that fear of 'what if'. What if these men had wax in their ears? What if they had a will stronger than Crispin's? It wasn't likely but it could happen. In that case, Tina and Crispin would be stuck fighting against seven men. It was smarter to bring Dallas and Warren along and do this the harder way. The safer way.

Tina could feel the elevator slowing under her feet. They all felt and heard the thud as it hit the dock. She knew that the men inside would be looking over to the doors, wondering what was going on. They were, after all, the only ones who knew the keycode.

The sound of something closing and sealing behind them resounded through the elevator, then she felt her ears pop and her head felt a little heavy, like it was stuffed full of cotton, as the pressure inside the elevator was equalized with that of the pressure inside the dock.

Everyone's muscles tensed in preparation.

The elevator doors sighed softly as they opened.

Warren and Crispin leapt forward.

The man who had stepped closer to greet whoever was coming down was taken down by Warren. Crispin moved past both of them to the next one beyond him.

Tina barely had time to take in the surreal metal and glass room with what looked like a large swimming pool in the floor and large stacks of boxes on all sides before she was rushing into the ensuing melee with Dallas at her side.

Four of the men had been on the opposite side of the rather cavernous room when the doors had opened and were only just now running across the long floor to reach them. Crispin was fighting two men already that had been standing along the left wall at what looked like a control panel.

Dallas ran by him to take on one of the men who had come running around from the back, the other three having run around the other direction. That man wasn't trying to join the fight, he was going for the panic button.

Warren stood up from the man he had knocked unconscious and ran at the three oncoming men.

He met the first one by ducking under a blow then slamming his own into his exposed side.

Tina followed him around that side to take on the slower two of the men.

They had not been expecting a girl like her to charge them down so blatantly. The first man paid for his hesitation and confusion.

Tina met him without slowing down, rammed her shoulder into his chest. The blow threw him back and broke his balance. Before he could recover, Tina shoved him over the edge of the square hole in the floor and into the ocean water with a splash.

She turned her attention from him to the second man who was more prepared for her.

As she ducked and dodged his punches, the man she had tossed into the water swam back to the edge to pull himself up. He didn't get the chance. Before he could reach the rim, he felt a cold hand grab his ankle. He was yanked under the water with a shout of surprise and fear. A few moments later, his unmoving body floated back to the surface.

Kai's head broke through the water and looked around at the fight going on around him.

Crispin had already downed one of his opponents who was laying along the cold metal floor, his eyes open and his nose bleeding as he mumbled nonsense under his breath. The other was proving a more difficult fight.

Warren and his match were hitting each other with a great deal of force if not finesse. They were both sporting bruises but Warren's denser, tougher body was absorbing the hits better and the other man was beginning to falter.

Dallas's challenger wasn't even trying to fight. He was struggling to get away from him and to the control panel along the wall. Kai imagined that with it he could communicate with Ozera's sub, probably even release the kraken.

Kai couldn't emerge from the water to help, it would take over a minute for his gills to retract and enable him to climb safely from the water, so he could only watch the battles before him. Above them all, the giant kraken was doing the same. Kai couldn't help but notice that the enormous eye of the great beast focused on the man who floated lifelessly in the water more often than the others and Kai couldn't help but wonder if he was the kraken's trainer. Perversely, he hoped it was.

Warren was the first to down his challenger. The tiring man threw a tired, sloppy punch that broke his finger and he cried out from the agony of it. Warren took that moment to slam his fist into his gut and drop the man to his knees. A second blow to the back of the head had the man crashing to the floor.

Across the room, Dallas's struggled was rather comical as the other man was so clearly disinterested in fighting. Dallas had his arms under the man's armpits in a bind that wasn't quite a full nelson.

Dallas pulled too hard against the man and they both fell backwards with the man ending up on top of Dallas.

Dallas kicked his leg up and threw the man over the rim of the pool. Kai was on him before his head broke the surface. Dallas turned as he floated up to the surface to join the first man. They were both still alive, they were just unconscious.

Crispin did what he did best, he danced just out of reach of his opponent. He did it with a calm smile on his face, each move carefully calculated. When he jumped suddenly to the left, the man he was facing did the same not seeing where Crispin had maneuvered him. He tripped over the still body of his friend. He couldn't pull his hands up in time and his face crashed unblocked onto the floor. The room echoed with the sound of breaking teeth.

Before he could move, Crispin was over him, whispering the order to sleep into his ear. His eyes closed obligingly as he himself was still sprawled over the man Crispin's half articulated command had left rambling and unresponsive.

Crispin took the time to put that man out of his misery by putting him to sleep as well before lifting his head and looking over to see how the others had fared.

Tina and the man she fought paid the others no mind. Like most men she came up against, he was bigger than her but that didn't matter, she was better skilled.

She sidestepped a wide armed attempt to grab her. Her first came up and slammed into his jaw. He reeled backwards and Tina was on him in a moment.

She struck again, hitting him in the temple. He fell to the side. She brought up her leg and rammed her knee into his side.

He fell to the ground and looked up at her with hatred in his eyes. Tina heard rather than saw the boys join her at her back and couldn't stop herself from grinning. She could only imagine how it looked to him.

“Where's Ozera's sub?” she asked calmly. She was winded but he hadn't even got a hit on her.

He spat at her feet. From his angle, it didn't hit her but the message was clear. Behind her she heard a quick step as someone – she imagined it was Crispin – made to come at him but was stopped

She considered kicking him for the insult but chose to smile instead. “If you talk to me, it'll be easier on you. If I have to force Crispin to do it, I won't let him be gentle.” She looked over her shoulder where she saw Crispin being held back by Dallas. His smile was considerably more dangerous this time, even the others could read it.

The man on the ground's eyes narrowed at the threat but his lips remained sealed.

Tina shrugged. It really didn't matter to her. Crispin was going to be the one questioning him anyway as she wanted to be sure it was the truth. The choice she had given him was between it being an enjoyable or horrible experience.

“Dallas, Warren, why don't you to go tell Ilia and Joe that we've got everything under control down here. We'll need some rope for the rest of these guys as well.”

They nodded and returned to the elevator, there was no keypad on this end. After only a few seconds, Tina heard the rumble of the elevator as it returned to the surface. It was followed immediately by the gentle splash as Kai ducked his head back under the water so he didn't have to listen.

Enjoying the part she was playing, Tina ran her hand up Crispin's chest and kissed his cheek seductively. So the man on the ground could hear, she purred, “Do your worst, love.”

Crispin's already dark smile turned downright evil as he took a step towards the prone man.

XXXXXXXXXX

“Thirty-seven hours, huh?” Dallas said as he leaned against the wall in the underwater dock. Beside him, Ilia was looking over the control panel. At Kai's request, she was trying to figure out which button let out the kraken. Since all of the men were bound and gagged in a corner of the dock, there was no point in asking them.

“Approximately.” Tine shrugged as she fished through a bag of chips that she had found in the food piles. Salt and vinegar, she couldn't resist her favorite. “It was kind of hard to hear around the crying.”

“He wasn't crying.” Crispin signed with a silent laugh.

“Blubbering then.” she shrugged. “Any longer and I thought he was going to wet his pants.”

“You're exaggerating.” Ilia rolled her eyes.

Tina merely smiled as she bit into a chip.

“What did you say to him?” Warren asked as he looked over to the men in the corner. The one that had been questioned was trembling with unmistakable tear stains on his cheeks.

“Would you like to hear?” Crispin asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

Warren, who had not been expecting such an answer from the normally humble and unoffensive Crispin took an involuntary step back. “No. Thanks. I'm good.”

Tina laughed. It was the first time she could ever remember Crispin signing something like that to their friends. It was the first time he had ever been himself like that. As she knew they would, the others didn't seem at all bothered by him.

“Are there any fruit in those cans?” Kai asked from his position on the rim of the pool. His legs were still forming under the water and he had set his clothes on the edge of floor. They were soaking wet but all he had to wear. There was no point for him to stay under the water until the sub arrived. They would all be able to hear it.

“One fruit cocktail, coming up.” Joe smiled at him lovingly as she went to the food stores.

Tina was starting to think they were only eating because it was Ozera's food. She had to admit, knowing it was his made her favorite chips taste even better.

Over in the corner, the men started making sounds of protest as Joe began digging through the cans so close to them. They had brought down the men from the surface just so they could keep their eyes on everyone at once.

Crispin sent them a sharp look and the sounds died quickly.

“Then we have plenty of time before the sub arrives.” Dallas scratched his head. “Damn, being this close just makes me anxious.”

Tina shrugged with a peaceful smile. She couldn't say she agreed. Knowing that she was this close, that he was coming to her, actually calmed her down.

According to the man Crispin had questioned, Ozera's sub was to check in every six hours until it hit the dock. If someone there didn't give them the all clear every time, the sub turned and diverted to a different port. Since they had no way of knowing which port that would be, Crispin had to be ready to have one of the men respond every time. Ozera could not be allowed to change course.

“Just give me a hint to what he told him.” Warren said to Tina in a quiet voice so that Crispin didn't hear and take that as a sign to talk.

She smiled and ate another chip. If he hadn't been there to hear the sheer power in Crispin's voice, he just wouldn't understand.

Joe returned then and passed Kai the can of requested fruit, the top already peeled off. “So, we're just going to stay here until then?”

“No reason why not to.” Tina shrugged. “You got any better places to be?”

Joe shook her head. “I guess it's just weird. I feel like there's this giant eye watching me.”

She, and the others, looked up to where the kraken kept peering inside. It wasn't making any effort to get at them, it hadn't received an order to do so and it knew better than to attack without an order. Doing so led to punishment. Still, it was curious about them.

“I'm working on it.” Ilia grumbled. “Crispin, you might have to ask one of those idiots where the open button is because I'm not seeing it.”

Crispin nodded but Tina stopped him before he could go ask.

“There's no point.” she said. “If we let the kraken out, Ozera might notice. I'm sorry, Kai, but, for now, it stays in the cage.”

“There aren't any windows on a submarine.” he told her unhappily. He really didn't like seeing the gentle sea creature locked away like that. It was like seeing a big, fluffy dog imprisoned and tortured to a human. The lack of fur didn't bother Kai, most sea creatures were slimy and slick. He appreciated the look in a way land walkers did not.

“I'm not taking any chances.” Tina said firmly. “We'll set him free, I promise. Just not now.”