Flynn applied more throttle… the Ark shuddered as the smokestack moved a bit.
“More!”
Flynn obeyed. Slowly, the smokestack began to cave in… it was disintegrating before their eyes. Suddenly, the Ark shook as the mechanical arm was ripped away from the hull. With its claws still embedded in the smokestack’s corpus, the arm began to fall away, sinking towards the bottom. The path ahead was finally clear!
“Go now, boy!” Mr. Kowalski shouted. “Never mind about the arm!”
Flynn steered the Ark through the gap and then tilted her nose up for the climb. He had to take her closer to the surface fast. They’d made it, alright! The rest should be easy, he though as they rose above the Power Plant.
But what Flynn saw next made his stomach turn. “We’re too late!” he cried, turning to Mr. Kowalski.
The submerged building was completely encircled by a thick net, stretching all the way down to the bottom. Flynn knew they were trapped! He looked up through the cockpit’s skylight and saw the silhouettes of the Van Zandt motor boats hovering above, their floodlights penetrating the surface. And then, to his horror, he saw the white streaks of bullets whizzing past the hull. They were shooting at the Ark!
“Full throttle ahead, Flynn!” Mr. Kowalski’s voice was unwavering. His grubby hands were buried inside the control panel again.
“But the nets…”
“Go! Go! Go!”
A shower of bullets was raining over them now. It was only a matter of time, before they would get hit and begin to take in water… Flynn pushed the throttle all the way, and the Ark leaped forward. She was gaining speed fast, accelerating toward the net. They were going to collide with it at any moment now, Flynn thought… get tangled in it… and that would be the end of them all! Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of another mechanical arm, just like the one they had lost, extending forward from the hull. But this arm didn’t have a claw. Instead, there was a huge, rotating blade attached to its end. Within seconds, it had sliced through the net, sending it flying in all directions.
Speechless, Flynn threw a glance at Mr. Kowalski who simply nodded and flicked some more switches. “We’re not out of the woods, yet,” he muttered and tapped the sonar. “What do you suppose those dots all over the screen are? Can’t be the Van Zandt boats…”
Flynn glanced at the instrument and instantly realized what they were looking at. Mines! Leo’s guards had managed to deploy them, and they were everywhere… Flynn’s mind was racing now… he knew what the currents were like in these waters, and at what speed they would carry anything that was afloat. He also knew the general direction of their flow at this time of year. Luckily for them, the Ark was moving against the current, meaning that the mines were drifting in the opposite direction.
Getting his bearings straight, Flynn calculated that at least five were in their direct path. He peered through the cockpit’s windows and scanned the way ahead. Sure enough, the cluster of deadly booby-traps were lying in wait, approximately twenty feet below the surface and coming their way. There was no time to go around them…. The only way was down… if they were to avoid a collision. Flynn threw a nervous glance at the depth gauge.
“Can’t go deeper, Flynn!” Mr. Kowalski shook his head. “The pressure’s too big! The Ark won’t survive the dive.”
“I’m gonna try anyway,” Flynn shouted, and tilted the bow down.
The engines groaned at the steep angle. The cluster of mines disappeared from view as they descended and Flynn turned his attention to the instruments, his eyes darting between the sonar and the depth gouge. Grinding his teeth, he counted the rate of descent… twenty feet… twenty three… twenty five… thirty. They should be deep enough now, but… there was no way to tell. The Ark shuddered and shook violently. Then she started to vibrate. The hull creaked and moaned. A horrible sound… as if some giant metal hand was dragging its fingernails along the walls. She would cave in any moment now, Flynn thought. If she managed not to scrape the mines, she would simply implode! He glanced at Mr. Kowalski and followed the old man’s gaze up. His eyes were locked on the glass ceiling, his lips moving silently.
Flynn looked back at the sonar. The blinking dots were right above them now, moving quickly towards the stern. They had managed to slide under. Lucked out! Any second, and they would be clear… Then… Flynn spotted the other two blips on the screen, just ahead! Very close! Too close! He looked out of the window and his eyes widened.
Flynn was staring at the last two mines which had dropped lower than the rest. They were now directly at eye-level… rushing at them at an alarming speed! How could he have missed the damned things!
“Up, up, up!” Mr. Kowalski’s cry forced Flynn to jump into action. He grabbed the steering column and pulled it all the way back towards him. The Ark’s bow rose sharply, throwing Mr. Kowalski off his seat. He grabbed for the nearest railing to steady himself then cried again, “Full speed ahead, boy! Go, go, go!”
With both hands holding on to the steering column, Flynn used his right foot to kick the throttle all the way down. The engines roared… The Ark lurched forward and started rising. He looked at the sonar for an instant, and then closed his eyes shut. What was the point? They would either make it, or… not! There was nothing more he could do.
The noise was deafening… the groan of the engines, the painful scream of the hull pushed to its limit… A long moment passed before the vibration started to ease a little… then stopped. Flynn cracked an eye open and checked the sonar. The mines were behind them. His eyes shifted to the depth gouge. They were now twenty feet under the surface.
He leveled the Ark and pulled the throttle back, then wiped the sweat off his forehead.
“You did it, Flynn!” Mr. Kowalski’s hand squeezed his shoulder.
“I guess…” Flynn took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.
“Didn’t think she’d make it…” Mr. Kowalski’s hand stroked the dashboard lovingly, “But she did… I’m so proud of her! We built her well, I suppose.”
Flynn kept the Ark sailing underwater for another ten miles, before he brought her up above the surface. Everyone was now free to unbuckle and move their weary legs about the deck. Hatches were opened to let fresh air in. The journey was on. There was a long way to go.
Flynn engaged the autopilot, opened the cockpit skylight, climbed up and sat on the roof deck. The sun was rising above the ocean. Another hatch opened nearby. Tony Romero squeezed through it, walked over and sat next to Flynn.
“Do you think we’ll find it, amigo?” he asked. “Dry Land, I mean?”
“Oh, yeah!” Flynn replied. “We’ve got to… For Duncan’s sake… and for everybody else we left behind…” His words were barely audible, his mood dark, his heart clenched like a fist.
The two of them sat in silence for a while, staring at the wide horizon, bathed in all shades of orange and pink.
“Look!” Tony pointed suddenly at the sky.
Flynn glanced over his shoulder. He saw a small black dot, coming closer… A bird? So far out? It appeared to be heading straight for the Ark.
“I think it’s a pigeon!” Tony exclaimed as the bird swooped over their heads.
And Tony was right.
Seconds later, the pigeon landed on the deck, cocked its head sideways, its little red eye staring curiously at the boys. Flynn reached out and picked it up. There was something wrapped around its leg… A message! Gently, Flynn removed the small roll of seaweed paper, unfolded it, and with his heart pounding, read the three simple words: I love you. They were written in squid ink, still wet round the loops of Madison’s beautiful letters.