“That’s right,” Mullins said. “Just re-weld the crack and put a brace over it so it doesn’t open up again.”
Getting down on his knees, Gordon began using the chipping hammer to chisel away the corroded parts along the meter long crack. Izzy had expertly maneuvered the ROV until it floated to his left, turning the device so the diver could easily reach over and grab the tools along its side.
For several long minutes Gordon tapped away until he was able to clear most of the corrosion and algae around the breach. Once he was done, he reattached the tool to his belt before turning sideways and taking the welding device from the ROV’s basket.
Consisting of an electrode handle with an attached cable, the wet welding torch also needed an iron oxide nonexothermic rod attached to its front, and Gordon grabbed half a dozen of these metal sticks from the tool basket, inserting them into the pouch along the sides of his harness.
After attaching one of the rods to the torch, Gordon faced the crack once more and held the device’s tip along the end of the breach. The torch would be made very hot by running an electrical current through it. Once the welder was activated it would create a burning arc, igniting and become literally capable of cutting through solid steel at several thousand degrees.
“Okay, make it hot,” Gordon said.
He heard a static snap, and his vision exploded as if somebody had detonated an atomic bomb just a few meters in front of him. The torch had ignited, half blinding him. Gordon saw nothing but bright white flashes for a few seconds as he blinked rapidly, trying his best to get his sight back.
Within moments his overworked eyes readjusted, and he began to weld the crack shut. His numb hands felt like they were being pricked by pins and needles due to the shocks of the torch, and he realized the tool hadn’t been properly insulated by the tenders up on the surface.
“Goddamn it,” he muttered as his left hand held the middle of the protruding rod steady while it oxidized the very water in front of it. Despite the discomfort, Gordon worked slowly, deliberately, as he grabbed some metal fillings from his pouch and placed them on the breach to use as a patch to seal the crack with.
It took nearly fifteen minutes, but he was making progress. When he saw that the first rod was spent he quickly held the torch away. “Make it cold.”
The technicians from the control room heard him and obeyed, and the electric current supplying power to the torch was quickly cut off. After removing the spent tip, Gordon reached into his pouch, pulled out another cutting rod, and attached it to the device.
“Make it hot,” he said once more.
As he began welding through the middle of the crack, all his fears and anxieties momentarily subsided, and he was in his element again. Getting back to work was all that his mind needed, and now he felt better than ever.
19
SITTING IN FRONT OF the compact vanity table, Lee Roberts dabbed some more of the liquid foundation onto the tip of her index finger before applying it to her right cheek in an expanding, circular motion.
Without warning, the entire guest cabin shuddered as the yacht she was in encountered what seemed like a strong current underneath the keel, causing Lee to momentarily push her finger onto her mouth, painting over the luscious red lipstick she had just put on.
“Goddamn it,” she muttered before placing the small bottle of foundation back onto the tabletop and taking a tissue to try and fix the imperfections of her makeup.
The intercom near the door squawked to life, momentarily startling her. A heavily accented voice in English spoke up. “Miss Roberts, you are expected in the lounge.”
Leaning sideways, Lee stabbed the reply button. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
Returning her focus back to the mirror, she carefully made sure there were no apparent wrinkles on her forehead. Satisfied, she got up and slipped into the red evening dress the Prince wanted her to wear that evening.
Lee wasn’t even sure of his full name. They had met a few weeks ago in Dubai, at an exclusive club for local high rollers. The man always wore sunglasses, even in the dead of night, and he was all smiles when they were introduced. The flashing disco lights and the howling dance music made hearing what he said during the greeting very difficult, and the only words Lee could decipher were that he was a Saudi prince of some kind.
She spent the rest of that evening as his escort. They later got into a limousine, and he brought her over to his suite in one of the newest luxury hotels in the city. He eventually had his way with her, and was a bit rough, but she didn’t mind since he paid her well for it. After being dropped off back at the staff house the next morning, Lee thought that would be the end of it.
A few days later, her employer at the club got a call. The Prince wanted her to accompany him while he sailed across the seas in his sixty meter long yacht, the Aqaba. Lee initially said no, but when the Prince doubled his offer, she just had to accept.
The past several days had been spent going from port to port. From Dubai over to Khasab for some refueling and resupply, before venturing eastwards into the Gulf of Oman, and so on. The Prince was very generous, and they would sometimes stay in the best hotels the port cities could offer before resuming their journey once more. Their last stop was in the Omani port of Salalah, before the yacht made an easterly course towards the Lakshadweep Islands.
Lee reached back and zipped up the length of her dress until she was certain it was the right fit. Looking past the guest cabin’s small porthole, all she could see was the blackness of night. The Prince had told her it would take several days before they reached Lakshadweep, and there would be nothing but open sea for the time being.
Turning back and facing the mirror once more, Lee smiled faintly to herself. Her mother had given birth to her at sixteen, and she really didn’t want a daughter. In the end Lee was raised by her grandmother, and she ran away with friends in her teens. Atlanta was the bustling metropolis of the American South, and she got by the same as the other girls her age, by using her body to make money. Turning a few tricks on the street soon gave way to stripper clubs, and she was alright with that kind of life until one of her friends came back from an overseas trip and got her a referral. Figuring she wanted to see the rest of the world, Lee decided to get a passport and soon ended up in Dubai.
I’ve got high five figures stashed away in the bank, so I’m nearly there, she thought. Lee wasn’t exactly sure what she would do once she had enough saved up, but she knew her situation was better off than every other woman in her circle of friends. Everybody’ll think I’m a drug dealer if I go back to Georgia with all this cash.
Taking the small black calf hair handbag from the top of the bed, she slipped on her high heels before moving towards the door. I’ll be thirty next year, so I better make the most of it right now.
Walking up into the aft deck of the yacht, she noticed one of the crewmembers dumping a bag of trash into the dark waters surrounding the vessel. Paying the man no mind, she walked up to the back door and opened it before stepping through.
The Prince was there, sitting along the wide sofa by the side of the lounge, wearing a black dress shirt and a silver three-piece suit. His black, wiry beard crinkled with a smile as he stood up and held out both hands towards her. “Ah, my princess. You look very, very beautiful in that dress.”
Lee smiled back as she stepped forward and embraced him. “Thank you, my prince.”