Part 55 (cont)
The roar of the water and the ice-cold spray that poured through the shattered windows persisted, but the ship rested from one second to another.
Indiana found himself on the floor again, thrown there from the impact of the ship?s abrupt loss of momentum. His breathing was laborious and his vision was spinning wildly. He was dazed, and it took several seconds before he realized that the boat had become wedged in the gap between the rocks. Uncertain ? at any time a new blow to the hull could quickly end the reprieve, he got back to his feet. At once he noticed water was rapidly filling the wheelhouse, and he waded back to the helm.
The control cabin was in terrible disarray. Anything that had not been bolted or welded down was torn and smashed. The water was already ankle-deep, and with the exception of the windscreen every window was shattered. The door hung obliquely, half ripped out from its broken frame. The stern of the boat had disappeared into a frothing spray. He now felt that the ground was not quite as calm as it had been seconds ago. It trembled and vibrated all around him. Perhaps, he thought full of terror, the ship would once again tear itself away. He knew they would not survive if it did so.
With clenched teeth and like a man defiantly facing the coming storm, he leaned forward and made his way through the control house to the stern. It took him several minutes to navigate only a dozen or so steps ? he slipped again and again falling backwards the way he came. Again and again ice-cold spray hit him with impossible force, threatening to send him overboard. He could feel the structure beneath gradually but almost certainly breaking away.
When Indiana reached the door of the hold, he was almost to the point of exhaustion. He crawled on his hands and knees down the iron staircase to the cargo bay and felt around blindly in the darkness until he found the door. His fingers groped the rusted wet metal latch. He yanked at it a few times before he noticed the heavy padlock holding it shut.
Indiana sighed with desperation. For a moment he yanked in vain at the lock, then began hammering the door with both fists. For a second there was no response. Was he too late? Had they been sucked out of the damaged hull already? Then he heard a faint series of muffled strokes. Finally Reuben?s voice penetrated through the metal hatch. ?Jones? Is that you??
?The door is locked!? Indiana yelled back.
?Open up!? Reuben roared. ?We will drown. Water is quickly filling the hold!?
?I can?t get it open!? cried Indiana despairingly. ?It has a padlock!?
Behind the door, panicked voices chimed in, demanding he let them out. Someone started banging against a wall, and for a moment Indiana?s mind drew a blank. Then Reuben, his voice concerned but remarkably calm, reminded him. ?There was a crowbar out there secured to the wall. It has to be somewhere. Look for it. And hurry!?
Indiana turned around on his knees and started to blindly grope around. His hands penetrated the ice-cold water, dragged the floor and walls, gliding around in a desperate search. He felt momentary rush as he gripped the railing, mistaking it for a crowbar or lever. But it was immoveable.
In truth, it probably only took a few seconds for him to find the crowbar still hanging from the wall near the door, but it felt like an eternity. The water continued to beat the hull with dreadful force, and the gentle trembling from before had increasingly become more erratic. The swaying of the ship had become more and more violent as time progressed. Occasionally, a grinding or tearing sound penetrated the metal walls of the ship, and Indiana felt like the ship was coming apart around them. When he had finally positioned the crowbar and braced himself, the ship lurched loudly to its side. He was on his second attempt when he realized the absurd balancing act he was in, with one leg one the side wall and the other on the floor.
?Hurry!? Reuben cried. ?For God?s sake!?
Indiana regripped the crowbar and braced himself, pulling with all of his strength. In the first few seconds, nothing happened, and he began to fear that he simply did not have enough power to break them free. Then the padlock gave with a crunching sound and broke away. Indiana hurled the crowbar to the side, yanked the remainder of the lock away with frozen fingers, and tore the latch back.
At the same time force from the inside pushed the door away. Reuben, Henley, and two of the other men flung themselves through the now open doorway as they tried to exit the cargo bay. At the same time, an unimaginable blow struck the ship in the opposite direction. Indiana was torn from his feet, sailed helplessly through the air, and plunged against Reuben and the others back into the cargo hold. They crashed to the ground in a bundle, while the ship lurched wildly as it broke free of the rocks it was wedged between.
The last thing Indiana perceived was one of Reuben?s men flying at him like a living projectile across the storeroom and landing atop him. Darkness overcame him.
He imagined he was out for several minutes. Even after he came to his senses, he could see nothing. He was adrift in a pool of icy water that rose to his mid-section, surrounding by a semi-circle of men who spoke frantically. He could he moans and groans of men who were dealing with pain or panic. Then he heard Reuben?s voice, speaking with someone loudly. The ringing in his head kept him from understanding the conversation. Then a brief flicker of a lit match broke the darkness for a second, then extinguished immediately.
Indiana heard Reuben rustling for something: another match was struck, which flickered a moment longer than before, but extinguished again.
Reuben cursed a little louder.
Indiana cautiously moved his hands beneath the water. The ice-cold water absorbed almost every feeling, draining them from his limbs. But he could move them ? he was extremely grateful he had not broken or fractured a bone or suffered any other major injury.
A third match was torn from a matchbook and lit, and this time the flame did not extinguish, but flared brightly and long enough to light the wick of the only kerosene lamp that didn?t get destroyed in the maelstrom. ?Be careful with this thing,? Indiana heard Reuben announce. ?It?s the only one left.?
Indiana blinked in the growing yellow light, and the darkness and shadows slowly retreated. His eyes eventually adjusted to the light, which danced along the surface of the water that now covered the floor. He realized they were still in the cargo hold of the little boat, but it had changed in a surreal way. It was completed devastated and partially submerged with icy water. Debris, wood, scraps, and torn packages spilled and floated in the water. But that was not the most startling: the floors and walls had swapped places. The ship had turned and was obviously listing on its side.
Reuben noticed that Indiana had come to his senses, so he waded toward him, his arms raised to avoid dragging them through the dirty, icy water. ?Are you hurt?? he inquired anxiously. Before Indiana could even answer, he added: ?You almost drowned when you were knocked out. One of the men managed to fish you out in the ruckus and get you leaned against a wall.?
Indiana raised his hand to his aching head and groaned. ?I am not so sure I should thank him yet,? he murmured.
Reuben smiled, but his gaze remained serious. When Indiana scrutinized his expression, he realized he was seeing a fear that he had not seen in the FBI official before. Reuben was doing his best to hide it behind a mask of security and authority.
?What happened?? Indiana asked, alarmed.
?Still not sure,? Reuben replied. ?I don?t know how you managed to get upstairs. But it looks like we are capsized.?
?The rapids,? murmured Indiana. His memories were still fragmented.
Although the blow to his head hadn?t caused him permanent memory loss, he was still dazed and had trouble organizing his thoughts. ?The boat must have torn itself away. I told Ramos the mooring needed to be strengthened when we left.?
?Torn away,? Reuben laughed hard. ?I guess you could call it that.?
Indiana looked up. ?What do you mean??
A grim expression filled Reuben?s face. ?After you left, we heard someone return. We were pretty sure whoever it was had cut the mooring ropes. We didn?t see them, but we could hear them moving around on the boat.?
Indiana was not even surprised at the revelation. But he was deeply shaken at the cruelty of criminals he had faced in the course of his adventures. He had seen more people die (some at his own hands) than most normal men had seen their entire lives. But he had never met a man who acted so utterly without conscience than Ramos. For a moment he wondered if the man?s blindness had turned him cold, if his lack of ability to see gruesomeness and death had hardened his feelings.
He chased away the thought. Ramos was crazy, simple as that. Crazy, unpredictable, and dangerous. Which was why Indiana resolved to break his neck when they got out of there. If they got out of there!
He turned his thoughts back to the matter hand. ?What about the door? Is it still open??
?Jammed,? replied Reuben. Something heavy must have fallen when the ship overturned and it?s blocking the door from opening. We tried to force it, but it won?t budge. And now it?s underwater.?
?Is it rising?? Indiana asked.
?The water?? Reuben shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head in thought. ?Not right now. The ship seems to have partially run aground. It looks like lady luck was with us after all. If the current had pulled us any further, we would have probably drowned a long time ago.?