Operation White Out: A Mac McDowell Mission

By Robert G. Williscroft

Recovering from his Operation Arctic Sting injuries, USS Teuthis Executive Officer Mac McDowell is tasked with laying SOSUS arrays in the southern Atlantic and off Thurston Island, Western Antarctica. Teuthis tangles with Argentine subs in the south Atlantic, then confronts a ChiCom sub off Thurston Island. Mac and his team experience serious setbacks at the hands of the ChiComs while installing a relay transmitter on a nearby mountain peak. Teuthis discovers an underwater oil operation off Thurston Island and is tasked with escorting a Taiwanese sub and underwater tanker under the cover of the largest military marine exercise since World War II: PacEx89. Teuthis is attacked by a Chinese Han-class sub and a previously unknown North Korean AIP sub despite the protection provided by three U.S. fast-attack subs. Will Mac and Teuthis complete their mission, or will they finally meet their watery graves on the Pacific Ocean abyssal plain? 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fresh Ink Group
• Release date: Jan 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9781947893719

Book preview

PART ONE

Southward...Ho!

General Dynamics Electric Boat.

CHAPTER ONE

Return to USS Teuthis

USS TEUTHIS—GENERAL DYNAMICS, ELECTRIC BOAT

From across the parking lot, as my official driver brought me to the pier, I saw that Teuthis had a fresh coat of paint—matt black with a white 002 on her sail. As I dragged my seabag and suitcase out of the trunk, topside watch Seaman Billy-Bob Yokum came down the brow to the pier, leaving his newbie assistant on deck.

Welcome back, Commander. Glad you’re on your feet again. He tossed my seabag over his shoulder and grabbed my suitcase handle as we headed toward the brow. Where’s your dive gear, Sir?

I shipped it ahead. Ham probably already has it stowed in Dive Control. So, how’s your aim, Billy-Bob?

Never better, Sir.

Billy-Bob was the shooter who took out the driver of the explosives-loaded pickup on Woman’s Bay wharf while we were getting underway for Operation Arctic Sting.

As we reached the top of the brow, I turned and saluted the flag flying from the stern—the National Ensign. Then I faced Yokum’s assistant.

Request permission to come aboard, I said, saluting.

He returned my salute. Permission granted, Sir.

Commander, Yokum said, "this is Seaman Ezra Ben-Gurion, one of our new guys. Everyone calls him Ben."

I grinned and held out my hand, something I didn’t think he expected. Give a hundred-ten percent, and we’ll get along fine, Sailor.

Wow, Commander! I never thought I’d meet someone like you, Sir.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Yokum scowl at Ben-Gurion as he called the Duty Officer on the squawk-box. Moments later, a blond-headed, gangly twenty-seven-year-old officer stuck his head through the forward hatch, grinning from ear to ear.

Welcome aboard, Mac. Great to see you again. He saluted and shook my hand.

I first met Seth when he joined the crew as the Sonar and Radio officer before we undertook Operation Ice Breaker. Because I was a former Sonar Tech, I got to know him well, and we became friends. He was an eager learner and took to submarining like an old pro.

"Lieutenant Seth Beaumont, I said, congrats on the promotion—and being assigned Ops Boss."

And Navigator, he added. Thanks. Fonzie made chief; he’s my Chief Quartermaster now. And Lieutenant junior grade Wilbur O’Hara is Comm–Sonar, but I guess you already know that.

How’s the old alma mater? I asked.

University of Oregon? I’m working on my Master’s in math, he answered, by correspondence, can you believe it? Somebody they trust has to supervise my exams. Maybe you can do that.

Let me get settled first, and then we can look at that, I said, heading toward the hatch.

It’s different this time, I thought as we descended through the forward hatch into the Torpedo Room. I can feel it in my bones. I’m a full commander now, not just responsible for the dive team and operations like before. I’m the Executive Officer, responsible for the entire crew and the entire sub under the skipper. I didn’t see this as a burden, however, more like a big challenge.

Close the door and have a seat, Commander Lonie Franken-Ester, Commanding Officer of Teuthis, told me with a warm smile.

I made myself comfortable on his red Naugahyde-covered couch.

Good to see you doing so well, Mac. I can’t tell you how sorry I am about Kate. I really appreciate your willingness to take on this assignment.

I acknowledged, and in my pocket I fingered the ivory cylinder Kate gave me in Kodiak just before we headed into the Arctic, what seemed so long ago.

We have a difficult assignment ahead of us, Mac. He handed me a large sealed manilla envelope. We’re headed for Antarctic waters to lay SOSUS arrays. As soon as you’re settled, study the contents, and then let’s talk. I’m putting you on the EOOW watch bill under Lt. Cmdr. Watson. Once Doug is satisfied with your performance, you can turn your attention fully to your XO duties.

Ham met me as I stepped into Dive Control. Mac! He gripped both my forearms in warm friendship.

Congrats, Warrant Officer Comstock! How’s the team?

We lost Whitey, and Ski made first-class. Bill’s the Team Master Sat Diver now. Our new guys are Electronics Tech Two José Romero and Torpedoman Two Gilbert Ross, both former submariners fresh out of sat school. And Sergyi is back with us, on loan from the DIA.

We captured Sergyi, a Ukrainian diver, during Operation Ivy Bells with the USS Halibut. He defected and ultimately became part of both Operations Ice Breaker and Arctic Sting. Sergyi was a significant resource for the DIA and a man whose friendship I greatly valued.

Where is everyone?

Ham grinned. I had them make themselves scarce while I briefed you. I wanted to see with my own eyes that you are the same Mac who twice took us through the Arctic. I heard things—some I believed, some I didn’t. But just lookin’ at you and hearing you… He put his hand on my shoulder. Mac, I’m so terribly sorry about Kate. We all loved her, you know.

I fingered Kate’s ivory cylinder in my pocket. I didn’t open it very often, but when I did, her faint spicy odor still emanated from the thong she had placed inside when we first parted.

Thanks, Ham. You guys were special to Kate, too. She saw all of you as heroes she had the good fortune to know personally.

Fortunately, before things got too mushy, Ham signaled for the divers to join us. For a few heartfelt moments, I was not a navy commander, and the TOG divers were not navy enlisted men. We were fellow comrades who had faced danger and death together against overwhelming odds.

Then Ham called the team to attention. As a group, they saluted and said in unison, Welcome home, Commander!

USS TEUTHIS—GENERAL DYNAMICS, ELECTRIC BOAT

At a sharp rap on my stateroom door, I looked up from examining the mission orders the skipper had given me earlier.

Enter, I said, coming to my feet.

Master Chief Torpedoman Jerry Boston, Chief-of-the-Boat, Sir.

The COB was about my height, with weathered features and a short-clipped brown brush cut. He sported a trimmed mustache, and he obviously worked out regularly.

Ready for your walk-through, Sir? His voice had a medium timbre that I sensed could cut through any noise level should he choose. "I hear you served on Teuthis before her conversion and then again on her Arctic exploits. You’ve probably forgotten more about her than I ever learned."

Let’s just take an easy stroll through each compartment so I can familiarize myself with things I haven’t seen in a while, I said. Please point out anything you think I should be specifically aware of.

"Okay. Since I’m relatively new myself—I relieved Davis when you brought the Alfa to EB⁷—I recently spent a lot of time on my own quals, so I’ve got a good handle on things, especially forward."

We started with the torpedo tubes and moved aft into the Crew’s Mess, where we grabbed cups of Joe. We checked out the crew sleeping spaces and heads and then mounted the ladder to the Control Room. I stuck my head into Radio and greeted Sparks, Senior Chief Garth Walkman, who was a holdover from my last assignment aboard Teuthis. Across the passageway in Sonar, I met three new sonar techs, First-class Godfry Mason, and William Ferrell and Scott Sportsman, both second-class. King—newly promoted Senior Chief Royal Bennett—with whom I had sailed since the beginning, was off the boat, working some angle.

In the Nav Station, I chatted with newly minted Chief Quartermaster Gary Fonzarelli and Jubal Hanshaw, proudly sporting first-class stripes. They had two new second-class quartermasters whom I would meet later. I entered the Nav Center and congratulated Senior Chief Rusty Jackson on his promotion.

Let’s skip Dive and Cable Reel, I said. I visited Ham earlier today.

We passed through Dive upper compartment, over the Cable Reel Chamber (CRC), through the Reactor Tunnel into the Auxiliary Machinery Space, and then into the Engine Room.

As I entered the Maneuvering Room—or Maneuvering as it was normally called—Engineer Doug Watson showed up with a wide grin and outheld hand.

Welcome back, Mac. Looks like I get to herd you around for a while when you’re not playing XO. He looked at the COB. Thanks, COB. I’ll take it from here.

USS TEUTHIS—GENERAL DYNAMICS, ELECTRIC BOAT

Doug and I entered Maneuvering and made ourselves as comfortable as possible. Doug refilled my coffee cup.

Would you believe, he said, I got a call from Admiral McKee himself? He wanted to ensure that I don’t gundeck your EOOW quals.

I think he felt pressured by CNO to make allowances for me, I said. I’m sure you’ve seen my Nuke School transcript.

Yeah. Top of the class, despite everything. ‘That’s just book learning,’ the Admiral said. He wants to ensure you are fully conversant with the actual equipment.

I chuckled. I agree with him. Nobody wants someone back here who won’t instinctively take the right action in an emergency.

I’ve still got my officers, Doug said, although Zeb made full lieutenant and Bert was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer-five. We can rotate you through the watches, so you get experience with each of them. I don’t need to expand my watchbill—I just need to get you fully qualified.

THE OASIS—NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT

Like in my previous visits, I parked my Vette—yeah, I replaced the one the Thames River claimed—on Bank Street outside the Oasis and pushed my way through the glass door. I’ve been in a bar or two in my time, some good, some bad. Those of you who have followed my missions know that I think Winnie & Moo ranks near the top of places to get a drink, but I’ve got to say, the Oasis is okay. Oasis caters to Submariner and Coastie wannabees who hang out at the bar whenever they can, with their own kind, of course.

This time was no different. Through the smoke, I saw several clusters of short-haired young men talking earnestly over pitchers of beer. No uniforms, but I could tell the difference.

Over here, Mac! Ham called through the low din and the smoke.

The guys had pushed the same two tables together that I remembered from before—way before. They had obviously been there a while. That was fine with me. They deserved it, and ahead lay a long dry spell.

Ham handed me a foaming mug. I lifted it high. To past adventures and more to come! I said, taking a seat next to Ham.

Sergyi stood, holding his mug up, and said, "За друзей, за дружбу, за щастя, на здоровье." (Za druzi, za druzba, za shchastya, na zdorovya).

I came to my feet with mug lifted. "For you non-Russian-speaking pukes, that’s For friends, for friendship, for happiness, for health. I paused with mug held high. I second that!"

Hooyahs! all around.

I spent the next hour with the divers, listening to their individual, mostly exaggerated versions of things we had done together. The two new guys, José and Gil, hung on every word, especially when the conversation turned to Borysko, the Orca who had adopted the guys.

Before things get out of hand, I told Ham, "I need to get back to Teuthis. We go on fast cruise tomorrow morning. I’ll see you then."

As I left the Oasis smoky interior, I heard a quiet chorus of Yo, Diver Boy!

Yep, I was home for sure.

_____________

⁷ See the third Mac McDowell Mission, Operation Arctic Sting.

Electric Boat to Hudson Canyon

CHAPTER TWO

Sea Trials

GENERAL DYNAMICS, ELECTRIC BOAT—FAST CRUISE

In my reports on previous missions, I described fast cruise in some detail. To avoid repetition, here is a shortened version of fast cruise on USS Teuthis.

Before a submarine goes to sea, especially when she has had significant work done, has several new crew members, or there has been a relatively long time since her last deployment, the sub closes the hatches, sets the at-sea watch, and operates alongside the pier as if she were at sea—it’s called fast cruise. The only exception is a topside watch linked to the interior by a squawk-box. Typically, for twenty-four hours, the captain conducts a series of drills covering every aspect of ship’s operations to discover any weak areas in the crew’s preparedness.

Normally, as the XO, I would have supervised the drills in the forward part of the sub, such as fire, torpedo matters, control systems failures, flooding, and diving drills. Since both the skipper and I were very interested in my completing my EOOW quals, the skipper took over that job, and I found myself mostly in Maneuvering under the supervision of one of the qualified engineering officers.

Doug Watson devised drills that tested everything I had learned in my nuclear power training. I won’t go into the details, but he literally ran through every possible reactor failure, from incipient melt-down right down to spilled secondary coolant, which is a minor matter that still must be attended to.

All the while, Ham ran the dive team through a set of drills he and I had worked out when we last sat alongside this same pier on fast cruise. Most of his training was directed at the two new team members, Romero and Ross.

USS TEUTHIS—SEA TRIALS

The morning of our scheduled sea trials, a large truck carrier arrived with the Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) Mystic lashed to its bed. The chief pilot, Lt. Robert Taggert, his second pilot, Lt. James Deckhart, and their two technicians, Senior Chief Sonar Tech Gaspard Abelé and Electronics Tech First-class Parker Flanger, arrived in a black Chevy Suburban.

The COB and his deck gang worked with the Mystic technicians to anchor Mystic to our after-deck over the Engine Room hatch. Except for the new guys, they had done it before. An hour later, Lt. Taggert inspected the installation.

Nice job, COB, he said. Your guys are getting good at this.

Lt. Taggert stopped by my stateroom for a brief visit.

Congrats on the promotion, he said. And I’m especially happy to see you fit and functional. Last time I saw you, you looked more dead than alive. He paused. I am deeply sorry about Kate. We all admired her so much.

I fingered Kate’s ivory cylinder in my pocket and pasted a smile on my face. Thanks, Bob. We’ll have a lot of time to catch up later. Welcome aboard.

The previous time I took Teuthis on sea trials from EB, I was the Maneuvering Watch Officer-of-the-Deck (OOD)—I got to drive the sub into the Thames River and through Block Island Sound into the open ocean where we dove at the fifty fathom curve—basically thirty miles of rocks and shoals and pay-attention-to-what-you’re-doing.

This time, I was relegated to Maneuvering (not to be confused with Maneuvering Watch), answering speed bells, and otherwise paying close attention to the reactor and steam plant. When things were going according to plan, the EOOW really had little to do. Machines being what they are, however, things inevitably came up. This is especially true following a period of stand-down where the reactor was actually shut down along with all the associated equipment. We ironed out most wrinkles during fast cruise, but during sea trials it was still important to pay closer attention to the plant than normal.

I would like to tell you about an emergency that put my knowledge and skills on trial, but that didn’t happen. Doug ran a tight ship back aft, so nothing went wrong, nothing at all.

After about an hour on Maneuvering Watch, the skipper set the underway watch. I had the second shift, so the next six hours were mine. All that meant was that I wasn’t standing watch back in Maneuvering. I needed to talk with the COB about the crew, with Lt. Cmdr. Waverly Denver, Weaps and Senior Watch Officer, about the officer watch bill, and with Ham and Lt. Cmdr. Franklin James, who was in charge of Special Operations, about the forthcoming dive ops in Hudson Canyon.

Upon our return from the Arctic, a Soviet trawler that was always stationed just inside international waters off Groton went to the bottom through an unfortunate accident that involved my divers. Since then, she had been replaced with one that could have been her twin. We passed within several miles of that trawler on our way out. I am certain that she radioed our position and direction to Soviet Atlantic headquarters.

USS TEUTHIS—HUDSON CANYON

Hudson Canyon is a deep, forty-mile-long underwater slash in the continental margin, lying eighty-six nautical miles southeast of the tip of Manhattan. We conducted our angles and dangles⁸ there on our last sea trials out of EB and tested our saturation dive system for the first time. It is also the same location where the Cameroceras attacked my divers. A Cameroceras is a giant orthocone that supposedly went extinct over 400 million years ago. The one we encountered looked like a giant squid, living inside a 10-foot-long, cone-shaped shell.

Professor Maximilian Hedgepeth, who headed the zoology department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was our guest for sea trials. He had first identified the orthocone when Franklin showed him the videos we had taken during that event that I reported in Operation Ice Breaker. Since then, the professor had mounted two expeditions to the canyon to find the critter or another like it, but without success. As part of our sea trials this time, we would do our best to arouse another Cameroceras.

As we did the first time we were here, we conducted angles and dangles about forty nautical miles along the canyon where the bottom dropped off far below our test depth. Even though I’ve seen it many times, it never failed to surprise me that so many cups got broken and so much equipment ended up on the deck during these excursions. I spent most of our angles and dangles time in Maneuvering, demonstrating that I was a competent nuclear power plant operator.

Ham told me that Professor Hedgepeth spent most of his time in Dive Control. He didn’t much care for the angles and dangles, but he handled them okay, Ham said. He played our tapes of the orthocone over and over. Never did say why. I guess he wanted to find something he had missed in the thousands of times he had already seen them.

Finally, Teuthis came to a hover a hundred feet above Hudson Canyon floor at 850 feet. Every instinct I had wanted me to be in Dive Control directing what would happen next. Instead, once again, I found myself in Maneuvering accumulating the hours I needed for full qualification as EOOW.

Hudson Canyon, where we were, had virtually no current. Seth Beaumont was OOD. After placing Teuthis in hover mode, he extended the outboards, activating them occasionally to maintain our position. In Maneuvering, we had the plant in idle with propulsion shifted to the Emergency Propulsion Motor allowing us to keep the main engines warm with the occasional puff of steam, ready on a moment’s notice to jump to any speed, even flank, if that was what Conn wanted. Maneuvering had a monitor tuned to Dive Control that would shift to in water when the action shifted. Although I focused on my duties as EOOW, I kept one eye on that monitor. The first order of business, however, was Fish⁹ ops, surveying a swath of canyon bottom, looking for the orthocone’s characteristic lump.

As I was finishing the last few minutes of my watch, commotion on the Dive Control monitor picked up. My relief arrived, and I split for Dive Control. I called Seth in Control.

Seth, it’s Mac. I’m stopping in Dive Control on my way to relieve you. I’ll be a few minutes late.

USS TEUTHIS—ENCOUNTER WITH CAMEROCERAS—HUDSON CANYON

The skipper arrived about the same time I did. Dive Control was pretty crowded, but Ham had things under control. Franklin showed the sidescan printout to the skipper.

It looks like the Fish identified a lump on the bottom that might be our elusive Cameroceras, Franklin said to the skipper. Spook, note the spot and pull the Fish out of there, he said to Master Chief Ocean Tech Morris Jones, who ran Special Operations under Lt. Cmdr. James.

James nodded to Chief Ocean Tech Francis Oberst, who had been with Teuthis from the beginning. Oberst began retrieving the Fish.

Launch the Basketball, Jones told Ocean Tech First-class Wally Dubbs.

Dubbs launched the basketball-size tethered camera vehicle with its high-resolution monochrome camera and spot and floodlights. He controlled it with a joystick on the Basketball Console. As Oberst reeled in the Fish, Dubbs paid out the Basketball, approaching the lump from above and what appeared to be the backside, where it tapered into the bottom.

The skipper called Seth in Control. Seth, drop down to fifty feet from the bottom and move starboard until you are about fifty feet to the right of the lump. Make these moves with stealth.

The skipper looked at me, his eyes twinkling. Don’t you have the incoming watch?

I do. I told Seth I’d be a few minutes late so I could drop by Dive Control to see how things were going. I grinned. I’m on my way there now.

When I arrived in Control, Lt. j.g. Wilbur O’Hara was busy carrying out the skipper’s orders under Seth’s supervision. Seth nodded as I stepped onto the periscope stand.

The first real excitement on my watch, and you have to show up. He grinned. Will’s got a handle on things.

I took a couple of minutes to get the complete picture. Seth didn’t have to tell me anything. They were obvious, and as Seth had said, Will was doing fine.

I relieve you, Sir, I said.

Commander McDowell has the Deck, Seth said. I’ll be in Sonar.

I have the Deck. Mr. O’Hara has the Conn, I said for the record and to be sure there was no ambiguity in Control.

I glanced at the monitor, displaying what the Basketball saw. The floodlight illuminated sandy bottom a few feet below the Basketball that was nearly featureless, no little critters, no current swirls, a featureless, desert-like surface, black as midnight except in the circular light beam. To the Basketball’s left, barely visible on the monitor, was the edge of the lump. Wally edged forward, slowly and carefully, not knowing what to expect. He pulled back and up when he reached what we thought was the front of the lump, where it rose five feet or so from the bottom.

I could imagine Prof. Hedgepeth’s excitement as he watched the monitors in Dive Control. With a sudden tumbling motion, the monitor display went crazy. The light and camera continued to function. Several large suckers passed in front of the lens, and then a large, open beak appeared, filling the screen.

The sound-powered handset trilled. It was the skipper.

"Mac, move Teuthis down and around, so Wally has a straight purchase on the Basketball."

Teuthis was fifty feet to the right of and above the Cameroceras. I rotated to the left and back while dropping slowly until Dive Control told me the Basketball tether projected straight out from the Basketball bay to the orthocone’s front end. I did this by feel because there was nothing to see. The Basketball, although still functioning, was solidly in the maw of the giant creature. Wally and the Cameroceras were in a tug-of-war. All I could see on the monitor, however, was part of the creature’s beak and its gullet, or whatever zoologists called that part of its anatomy.

We stayed in this configuration for about fifteen minutes, the orthocone trying to swim away with the Basketball. Then, suddenly, the beak disappeared on the monitor, and for a moment, through a cloud of silt, I saw twisting, squirming tentacles harshly illuminated by the close-up light. I pulled Teuthis up and away from the giant orthocone as Wally swooped the Basketball out of its reach while still keeping his flood and camera focused on the creature.

The silt settled, leaving a clear image on the monitor of the Cameroceras floating a few feet above the bottom, its cone taking up about twelve feet of its length, and its head and squirming tentacles taking up another twelve feet or so. A thick proboscis extended from the center of its tentacles that it used for jet propulsion, as we had learned during our last encounter. The Cameroceras darted toward the Basketball, but Wally kept just far enough away to avoid its tentacles.

I could not tell if the creature could see Teuthis. We were on the backside of Wally’s light. There was nothing the creature could do to harm Teuthis, but I maneuvered to give Wally all the space he needed to record as much of the Cameroceras as possible. Out of the surrounding darkness, suddenly, a starkly black and white Orca flashed across the monitor. It was fully one-third longer than the orthocone. It turned, made a high-speed run at the giant, but in an astounding burst of speed and maneuverability, the orthocone whipped out of the Orca’s path and grabbed its dorsal fin with its tentacles. This obviously was not the Cameroceras’ first encounter with an Orca. Wally zoomed in on the action, I clearly saw a piece missing from the top rear of the Orca’s dorsal fin. It was Borysko. Somehow, he had found us and, as in past encounters, made it his duty to protect us. Only this time he was in trouble.

The orthocone’s razor-sharp sucker teeth dug firmly into Borysko’s dorsal fin. He shook his mighty body several times without success, and there was absolutely nothing we inside Teuthis could do about. I was beginning to fear for Borysko’s life, when he flipped his tail and drove at high speed directly toward Teuthis. Wally and his Basketball could barely keep up. Just before Borysko’s snout struck Teuthis, he flipped over so that his back along with the giant orthocone smacked into the steel hull. The sound of six tons of angry Orca carrying a ton of hard-shell orthocone on its back colliding with 7,000 tons of submarine reverberated throughout the sub. Several crew members swore they heard a distinct cracking sound as the giant orthocone shell split.

On the monitor, Borysko backed off and then approached the still floating Cameroceras, his six-foot jaws open wide. He took off most of its head and half its tentacles with one bite.

With a split open shell and only half its head and appendages, the Cameroceras settled to the bottom without moving except for some tentacle twitching that slowly subsided. Borysko darted to the surface a thousand feet above for a gulp of air.

I picked up the sound-powered handset and trilled Dive Control.

Cap’n.

Skipper, it’s Mac. That’s Borysko out there.

Yeah, the divers made sure I knew.

Sir, we need to wring out the dive system, and the divers are already at pressure. I recommend you put the divers out, let them interact with Borysko, and take samples of the Cameroceras for the professor. He can work with Wally or Derrick to point the divers to exactly what samples he wants.

I agree, Mac. I’ll instruct Ham. He paused. Do you want to lock out to greet the Orca?

I’d love to, Skipper, but it would take me a while to press down, and then I would need to decompress. That would take me off-line for too long.

Monitoring the dive from Control was not exactly a new experience, but it seemed that way. The divers outside the hull were no longer my specific responsibility. As the Officer of the Deck, I was responsible for them in a general way, but Ham carried the load. Watching Borysko cavorting with the divers, it was impossible to believe that the six-ton Orca was anything but overjoyed at seeing his friends again. I think he looked for me, but when he didn’t find me, he gave his full attention to the other divers.

I still had the watch when José and Gil, Ham’s two new divers fresh out of Saturation Diving School, met Borysko. It takes a level of courage not possessed by everybody to place your hand on a thirty-foot Orca’s tongue and scratch. Sure, they saw the other guys do it, but that’s a lot different from doing it yourself. José slowly moved his gloved hand into Borysko’s mouth and scratched. Gil seemed reluctant.

What taking so long? Sergyi squeaked, his Russian accent coming through the descrambler. He grabbed Gill’s hand and shoved it into Borysko’s mouth, moving it in and out against the Orca’s tongue. When Sergyi let Gill’s hand go, Gill continued scratching. It was an experience I’m sure they will never forget.

Under close scrutiny from Prof. Hedgepeth, the divers carved samples from every exposed part of the giant orthocone, from what remained of its head and tentacles to its elongated body that normally resided inside the twelve-foot cone. Harry Blackwell, who probably kept his knife sharper than the other divers, worked