Archipelago N.Y.: Flynn (27 page)

Flynn stared in
amazement at the control panel in front of him. He and Duncan were standing
inside the
Ark
’s cramped cockpit. Constructed out of an old truck cab,
it looked like a hump protruding from the rounded bow of the
Ark
. Thick
glass panels were fused into the window holes, giving the cockpit its three-hundred-and-sixty-degree
view over the chamber hall. From this vantage point, Flynn could clearly see
the frantic activity going on around the vessel… In a mad rush against time,
support beams were being erected, anchoring the
Ark
to all four walls
and ceiling. They would hold it against the tremendous pressure when the outer
wall was blown out, and the water rushed in. Duncan had told him they were
there to keep the vessel from being crushed against the ceiling. Walls blown
out… Ceiling collapsing… This was going to be one hell of a launch, Flynn
thought with a terrible feeling of dread in his gut.

“Now, pay
attention here!” Duncan pointed at a dial on the control panel. “One of the
most important instruments to keep a constant eye on is the depth gauge!”

He had already
explained to Flynn what would happen to the unpressurized hull if they went too
deep. The
Ark
could not sink below sixty feet without the risk of
imploding. It all sounded unreal to Flynn. He was still having trouble
accepting the idea that this massive ship could sail underwater. It was hard to
believe.

“This is your
sonar here,” Duncan continued, pointing at another instrument. “Your radar’s
next to it. Then there is the machine section panel with the fuel gauges,
lights and engine throttle...”

Duncan kept going
as Flynn stared at all the amazing instruments he had never seen before.
Instruments, Duncan and Mr. Kowalski had salvaged and collected painstakingly
over the years. Instruments that now stood restored and fully functional in
front of him!

“And finally...,”
Duncan said, “...your radio! Once we get closer to Dry Land, we'll try to pick
up a signal. That’s if they’re still broadcasting any…"

He was interrupted
by voices echoing inside the
Ark
’s belly. Shouting could be heard on
deck and the banging of hatches being closed. Footsteps rattled the metal
staircase leading up to the cockpit, and Mr. Kowalski's head popped round the
door.

“I think we're
ready, Duncan!” He wiped the beads of sweat from his blackened forehead.

“Everybody inside?”
Duncan looked out of the windows of the cockpit.

“They’re all in
and strapped to their seats!” Mr. Kowalski nodded as he squeezed himself inside
next to Flynn. “It's a bit packed down there, but space is tight, you know.”

“OK, Walter, grab
a seat …” Duncan glanced at his watch. “We detonate the cluster bombs in five
minutes!”

“Come on, Flynn.”
Mr. Kowalski plopped himself on the long car seat bolted to the floor and
tapped the space next to him.

Flynn's heart was
racing… It was happening now! For real! He felt dizzy as he ran the frayed
seatbelt across his chest and buckled up. Duncan, still standing, checked his
watch again and picked up a large remote control. Legs apart, firmly planted on
the floor, he braced himself for the blast. Then he pressed the single red
button on the remote!

Flynn shut his
eyes and held his breath. He counted the seconds. One, two, three.... Nothing!  Then...
a loud bang near his head made him jump with a start. He opened his eyes. No,
that wasn't an explosion! It was Duncan. He had just smashed his fist on the
dashboard! Flynn saw the look of anger and despair in his eyes… The
Ark
wasn’t going anywhere…

“Let me do it,
Duncan!” Mr. Kowalski moved away from the window and looked back at Duncan. “I
know exactly where the charge is! I was there when we rigged the place. Besides
... I'm too old to make this journey, really… I'm better off staying back here
...”

Duncan shook his
head. “I can't let you go, Walter! You know the
Ark
inside out, all the
systems ... everything! There's no one to replace you on board!"

“Duncan!”

“No!”

Flynn's eyes
shifted between the two. He had followed their argument for the past minute or
so, after the explosive charge hadn’t gone off as planned… It had
malfunctioned, and now it had to be detonated by hand… Someone had to go out of
the
Ark
and do it manually. But that someone, even if he survived the
blast, would never be able to get back inside the ship… It was going to be a
suicide mission! Flynn’s mind was racing as he considered what was at stake… He
knew he had to do something… He had failed so many people that night.  He
couldn’t even get Madison down to safety… and that weighed heaviest on his
heart. The guilt, the anger, and the thought that he would never see her again
made Flynn suddenly jump to his feet… Madison had been so selfless in her
actions, and now it would be his turn. “I'll go!” cried Flynn.

Both Duncan and
Mr. Kowalski turned and stared at him for a long moment.

“Great! Another
one who wants to be a hero, here!” Duncan finally spoke. “I don't need
sacrifices ... I need people to sail the
Ark
away! I need people to find
Dry Land!” He paused for a moment and looked them both in the eye. “You two are
these people! Flynn... Sit yourself behind the steering column!”

“But…”

“Don't argue!”
Duncan took his belt and harness off as he was speaking, “You are now the captain
of this ship! All these people at the back are your responsibility! Your
father, Tony, Ann and the rest are counting on you… Walter will help you with
everything else!” Duncan took out the map of Dry Land from his bag and slapped
it on the dashboard. “You know what to do! Stay in your seats and brace
yourselves… The blast will come in no more than a minute!” he told them,
stepping towards the door.

“But, Duncan...”
Flynn cried, “it's your ship, you can't just...”

“It's yours now,
Flynn!” Duncan smiled wryly. “Someone’s got to start building another one,
don't you think?” He winked at Flynn, and before anyone could speak, the man
was gone.

The blast came
shortly after Duncan had left the cockpit… A number of tremendously loud
detonations shook the whole structure, and then a wall of water rushed in and
slammed into the
Ark
. The vessel shuddered violently as it began to free
itself from the braces holding it to the walls and ceiling… For a moment, all
Flynn could see was the swirl of white foam engulfing the cockpit… Then the
lights in the cavernous hall went out, the water shorting the circuits.

“What happens now?”
Flynn shouted over the roaring noise.

“We wait!” Mr.
Kowalski's voice came from the darkness.

The
Ark
began to creak and moan from the rising water pressure. They heard a loud bang
as something heavy crashed against the hull. It was followed by another
crashing sound, and then another… They were being hit by hundreds of pieces of
debris… Loose parts of broken rafts, barrels, scaffolding… everything that had
not been cleared away in time was now whirling around and slamming violently
against the ship. Flynn jumped in his seat as another thunderous jolt shook the
ship… something else had broken away…The
Ark
trembled and began to list
to one side.

“Ouch!” Mr.
Kowalski grunted, but his face remained composed.  “There goes the support
pole!” he said to Flynn.

There were more
cracking sounds as one by one the support beams snapped. Suddenly, the
Ark
was free and the water carried her up like a leaf. She began to spin around at
dizzying speed… Any moment now, and they were going to get smashed against the
ceiling! Flynn dug his nails into the seat, bracing for the impact. But instead
of being crushed, the
Ark
slowed abruptly her spin, then bumped gently
against the domed roof and began to slowly float back down.

“What happened? I
thought...” Flynn whispered hoarsely in the darkness of the cockpit.

“We got lucky! The
water hit the ceiling first, equalizing the pressure!” said Mr. Kowalski, his
voice full of relief. “We made it through the blast stage, Flynn!”

Shouts came from
the deck below them. There was a water leak. A small one, but they could not
remain under water for too long. They had to hurry out!

"OK, OK,
OK!" Mr. Kowalski was off his seat and working the controls with a manic look
on his face, trying desperately to start the engines.

After a few failed
attempts, they finally came to life with a sputter. “Go, go, go!” Mr. Kowalski
screamed at the panel and crossed himself three times.

The sudden
reassuring roar of the engines made the old man fall to his knees in silent
prayer. Power was up. The headlights flickered and the beams shot through the
murky water, illuminating hundreds of pieces of junk floating around them. “She's
all yours now, Flynn!” Mr. Kowalski grinned and moved aside. “Go easy on the
throttle!”

Everything was up
to Flynn, now! Trembling, he reached for the steering column, but his sweaty
hands slipped over it. He wiped them quickly on the seat, then grabbed the
steering wheel again and pressed on the throttle. Instantly, the
Ark
lurched forward, heading for the side wall, way too fast!

“How do I stop?”
Flynn yelled.

“Put her in
reverse, boy!”

Flynn pulled the
throttle all the way back, the engines roared and the ship stopped a few feet
from the wall. Then she started to back up slowly, tilting to one side and
still dangerously close to the wall. Horrified, Flynn realized both his hands
were on the throttle instead on the steering wheel. He grabbed for it and
turned it all the way to the left. There was a terrible screeching sound as the
hull scraped against the wall. Flynn kicked the throttle back into a forward
position, and the
Ark
eased away from the wall. She was finally floating
gently ahead.

“You'll get the
hang of it!” Mr. Kowalski patted his shoulder reassuringly.

Flynn was
breathing hard. High on adrenaline, his face was flushed, his heart thumping in
his chest. He moved the steering wheel to the right and cautiously pushed the
throttle up just a fraction. The
Ark
instantly obeyed. Flynn turned left
and gave the throttle another nudge. The
Ark
responded.

“I can do this,”
said Flynn through gritted teeth as he scanned around feverishly for the blast
hole and their exit. “There it is!” he cried. Fifty yards to his left, Flynn
had spotted a huge, black gap in the wall. Its jagged edges were surrounded by
heaps of unsettled rubble, and Flynn knew instantly that there was no way
Duncan could have survived the explosion… The man was gone!

“I'm going for it,
Mr. Kowalski!” Flynn said, steeling himself for what he had to do next… He
tried to picture his own raft, and how he had navigated the
Seeker
through
the narrow alleyways between buildings; squeezed past walls with not an inch to
spare… how he had glided and docked into tight slips… dodged other vessels on
the waterways without ever clipping their sides… Every fiber of his body
remembered those moments, and he felt his confidence grow… Flynn Perry was
ready to approach the exit… He bit his lip, steadied his heart and began to
zigzag carefully between the floating debris. Slowly, he eased the
Ark
into the opening… Half of the hull was already through when the vessel’s
headlight beams fell on something huge in the path ahead… One of the
smokestacks had collapsed, blocking their way out!

“Damn!” This time
Flynn reacted instantly, pushing the throttle in reverse. The
Ark
hovered idly, while he had his hands on the steering to keep it level. The hull
was creaking. The pressure was too much… They had to get the ship to shallower
water soon, otherwise...

“Now what, Mr. Kowalski?”

“Not to worry!”
Mr. Kowalski had opened a small panel on the dashboard, his stubby fingers
gripping a small lever. “I've got just the thing for this! Watch!”

Flynn shifted his
eyes from the old man and strained his eyes to see what was happening outside.
He stared in disbelief as a crude, mechanical arm extended slowly from the
belly of the
Ark.
It then proceeded to sink its huge claws into the fallen
smokestack, sending a murky cloud floating upward.

“There!” Mr.
Kowalski grinned. “Your turn now! Go forward.”

Flynn pushed the
throttle, the engines roared and the
Ark
inched forward again. But the
smokestack refused to budge.

“Keep going!” Mr.
Kowalski stared intently at the arm contraption.

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.