driving this!’’ He then pressed a small button in his closet. Two large doors swung open from the ceiling and a small yellow mini-sub was lowered onto the large floodable deck. Brent smiled and patted the sub.

‘’Balto, Tramp, along me to introduce you to the Blue Marine II. She’s the mini-sub I used during my spy days.’’

Tramp leaned over to Balto.

‘’Spy days?’’ he questioned.

‘’Long story.’’ Balto said. Tramp nodded and got prepared to dive. Aleu’s voice came over the deck’s speaker system.

‘’I’m flooding the deck now. You got two minutes.’’

Balto and Tramp climbed into Deep Rover and checked all the systems. They gave the thumbs-up and waited for Brent. He jumped into his mini-sub and tested his systems also. There was a small error message blinking, but it had always done that when Brent used the sub before. He figured it was nothing. He gave the thumbs-up and the two subs were released into the slowly rising water in the deck. Brent gripped the dual control sticks and felt his small sub being sucked down into the water below. As soon as the turbulence from the ship disappeared, Brent got on his comms link with the Deep Rover.

‘’Man that was bumpy,’’ he replied, ‘’you guys okay?’’

‘’Yup,’’ was the reply, ‘’we’re fine. Balto and I are okay too.’’

‘’Okay then,’’ Brent replied, ‘’let’s get down to the wreck. Aleu, how’s our depth?’’

A crackled voice came back over the link to the ship.

‘’You’re about 50 or so feet down right now. You’ll need to go anyone hundred or so.’’

‘’Shit,’’ Tramp exclaimed, ‘’I didn’t think it was that deep. You sure Lady and Jenna are okay down there?’’

Brent sighed and replied grimly, ‘’we have only one try at rescuing them. If we fuck up, they die. The pressure down there will crush the freezer like a tin can.’’

Balto felt like he was going to be sick. Tramp also felt queasy. Brent suddenly felt his mini-sub strike bottom, sending a spine-shaking vibration. Brent shook off the vibration and radioed to Aleu.

‘’Hey Aleu, I think your depth-sounder’s off. I just hit bottom.’’

‘’But you couldn’t have,’’ Aleu protested, ‘’you’re still at least thirty feet above the sea floor.’’

‘’Well, I hit something,’’ Brent answered, ‘’but what?’’

Then Brent heard the sound of groaning metal. Balto and Tramp came over the comms link.

‘’Brent, get outta there! You’re sitting on the keel of the Crimson!’’

But too late. Brent covered his ears as his mini-sub broke through the rusted metal and was sent spiraling into the darkness below. Balto pressed his face against the small porthole as he watched small air bubbles rising out of the hole. The Deep Rover was too big to fit inside. All they could do was pray.

Brent turned his lights on. His mini sub was on its side in the interior of the wreck. The ship had only been on the bottom for a day so vary little of the ship had changed. The hull only had a light coating of rust. He was inside a large companionway. The view was disorientating due to the nature of the wreck. The ceiling was the floor and the floor was the ceiling. “I wonder were I am?” He thought. He threw the Blue Marine 2 forward slightly, skirting wreckage. Thick masses of oil, from the breached tanks, swirled up against the viewing bubble. “Brent come in Brent.” Tramp’s voice came over the Comm. “This is Brent. I think I’m in the main hallway heading aft A-deck. I have enough room to move around and search, This thing is like the nutsuite.” “The nutsuite?” Tramp sead confused. “Yah, you know, the little mini sub that they used to explore the Edmund Fitzgerald.” It was then that Brent remembered the bell that was on the wreck. “Guys I just remembered. The Fitz’s bell is down here. I suggest you guys head into the debris feld and find it.” “Copy that.” Balto’s voice said. Brent then turned his intention to the task at hand.

Even in the darkness Brent felt as if he wasn’t alone. As he dropped “Up” onto B-deck, he saw what looked like an inflated furry bag. He shinned his light on it and found it to be the bloated body of a wolf mersonary. “Poor bastered” Brent sighed as he pushed past it.

Outside the Deep Rover looked over the broken bow. They came in over the starboard side. Balto strained his eyes to see. “There she is!” he said. A phantom shape loomed in the lights of the submarine. They could see that the bow of the Crimson was leaning to a 45-degree angle. The deck had been ripped clean off from the force of the explosions. There wasn’t much left past the beginning of the superstructure. There the clean mettle plate turned into jagged and ruptured steel. “We will begin our search now.” Tramp sead turning on the sonar and echo finder. The Deep Rover sailed out into the debris feld.

Inside the stern section, Brent turned his way down a companionway. As he did he saw a small builder’s plate hanging upside down from the wall. It read:

S.S. CRIMSON

BUILT IN 1995 FOR THE EDS CREEK CRUSE

For Brent it was hard to imagine that the liner had been a passenger ship before. But there was the proof. The Crimson wasn’t a bad ship. Just one that was caught in a bad fight. “I feel bad that I had to sink her now.” He moaned. He turned down the hall and threw a door.

“The kitchen” Brent said as he looked in the room. The floor was covered with blue-white tiles. The ceiling was littered with pots and pans. A large door in one corner of the room was locked shut with a giant padlock. A stream of bubbles came from the door crack. “The ship’s freezer” Brent sead. He had found the mother load. He maneuvered himself over to the door. “Now to find a way to communicate with those inside.” He said.

Lady stared out into the darkness. She knew that the ship was on the sea floor. She had felt the explosions and both she and Jenna had screamed as the ship leaned to one side and plunged down. Jenna was now unconscious. The two girls were tied back to back. So Lady could feel Jenna’s life force slipping away. The air was indeed getting thinner. To make matters worse. A small hole had punctured the room and a leak had formed on one end. But the air had kept water from pouring in. Now as the two dogs took the air the water rose. An inch an hour. “Oh someone help.” Lady moaned to herself. The darkness was tormenting her. She almost wished that she were out cold like Jenna. At least Jenna didn’t have to see nightmarish visions in the dark tomb. She would die a silent death. Lady would have to suffer. It kept playing in her mind over and over. Lady was seeing her past. She saw herself with Tramp, laughing, living, she saw the spaghetti scene over and over. Her mind wasn’t just playing tricks on her…it was driving her mad. BOOM “what was that!” Lady sead looking around the darkened compartment.

Outside Brent hit the door again with his robotic arm.

“HELP SOMEBODY” Lady screamed. She tried to move but the ropes that bound her to Jenna held fast. So close and yet so far.

Brent cursed as he knocked the robotic arm against the freezer again. Taking a deep breath, he maneuvered the arm and switched on the magnetic claws. The freezer slowed slid toward the huge super-magnet. Inside the freezer, Lady’s collar suddenly shot toward the freezer wall and pinned Lady in a choke-hold. She knawed at the collar and felt the leather snap. Lady fell forward, knocked the freezer from the magnet’s grip.

‘’Fuck!’’ Brent yelped and tried again. This time, the claws clamped tightly onto the freezer door, dragging the doors toward the bottom of the sub. Brent pressed a button and felt a violent vibration and the tail section of the Blue Marine 2 extended, creating a pressure chamber. Brent pressed another button to pressurize the chamber and maneuvered the arm into the chamber. The freezer door broke the surface of the water inside the chamber as it made a look on the compartment. Bringing the arm back into its neutral position and brought the chamber’s pressure back to its original level. The pressure chamber door opened and Brent ran up to the freezer and knocked on the door. He pressed his ears against the cold, wet metal.

‘’GET ME OUT OF THIS THING!!!!’’ Lady screamed, nearly popping Brent’s eardrums. He opened the door and saw Lady and Jenna. Jenna was out cold, and Lady was near insanity. She stared up at Brent and replied, ‘’oh thank you Brent. I could kiss you!’’

Brent grabbed a knife and replied, ‘’I’ll take a rain-check for now. Can you hold still so I can cut those ropes?’’

Lady held as still as she could as Brent sliced the bonds around her arms and legs. As soon as she was free, Lady jumped up and locked a loving kiss onto his lips. She released Brent and helped get Jenna out of the freezer. Jenna was limp, and near to death. Brent had to get her to the surface, or