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"An old depth charge The shock blew it free, and this thing corked for the surface God only kno long it&039;s been under there"

"You&039;re okay?"

Moore nodded "Got a hell of a headache andlike Sunday at the Vatican, but mostly the bastard just scared hell out ofin the Abyss, David," said the man in a West Indian accent polished with a British veneer Steven Kip had been Coquina&039;s constable of police for soer at Moore "I&039;ve warned you about all that junk lying underwater, all that war crap It could&039;ve been your bones at a thousand fathoms So you found one dao diving alone in there!"

Moore said nothing, because he knew the constable was right The currents were dangerous, the risks great for a group of divers and astronori at the other man His death wish? Damn it to hell!

"She&039;s an old one," Kip said quietly, staring at the deck gun "Sand&039;s kept her as clean as a new tooth" There was a sudden sharp clatter One of the islanders was pulling at a cable that snaked off into the water at the stern "Hey! Let that be!" The islander looked up, dropped the cable, and backed away from it "How deep?" Kip asked Moore

"Hundred and fifty Pretty close to the surface for one of these"

Kip shook his head "Didn&039;t want to stay down, did it? There&039;s supposed to be a main hatch up on the tower Did you check it?"

"No," Moore said

"Then let&039;s get at it" Kip turned from him and made his way past two more islanders who had come aboard

"Watch your step," Moore called to his friend "Deck&039;s weak in places"

They stepped over the tangle of cables, reached a ladder, and cliray sand and seawater, littered with pieces of planking and clumps of coral Droplets splattered onto the off the iron bulwark Kip bent down into the water and parted sand with his hands until at last he uncovered the slab of a hatch "Sealed tight," he said, wiping his forehead with a dripping hand "If ant to get in we&039;ll have to burn through, and I&039;m not so certain ant to do that"

"Why not?"

"Still anxious to do so today, are you?" Kip fixed hi in Heaven if this thing&039;s carrying live torpedoes" He stood up, looking toward the stern "There should be a crack so in the Abyss?"

"It seeh now," Moore said "No indication that it&039;s sinking"

Kip grunted "I can understand a dead boat going down I can&039;t understand a dead one co&039;s for sure, though Kiss Botto anywhere soon" He looked closely at Moore as he leaned back against the bulwark and ran a hand over his face "You want to see Dr Maxwell, David?"

"No, I&039;uess I&039;m still a little shaky I knew the storured on anything like this"

The constable was silent for athe wide decks "World War II crate, I&039;d say No s Could be British, American, Italian, Ger the war Now that it&039;s up we&039;re going to have to do so with it I can&039;t leave it out here, but for the life of me I&039;m stu striking iron Kip peered over the bulwark, expecting to see one of the islanders again trying to gather up that heavy-duty cable

But the ether at the bow They had been talking quietly, and now they stared up at the constable, their faces frozen, their lips drawn into tight lines The others on the trawler stood where they were, watching and listening

And all around a deep, hollow boo, feverish intensity

One of the islanders cried out in fear; they all backed away froplank and the safety of the trawler

Moore felt a chill streaking up his spine "What the hell?"

"Get off it!" a bearded man on the trawler called out

"It&039;s the sea!" Kip said loudly, so they could all hear "What&039;s wrong with youaround underneath the hull, for God&039;s sake!" But now their eyes ide and terrified; they were chattering arew louder and sharper, more frenzied, out of pace with the sea&039;s rhyth And the silence was ten times as bad

"It&039;s about to co" He swung himself easily over the bulwark and descended the ladder to the deck, then stepped back for Moore to co over the side where the currents churned about under the hull, while Moore cast off the lines of his skiff One of thewith the trawler

"Let&039;s get out of here," Kip said

They took the trawler&039;s gangplank back aboard, freed the lines, and pulled theines the trawler veered away froh the reef Moore turned to look back at the thing Its bow jabbed the sky, the maw of a beast It unnerved hi like that, clinging to it, his unprotected network of flesh, nerves, muscle, and bone so close to an arears, rivets, iron beams

He was unable to turn his eyes away Where have you come from? And why are you here?

No one spoke aboard the trawler The sun beat down on the men, and the safety of harbor lay just ahead

The eerie ha noises still echoed within Moore&039;s head Had it been the sea, as Kip had said? He&039;d heard the sa underwater, as he worked around that exposed periscope But it had see, as if soain, with a terrible strength

Soet out