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There had been a ti proble beneath the surface storms But, as had happened so many times in the past, for every problem solved a new one was added

Beneath the ocean surface flow great salt rivers, their currents not held to a horizontal plane by confining banks The 600 feet of plastic barge trailing behind the Ra through 60 degrees at right angles to their course If the current set doard the Raainst the climb If a current took the toard, the Ra&039;s deck a stately rolling and tipping as though the vessel was beset by a slow-motion storm

Automatics took care of most of the deflections, but many were sufficient to cause wide course error Because of this, a portable gyro repeater always accompanied the man on duty

Bonnett carried such a repeater on his re his watch The little tiht hours, and eighteen minutes from departure The Ram had moved forward deep into the ocean no man&039;s land south of Iceland

Maybe it&039;ll be a ht For all our detectors have shoe could be alone in the whole daht before departure, wondered if Helene was really faithful to hilowed at the upper corner of his board, the signal that someone had entered the control room He spoke into his chest ine room"

Sparrow&039;s voice came out of the board speaker: "Continue as you are I&039;ht, Skipper" Bonnett turned to exaes on the reactor bulkhead Ever since they&039;d found the dead Security officer, Bonnett had been nursing an uneasy feeling about the roo&039;s nose

A sudden needle deflection on his control board caught his attention The outside water terees: a cold current

Ramsey&039;s voice came over the intercom: "This is Raree temperature drop outside"

Bonnett thu up and about, Junior?"

"I&039;m always nervous when it&039;s your duty," said Ramsey "I couldn&039;t sleep, so I cauy," said Bonnett

Sparrow&039;s voice joined them: "Find out how deep it is, Ramsey If it doesn&039;t extend below our lirees will cloud a lot of noise"

"Right, Skipper" Pause "Sixty-eight hundred feet, give or take a few"

"Les, take her down," said Sparrow

Bonnett racked his control console onto the catwalk railing, took electronic hold of the diving planes Abruptly, his static pressure-gauge repeater shohat his sense of balance already had told hi theht it until they were inclined at a safe three degrees

The Ram leveled at 6780 feet

In the shack, Rae: 2922 pounds to the square inch Instinctively, his gaze went to the pressure hull beside hih a ht away froht of ould happen if the hull should i amidst shattered machinery

What was it Reed had said? It came back to Ramsey clearly, even to the impersonal tones of his instructor&039;s voice: "An implosion of external equipment at extreme depths may set up a shock hich will split your hull wide open Of course, it&039;d be all over for you before you&039;d hardly realized what happened"

Ramsey shivered

What is Sparrow&039;s reaction to the increased danger? he wondered Then: I don&039;t really care as long as his ability keeps ht shocked Rah seeing it for the first tiist a a question fro fro to beco in this crew because that way lies a measure of physical safety

Back came the answer: You&039;re afraid of your own personal extinction

"It&039;d be as though I&039;d died en utero," he said, speaking the thought softly to hi, bathed in perspiration The plug holes of the test board in front of hi eyes He suddenly wanted to scream, found he couldn&039;t ency now, I&039;d be helpless, he thought I couldn&039;t er of his right hand, failed

If Itouched his shoulder and he almost blanked out in frozen panic A voice spoke softly beside his ear and it was as though the voice had shouted loud enough to split his eardrums

"Ramsey Steady boy"

"You&039;re a brave er thanof his body had become so violent that his vision blurred

"I&039;ve been waiting for this, Rah it down here Once you&039;ve been through it, you&039;re all right"

Deep, fatherly voice Tender Co, Raainst that coled eo," said Sparrow "Let it coh it"

Slowly at first, then in gasping sobs, the tears came He bent over the bench, buried his face in his arms All the ti of warth

"I was afraid," whispered Ramsey

"Show me the man who isn&039;t afraid and ITI show you a blind ued with too ence"

The hand left Ramsey&039;s shoulder He heard the shack door open, close

Ramsey lifted his head, stared at the test board in front of him, the open intercom switch

Bonnett&039;s voice caive us a sound-distance test now?"

Raht" His hands moved over the board, slowly, then with rapid sureness "There&039;s enough cold stuff above us to blanket force speed," he said

The speaker ruive us force speed Ramsey, we are within ninety pounds of pressure limit Re of the Raht, Skipper," said Ramsey Garcia&039;s voice came over the intercom "What&039;s up? I felt thea few knots while we can"

"Need me?"

"Come up here on stand-by" Ramsey heard the voices over the intercom with a peculiar clarity, saw the board in front of hi line

Back came the memory of his blue funk and with it, a detail histo him over the intercom to make the sound-distance test

And when I didn&039;t answer, he caht intruded: He kno green I a

"Ramsey"

Sparrow stood in the shack doorway

Ramsey stared at him