The Atomic Submarine Page #4

- I want absolute silence.

- Very well.

Rig for silent running.

[Narrator] Hour upon hour,

the Tiger Shark lay in its deep-six ambush.

The Arctic depths were as still and silent

as an uninhabited world.

And then at 0600 hours -

[Clicking]

Skipper, Dr. Kent.

- What is it?

- That's him.

It has to be.

Range:
22 miles.

Speed:
I give it 1 4 knots.

His radiation level is very low.

That would confirm our theory

about having to return to the Pole.

It better be correct.

Get me a setup on the T.D.C.

Range:
about seven miles.

Reef, arm atomic warheads. Load Tubes 1

and 2, and report to the conn.

- Sounds like we mean business.

- Yeah.

Griff, you arm number two.

I'll handle number one.

[Machinery Whirring, Beeping]

Load one and two.

Open outer doors.

Stand by for action.

Range:
now 1 5 miles.

- You sure it's Cyclops?

- Take a look.

Range:
1 4.5 miles.

Griff to skipper.

Tubes 1 and 2 loaded.

Outer doors open.

Ready to fire.

Stand by.

[Beeping]

Range:
eight miles.

Range:
7 3/ 4 miles.

Zero minus 1 0...

nine, eight...

seven, six, five...

four, three, two...

one, target zero.

Fire 1 .

- Number one, fired.

- Fire 2.

Number two, fired.

- How are they running?

- Hot, straight and normal.

Number one missed.

How could it? We're dead on the target

with the homing first.

- What's that?

- A mass of jelly-like stuff came out

of the thing and caught our torpedo.

It must function like

a degaussing field.

We'll never get a torpedo through that.

Maybe not a torpedo.

Blow all main ballast tanks.

Reactor room, stand by.

As soon as we're off the bottom,

I want all ahead, flank.

-[Dave] What course, skipper?

- Right at our one-eyed friend.

- Right at him?

- That's what I said.

- But what can we accomplish?

- We can ram him.

You've weighed the consequences,

Captain, the lives involved?

Doctor, I've weighed the destruction

that the Cyclops has done already...

and what he'll do in the future

unless we stop him right now.

- There must be some other means.

- What other means?

If the Tiger Shark can't stop him,

no power on Earth can.

Now brace yourselves.

Sound the collision alarm.

[Siren Blaring]

[Rumbling]

We got him, skipper.

Drove right into him.

Look at that. Speared him like a fish.

We did it, boys.

Dove right through the saucer's side.

Reactor room,

give me all reverse, full.

We're stuck tight.

Skipper, take a look

at this depth gauge.

We can't be sinking that fast.

It's our screws, skipper. At our

declination angle, running in reverse...

they're pulling the shark

and cyclops right to the bottom.

And we're at safe

maximum depth already.

- Full stop.

- Full stop.

[Thuds]

[Narrator] Hours later, the two

titanic craft were still locked together...

in an apparent death grip...

on the bottom of the Arctic Ocean...

nearly 1 200 feet below the surface.

Well, anybody got any ideas?

Anything's better than lying here.

Suppose there's some kind

of atmosphere inside the Cyclops.

What do you mean?

Well, maybe we could get inside

the saucer. We could use our torches...

- to cut the Shark loose.

- That's all very well, young man.

How would one go about

getting inside Cyclops?

Through the eye

using the depth explorer.

Yes. The explorer was built

to operate at even greater depths.

Yeah, but suppose there isn't

any atmosphere inside the saucer.

Well, then the idea's no good.

But we're no worse off than we are now.

-[Dave] You've gotta let us try, skipper.

- Us?

Reef and I could take the explorer down,

clamp it onto the eye -

[Neilsen]

No. You can't, but I can.

I can deliver you to the eye.

Then you -

A little out of your line, isn't it?

Why don't you stay aboard and make a speech?

Maybe you could get them

to ban flying saucers.

Listen, Holloway. However our ideas disagree,

I've said before, I'm not a coward.

And it happens you have no choice.

Either I take you down there in the Lungfish...

- or you don't get there.

- I'd sooner swim.

- That's enough, both of you.

- Very well, sir.

No use making the odds

any longer than they are.

It so happens that Dr. Neilsen's right.

Get the explorer in the air lock

and prepare for launching.

- Better take Carney and Powell with you.

- The frogmen?

That's right. Their underwater experience

might make them invaluable.

- You'll need sidearms.

- Sidearms? The saucer's dead.

- You hope.

- We better get ready.

Girls, you go everywhere I go.

All right, Carl.

There's still time.

- You wanna show me how?

- Get in.

[Griff On R.A.]

Ready to open air lock door, Captain.

Go ahead, Griff.

- What now?

- What do you say, Doctor?

- Shall we take a chance?

- That's what we came for.

You all stay here.

I'm gonna take a look inside.

Not alone, you're not.

Better breathe your oxygen,

just in case.

- Air, pure air, under pressure.

- That's a relief.

Well, we won't need these tanks.

Good luck, men.

All right, let's go.

The bow drilled through her,

but she sealed herself right up.

Yeah, there's our problem.

The sawteeth of the ram

are caught in the break.

Now, if we can cut it away,

the Shark can pull herself loose.

- I think you're right.

- Powell, go back to Dr. Neilsen.

Tell him to report to the skipper.

All right, let's get to work.

We read you, Doctor.

Go ahead.

They're inside the Cyclops.

It's full of breathable air.

- Wonderful.

- That's great, Doctor.

Reef thinks that he can clear the Shark's

bow so we can pull ourselves loose.

What's it like inside the Cyclops?

This is a priceless opportunity to -

Doctor, tell Reef to make sure that you're

in the clear before we make another move.

Right. Over.

- We may get out of this yet.

-Skipper.

- Could you take a look here?

- What's wrong, Griff?

The inertial navigation system

must've been knocked out in the crash.

We're dead in the water,

but it indicates we're moving.

- That's impossible.

- The radiation level from the saucer is rising.

What direction does the system indicate?

Due north at five knots.

No, six.

Toward the Pole.

But that Cyclops is dead.

We killed it, didn't we?

Beats me.

- Dave.

- Yeah?

Do you hear anything?

I don't hear anything.

You've been down here too long.

You better go topside and rest.

Strange you don't hear it.

- Reef.

- Huh?

You know something?

I think it's getting lighter in here.

Yeah. Yeah, it is.

If I didn't know better...

I'd swear we were moving.

Well, let's get back to work,

and maybe we will be soon.

I'm getting an impression of movement,

Captain. Is that possible?

We get the same reaction up here.

Now they're feeling it down below.

The radiation level, constantly rising.

As we near the Pole.

There's got to be an explanation.

I think there is.

I believe our friend Cyclops

is returning to life.

[Male Voice]

Commander Holloway, listen.

- Dave.

- Commander Holloway, make no resistance.

Did you hear it?

That sound again?

This time it was a voice.

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