Beneath the Artic Ice (ePub)

Seed of the Arctic Ice and Under Arctic Ice by HG Winter together in one ebook



Excerpt



Sleepily the lookout stared at the scope-screen before him, wishing for something that would break the monotony of the scene it pictured: the schools of ghostly fish fleeting by, the occasional shafts of pale sunlight filtering down through breaks in the ice-floes above, the long snaky ropes of underwater growth. None of this was conducive to wakefulness; nor did the half-speed drone of the electric engines aft and the snores of some distant sleeper help him. The four other men on duty in the submarine--the helmsman; the second mate, whose watch it was; the quartermaster and the second engineer--might not have been present, so motionless and silent were they.



The lookout man stifled another yawn and glanced at a clock to see how much more time remained of his trick. Then suddenly something on the screen brought him to alert attention. He blinked at it; stared hard--and thrilled.



Far ahead, caught for an instant by the submarine Narwhal's light-beams, a number of sleek bodies moved through the foggy murk, with a flash of white bellies and an easy graceful thrust of flukes.



The watcher's hands cupped his mouth; he turned and sang out:



"K-i-i-ll-ers! I see killers!"



The cry rang in every corner, and immediately there was a feverish response. Rubbing their eyes, men appeared as if from nowhere and jumped to posts; with a clang, the telegraph under the second mate's hand went over to full speed; Captain Streight rolled heavily out of his bunk, flipped his feet mechanically into sea-boots and came stamping forward. First Torpooner Kenneth Torrance, as he sat up and stretched, heard the usual crisp question:



"Where away?"



"Five points off sta'b'd bow, sir; quarter-mile away; swimming slow."



"How large a school?"



"Couldn't say, sir. Looks around a dozen."



"Whew!" whistled Ken Torrance. "That's a strike!" He pulled on a sweater and strode forward to the scope-screen to see for himself, even as Captain Streight, all at once testy with eagerness, bawled:



"Sta'b'd five! Torpoon ready, Mister Torrance! Mister Torr--oh, here you are. Take a look."