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Presently a foaming gush of bubbles showed that the sub ahead was blowing its tanks. The jetmarine followed as it surfaced and Bud hastily manned the periscope. "What're they up to?" Mel asked tensely. "Don't know yet, but the hatch is opening," Bud reported. Suddenly he gave an excited gasp. "Jumpin' jets! They're sending out a couple of frogmen!" Bud's companions were electrified by the news.
The three gathered in the living room, and Tony chuckled. "If I associate with you two for much longer, I'll get to be the world's champion dissembler." "What happened?" Rick demanded. "Simple and unlucky. The two frogmen surfaced practically under me. My own fault, because I had moved much closer to the boat. I think one of them almost fired a spear at me, but the other stopped him.
It was logical, since the frogmen would not expect danger below. Rick followed, staying just behind Zircon's flippers, feeling the wash of water from his wake. The light was nearly overhead now, and Rick saw dark figures moving. It was unreal, like a Hollywood motion picture, except that the tense music of a movie production was replaced only by the soft sighing of their regulators.
Then when it seemed that he would glide right into the frogmen, he twisted sideways and bent backward like a circus acrobat, flippers moving in powerful thrusts. It was an excellent underwater imitation of a wingover, the plane maneuver that reversed direction by diving and turning.
That's borne out by the remark his pal made last night, that he'd pulled enough stupid stunts for one day." "But what could we have been getting close to?" "I don't know. Whatever it was, it isn't there now." Scotty and Rick sat up straight. Scotty demanded, "How do you know?" Steve smiled. "Because a team of Navy frogmen went over the entire area inch by inch this morning."
It writhed down her arm, and its five rubescent flower heads thrust out toward the priestess vibrating, quivering, held in leash only by the light touch of the handmaiden at its very end. From the swelling throat pouch of the monster behind her came a succession of the reverberant boomings. The frogmen wheeled, raised their lances, levelled them at the throng.
The light was reduced somewhat by the murk, but visibility was good. Rick had brought his camera to take motion pictures around the wreck. There would be enough light. Scotty carried the big jet spear gun. It was powerful enough to spear sharks or big barracuda, just in case the frogmen decided to be "mischievous" again.
Rick risked holding his wrist close to the opening and saw that his watch showed one minute of diving time before shortness of breath would signal time to turn on their air reserve and surface. Time was critical. If the frogmen didn't go away before their air ran out, they would have to surface, if they were allowed to by the enemy. With luck, Scotty could account for one.
He discarded a dozen possible reasons for their actions, including underwater communications, bombs, and an unusual way of fishing. He pondered on the relations of the Spindrift group or lack of them with the frogmen and re-examined their various theories. First premise: The frogmen, specifically Steve's former shadow, hadn't recognized them or the Water Witch.
What happened?" Rick told him, starting from the moment when they had heard the brass ball wail. He finished, "There were three of them. Did you get them all?" "Yes. Including one with a spear through his leg. The last one is just being hauled aboard now. He tried to get to the island." Jimmy Kelly and a group of frogmen joined them. Jimmy asked, "How about the sounding gear, Steve?"
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