The Sentinel Read Online Free PDF Page B

stairs, which are tilted so bad I’m running almost completely on the wall and I’m not running up so much as horizontally. I have to duck to get out of the exit. And when I do, I can see why Jenny screamed. The deck is nearly at a ninety degree angle to the water. She’s knee deep in water and standing on the ship’s rail. And freezing water and sinking ship be damned, she still has Peach in her arms.
    “Can you step to the side?” I shout down to her.
    She looks up, sees what’s in my hands and moves to the left until she slips. She catches herself, but doesn’t try to move again.
    “I’m going to pop this thing open. When I do, try to reach it. I’ll have to slide down the deck after it.”
    “Just do it!” she screams.
    I’m not entirely sure how do to this. I’ve never used a life raft, let alone an inflatable one, but a big bright yellow tag labeled “PULL TO INFLATE” makes it idiot proof. I give the tag a yank and the suitcase explodes to life, pulls itself free of my grip and falls into the water next to Jenny. At first it looks like she won’t be able to reach it, but the octagonal raft just keeps on growing. The whole thing is bright yellow and has a tent-like roof with four clear plastic windows. A flashing strobe has already begun to blink at the pinnacle of the tent. She snags the raft, pulls it closer, opens the clear plastic hatch, tosses Peach inside and looks back up at me. “C’mon!”
    There’s now a twenty foot, nearly vertical drop between me and the submerged rail. I know this could hurt, a lot, but what choice do I have? I leap out of the door and press my body against the deck, hoping friction will slow me down. I cover the distance in a flash, but never reach the rail. Jenny catches me below the armpits and tosses me into the life raft next to peach. She pokes her head in after me.
    “Get to the other side of the raft,” she shouts. “Take Peach, too.”
    I’m about to argue, but then she starts climbing in and I feel the whole thing start to tip toward her. I grab Peach and drag her to the far side of the raft, which is far larger than I was expecting. I suspect Jenny might weigh more than Peach and I combined, but we’ve provided enough counter balance that the raft doesn’t flip.
    The raft bobs up and down as we catch our breath. A moment later a loud gurgling draws our attention out the clear plastic windows. The flashing strobe light atop our raft lights the scene like some kind of low budget horror movie. Half of the Sentinel is underwater and the rest is quickly sliding under the surface. Compressed air bursts from windows, blowing water and debris into the air.
    “It’s pulling us in,” Jenny says, her voice a whisper.
    She’s right. The suction of the sinking ship is pulling us closer. A spray of water strikes my window. I jump back and by the time I return to the window, all that’s left of the Sentinel and who knows how many members of the crew is gone. As our raft spins in lazy circles at the center of the submerged ship’s footprint, silence descends over the ocean.
     

 
     
     
    6
     
    The wail that breaks the Arctic silence is so frightening that I nearly fling myself out of the raft and into the ocean. The cold water would probably be less of a shock. It’s like some kind of evil banshee has just awakened next to me. Jenny adds to the scream with one of her own. We’re not going to have any trouble hailing a passing ship with these two on board.
    “Paul!” It’s Peach.
    “Oh my god!” Jenny chimes in.
    “Paul!” She must have seen the man die and is waking to the memory as though it’s just happened. The light inside the raft is a diffuse yellow and we’re rolling over three foot swells, so she’s got to be completely disoriented and confused. Last she knew, she was on the bridge, being rammed by the Bliksem . Her screams are understandable.
    “Oh my god!” Jenny, on the other hand, is just being annoying.
    “No, no, no,