Up From The Deep by Vaughn Jackson (highly recommended books txt) 📕

on to the gun. Bae Ling took her chance and sprinted down the hallway to the platform deck door. She cranked the wheel and swung it wide open, letting in the mixing smells of sea and smoke.

The whole station groaned, and Raymond felt the platform lurch under his feet. He aimed for the back of her leg and fired. The bullet went wide ricocheting harmlessly off the metal doorframe.

Shah burst from the control room. “What the hell’s going on?”

“I missed a detonator. Zhang must have suspected something and set up bombs. She’s sinking the platform,” Raymond said, rubbing a sore spot on his head. “My stupid mistake.”

“Is she crazy? Doesn’t she know she’ll sink as well?”

“The boat,” Raymond said. “She’s going for the boat!” He righted himself and sprinted out the door after the fleeing woman.

“Lieutenant Greenwood has one of the men in custody,” Shah shouted as he jogged to keep up with him.

Raymond gave a quick nod as he ran.

Smoke filled the air on the open deck. It whipped around his head, carried by the brisk ocean wind. Bae Ling had made it to the top of the ladder.

“Ms. Zhang!” Raymond drew a bead on her with the gun. “Surrender, now.”

The oil platform lurched to the side, sending Zhang toppling. The whole structure was falling apart around them. She grabbed the side of the platform, hanging on by her fingertips. One of her shoes plummeted down into the churning ocean. She tried to pull herself up but couldn’t. Instead she slipped farther down.

Raymond rushed over and grabbed at her wrist. “I’ve got you!”

“Get your hands off me,” she screeched.

“Believe me when I say, you don’t want that.” He tried to pull her up as dizziness and nausea from his head injury mixed with the smoke-filled air crashed over him like the thrashing waves below.

Bae Ling let go of the platform with one hand, dragging Raymond forward.

“What the hell are you doing?” he growled.

“Death before dishonor.” She slashed at his hand with razor sharp fingernails.

Raymond gasped in pain and jerked his arm away. Realizing what he had done, he lurched down to grab Bae Ling’s wrist again, but was too late. Amongst the plunging debris from the platform and burning smoke in his eyes, he couldn’t make out where she landed. He didn’t see her resurface.

“Like hitting concrete,” he said, rubbing his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. “Damn, that stings.”

The station shuddered again. Raymond knew it wasn’t safe to stay any longer. He was thankful at least that the fire wasn’t spreading fast.

Shah exited the station interior, followed by Lieutenant Greenwood pushing Ishii along in front of her. The four other soldiers carried a body bag between them.

“Zhang?” Shah asked.

Raymond shook his head. “Leave the body,” he said, looking at the late Mr. Han.

Ishii rushed towards him. The soldiers raised their weapons, but Raymond waved them down. “He’s unarmed and cuffed. What do you want, Mr. Ishii?”

“Captain, please, I’m sure this can be all sorted out with the right amount of payment.”

An explosion from inside blasted a plume of smoke and debris from behind the four soldiers on body duty. The dead man thumped to the ground inside the latex sack.

“We don’t have time for this,” Raymond said as Shah reclaimed the prisoner. “Leave Han, get to the boat.”

The soldiers made double time, filing down the ladder until only Greenwood and Raymond were left on the platform. Shah had escorted Ishii down first, strapping the struggling man to his back.

“You first, sir,” Greenwood said.

“Look out!” Raymond yanked Greenwood out of the way of a collapsing pillar. The force of the impact tore a chunk out of the station and sent them flying. Their piece of the station teetered precariously above an exposed tangle of sparking electrical wires and jagged steel bars.

Raymond looked back at the main portion of the station deck. The split had shunted them a good eight feet from it. “Can you make that jump?”

“No sir, I don’t think I can.” Greenwood’s voice came out strained. Sheet metal the size of a small dinner plate stuck out from an angry gash on her side. A red stain spread through the camouflage canvas material of her uniform. Their tiny platform groaned and tilted at an angle that made it difficult to stand. Greenwood began sliding towards the mechanical forest of certain death that sparked beneath them.

“You go on ahead, sir,” she said. “I’ll try and make the jump after you.” Her hands trembled, but she gave him a thumbs up and the most confident smile her willpower could muster, though he couldn’t see it behind her mask.

Raymond shook his head, pulled her in close and said, “This next part is going to suck. Mostly for me, but also for you. Take a deep breath and keep your back pressed to my chest.”

He clamped his eyes shut, and leapt backwards off the collapsing platform, plummeting into the churning water below. The water rushed up to meet him, slamming into his back like a wall of bricks. His body surged with pain, and then went numb as he sunk down into the dark ocean.

The oil rig gave out with a thunderous roar. The four pylons holding it up crumpled, sliding the whole platform down into the sea around them.

#

Raymond came to on a cot in the old fishing boat. He blinked and went to sit up but found that he couldn’t. A groan escaped his mouth as he realized he had no feeling from the waist down. Greenwood was looking at him from the opposite cot. She’d wrapped the top of her uniform around her waist and lay on her back in a white tank top. A thick pad of gauze was taped in place, but even that was tinged a deep scarlet.

“My back?” he asked.

She nodded. “Peters, the medic, says he thinks several of your vertebrae are shattered, but that your spinal cord is intact.”

Raymond heaved out a sigh and rubbed his face. “And you?”

“Sprained some stuff, hell