The Atlantis maintained its position three miles off the coast and well north of the junky shipyard. Using its global positioning system, special thrusters and a satellite in space kept the vessel from wandering away from its current location.

Jake believed the crew of the Hercules Australis had no clue of their presence aside from a blip on the radar. On the stern deck, the security team hoisted their inflatable Zodiac with the A-frame crane, swung it over the gunwale and kissed it to the water. The commando force's leader, a man named Max Dalton, left the controls and joined his team in the motor powered boat. Their daylight mission would be much the same as Jake and Tony's. Reconnaissance. They would scout the bay and select the right spot to make landfall. Once on the ground at night, Cat would have transportation waiting for them.

The Zodiac left a frothy wake as it departed with the security team.

Thirty minutes later, with the sun beaming overhead, Jake stood on the starboard side of the research vessel, his focus on an iPad Tony held. It streamed live footage of Zanderthal's ship via a link from Dalton's Zodiac. The video revealed no activity on the icebreaker's top deck.

"We'll get Sarah back," Tony said. "We won't stop until—"

Jake slapped a hand on his friend's shoulder and nodded in affirmation. He didn't have a response to Tony's proclamation, but he knew for a fact they wouldn't rest until Sarah was safe.

Jake had tried to sleep for all of three hours, not sure if he ever dosed off. He received a wake-up call from Cat around ten, took a shower, grabbed breakfast, and hit the deck as Dalton and his crew prepared for their assignment. That's when he found Tony conferring with Dalton about the video link from a handheld camera the security team would carry aboard the Zodiac. It didn't take Tony long to pair the devices and set-up the feed. Of course, Jake and Tony had their own mission, which would take place soon. During the daylight hours, they would examine the ice breaker for potential entry points underwater. He knew of a few possibilities, none of them promising.

"What do you say we get below deck and suit up?" Jake said.

Tony agreed and handed the iPad to a tech, the young man serving as part of the scientific team on the ship.

When the platform elevator leveled in the moon pool room, Jake and Tony slid into their wet suits and dive gear. On today's recon, they planned to use a pair of diver propulsion vehicles for the venture to Zanderthal's ship. The DPV of choice for their excursion operated above and below water. Its yellow body and black undercarriage was shaped with speed in mind. A diver had to hunch over the vehicle and grip the throttle handle like a high performance race motorcycle. In reality, seven and half miles per hour wouldn't touch a motocross bike, but underwater, it was moving on.

Jake received a heads up call from Cat who had been in contact with Dalton and the security team. In the time it took for them to go below deck, suit up and prepare for what lay ahead, the icebreaker moved away from the dock and laid anchor a hundred yards offshore. Jake thought it strange the ship repositioned away from the pier, but it made the distance they needed to cover that much closer.

Once a crewman lowered both DPVs into the moon pool using the overhead crane, Jake and Tony wasted no time in taking to the water. They set off with sunlight revealing the path ahead, zipping through the eerie green depths.

Bits of seaweed floated and swayed, carried by the current like leaves in a pond. Crusty barnacles layered a sunken trawler, a large reeling spool appearing ready to land a yellowfin tuna. A wreck like that should have been teeming with fish, using it as a shelter from larger predators, but there was nothing. The mission at hand loomed large in Jake's mind. He wasn't accustomed to infiltrating a vessel underwater, but he had to admit, it created a buzz he'd have to manage to avoid critical mistakes that could get them captured or killed.

Fifteen minutes later, the dark hull of the Hercules Australis materialized.

"They must have glimpsed Dalton's Zodiac as it explored the bay," Jake said.

Tony's voice: "That would be a good reason to maneuver out to sea... so they'd be ready to split if things got hairy."

"Agreed. There's no way they've seen us. We've been underwater the entire time. Let's get closer and see if we can tell what they're up to."

Jake and Tony took advantage of the sleek DPVs, cruising around to the front of the massive ship and buzzing down the length of its hull. The vessel looked twice as long as the Atlantis. On the starboard side, a gargantuan chain extended to the ocean floor, attached to an anchor in the sand the size of a compact car. The anchor weighed much heavier, however, and held the icebreaker in position.

With Tony on his tail, Jake aimed for the ship's stern. The giant underbelly shielded the sun's rays, resulting in an ominous shadow on the sea floor. Jake stole a glance back at his friend. If he didn't know it was Tony behind him, he might have thought a small great white was stalking him for a learning experience. The notion made him consider the possibility since he knew the predators roamed these waters.

Jake wondered if the fish population had been affected this far south of the sunken trawler they'd passed on the way here. In the distance, a large school of colorful fish answered that question.

"Marine life at ten o'clock."

"A shark?" Tony's response seemed tentative. Their voices had a nasal tone to it, as if trapped in a bottle.

"No, just fish. Can't identify them from this far away. It's just nice to know there's some life out here besides overgrown barracudas."

"What's that up ahead?"

"I don't see anything."

"On the underbelly of the ship."

"Oh, now I see it. Let's slow down and approach the stern." Jake released the talk button on his dive mask. As they neared the last quarter of the ship, one of their options for boarding the vessel appeared from nowhere.

"I didn't realize icebreakers needed a moon pool," Tony said.

"A big one at that. Twice the size of our pool."

"Why do I feel like we just went from the Holiday Inn to the Ritz-Carlton?"

Jake signaled for them to stop shy of the cavity in the ship's belly. What surprised him most was that it was open. That seemed to suggest some kind of activity was or had been going on in the pool room since the Hercules Australis repositioned itself off the coast. Divers could be in the area. They needed to be on alert.

Convenience aside, Jake believed the moon pool wouldn't be a wise entrance for them later. Men could lie in wait for them as they broke the surface. He was certain the welcoming party wouldn't embrace them with warm smiles and hugs. Rather, he envisioned automatic gun fire ripping them full of holes.

"I suppose we'll be looking for an alternate, more difficult means of entry." Tony read the hesitancy in his dive partner.

"That would be a smart idea."

Jake craned his head and gazed toward the bow of the ship. Then he brought his focus back to the stern, sweeping from left to right.

"Follow me."

He turned the underwater craft around in a graceful arc and pointed its nose for the bow. At full speed, Jake neared the anchor chain that stretched from the bottom up to an opening in the icebreaker's hull. The compartment was well above the waterline. Jake knew there had to be a room housing the chain and anchor. Thus, there was a viable means to access the ship.

"If we enter before they pull anchor, we should be able to get in through the gap around the chain," Jake said. "It'll be tight, but doable. I'm certain there's a maintenance hatch leading into the ship. It should work because they have to perform repairs."

"Climbing the chain should be fun," Tony replied.

Jake looked away, his concentration dialed in, focused on saving Sarah. "I've got some ideas for when we return later. An assurance plan, so to speak."

"Mind filling me in?"

"I will, back at the Atlantis," Jake answered. "One other thing. When we come back, if they've already drawn anchor, this entry point will be a no go. I'm sure once it's wound up and in place, the anchor itself will seal us out."

"The moon pool room would be our only option then."

"If it's still open. If both are closed, we'll have to head back to the Atlantis and come up with another plan."

"That would mean scaling the icebreaker with grappling hooks." Tony shook his head. "Cat wouldn't like that."

"We'd have to figure out a way not to tell her. Let's get back to the ship. We can observe Mr. Hercules the rest of the day and prepare for our mission at twilight."