Schwartz maneuvered the Sea Scan so the side-scan sonar could take a better look. Gradually, a long broken cylinder developed on the screen with one end bent ninety degrees to the main axis.

Schwartz whistled. This could be it. It had the characteristics of a submarine debris field.

Perkins awoke from his catnap and sat up when he heard Schwartz whistle, then grunt. He saw the sonar display and knew at once what it was. Schwartz nodded, confirming that their thoughts matched. Perkins grabbed an MJ phone, selected the periscope stand on the station selector, and spun the dial. He heard Glass’s growling voice answer on the other end.

“Skipper, we’ve found what we think is a debris field. We’re bringing the Sea Scan in for a visual look right now. The picture is patched to the periscope video display, so you should see the same thing that we’re seeing down here.”

Glass snapped on the video monitor and moved closer. Edwards squeezed in next to him, and both men watched intently. So far, there was nothing to see but an occasional pale, curious fish flitting through the patch of dim light that stretched out ahead of the robot.

Perez left his navigation plot to stand beside them. The control room was quiet as they waited, watching, not sure what they might see in the next few moments. The sense of dread hung thick in the cramped room.

The bottom came into sharper focus. There it was—the unmistakable shape of a submarine. One that had been tortured. One that had died a horrible death.

Those watching in the control room breathed once again, but several men groaned. Joe Glass felt a wave of nausea well up in his gut.

Sea Scan eased closer, approaching what looked like it might be the bow of the boat. The impact with the bottom had bent it over, cocking it off at an odd angle. As the robot continued its exploration, it played its camera on a section of the hull where they could make out a huge hole, opening into the innards of the dead boat. The signs were obvious, even through the murky water. A large explosion of some kind had torn a hole in the boat’s skin, ripping inward from the outside and caving it in.

Sea Scan moved farther along the hull. They could see the wreckage of what once must have been the sail. Some gigantic force had ripped it almost off.

There was another hole, very similar to the first one, but lower down. An explosion had smashed into what once had been the engine room. Again, the damage was devastating.

Joe Glass swallowed hard and turned away from the screen, the horror of what they were seeing washing over his pale face. There was no chance of any survivors here, no one for them to rescue from this boat.