“He’s waving to us,” Jelbart said. “It must be someone who did not want the ship to go down.”

“That would be someone we definitely want to talk to,” Herbert remarked.

“If we do get him, we’ll have to leave immediately,” the pilot said. “The extra weight is going to put a strain on our fuel consumption.”

“I understand,” Jelbart said. “Let’s get him.”

The pilot acknowledged. There may be other survivors out there. He did not like the idea of leaving them. Not at night in a cold, tortured sea. But he liked even less the prospect of having to ditch the Bell at sea if they could not reach shore.

“Officer Loh, would you deploy the ladder?” the pilot asked. He turned the chopper around.

Loh held on to the canvas strap beside the door, then opened it. She leaned out. The downdraft was stronger than she expected. She had to brace herself against the other side of the doorway.

The man was treading water beside the other sailor. He had turned the body onto its back. It did not appear to be moving. She used her left foot to kick the ladder out. The man was far enough away so that it would not hit him when deployed. The ladder clattered gently as it unrolled. Loh leaned out again.

“Can he make it without assistance?” Jelbart asked.

“He’s trying,” Loh replied. “He’s swimming toward it but only using one arm. The other seems to be injured.”

“I can’t go any lower or we’ll blow him under,” the pilot said.

Loh watched as the man threw his right arm up. He grabbed the lowest rung and brought his left arm over. He was having trouble raising it. His left arm looked like it might be broken.

“He’s struggling,” Loh said. She turned around. “I’m going down.”

“Officer, take these!” the pilot said. He handed her his gloves. “They’ll help your grip.”

“Thank you,” she said as she pulled them on. Loh backed out the open door and started down.

The ladder vibrated as the naval officer made her way down. There were twenty rungs to the surface of the sea. She took them slowly. The rungs, FNO Loh’s cheeks, and her clothing quickly became damp with seawater. The gloves proved to be a lifesaver.

Every few steps the officer looked down. She wanted to make sure the sailor was still hanging on. He was there, his right arm hooked over the rung. If he went under, Loh knew that she would have to drop in to retrieve him.

The descent went quickly. When Loh was one rung above him, she carefully stepped to the rung he was holding. His expression was tight. He appeared to be in extreme pain.

“Can you put your bad arm around my shoulder?” she yelled down.