With a sickening crunch, the Lexan dome struck bottom. Naturally buoyant, the sub bounced upward, only to be spun and inhaled by a powerful current that grabbed our inverted vessel and propelled us along the bottom.

I saw ice and then I saw stars as the Barracuda plowed bow-first and upside-down into the narrow space between the molar-shaped underside of an iceberg and the silt-covered sea floor.

“Well done,” I said, the blood rushing to my face. “I hope this death trap has a reverse gear.”

“Sit tight, I got this.” Ben tapped the thrusters, attempting to torque us free, only to jam the inverted starboard fin in deeper.

“You’re a maniac. No wonder the Air Force gave you the boot.”

“Hey, you don’t know shit about it, so shut up. And this little setback, it’s all part of the learning process. Get the kinks out. We’ll be out of here in no time.”

“Maybe we can get a tow from a passing flock of penguins?”

“Stop talking and let me think.”

“See, that’s the trouble with you action-types, there’s always time to think after you get your big balls caught in a vice.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Butts are for crapping. Answer my question. Does this acrylic coffin have a reverse gear or not?”

“I was going to say you first have to manually reverse the drive shaft.”

“Which I’m guessing you don’t know how to do.”

“It was on the top of my to-do list. There’s a manual in the compartment by your right knee. Make yourself useful.”

I fished the thick booklet out, my head throbbing. “Oh good, it’s in Chinese. What’s Mandarin for dickhead?”

“Screw the reverse gear. I’m powering up the Valkyries.”

My pulse raced. “Have you ever done this before?”

“I haven’t done any of this before. Should I give it the old Ivy League try, or would you prefer to just sit here until our air runs out?”

“Okay, okay. But listen first. Don’t try to blast out the Holland tunnel. Just melt enough ice so that we have room to spin around in a tight circle and get out the way we came in.”

“Got it.”

“No, you don’t got it! Evaporate too much ice in these conditions and it will create a vacuum effect which could suck us in deeper beneath the iceberg.”

He paused as my words sank in. “Tap it and turn. Got it.”

“Not yet, you don’t. This has to be done simultaneously. One of us works the laser; the other jams one foot pedal down to the floor while turning the joystick hard to the same side. But only just enough to turn us 180 degrees, or we’ll spin right back where we started, only deeper.”

The berg groaned around us, sending the internal pod’s psi readings from green to orange.

“Okay, Zach, which one do you want to do?”