Chapter 46 - The Sinking Fortress
The sound of titanium blades hitting structural steel was catastrophic. A shriek of tearing metal echoed across the ocean as three of the gunship's five rotor blades shattered instantly.
The aircraft shuddered violently, spinning out of control in a wild, smoking vortex. The pilot fought the cyclic stick, but there was no recovering from catastrophic rotor failure. The gunship plunged sideways, smashing through the crane gantry on the far side of the platform and exploding in a massive fireball that lit the Atlantic for miles.
The concussive wave knocked Naomi flat against the wet grating. Shrapnel buzzed through the air like hornets, cutting deep gouges into the metal deck around her.
She rolled to her feet, ignoring the bruising across her ribs, and ran toward the south corner.
Ethan and Clara were huddled by the yellow crane's base. The life capsule—a bright orange, self-righting enclosed survival pod designed for deep-sea oil workers—was suspended over the churning water, its mechanical release lever locked behind an emergency chain.
"The winch is jammed!" Ethan shouted, hammering the rusted release lever with a heavy iron wrench he'd found on the deck. "It won't disengage!"
Below them, a deafening roar tore through the platform as the secondary pylon collapsed. The entire oil rig plunged another ten feet into the sea, listing at a terrifying forty-five-degree angle. Saltwater surged over the lower catwalks, threatening to pull the entire superstructure into the black abyss.
Suddenly, a hand reached from the shadow of the crane's engine housing, grabbing Clara's ankle.
Clara screamed.
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Marcus Sterling dragged himself out from the wreckage of the service shaft, drenched in black oil, his face smeared with soot and blood. His eyes were wide with madness, clutching a heavy industrial wrench in his remaining good hand.
"You're not leaving me!" Marcus snarled, his voice breaking. "If I go down into this black water, the Whitmore name dies with me!"
