Dead Men Don't Bite (Jake Dillon Adventure Thriller Series) by Andrew Towning Read Free Book Online

and ten tons of
diesel fuel, that enabled it to achieve around twelve knots
and safely dive to about four hundred and forty feet.
    He paused, grabbing hold of a section of metal rail
that had been bent and twisted down into the water with
great force and looked up at the sheer black side. Nathan
pulled off his fins and hooked them over the rail that he
had been holding onto before starting to climb the ladder.
He pulled himself over the top of the tower and could see
that there was considerable damage to the structure, trying
to imagine what had taken place here all those years before.
    Cunningham gasped as his torch beam captured a
partially uniformed skeleton, still propped up on the other
side of the confined deck. The lower jaw was now relaxed,
giving the skull a look of sheer horror. And a rusty metal
pole, that he’d either fallen on, or had been pushed back
on, had forced its way through skin, vital organs and bone,
smashing ribs, and had exited out of the chest cavity. Nathan
stood taking in the gruesome scene, thinking that it was
a messy way for anyone to go. The thought sent a shiver
up and down his spine, and all the way through Nathan’s
body. He shone the spot-light down through the hatch, and
into the main control room which, he soon discovered, was
completely flooded.
    Slowly he descended the ladder, down into the ice
cold water inside the main control room. He checked his
computer. On the bridge he was still at a depth of fifty-five
feet and had only seventeen minutes of air left. This meant
that he only had seven minutes inside the submarine. The
remaining ten minutes would be needed to take him safely
back to the spare air cylinder at the other end of the tunnel.
    The submarine interior, although completely flooded,
was in remarkably good condition. Nathan floated like an
inert jellyfish in the middle of the dark and gloomy control
room as he became more acclimatised to the cramped
space. It was a reasonable assumption to Nathan, that the
U-boat had come through the tunnel, and then docked
in the cavern. But why? The extreme damage to the hull
and conning tower did not match the orderly scene that he
was now surveying inside. He was fully aware of the Nazi
occupation of the island, and that there had been a lot of
U-boat activity in the region due to the submarine pens at
Brest, St Nazaire, Lorient, Bordeaux and Trondheim. But
he was never aware of one on Jersey.
    He could feel the excitement rising inside him once
again. He’d heard the tales about strange things happening
towards the end of the Second World War. About how a
particular area on the northern shore of the island; had
been made strictly out of bounds to all local residents and
how if anyone was found there they were shot on sight.
    The Nazis had also used local superstition and
fear to keep people away from the Devil’s Hole; so called
because of the weird and some say hellish sounds that can
be heard coming up through the water and from within the
granite itself. But Cunningham had never really believed in
this story that was usually told by the older fishermen, and
had discarded it as a fanciful yarn that was for the benefit
of the tourists, after a few pints of ale.
    He half swam, half pulled himself through the control
room being careful not to disturb anything around him. As
he moved around he noticed that the watertight doors, both
aft and forward had been sealed off, and that this was the
only evidence of there having been any crew members on
board at the time of flooding. There were half a dozen rifles
scattered around the bridge, as if their owners had dropped
them in their haste to leave. The torch beam picked out a
curved object lying in the sediment on the floor. It was just
forward of the conning tower ladder. Swimming over he
reached out with his gloved hand and grabbed hold of what
remained of the gold braided peak of the Korvetenkapitan’s
cap. Surprising that there was any trace at all after so many
years, Cunningham