Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

occurs.â€
    â€œIn other words, shut up and listen,†Ilya translated from where he was leaning against the wal , arms folded across his chest.
    Tyson nodded. “We’re not using that method of sinking the ship anyway. We’re using door number two—the second method. We’re going to make the water less dense than the yacht.†A wide grin spread over Tyson’s face, his gaze nearly reverent as he looked at Damon.
    â€œThis plan is a thing of beauty. You’re definitely the master, Yoda.â€
    Jonas huffed out a breath, obviously grinding his teeth together. “Okay, Master, how do we make the water lighter than the ship?â€
    â€œWe’re going to break the hydrate seal over the deposit on the continental shelf. That wil eject methane gas into the water. The gas wil rush to the surface in a column, breaking into smal er and smal er bubbles on its way up. The key, and this is where our hidden current comes into play, is to have a very swift and contained escape of gas, providing a patch of highly agitated, tremendously fizzy water.â€
    Ty took up the explanation, seeing the incredulous looks surrounding them. “Because the water is fil ed with tiny methane bubbles, it wil be mainly methane gas, not air. And methane is half as dense as air. The air in the yacht is actual y below sea level, al owing it to float, but now the craft is sitting on the one spot in the sea that’s less dense and that baby is going to sink.â€
    There was a stunned silence. “Are you certain?†Jonas asked. “Wil they be able to get off the ship before it goes down?â€
    â€œIt’s going to sink like a stone, although the one drawback I can foresee is that the deposit I want to tap in to is located about halfway to the bottom. Which means when the ship goes down it wil be trapped halfway, it won’t sink al the way to the bottom,†Damon said.
    â€œI wouldn’t worry too much,†Tyson said. “Instincts wil make them want to swim up to the surface using the shortest route, but they won’t be able to. It’s the Dead Sea in reverse.â€
    Jackson rubbed his fingers over his eyes. “What’s the Dead Sea in reverse? What are you talking about?â€
    Damon shrugged. “In the Dead Sea, there’s such a heavy concentration of salt that the molecules are so close to one another and so dense that the water is extremely buoyant. One thing you real y never want to do is dive perpendicular into that sea. If you were to dive straight down, you could get stuck, literal y stuck, head down, feet up, with no way to get out. The buoyancy of the water would just trap you in that position and you’d drown.â€
    â€œYou’re making this up,†Matt said.
    â€œNope. It’s true. And if Stavros were to realize he’s in methane gas, which he won’t because he’l be panicked and disoriented, he could, in theory, swim down and then away, getting clear of the localized patch of gas and back up to the surface. Of course the water is cold and if there’s a storm at sea, he’s not going to make it, but there’s that slim possibility.â€
    â€œWhat about other ships?†Jonas asked.
    â€œTwo things. Inez has invited every fisherman from here to hel and back to the wedding and we’ve created a forecast of an impending storm with warnings about the surf,†Damon said.
    â€œAnd I made certain it was backed with a bad feeling about going out on the water today,†Ilya added.
    â€œHow long wil we have to keep other ships away?†Jonas asked.

    â€œThe gas wil dissipate rapidly. By that time the ship wil have fil ed with water and it wil sink to the bottom. If a trace of the gas is found, it wil only add to the mystery. No other ship wil be in jeopardy because it’s the concentrated burst that we need to take him down and that wil be over,â€
    Damon added.
    â€œWe’re also going to make certain there’s enough psychic energy occurring to entice him. Abbey’s going to put on a display in the sea. Hannah wil create a show in the sky. Everything done wil , later in the retel ing, look as though the events led up to a true physics phenomenon.
    Natural y, Abbey and Hannah and every other participant in the anomaly wil be on that beach watching Jackson and El e exchange vows,†Damon added. “Perfect