Of Lakes, Mysteries and the Odd Lunatic

Chapter IXX: In Which Mason finds himself under pressure

Chapter IXX

In Which Mason finds himself under pressure

 

Lawrence watched Mason climb down the ladder affixed to the side of the boat from the bridge. The water closed in over his head, and reaching the end of the ladder, he let himself fall gently into the depths, the weight of his diving belt carrying him down. Lawrence lost sight of him very quickly as the waters of the lake were slightly murky, as well as very dark.

“Everything okay down there, Mason?” Lawrence spoke carefully into the microphone.

“Yes, sir, everything’s working fine...mrphhhhchh...The air is a bit damp, but that’s all.”

“Can you see the lakebed yet?”

“Yes, I can. In fact...chhhhhphhh...-st landed on it now. It’s quite sticky, and these boots are heavy, too.”

“Right, the Machine should be somewhere near the base of the point. It may be covered by sand, so look carefully.”

“Quite, sir. I’ll just--mrphchhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.” Lawrence looked wide eyed at the speaker on the radio console. An endless stream of static was spurting out of it. He grasped the microphone with worried hands.

“Mason? Mason, can you hear me?” There was no reply. He felt the blood drain from his face, and he started breaking out in a cold sweat.

Lawrence tried to calm himself down. It was just some interference, maybe all the metal around. Or, perhaps, Mason’s radio battery had died, although that couldn’t be true because Lawrence had checked it at least twice before Mason had donned the suit.

He dashed down the stairs to the deck and looked over the side.

“Can anyone see him? Can you?”

Lars looked at Lawrence with his big, wide eyes. He spoke with a Welsh accent.

“No, Lawrence, he’s too far down. Is there a problem?”

“Yes, we’ve lost radio contact.”

“Oh...”

“Yes, a very big ‘oh’. And keep pumping that air. Look out for any bubbles. If his helmet’s been ruptured there’ll be bubbles.”

Lawrence, Lars and the rest of the crew that were available all leaned over the side of the boat that Mason had submerged from, scanning the water for any sign of disturbance.

The lake was flat. There were no bubbles. Lawrence watched for a few minutes more, then stood up fully.

“If there are no bubbles, that mean’s Mason is still alive. It was a mere radio failure.” The tension on the boat relaxed somewhat, but it would not be fully gone until the butler was safe and dry on the boat and they were sailing back to the harbour.

 

Five minutes later, and the pumping team was beginning to tire. Lawrence and Lars took over for a short period, enough to give the others a rest. There was still no sign of Mason. Once Lawrence had finished his time on the pump, he went back up to the bridge to try the radio once more.

It was still a wall of static. Lawrence rested his head on his hands. Then decided that that wasn’t going to help anybody and went back down for another round at the pump.

Mason should be up any time now.

 

It was a shock to all those on the boat when from the water burst a dull, brass ball with circular gratings on the side, splashing lakewater in all directions. Attached to this ball was a thick, heavy diving suit, and within that suit was a man.