SeaQuest 2032 (1993–1996): Season 1, Episode 8 - Bad Water - full transcript
A French submarine with school children has been sucked into a fresh water hole, sea quest rushes to save them before their air runs out.
Someone will look for us.
You are very brave.
Don't think about it anymore.
They will find us.
They'll find us, don't think about it,
you are very brave.
Please, here are children
who nearly die from fear of death.
Our captain is dead
and there is only dark around us.
- The captain is dead, the children
- Got them. Sir!
- What have you got?
- Sounds like the pilot was killed
when the sightseeing sub
hit bottom.
They're trapped.
The children are frightened.
Where's our nearest rescue
launch to that French sub?
No way to tell.
I can't zero in on their location.
Acoustic multi-paths,
like they're in a well.
Greensboro tracking says the radio
signal's going to be scrambled
for at
least two days.
The weather service reports winds of 50
miles an hour and the seas are building.
We're not getting any help
from the surface vessels.
- They've all vacated the area.
- Our surge is getting worse, sir.
We're bucking a strong four-knot Gulf
Stream current to hold our position.
Welcome to
the Bermuda Triangle.
Engineering 101.
What do you want
to do about this one?
Ignore it. Probably
an iron ore deposit nearby.
follow the WSKR.
They can't hear you, Lucas.
And even if they did
- we can't get a fix on their position.
- What about the WSKR?
Between the solar flares
and our crazy magnetic readings
most of the other launches have already
been recalled to seaQuest.
We can't just call off the
search and leave them out here to die.
- I know. - Commander?
- Yeah.
I'm getting another
weird reading up here.
- What's it look like?
- We're getting way heavy.
All stop. Hard reverse!
- Going down hard!
- Hold on!
- Drop weights.
- Already gone.
- Blow main ballast.
- Blowing ballast.
- Cargo bay ruptured.
- We're taking on water.
- Drop battery packs.
- If I drop the packs - Do it.
Battery packs away.
Engaging backup systems.
We're full reverse,
still negative weight.
- Drop manipulator arms.
- Manipulator away.
- Trim tanks.
- Away. Still falling.
The survival pod.
Survival pod away.
Radio seaQuest.
Mayday. SeaQuest Launch MR-7
in emergency ascent from 1,000 meters.
- Location uncertain.
- Mayday. Mayday.
- Can we make it to the surface?
- If we're lucky.
Then what?
- We abandon ship.
- Mayday. Mayday.
SeaQuest Launch MR-7
in emergency ascent.
Heading toward the surface.
Mayday. Mayday. Location uncertain.
The 21st century.
Mankind has colonized the last
unexplored region on Earth: the ocean.
As captain of the seaQuest and its crew,
we are its guardians.
For beneath the surface
lies the future.
Survival pod destroyed.
Freshwater sinkhole.
Seas are calm. Minor injuries.
Do you have any idea
where you are?
The surface.
Sun directly overhead.
- Lost him, sir.
- Keep trying.
- He said the sea was calm.
- Well, not on this planet, Cap.
The winds are kicking into the high
60s with major thunderheads.
Ten more miles per hour
and the Bermuda Triangle
is going to give birth to a hurricane.
- What's the Commander's location?
- Their radio signal's refracted to pieces.
I've got them in multiple locations,
inside a 6O kilometer radius.
Damn! Right in the eye
of the hurricane.
Chief,
call the Florida Coast Guard.
Tell them to put in hurricane chasers.
Every available aircraft.
- Yes, sir.
- Attention.
As difficult as it is, I want all of you
to put the Commander
and his party out of your minds.
There's no reason to believe
that they won't be rescued.
Now we're on
a Class 5 rescue mission.
There's been a sightseeing sub down
with children aboard. There is a clock.
Magnetic variance
makes this a guess,
but Cmdr. Ford
was tracking their itinerary
through the west-northwest quadrant.
Before they went down,
I mean, up, sir,
the Commander's launch received the
strongest signal from the French sub.
One quarter ahead.
Bearing 2-9-5.
One quarter,
2-9-5 degrees. Aye.
Mr. O'Neill, that's a 9 million dollar
communications buoy
reeling out behind us,
I'd like to hear something in French.
We keep slipping out of phase, sir.
- I've got Cmdr. Ford. - MR-7 calling
seaQuest. Come in seaQuest.
MR-7, good to hear your voice.
Do you have flares?
Affirmative.
We have auxiliary raft.
Here's the plan,
Commander.
The coast guard search planes
will find you.
We have to concentrate on
the downed French submarine.
Understood.
We're on our own.
Radio check will be
every 15 minutes.
Fifteen minute interval
check-in, affirmative.
Hang on up there.
- SeaQuest out.
- MR-7 out.
How's your head, Lieutenant?
Next time I'll let you open the hatch door.
Lucas what're you doing?
Maybe we can use some of this
stuff from the launch. At least it floats.
Good idea. When you're done,
I've got a task assignment for you.
Inventory our food
and water purification tablets.
Develop a 7-day ration plan.
Just in case.
Dr. Westphalen will sort life vests.
- Krieg, can you fish?
- I had a grandfather. Yes.
Good.
This is sargassum seaweed.
We're in the Sargasso Sea.
Which is slightly alkaline.
Very deep, very clear.
Extremely high salt content.
There are no fish.
There's also no wind.
The Gulf Stream and other currents
swirl around this place
but in the middle nothing moves.
Everything remains extremely calm,
which is what we should do.
Columbus got lost in the Sargasso Sea
on his way to America.
Noted. Axe the fishing. But I want
the rest of my orders carried out.
Excuse me.
Gilligan to Skipper
but are you planning on staying
out here any longer than we are'?
Knock it off.
You're a lieutenant in the UEO navy,
and I need you to act like one.
Anything's possible.
We prepare for anything.
We are dealing
with karstification.
Terrain pockmarked
by sinkholes.
Millions of years ago, the continental
shelf was above sea level.
Over the eons, an extensive series of
caves eroded into the limestone bedrock.
Now water levels have risen and we live
on the ceiling of the entire system.
And when a cavern ceiling collapses,
a sinkhole is formed.
I read about a lake getting
sucked dry into one of them.
Small boats were almost pulled
into the whirlpool.
Now that's what happens when a cavern
beneath is filled with air.
Sometimes they reach down so deep
they pierce an underground aquifer
and they fill with water.
With freshwater.
As you know, seawater is more
buoyant than freshwater
that's why a submarine carries ballasts
and makes itself heavy in the ocean.
Now should it run
into a freshwater column
it instantly becomes overweight
and sinks to the bottom.
That's probably why our French
submarine doesn't show on our scans.
It's probably down a freshwater sinkhole
somewhere running out of air.
Anything else?
Well, they can get big enough
to swallow seaQuest.
Be alert. Be cautious.
Find me some freshwater.
Carry on.
The Triangle never runs out of stuff
to throw at you, does it, Cap?
We're not that far from the coast. You'd
think they would've found us by now.
Is anyone else having trouble
with their ears?
Yeah.
The barometric pressure's
falling. A storm's building.
Our last position had us near
a nasty tropical depression.
How nasty?
Probably a hurricane
by now.
Guys, I don't see it.
That's because
we're probably in its eye.
It's got a name now, Captain.
Hurricane Sheila.
Coast guard's flying the eye,
but it's huge.
Once she starts heading
westward, all bets are off.
WSKRS tethered
and redeployed sir.
Sniffing for freshwater
and our downed WSKR.
All clear on heading
2-7-8 degrees for 600 meters.
- Thank you. We can take that heading.
- Heading 2-7-8 degrees.
Excuse me sir.
It's been almost 2 hours since I've had
any contact with the French sub.
I don't know
if they're still with us.
Well, don't jump to any conclusions.
Their radio may be dead.
What about Cmdr. Ford's party?
Our obligation is to those kids
down there with no hope of rescue.
Someone else will find
the Commander's party.
But for the record,
I'm just as concerned as you are.
Now about the Commander.
They're due to
check in any minute.
This is MR-7 to seaQuest,
come in seaQuest.
Lucas is there any way
we can increase our signature?
If I had some wire.
There's a steel thread running through
this fishing line. Maybe we could use that.
- Yes. I can magnetize it against
the radio's battery pack. Here. - Do it.
SeaQuest.
Lucas!
The chord.
It's pulling him down!
- Are you okay?
- Yeah. - Good going.
Miguel. Sub-surface tracking.
An implosion near the surface.
Another at a 100 feet.
Two hundred feet.
Sir, somethings falling.
Cmdr. Ford's radio.
All right. It's only their radio.
The raft floats, they float.
We've got to believe
they're alive on the surface.
Mr. Ortiz, make
something good of this.
I've got a longitudinal fix
on the radio's implosions.
- What about the UEO satellites?
- Flares are still disrupting.
Chief?
All the surface ships
have evacuated the area, Cap.
Coast guard's down to four planes
and those are gonna be recalled
- once the winds hit 110.
- Direct them to Mr. Ortiz' coordinates.
- Our people have to be along
that line somewhere. - Aye, sir.
It's still just an
educated guess, sir.
There's an iron ore deposit somewhere
beneath us that's corrupting all our data
and since all our acoustic functions
are geared for seawater
we can't trust any sounds
traveling through freshwater.
Suspect everything
except electro gyros.
Triple check all calculations.
Do the math by longhand.
Focus on the children.
We've got to find them.
Yes, sir.
- This is not good.
- Definitely not good.
The winds are picking up
and the seas are getting higher.
I think we should all
have something to eat.
- There you go.
- Thank you. Thanks.
There's one for you.
Will radar bounce off this?
Absolutely.
Tear them all open.
Save the food.
Get the fishing pole.
- We're gonna need some tape.
- Check the first aid kit.
This dried beef ain't bad.
Darwin, Lucas and the others are
in a small boat on the surface.
- Darwin find Lucas?
- Yes, I need you to find Lucas.
Now listen. Do you know the difference
between saltwater and freshwater?
- Water is water.
- Yes.
But this is freshwater.
Open up. Here we go.
- Bad water.
- Yes. Bad water.
You don't want to swim in bad water.
It'll make you heavy.
It'll make you tired.
Stay away from bad water.
- Darwin find Lucas.
- Good.
Come on, baby.
Pick me up a little radar.
Oh, no!
PBM ratings increasing,
please instruct.
- Anything on your end?
- Zip. All my readings are cockamamie.
I'm looking at
the same weird signals.
I can't help but think of those French kids
slowly suffocating.
Well, don't, Tim.
Concentrate on finding them.
- I never was any good at math.
- I was, and I still can't keep up.
- It's the Triangle.
- You don't really believe that hokum?
Superstitions get started for a reason.
People disappear here, Tim.
Knock it off, you guys.
You called about
the communication buoy.
The electrical storm is well
past regulation limits.
The buoy's on a five mile wire.
It should be recalled.
It's the Commander's
only chance to contact us.
It's a risk, sir.
The buoy's one hell
of a lightning rod.
Leave it out there.
- But monitor the storm and keep me
informed. - Yes, sir.
I thought I saw lights.
I swear it was lights.
Could've been lightning
inside the storm.
They've forgotten about us.
This is one of those
character builders, my friend.
You hang on tight,
you take the whipping
and you come out stronger
on the other side.
Cut the crap, Krieg.
I'm not a kid.
You don't have to do that
morale officer stuff for me.
This is who I am.
Glass half full,
that kind of thing.
Yeah. Glass half full of what, Ben?
How can you just sit here and make jokes
when a hurricane is about to kill us?
What do you
want me to do? Give up?
I say as long as we're laughing,
we're moving forward.
And it's important to me.
It's important.
I don't want to move forward.
I want to get out of here.
Wait. Would you
look at that? Look.
You're in the eye!
How many people ever get this close
to an actual hurricane?
Bet you didn't think that was gonna
happen when you woke up this morning.
There's your lights.
The seaQuest
communications buoy!
- And your dolphin!
- Darwin!
Darwin. I can't believe
you found us.
Darwin, go to Bridger,
tell him where we are.
- Do you think he understands?
- I'm sure.
That's why he's out here
in the first place.
Oh, my God.
What if it hits the buoy?
Everybody get down!
Put as much of your bodies
against the rubber as you can.
- Darwin, go, seaQuest. Go!
- Come on! We got to go!
- The system's crashing.
- We're shutting down.
Engage back five.
Power's still out
in every department, Captain.
- Who's watch is it?
- I need MRC here.
- You all right?
- Fine, sir. Thank you.
- Navigation report!
- Fried sir. No response.
- How's he doing?
- I think he'll be all right.
Helm, any control?
Systems fused master gyro erratic.
It's a fight to hold manual.
- Do the best you can.
- Help him out there.
- How are you, son?
- Fine, sir. Okay.
- Hang in there.
- I want two men on
- Sonar, what have you got?
- Cooked sir. Electronic toast.
Beautiful.
Commander?
No joy here.
- Chief? - Same, Cap. I got nothing
working here at all.
Communications?
Communications buoy
completely destroyed.
We're dark.
- How long for repair?
- We may need to dry dock, sir.
How are the WSKRS?
Well, can't be certain but they're
grounded against this sort of thing.
Leave one on point,
bring the other inside.
- Inside?
- Yes. Put it right here. Right here.
Bring a steel saw,
some carpenter's levels.
Open up those sea doors,
Darwin is still outside.
- You got it?
- Yes, sir. - All right.
- Check the laminar flow system.
- Damn!
What shall we do
with the drunken sailor?
What shall we do
with the drunken sailor?
What shall we do
with the drunken sailor?
Early in the morning?
Godspeed
the whales are running,
Godspeed
the whales are running,
Godspeed
the whales are running,
Early in the morning.
Hoo-ray and up she rises,
Hoo-ray and up she rises,
Hoo-ray and up she rises,
early in the morning.
Lucas.
Lucas.
Darwin's dead.
Lucas,
you don't know that.
Look, Lucas,
I need your help.
What can I do?
Can you fix this
so it'll wind continuously?
Do you care about the film inside?
No.
Commander, if any of us are tossed
overboard, we'll never get back.
So I thought a fisherman's bend
to the raft
and then a slipbolen here.
It'll hold firm.
But look, it releases
in a pinch, okay?
Here. Here.
Don't tell me!
Knot tying is not
a big submariner skill.
Don't I love this.
Okay, guys. Pull it up.
Chief?
Okay. Let's strip off
six inches of clean wire.
Bypass the ship's computer
and run connections
from all the stations
down to here.
And no splices,
continuous lengths only.
This guy isn't strong enough
to power all the workstations we need.
Now, I can give you all stations at once
at a fraction of their capacity
or one station up full.
- One station fully operational.
- Okay, which one?
All of them.
- Just one at a time. - Hook everything
into the guidance timer.
We'll give each station 3O seconds
of on-line in sequence.
- Round and round she goes, huh?
- Great idea, Captain.
Captain, it's Darwin.
Sea deck.
You know what to do.
I'll be back.
- What happened?
- Loud light.
- The lightning. - It would've been
like being inside a bass drum.
The concussion would
have been deafening.
- Lucas.
- You found Lucas.
- Yes.
- They're alive.
He's blistering. He must have
been in the freshwater.
Bad water. Deep hole.
People. Lights.
You found the French submarine!
Where? Where are they?
How are you doing?
I'm pretty scared myself.
I think it's okay
to be afraid.
Well, they're not.
Is that what you think?
- My hands are shaking.
- How can you tell'?
All right. You better get
back on with that camera.
The WSKR will be ready to test
in a few minutes, Cap.
I'll be there.
How's the Bridge crew?
Well, I taught them
every sea shanty I know.
Did any of the conduit systems
survive the lightning strike?
They've all melted
and fused together.
Two million volts.
It's a mess. My mess.
- Permission to talk freely, sir?
- Sure.
You can't blame yourself.
I know. At the time,
it was an acceptable risk.
I'm not talking about that.
I mean Lucas.
He's only 16. He shouldn't
have been aboard that launch.
He wanted to help,
Captain.
It would've been wrong
to have stopped him.
There's no way in the world you could've
anticipated all this stuff happening.
I can't not think
about going to find him.
- You know how I feel.
- Yeah, I know.
You feel responsible for him.
You feel responsible
for everybody on this boat.
But that only goes so far.
We all knew the risk.
Not Lucas. At his age,
you don't see the danger.
I'd give my life
to get those people back.
And I know damn well
you would, too.
Well, if we just
keep our chin up
maybe the Triangle
will give us that opportunity.
We're ready
to test it out, sir.
- Who's first?
- Communications.
- You might want to stand clear.
- Ahem. Right, sir.
Thirty seconds per station.
Do you have
a weather report for me?
I caught a fragment
through the WSKR's antenna.
Hurricane Sheila's
gone Category 3.
Winds topping 114 moving northwest
at 35 miles per hour.
- Time's up, Mr. Ortiz.
- Wait a minute!
Sinkhole profiles, sir.
Put Mr. Ortiz
on the center screen.
WSKR tethered at 600 yards.
Switching to phased array view.
Elevating WSKR.
Look at all
those sinkholes, Cap.
- Freshwater readings?
- None, sir.
But I've only analyzed the first two
sinkholes. The others are beyond range.
I can't afford to cut
the last WSKR loose.
We'll have to move the seaQuest
from hole to hole.
- With only one screen up at a time?
- Captain, that could take days.
No.
It's only gonna take two hours.
Because after that
those kids run out of air.
We haven't even had
the worst of it yet.
Kristin,
I'm sorry.
I knew it. I knew
you ate those lobsters.
- I didn't know they were an experiment!
- What else would they be for?
They were in
the galley refrigerator.
To slow their metabolism
not to eat!
- Were they good?
- Yeah.
- I got it! It works!
- Great.
M-R-7
Morse code,
that is brilliant!
- Do you think they'll hear it?
- It's a long shot but it's a shot.
Time's up.
- Anything?
- No, sir. - Upstairs?
The last search plane's
returned to Florida low on fuel.
- Another freshwater sinkhole.
- Topographical map.
Switching sonar
to phased array.
WSKR approaching sinkhole rim.
Getting heavy.
Reeling out tether.
Descending.
Approaching bottom.
Tether locked at 412 feet.
- That's no French sub.
- What is that?
- It looks like a locomotive.
- That's impossible.
Not really. Probably fell off a cargo
ship during a storm 100 years ago.
All that iron is screwing up
our magnetic readings.
You better bring
that WSKR back in.
We'll come back another time.
Four freshwater sinkholes,
on the same axis.
Running north along the
continental shelf to Florida.
Come port side
till I say stop.
- How will you know, sir?
- I'll just feel it, Mr. Carlton.
Corning port, aye.
- Just like the old days, huh, Cap?
- Yeah. Stop.
- Stopping, aye.
- A little bit more.
"A little bit more." Aye.
Maintain that heading.
Sniff me out some freshwater,
Mr. Ortiz.
Well, good to see you.
- Put on the vocorder.
- Aye, sir.
- We're looking for the submarine.
- Light in bad water hole.
- Do you remember where that was?
- Near sand. Sand move.
Sand move. Landslide!
- Near landslide.
- Mr. Ortiz!
Gulf Stream's scrubbed the bottom
flat as a parking lot.
But there is a canyon
two kilometers dead ahead.
- Right where you were taking us.
- Increase speed by one half.
Look for a landslide
on the edge of that canyon.
That's where
you'll find our sinkhole.
- Keep bailing.
- The batteries are dying.
- Do we have any spares?
- No.
Commander, we're getting swamped.
Any suggestions?
The raft will float.
We won't sink.
Inflate your vests! Lucas!
- You all right?
- Yeah!
Where's Ford?
Oh, my God!
Hang on to me! Hang on!
Nice idea.
Got them, sir.
Grappling magnet in place.
Put Mr. O'Neill on line.
They're alive, sir.
- We made it. - We made it. - Yes!
I need an immediate
acoustic sounding.
Captain?
The cavern they're in is huge.
If the ceiling collapses under our weight
we'll be engulfed in freshwater.
- We have to get off the bottom.
- Not till Mr. Ortiz is ready.
We're heavy as it is, sir. Hooking up
to their sub will only make it worse.
We gotta pump out all those
ballast tanks one at a time.
No forward thrust until that submarine
is out of the sinkhole.
- Limestone's cracking. - Mr. Ortiz.
- One more hook to go.
You do know where that debris
is falling, don't you?
- French sub secure.
- Pump out ballast.
- Ballast gone.
- Negative lift, sir. We're still heavy.
- We're frozen, sir. - Ceiling's
collapsing. - Should I out them free?
No! Wait.
- Flood ballast.
- Sir?
- That'll just make us heavier.
- That's right. Excuse me.
Now, if we can collapse
this ceiling that we're on
large enough chunks will fall in and
the saltwater will rush in to replace it.
- It'll dissipate. - But it could give us
momentary buoyancy.
And if we empty the ballast
at the same time
the saltwater will give us
a bounce like a trampoline.
Flooding all tanks.
Here we go.
Pump ballast now.
Away.
Forty feet off the bottom.
Fifty feet,
seventy, a hundred.
Three hundred and fifty feet.
She's clear. The French sub is clear.
All ahead full.
Aye, sir.
I need it quiet in here!
Be quiet!
We're rising into the sound channel.
I'm picking up a signal. Faint, but clear.
M
R
7
That's it.
The batteries are dead.
I can hear something.
I can hear it, too.
Ben, wake up.
SeaQuest. It's the seaQuest!
SeaQuest!
Hello. I'm Bob Ballard from the Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Sinkholes are very common
in the ocean floor off Florida.
A large one was recently
discovered near Tampa Bay.
In fact, our submersible, Alvin,
came across one
in 1,500 feet of water
south of the Florida Keys.
The sub dropped down inside
the sinkhole several hundred feet
before returning safely
to the surface.
See you on the next exciting adventure
of seaQuest DSV.
You are very brave.
Don't think about it anymore.
They will find us.
They'll find us, don't think about it,
you are very brave.
Please, here are children
who nearly die from fear of death.
Our captain is dead
and there is only dark around us.
- The captain is dead, the children
- Got them. Sir!
- What have you got?
- Sounds like the pilot was killed
when the sightseeing sub
hit bottom.
They're trapped.
The children are frightened.
Where's our nearest rescue
launch to that French sub?
No way to tell.
I can't zero in on their location.
Acoustic multi-paths,
like they're in a well.
Greensboro tracking says the radio
signal's going to be scrambled
for at
least two days.
The weather service reports winds of 50
miles an hour and the seas are building.
We're not getting any help
from the surface vessels.
- They've all vacated the area.
- Our surge is getting worse, sir.
We're bucking a strong four-knot Gulf
Stream current to hold our position.
Welcome to
the Bermuda Triangle.
Engineering 101.
What do you want
to do about this one?
Ignore it. Probably
an iron ore deposit nearby.
follow the WSKR.
They can't hear you, Lucas.
And even if they did
- we can't get a fix on their position.
- What about the WSKR?
Between the solar flares
and our crazy magnetic readings
most of the other launches have already
been recalled to seaQuest.
We can't just call off the
search and leave them out here to die.
- I know. - Commander?
- Yeah.
I'm getting another
weird reading up here.
- What's it look like?
- We're getting way heavy.
All stop. Hard reverse!
- Going down hard!
- Hold on!
- Drop weights.
- Already gone.
- Blow main ballast.
- Blowing ballast.
- Cargo bay ruptured.
- We're taking on water.
- Drop battery packs.
- If I drop the packs - Do it.
Battery packs away.
Engaging backup systems.
We're full reverse,
still negative weight.
- Drop manipulator arms.
- Manipulator away.
- Trim tanks.
- Away. Still falling.
The survival pod.
Survival pod away.
Radio seaQuest.
Mayday. SeaQuest Launch MR-7
in emergency ascent from 1,000 meters.
- Location uncertain.
- Mayday. Mayday.
- Can we make it to the surface?
- If we're lucky.
Then what?
- We abandon ship.
- Mayday. Mayday.
SeaQuest Launch MR-7
in emergency ascent.
Heading toward the surface.
Mayday. Mayday. Location uncertain.
The 21st century.
Mankind has colonized the last
unexplored region on Earth: the ocean.
As captain of the seaQuest and its crew,
we are its guardians.
For beneath the surface
lies the future.
Survival pod destroyed.
Freshwater sinkhole.
Seas are calm. Minor injuries.
Do you have any idea
where you are?
The surface.
Sun directly overhead.
- Lost him, sir.
- Keep trying.
- He said the sea was calm.
- Well, not on this planet, Cap.
The winds are kicking into the high
60s with major thunderheads.
Ten more miles per hour
and the Bermuda Triangle
is going to give birth to a hurricane.
- What's the Commander's location?
- Their radio signal's refracted to pieces.
I've got them in multiple locations,
inside a 6O kilometer radius.
Damn! Right in the eye
of the hurricane.
Chief,
call the Florida Coast Guard.
Tell them to put in hurricane chasers.
Every available aircraft.
- Yes, sir.
- Attention.
As difficult as it is, I want all of you
to put the Commander
and his party out of your minds.
There's no reason to believe
that they won't be rescued.
Now we're on
a Class 5 rescue mission.
There's been a sightseeing sub down
with children aboard. There is a clock.
Magnetic variance
makes this a guess,
but Cmdr. Ford
was tracking their itinerary
through the west-northwest quadrant.
Before they went down,
I mean, up, sir,
the Commander's launch received the
strongest signal from the French sub.
One quarter ahead.
Bearing 2-9-5.
One quarter,
2-9-5 degrees. Aye.
Mr. O'Neill, that's a 9 million dollar
communications buoy
reeling out behind us,
I'd like to hear something in French.
We keep slipping out of phase, sir.
- I've got Cmdr. Ford. - MR-7 calling
seaQuest. Come in seaQuest.
MR-7, good to hear your voice.
Do you have flares?
Affirmative.
We have auxiliary raft.
Here's the plan,
Commander.
The coast guard search planes
will find you.
We have to concentrate on
the downed French submarine.
Understood.
We're on our own.
Radio check will be
every 15 minutes.
Fifteen minute interval
check-in, affirmative.
Hang on up there.
- SeaQuest out.
- MR-7 out.
How's your head, Lieutenant?
Next time I'll let you open the hatch door.
Lucas what're you doing?
Maybe we can use some of this
stuff from the launch. At least it floats.
Good idea. When you're done,
I've got a task assignment for you.
Inventory our food
and water purification tablets.
Develop a 7-day ration plan.
Just in case.
Dr. Westphalen will sort life vests.
- Krieg, can you fish?
- I had a grandfather. Yes.
Good.
This is sargassum seaweed.
We're in the Sargasso Sea.
Which is slightly alkaline.
Very deep, very clear.
Extremely high salt content.
There are no fish.
There's also no wind.
The Gulf Stream and other currents
swirl around this place
but in the middle nothing moves.
Everything remains extremely calm,
which is what we should do.
Columbus got lost in the Sargasso Sea
on his way to America.
Noted. Axe the fishing. But I want
the rest of my orders carried out.
Excuse me.
Gilligan to Skipper
but are you planning on staying
out here any longer than we are'?
Knock it off.
You're a lieutenant in the UEO navy,
and I need you to act like one.
Anything's possible.
We prepare for anything.
We are dealing
with karstification.
Terrain pockmarked
by sinkholes.
Millions of years ago, the continental
shelf was above sea level.
Over the eons, an extensive series of
caves eroded into the limestone bedrock.
Now water levels have risen and we live
on the ceiling of the entire system.
And when a cavern ceiling collapses,
a sinkhole is formed.
I read about a lake getting
sucked dry into one of them.
Small boats were almost pulled
into the whirlpool.
Now that's what happens when a cavern
beneath is filled with air.
Sometimes they reach down so deep
they pierce an underground aquifer
and they fill with water.
With freshwater.
As you know, seawater is more
buoyant than freshwater
that's why a submarine carries ballasts
and makes itself heavy in the ocean.
Now should it run
into a freshwater column
it instantly becomes overweight
and sinks to the bottom.
That's probably why our French
submarine doesn't show on our scans.
It's probably down a freshwater sinkhole
somewhere running out of air.
Anything else?
Well, they can get big enough
to swallow seaQuest.
Be alert. Be cautious.
Find me some freshwater.
Carry on.
The Triangle never runs out of stuff
to throw at you, does it, Cap?
We're not that far from the coast. You'd
think they would've found us by now.
Is anyone else having trouble
with their ears?
Yeah.
The barometric pressure's
falling. A storm's building.
Our last position had us near
a nasty tropical depression.
How nasty?
Probably a hurricane
by now.
Guys, I don't see it.
That's because
we're probably in its eye.
It's got a name now, Captain.
Hurricane Sheila.
Coast guard's flying the eye,
but it's huge.
Once she starts heading
westward, all bets are off.
WSKRS tethered
and redeployed sir.
Sniffing for freshwater
and our downed WSKR.
All clear on heading
2-7-8 degrees for 600 meters.
- Thank you. We can take that heading.
- Heading 2-7-8 degrees.
Excuse me sir.
It's been almost 2 hours since I've had
any contact with the French sub.
I don't know
if they're still with us.
Well, don't jump to any conclusions.
Their radio may be dead.
What about Cmdr. Ford's party?
Our obligation is to those kids
down there with no hope of rescue.
Someone else will find
the Commander's party.
But for the record,
I'm just as concerned as you are.
Now about the Commander.
They're due to
check in any minute.
This is MR-7 to seaQuest,
come in seaQuest.
Lucas is there any way
we can increase our signature?
If I had some wire.
There's a steel thread running through
this fishing line. Maybe we could use that.
- Yes. I can magnetize it against
the radio's battery pack. Here. - Do it.
SeaQuest.
Lucas!
The chord.
It's pulling him down!
- Are you okay?
- Yeah. - Good going.
Miguel. Sub-surface tracking.
An implosion near the surface.
Another at a 100 feet.
Two hundred feet.
Sir, somethings falling.
Cmdr. Ford's radio.
All right. It's only their radio.
The raft floats, they float.
We've got to believe
they're alive on the surface.
Mr. Ortiz, make
something good of this.
I've got a longitudinal fix
on the radio's implosions.
- What about the UEO satellites?
- Flares are still disrupting.
Chief?
All the surface ships
have evacuated the area, Cap.
Coast guard's down to four planes
and those are gonna be recalled
- once the winds hit 110.
- Direct them to Mr. Ortiz' coordinates.
- Our people have to be along
that line somewhere. - Aye, sir.
It's still just an
educated guess, sir.
There's an iron ore deposit somewhere
beneath us that's corrupting all our data
and since all our acoustic functions
are geared for seawater
we can't trust any sounds
traveling through freshwater.
Suspect everything
except electro gyros.
Triple check all calculations.
Do the math by longhand.
Focus on the children.
We've got to find them.
Yes, sir.
- This is not good.
- Definitely not good.
The winds are picking up
and the seas are getting higher.
I think we should all
have something to eat.
- There you go.
- Thank you. Thanks.
There's one for you.
Will radar bounce off this?
Absolutely.
Tear them all open.
Save the food.
Get the fishing pole.
- We're gonna need some tape.
- Check the first aid kit.
This dried beef ain't bad.
Darwin, Lucas and the others are
in a small boat on the surface.
- Darwin find Lucas?
- Yes, I need you to find Lucas.
Now listen. Do you know the difference
between saltwater and freshwater?
- Water is water.
- Yes.
But this is freshwater.
Open up. Here we go.
- Bad water.
- Yes. Bad water.
You don't want to swim in bad water.
It'll make you heavy.
It'll make you tired.
Stay away from bad water.
- Darwin find Lucas.
- Good.
Come on, baby.
Pick me up a little radar.
Oh, no!
PBM ratings increasing,
please instruct.
- Anything on your end?
- Zip. All my readings are cockamamie.
I'm looking at
the same weird signals.
I can't help but think of those French kids
slowly suffocating.
Well, don't, Tim.
Concentrate on finding them.
- I never was any good at math.
- I was, and I still can't keep up.
- It's the Triangle.
- You don't really believe that hokum?
Superstitions get started for a reason.
People disappear here, Tim.
Knock it off, you guys.
You called about
the communication buoy.
The electrical storm is well
past regulation limits.
The buoy's on a five mile wire.
It should be recalled.
It's the Commander's
only chance to contact us.
It's a risk, sir.
The buoy's one hell
of a lightning rod.
Leave it out there.
- But monitor the storm and keep me
informed. - Yes, sir.
I thought I saw lights.
I swear it was lights.
Could've been lightning
inside the storm.
They've forgotten about us.
This is one of those
character builders, my friend.
You hang on tight,
you take the whipping
and you come out stronger
on the other side.
Cut the crap, Krieg.
I'm not a kid.
You don't have to do that
morale officer stuff for me.
This is who I am.
Glass half full,
that kind of thing.
Yeah. Glass half full of what, Ben?
How can you just sit here and make jokes
when a hurricane is about to kill us?
What do you
want me to do? Give up?
I say as long as we're laughing,
we're moving forward.
And it's important to me.
It's important.
I don't want to move forward.
I want to get out of here.
Wait. Would you
look at that? Look.
You're in the eye!
How many people ever get this close
to an actual hurricane?
Bet you didn't think that was gonna
happen when you woke up this morning.
There's your lights.
The seaQuest
communications buoy!
- And your dolphin!
- Darwin!
Darwin. I can't believe
you found us.
Darwin, go to Bridger,
tell him where we are.
- Do you think he understands?
- I'm sure.
That's why he's out here
in the first place.
Oh, my God.
What if it hits the buoy?
Everybody get down!
Put as much of your bodies
against the rubber as you can.
- Darwin, go, seaQuest. Go!
- Come on! We got to go!
- The system's crashing.
- We're shutting down.
Engage back five.
Power's still out
in every department, Captain.
- Who's watch is it?
- I need MRC here.
- You all right?
- Fine, sir. Thank you.
- Navigation report!
- Fried sir. No response.
- How's he doing?
- I think he'll be all right.
Helm, any control?
Systems fused master gyro erratic.
It's a fight to hold manual.
- Do the best you can.
- Help him out there.
- How are you, son?
- Fine, sir. Okay.
- Hang in there.
- I want two men on
- Sonar, what have you got?
- Cooked sir. Electronic toast.
Beautiful.
Commander?
No joy here.
- Chief? - Same, Cap. I got nothing
working here at all.
Communications?
Communications buoy
completely destroyed.
We're dark.
- How long for repair?
- We may need to dry dock, sir.
How are the WSKRS?
Well, can't be certain but they're
grounded against this sort of thing.
Leave one on point,
bring the other inside.
- Inside?
- Yes. Put it right here. Right here.
Bring a steel saw,
some carpenter's levels.
Open up those sea doors,
Darwin is still outside.
- You got it?
- Yes, sir. - All right.
- Check the laminar flow system.
- Damn!
What shall we do
with the drunken sailor?
What shall we do
with the drunken sailor?
What shall we do
with the drunken sailor?
Early in the morning?
Godspeed
the whales are running,
Godspeed
the whales are running,
Godspeed
the whales are running,
Early in the morning.
Hoo-ray and up she rises,
Hoo-ray and up she rises,
Hoo-ray and up she rises,
early in the morning.
Lucas.
Lucas.
Darwin's dead.
Lucas,
you don't know that.
Look, Lucas,
I need your help.
What can I do?
Can you fix this
so it'll wind continuously?
Do you care about the film inside?
No.
Commander, if any of us are tossed
overboard, we'll never get back.
So I thought a fisherman's bend
to the raft
and then a slipbolen here.
It'll hold firm.
But look, it releases
in a pinch, okay?
Here. Here.
Don't tell me!
Knot tying is not
a big submariner skill.
Don't I love this.
Okay, guys. Pull it up.
Chief?
Okay. Let's strip off
six inches of clean wire.
Bypass the ship's computer
and run connections
from all the stations
down to here.
And no splices,
continuous lengths only.
This guy isn't strong enough
to power all the workstations we need.
Now, I can give you all stations at once
at a fraction of their capacity
or one station up full.
- One station fully operational.
- Okay, which one?
All of them.
- Just one at a time. - Hook everything
into the guidance timer.
We'll give each station 3O seconds
of on-line in sequence.
- Round and round she goes, huh?
- Great idea, Captain.
Captain, it's Darwin.
Sea deck.
You know what to do.
I'll be back.
- What happened?
- Loud light.
- The lightning. - It would've been
like being inside a bass drum.
The concussion would
have been deafening.
- Lucas.
- You found Lucas.
- Yes.
- They're alive.
He's blistering. He must have
been in the freshwater.
Bad water. Deep hole.
People. Lights.
You found the French submarine!
Where? Where are they?
How are you doing?
I'm pretty scared myself.
I think it's okay
to be afraid.
Well, they're not.
Is that what you think?
- My hands are shaking.
- How can you tell'?
All right. You better get
back on with that camera.
The WSKR will be ready to test
in a few minutes, Cap.
I'll be there.
How's the Bridge crew?
Well, I taught them
every sea shanty I know.
Did any of the conduit systems
survive the lightning strike?
They've all melted
and fused together.
Two million volts.
It's a mess. My mess.
- Permission to talk freely, sir?
- Sure.
You can't blame yourself.
I know. At the time,
it was an acceptable risk.
I'm not talking about that.
I mean Lucas.
He's only 16. He shouldn't
have been aboard that launch.
He wanted to help,
Captain.
It would've been wrong
to have stopped him.
There's no way in the world you could've
anticipated all this stuff happening.
I can't not think
about going to find him.
- You know how I feel.
- Yeah, I know.
You feel responsible for him.
You feel responsible
for everybody on this boat.
But that only goes so far.
We all knew the risk.
Not Lucas. At his age,
you don't see the danger.
I'd give my life
to get those people back.
And I know damn well
you would, too.
Well, if we just
keep our chin up
maybe the Triangle
will give us that opportunity.
We're ready
to test it out, sir.
- Who's first?
- Communications.
- You might want to stand clear.
- Ahem. Right, sir.
Thirty seconds per station.
Do you have
a weather report for me?
I caught a fragment
through the WSKR's antenna.
Hurricane Sheila's
gone Category 3.
Winds topping 114 moving northwest
at 35 miles per hour.
- Time's up, Mr. Ortiz.
- Wait a minute!
Sinkhole profiles, sir.
Put Mr. Ortiz
on the center screen.
WSKR tethered at 600 yards.
Switching to phased array view.
Elevating WSKR.
Look at all
those sinkholes, Cap.
- Freshwater readings?
- None, sir.
But I've only analyzed the first two
sinkholes. The others are beyond range.
I can't afford to cut
the last WSKR loose.
We'll have to move the seaQuest
from hole to hole.
- With only one screen up at a time?
- Captain, that could take days.
No.
It's only gonna take two hours.
Because after that
those kids run out of air.
We haven't even had
the worst of it yet.
Kristin,
I'm sorry.
I knew it. I knew
you ate those lobsters.
- I didn't know they were an experiment!
- What else would they be for?
They were in
the galley refrigerator.
To slow their metabolism
not to eat!
- Were they good?
- Yeah.
- I got it! It works!
- Great.
M-R-7
Morse code,
that is brilliant!
- Do you think they'll hear it?
- It's a long shot but it's a shot.
Time's up.
- Anything?
- No, sir. - Upstairs?
The last search plane's
returned to Florida low on fuel.
- Another freshwater sinkhole.
- Topographical map.
Switching sonar
to phased array.
WSKR approaching sinkhole rim.
Getting heavy.
Reeling out tether.
Descending.
Approaching bottom.
Tether locked at 412 feet.
- That's no French sub.
- What is that?
- It looks like a locomotive.
- That's impossible.
Not really. Probably fell off a cargo
ship during a storm 100 years ago.
All that iron is screwing up
our magnetic readings.
You better bring
that WSKR back in.
We'll come back another time.
Four freshwater sinkholes,
on the same axis.
Running north along the
continental shelf to Florida.
Come port side
till I say stop.
- How will you know, sir?
- I'll just feel it, Mr. Carlton.
Corning port, aye.
- Just like the old days, huh, Cap?
- Yeah. Stop.
- Stopping, aye.
- A little bit more.
"A little bit more." Aye.
Maintain that heading.
Sniff me out some freshwater,
Mr. Ortiz.
Well, good to see you.
- Put on the vocorder.
- Aye, sir.
- We're looking for the submarine.
- Light in bad water hole.
- Do you remember where that was?
- Near sand. Sand move.
Sand move. Landslide!
- Near landslide.
- Mr. Ortiz!
Gulf Stream's scrubbed the bottom
flat as a parking lot.
But there is a canyon
two kilometers dead ahead.
- Right where you were taking us.
- Increase speed by one half.
Look for a landslide
on the edge of that canyon.
That's where
you'll find our sinkhole.
- Keep bailing.
- The batteries are dying.
- Do we have any spares?
- No.
Commander, we're getting swamped.
Any suggestions?
The raft will float.
We won't sink.
Inflate your vests! Lucas!
- You all right?
- Yeah!
Where's Ford?
Oh, my God!
Hang on to me! Hang on!
Nice idea.
Got them, sir.
Grappling magnet in place.
Put Mr. O'Neill on line.
They're alive, sir.
- We made it. - We made it. - Yes!
I need an immediate
acoustic sounding.
Captain?
The cavern they're in is huge.
If the ceiling collapses under our weight
we'll be engulfed in freshwater.
- We have to get off the bottom.
- Not till Mr. Ortiz is ready.
We're heavy as it is, sir. Hooking up
to their sub will only make it worse.
We gotta pump out all those
ballast tanks one at a time.
No forward thrust until that submarine
is out of the sinkhole.
- Limestone's cracking. - Mr. Ortiz.
- One more hook to go.
You do know where that debris
is falling, don't you?
- French sub secure.
- Pump out ballast.
- Ballast gone.
- Negative lift, sir. We're still heavy.
- We're frozen, sir. - Ceiling's
collapsing. - Should I out them free?
No! Wait.
- Flood ballast.
- Sir?
- That'll just make us heavier.
- That's right. Excuse me.
Now, if we can collapse
this ceiling that we're on
large enough chunks will fall in and
the saltwater will rush in to replace it.
- It'll dissipate. - But it could give us
momentary buoyancy.
And if we empty the ballast
at the same time
the saltwater will give us
a bounce like a trampoline.
Flooding all tanks.
Here we go.
Pump ballast now.
Away.
Forty feet off the bottom.
Fifty feet,
seventy, a hundred.
Three hundred and fifty feet.
She's clear. The French sub is clear.
All ahead full.
Aye, sir.
I need it quiet in here!
Be quiet!
We're rising into the sound channel.
I'm picking up a signal. Faint, but clear.
M
R
7
That's it.
The batteries are dead.
I can hear something.
I can hear it, too.
Ben, wake up.
SeaQuest. It's the seaQuest!
SeaQuest!
Hello. I'm Bob Ballard from the Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Sinkholes are very common
in the ocean floor off Florida.
A large one was recently
discovered near Tampa Bay.
In fact, our submersible, Alvin,
came across one
in 1,500 feet of water
south of the Florida Keys.
The sub dropped down inside
the sinkhole several hundred feet
before returning safely
to the surface.
See you on the next exciting adventure
of seaQuest DSV.