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I awoke with a start!
In the cold and the dark. ..
With a nightmare fresh in my mind.
Someone tells me it is time to go on watch ...
I say, "There must be some mistake!
l 'm not supposed to be here!''
He laughs, then says
"Neither am I."
On my vay to my watch station
I sneak a nervous glance at the hatch,
And try not to think about
The 30.000 pounds of pressure put on it
For every l 00 feet we go down,
Making it humanly impossible to open,
From the inside,
Once underwater.
One explosion. then another rock the boat!
lt starts immediately down
And ploughs a groove
In the shallow muddy bottom.
Emergency lights come on in engineering.
The reactor shuts down automatically.
The ''survivors" try franticaHy to contact someone
In the control room.
All forward circuits are dead.
Damage report!
Slow leaks aft!
All electrical circuits are dead!
No battery power!
Status report!
Several broken bones. one concussion.
Plenty of water, no food, air for 10 days.
Water temperature ouside go.
Inside temperature 70° and dropping.
Orders
Go to the escape hatch and wait to be rescued.
Conserve air.
Conserve body heat.
Conserve emergency lights.
And wait... And wait... And wait...
Those to be rescued first wait in the escape hatch.
The rest just below.
A scraping on the hull!
Metal to metal!
Hope!
Those waiting in the escape hatch
Frantically tap out S.O.S.!
As the long hours pass,
Hopes of a quick rescue fade.
When the noises cease ...
Silence ...
And more silence.
Rescue attempt after rescue attempt is carried out
As the temperature drops ...
And the air goes bad ...
And the temperature drops .. .
And the temperature drops .. .
And drops.
To go inside and out
Of the water ...
Of the submarine .. ,
Of the bodies of the "survivors."
I awake with a start!
In the cold and the dark ...
With the nightlnare fresh in my mind
And read the headlines about
The Kursk.