Pseudopod 211: About 77 Degrees, West of Nassau

[Bdoomed]

Pseudopod 211: About 77 Degrees, West of Nassau

By Don Norum

Read by Cayenne Chris Conroy, of Teknikal Diffikulties — winner of the 2010 Parsec award for Best Speculative Fiction Comedy Podcast

He made another lunging, splashing grab for the edge of the deck above him and fell short, fell back into the water with his fingers scrabbling on smooth fiberglass three feet short of salvation.

Richard le Pine floated onto his back, letting the salt water bump him into the slick hull with every gentle swell. The shadow of the mast stretched out past him onto the water.

He had trouble telling what time it was, or how long it had been. Two hours, maybe three, at least.

No, he thought as he looked up at the mast, longer than that.



Listen to this week's Pseudopod.

[Gorbash]

I found this to be a competent story, well told - it just seemed to be a bit lacking in ... horror.  Pseudopod was undoubtedly the best of the Pods for this to air on, but I don't think it will live long in memory.

Alasdair's outro, though, was solid as ever.  I'd listen to Pseudopod if it was just his thoughts.

[blueeyeddevil]

Wow, no-one wants to comment on this story, it seems. I finished listening to it yesterday, looked on the boards, saw no-one had commented on it, and decided my plaudits and problems were a bit too lukewarm to be the opening salvo.

This story is, in its basic plot, "The Ledge" by King. There's nothing wrong with that. 'Man-forced-suddenly-into-the-unimaginable-hidden-in-the-everyday' is an old and useful chestnut of a style.

This story may have lessened its capacity for true chill-producing by a few small choices it made. One of he great horror tropes of the ocean or any big water is its seemingly endless depth and ability to produce the large and unimaginable. The shallowness of the sea, here, kind of took that away. To be fair, when he described trying to dive down, I did the math in my head: 'ooooh, 30 feet? That's going to be about 15 [I looked it up online] well, 14.7 for every 34 feet, so about 15 psi. That's the equivalent, on average, of having one ton of pressure on every square foot of your body.'
I know, from recent conversations with friends about the oil spill, that most people don't appreciate what just a little psi means.
Had the story been more about him trying to dive for the wrench, and about him finding out that it was so hard to get this thing which is clearly in sight. I think the story might have worked better.

Plus, most people don't sail, they don't have any sort of empathy for exactly what a six-foot-high deck means.

It was an alright story overall, I didn't regret listening. But I probably won't remember it very well later. 

[Scattercat]

Well-written, but all I could think afterward was, "You moron.  Now you're going to face all kinds of legal issues because of your idiot need for revenge.  Hitting them with the wrench would easily be classified as self-defense, but a deliberate and premeditated act of violence with evidence clearly linked to you and your boat means that now you could end up going to prison for murder."

I think my vengeance circuit is atrophied or something.  I don't feel any grim joy or anything seeing bad people experience a turning of the tables.  It just makes me feel sad for the people who've been drawn into the cycle.  I find stories like this very alienating for that reason.

[Sgarre1]

I quite liked it - like something from an old ELLERY QUEEN MYSTERY MAGAZINE that would have been anthologized in the scholastic scope bookmobile purchases of my youth (minus the bad language/violence, of course).  Good suspenseful writing in a situation pretty much anyone could identify with.  I'm with Scattercat in that I'm not a big fan of "vengeance is mine" stories, but for me that's a personal principle and I don't let it interfere with enjoying the occasional piece of fiction (I wouldn't read a lot of stories with the theme, in other words).  But it was horror, as far as I'm concerned, because I'd be horrified to be in that situation.  I guess technically I'd call it a suspense or survival tale, like they used to publish in Men's magazine's like ARGOSY, although I imagine it could also qualify as a bit of sun-drenched noir.

I think the shallowness of the water worked well.   Of course, if it wasn't shallow the story couldn't have worked so it's a technical plot point as well as a choice, but also I liked the visual produced by it and the struggle to grasp the only possible solution.  As for a six foot high deck - both OPEN WATER 2 and an episode of KING OF THE HILL used the same dilemma, so I'm sure those in the popular culture can catch on.

[Scattercat]

Yeah, the shallowness of the water isn't much of an impediment to being fear-inducing.  I'm more irritated that he didn't think of the wrench first thing.  It felt like we needed to build up the tension, so the author just skipped over the part about the wrench until he'd already had his protagonist floating for hours and hours and thus nearly at the end of his strength.  If he'd thought of the wrench first thing, there'd have been almost no tension at all.

[birdless]

Yeah, the shallowness of the water isn't much of an impediment to being fear-inducing.  I'm more irritated that he didn't think of the wrench first thing.  It felt like we needed to build up the tension, so the author just skipped over the part about the wrench until he'd already had his protagonist floating for hours and hours and thus nearly at the end of his strength.  If he'd thought of the wrench first thing, there'd have been almost no tension at all.

I enjoyed the story okay, but, i, too, felt that the decision to dive for the wrench was a long time in coming. He thought up his just-short-of-30-feet rope revenge more quickly than that. Or maybe he was too focused on what he would do if he ever got out of the water to think of the wrench .

This story may have lessened its capacity for true chill-producing by a few small choices it made. One of he great horror tropes of the ocean or any big water is its seemingly endless depth and ability to produce the large and unimaginable. The shallowness of the sea, here, kind of took that away. To be fair, when he described trying to dive down, I did the math in my head: 'ooooh, 30 feet? That's going to be about 15 [I looked it up online] well, 14.7 for every 34 feet, so about 15 psi. That's the equivalent, on average, of having one ton of pressure on every square foot of your body.'
I know, from recent conversations with friends about the oil spill, that most people don't appreciate what just a little psi means.
Had the story been more about him trying to dive for the wrench, and about him finding out that it was so hard to get this thing which is clearly in sight. I think the story might have worked better.

I know 30 feet is a deep dive for the unpracticed (i don't think i could do it), but freedivers dive MUCH deeper than that on a regular basis. It's not out of the realm of possibility for someone to dive 30 feet, especially if their life is on the line.

[Sgarre1]

At least there were no sharks!

[Loz]

Have to admit to a feeling of being lukewarm on this, and also to feeling a bit lost at times too. Did he actually keelhaul the guy as he promised? Did he cheat so as to ensure the guy drowned? I wasn't really sure. In short it felt like a nautical version of Gerald's Game and, while that dragged terrible over three hundred odd pages this managed the same but only in thirty minutes. I'm not sure if that's an achievement or a drawback.

[zoanon]

I need to stop listening to pseudopod before bed :|
I do agree about the wrench, the first thing I thought was "why isn't he looking for that wrench yet?"
 still, I was thoroughly creeped out by this one.  when he got back on the boat I knew the story would take a turn towards revenge, but I was NOT prepared for the casual evil of leaving the man withing reach of the surface.

anyway, its 2 A.M and I'm to freaked to sleep, so I'm off the escape pod for some happy happy SF
ooh, was that doctor horrible I heard quoted in the after commentary?    nice.

[Unblinking]

Have to admit to a feeling of being lukewarm on this, and also to feeling a bit lost at times too. Did he actually keelhaul the guy as he promised? Did he cheat so as to ensure the guy drowned? I wasn't really sure. In short it felt like a nautical version of Gerald's Game and, while that dragged terrible over three hundred odd pages this managed the same but only in thirty minutes. I'm not sure if that's an achievement or a drawback.

I got the impression that he intended to ensure that the guy drowned.  The main clue to this was that he was very careful about the rope length, and said so, I don't think he would've been that exact in the measurement or been so satisfied if it had been an accident.  I think that the keelhaul misdirection was meant entirely to make his last moments that much worse.  He tells him he's not going to kill him, gives him reason to hope, the man thinks he's coming up for blessed air and blessed relief, but BAM, the ropes just a wee bit too short.  His hands can taste the air, but he can't get the air to his face.  If he had a damned snorkel, he could breathe, but nope, he's going to drown just a hair short.

Anyway, this story was all right, not my favorite, though it did pose an interesting dilemma and an interesting solution.  My main quibbles with it were:
1.  I must've missed a note of how shallow the water was.  When I heard the wrench go over the side I imagined it sinking to hundreds of feet of depth, impossible to reach without equipment.  So I'd ruled out the wrench from the list of useful tools.  So his sudden decision to dive for it didn't match my imagining of the situation.  As others have said, if he's an experienced swimmer, and he knew the wrench wasn't too deep, he should have thought of this much sooner.
2.  This isn't so much a problem with the story, as just me having trouble believing the boat design.  They make sailboats with decks 6 feet off the ground, that can be operated by one person, without any way to board if you fall off???  So if you just slip and fall off the side, or get blown off by a gust of wind, you're just going to drown?  That seems like a terrible idea.
3.  I'm with scattercat in that I don't really relate to revenge motivations much, though there have been exceptions.  Again, not a problem with the story, it just makes it harder to relate.

Mod edit: fixed quote tags

[yaksox]

This started to get better when it stopped flicking between 'then' and 'now'. It's been done a bit too much before.
I agree very much with blueeyeddevil in that the scary things about the ocean weren't picked up on -- the plot required they not be I guess. But it was hard to get into the idea of him floating on calm, warm water.

Also the last part was kind of rushed. I've heard the phrase 'keel-hauled' before but never seen it, and had trouble visualising what was supposed to happen, as well as what actually did happen.
What did happen?

[kibitzer]

Did anyone else have a problem with the pirates? Leaving to the guy for days until he drowned seems like a foolish way to do it. I know they wanted the death to look natural, but still...

[Unblinking]

Did anyone else have a problem with the pirates? Leaving to the guy for days until he drowned seems like a foolish way to do it. I know they wanted the death to look natural, but still...

I did wonder about that too--why not just kidnap him, kill him somewhere that's easy to clean, and then "discover" the unoccupied boat a few days later?  You could just say he disappeared at sea.  Or you could drown him yourself instead of waiting for him to drown on his own.

I forgot to mention--the forward-backward time-skipping was distracting to me.  I think it would've worked fine in print, but the pauses weren't quite long enough to make me think "section break", and so I had to backtrack quite a few times when the time jumped.

[eytanz]

Did anyone else have a problem with the pirates? Leaving to the guy for days until he drowned seems like a foolish way to do it. I know they wanted the death to look natural, but still...

I did wonder about that too--why not just kidnap him, kill him somewhere that's easy to clean, and then "discover" the unoccupied boat a few days later?  You could just say he disappeared at sea.  Or you could drown him yourself instead of waiting for him to drown on his own.

I agree - they definitely seemed to have a rather idiotic plot. For one, what if some other ship had wondered by? If they had killed him, or even removed him from the site, then at worst someone else claims the salvage rights. As it is, he can be rescued and testify against them.

Also, I don't really know much about marine law or customs, but if a guy with a lot of marine experience suddenly vanishes and then, a short time later, people show up claiming salvage rights for his boat, then wouldn't there at least be some investigation? The pirates didn't feel like amateurs, so they've either done this before or they have some other criminal background. Wouldn't the authorities get rather suspicious if the same people keep claiming salvage for boats with missing owners?

But really, why wouldn't they just load him on their own boat, then toss him overboard far away from his ship, where he cannot even have a hope of climbing back on? Why not just hold him underwater to drown him and make sure? Why not shoot him, then weigh down his body so he doesn't float to shore?

Their scheme seemed to be designed deliberately to give him an out, like most good old bond villian schemes of old.

[Dave]

One of my favorite narrators, especially for this sort of story. Nautical terror is a special subgenre that holds a particular weight with me, as I cannot swim worth a damn. Add some revenge fantasy, and an excellent reader, and I'm quite satisfied.

Thanks again, Pseudopod!

[Balu]

I did wonder about that too--why not just kidnap him, kill him somewhere that's easy to clean, and then "discover" the unoccupied boat a few days later?  You could just say he disappeared at sea.  Or you could drown him yourself instead of waiting for him to drown on his own.

But really, why wouldn't they just load him on their own boat, then toss him overboard far away from his ship, where he cannot even have a hope of climbing back on? Why not just hold him underwater to drown him and make sure? Why not shoot him, then weigh down his body so he doesn't float to shore?

Presumably because they've watched CSI.

This was a nice, clean way of subjecting somebody to a genuinely natural death.

And if they'd come back to find that he'd been rescued? No problem, they just tootle away in search of another victim.

[Fenrix]

I enjoyed this one. The despair of a slow death due to exposure with safety just out of rech was nicely done.