The deck-elevator fight begins as an attempted killing of Sigur Johanson and becomes a desperate effort by Leon Anawak and Jack Greywolf to protect him. As the platform is rocked by events elsewhere aboard the vessel, the confrontation turns from a carefully arranged ambush into a deadly struggle, with Greywolf’s death giving the rescue a lasting cost.

The Ambush on the Platform

Vanderbilt and Anderson approach Johanson across the exposed platform. Vanderbilt acknowledges that Johanson has reason to resent them, but when Johanson asks whether they mean to kill him, he denies it and claims he only wants to talk. Anderson’s presence, however, makes the threat plain. Johanson steps backward and finds himself close to the edge, with little room to evade them and the safety net below too limited to make a fall safe. Vanderbilt’s stated assignment is to eliminate Johanson, confirming that the encounter is not merely intimidation.

The Fight Turns

Johanson tries to escape the trap by rushing Vanderbilt and veering away from the edge, but Anderson intercepts him and takes him back toward the platform’s rim. Anawak’s intervention pulls Johanson out of Anderson’s grasp. The rescue is immediately checked by Vanderbilt, who blocks the route to the exit with a gun and orders Anawak to release Anderson. When Anawak complies, Anderson turns on him and carries him toward the edge in turn, making the platform’s danger extend beyond its original target.

Reversal and Greywolf’s Intervention

The platform’s sudden violent shudder throws Floyd Anderson over Sigur Johanson’s head and leaves him motionless. The disruption gives Johanson no immediate safety: Jack Vanderbilt lets go of his gun, then turns on the injured scientist and kicks him while trying to drag him toward the edge. Vanderbilt does not know what has happened to the vessel, but remains intent on carrying out his assignment. Leon Anawak charges in and attacks him, only for Vanderbilt to use his training and strength to bring Anawak down. The rescue attempt has become another struggle for survival on the same exposed platform.

Jack Greywolf advances on Vanderbilt, whose first attack fails to stop him. Greywolf drives Vanderbilt toward the edge and overpowers him; after falling, Vanderbilt finds his gun and fires. Anawak reaches him and knocks the weapon away, but Greywolf has already been hit. Another blast rocks the vessel, and Greywolf, bleeding, goes over the edge into the safety net. Anawak drops beside the platform and urges him to take his hand, while Johanson lies flat and reaches down, unable to reach far enough. Greywolf does not take their hands. He relaxes, rolls from the net, and falls into the water.

Greywolf’s Final Choice

As Greywolf sinks, the scene shifts from the struggle on the platform to his own understanding of what is happening beneath it. He sees whales passing above him and briefly thinks of himself as their friend, then recognizes that they have not noticed him and that they too have been subjugated by a species as ruthless as humanity. The moment recasts his death within the larger conflict: even the whales he once imagined as companions are caught in the same domination he has come to oppose.

Greywolf’s thoughts turn to Licia, who is already lost beneath the water, and to the things he valued that now seem to belong to that submerged world. He does not mistake holding his breath for a way to survive. Instead, he treats it as a final act of control, choosing when to let the water enter his lungs. His hope that one day the whales will be free again, and that he will become one of them, gives his final breath the shape of both farewell and imagined return. His death completes the rescue’s reversal: Anawak and Johanson survive, but Greywolf’s intervention costs him his life.