“I don’t think they want to kill us,” Jake said.
“They also don’t want you to leave,” she replied as she walked forward and handed him a cup of coffee.
“Good point,” he said, but inside he was suddenly having doubts about her. Maybe AJ was right. Maybe she was working for the machines. He looked at his crew surrounding the table. “What that means is that we’re only going to have one shot at this. If they catch us trying to escape, they will probably never give us this much freedom again.”
“You know,” Raines said, “it’s likely that they will take this ship away from us.”
“I do know that,” Jake said, “but I also know I can’t sit back and pretend everything is normal while the countdown to the end of humanity ticks on.”
“Sounds like you’re talking about the Fall of Man,” Vee said.
“In our case, the Second Fall,” Raines said. “Or maybe the Final Fall.”
“I have an idea,” Stacy said, making everyone stop talking and turn to face her. “Instead of sitting here figuring out what to call the end of the world, how about we do something to stop it from happening.” Jake looked at AJ and gave her his best, I told you so, look. She just knitted her eyebrows and faced the display.
“So, I count fourteen water vents of varying sizes,” Vee said. “How exactly do we decide which one to try?”
“We need to sort them as best we can,” Jake said, looking at Jessie. “Can you identify the intakes from the outtakes based on water flow?” She nodded, and a moment later, the openings lit up red and green. “Good, now remove the intakes.”
When they disappeared, AJ nodded. “I agree. We need speed for our escape, and having the current at our back will help.”
“It’s not just that,” Jake said. “I realize it’s a big gamble to find the transport system, but if we do, we want the tube heading out of this place. Either way, we—”
“Go with the flow,” Jane yelled from behind the group. When everyone turned to her, she added, “Go with the strongest flow.”
“Are you remembering something, sweetheart?” Raines, who was standing closest to her, asked.
She closed her eyes. “I don’t know. I don’t know anymore.”
When it was obvious that she was finished, Jake looked back at Jessie. “She’s right. If one of these vents connects with an active transport system, the water flow should be pretty high. Show me the vent with the largest flow rate.” She messed with her panel for a second, and then all but one opening disappeared from the display. “Magnify,” he added.
The opening grew until it filled the middle half of the table. It was a simple circular opening and based on the scale Jessie added, was twice as wide as the Wave.
“Well, that makes my job easy,” Vee said. “I had assumed it would have some sort of grating over it. We can just glide on out whenever we want.”
“It can’t be that easy,” AJ said.
“I’m sure it isn’t,” Jake said, walking around the table to get a better view of it. “Jessie, is this a static image we’re looking at?”
Jessie nodded. “Like I said, I kept the transducers off and just mapped the return from our thrusters in three dimensions. So, yes, it’s a snapshot of all of the openings.”
“Can you ping this opening for a couple of seconds to get a moving image?”
“Sure,” she replied and then turned towards her console.
“Wait,” Stacy said. “Not to interfere with your crew, Jake, but won’t that alert the machines to what you’re doing. I’m pretty sure pinging one of the exits will give them a hint.”
Jake looked at AJ who said, “She’s right. So what do we do?”
Stacy approached Jessie. “Show us all the other vents. All up close.” When she did, the problem became obvious.
“Well, that’s going to make it more challenging,” Vee said.
“I don’t get it,” Ash said.
Vee pointed to the floating vents. “Some are open, some are closed, and most are only partly closed.”
“Ahhhhh,” Ash said. “They’re moving. Opening and closing.” He looked at Vee and added, “You really are going to have your work cut out for you. Want me to drive?”
“Not in your lifetime.”
“Well, technically, this is my second lifetime, so...”
“Enough with the witty banter,” AJ said, then looked at Stacy. “Thanks for your help.”
Stacy stepped closer to Jake and put her arm around him. “No problem. I want to get back to Civica just as badly as you do.”
“Do you?” AJ asked, her face a stone mask.
“What are you implying, AJ?” Jake asked.
AJ sighed and pulled out her knife. “We need to settle this once and for all,” she said, then lunged for Stacy’s face with her blade.
Jake was caught off guard, but when he saw her coming forward, he instinctively thrust his hand upwards to deflect the blow. Their arms collided, knocking the knife right out of AJ’s hand, and sending it hurling directly towards Vee’s chest. A split second before it struck, Stacy snatched it out of the air in a blur of speed.
“What the bilge?” Jake screamed.
“Did you see that?” AJ said, pointing to Stacy. “How fast she moved?”
“I get it,” Stacy said, sounding surprisingly calm. “You’re testing me to see if I’m real or not.” She opened her hand with the knife and showed AJ the blood beginning to seep from deep cuts on her fingers.
Jake came over to her, wrapping her bloody hand in his. “Looks pretty real to me.” Then he looked back at AJ. “That’s enough, understand? You tested her and she passed.”
Stacy set the blade on the edge of the chart table. “I’ve been through worse,” she said, “but I guess I should go see your doctor now.”
“I’ll take you down,” Jake said, then glanced at AJ as he walked towards the stairs, but didn’t say a word.
Apocalypse 06
After Jake left, AJ motioned for everyone to move to the forward command station. When they were gathered around her, she glanced back at the stairwell and listened for voices.
“Are we planning a mutiny?” Ash asked with a serious-looking face. “Not that I’m against it, mind you.”
“I don’t think we are at a joking place right now, big brother,” Jessie said.
“No, we’re not,” AJ agreed, then retrieved her knife and pointed it at Ash.
He raised his hands in defense. “Seriously, it was a joke.”
“You all disintegrate when threatened,” she said, keeping the blade aimed at his nose. “Why didn’t she?”
“Maybe it’s because she’s real,” Raines offered, reaching out to gently push the knife to one side. “It is a possibility.”
She resheathed the blade before continuing. “No, it isn’t. You can’t convince me that Jake’s long-dead girlfriend just happened to get rescued from the bottom of the deepest trench in the colony, and then ends up here, five thousand kilometers from Civica, all ready to resume their relationship. I just don’t buy it.”
“You could say the same thing about my brother,” Jessie said, “but he’s really here.”
“His recreation is here,” AJ corrected, “and I might believe that Stacy Coal was somehow copied down in that trench before she died, although even that seems far-fetched, that would mean that she is a recreation as well, not a flesh and bone human.”
Ash pointed to his stomach. “She couldn’t survive out here without a power source if she’s like me.”
“Doesn’t mean she doesn’t have one inside of her,” Vee said. She glanced back at the stairs before adding. “I’m with AJ. We don’t know anything about her.”
“So, what do we do?” Raines asked.
“I want her off my ship as soon as possible,” AJ said flatly. “Definitely before we try to leave this place.”
“Even if she is like me,” Ash said, “it doesn’t mean she’s going to tell the machines about your plan or try to stop you fr
om leaving.” He looked at the faces around him. “You trust me, don’t you?”
Jessie grabbed his hand. “We trust you,” she said, then looked at AJ. “Right?”
She nodded. “Actually, I do trust you, Ash, but I knew you before this happened. None of us knew her back then, therefore none of us can know her motives.”
“I might be able to help you,” a voice said from the stairwell. When they turned, they saw Dr. Wood standing there.
“Help us do what, Doctor?” AJ said, worried that they had given their plans away.
“Don’t worry,” he said in a hushed tone. “No one else heard you. The captain is getting her settled in one of the rear crew quarters.”
“She’s not...” AJ started to say sleeping in Jake’s quarters but caught herself before finishing the sentence. “What can you help us with, Dr. Wood?”
When he reached the group he said, “I hope you all make it back to Civica, I honestly do, but I have no desire to return with you.”
“Why not? Not long ago you were fighting us to―” Raines asked.
“I changed my mind,” he interrupted. “I have the scar of a bullet hole in my back if you’ll recall. I can also still remember the look on my dear wife’s face when they shot her in the head. I have no love for anyone in Civica, and I couldn’t care less if everyone there dies tomorrow.”
“But you said...” AJ started.
“I have devised a plan that can help you get back to Civica, rid yourself of Stacy Coal, and allow me to remain here.”
“What is this plan, Doctor?” AJ asked.
Wood walked around the group to face them from the other side. “When I was a young boy, I used to entertain my family with magic tricks.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small white disk. “You know, sleight of hand tricks.” He held the disk up with two fingers and faced Jessie.
“So are you going to pretend to put it in my ear?” she asked with a curious smile. “I’ve seen people do this.”
“Now mastering sleight of hand is more difficult than you might imagine,” he continued. “It requires psychology, timing, and a certain degree of choreography to make the magic work.” He moved the disk to within a few centimeters from Jessie’s nose. “It also takes one more very important skill,” he added before the disk seemed to vanish from his hand.
Jessie’s eyes went wide as she grabbed his hand. But then saw that the disk was truly gone. “How did you do that?”
“The other skill required is a little thing called, misdirection,” he said, then pointed to Vee standing on the other side of the group. Everyone turned to see the disk sitting right on top of her left shoulder.
While everyone marveled at the doctor’s skills, AJ was more interested in what he was getting at. “You want to misdirect the machines,” she said. “Make them think we are doing one thing, while actually doing something else.”
Wood nodded his head. “I propose to take the shuttle out with the lovely Stacy Coal at the helm and attempt to leave through one of the open vents on the far side of this enclosure. When the isopods try to stop us, I believe it might give you the opportunity to leave through a vent on this side. You get out and Ms. Coal and I stay here. Three problems solved with one action.”
AJ nodded. “You have a tactician’s mind, Doctor,” she said. “I might have underestimated you.”
He sighed. “You wouldn’t be the first.”
“One problem,” Raines said. “How do we convince Ms. Coal to go with you?”
“More importantly,” Vee added, “how do we convince the captain to let her go with him?”
“You guys are really bad at being sneaky,” Jake said from the stairs.
“Captain,” AJ began, “We were just...ah...making plans for our escape. Dr. Wood has an idea.”
Jake walked up to face AJ, ignoring the others. “I heard his plan. And...”
“And?” she repeated.
“You really don’t trust her, do you?”
AJ shook her head. “I’m sorry, Captain, but I don’t.”
He patted her shoulder and actually smiled. “You don’t have to be sorry, and I know you’re just doing your job.”
“Planning a mutiny is her job now?” Ash asked before Jessie elbowed him in the ribs. “Ouch!”
Jake looked at his navigator. “Maybe I’ll ask the doctor to take you along as well.”
“Sorry,” he said.
“So, are you admitting that you don’t trust her either?” AJ asked.
Jake looked back at her. “I don’t know what I believe, but either way, I’d like her to stay here as well. If she’s a copy, as you think, then she is being more deceptive than either my father or Ash were. If that’s the case, then she should stay behind.”
“And if she’s real?”
“Then I want her to stay here and be safe,” he replied. “My mother and step sister are here,” he added. “If things go poorly, they can take care of her.”
“Then it’s agreed,” Raines said.
“What do we tell her?” Jessie asked. “What will you tell Stacy?”
Jake bit his lip. “I think I’ll let the doctor bring up the subject of using the shuttle as a decoy. It was, after all, his idea.” He quickly sketched out a plan where he would then claim that, as captain, it was his responsibility to pilot the shuttle. AJ would then step in and tell him that the captain’s place was on the bridge. Each bridge crewmember would then offer to go, all the while hoping Stacy would eventually volunteer as well. Jake was more than a little surprised when Stacy volunteered as soon as the doctor mentioned his idea.
“I’ll do it,” she said, as she reached the top of the stairwell. “I’ll be your pilot.” Everyone turned around in unison.
“You understand the risks?” AJ asked.
She nodded and then looked at each of crews’ faces. “Just seeing you all working together, makes me miss my own crew.” She looked at Jake and frowned. “As much as I want nothing more than to stay by your side for the rest of my life, I am my father’s daughter, and I know duty to crew and colony always comes first. The lives of everyone back home have to take precedence over any other concerns.”
“I guess you’re right,” Jake said, even though deep down, he probably believed that less than she did.
“Besides,” she added with a wink, “I’m probably the best shuttle pilot you have on board, and I think this little trick of yours is going to need it.”
“Why?” AJ asked.
She glanced at the first mate sideways. “I’ve been here years longer than any of you, and one thing I’ve learned about the machines running this place is that they are a lot smarter than anyone gives them credit for. It’s going to take all of our skills to pull off this little ruse.”
“I’ve got a plan that, while a bit complicated, I think gives us the best chance of outsmarting them,” Dr. Wood said.
“Complicated, huh?” AJ said. “You didn’t say anything about complicated.”
The doctor nodded. “As Ms. Coal stated, the machines aren’t stupid, so any attempt to just suddenly dash for an opening will most likely fail.”
“We’re all ears, Doctor,” Jake said as they gathered around the chart table.
Thirty minutes later, Stacy and Dr. Wood boarded the shuttle and detached from the Wave’s rear dock. When they were clear, she made a call on an unsecured channel.
“Shuttle to Rogue Wave, we have cleared the ship. Heading back to the mainland now. The doctor tells me he’s pretty convinced he can talk your father into coming out here with us.”
“Roger that, shuttle,” AJ said from the bridge. “Good luck to you both.”
“Good luck?” Vee asked when the channel was closed. “Won’t that give our real plan away?”
“No,” Jake said. “She meant good luck convincing my father to come back with them.”
AJ nodded. “Yeah, that too.”
“Are you two ready?” Jake asked Vee and Ash, who were seated at their respective con
soles.
Ash looked at Vee and then nodded. “We’re ready to go. Just give us the word.”
Jake then looked back at Raines and Jessie who were seated at their rear consoles.
“I’d say we’re as ready as we can be,” Raines said. Jessie had her earphones on and just nodded. Whether she was agreeing with him or nodding to some acoustical beat she was hearing was anyone’s guess.
“Shuttle to Rogue Wave,” Stacy’s voice said from the overhead speakers. “My port steering thrusters are acting up a bit. Make a note to have the engineer check it out once we get back.”
“It’s starting,” Jane said.
Jake looked over and saw her sitting on the floor next to Jessie. “Yes, it is,” he replied.
The next ten minutes were spent sending each other a series of pre-planned messages. The shuttle had steering problems, which led to it veering off course, not towards any of the vents, but actually the opposite direction. Then a number of over-corrections brought them closer to the vent they had chosen in advance. Throughout all of this, however, none of the isopods made a move towards them, or even acted as though they were watching them at all.
Finally, Stacy called once final call. “Shuttle returning to base.” At that moment, Jake saw the shuttle rotate directly towards the vent as it quickly accelerated to full speed. That apparently woke the machines.
“Here they come,” Jessie said. “I have six small isopods on an intercept course, closing fast.”
“And us?”
“Three large ones now turning towards us, but they are several minutes away.”
Jake grabbed hold of the chart table. “When you’re ready, First Mate.”
AJ stood at the command station, feet spread wide. “Maximum speed, now!”
A wall of bubbles covered the side viewports as the Wave lunged forward faster than Jake thought possible. “Bilge, she’s fast,” he yelled.
“It’s the new capacitors,” Ash said. “Their output is far—”
“Hold on,” Vee yelled as she banked hard to starboard.
The view outside tilted forty-five degrees but Jake felt his weight centered beneath his feet. “Nice driving,” he said to Vee but she was too busy to hear him.
Novum Chronicles: A Dystopian Undersea Saga Page 40