New Voices Volume 010

by S. H. Marpel

  “And wishes look good on you.”

  “Bet you say that to any girl who’s bundled up above her head and down past her ankles. But what would you know about how I look underneath all that.”

  “Well...”

  “OK, don’t answer that. I’ve got the news on this one - two young sailors dead, with another 12-plus in ISO.”

  “...and something to do with the steam plant. The read-out says it’s something changed on the piping.”

  “Finn, I looked it up in the records. There’s some new test equipment that was installed to improve the efficiency of the heat exchange. But it’s all marked Confidential, parts of it Top Secret.”

  “Doesn’t that figure. I’ll ask if the AI can give us some more scoop on that. Surely there’s something that’s been declassified since then.”

  I stopped at that, which took a few steps. Just so we didn’t take each other down on this icy sidewalk.

  “Then? I thought your data was real time.”

  Finn shrugged. “Carol’s been talking directly to the AI for a bit now. And she found out that it’s running a bit outside of the time-frame it’s been sending you to.”

  “Whoa. ‘A bit outside’?” And who’s this ‘Carol’? You’ve got a new yeoman in there?”

  “No, sorry, and let’s take that last question first. I shouldn’t have let it slip, but yes, I’ve got some help with your cases now. She’s not Navy, but she’s got some connections. And yes, she’s getting up to speed on the project. Very helpful. So I gave her a login connection to the AI to find out what it knows - which turns out to be a lot.”

  “Pretty?”

  “Oh, you must mean Carol.”

  My gloved hand punched his shoulder, far less effective with all this padding we were both wearing.

  “Yes, Carol.”

  “Well, I’ll make this quick. Yes, she’s pretty. Cute, even. And before you ask - no, we haven’t been on a date yet.”

  “Yet...”

  His green eyes peered into mine. But I knew the red on his face was more than just the weather. “Erotika, isn’t it a bit too cold out here to get frostbite checking up on what I do when I’m not with you?”

  He had a point. I nodded and started us walking again. Tiny steps, like before. “So before I took up that tangent - and don’t think you’re getting off the hook - what were you going to tell me about this case we’re on?”

  His arm was still in mine, and the small warmth and steadiness was welcome. “What the AI hasn’t covered is what happened in that facility. There was a report of an accident, and reports of a flu outbreak, but then the guys got well - but the amount of transfers shot up. So something happened in there.”

  “What about the two that died?”

  “They don’t wind up mentioned in any official records.”

  “So there might be more data hidden before this epidemic runs its course.”

  Finn’s silence spoke loudly for the next few steps.

  When we stopped before crossing the last street before the building, he used his arm to keep us there. “One other point. There was some missing data on that new equipment testing trial report. Multiple numbered pages are missing.”

  I nodded. All this pointed to our usual gang of goons at work.

  With his free gloved hand, Finn passed me a small device wrapped in paper. “Oh, here - a camera, or it looks like one. It’s more like your last C.E.L. phone. It’s got a new network interface.”

  “Meaning, this is another ‘breaking-edge’ device?”

  “Just like everything I’ve ever given you - only the latest and greatest - or so I’m told.”

  “Sounds like you haven’t tested it for yourself. And ‘told’ means that your Carol is helping you with more than your AI access.” This time I was sure he blushed below those cold cheeks.

  “Sure, helping me in ways you probably don’t want to know. Like that boyfriend in your bed this morning.”

  My turn for redness. “Touché.”

  “One more thing - but I’ll need your bare hand.” He pulled his arm back, then removed both of his gloves to stuff them into one coat pocket while he pulled something small out of the other. “Hold out your bare hand – quick.”

  I took off my right-hand glove and he almost instantly grabbed that bare hand with both of his. I could feel something small, hard, polished smooth now in my palm. With some sort of thin, stiff cord. Maybe a pendant. Finn didn’t let go. And I could see his lips move as he counted.

  “There.” He let go to quickly get his gloves back on. “That pendant is another communication device. Put it on when you’re inside. If you want anything, just ask out loud. When I answer, I’m told that you’ll hear it like I was next to you.”

  I nodded, and slipped it into an inside pocket of my jacket beneath the pea-coat, then quickly slid that hand back into my own warm glove. “What was the counting for?”

  “Just the instructions I was given.”

  “That proved the point, though.”

  Finn raised an eyebrow and waited.

  “Warm hands, warm heart.”

  He gave me a small wry smile. Then looked both ways down the cross street before taking my arm again.

  We crossed the intersection safely and he opened the door for me. “Finn, coming in?”

  He shook his head. “Not yet. But I’ll be listening in. That box looks like a camera, but when you’re holding it or if you set it down, it will pick up and transmit on a lot of levels. So don’t get alarmed if you hear me talk ‘in your ear’ at times. We may want to see some pictures of what you’re seeing.”

  “You and Carol.”

  He only nodded as I went through the glassed door.

  As I looked back, he was gone.

  II

  “HOW IS ERIKA HOLDING up?” Carol was sitting at the console, typing. She barely paused as I came through the narrow observation room door.

  “As good as usual. Bundled up against the cold. Black hair this time, and shorter. Typically cute and a head-turner as always. You saw in the display that she’s Della Street this time around. Civilian secretary to the base admiral. Posh job. He could have had any naval yeoman, so she must be pretty good.”

  Carol touched the pendant around her neck. “She’s got her pendant on now. Let’s see if she’s got the camera going.”

  A few clicks brought the live image up on one of the screens. “Finn, use your pendant to get her finger off the lens.”

  I pulled out the pendant and held onto it. “Testing. Testing. 1, 2,3.”

  We both heard her reply, a whisper. “Reading you 4 by 4”.

  “Hey doll, would you mind moving your hand off the lens so we can see what you’re doing with that camera?”

  The image cleared and now we saw the image at her hip level, swinging slightly as she walked. Carol tapped in a keyboard sequence and the image stabilized.

  “That’s my girl, thanks.”

  Erika/Della stopped in an empty hallway. “Hey Finn, could we lay off the ‘my girl’ and ‘doll’ references? I could be using my mind on what I’m supposed to be investigating.”

  I had to grin at that. “Sure thing. Anything for you. You know I love you.”

  “As I’m sure Carol does, too.”

  Carol shook her head at that, her frown turning to a smile.

  “Oh, Erotika - she’s on this line, too.”

  “Yeah, I figured as much. Tell her hello for me. And do me a favor?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Knowing your tastes, I know she’s a catch. So treat her like you treat me - or at least promise you will.”

  “Erotika, you’re both gold to me. Promise.”

  “OK, then. I’m going in. Glad you’re both there this time. Great to have you along for company.”

  III

  AFTER I HUNG UP MY pea-coat in the hallway coat racks, I worked to keep the camera steady and unobtrusive as I carried it. Down the hall and through the wide door going into the lower
level of the working engine room model. The tiled floors gave way to steel deck plates and grid sections. Another reason for sensible shoes. Spiked heels would be a disaster in here, just as on the ice outside.

  Looking at my shoes showed another pair arrive - sturdy deck shoes that stopped close to mine.

  “Ma’am, can I help you?”

  That voice had a pleasant face connected to a tall broad-shouldered body. One that took awhile to scan up to his eye height. A petty officer rating on his short-sleeved blue uniform shirt. Light weight fabric, to escape summer heat and not gain winter warmth.

  “Is it that hot in here, petty officer...?”

  “Hayden, ma’am. Will Hayden. Yes, it’s that hot and hotter when they have the full steam on. Right now we’re throttled back.”

  “Due to the accident?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Can I ask who you are?”

  “Della Street. Rear Admiral’s secretary.”

  He smiled at this. “Well, Miss Street, can I help you find something?”

  I opened up my jacket, since I’d discovered the heat of a naval boiler room explained his short sleeves. Hayden tried to ignore my coral silk blouse and succeeded - until I unfastened the topmost button to get more relief. Damp silk is clingy, and I didn’t want to go that far, not unless I had to, anyway. And those long sleeves under a jacket were heating me up regardless of what I wished.

  “Petty officer Hayden, can you show me where the accident took place?”

  “Please, this way, ma’am.” He led me to a ladder up to the next level. I removed my jacket to fold it over one arm and took the lead. While proper etiquette on board has long been letting women go first up ladders, his trailing me also gave him a view that would probably get me more ready answers mow that I had more of Will’s attention. Besides, the jacket was really making it that hot in there.

  At the top of the ladder, he led me over to the throttle controls. Then pointed up to the side at a large valve wheel, “That’s where where the leak was, ma’am. The valve packing failed on the main cutout valve. So we had to evacuate the controls and shut it off with auxiliary valves.”

  “And were the two deceased sailors on watch at that time?”

  A surprised look came over his face. “How did you guess? They were really just observers, but were taking their turn at the throttle-wheel valves to learn responding to orders.”

  “Where were you at the time?”

  Hayden pointed. “Over there, under the air vent. Me and the Chief.”

  “So it was just those two?”

  “Sure, and they got the brunt of it. We’re lucky this system is only run on regular steam, not superheated. But still, those two had to get to the hospital for check up.”

  “And they walked there?”

  “Sure - they only got a little pink from the steam, not even really a burn.”

  My silk blouse was now clingy in spite of my best efforts, so I went under the air vent to cool off. Just getting near it pushed my blouse tight against my skin, and the chilled air created other effects. Young Will Hayden didn’t miss them.

  So I slipped the jacket back on. Just to keep his attention focused on my questions, not on other areas.

  “Did those two sailors come back after their medical visit?”

  The petty officer looked down. “No ma’am. That was the last we saw of them. They were running a fever and so were kept for observation and never left again.”

  I put a hand on his arm and looked into his face. “I’m sorry. Friends of yours?”

  He returned my look with his sad eyes. “We got along pretty good, for the short time I knew them.”

  A quiet alarm sounded from the lower level, then stopped. He straightened up. “I’d better get back down and find out what student triggered that. If you’ve got any other questions, just look me up down below. I’ll be here until shift change just before lunch.” With a nod, he quickly moved back to the ladder and down it, disappearing.

  I buttoned my jacket up, and moved from under that vent. It reminded me how cold it was outside. And my next stop was going to be the hospital. After I found where the new equipment had been installed.

  FINN WAS IN MY EAR before I left the throttle main control station. He was interested in seeing a close up of that main valve where the leak happened. So I was standing there, camera in hand when I heard footsteps behind me.

  “Ma’am?”

  I turned - it was the Master Chief.

  “Hello, Master Chief...”

  “Jenkins. And you are?”

  “Della Street, the Rear Admiral’s secretary.”

  Jenkins backbone stiffened at that. “Well, it must mean the Admiral’s office is interested in our recent occurrence. But I’m happy to find out it’s you, otherwise that camera would have to be confiscated. MP’s are already on their way, though.”

  “Your vigilance speaks loudly, even if it isn’t in the reports.”

  “Just my regular duties, ma’am.”

  “Was there anything else that wasn’t in the reports?”

  “You have more questions, ma’am?”

  “The reports said there was a steam leak, but you must have cleaned up pretty well. I don’t see any other damage from hot steam on the control board.”

  The Chief’s face had a subtle frown. “No ma’am. It was only assumed to be the valve packing. But when we checked, there wasn’t any flaw in how it was packed. And when we got it back to pressure, it was as checked before.”

  “So where do you think that steam came from?”

  “We did a check, and that’s the only place it could have come.”

  “But that doesn’t make sense. A good packing job doesn’t leak.”

  He smiled at that. “No ma’am.”

  I pointed at the new test equipment mounted on the bypass steam line. “How about that?”

  The Chief’s head cocked sideways slightly. “Well, we ruled it out as there was no dripping from it other than condensation. If the leak had come from there, it would have continued after the steam was shut off and should have started up when we re-pressurized the lines.”

  I studied it again. Finn would have to enlarge the image to see what I could only guess at - some pinhole leak or a recessed spray head, made to look like it came from the valve packing.

  “Do you do maintenance on that gizmo?”

  “No ma’am. We have strict instructions not to touch it.”

  “From who?”

  “Higher up than your office.”

  I smiled at him. “Well, thanks, Chief. For sharing the warmth of your Engine Room with me. You’ve been very helpful.”

  “Any time ma’am. Will you need an escort to find your way?”

  “Thanks, but no, Chief Jenkins. I think that answers a lot of my questions. Better get back to my paperwork. The Admiral left a lot for me to do while he’s gone.”

  The Chief touched his cap and I turned, feeling his eyes on my back as I did. But then, this jacket was smartly tailored just for that.

  As I went on my way, I heard him talking to the MP’s as they arrived.

  I wasn’t followed.

  WHILE PUTTING ON MY pea-coat, back in the entry hallway, I noticed someone come in with a tool box. And a winter coat with a deep hood that he didn’t take off. Not naval. I went to get my camera, but he ducked into a nearby open doorway - Men’s room.

  Not worth the kerfluffle I’d cause by following him. Still, my inner alarm bells signaled me. Nothing I could put my finger on. Probably just really had to go.

  IV

  “FINN, SHE’S RIGHT ABOUT that device.” We were looking at its close-up on one of the CRT screens. That’s a recessed spray head. This is nowhere near standard equipment.”

  “I’d better let Erika know.”

  “And that tool box we saw isn’t standard issue, either. It’s not even from that timeline.”

  “Meaning our bad guys...”

  “... have some advanced connections, probably like ours.�
�

  I WAS BACK IN THE ENGINE room, rushing in with my pea coat on.

  By the time I got to the control board, the device was gone. Like it had never been there.

  Master Chief Jenkins and Petty Officer Hayden had both heard my running feet on the deck plates and arrived shortly after I did.

  “Ma’am, running isn’t allowed...”

  “Sorry Master Chief. But I thought I saw someone come in from outside, not regular Navy and carrying a custom tool box. I wanted to talk to him, but it looks like I missed him. Have either of you seen someone like a technician in here?”

  They both shook their heads.

  I started shucking out of both my pea-coat and jacket. “I’ll need a short step-ladder, then. I need to check that bypass line close up.”

  The Chief nodded to the petty officer, who ducked behind the control board to return with that ladder. Meanwhile, the Chief curteously and carefully folded my jacket and coat over his arm.

  Placing the short step-ladder beneath the main valve, I started climbing. “Could one of you gentlemen assist me? I’ll need to stand on its top step.”

  The two strong hands that had to be those of Petty Officer Hayden held my waist respectfully while I reached my arms up over my head to inspect and photograph the join. It had almost a seamless connection, like it had been soldered by laser.

  “OK, petty officer, you can let me down now. I think the Chief needs to look over this join for himself.”

  I was soon down the few steps and the Chief was up them, shoving my coats over to Hayden, who was filling his arms with all that fabric and probably his nose with some of my scent. Regardless, he was smiling and relaxed more than the Chief.

  Chief Jenkins inspected and then came quickly back down, frowning.

  I’d gotten into my jacket and had reached for my pea coat before he spoke. I touched Will’s arm and nodded my thanks. He smiled in return, his eyes twinkling.

  The Chief growled at what he’d seen up there. “I don’t know how they did that. We were both here just minutes ago. And that gizmo was installed then. To take that device off, he’d have to shut down the main steam line to relieve the pressure. And I’ve never seen any join like that before. Nothing we can do even in the machine shop. But there’s no leak. That experimental device is just gone. Like it had never been there.”