Wearing matching frowns, Vasil and Dracchus exchanged a concerned look.
“How long before that happens?” Dracchus asked.
“Impossible to say for certain,” replied Kane. “But it is going to happen soon. I would estimate another year, perhaps three at best.”
“Or it could happen tomorrow,” Theo said.
“It would trigger automated alarms. An evacuation alert. There’d be some time before things got dangerous, but this place would become uninhabitable,” said Kane.
Vasil met Theo’s gaze. A glimmer of fear shone in his silver eyes. “What do we do, Theodora?”
“There’s a parts storage room on the lower level of this building. I need you to take me to it so I can see what’s there to work with.” She expanded the image further, displaying the part at its actual size.
Vasil moved to stand beside her. “That is the piece?” He lifted a hand and cupped his palm beneath the part. “It is so small. What is it?”
“It’s a sensor control valve,” she replied. “The tank that sits over it fills with water containing all the toxins and impurities filtered out of whatever comes through the interior and exterior intakes, and this valve is supposed to detect that load and open to dump the contaminants before they exceed a certain amount. It’s on a sensor so it can maintain proper system pressure the majority of the time.”
She manipulated the holo to show more of the filtration system. “But if that valve doesn’t purge the tank when it’s supposed to, the bad water will overflow to here.” Theo pointed at the top of the tank, where the cleaned air flowed into the next component. “And it will contaminate that air and compromise the system. Once that happens, it’s game over for this place.”
Vasil lowered his hand and leaned forward, studying the valve, as Dracchus drew closer.
“That tiny thing determines our survival here?” Dracchus asked.
Theo nodded. “Sometimes the smallest things are the most important.”
He grunted; it was an oddly thoughtful sound. She hadn’t realized grunts could be so nuanced before meeting Dracchus. They were a language unto themselves coming from him.
“And if there is a replacement part, you can fix it,” Vasil said.
“Yep.”
“If there is not?” Dracchus asked.
Theo spread her hands out in front of her. “Then we just wait for the inevitable.”
Kane made a throat-clearing sound. “I have found a potential alternative source for the part we need, should the storage room prove fruitless.”
“There is no fruit in the storage room,” said Dracchus. “We keep the food in the kitchen, as Macy told us.”
Theo smirked, scratching the back of her neck. “It’s a saying, Dracchus. He just means if we don’t find what we’re looking for.”
“Why not just say that?”
“We did. Just in a different way.”
Dracchus scoffed and shook his head.
“What is the alternate source?” asked Vasil.
“I cross-referenced all the records kept in the computer system here and discovered three submarines listed as having been used to transport supplies to and from this base. They are military-grade vessels, each one hundred meters long and able to accommodate over one hundred crewmen. One of them seems to have gone missing entirely — vanished without a trace — but I have locations for the other two. Locations from just before the communications here were cut off, anyway. According to the plans, all three submarines were equipped with filtration systems very similar to this one. Close enough that Theo would be able to make the piece work.”
Theo clapped her hands together. “Great! Now we just need to figure out if the part is here, or if we’ll need to go searching for a missing sub.” She glanced between the Vasil and Dracchus. “Who’s escorting me?”
Vasil offered a hand to Theo. “There is no need to ask.”
Dracchus’s brows lowered. “I will speak with Larkin. If we need to search for these subs, it will be best to do so in a hunting party.”
“One of the submersibles is located in a sub bay in another building of this facility,” Kane said.
Dracchus and Vasil exchanged another glance.
“That place is abandoned,” Vasil said, looking back to Theo. “There is nothing but broken metal and debris there. Much of it has been claimed by sea life. The old stories say there was an explosion during the uprising.”
“Even if that component had survived in those conditions after all this time, it wouldn’t be usable,” Theo said with a frown. “Guess that leaves the other one if we can’t find what we need here.”
“Go look in the Underneath,” Dracchus said. “I will speak with Larkin and a few others to ensure we are ready to move if necessary.”
Theo followed Vasil out of the control room and through the facility’s corridors. He was silent, and she couldn’t blame him for it; she’d have been speechless herself if she’d been told her home could become a deathtrap at any moment. Though the kraken could live in the flooded portions of the facility, which would not be affected by the failure, this was still their place. It was where their people came into existence, where they’d lived ever since — and that was without mentioning the humans who stayed here with their kraken mates.
They stopped at an overly-wide, sturdy-looking door. Vasil pressed a button on the wall. The door slid open with a light scraping sound, revealing a large service elevator. Theo entered just behind him. She’d used similar elevators on IDC cruisers more times that she could count to move parts between various decks.
Being closer to the control panel, Theo pressed the button marked MAINTENANCE. The door rumbled closed and, a few moments later, the elevator descended.
“So, you called this the Underneath?” Theo asked, rocking on her heels with impatience. She hadn’t realized how much she missed fixing things; it felt like it had been so long.
“Yes,” Vasil said. “My people rarely come down here. Some of the rooms are filled with devices we do not understand. It has always seemed best to let most of it remain below.”
The elevator rumbled to a stop, and the door opened. Countless pipes, ducts, and conduits ran along the walls and ceiling of the dimly-lit tunnel before Theo. The air itself hum with the whirring of unseen machinery.
Theo grinned; this was her element. “I see why your people don’t come here. It’s nice and creepy.”
Vasil turned his gaze toward her, brow furrowed. “Creepy? No, we are not afraid of this place.”
Kane’s voice projected from Theo’s wrist. “That’s exactly what someone who is afraid of this place would say.”
Theo clicked her tongue. “Hush, Kane.”
“It has nothing of use to us,” Vasil said, “and the air here is…uncomfortable. It makes my skin feel like it is…crawling.”
Frowning, Theo swung her attention back to the corridor and exited the elevator. “Nothing to be frightened of here.”
Vasil followed her without hesitation. “As I said, it is not fear.”
“According to the records,” Kane said, “his kind have skin that is particularly sensitive to changes in pressure, current, and temperature. It may be that they are also more sensitive to the electromagnetic fields that always permeate tunnels like this. They are known to instill a vague sense of unease in many organisms, including humans.”
“We just need to check for that part then we’ll be out of here before you know it.” Theo offered Vasil a smile.
He returned the smile. “You know where we are going?”
“Kane does.”
“Left at the first intersecting corridor, right at the next,” said Kane.
Following Kane’s directions, they moved through the tunnels at a brisk pace. But a familiar sensation struck Theo halfway down the second corridor.
She halted abruptly. “Kane?”
“The reactor is straight ahead.” A hint of static crackled through his words. “Though it is shielded, the halorium’
s energy fields seem to be leaking very slightly. We won’t get close enough for it to do any harm.”
A tentacle looped around Theo’s waist, drawing her back.
“I will go to the parts room,” Vasil said. “You return to the elevator and await me. Just tell me what I need to look for.”
Theo patted the tentacle before brushing her fingertips over his skin; she’d never tire of its feel. “I’ll be fine. If it was dangerous, Kane would tell me.”
Vasil moved in front of her, leaning his face close and staring into her eyes. “He did not tell you last time, Theo.”
“We didn’t understand what it was then. We do now. He knows what to look out for.”
“Kane, you are certain she will come to no harm?”
“I cannot be certain of anything,” Kane replied, eliciting a deep frown from Vasil, “but according to the readings I’m picking up, we will be turning away from the source well before the energy fields are concentrated enough to cause any problems.”
Theo caught Vasil’s face between her hands and brushed her thumbs over his cheeks. “I’ll be fine. If anything happens, I trust you to get me out of here.”
He gently combed the claws of one hand through her hair. “Why take the risk at all?”
“This is your people’s home, right?” she asked, holding his gaze. “That means something, Vasil. I never really had a place to call home, so I know what it feels like to be without one. We’re not just doing this for ourselves, we’re doing it for all the kraken. I have the resources and the training to find this part and get this fixed before it becomes a serious issue.”
His pupils expanded, darkening his eyes. “Under different circumstances, I would take you this very moment, female.” His fingers flexed for a moment before he lowered his arm and withdrew his tentacle. “Let us go, then. Carefully.”
Theo wiggled her brows and grinned. “I’ll hold you to that later.”
After pecking a quick kiss on his lips, Theo continued down the corridor; Vasil fell into place behind her. The humming in her head strengthened, making her feel slightly off-balance, until they turned into the next tunnel — once they’d rounded the corner, the sensation rapidly diminished.
“Three doors down, on the right,” Kane said. A blue marker appeared in Theo’s vision, set farther down the corridor. The distance on the marker — originally fifteen meters — decreased with each of her steps.
The marker vanished when she reached the door, which was similar in size to the elevator entry. It opened automatically onto impenetrable darkness. Lights flickered to life beyond the doorway, banishing that darkness in flashes and fits until they finally went solid.
The room was large, though its full size was difficult to estimate because of the neat rows of shelves arranged through much of it. Theo and Vasil moved inside. Several large carts with what powered controls were lined up along the walls to the left and right of the doorway, docked at recharging stations.
“All right, Kane,” Theo said, raising her left arm. “Let’s get looking.”
Kane’s orb appeared over her wrist, casting a soft blue glow around it.
Theo walked down one of the aisles, thrumming with excitement as her eyes swept over the containers on the shelves. “Is there an inventory list for this room?”
Her retinal implant displayed part numbers for each of the items Kane scanned, accompanied by superimposed images of the parts inside the various boxes and cases. Her fingers itched to open each one and explore the contents.
“Yes,” Kane replied, “and it does not list the part we’re looking for.”
“So why are we searching here?” asked Vasil.
“Due to the nature of this facility, I suspect that a number of the records were falsified to divert suspicions. Many of the files contain evidence of tampering, even mundane ones like inventory requisitions and releases. Though the activities here were undoubtedly approved by certain commanding officers within the IDC, it is very likely this was carried out without the knowledge of most ranking officials.”
“Can you explain that in a way I will understand?” Vasil asked.
“They were breaking the rules here,” Theo said distractedly, “so they lied about the materials they kept in stock.”
“I understand… But why would the part we need have been involved in that? Is it not essential to this place’s function?”
“Not even I can understand the inner workings of military bureaucracy,” Kane said. “They often reclass items based on cost to manipulate budgets and make the numbers line up properly. I’ve already found several parts on these shelves that are not listed in official documents.”
Theo extended her right arm and picked up a small box from a nearby shelf — simple, ten-millimeter bolts — and hefted its weight on her palm appreciatively before setting it down. “Could be that they had another base elsewhere. Another place they could move materials through without leaving a trail directly to this facility — once it’s planet-side, the IDC doesn’t usually bother tracking the movement of goods like that. They leave it to the commanders on-world.”
“The Watch was an IDC base long ago,” said Vasil.
Kane’s orb brightened. “The name makes sense now. I assume you’re talking about Watch Point Echo, which is listed as the nearest military outpost to this facility. There are a great many trips logged between here and there for all three of the submarines.”
“Yes, that is what the Computer said it was once called.”
Theo continued to scan the shelves, frowning. “I’m mostly seeing common components. Some replacement parts for the subs, too. Any luck yet, Kane?”
“No,” Kane replied. “This place was built with state-of-the-art parts and technology for its time.”
“Which means they intended it to last. Cocky bastards.”
“Yes. They were on a regular supply schedule, with equipment and parts being dropped every few months while this planet was an active IDC colony. It’s likely that key components like our valve would have eventually been dropped, but this place was abandoned before then.”
They moved down the final row of shelves; Kane had identified no matches by the time they reached its end.
Theo crossed her arms over her chest. “So our only option is now to find that sub.”
“It would seem so,” said Kane.
“How are we to do that?” Vasil asked.
Theo turned to face him; he was frowning, and she guessed that he was thinking of all the potential dangers they’d face out in the sea.
“We begin at its last recorded location,” replied Kane. “I can guide us there based on the extensive maps I’ve downloaded from this facility’s database. The expanded scanning capabilities of the diving suits should help from there.”
Vasil nodded, though his expression didn’t ease. “Very well. We should inform Dracchus that we will require a hunting party for the search.”
Chapter 16
“The sub’s last reported location is sixty meters ahead,” Kane said through the diving suit’s comms, “right in the middle of that trench.”
Theo frowned; they were deep enough already that the sunlight from overhead was diffused and everything was a deep, oppressive blue, her range of vision limited to a thirty-meter radius. The trench they were swimming over was an impossibly black gash cutting across the ocean floor, a place where no light touched.
“It’s so strange not hearing Sam,” Larkin said, her voice also transmitting through the comm system.
Theo turned her head and glanced at the woman swimming alongside her. She’d been introduced to Larkin soon after she and Vasil had left the maintenance tunnels, and she’d taken an immediate liking to the woman. Larkin had a sense of humor akin to Theo’s and seemed prone to lapse into the sort of colorful language to which Theo had grown accustomed after a lifetime aboard interstellar ships. But Larkin was also capable of focus, solemnity, and a certain professionalism when the situation called for it — as news of the fail
ing control valve had demonstrated.
With no concern for her own safety — or for Dracchus’s immensely disapproving look — Larkin had volunteered to accompany the search party. Her mate had offered no argument, which had told Theo as much about Larkin as it had about Dracchus.
“I can make myself sound like Sam, if you’d like,” Kane replied, “though I don’t see why you’d want to hear such a one-dimensional voice.”
“No, you’re good,” Larkin said. “I prefer yours. It’s nice not having to ask twenty questions to get Sam along to the one answer I need. This is like talking to an actual person.”
“Careful. You might inflate his ego enough that he bursts out of my body. I can barely contain him as-is,” said Theo.
“You should be careful, Theodora,” Kane said. “I’ve finally found someone else who enjoys my company. Be jealous all you want.”
“You can’t spy on us…can you?” Larkin asked warily. “Since you can take over the Facility and all that.”
“Surveillance in the cabins is limited primarily to the hallways. I can access the cameras in the consoles within each room, but I do have some standards. And if you should ever feel uncomfortable or uncertain, just say tenta—”
Theo laughed. “That’s enough, Kane. And to put you at ease, Larkin, he may be an advanced AI with a totally unique, life-like personality, but he doesn’t have any sexual desires. He’s not going to watch you — especially not during any private moments. Believe me, I was so weirded out when he was first installed that I refused to look into any mirrors or down at my own body for the longest time for fear of what he’d see.”
Kane snorted. “That’s ridiculous. Thirty meters.”
Larkin twisted around, swimming backward while she made a series of hand gestures to the kraken accompanying them — Dracchus and Vasil to either side of Larkin and Theo and four other kraken in formation just behind. They were called Calix, Donis, Orin, and Pythas; Theo thought she could link the names to the right faces, but she wasn’t one hundred percent certain. They each emitted a soft glow from their stripes, chasing away some of the darkness.
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