Through Glass Darkly: Episode Three

by Knyte,Peter

  I could tell he was excited at the prospect of the latter because as he went on, he started to talk in an increasingly quick and distracted manner. I knew I’d have to reel him in on this, if I wanted to make any genuine progress.

  ‘Ben, that all sounds good, but what does it mean in practice.’ I finally managed to interrupt him to ask.

  ‘Well, I don’t suppose you’d be too keen for me to cut your head open and have a rummage around?’ He began, clearly still thinking out loud. ‘No, no thought not. I’ll have to do a bit of research and see what I can come up with, but I think the starting point has got to be this toxin you were given, that’s the one thing that stands out as being outside the normal range of factors.

  ‘If that has some kind of psychoactive quality in addition to being a sedative and a poison, then the effects you’re experiencing might well just diminish as this chemical is gradually flushed from your system. In the meantime, if you’d like to return to work I see no reason why you shouldn’t.’

  I tried another couple of times to get his attention back to the problem in a way that would make sense to me, but his mind had clearly moved into problem solving mode, so while he was polite, he clearly had no further interest in talking to me about it.

  I was just thinking of making a quiet exit when Fraser turned up to check on me again, and found me still sitting on the veranda with Crow.

  ‘Oh good, you two have managed to get together for a chat already.’ Fraser commented innocently.

  In response he received several minutes of a rather distracted Crow muttering on about it being a ‘very interesting problem to grapple with, most engaging, probably need some tests though, perhaps a biopsy, certainly and analysis of lymph and spinal fluids, as well as bloods, metabolic monitoring and such like.’

  He took it remarkably well for a minute or two, before he started to look over at me with a slightly entertained look on his face

  We both tried unsuccessfully to bring Crow’s attention back to the conversation at hand, but after another few minutes without any success we simply excused ourselves and left Crow on the veranda.

  ‘You had a nice chat with him I take it,’ Fraser asked, still obviously quite entertained at Crow’s distracted manner, as we walked back to my room.

  I explained as we walked about how he’d introduced himself by trying to pick a fight with me, eventually pushing me over onto the wet grass outside.

  ‘Yes, I probably should’ve mentioned to you that he’s a bit of an eccentric type once he gets going. He once posed as a patient in a psychiatric ward for a couple of weeks, just to engage with an agent who’d had a complete nervous breakdown after working undercover for a prolonged period. He slept there, ate there, even had the hospital administrator not tell his staff so they’d treat him the same. Unconventional I know, but he does get remarkable results.’

  The sit down on the veranda had allowed my legs to recover some of their strength, but by the time we got back to my room, I was in need of another rest before I had the energy to get changed and discharge myself.

  Fraser had brought over a fresh set of outdoor clothes for me, as my others had apparently been quite badly damaged in my fight with the creature. I hadn’t checked to see what condition they were in before now, but once I’d changed into the clothes that Fraser had brought with him, I thought I’d best check to see if anything was salvageable.

  Everything had been laundered, but what the laundry staff must’ve thought when they received them I couldn’t imagine, as everything was so badly ripped and damaged it must’ve been obvious that none of it could be worn again. Only my boots and belt seemed to have survived in any kind of reasonable condition, and after my dip in the lake they both needed some attention to bring them back into good condition as well.

  After packing up my ragged clothes, I got changed into the things that Fraser had brought for me, and was just about ready to head out when the ships ecologist stuck his head round the corner of the door again.

  ‘Hello Ashton,’ he said. ‘You’re looking a lot better, are you leaving us already?’

  ‘Morning Henry,’ I replied. ‘Yes I’m needed back at the ship, the Captain’s feeling a little bit besieged by the city officials, so I need to head back to provide a some support.’

  ‘Oh I see,’ he replied, looking a little bit concerned. ‘I could ask around some of the men here to see if anyone is feeling up to joining you?’

  ‘Do you think anyone might be well enough?’ I asked, expecting it would still be several days before anyone else would be ready to return.

  ‘Well, I doubt there’s anyone close to full strength, but there are quite a few now, who are beginning to complain about the boredom more than they’re complaining about how they feel, so they might be ready for some light duties.’

  ‘Henry, if you feel up to putting that to those who you think might be able, it would be a big help.’ I replied. ‘Perhaps I could give you a phone call tomorrow for an update.

  He was more than happy to help out, and if he could rustle up a few more members of the crew who felt able to return to light duties, then I might just be able to avoid having to strap into one of the marine suits.

  CHAPTER 36 - CONTROL

  I arrived back at the ship with Fraser just before lunch-time, and after the drive across town in the police car I’d had enough rest to be able to get myself out of the car and aboard the ship without appearing to be too much the invalid. While Fraser went to go and touch base with Platt and the city authorities I went off to find Ariel and the Captain.

  There was no mistaking the progress being made on the ship now and even with the tragic deaths of the two engineers killed by the creature, work continued to move on at a considerable pace. The main body of the ship looked almost as good as new, with the large rip down her side completely repaired and the skin once more covering the gas cells.

  Not only that but the gunnery arms were all back in place, albeit with some of them being slightly more angular and less refined than their predecessors, but the important thing was that they were there and all seemed to have at least the skeleton of a gunnery platform constructed at their tips. A few even had what looked like a finished platform with weapons systems installed.

  The weather was still being decidedly soggy at times, and while the rain did seem to be getting lighter as the day wore on, it definitely wasn’t nice enough to be hanging around out of doors unnecessarily.

  I found Ariel first, she was in the lensing lab working with the men Hughes had sent over to complete the construction of the final batch of simplified lensing rigs, from the component parts that the local optical supplier had managed to manufacture.

  I obviously had to check in with the Captain first as a matter of protocol when coming aboard ship, but she took a few moments away from her work to say hello and introduce me to the technicians from Hughes film studio, before pointing me in the direction of one of the gunnery arms that I’d seen men working on when I arrived. Where she’d seen the Captain an hour earlier.

  I could’ve just hailed him on the ship’s internal communications system, but even when the ship was in dock it was common to keep channels clear of non-essential traffic, and as I was in no real hurry I was happy to make my way over to where he was working, even if my pace was a little slower than I’d normally have managed.

  I few minutes later and I found him up there in an informal meeting with Hughes and Bradbury, talking about some of the anomalies that the repair crew had apparently been reporting.

  ‘I don’t understand why your men think this is a problem,’ the Captain was saying. ‘Surely what you’re describing simply amounts to the work progressing well.’

  ‘Yes sir, and my men are absolutely not wanting anything they say to be considered a complaint or an issue in any way, I’m just reporting that they’ve noticed things that seem odd to them.’

  As I approached they all stopped what they were talking about to welcome me back and offer up a seat
for me to join them. There was a coffee pot in the next room, and Hughes kindly brought a cup through for me.

  They could tell I was still rather stiff, from the way I had to ease myself down into the chair, but once I explained it was mostly just bruising and a few muscular or ligament strains they were happy enough to get back to the topic they’d been discussing.

  By way of an introduction, the Captain explained ‘Mr Bradbury was just giving us an update on the progress of the repair work, and in the process was explaining that his men have been noticing a few odd occurrences.’

  ‘It’s nothing major,’ Bradbury continued. ‘Just small things mostly, finishing touches to some metalwork that seem to have been completed but nobody remembers doing them, panes of glass that are reported as being cracked but then no crack can be found, electrical circuits that aren’t working and then a day later are absolutely fine.’

  ‘Benevolent gremlins, that’s a first,’ chipped in Hughes.

  ‘Precisely sir,’ agreed Bradbury. ‘Every big job has its fair share of lady luck’s touch. Sometimes things that you know should be easy end up taking far longer and being much more difficult than you’d anticipated, but then other jobs which you think will be problematic go so smoothly it’s almost as if Providence has been sat with you the whole time.

  ‘But gentlemen, up until that dreadful day when Shaw and Smith were killed by the creature, the men were thinking this entire job was blessed.’

  I thought Hughes might have used this as an opportunity to mention his observation about how the steel hawsers had been severed when the ship left 7th Avenue, but despite talking around the subject for several minutes he didn’t bring it up.

  In the meanwhile Bradbury informed the Captain that his men should’ve finished the reconstruction of all the gunnery arms and the weapons platforms within the week, and should have the replacement weapons installed within another few days after that, ready for someone with more specialist knowledge of the weapons systems themselves to perform the final configuration and calibration that would be required before they could be signed off as fully operational again.

  In total, Bradbury anticipated all the repairs being completed and his men being able to leave site within no more than four weeks.

  ‘Thank you Mr Bradbury, that is very welcome news indeed,’ the Captain replied. ‘I don’t know exactly when my crew will be able to return but I’m hopeful that the first of them will be fit enough to be discharged from hospital within the next fortnight, even if only for light duties like helping your men with the final checking of systems.’

  The meeting wrapped up shortly after that and Hughes and Bradbury departed so that the Captain and I could catch up properly.

  ‘I’m very relieved to see you looking so well,’ the Captain began, as soon as we had the room to ourselves. ‘From the report that Ariel and Hughes gave me of your fight with the Lamphrey I feared you must have been terribly badly hurt, even if you didn’t feel it at the time.’

  ‘I must admit Captain, I don’t fully understand why I’m not,’ I replied frankly. ‘I can only presume attacking the thing in the way I did must’ve caught if off guard somehow.’

  ‘Well, whatever the reason Ashton, your actions saved the lives of at least two other people, and effectively neutralized a significant threat to this vessel, and I’m very aware that this isn’t the first time you have deliberately put yourself in harm’s way in this fashion.

  ‘I know you’re grappling with a number of issues at the moment, but the results speak for themselves in my book.

  ‘Anyway, that aside, there are two items that I’m going to need your help with. Firstly in light of the tragic losses that we’ve suffered across all ranks within the crew I have come to realise that a number of positions will need to be filled amongst the senior staff. In particular I’m going to need a new Lieutenant Commander to assist in the reinteg-ration of the surviving crew as they begin to be discharged from hospital, and in helping me to identify good candidates for promotion within the crew who can help fill the numerous free positions.

  ‘Now, I don’t want you to think I’m only offering you this position because of our reduced crew compliment, your dedication and ability has been commented upon on numerous occasions by other members of the senior staff prior to our current situation, and it has been remarked upon numerous times by Mr Hughes, Captain Platt, Agent Jenkins and several of the other city officials you’ve been working with over the past couple of weeks. So what do you say?’

  I was so taken by surprise by the Captain’s offer that I’d accepted and thanked him for his trust in me before I’d properly realized what was going on, but as much as I’d have liked to discuss my new position with him in more detail, I knew there was something else he also needed to discuss.

  ‘You mentioned a second matter that you wanted to discuss with me?’ I reminded him.

  ‘Yes, thank you,’ he replied. ‘It’s a slightly more sensitive matter, entirely commensurate with your new rank.

  ‘I’m concerned about the lack of activity from the creature, the Lamphrey that you fought aboard this vessel just two days ago. I know from both Lensman Shilling and Mr Hughes accounts that you damaged and injured it quite badly, but the thing clearly had an agenda in coming here, and we need to know what that is.

  ‘Unfortunately, one of the main tools we have for tracking and sensing this creature is the link which Ariel seems to have with it, and we know now from experience that if she uses her ability to sense the creature, there’s a strong likelihood the creature will use the same link to sense her, and as a consequence might realise we’re vulnerable, what with the majority of the crew still being hospitalized, our new lensing volunteers still being far too green, and our new lensing equipment still needing to go through the final stages of manufacture.

  ‘Consequently the city officials are making the very reasonable point that we need to use Ariel’s ability to sense the creature, but we also need to improve our security situation so that we can deal with the creature should it be able to detect our weakness and decide to launch a second attack.’

  ‘I believe I understand sir,’ I replied, slightly uncertain how I should address the man now that I was part of his senior staff. ‘Ariel has already mentioned that you’d like me take a look at the marine suits, and if possible bring one into use in order to provide added re-assurance to the city’s officials. I’ll go and take a look immediately.’

  ‘Thankyou Ashton, I know you appreciate the gravity of the situation, but I hope you also appreciate that you’re a valuable member of this crew, so if you’re not ready for this, you can come back to me and say so.’

  There was a touch of the filmmakers charm about the Captain as he said this, he knew there were only the two of us aboard the ship who stood any chance of using those suits, and for him take on the sole responsibility for the security of the ship would completely undermine his position with the city’s officials. Even so he used that charm to try and persuade me not to be reckless.

  ‘Thankyou Captain, but I’m sure I’ll be up to the task.’ Was all I could find to say.

  Thinking I’d heard everything he wanted to discuss with me, I attempted to excuse myself in order to leave him to his other work, but there was still more he wanted to add.

  ‘There’s another delicate item which I need to also mention to you,’ he began, sombrely.

  ‘As you know the marines were particularly badly affected by the toxin that the saboteurs used to disable the crew. It was originally thought that in attempting to come to the aid of the ship they had forced the toxin deep into their systems, which accelerated their deaths, but after the initial post mortems its seems clear the saboteurs must’ve used a significantly higher dose in the marine quarters than elsewhere on the ship in order to try and kill as many of the sleeping and resting men and women as possible. As a consequence the doctors tell me that it’s likely that less than a third of the original marine battalion will survive, and that
almost all the senior ranks are amongst the dead or dying.

  ‘Needless to say, they need a commanding officer to help them through this time, and to take the remnants of the battalion forward as an effective fighting force and asset aboard this ship. I’d like you to take on this role as part of your new duties as one of my new Lieutenant Commanders.

  ‘I know I’m asking a lot, but in this instance you are one of the few members of the crew that I would trust with this responsibility, and who I hope the marines will also come to trust as well.’

  I had a good relationship with the ships marines as did most of the Lensmen on account of us both often being in the same places at the same time in order to safeguard the ship around the clock, but I had no illusions about being one of these fiercely loyal, powerful and often intimidatingly capable fighting men, so it was with a genuine level of trepidation that I again told the Captain that I understood and would do my best to carry out his orders.

  CHAPTER 37 – IF AT FIRST

  My head was still spinning slightly by the time I excused myself and made my way back down through the decks to the primary marine armament locker where I anticipated the majority of the marine suits and other specialist armaments would still be stored. The Captain had given me the necessary access codes for all the marine lockers aboard ship, of which there were nine in total including the primary locker that I was on my way to now.

  The other eight were spread equally between fore and aft, port and starboard and upper and lower, as by having them positioned in this way it was possible for the marines to reinforce the defences in any quarter of the ship, upper or lower by simply moving the marines through the ship rather than having to move both marines and equipment.