The Sam Reilly Collection Volume 2

by Christopher Cartwright

  Tom threw his mask in a bucket of fresh water and sat next to him. “So, do you want to tell me your theory? Cause, I know you’ve got one. You don’t go all quiet like this unless you have a pretty bad answer to something. Otherwise you just keep asking more questions. So what is it?”

  Sam unzipped a pocket along his right thigh and removed his dive tablet. He looked at his tablet computer, typed what he was after and clicked search. He patiently examined the results. Pensive. They only confirmed his nagging suspicion. Handing the tablet to Tom. “Does this look like your ghost?”

  “Christ! That’s exactly what it looked like. Where did you get that?”

  “From the database of students with exemplary achievement at MIT. That’s the most recent known picture of Professor Luke Eldridge – the man who was murdered.”

  Chapter Eighty

  Tom dried himself with a towel and threw a T-shirt on. This news was about to change everything. Until a few minutes ago they knew who their enemy was – someone who wanted Luke Eldridge dead. They had hoped the nanobot hive had been destroyed, but the appearance of the glowing green apparition showed this hope was in vain.

  Veyron and Elise both came down the steel stairs and into the dive room. Tom looked at their faces as they approached. “So much for our long overdue vacation,” he said.

  Sam then gave them the bad news. They took it well. Neither looked particularly surprised to discover the nanobots had evolved to survive. It’s only natural.

  At the end, Sam said, “Do you understand what this means?”

  “That we were sharing the same confined space with about a trillion microscopic machines designed to kill us?” Tom replied.

  “Well, there is that. Also, the nanobots are no longer confined to the surface. Plankton are natural surface drifters. They only sink to the bottom when they die.”

  “And if they aren’t restricted to the surface, it means they’re going to be a lot harder to find,” Elise said. “Until now we’ve been able to find them because at night they show up clearly on satellite imaging. No wonder we haven’t been able to find them. In the day they’re enjoying the warmth of the sun and in the night they sink to a cave or something to hide.”

  Sam dried his hair with a towel. “Which means, we’re going to need to find a cave somewhere nearby.”

  “Why nearby?” Veyron asked.

  Sam smiled. He knew he had a winning hand. “Because some of these nanobots were foraging for materials inside the ancient trimaran, and we know their flagella only allow them to make small movements. If they’re foraging for the primary hive, then they must be close.”

  “Could they be inside any of the hulls?” Tom asked.

  “No, not unless there’s about twenty cargo ships down there we don’t know about,” Elise replied. “Think about it. Their hive was large enough to create a rogue wave capable of sinking a cargo ship. That meant they must have the same weight of several cargo ships just to create the wave.”

  Matthew walked into the room. “What did I miss?”

  “The hive is alive and can now hide underwater.”

  Matthew looked taken aback. “Well that’s inconvenient. I was going to ask to take some leave.”

  Tom smiled. “Me too, buddy, me too.”

  Sam looked to Matthew. “About a month ago, you took a sonar scan of this entire seabed, trying to confirm the number and locations of shipwrecks. Did you see any overhanging rocks, or caves? Anything that might provide shelter for the primary hive at night?”

  “It’s all on the ship’s database. I’ll give it to Elise and she can get her system to search for a suitable location for their nest.”

  Chapter Eighty One

  Tom stepped into his quarters, ready to curl up in his bed. It was only four p.m. but, if they were to find the hive’s nest, he would have to dive during the night so they could visualize the nanobots. He still recalled the old mantra from his days in the Corps – sleep when you can, because you never know how long it might be until you next get the chance.

  He stripped to his shorts and flicked the air conditioner on. It started up and ran with an annoyingly loud hum, more like sleeping next to a mechanic tuning a car engine. Tom put up with it due to the fact the steel hull lining his quarters radiated the outside temperature, making it above 100 degrees Fahrenheit inside. Still, it wasn’t ideal.

  Tom rested on his back. Pulled a light sheet up to his shoulders and closed his eyes. Two seconds later, several loud knocks struck the door. They were almost aggressive in their tempo. Tom stood up, walked over and opened the door.

  It was Genevieve.

  She walked inside and closed the door without speaking. Tom looked at her and smiled. She had dark hair, kept short and tidy, giving her the appearance of an elf. Blue eyes. Long eyelashes. No makeup whatsoever. Tan complexion. She was quite stunning to look at.

  She wore denim shorts and a white tank top. Like everyone else aboard, she was barefoot. He wanted to speak, but didn’t know what to say. They’d been so busy since the night the Mississippi had been damaged, when she’d kissed him, they hadn’t spoken since, with the exception of normal duties.

  She locked the door, and pulled her tank top over her head. Then she unclasped her bra, revealing large, well-rounded breasts with petite nipples. She stared at him. Her blue eyes taunted him with desire. She remained silent while she unbuttoned her shorts and removed both her underwear and shorts in one single movement.

  She stood completely naked in front of him, every bit as unimaginably beautiful as he’d dreamed she’d be. Her skin smooth and vibrant, her figure lithe and athletic. She had multiple scars throughout her body. Some could have been from natural accidents; others could only have been from her past. Tom was wise enough not to ask about them.

  Genevieve smiled at him. It was seductive and removed any doubt about who was in control. She then stepped towards him.

  “If you tell a soul about this, I will kill you.”

  Chapter Eighty Two

  At 2 a.m. Tom found himself halfway between asleep and ideal contentment. If he let himself go, he’d be unconscious in seconds, but the joy of holding Genevieve’s naked body was almost too delicious to waste. He could feel his heartbeat against her naked breasts. Her scent was divine. Tom wished the moment could go on forever.

  Luck however, had different plans.

  There was only one knock at the door. “Vacation’s over. Veyron just found the hive’s nest.”

  Tom sat upright. He switched his bed side light on, and looked at Genevieve. Surprised to discover her languid body appeared even sexier than he remembered. She woke up immediately. “Good morning Sam. Where do you want me?” he asked.

  “Dive room. Veyron’s come up with a plan. We dive in fifteen minutes.”

  “Okay. See you there.”

  Genevieve ran her hands down his arms until they linked with his. “Good morning,” she whispered.

  Tom smiled at her. Glad she was still there. He mouthed the words, “Morning.” He rolled slightly on top of her and slid down the bed until their eyes were at the same height. Her blue eyes simply watched him in silence. Tom kissed her lips. Slow at first. Soft and gently. Tenderness then gave way to desire. She opened her mouth and his tongue explored her eagerly. His right hand let go of hers and he ran it down to the hollow of her lower back.

  He then stopped. “I have to go.”

  “Wait. One more kiss,” she demanded, wrapping her free arm around his neck.

  He kissed her again. Long, passionate. She finished by biting the very side of his lip firmly, but with not quite enough force to draw blood.

  He drew back in surprise. “What the fuck?”

  She smiled. “If you tell anyone about this, I really will kill you. No matter how much I adore your beautiful hazel eyes.”

  Chapter Eighty Three

  Sea Witch II was a bright yellow Triton 36 000/3 submarine. It stood next to the moon pool on its twin hulls. It reminded Sam of a futuristic
hovercraft. It had twin yellow hulls and a large borosilicate glass dome in the middle that housed up to three divers. Two pilot seats at the front of the bubble, and one passenger crammed behind to form the shape of a V. The dome provided 270 degree visualization. The unique glass had been slowly built over nearly eight months, using boron instead of soda-lime, which gave it the unusual property of compressing upon itself while it dives. The benefit of which, meant the bubble dome increases in durability the deeper it goes. On paper, this submarine was capable of reaching depths of 36, 000 feet – the same depths of the Mariana Trench.

  Tonight, Sam had little need for such extreme hull strength. Their depth would max out at around 70 feet. Their mission was to locate the hive of deadly nanobot hybrid plankton. Once certain they had found the dangerous nest, they would implement Veyron’s plan to destroy it – he just hoped Veyron was right about his theory.

  The cables and hooks were attached to the submarine, ready to maneuver the sub into the water for launch. Sam felt the sub shift as he strapped himself into the pilot seat. To his left, in the copilot’s chair, Tom had commenced the startup procedure. Behind them both, Veyron was double checking his calculations for his theory by hand. Sam looked at the two other men. “Are we ready to get this sub in the water?”

  “I’m good,” Veyron said.

  Tom flicked the running lights to on. “Systems all check out well. We’re good to go.”

  Sam depressed the radio transmitter. “Maria Helena, this is Sea Witch II, we’re good for launch.”

  “Copy that Sea Witch, safe journey and good hunting.” It was Matthew who replied, his professional monotone voice comforting in its familiarity.

  Sam shifted slightly in his seat as the Sea Witch II rocked lightly in the seawater. He braced himself on the joystick, which was still set in a locked position.

  “Maria Helena, we’re ready to release the tether and commence our dive,” Sam said.

  “Copy that. Releasing the tether,” Matthew replied.

  “Oh, and Matthew, make certain Elise is tracking the area. If the hive makes a run for it, I want her ready to track. It’s taken too long to find it, only to lose it now.”

  “She’s on top of it. Good luck.”

  Sam flicked the ballast switch. Water began flooding into the tanks, while air bubbles gurgled to the surface. “Okay, gentlemen. Let’s do this.”

  The Sea Witch II dived to a depth of 60 feet. Sam stopped the water intake and leveled her into neutral buoyancy. In a heads-up display across the front of the dome, a GPS screen overlapped the Sonar maps of the seafloor. The location of the cave had already been entered and marked with the word cave. It was approximately 1500 feet away, nearly directly north of their current position. Sam didn’t want to risk bringing the Maria Helena any closer, in case it startled the hive into running before they were in a position to do anything about it. He then started the forward propellers, located at each end of the twin hulls. They whirred quietly as they moved towards the cave.

  Tom grinned. “You’re certain that’s where they are?”

  “Pretty certain,” Sam replied. “Elise found the entrance to this cave in our database from our Sonar study of the area a month back. The entrance is nearly thirty feet wide by ten feet high. It’s rectangular and almost looks manmade. We believe it might be the entrance to a massive underwater cavern. How far it goes, we’re about to find out.”

  Veyron flicked on three separate switches at the back of the submarine. The switches were green and had been recently retrofitted to the Sea Witch II. A new sound started. It was an electrical hum. Soft at first, then progressively increasing in decibels.

  Both Sam and Tom looked back at him.

  Veyron smiled back at them, apologetically. “Sorry, had to be done.”

  Sam shrugged his shoulders. Engineers could do anything they wanted to his submarine so long as they were inside it too. And Veyron wasn’t just any engineer. He was a world leader in mechatronics and submersibles.

  Tom pointed at the seafloor ahead. It gradually sloped upwards. “Any reason you took us to 60 feet when we’re aiming for 30? What? Are you afraid they’ll see us coming?”

  “Yeah, we are.”

  Tom sighed. They were dealing with an unknown weapon they couldn’t necessarily see. No one had any idea how much it knew about its surrounding environment. The only thing for certain was that, up until now, they kept on underestimating it. “Say, just out of interest. Once we do find the hive’s nest, what’s your plan to destroy it?”

  Sam increased their depth by 10 feet to match the natural contours of the seabed. “Veyron came up with the solution.”

  “Well don’t hold out on me. What have we got?”

  “When Veyron and I were onboard the Global Star, we heard a story from the foreman at the scrap metal salvage site. The man told us about how one of the workers fell into the bilge which contained the bioluminescent plankton. The worker complained that the plankton tried to kill him. He developed a rash. Soon he was unconscious. When the doctors put him through a magnetic resonance imaging machine he started to have a fit. When they tried it later, they couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary, with the exception of a brain tumor he didn’t know he had.”

  Tom shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “That’s right, I remember you telling me the story. I thought it turned out to be nothing. The guy had a brain injury or epilepsy or something.”

  Veyron shifted in his seat. “Yeah, it was a brain tumor.”

  “Okay, so what’s the relevance?” Tom asked.

  “Well, it wasn’t until we discovered that there were nanobots living symbiotically with the plankton that Veyron realized what happened,” Sam said.

  Tom took a deep breath. “Of course, the MRI is a super magnet. It would have stripped and killed each of the nanobots. The guy probably metabolized them and pissed them out over the next few days.”

  “Exactly.” Sam flicked through a series of paper. Searching for something. “So, what we really needed was a really big, portable MRI machine.”

  Veyron grinned. “I believe it’s called an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP for short. And I’ve had one attached to the front of Sea Witch II.”

  Chapter Eighty Four

  The mouth of the cave opened up in front of them and Sam piloted the Sea Witch II inside. “Now we just have to see if your theory’s right.”

  The cavern was completely dark. It felt like the walls sucked away the small amount of light at the front of Sea Witch II.

  Tom maneuvered a floodlight towards the cave floor. The light reflected straight back at him. It was as though he was shining it towards a mirror. Then his eyes settled as he pointed the light slightly to the side so it wasn’t reflecting directly off the metallic seabed. “Tell me that’s not what I think it is?”

  Veyron moved towards the front of the submarine. “No. They’re not living nanobots. You can’t see them, remember. Even in great numbers, you see the plankton not the microscopic machines.”

  “Then what the hell is that?” Sam asked pointing towards the silvery floor below the cave.

  Veyron swallowed. Hard. “Do you remember when we tested the most stable colony in a Petri dish? What we found was that one out of every hundred plankton cells fail to divide correctly, resulting in the death of the nanobot.”

  Tom scanned the light along the seafloor. The metallic surface appeared to continue forever. He dug a mechanical arm into the seafloor. It was covered in millions of small metallic spheres. Small enough to fit in the palm of a person’s hand. The entire seafloor inside the cavern was filled with them. And the cavern was massive. He followed it to the end and even then, it stretched his eyesight to see if it really finished there. “Are you saying those spheres are dead nanobots?”

  “Yes,” Veyron replied. “For some reason they seem to bind together as spheres. There must be a few thousand of them joined to form each sphere.”

  Tom looked up – into the dark void above. The ceiling
seemed to suck the light away from it. “If it takes thousands of dead nanobots to make a sphere and only every hundred or so nanobot dies, are you telling me there are at least a million times these fucking creatures above us?”

  Sam flicked on the massive flood lights. “Holy shit! Where did they all go?”

  Chapter Eighty Five

  The entire roof of the monstrous cavern was completely empty. Not a single glow of bioluminescence could be seen. The seafloor glistened as it reflected the powerful lights. Sam gave the motors in the left hull a slight burst of power. Sea Witch II turned slowly to the right. Somehow the entire place now appeared more frightening than when they were certain it contained their enemy.

  No one spoke.

  On the far side of the cavern the roof height reached further upwards. At the top of it and above the water, Sam could make out a steel deck. It was as though someone had been coming here from the surface. If nothing else, it provided the means for a person to view the nest close up without the requirement of SCUBA equipment.

  Veyron removed the plastic safety cover over a red switch then flicked the switch downwards. The pitch of the intense hum changed to a much sharper howl, followed by a series of wavelike echoes that hurt their ears. The electromagnetic pulse activated. The floodlights at the front of the submersible along with the rest of their instruments went completely blank

  And the cavern was once more filled with darkness.

  “What the hell did you do that for?” Sam asked.

  The submarine bubble was completely dark, but Sam could hear Veyron’s voice. “In case it was a trap. I didn’t want to get caught out in here. Besides, I wanted to be certain there weren’t any stragglers who were going to repopulate the colony.”