ALSO BY COLIN F. BARNES
Salt
Code Breakers: Alpha
Code Breakers: Beta
Code Breakers: Gamma
Code Breakers: Delta
WRITING AS WEARMOUTH & BARNES
Critical Dawn
Critical Path
Critical Strike
Sequence
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Text copyright © 2016 Colin F. Barnes
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by 47North, Seattle
www.apub.com
Amazon, the Amazon logo, and 47North are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.
ISBN-13: 9781503948440
ISBN-10: 1503948447
Cover design by Jason Blackburn
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHAPTER ONE
Eva stood on the rear deck of the Bravo with the other twenty potential submarine crewmembers. Ahead of them, standing in a group, the newly populated council looked on. Two of them stepped forward: Katerina and Oscar, the Mexican anglers. Their hair whipped in front of their faces by the cold, blustering wind, obscuring their expressions.
They lowered their salt masks and stepped forward, ready to address Eva’s group. Behind the Mexicans a further fifteen council members stood. The two groups – the potential submarine crew, whose role it would be to journey north to find the governmental facility deep within Mt McKinley, and the council – might appear to an outsider as though they were vigorously opposed to one another, but the situation was far more peaceful than that.
Baljeet Hassani, the head of the newly created council, had stepped back in with the other council members, having shared his position: that Jim and the others should not leave on the submarine to find the truth of the drowning when there might not be any such truth to find, and that they should remain on the flotilla.
‘We agree with Baljeet,’ Katerina said in her husky, Mexican-accented voice. ‘There’s just so much uncertainty about leaving. There might not be anything there – that’s if you even manage to find this base. I mean no offence to your training and abilities, Tom, but you’re expecting a crew of civilians to pilot a sophisticated craft to a destination that may hold nothing but dust and bones. If you all stay, we can rebuild the flotilla.’
Katerina looked to Jim, then to Eva and the others. Danny stood by Eva, his hand in hers. Eva saw sincerity shining from the fisherwoman’s eyes as she implored them in her kind way.
Oscar, Katerina’s husband, took up the appeal. ‘She’s right. We don’t know what’s there, and even if you do find the truth of what happened, what then? Look around us: nothing can be changed. With all the troubles behind us, we’re a united group once more. Why upset that now? Too many people have died. With the vaccine, and with Faust’s followers gone, we can thrive. Why do you want to leave that behind?’
A chorus of agreeing murmurs followed his speech. He bowed his head politely and replaced his salt mask. Jim nodded respectfully, appreciative of their views. It made a nice change to have people put their points across without it descending into a frothing drama.
Despite that, Eva knew Jim’s mind remained firm; they had spoken about it constantly in the last few weeks.
Jim lowered his mask and turned to Tom, Duncan, Eva, and Danny, who stood to his right. ‘I don’t wish to speak for all of you, but I’ve had chance to consider everything that has been said today, and these last few days, and I’m still sure it is the right thing to do. We need to go.’
Then, turning to the fifteen council members, he added, ‘I know the flotilla will be in good hands with you fine ladies and gentlemen overseeing things. After all the turmoil we’ve gone through lately, you’re just the stability this place needs. But make no mistake: one way or another, I will return . . . we will return, regardless of what we discover. The possibility of knowing the truth, getting closer, and finding a new home, a new future, is too much to give up. I couldn’t live with myself knowing I hadn’t taken this opportunity.’
Eva and Duncan removed their masks and voiced their agreement. ‘We’re unwavering on this,’ Eva said. ‘We’re going. We have to know the truth. We can’t just stay here and continue to live in ignorance.’
‘What about the bacteria?’ a petite Chinese woman, one of the council members, said from the pack. ‘You want to take Annette with you. We still need medical help, even with the vaccine.’
The wind blew the woman’s black hair in front of her face. She drew it back behind her ears with a deformed hand, and Jim was reminded about what had happened when neither Dr. Singh nor Annette had been available to attend to her wounds. Her hand had been crushed between two boats and was trapped for an hour before anyone could get to her. She had lost three fingers after an infection got into her cuts.
Annette stepped forward. Her hair hung tied back in a ponytail; a waxed jacket was pulled tight around her thin body. Eva wondered for a moment if it was a good idea to take her along. She’d been working so hard lately, training others to take her place. The stress had taken its toll, paling her complexion. Would she be able to cope?
‘I hear what you’re saying,’ Annette said. ‘But I’ve instructed five others in how to do my job – and more. We’re better equipped now than we’ve ever been. The vaccine has removed the biggest danger. And the improvements to the medical bay, courtesy of the equipment on the Excelsior, have provided us with a greater facility than we’ve ever had. My going won’t jeopardise the safety of anyone here – assuming I’ve been selected to go, that is?’
The attention of the group turned to Tom and Eva. The former held a piece of paper tightly in his gloved hand. He consulted it for a second then looked up, lowering his mask. ‘I suppose we ought to announce the team and get this over and done with.’
The crowd waited expectantly.
Tom cleared his throat and began to read out the names of the selected crew. ‘Jim Reynolds. Duncan Reynolds, Patrice Bentaleb, Bernita Batistuta, Brad Dempsey, Ahmed Gupta, Eva Morgan, Annette Tankian, Karel Medvied and Li Poh.’
Each person who was called stepped forward. Most looked pleased at having been selected, but Li Poh looked sad as she peered over the side of the Bravo at the
small fishing vessel that she had made her home. She had lived mostly alone, not bothering anyone, or speaking for that matter, but she had always shared her catch and had become sought after for her cooking skills.
As she rarely spoke, no one knew much about her, which made it all the more surprising that she had volunteered to train for a role on the submarine. It turned out that she knew a basic level of English – enough to get by, but not enough to hold a long conversation – much like the young Russian, Karel. He’d kept to himself on the flotilla, mixing mostly with a pair of fellow Russians, two women who had succumbed to the infection a few months previously.
That seemed to be the story for almost all the volunteers, Eva thought: they were all going because it seemed like they had no reason to stay anymore.
‘Wait,’ Brad said. ‘We’re one short. That’s only eleven. I thought there were supposed to be twelve.’
‘About that,’ Eva said while Tom replaced his mask and lowered his sheet of paper. ‘The other is not a popular choice.’
Jim fidgeted from one foot to the next. ‘You’ve chosen to take Graves, haven’t you?’ he said.
Oscar, Katerina, and Baljeet shared a look with Jim that Eva thought was relief. For them, not having Marcus Graves around would make living on the flotilla a more pleasant prospect; it was quite the opposite for Jim, she thought.
Eva knew being stuck in a submarine for a minimum ten-day round trip with Graves wouldn’t be Jim’s idea of a good time. But if that was what Tom wanted, then Jim would just have to find a way of dealing with it. Jim had promised them he wouldn’t influence their decision, and he would have to keep his word.
‘We have selected Marcus, yes,’ Eva said. ‘He’ll provide much-needed engineering skills, freeing up Tom to concentrate on captaining the crew. And . . . I would like to take Danny too.’
Katerina shook her head slowly, her eyes focused on her boots. ‘I feared you’d want to take him,’ she said. ‘A submarine’s no place for a young boy. He should be somewhere safe, with people who can care for him, like Oscar and me.’
‘She’s right,’ Oscar said. ‘He belongs here with us.’
Eva reiterated her argument as to why Danny should go, and back and forth it went, the group arguing over what was best for the boy while he just stood there, his head switching from side to side as if he were watching a tennis match.
‘Enough!’ Jim said, stepping forward between the two groups. ‘Neither one of you is going to convince the other. So I suggest we ask Danny. It’s his future, his life – he gets to choose.’
‘But he’s just a boy,’ Oscar said, throwing his arms in the air. ‘He doesn’t know what he wants.’
‘No, he’s not just a boy. He’s one of the brightest, smartest people I’ve ever known,’ Jim said. ‘He’s experienced more tragedy than most and come through it with a strength that would shame most of us. We’re not living in the old days anymore. Here, children are not children; they’re the same as us – survivors. He gets to choose.’
‘My dad’s right,’ Duncan said, pulling his mask down below his wild beard. He placed an arm over Danny’s shoulder. ‘The lad’s been through hell and it’s not up to us to decide for him. He deserves the choice, and will have it.’ Duncan glared at the murmuring group of council members, daring them to oppose him, but after a short while they realised they had no other choice.
Katerina stepped forward and knelt to his height. ‘Danny, darling, you know it’s dangerous out there, don’t you?’
‘Danny, what do you want?’ Eva asked. ‘Do you want to stay with Uncle Oscar and Auntie Katerina, or do you want to come with us on the submarine?’
Danny hugged Katerina. Eva’s shoulders dropped. Disappointment stabbed into her heart, but then the boy let go and took Eva’s hand once more. ‘I . . . want to stay,’ he said, so quietly that Eva wondered whether she had mistaken the wind’s baleful cry for the boy’s words.
Danny’s face, however, told her that she hadn’t misheard.
‘I want to stay, but I also want Eva and Duncan to stay,’ Danny said, now addressing the rest of the group. His hands shook and he placed them in the pocket of his dirty, torn jeans.
Eva looked away but nodded, knowing it was the right thing.
‘You’ve heard his decision,’ a voice said from behind them.
Marcus Graves walked out from the darkness of the hangar bay, along with Frank, Tyson, and Caff. Marcus approached with a smile on his face. ‘If the lad wants to stay, let him, and by the by, it seems like I’m going too . . . on one condition.’
Jim clenched his fists again.
The ex-gangster stood there, the collar to his black leather jacket up around his neck. He didn’t even bother to wear a mask anymore, relying on the vaccine alone to keep him safe.
‘I want Frank to be part of the council,’ Marcus said.
‘Are you mad?’ Jim asked. ‘He tried to kill me, remember? I don’t want that idiot anywhere near these people. In fact, I don’t want any of you lot near them.’
Graves just smiled, taking the insults on the chin. ‘Now, Jim, old son, no need for all this aggro, is there? It’s not like I’m asking much. I just want Frank to have something to do. Keep the old bastard out of trouble, eh?’ He elbowed Frank, eliciting a guffaw from Tyson and Caff.
‘The council actually needs people who will pull their weight,’ Eva said. ‘Frank’s not exactly known for being the first to volunteer.’
‘Hey, I helped mend the Bravo,’ Frank protested, jabbing a gnarled finger at Eva.
‘Only because your lot scammed your way in,’ Duncan said.
Eva put the palm of her hand against Duncan’s right arm, keeping him calm. The last thing they needed was to let things get out of hand. And the truth was, they needed Marcus’s expertise. With only Tom and Ahmed having any kind of electrical engineering knowledge, they were leaving themselves vulnerable if anything broke. This was a strong possibility, Tom had said, on account of the sub’s being inactive for the better part of two years. Although they’d given it a full appraisal and put it through a thorough round of maintenance, there were no guarantees something wouldn’t malfunction on their journey.
‘What you thinking there, Bal?’ Marcus said, addressing Baljeet, who was in close talks with the other council members. The older man nodded once and turned to face the others.
‘We’ll agree to this condition,’ he said. ‘We’ll accept Frank’s involvement, but on a condition of our own.’
Eva smirked. Baljeet was a clever one. He had learned a great deal about diplomacy and management during his days of running a textile factory in his native Pakistan. His calm demeanour always seemed to find a way through. It was just a shame it had taken him so long to get involved with the running of the flotilla. Jim really could have used his skills during the whole Faust issue, Eva thought.
‘Go on,’ Marcus said. ‘What do you want?’
‘We’d like your family to accommodate the council members and their families here on the Bravo. There is more than enough room and we feel we’ll be able to manage the running of the flotilla if we are centralised. It also means Frank wouldn’t need to come and go for council meetings.’
Very smart, Eva thought. She could see what Baljeet was doing: he’d given himself and the others a way to get Marcus on the sub while keeping Frank where they could see him, and perhaps actually get him into the role. There’d be no skulking around, making plans with Tyson and Caff while Marcus was away.
Frank grimaced, but Marcus slapped his arm with the back of his hand. ‘Don’t be such an old tart, Frank, it’ll be good for you and Caff to have some company while I’m gone. Besides, you’ll have Ty here to help you out.’
Marcus’s cousin mumbled something that was more than likely an insult.
‘It’s done, then,’ Marcus said. ‘You’ll have the Bravo and Frank, and I’ll go on my merry way with this lot.’ He swaggered across the deck to join Eva’s group. He smiled at them broadly an
d rubbed his palms together. ‘Right, then. Shall we get sorted? We’ve got supplies to shift and that old tin can to fire up.’ He turned to Jim and winked. ‘It’s gonna be cosy, Jim.’
‘Just don’t give me cause to do anything you wouldn’t like, Graves,’ Jim responded.
Before the other man could fire a return volley, the newly announced crew gathered together and headed off towards a stack of supplies at the end of the dock waiting to be loaded onto the sub. Eva swallowed the pain of having to leave Danny behind and headed off, trying to concentrate on the goal at hand: find the base, the truth, and a future for humanity.
First day at sea. 13:25 p.m.
Eva sat at the mess table and wondered if she had made the right decision after all. The USS Utah had a quiet hum to it that penetrated her bones, kept her in a permanent state of unease. She tried not to think too much about the nuclear reactor that was powering the craft.
Sitting opposite her in the small mess, the sub’s captain, Tom Martinez, spooned his fish soup, slurping unconsciously, his whole demeanour at rest, confident, relaxed.
‘Cheer up, love,’ Marcus said. He sat next to Tom and was drinking that awful tea. ‘We’ve only got another fifteen days to go.’
‘Not unless I get Jim to turn the sub around and drop me off,’ Eva said. ‘Hell, I could just sneak out of the lockout trunk and swim back to the flotilla. I think I’d rather risk the sharks than put up with you for a fortnight.’
‘You need me,’ Marcus said, seriously this time.
But what made it worse was that Eva knew he was speaking the truth.
‘I know,’ she said. ‘Which means we need to pull together.’
‘I’ll make sure of that,’ Tom said, peering over his spoon. ‘And one thing you need to focus on as a member of this crew is forgetting this business about Danny. You made the right decision not arguing for it. He couldn’t have come; a sub is no place for a boy.’
The problem was that during the six weeks of intensive training that Tom had put them through, Danny had been as adept at working the sonar as Eva. The boy would have been a good member of the crew, despite his age. They could have accommodated him. Yet it had been her decision to accept Danny’s wishes and leave him behind. She could have convinced him to come with her, she knew that, but she couldn’t bring herself to override his choice.
Soil (The Last Flotilla Book 2) Page 1