Far From The Sea We Know

by Frank Sheldon

  Penny made no attempt at an answer. She had none. It was time to talk to her father.

  She found him in C-lab where Emory was giving him a commentary as they viewed the sonar. The image was striking. It seemed too symmetrical, too perfect in shape.

  “Amazing,” her father said, and finally looked up at her. “Don’t you think?”

  “I think you need to tell me how you are going to keep them safe down there.”

  He glanced at Emory who, after some hesitation, said, “I’ll explain. For one thing, we’re going to use a dead-man switch.”

  “Charming name,” she said, “but I was speaking to my father.”

  “Emory can explain this better than I can.”

  She looked at her father a moment more, then turned to Emory. She made her face as impassive as she could. “I’m sorry. Go on.”

  “No problem. It’s called a dead-man switch because even a dead-man can activate it.”

  “Now I feel so much better.”

  “Hey, it’s just a fail-safe device to bring the Bluedrop up even if everything is non-operative. A solid clockwork mechanism, no wires or circuits, just gears and springs, tough and reliable.”

  “Nothing is reliable anymore,” she couldn’t help saying.

  “Well, it doesn’t depend on electrical power, so that should give it an edge. I’ll rig it so if the switch is not manually reset every twenty minutes, there’ll be a warning and then some explosive bolts—”

  “Explosive!”

  “They’re small,” Emory said. “Used for years, extremely reliable. On the first manned spacecraft, for instance. They blow by producing gas from the reaction of chemical agents. It’s mostly carbon dioxide, so safe. The gas flows into ballistic-rated membranes that force water out of the ballast tanks. The Bluedrop becomes buoyant and up she comes, at a safe rate, not too fast. Divers can meet it and adjust as necessary.”

  “Even from outside?” she said.

  “Sure. And we have high intensity underwater flares, so they can see if the electric lights go out and mechanical cameras on board that can work without electricity as well. Even if we have power problems, we’ll still get something. Just about anything can go wrong, and the crew will still be good. Multiple backups throughout.”

  Penny smiled as best she could. Emory was trying to reassure her, but his near religious faith in technology made him sound less, rather than more, convincing.

  “Emory, that’s all marvelous, but you don’t really know that the Bluedrop will not be disabled in some other way you can’t anticipate. Remember the Navy cruisers? What happens if the Bluedrop gets a hole punched through it? Everyone would drown.”

  “I doubt it. The pressure would crush them first.”

  “Well, silly me, then there’s no worry at all!”

  She raced out of the room in a fury and out to the deck. Footsteps sounded after her. She walked as fast as she could, then abruptly turned and shouted, “What?” But it wasn’t Emory. It was her father.

  “Dear,” he said. “No one will be harmed.”

  “But you don’t know that! What do we have to go on, to really make an assessment? Nothing!”

  “I don’t agree, and I’m surprised to hear you say this. Violence does not fit in with what we have seen so far. No one has been hurt physically.” He paused for a moment. “In any case, we won’t be free diving. There will be a cable, both for added security and to allow video and data connections. It will hamper our maneuverability somewhat, but it seems prudent. The dead-man switch is redundant. If worst comes to worst, they can just haul us up. Although you are right in saying we don’t understand what we are dealing with, we have been getting a wealth of information on its character, if you like. I don’t see anything to indicate that we will be harmed, and Chiffrey has the Navy and his people going along with this, but we don’t know for how long. Right now, they are willing to let us have a go.”

  “How kind of them.”

  “The longer we wait, the more likely it is that they will insist on pushing, and who knows what the consequences of that would be?”

  “We don’t know what the consequences of our actions will be.”

  “Ultimately you can say that about every breath we take, but it’s hardly fair to suggest we shouldn’t explore the unknown until we know all about it first.”

  Penny considered. Opposing her father now would be like trying to stop time.

  “When do you launch?”

  “The day after tomorrow.”

  CHAPTER 44

  With what was left of the evening, the student crew began getting equipment ready. Penny having nothing to prepare other than herself, had a walk. As she strolled around to the aft deck, she came upon Matthew helping Becka and Emory complete the holding tank setup to get it ready for filling. There were no plans for any captures at this point, but maybe Andrew wanted to have it on standby just in case. Or, more likely, he simply knew that a busy crew meant less trouble. As it was, Matthew had been keeping to himself the last few days and only returning to her in the evenings.

  So, good, she thought, he’s becoming engaged again. Leave him alone. Don’t push him.

  She continued her walk, climbed some steps, and saw her father leaning on a railing, looking out over the moonlit sea. He didn’t notice her, and she waited, watching. The faint smile that played on his lips betrayed no doubts, only the wonder of an innocent, in spite of his age. Somehow, he had never lost that. As she was thinking this, he turned and nodded to her.

  “I hope you have forgiven me for getting you into all this,” he said. “Didn’t realize it would turn into such a circus. Good choice of a word, isn’t it?”

  “Chiffrey has been putting us through some hoops, if that’s what you mean.”

  “I suspect he’s had to jump more than a few himself. That’s his job, I suppose. But I meant it in a different way. We find ourselves in the middle of a large circle that at first seemed to say, ‘nothing to see, move along.’ Now, from darkness and silence, it suddenly turns the porch light on.”

  “Dad, there is something in the way this is heading that has me deeply concerned.”

  “Nothing wrong with healthy skepticism, but cooperation has the best chance for things to work out for us.”

  “Then it’s true about the budget cuts next year? Ripler dropped that on Matthew the day we arrived.”

  Her father didn’t answer right away. “Yes, I’m afraid it is true. What’s more, this might have been one of the last expeditions for the Valentina. There was a chance it would have been the last.”

  “And you think this adventure will delay that?”

  “In a way, Ripler was thinking correctly, although for the wrong reasons. In spite of Chiffrey’s efforts, something is getting out. The mysterious voyages of the Valentina have been news for days. That’s led to a profusion of back-stories about the ship and what she has accomplished over the years. It will be harder to scuttle her now. ‘You can’t shoot Bambi,’ as Emory said to me. Not the best metaphor, but he made the point.”

  Her father gazed at his daughter a moment before looking back at the moonlit waves. “You know I would never put anyone at risk to get funding. It might just as easily work out that this will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back as far as the board goes. But even if I knew that, I’d still go ahead.”

  “It’s hard to believe they would stop funding the Valentina.”

  “Goes deeper than that. They want to sell her. Yes, really. She’s not cheap to maintain, and is by far the largest single expense for the Point. They don’t want to spend so much, and other technologies beckon.”

  “Then maybe you should ask the Navy for funding. It must cost more than the GNP of some countries just for all the ships they’ve deployed here.”

  “Well, they have to be somewhere, and in some ways, we are lucky. The Navy is working for us at the moment. Look there.”

  Penny soon found the lights of a few ships on the inland horizon. Her father s
aid, “Most are Navy or Coast Guard, but a few others had begun to gather before being escorted away. They’ve also declared a no-fly zone around us. Terrible in a way, but helpful just now.”

  “The media could prevent the military from keeping this a secret.”

  “I don’t really enjoy seeing my picture in the papers. Expect Matthew didn’t either, but that can’t be undone, I’m sorry to say. What is more important right now is to keep people away from here at least until we understand what we are dealing with. What if we had flotillas of divers all wanting to go have a look at what’s down there in your circle? Taking off chunks for souvenirs. Don’t laugh, they would. And selling them to the highest bidder. For now, the Navy needs us and we need them. You can see that, can’t you?”

  As much as she loved her father, Penny hated it when he boxed her in like this. It was the same tactic Chiffrey had used.

  “Yes, I understand the argument,” she said, “and I know our options are limited. I don’t see us handing over the Valentina to the Navy. But how far can we trust them? Not to mention Chiffrey and whoever his friends are?”

  “Well, you just did mention him, didn’t you?” He smiled at her.

  “Listen, Dad, in spite of his supposed spirit of openness, he’s still hiding something. He always is.”

  “Getting to you, is he? That’s part of his job, I suppose.”

  “Why does it always have to be like this?”

  “Because no moment or thing is really like any other, but we can’t bear that, so we generalize life into categories for the sake of function. The price for that is we no longer share the same world, and blood is spilled over which end of the egg to break.” He sighed deeply. “You’ll have to pardon me, dear. Captain Nemo speaking again. I suppose ‘render unto Caesar’ is the real principle here.”

  “We are already giving Chiffrey what he needs for his little world.”

  “Ours is not so large either, I’m afraid. For instance, we are documenting this entire escapade. Everything”

  “Well, of course.”

  “But the point is, not just for sake of science, but to give us cover for later. Legal, political, financial cover. All the evils that are deemed to be necessary. You somehow can never get even a little close to it without getting some on you. It’s just the way it is.”

  “Dad, I’ve been out in the big wide world for years.”

  “I know, yes, how I do know.” He laughed. “Which reminds me. Matthew! Good catch. Shouldn’t say that, as now you’ll feel compelled to throw him back.”

  “That fish won’t fly.”

  “Yes, I’ll leave it, but speaking of feelings, have you any idea what caused all this strange behavior here?”

  “Didn’t really affect me, but for many of the others, it’s as if some of the filtering that normally goes on to make the world a coherent place has somehow been altered.”

  “The shock of the whole thing, you think?”

  “It really has been almost like a mystical experience for some people. Especially for the first day or two, many were like children.”

  “Childlike or childish?”

  “Both, and at times, hard to take. I have to admit, people did seem more alive. Even Ripler, in his own warped way. I could almost feel sorry for him. He suffered terribly, but I have a stone for a heart.”

  Her father laughed again. “So you say, and so we both know, a lie.”

  “As to exactly the cause of what happened to so many people,” she continued, pointedly ignoring his comment, “I have a guess. Mysty.”

  “Sounds like a cheap perfume.”

  “Mary Sims got to choose the name of the lead whale because she was the first to record it.”

  “Given that she may have sabotaged the ROVs, perhaps we could justify changing the name.” Her father sighed. “We don’t know that yet, however, so benefit of the doubt for Mary. She always had a tendency toward sentimentality, which was probably what made her vulnerable to the likes of Ripler.”

  He glanced past her shoulder and said, “Oh, good timing. Here is your fellow. Matthew, well met indeed!”

  She could feel the warmth of Matthew’s body even though he didn’t touch her. And he wouldn’t because her father was there.

  “Good evening Doctor Bell,” Matthew said.

  “Martin, will do.”

  “I can’t say that, somehow…”

  “No, you can’t, but I expect you will someday.” He smiled for a brief moment, and then continued. “Any idea what has caused the behavioral changes in people? Including yourself?”

  Matthew squirmed a bit. Good, thought Penny.

  “Well, if you mean how, then no, I really don’t know. I do believe it’s real.”

  “Even though it seems to be wearing off?” her father said. “Like a drug?”

  “A moment of discovery can be a moment of joy. The joy may not last, but that does not invalidate the discovery.”

  “Well put. For some things, no matter our efforts, we can only take the ferry once.”

  “Dad, will you stop being so bloody cryptic!”

  “Pen, work a little. Sometimes you have to just shut your eyes and roll with it, feel it in your bones.”

  Gray to gray, a silence vast and perfect extends in all directions. I am the silence…

  Everything stops.

  Infinite gray…

  “Pen?” Her father’s voice. “Penelope, dear? Come back, child!”

  Matthew put a hand on her forehead, and her vision slowly faded back to now. Under her shoulders, the deck felt hard and solid, and she could have stayed there indefinitely. “I’m okay,” she finally said.

  “Are you sure?” Matthew asked.

  “Help me up.”

  She lifted her arms, one to each of them, and they brought her slowly to her feet. “I’m okay, I’m okay.” She steadied herself with the railing.

  “Are you really all right?” her father asked.

  “I’m fine. Do you remember Normy?” she asked Matthew. “We were waiting for the ride out to the Valentina. Normy, the guy from the bar at Abercrombie?”

  “What about him?”

  “He spoke to you, used the words ‘rolling the bones,’ I think, and you almost collapsed. You were sweating and trembling like a newborn lamb.”

  Matthew closed his eyes and put one hand on his forehead as if he were checking for fever. “If you say so. I remember walking into the bar to find you. We had…a discussion, a tense one, yeah.” He looked at her father with a wan smile. “Then we left and didn’t talk for a while.”

  “You’ve forgotten,” she said. “Weird. How long was I down, by the way?”

  “Two or three minutes,” her father said. “Are you eating enough, dear?”

  “Dad…”

  “Well, you fainted! Perhaps a little more sleep?”

  Matthew blushed, and Penny could not help enjoying his discomfort. “There’ll be plenty of time to sleep, one day,” she answered.

  “We need everyone in top form, dearest,” her father said. “Including you. Promise you’ll take care of yourself.”

  “I promise I’ll consider it.”

  “Then that will have to do, as I must get on to some other matters. But first: Matthew, do you want to be on the minisub crew? On the Bluedrop?”

  “Dad?” Penny said.

  “Would you let me?” Matthew answered.

  “I’d insist on it, if you want to be part of the team. What do you say?”

  “Whoa!” Penny said. “Wait a minute.”

  “I’m definitely onboard,” Matthew said. “Thank you.”

  “Matthew, what is this?” she said. “You’ve barely come out of our cabin lately.”

  “Pen is right to be concerned,” her father said. “This is not without risk.”

  “I know. But you’re going.”

  “No, he’s not.” She looked at her father.

  “I assumed you knew,” he said.

  “What I assumed was that you’d be s
ending a crew down. Not going yourself!”

  “I’m still allowed to make my own decisions, I hope. Especially aboard this ship.” He observed Matthew closely and said, “I’ve had the life I wanted because I knew when to take risks and when it was best to let one get away. And I only took risks when the prize was worth it.”

  “Prize?” Penny yelled. “Do you think this is Raiders of the Lost Ark or something? No one should be going down, but surely there are other people onboard who are better qualified.”

  “Not so many anymore. Becka is good, yes, though Dirk would usually have been my first pick. And, to be fair, Jack and Mary were both good, but now we’ll go with Emory and Malcolm. We’ve already decided the Bluedrop is going down, so why bring it up again?”

  “You decided, you mean.”

  “That’s my prerogative. As to the Bluedrop crew, no one’s life is any less significant than mine, so why shouldn’t I go? I have the most experience. I am still fit. I want Matthew along for my own reasons. And if we don’t go down, what would you have us do?”

  “We should leave it alone until we know more, and you know it.”

  “But you found the circle,” Matthew said, “I thought…”

  “Dearest,” her father said to Penny, “if we do nothing, those who sent Lieutenant Chiffrey won’t waste any time stealing our wind. It’s not a real option, dear, it just isn’t. We do, however, have a chance to mitigate what might turn into a disaster without us. What’s more, fate has given us the opportunity to discover something beyond all comprehension. A call unanswered becomes a lifetime of regret.”

  “Your stock rally-the-troops phrase. Heard it.”