“Why’d you stop?” she asked.
“Look!” he said, flabbergasted. “Look at the lights!”
Chloe cast her gaze upwards as well, slowly turning in a circle. “What? Am I missing something? What am I supposed to be looking at?”
“I’ll be right back,” he excitedly stated. “I wanna check something.”
Chloe stood in the middle of the aisle and watched as Armada began running to the rear of the kitchen.
“It’s in the prep area!” he shouted.
A few seconds later, she heard him yell out, “It’s in the freezers and refrigerator, too!”
“WHAT’S IN THERE?” she hollered as he ran out of sight towards the charging station and elevator.
“Woo-hoo!” he screamed, “It’s everywhere!”
He suddenly came racing out of the charging station, shouting as he ran, “Chloe! Chloe!”
“Armada, Armada!” she mockingly replied, waving her hands.
He ran directly at her, swooped her up in his arms, and spun them around and around, laughing out loud as they twirled. She squealed in girlish delight at his display of genuine, heartfelt joy.
“What? Tell me, you idiot! Why are you so excited?”
“Look up and tell me what you see,” he instructed, panting heavily as he released her.
“I have been. I still don’t understand what it is you want me to notice.”
Armada laughed as he spoke, “Look at the lights and tell me what you see. C’mon, look hard, think.”
“Ugh! You’re beginning to annoy me!” she complained, half smiling. “Okay, looking hard, thinking about the lights. I’m looking, I’m looking, at the lights. Well, that one isn’t on, and … those two aren’t turned on, and….”
Chloe immediately twisted around to face Armada and covered her mouth. Tears welled up in her eyes.
“Oh, my gosh, Armada. They’re all off!”
“I know, I know!”
“But how? That’s impossible!”
“I don’t know! But whatever that thing is out there, it’s powerful enough to send light through walls and around corners. Look at the leg of the shelving unit.”
It was at that moment they both realized the shelves, support brackets, and frames didn’t cast a shadow on the tile floor. Not only that, but the more they concentrated on what they were looking at, it was quickly discovered that there were no shadows anywhere, including themselves.
“Oh, Armada! Look at us!” she laughed.
He picked up the case of bottled water, took Chloe by the hand, and led her to the atrium.
Armada let go of her hand, crossed the atrium, and delivered the water to their room.
Chloe stood almost directly under the orb, basking quietly in its brilliance. As he was returning, it began to shrink and diminish in luminosity. In just a few moments, the massive sphere resumed its original size. It came down from its position near the ceiling and hovered in front of them before leading them back to their room. The couple entered the suite, followed by the orb.
The door closed behind it without a sound.
Armada and Chloe sat on the end of one of the queen-sized beds as the glowing mass levitated in front of them.
“Fear not my children, and know that I am with you, always,” the man’s voice reassuringly stated.
“How long are we supposed to stay here?” Armada humbly asked. “How will we know when it’s safe to leave the atrium and kitchen area? I mean, how do you want us to communicate with you?”
“I will show you miracles, signs, and wonders. Trust in Me, I will not forsake you.”
“Do you…,” Chloe started to speak, but the glowing mass of light abruptly evaporated, leaving the couple alone and in the dark.
They sat quiet and still.
Armada rose from the bed and pulled Chloe to her feet. They held each other and gently rocked back and forth. He withdrew himself from her arms, then guided her to the second bed. He gently pushed her back on the mattress, knelt down, and removed her shoes and socks. Remembering he saw where the closet was located, he awkwardly fished his way through their new dwelling. When he touched and recognized the closet doorknob, he swung it open and groped for a blanket and pillow.
“What are you doing?” she asked, giggling.
“I’m looking for the bedsheets.”
His hand landed on a shelf with four pillows and, above that, another shelf holding two thick, fluffy blankets. He grabbed two of the pillows and both blankets, tossed one of each on his barren mattress, and walked back to Chloe’s bed. He playfully flung the pillow, smacking her square in the face.
“Uh … thanks!” she sarcastically grunted.
“My pleasure!”
She tucked the new, billowy pillow under her head and rolled on to her right side. Standing over her, he clutched the edge of the blanket, shook it open, and spread it out evenly across the bed, covering Chloe in the process. He sat down next to her, extended his left arm, and, without a word, delicately ran his fingers through her soft hair while listening to her breathing. She scooted closer to him until her head was nearly touching his hip.
“I can’t hardly believe what all has happened today,” she mumbled.
“You and me both,” he whispered back.
“Wanna know what else I can’t believe?”
“Sure.”
“That you actually came for me.”
“I told you one day I would.”
Chloe grinned and reached for his left hand. She pulled it down out of her hair and pressed his palm against her cheek while lightly clinging to his fingers. Although she had always been surrounded with a multitude of sisters, for the first time in her life, Chloe didn’t feel utterly and completely alone.
The room was dark and the pillow, blanket, and bed were soft and warm. She yawned deeply, closed her weary eyes, and fell fast asleep.
CHAPTER 23
MIA
“What?” said Garret, “Would you please repeat that?”
“I said I’m unable to establish contact with Armada Nine,” Euclid stated. “In addition, I’ve yet to determine a physical location for him.”
“What you’re sayin’ is you haven’t seen him and you haven’t spoken to him. Correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Hold on, Euclid.”
“Zeus,” Garret said, muting his headset microphone. “Do a quick scan of all comm-links and transponders. Make sure they’re all paired up.”
“Yes, sir,” Zeus replied.
“Euclid?” Garret called out. “What’s your current position? And at what time did you couple up with your POG?”
“I’m on the underside of Cloud Eight. Armada Nine and I usually transfer to the POG together at around 6:40. I arrived at our normal time, powered up the POG at ten ‘til, and have been waiting on Armada to coordinate the CC disbursements. What do you want me to do? Everybody’s just … waiting. Should I begin….”
“Have you observed any emergency strobes?” Garret asked, interrupting Euclid.
“Sir, all transponders are showing to be matched,” Zeus whispered. “I’m showing no irregularities.”
“Hold on, Euclid,” Garret snapped. “Zeus, shut up when I’m talking!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Armada Nine, this is Nest Command, do you copy?” Garret asked, waited, and repeated his call, “Armada Nine, this is Nest Command, do you copy?”
Armada failed to reply.
“Now, Zeus, repeat that, and then shut up.”
“Yes, sir. I was saying that my scan shows no signal irregularities between helmet transponders and comm-links. Every one of them is matched.”
“So you found Armada’s comm-link signal?”
“His specifically, no. But every comm-link signal has been identified and Armada Nine isn’t being recognized. So, from the looks of it … he’s not out there.”
“Well, then … let’s…,” Garret stammered, and again muted his microphone. He bit the inside of his
lip while contemplating his next move.
“Okay,” he began. “Zeus? You, Perseus, and Mercury, go search his dorm, his locker, the bathing stations, everywhere, and find what you can.”
The three amateur sleuths removed their headsets, unfastened their seat restraints, and swiftly exited the Nest.
“Attention! Your attention, please,” Garret commanded, opening all communication channels. “This is Garret Brock, Arena One supervisor. I’m issuing a Code Red Emergency Directive. All personnel, I repeat, all personnel are to return to their assigned POG immediately. Please retract your spools and remain at your POG until further notice. If you’re currently in transition, or have already received your CC allocations, please secure your loads and recoil to your designated air bank as soon as possible. All communication transmissions will be temporarily suspended until further notice. Garret out.”
Garret turned his gaze to the wall of video monitors and watched as Zeus, Mercury, and Perseus wandered through the cylindrical corridors. One by one the brothers reached their destinations. He watched them inspect Armada’s dorm room, the cafeteria, Arena, bathing stations, cargo bays, air locks, and EVA Deployment Center.
“Sir, there’s nothing here,” “I’m not finding any trace of him,” and “We can’t seem to locate Armada anywhere” were the only responses to Garret’s request in tracking down the missing clone.
“All right,” Garret grunted in frustration, “get back here, pronto!”
He reopened all communication channels and barked, “Once all spools have recoiled, power down the POG units for thirty seconds. After completing the shutdown cycle, you will then disconnect your comm-link quick couplers. Only after confirming that ALL comm-links have been disconnected are you to restart the POG units. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT connect yourself to the oxygen generator until the transmission signal has full strength. Once the Nest has synched up with the generators, you can then reattach yourself to your spools. That should reset everybody’s EVA suits to the POGs and the Nest, and allow us to identify and locate Armada Nine. Garret out.”
Perseus, Zeus, and Mercury, emerged from the cylindrical corridor, floated by Garret, and briskly fastened themselves into their seats at the Nest control panel.
“Okay, let’s see what happens now,” Garret stated optimistically.
The four men watched the monitors displaying the signals being received from the quartet of POGs. In near unison, the screens went black.
“All four oxygen generators are now off-line,” Perseus commented.
Garret gazed out the Nest windows at the four hundred men hovering about the dormant air banks and spool carriages. Even though they weren’t receiving fresh oxygen, the EVA suits retained a fifteen-minute supply of air that was continuously filtered via a battery-powered purifier that recharged itself whenever the suits were connected to the POG.
“Thirty seconds,” Zeus stated.
“All right, all right, all right,” Garret interjected, clapping his hands. “Now we’ll find him!”
The video monitors remained dark and lifeless.
Garret glanced again at the throng of inanimate clones.
Suddenly, one of the monitors flashed with activity, then another, then the last two. All four screens displayed the message ‘Acquiring Signal,’ with a stopwatch symbol underneath. In no time at all, the screen headers appeared identifying each of the four oxygen generators: POG 1, POG 2, POG 3, and POG 4.
“I’m showing all four generators are now online with full signal strength, and no disruptions or irregularities,” Mercury informed Garret.
“Now … if I’m correct in my thought process … we should, in theory, be able to watch everyone hook up and identify which line Armada Nine is using.”
“And then what?” asked Zeus.
“First things first,” Garret replied. “We need to find him. Keep your eyes open for his transponder to register.”
The anxious quartet stared at the brightly colored computer screens.
Like the fireworks at an Independence Day celebration, the four monitors busily displayed the comm-link and transponder signals as each of the clones connected themselves to their POG generators.
“Anybody see him yet?” Garret loudly asked.
“No,” and “Not yet,” the trio answered.
“Ugh!”
It wasn’t long before the Nest stopped acknowledging new signals from the four POG units.
“Sir?” Mercury spoke up, “I’m showing that all comm-link and transponder signals are correctly paired up, and there are no isolated or unmatched spools.”
The three brothers turned to face Garret. He sat at his chair, stewing in anger, frustration, and confusion.
“I don’t get it!” he blasted. “Will one of you please help me to understand this? Armada isn’t anywhere to be found on this vessel. We can’t connect to the transponder in his helmet. He hasn’t activated his emergency strobe. Euclid hasn’t had contact with him, visually or verbally. None of the four POGs are acknowledging his EVA suit, and he isn’t responding to repeated requests from me or Euclid to identify his location.”
The triplets sat in silence, absorbing Garret’s flustered recitation.
“Am I forgetting something?” he bellowed.
“Sir?” Perseus spoke up. “His suit was missing from his locker.”
“Which one? From where?”
“From the EVA deployment center. Everything is missing.”
Garret rapped his fingers on the arm of his chair, fuming over the inexplicable disappearance of one of the clones. But not just any clone was missing; it was Armada Nine he couldn’t locate, the best and brightest, and potentially the most dangerous.
“Okay, listen up,” Garret snapped. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. Zeus, review the video feeds from his dorm starting at 10:00 p.m. I wanna know when he left his bed. Mercury, open Armada’s data file and see where he went last night, beginning at 10:00 p.m., up ‘til 8:00 a.m. Perseus, open all audio records for the entire Arena … he’s bound to have spoken to somebody. Somehow, someway, our boy has devised a method of making himself disappear. What we need to do is find the secret to make him reappear.”
The three stooges blankly stared at Garret.
“Well?” he growled. “Get to it!”
Garret’s crew hurriedly set themselves to task while he reached out for assistance and placed a call.
“Aerie Dispatch Office,” a man said. “How may I direct your call?”
“This is Arena One Supervisor Garret Brock. Tell me, who’s the deck officer on duty?”
“Lucas Shipman, sir. If you’ll please hold while I transfer your call.”
Garret sat and observed his trio of sleuths as they investigated Armada’s vanishing act.
“Shipman,” a voice suddenly stated.
“Lucas? Garret, up on Arena One. Say, have any of your people come across an individual transfer in the last eight hours?”
“From or to?”
“From.”
“I believe that would be a no, sir.”
“Well, would you mind double-checking for me?”
“No, I don’t mind at all. But it’s not a case of whether I mind or not. We just conducted our shift change, oh, not more than fifteen minutes ago, and all manifests were signed off. From 9:00 p.m. last night to 7:00 a.m. this morning, every CARBEL load out has been accounted for … and not one blemish. Captain Anderson and I spend near half an hour every morning going through discrepancies and miss-ships. And I can assure you, no one has been accidentally overlooked for an individual personnel transfer.”
“What about your cameras and monitors … are you experiencing any problems?” Garret pushed.
“What do you mean by ‘problems’? Problems like what?”
“Sir?” Mercury loudly whispered.
“You know…,” Garret stammered, waving his hand at Mercury, “glitches, hiccups, gaps….”
“Sir?” Mercury again interrupted.
“Shut up!” Garret hissed.
“Excuse me?!” Lucas quipped.
“Not you, Lucas. I’m in the middle of … of … oh, let me call you back.”
Garret disconnected his headset and pulled the earpiece away.
“What, Mercury? What? What is it you don’t understand about ‘Shut up!’ whenever I’m conversing with another person?”
“I’m sorry, sir, I just thought….”
“Just tell me what’s so important and then shut up.”
“Yes, sir. If you’ll watch the monitor….”
Mercury extracted a video record of Armada and his dorm mates from the previous night.
“What am I supposed to be looking at?” Garret asked, scratching his head.
“Notice the time stamp … this is the audio and video feeds from Armada’s room, beginning at 11:18 last night.”
“Okay, I’m noticing.”
“Well,” Mercury began, moving his mouse cursor in a circular motion on the monitor, “Odysseus Two rolled on to his side and cleared his throat, activating the cameras and microphone. The condenser mic is calibrated to engage when a sound of thirty decibels or more is detected. So a cough, sneeze, yawn … anything literally above that of a whisper, and both camera and microphone will automatically begin recording.”
“Yes, Mercury, I’m fully aware of the calibrations.”
“Okay, so there’s a timer programmed into the cameras. They’ll record as long as there’s detected movement or a sound of thirty decibels or more. As soon as the sensors stop registering motion or noise, fifteen seconds later the cameras automatically stop recording.”
“All right already! I know! I know! What?”
“Sir, here’s Odysseus turning over and rustling around. And on this bunk … is Armada Nine. Now watch. Eleven eighteen, then eleven nineteen, and … eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen … and … camera off.”
Garret slumped to his side and rested his chin in the palm of his hand while Mercury made the transition to a different video file.
“Okay, so just now we saw Armada in his bunk as of eleven-nineteen. Right?”
“Right,” Garret mumbled.
“And now, at … two minutes past twelve, we find … this.”
Mercury played the 27-second clip, but Garret remained unimpressed.
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