The Victoria Stone

by Bob Finley

  “But, how’d they fool whoever was on watch? Why wasn’t he suspicious when a minisub suddenly showed up? Or why didn’t he sound the alarm?”

  “Because they all knew Breton. And he had all the right codes, so he could have made up any kind of story and they’d have believed him. You were right to suspect him.”

  "Half-right. I didn't think about a ringer," Justin replied ruefully. "That explains why Wo...Breton...was separated from us when we arrived. It wasn't just to pay Judas his thirty pieces of silver...it was to protect him. From us."

  "So, Marcus," Dr. Layton studied him carefully. "Kim says you've come to rescue us."

  "Humph!" Justin snorted. "Some cavalry we are! We're more like the Charge of the Light Brigade."

  "'Into the valley of death...'" Layton mused.

  "Yeah. Let's hope not."

  Layton smiled benignly. "I assume you've had an audience with His Most Holiness?"

  "Yeah. Just now. You?"

  Bill Layton nodded. "And...?"

  Justin looked carefully at the older man. He knew him well enough to know when the foreplay was over. And he'd heard about his devastating classroom treatment of stupid answers.

  "I've only had a few minutes with him..." he protested lamely.

  Layton merely waited. Justin knew he shouldn't feel like a squirming student sweating out the right words to say at his oral exam, but somehow...

  "He's intelligent...an egomaniac...a survivor. The only human life he values is his own. His plan is certainly original...I suppose you've heard it?" Layton nodded. "When he runs the flag up the pole tomorrow, he'll be looking down more gun barrels than a shopper at a NRA gun show. Every country he's targeted will have its navy down here. Satellites, too. Suppose somebody decides to nuke us and say ‘I'm sorry’ later?"

  Layton gave a little shake of his head. "I don't think so."

  "Oh?" It was Justin's turn to wait.

  "Nope. They'll wait it out.

  "Why?" Marc asked, relieved to be off the intellectual hook for a moment.

  "First, he is in international waters. That's reason for legal delays. Then, the concept of an underwater country with a population of one is strange enough to be funny. He won't be taken seriously. At first." He looked directly at Marc. "Not until he blows up somebody."

  "Are you serious?" Marc asked in disbelief. "You think he's gonna do that?"

  Layton raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "He has a bomb. He says he has more. Who's to say? Who'll take the chance?"

  "Have you seen this bomb?" Marc pushed, still not willing to believe it.

  Bill Layton pursed his lips and nodded. "Yep. I've seen it. So has Cy."

  "And?"

  "Cy says it's real."

  Justin turned to the bespectacled man standing next to Dr. Layton.

  "How do you know for sure it's real? Have you ever seen a nuclear bomb?" he demanded.

  "I don't know for sure," Wojecki replied calmly, "but based on the electronic circuitry, shape, size, and so forth, I think it is."

  "You think?! "

  Wojecki spread his hands helplessly. "Call it...an educated guess...intuition...whatever. I still think it's the real thing."

  "You'll get a chance to see it tomorrow, I'm sure," Layton said to Marc. "He won't be able to resist showing it to you. Decide for yourself."

  Marc put his hands on his hips, turned and walked away a few steps. After a moment, he turned back to face them.

  "What if he's bluffing?" he said.

  Layton made a see-saw motion with his hand. "What if he isn't?" he countered.

  Janese Cramerton came out of one of the cabins and joined them. Marc made the introductions, drawing Frank Sheppard in from the outer perimeter where he'd been watching and listening.

  Bill Layton, beaming, elaborately took Janese's hand and delicately touched his lips to it, bowing as he did so.

  "Oh, brother!" Marc muttered, almost under his breath.

  "I'm glad to see you've upgraded your drab existence, Marc. I commend you on your uncharacteristic display of good sense in persuading someone of such beauty and charm to associate with you," Layton said with smooth elegance.

  Justin reached over and, taking Janese Cramerton delicately by the wrist, pulled her hand from Bill Layton's.

  "Please allow me," he said to her with exaggerated politeness, "to rescue you from the clutches of a..." he glared at Bill, "...dirty old man."

  "Not so!" Layton protested, "I merely appreciate nature in all her many forms." And he grinned at Janese. She smiled in return.

  "Thank you, sir. I've heard you were a scholar. Now I know you're also a gentleman, a rare commodity these days." She looked at Justin with her most convincing look of innocence.

  "Are you two finished?" he growled and gestured for Kim to join them.

  "Let's summarize what we've got so far, okay?" Marc drew the small group closer and lowered his voice. Kim touched him on the arm, then touched his own ear. Marc nodded slightly to acknowledge that their conversation was most likely being recorded. "Alright. If everything is as it seems, can be taken at face value, then we have a megalomaniac who has created an undersea fortress...no small feat, in itself...out of an extinct volcano, and who plans to set himself up as a one-man country, with the rest of the world paying nuclear blackmail as it passes through his toll booth. Anybody doesn't like it gets blown up...if he has the bombs he says he does...if he can blow them up, like he says he can...if he's crazy enough to do it. I'm supposed to go on T.V. tomorrow and convince everybody he's for real. Is he? I don't know. Once the announcement's made, what then? Does everybody just bow down and pay? I don't think so. I think NATO 'll be on this place like fleas on a junk yard dog. Bill thinks they'll negotiate." Bill Layton nodded. "Either way, they're not gonna be happy. If they storm the palace, we're gonna need a hidey-hole. Agreed?" There were nods of assent. "Okay. Unless someone else wants to organize this thing...?" He looked around at each person. There were no takers. "...then, let's assume the walls have ears and huddle up." They formed a circle, with arms around each other's shoulders, bent over, and almost touched heads. Even then, they had to strain to hear him. "We don't have a lot to work with here, but I think we've got to do whatever we can to help ourselves. I hate to be negative, but if Jambou's the kind of person I think he is, then when this T.V. thing's over, we're expendable. If a half-dozen countries have to choose whether we live or a million or two of their own people live, we're gonna suddenly be very alone." He paused. "I think we have two priorities: neutralize the computer system, 'cause it can kill us; and find places to hide. Now, I won't be much help, because I'm gonna be with Jambou. So we need to decide who's gonna do what. Anybody got any ideas?"

  Kim spoke up first. "Well, since I've probably got more computer experience than anybody else here, it makes sense that I go after Leo." In the silence, it was obvious what everyone was thinking. Justin voiced it.

  "You're right, of course. But that's also the most dangerous job. Once you grab this lion by the tail, he's going to try to eat you." Kim avoided their eyes. He'd known the risk when he volunteered. Cy broke the silence.

  "Maybe I can help. I'm pretty good with electronics. And," he smiled, "it's been a while since I grabbed anything by the tail." Even Janese Cramerton grinned.

  "Okay," Marc agreed. "Kim and Cy will work on Leo together. What else?"

  "I'm a natural for poking around the innards of a volcano," Frank said. "I've been looking at 'em from the outside for years. How 'bout if I see what there is to see?"

  "Good, Frank. See if you can find us a place to hide when...if...the time comes we need it."

  "While you're at it," Bill Layton interjected, "see if you can find us another way out of this place."

  "Ain't that the truth?" Justin amened.

  "What can I do to help?" Janese asked.

  "You may be our last hope, if all else fails," Justin said soberly.

  "What do you mean?" she said, alarmed.

  "If nothin
g else works, it may be necessary to offer a young virgin to the volcano god." Justin's straight face cracked. She jerked upright, snatched her arms from around her two companions, and gave Justin a shove. He staggered back, laughing, and raised his arms in mock defense. They all laughed, even Janese, in spite of herself.

  "Then," she said, "you may be in more trouble than you thought."

  "On which count, young or...?" Justin countered.

  She put her hands on her hips and looked at him through hooded eyes. "You just blew any chance to ever find out," she replied with a frosty smile. Then she looked over at Frank Sheppard. "Frank," she said, "if you don't mind, I'm with you."

  "There you go, Marc. Wisdom and experience win every time." Everybody laughed and Marc drew them back together. He put his arms on the shoulders of the two nearest him and leaned into the group.

  "Okay. Seriously. Let's be careful. We don't wanta lose anybody. Right? Anything else? No? Then, let's eat. I'm starved."

  Chapter 32

  "This won't be easy," Kim Matsumoto whispered to Cy Wojecki...the real Cy Wojecki...as they pretended to walk off their dinner. "I'm not even sure what to do or where to start."

  "From what I've heard, we'd better start with pulling Leo's teeth," Cy answered. "The thought of being a lump of charcoal for Jambou's next cookout doesn't set too well with me."

  "Yeah," Kim agreed. "But how?"

  "Well..." Cy thought out loud, "...can we assume Leo's ‘burglar proofed’?"

  "'Burglar proofed'? You mean an internal security system to guard against intrusion?"

  "Didn't I say that?"

  "I don't think we can afford not to assume that kind of security," Kim admonished.

  "Then...even if we could get past the guards and get into the computer room, and I don't know if we can, unless we had the right passwords, we'd probably set off the security alarms?"

  "No doubt. Where is the computer room, anyway?"

  "You know the elevator your boss took up to the penthouse?" Kim nodded. "It's directly across from there. There's a catwalk right up next to the ceiling that runs from the penthouse over to the other side of the cave where the other rooms are. Look, what's the big deal, anyway? Why can't we just pull the plug on this thing without anybody knowing about it?"

  "There's probably a UPS...an Uninterruptible Power Supply. If there is, not only would it be futile, the alarms would still go off. And, Leo might be programmed to go after whoever pulled the plug."

  "So, we may or may not be able to even get to the computer. And even if we could, we probably can't get past its programming defenses without getting one of us fried. But, if we don't get Leo first, sooner or later Jambou's probably going to turn him loose on us all. Is that what you're telling me?"

  Kim didn't answer him. Instead, he tipped his head to one side and seemed to look off into the distance.

  "Programming," he said.

  "What?" Cy looked at him strangely.

  Kim's eyes refocused and he looked straight at Cy. "You said ‘programming defenses’. Who programmed Leo?" he asked. The merest glimmer of an idea had emerged from the mists.

  Cy shrugged. "I dunno. I suppose it must have been one of those poor devils he blew the ship out from under. Why?"

  Kim smiled, just slightly. "Because," he said, "I may know somebody who's smarter than Leo."

  "Who? You?"

  Kim actually laughed. "Mmm...yes and no," he said mysteriously. "Can you swim?"

  Cy gave him a funny look. "Yeah," he said carefully, "why?"

  "Dive?" Kim persisted.

  "I had to make a forty foot free ascent during a SCUBA class I took."

  "So, you do dive?"

  "Not exactly. I quit." In response to Kim's look, he added defensively, "I didn't like it."

  "But you can do it?" Kim pressed.

  Wojecki frowned. "If I have to. What's that got to do with anything?"

  "What's the guard situation at the dock?" Kim asked instead of answering him.

  "What do you mean, ‘situation’?"

  "How many, when, what do they do...are you deliberately being dense?"

  "Are you deliberately refusing to answer me?" Cy countered with a sudden edge to his voice.

  They both stopped as they realized where they were and who might be listening. They resumed walking with renewed caution.

  Recanting, Cy finally answered in a low voice. "During the ‘day’...if you can call it that down here...there 're usually six or eight goons about, doing whatever it is that they do. But, at night...say from eleven o'clock on...I think there are only two on duty, and they patrol the whole place. From what I hear, they get together about midnight and eat dinner in the mess hall. Probably thirty or forty minutes. Then they don't take another break until about three in the morning. Most of the time, they're off by themselves in different parts of the cave, poking around."

  "How do you know that?" Kim asked.

  "I've done a bit of prowling around every chance I got," Wojecki answered obliquely. "Now, what's this all about?"

  "I understand you're very good in theoretical electronics," Kim said by way of a peace offering.

  Wojecki wouldn't take the bait. He just looked at Kim and waited.

  Kim looked at his watch. "It's almost nine-forty now," he said. "Where can we get a couple of plastic bags and a roll of tape?"

  "I've got a roll of tape in my stuff. I saw some plastic garbage bags in the mess hall. We could pick up a couple on the way back to quarters."

  "Good," Kim said. "Let's do that and then get an hour or so of sleep. You got an alarm on that wristwatch?" Cy nodded. "Okay," Kim ordered, "let's meet in the tunnel outside our quarters at eleven-thirty. You and I are going for a midnight swim."

  Chapter 33

  Simulating a nighttime environment by operating on half-lights from ten at night 'til six in the morning helped the crew of mercenaries psychologically acclimate their biological clocks. So at 11:35 p. m. the tunnel was deserted and dimly illuminated by every third recessed light along its length. Only the gentle whoosh of circulating air disturbed the deep silence.

  A disembodied head cautiously floated around a corner down the darkened corridor and withdrew. Then two heads popped around the corner and stared as one into the semi-darkness.

  "Looks okay," whispered the second head.

  Kim and Cy flowed around the corner and padded down the main tunnel from one pool of light to another, staying close to the rough rock wall for cover. They were both barefooted, and wearing trousers and tee-shirts. As they neared the side tunnel that led to the mess hall, there was a muted murmur of voices in casual conversation. One at a time, they raced on tiptoe past the opening and on into the twilight of the corridor beyond. With heightened senses, the tunnel seemed endless and when they finally reached the point where it widened out to join the main cavern, Kim was surprised to discover that he was perspiring and short of breath from stress. They paused and pressed against the cold rock while they reconnoitered.

  The huge cavern lay spread out below them. The high-intensity lights that had almost blinded them earlier were darkened now, and the pools of light evenly spaced at fifty-foot intervals were at once intimate yet somehow theatrically sinister. The underwater tunnel and pool lights had been killed, with only a few underwater perimeter lights still glowing. The VIKING lay quietly at her berth, her burnished skin softly reflecting points of light above and below the waterline. Silhouetted against the diminished lights of the deep pool, she seemed to be backlit by the aura of a halo. In a couple of minutes of quiet watching, nothing moved along the basin floor.

  "Ready?" Kim whispered.

  "No."

  "Me, too. But it's now or never."

  Kim abandoned the comparative safety of the rock wall and trotted like a feral animal down the long, curving steps, Wojecki following with awkward resolution. When they reached the foot of the steps they crouched down and waited. Still nothing moved. Rather than cross the exposed middle arena, they skir
ted the right edge, moving in short, deliberate jogs, pausing frequently to listen and watch. They reached the jagged edge of the drop-off where the basin abutted the sheer, vertical rock wall and plunged to the water fifteen feet below them. They paused again to get their breath and see whether their passage had been observed. Finally, they crouched down and ran quickly along the perimeter rim. Reaching the head of the stairs leading down to the floating quay to which the VIKING was warped, they lay flat on their bellies and slithered to the edge. Looking over, they saw the quay was deserted. Kim felt a wave of relief surge over him. To have gotten this far and found their way blocked would have been disastrous. They rose and eased down the wooden steps, holding onto the railing to try to minimize the creaking of wood and movement of the suspended steps and floating dock. Once on the dock, Kim squatted with his back to the water, and eased his feet, then his legs into the water, holding himself up as much as possible to avoid splashing. Finally, he slid completely into the water and smoothly side-stroked away from the dock toward the VIKING. He looked back and saw Wojecki still squatting on the edge of the dock. He motioned urgently for him to hurry up. Seeing Cy turn and ease himself into the water, Kim made for the darkly glistening hull just a dozen feet away. When he reached it, he rolled onto his back and scanned for guards along the rim of the precipice above him. Finally, Wojecki arrived. He was breathing heavily.

  "Are you okay?" Kim asked, looking at him closely in the reflected light.

  "Yeah. What are we doing here?" Wojecki gasped, trying to whisper.

  "We're gonna go aboard and see if we can come up with something to beat Leo with," Kim answered, treading water lightly.