Masters of the Broken Watches

by Razi Imam

  Trident immediately identified the missiles, converging on them to create the shortest vector. A silent, invisible laser was fired from the deck of the Bainbridge, and each of the projectiles disappeared from their monitors, destroyed in midair.

  “What happened?” Zheng shouted. “Where did our missiles go?”

  “Not sure, sir. They appear to have been destroyed,” the Chinese TAO responded.

  “How?” Zheng demanded.

  “Sir, I don’t know,” the officer replied, his voice quavering.

  Zheng got on the phone to the other captains, and they were equally perplexed. The Chinese warships soon launched a second volley.

  “Sir, we have additional incoming bogeys,” Bainbridge’s TAO reported. “Time to impact, three minutes.”

  Once again, Trident locked its laser and fired its lethal beam, neutralizing them in midair.

  The three Chinese captains conferred over radio, wondering what new technology Bainbridge had deployed.

  Drake pressed a button on the speakerphone that connected him to the bridge of the Luyang-I. “Captain, you can see that your weapons are powerless. We can neutralize anything you throw at us. Disengage and let us go our separate ways.” He waited, but static answered.

  “Captain, they’ve fired another volley of missiles,” the TAO reported. “Time to impact, three minutes.” A blinking red light appeared on his screen.

  But the XN-1 grids weren’t adapting to the incoming missiles. “What’s the problem?” Drake asked.

  “Sir, I’m running diagnostics. It appears Trident needs to cool down.”

  “Cool down? What the hell!” Drake shouted. The bridge waited in silence.

  “Two minutes to impact, captain,” another officer shouted.

  “We need it operational immediately!” Drake ordered.

  “I’m trying, sir!” the TAO acknowledged, typing hard on his keyboard.

  “Sir, direct hits are imminent!” the XO shouted.

  “Sir, Trident is offline,” the TAO confirmed.

  The war room became silent as they all watched the monitors highlighting the missiles headed their way.

  Just when the impact was imminent eight independent projectiles breached the water far off the Bainbridge’s bow. Going at near supersonic speed, they reached the missiles in seconds, destroying them.

  “What was that?” Drake shouted.

  “I don’t know, sir! The Chinese missiles have been destroyed by a defensive counter attack,” the TAO replied.

  “How, who fired?” Drake yelled.

  The speakers of the war room crackled, and a strong voice came over. “Luyang warships, the Gotland-class attack stealth submarine of the Swedish Royal Navy orders you to stand down. You are firing upon our ally, the United Stated of America. The slightest additional provocation will result in the firing of torpedoes that are locked onto all three of your positions.”

  Several hundred yards off the bow of the Bainbridge, the black submarine breached the surface of the water.

  “Sir, the Chinese ships have come to a full stop,” the TAO reported.

  The speakers crackled again, and the same voice came on. “Captain Drake, this is Cebrián Alveraz, pleased to meet you.”

  “Cebrián, your timing is impeccable,” Drake replied. “Pleased to meet you too.”

  “Captain, shall we head out before the Chinese fleet sends more ships?” Cebrián offered.

  “Gladly,” Drake agreed. “May I recommend we proceed to Okinawa Naval Base? It’s a short trip, and it’ll deter the Chinese from attempting anything stupid.”

  There was a brief silence. “That’s a splendid idea, captain,” Cebrián replied. “We’re plotting the course now.”

  Captain Drake reconnected with the Luyang-I captain, who was none too happy with the outcome. “Captain Zheng, we’re heading out immediately. Before we go, I’m sending over your patrol boat captain. He tried to hijack the Skjold. My Navy SEALs will drop him off shortly.”

  “Understood,” Zheng replied, fuming. He knew he was beaten, between the new secret weapon on Bainbridge and with the arrival of Swedish submarine the odds of winning had dramatically gone down.

  ***

  A CHINESE COMMANDO team on the deck of the Luyang-I stood ready to receive Wang Li. Their guns were drawn, and they ordered him to get on his knees and clasp his hands behind his neck—just like he had ordered Pham Kai, Minh, and Vu a few days prior. He heard the RIB pull away, making its way back to the Bainbridge.

  They escorted him through several bulkheads and a series of stairs, deeper into the bowels of the ship. They walked through another set of locked doors to an area containing five cells. The commandos kept walking, opening another door to reveal a room with several bunk beds, lockers, and a bathroom.

  “Wait here,” one of the commandos barked. “The captain will meet with you shortly.”

  They left the room, shutting the door behind them, a series of locks clicking into place. He sat on one of the bunk beds and waited. He knew they were going to process him and hand him over to the authorities once they got to the port of Shantou. His career, his dreams, his life, and his identity were gone. The government would make an example of him, showing everyone how not to act as an officer in the Chinese Navy.

  Minutes later, Zheng walked in, the door locking behind him. Wang Li stood and saluted.

  “Sit down!” Zheng ordered. Wang Li obeyed, staring straight ahead.

  “Wang Li, you’re the dumbest sailor I’ve ever met,” Zheng said, disgusted. “Why the hell did you jump off the inflatable boat? Why did you swim toward the Americans? Don’t you have any common sense?”

  Wang Li didn’t say anything—he had been reprimanded by senior officers enough to know to never respond. Zheng waited, expecting him to defend himself. “You are one lucky son of a bitch. I wanted to see you court-martialed, but the head of Naval Intelligence wants to meet with you—you’re one of the few sailors who’ve ever been inside the Bainbridge. He thinks you might also know something about their new defensive weapons.”

  Wang Li couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He kept looking straight ahead, still unsure if he was in trouble, or if he was going to be rewarded for his actions.

  “I’m going to have you detained here until we arrive at Shantou,” Zheng said, walking toward the door. “They may think you’re some kind of espionage superstar, but I certainly don’t. As I’ve already made clear to you, I don’t believe you’re worthy of your uniform.”

  “How d-dare you say that.” Wang Li responded. Zheng stopped in his tracks and turned around as Wang Li stood. “I am worthy of my uniform. The Chinese Navy is my life.”

  “Sit down!” Zheng barked, approaching him swiftly. “Who gave you permission to stand?”

  Zheng caught the briefest glimpse of a fist, brass glinting in the light.

  Wang Li struck the captain squarely on the mouth, breaking his front teeth and splitting his lips. Zheng’s head jerked back violently, blood and saliva spraying upward as he fell to the floor. He lay there in shock, sprawled out. Instinctively, he raised his hands, shouting for the guard, who unlocked the door and stepped in.

  “Arrest this bastard and throw him in a cell!” Zheng shouted. The guard drew his sidearm and cocked the trigger. “You idiot!” Zheng screamed at Wang Li, holding his bleeding mouth. “You’re finished! You’re a dead man!”

  Wang Li smiled, raising his hands and following the guard. “Just be glad I didn’t kill you,” he told Zheng. “Nobody tells me I’m not worthy of my uniform.”

  Wang Li didn’t know it at the time, but his career was truly starting to take off.

  ***

  THE PARAMARINES TRANSFERRED over to the Gotland. Both ships were now headed to Okinawa Naval Base. Hamza had taken control of the Skjold and was returning it to its original location. The team made sure the boat was cleaned up and in good condition.

  The team went down the narrow opening into the submarine. Even though it was formid
able, it still felt cramped. Fabienne held the box that had all the nodules and slides—she didn’t want anyone else to carry them.

  The officer who greeted them took them through several different levels to reach a conference room where Cebrián was waiting. “Welcome, Paramarines!” he exclaimed with a broad smile.

  Fabienne and Maria hugged him, and everyone else shook hands. Cebrián was delighted to see them.

  “Hello, Charles,” Cebrián said, shaking Charles’ hand.

  “Doctor Alveraz, good to meet you,” Charles responded.

  He greeted Vu, Pham Kai, and Minh with a bow. “Vu, would you please share with our honored guests that you have informed us of Minh’s medical situation, and we would like our ship’s doctor to take a closer look at her?” he requested.

  Vu nodded and whispered the news. Pham Kai bowed with gratitude. Cebrián requested the officer standing outside the conference room escort Pham Kai and Minh to the medical bay.

  “Fabienne, I understand you’re holding the prized nodules,” Cebrián said. “Let’s move them to a secure location. I’ve arranged for a special cold storage facility on the ship that we’ll house them in. But let me have a look first!” She handed him one, and he studied it closely. “What wondrous miracles of evolution.”

  “Nidal,” Cebrián continued, “please connect your diver’s camera to the monitor. I’d like to see the video again of your adventure with the subterranean specimen. Start it from the time you saw the maroon sea and found the obsidian crystals, and play it until the point you guys return from Sydney.”

  For the next hour or so, they were all transfixed by the monitor. They could barely believe what they’d experienced.

  The video wrapped up and Cebrián addressed the team. “So, Paramarines, how are you feeling about all that has happened?”

  “Where do we start?” Fabienne said. “In the last few weeks, we’ve completely changed our understanding of time and space—more accurately, we understand them less than we did previously.”

  Cebrián nodded in agreement.

  “Shiloh, tell me about the portable time warp device you’ve built. That’s quite an ingenious machine.”

  Shiloh shook his head, running his fingers through his hair. “It’s nothing big, it’s based on the principles of MALDI-ToF operations. All I did was miniaturize it and add a software application that helps us create and manage the time fields.”

  “Excellent job,” Cebrián said. “Okay now, let me bring you guys up to speed. While you all were locating the source of the specimen, the Honeycomb team has been busy working out the manifesto for the proper use and application of the time nodules. We were also debating where we should have their research center. We’ve decided that we aren’t going to harvest them from the subterranean species. We’ll work on cloning them instead.”

  “Where is this cloning research going to be conducted?” Fabienne asked.

  “I knew you’d be the first person to ask that question,” Cebrián smiled. “There’s a small fishing village one hour north of Boston called Gloucester. I’m helping the town develop a new Marine Genomics Research Institute. We’ll house our research there.”

  He turned back to Shiloh. “Shiloh, you’ll oversee the development of a robotics facility in Lawrenceville, near Pittsburgh. There’s a large blue building on Hatfield Street that’s fast becoming the hub for all robotics research in the country because of its close proximity to Carnegie Mellon. All major corporations are moving into that location to develop their robotics. The goal of this research lab is to create robotic machines that will use the time nodule to create time fields for major tasks like removing plastics from our oceans within months instead of decades.” Shiloh stretched his hand out and gave Cebrián a high five.

  Cebrián then looked to Sebastian and said, “Our third research facility will be the home of the World Temporal Organization. At this facility, we’ll conduct additional research on the time particles—what they do, how they work, and their various applications. We’ll also research the subterranean travel you experienced, which I call ‘Dune Travel.’” He pondered for a moment and then continued. “This facility will be responsible for developing the rules and laws of temporal applications.”

  “Where will it be located?” Sebastian asked.

  “That’s still up in the air,” Cebrián replied. “Dmitry is requesting we set up operations in Russia. I’m leaning toward a politically neutral place whose government lacks an agenda. Placing this facility in the U.S., Russia, China, the UK, France, or any other such country creates that risk. I believe the World Temporal Organization should be remote as well. I’ve been in touch with the head of India’s scientific research, and he has recommended that their Bharati facility in Antarctica may be a good option. It’s remote, we can equip it with all the latest scientific gear, and freely perform experiments without causing any major social repercussions.”

  “Doctor Cebrián, could you please report to sick bay?” The submarine captain’s voice came through the speaker.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Minh

  “When I am with you, we stay up all night.

  When you are not here, I can’t go to sleep.”

  ~ Rumi

  FABIENNE, SEBASTIAN, AND Cebrián rushed to the infirmary. “What happened?” Cebrián asked.

  “I’m not sure,” the doctor replied. “She was fine when I started my examination. Per the information I’ve received from you, she is indeed suffering from some form of breast cancer. We were performing a routine checkup when her blood pressure fell and her pulse slowed. I think she was running on pure willpower and adrenalin. She collapsed while I was performing my examination. I have her on oxygen, but looking at her eyes, we believe she’s fallen into a coma.”

  “A coma?” Sebastian asked.

  “Yes, I’ve seen this several times,” the doctor explained. “It appears that late-stage cancer patients often run on adrenalin, and when they relax and calm down, it is then that their bodies give up.”

  “But she’s been fine thus far,” Sebastian said, realizing the big burden both Pham Kai and Minh had been carrying all this time.

  Pham Kai was seated next to Minh, holding her hand. They all hugged and reassured him, telling him that all would be fine.

  On Sebastian’s request, Minh was transferred into the hermetically sealed pod Cebrián had brought from Scripps. She looked frail, but peaceful. Pham Kai sat outside the pod, looking in through the glass window. Sebastian sat with him for hours. It was going to take them another twelve hours to get to Okinawa Naval Base, where modern Western medicine could be applied. According to the Gotland doctor, it was likely already too late. He didn’t have the ability to perform a CT scan or an MRI, but based on his professional experience and looking at her vitals and responses, it was now a matter of days.

  Fabienne walked in to check on Minh. She placed her hand on Pham Kai’s shoulder and stood next to him. She opened the pod door and walked inside, taking Minh’s vitals and noting them on the clipboard next to her bed. She stepped out and shut the door, looking at Sebastian. “I know what you’re going to ask.”

  “So, what do you think?” Sebastian asked turning to her.

  She shook her head, searching for the right words. “Look, it’s a long shot. We have no idea what the Fisio time particles would do to Minh. They may make the cancer cells stronger, we really don’t know.”

  “Fabienne, Minh has already gone into a coma. We’re biologists—we know that once that happens, the end is close. I’ve spoken to Pham Kai, and he agrees. Even if there’s close to zero probability that Minh’s condition improves, we have to try it.”

  “Sebastian, it may hasten her demise,” Fabienne insisted. “Please explain to Pham Kai that this isn’t a tested medical practice. Once we activate the Fisio time particle field, we won’t know how she’ll react. He may lose her.”

  “Yes…” Pham Kai said, understanding. He couldn’t speak English, but he had picked
up a few words. Pleading he repeated. “Yes.”

  Fabienne hugged him and nodded.

  Pham Kai had a permanent set of worry lines across his forehead, which had become further pronounced in the last few hours. Sebastian had already explained the risk, and he was willing to take it.

  Seeing the gaunt face of his wife through the window was tearing at Pham Kai’s heart. His partner, who had lived her life courageously, who had stood by him all these years, who had given him the strength to live the daily grind with dignity, was now lying in a plastic bubble. He had to try.

  Fabienne wiped her own tears. “Okay, let’s do it. I’ll work with Shiloh and set it up.”

  ***

  HOURS LATER, MARIA joined them. “How’s she doing?” she whispered.

  “She’s been under the Fisio time field for some time,” Sebastian explained, hands clasped behind his head. “Since cancer spreads when a chromosome signals the cells to multiply, we’re hoping the Fisio particle shuts it down so the cells don’t receive the signal.”

  Maria noticed Sebastian’s worry. Through all the impossible situations they’d been through, nothing had fazed him. But this was different—she knew he felt helpless. She hugged him, knowing there wasn’t much she could say.

  Fabienne, Shiloh, and Sebastian kept quiet during the ride to the hospital. They had reached Naha military port, and per Cebrián’s instructions, a medical team and chopper were already waiting. Minh and Pham Kai were on the chopper, headed to the hospital.

  The SUV pulled in front of a modern-looking building, and they registered as guests with the receptionist, who gave them directions to head up to the third floor, turn right, and follow the blue line on the floor. They sat in a small florescent-lit waiting room for forty-five minutes.

  Just when Sebastian was about to check with the nursing station, a doctor approached them, reaching out her hand. “Hi, I’m Doctor Matsumoto. You must be Sebastian.”