by C. Gockel
Over the ether, he heard Noa say, “We're diving.”
Sterling replied, “We have to go back. We have more of a chance with warships!”
“There is no going back,” Noa responded.
* * *
Ten minutes after the Ark plunged into the pitch black water that was the deGrasse-Tyson trench, the vessel was still diving. Noa felt sweat beneath her uniform, on her palms, and on her fingers. They'd lost the first cluster of drones when they dove—the ones following them originally had collided with the enormous stalactites of icebergs—but more had followed. On the ship's ancient sensors, an ever more frequent beeping told her that the drones were getting closer.
“Why haven't they fired on us yet, Commander?” Chavez asked.
“Because they don't want us dead,” said Noa. “They're probably programmed to wait until they're within close range, and then they'll hit our thrusters. They'll incapacitate us and send a retrieval team. ”
And then every augment aboard the vessel would be dead; and they'd have the rest of their “archangel” to dissect. Into the ether, Noa whispered, “I won't let them have you, James. Not alive or dead.” And she wouldn't let his last sacrifice be in vain.
“Why go to all that trouble?” Sterling said.
Noa ignored the question and reached into the ether. “Kara, how is that map coming?”
“I inputted the strength and direction of Atlantia's magnetic pole into the nav computer,” Kara said. “It's calculating our trajectory now, but I'm still not sure where we are.”
Sterling said, “The drones will catch—”
“It's getting brighter out there,” Chavez whispered.
Noa swallowed. She'd wondered if she'd been imagining that.
“What is it, Sterling?” Noa asked.
“I don't know,” the lieutenant responded in a hushed voice.
The faint glow became a sea floor of twinkling, multi-colored stars, and then beside her, Chavez gasped. “Sea flowers!”
As they got closer, Noa saw that the bottom of the trench was carpeted with a forest of seaweed with glowing blossoms. The blooms glowed in shades of yellow, pink, and orange. From their vantage they looked no more than the breadth of a hand—but the Ark was still at least a kilometer away so they must be enormous. Glowing fish-like creatures zipped about above. It was beautiful, and idyllic, and it may have been her state of mind—or heart—but something about the scene made her shiver, grit her teeth and narrow her eyes.
“Commander, we could hide in the seaweed,” Chavez said, her voice excited.
Noa leveled the ship off about five hundred meters above the seaweed forest. The beeping of the sensor intensified. Noa's eyes were drawn to three large fish moving into a school of smaller glowing fish. The glowing fish scattered like leaves, some darting up, and some into the seaweed, one of the larger fish on their tails. Before she could blink, the flowers struck like the heads of snakes. She blinked, and the big fish that had dived was gone.
Chavez gasped. “The flowers just ate that fish! Good thing we didn't hide in there.”
“Kara, I need my map!” Noa said over the ether.
“I’m still working on it!” Kara answered across the shared channel.
Manuel’s voice came over the ether. “If we could get out of range of the drones, we could give this old boat's computer some time to work.”
At that moment, the sensor blips became a whine.
“We're diving into some giant fish-eating flowers, Manuel. Make sure the time bands are inline!”
“Commander?” Chavez said.
“You'll rip the ship apart!” Sterling said.
Noa depressed the control wheel and sent the Ark plunging into the forest of predatory seaweed.
* * *
“Manuel, how many seconds can I keep the time bands on underwater?” Noa's voice made James look up. He was sitting on the floor in the airlock, enviro suit halfway on, the heated coils in the fabric already operating.
“They're not designed for submerged operation—the electrical current in the bands in the water—”
“How long?” Noa demanded.
What was she doing?
“Thirty seconds?”
James's jaw shifted in the laugh he wanted to give but could not. She was doing something crazy again, obviously. He shrugged the rest of the suit on, feeling the heat burning his skin in a way that was as satisfying as … as peanut butter. He groaned and looked down at his chest just before pulling up the zipper. His tattoos were in full “bloom,” and for the first time, he thought he understood them. They were activated by light and heat … they were energy collectors, and he needed them because eating wasn't enough, and eating wasn't enough because he wasn't created by evolution, and he hadn't evolved to be as efficient as a human yet. He wanted to cry.
Chavez's voice cracked over the ether. “That flower is nearly as wide as the Ark!”
“The better to eat a drone!” Noa snapped.
Someone else said over the ether, “Or us.”
“Ten seconds until drones are within range,” said Sterling.
James struggled to his feet.
“Activating time bands now,” Noa said.
There was an earsplitting screech, like the sound of antigrav amplified, and then the sound of metal groaning. The ship shook and trembled, more and more violently, the volume of the groan and the screech increasing. There was a loud reverberating noise … and then … silence.
“The drones … they ate the drones!” someone shouted across the ether. “What happened?”
Sterling's thoughts came across the general channel. “The Commander gave us a timebubble that allowed us to travel over the flowers before they could snap shut …”
Jun's voice came over the ether. “Errr … I think we got hit by one … the camera on the hull at level 15 is just sparkly pink.”
“… before all but one could snap shut,” Sterling amended. “They were primed for the drones though, and caught all of them.” He sounded grudgingly impressed.
James huffed and tried to walk to the door. He took a step, and then another. He was wobbly and had to use the wall for support.
“And the one that snapped shut on us was ripped apart at the stem, because part of it was inside our bubble and part of it was out,” Sterling finished.
“It will burn up as we leave atmosphere,” Noa supplied. “I'm going to park us a few meters above our glowy friends and give Kara a chance to figure out where we are. Manuel, damage report?”
James swore he heard a collective sigh from the entire ship.
“Running a diagnostic, now,” the engineer replied.
Thoughts clipped, Noa asked, “Dr. Jarella, how is Ghost?”
“He will be fine, but he is still unconscious. He has a moderate concussion,” Monica answered.
James felt static rise along his skin. If Ghost was unconscious ...
“How is everything coming along, Kara?” Noa asked. “I see that the error message on my nav screen has been replaced by three little cycling dots,” said Noa.
“I think that means it's thinking,” Kara replied. “I hope we can stay parked here for a while. This is going to take a long while.”
“Something is wrong in the airlock by me,” Kuin said over the ether. “The temperature is way too high. I'm going to check it out.” Just before the airlock door slid open, James had enough time to straighten. He met Kuin’s gaze. The young man’s eyes went wide, and his mouth fell open. “You’re not dead.”
“Nope,” said James.
“But 6T9 said …”
James raised an eyebrow. “6T9 is as bright as the dispersers we dumped at Adam’s Station.”
Kuin’s brow furrowed. If the man had any sense at all, he'd suggest James go to medical. Before he could do that or say anything to the ether, James pushed past him, patting him on the shoulder as he went. “I’ve got to get to the bridge.”
He didn't feel completely recharged … and found hims
elf putting a hand against the wall for support.
“Are you okay?” Kuin said. “Should I call—?”
“I'm fine,” said James, looking over his shoulder, wishing he could smile. “I just half expect the Commander to drop us back into a field of frenzied flowery seaweed.” He hoped he got the gist of that right.
Kuin smiled. “Ha … yeah … that was intense.”
“Mmm …” said James, opening the door to the access ladder. He managed a wave before swinging onto the ladder and shutting the door behind him. Pressing his back against the wall, he rested, letting the heat in the suit warm him to the core.
Over the ether, Kuin said, “Ummm … so … you know how we all thought that—”
James scrunched his eyes shut. He should have told the kid to keep quiet.
“Commander,” Chavez said, “there's something on our scope … they're large enough to be submarines, but they rose out of the seaweed.”
Gunny's thoughts came over the ether. “Uh-oh.”
And then Jun's. “I'm at a window, I see them! They're giant saw-nosed lizard monsters!”
“Maybe some sorta whale?” said Chavez.
“Kara,” Noa said. “I need that map!”
“Um … what I had to say … never mind,” said Kuin.
“Still processing, Commander,” Kara said over the general channel. “I'm still not even sure where we are. Let alone a vent in the ice.”
“We don’t have time, Kara,” Noa said.
“With this ancient system, we’d better find it!” Kara shot back. “I have no idea how that man was able to coax even a jump-point out of this thing.”
James’s eyes opened. They needed real computing power, but he wasn't in constant connection with the time gates. His hand trembled on the ladder rung. No, that wasn't true. He could always connect to them—that was how he was able to decrypt and listen in to ethernet channels. He huffed, thinking of 6T9's general state of confusion. Constant contact was how he had the processing power to pass as a human. It was the source of his intuition, and his sense of humor. The static he heard and lights he saw when the gates felt, or heard, and his desire to listen in to the ethernet channels was probably just the time it took them to decrypt his targets' codes. They could chart a course for the Ark for the crew.
But would they? What did they care about? What did they want?
He bowed his head, and his body went hot. He didn't want to talk to them, not now, not ever. But if he didn't … His hand trembled so violently on the ladder he thought he might slip and fall. In his mind he snarled. “I will blow up this vessel, myself, and everyone else aboard it rather than be captured. You want more data? Then show me the way out.”
The world went white.
* * *
Noa's chin dipped. Face sea life of unknown quantity … or face the Luddeccean warships. Without a charted exit point from the ice and dangerous sea life on their tails, they would have to try and turn back and face the Luddecceans head on or risk being lost down in the depths … or, as was rapidly becoming apparent, eaten.
“The monsters could be herbivores,” Chavez suggested.
Jun's channel buzzed. “The giant herbivorous lizzar of the Luddeccea's southern continent are the most dangerous animals on the planet.”
Over the ether, one of Manuel’s engineering students said, “How did we not know about giant fish things?”
Manuel’s thoughts spiked like static. “Let the Commander focus.”
Sterling, at his position at one of the cannons, said defensively, “We’ve only been on this moon for about seventy-five years! Sure, some of our probes went missing—but we never saw giant anything … no flowers, no lizard monsters. For all we know they could have been hibernating and just woke up with the tsunami!” His thoughts stuttered, and then he said, “There are more …” Noa looked down at one of the sensors. Torpedo-like shapes were swarming up from the seaweed forest at three o'clock, joining the ones already at six o'clock.
“We might have more chance above facing those warships,” Sterling said.
Noa snarled and held her course … the Luddecceans wouldn't kill them. They'd take them prisoner first … They couldn't have her crew for torture. She blinked. No, she could self-destruct the ship. They could turn around, find their way back the way they came, set the auto destruct sequence, and take as many as the Luddecceans as they could on the way out. Kamikaze, just like her ancestors.
She prepared to turn but dark shadows suddenly lunged out of the seaweed. “Lizard fish monsters at twelve o'clock, Gunny!” Noa said, her eyes on two large shadows.
She felt the ship rock as her sergeant fired the first cannon. He hit his mark, but it left one more unfazed by the sudden disappearance of its schoolmate. “Sterling!”
The ship rocked again as Sterling fired the second gun.
“Phaser cannons expended,” Gunny said as the Ark coasted through a cloud of black monster blood and guts. Noa took a deep breath, ready to turn to nine o'clock and find a way back … and then blinked. Superimposed over her vision, a perfect map of the moon’s vents and canals spread out before her, the Ark a tiny red dot upon it.
“I know the way!” she shouted. “There’s a vent ahead, ten kilometers at twelve o’clock to our current position.”
She almost called out to Kara to thank her for her work, but the thought died before it entered the ether. The map of the moon was coming from James’s channel.
“James …” she whispered.
“Commander?” said Chavez. She felt Sterling’s eyes slide to her.
“James, you’re dead,” she said over the ether. Maybe it was just a thought he'd left in the Ark's ether archive. Her heart could not take this. Not now. But if he was dead, how would he know their position?
“Commander,” Chavez said. “I don't see—”
“We’ll need to hop to lightspeed as soon as we leave the atmosphere,” Noa said aloud and to the ether.
“I can work on it if you just give me the coordinates of the exit, Commander,” Kara said.
But the coordinates were already spilling into Noa’s mind … again from James’s channel. Her apps calculated the angle they needed to reach the vent position. She adjusted course and cried, “Hold the wheel, Chavez!” while beginning to frantically input the coordinates for the jump-point and the jump into the ancient nav computer.
“Yes, Commander,” Chavez said, obediently holding the helm, her eyes straight ahead.
Aloud and into the ether to James’s channel, Noa whispered, “James.”
Chavez said, “Commander, all I see is ice. Three minutes to impact.”
“Three minutes and fifteen seconds before our fish friends catch us,” Gunny said.
“How can they be catching us?” Jun cried over the ether.
Noa heard Gunny respond across the ether, “This boat wasn't designed for speed.”
“Only goes about sixty-two kilometers per hour.” The response flew through her mind barely noticed, like ptery song in the morning. She was focused on the ancient nav controls and the coordinates playing in her visual cortex. She was afraid to hope … she’d heard of thoughts, misrouted in the ether, coming from loved ones beyond the grave. “Please tell me you’re not a recording on autoplay,” she silently begged. “Please be alive, please be real.” How many times had she begged that same thing of other people? She was going mad.
From James's channel came a feeling like every hair on her body had been rubbed the wrong way, and then his thoughts collided with hers. “I'm real. But focus on getting us out of here, woman!” He was irritated, and that was what made Noa believe he was still alive. She laughed as she entered the last coordinates. “James!” she cried aloud, her face splitting into a grin.
“Damn it,” he grumbled mentally, “I should have used the general channel and contacted everyone. They'll all think you’re insane.”
Before Noa could respond, Chavez whispered aloud and across the ether, “Commander, I don't see the
vent. Are you sure you have the right coordinates?”
Noa looked out; so far from the glowing forest of the trench, all she could see was darkness. For a moment she felt doubt, but then Gunny grunted. “I see it.” And then he added, “Night vision and distance augments.”
Noa bit her lip.
She heard the hatch from the ladder access tunnel creak. Gunny gasped, and Sterling said, “What?”
“Hi, everyone,” James said dryly. “I had a nice nap.”
Noa laughed aloud. She wanted to turn around so much she felt the skin on the back of her ears and neck heat, but she didn't even glance. She'd never realized that harder than squelching years of loss, sadness, and despair, was battening down the hatches on a single moment of intense joy.
Something on the dash beeped.
“Oh, no,” Chavez said, “more whales.”
“Noa,” James said over the ether. “I don’t want to be Jonah.”
She blinked down at a monitor. There were six of them aiming straight for the ship. Noa’s apps began calculating the rate of intercept and the distance to the crack in the ice.
“Should I shoot, Commander?” Sterling said. “We're recharged.”
“No,” Noa shouted, stifling the urge to laugh. “Save it for the surface and any Luddeccean warships that get in the way!”
“Manuel!” Noa called across the ether, eyes on the dim glow of S8O5 shining through the water, “Are we ready for lightspeed?”
“We’re ready, Commander!”
Noa did laugh. The Ark leapt out of the frozen sea. In the periphery of her vision in a view screen, she saw a giant creature lit by the glow of S8O5 leaping up behind the Ark. It had a long slender snout filled with teeth, and a body like a whale. She blinked and it fell away. A few drones buzzed into the Ark’s path, and Noa ordered, “Fire away!” The cannons roared, and the drones exploded. Minutes later the velvety darkness split by stars spilled out before them, and then the black velvet became a vast white blur as the Ark jumped to lightspeed.