They once again stared as the screen went black after the much shorter, although no less horrifying, commentary.
‘It’s all a show,’ Zhe said numbly.
‘They are manipulating our whole lives,’ Theo added.
‘No, not everything,’ Ben said. ‘We wouldn’t be here viewing this if they controlled everything.’
‘What did he mean that “they think it’s just make believe”?’ Estelle asked, unable to get that thought out of her head.
‘Whoever his audience is, they think this isn’t real – that we’re not real,’ Duncan explained, his anger palpable.
‘But who would think that? Hell, even the damned upper classes know how shitty life is throughout the Republic,’ Melanie exclaimed, her calm façade cracking.
‘Everyone in the Republic knows,’ Ben said.
‘Exactly.’
‘So, his audience is outside the Republic,’ Ben stated.
‘Outside the Republic? There’s nothing outside the Republic just endless water,’ Sophie told him.
‘Nothing can survive out there without the Republic,’ Estelle added.
‘Well, it looks like their brainwashing worked on that aspect,’ Duncan commented cynically.
‘Better than we know, it seems.’
‘So, another colony further out? Past Abantos?’ Sophie asked.
‘Maybe, but someone would’ve found it. It’s got to be…’ Ben trailed off in thought. He knew he was right, but he couldn’t quite put it into words. ‘Play the next one Theo,’ he said, instead of continuing his train of thought out loud.
‘Not really sure I want to see anymore,’ Theo told him.
‘The more information we have, the more we can work out what is really going on,’ Ben explained. ‘He’s already told us Carrington is involved somehow, so I want to see what else he gives us.’
‘You’re the boss… apparently,’ Theo muttered as he played the next file.
This time their commentator appeared first:
‘Ok, I’m going to explain this one first; it needs a bit of an intro, but it’s brilliant. The concept itself is rock solid; we’ve just got to get the footage to match. It’s going to be the opening for the anniversary show, so we’re going to be recapping some of the best bits to date as well as giving teasers for what’s to come. We want to chart the history here. Show them where they’ve come from. What they were versus what they are now. Eternal darkness verses life in the sun. Really draw some parallels. Okay, here we go.’
The room held its breath in horrified anticipation, waiting for the show to start. The commentator’s words had caused an ominous feeling to build, he'd hated everything so far, so just how bad was it to make him like it. That was the question that was going through their minds, and none of them could decide whether they wanted it answered or not.
After what seemed like an eternity, the black of the screen faded and was replaced with a clear picture of St Peter's Courtyard in all its grandeur and state. The image stayed like that for a few moments before it morphed into a grotesque scene, still in the same courtyard, but it was as though the remains from each Jigs Day hadn’t been removed. There were bodies hanging limply from scaffolds everywhere, headless corpses collapsed against the walls and half hanging into the fountains. The streets were painted with the blood and entrails of the dismembered. Hands, ears and fingers littered the floor. Slowly, only after the audience had been given time to appreciate the true horror of the picture, did an image start forming in the centre. Grey tendrils of mist slowly came together from the four corners of the courtyard to the central fountain where it began to solidify into an upside-down triangle, then a burst of light from the centre of the triangle transformed into a phoenix with its wings outstretched and its neck craning up. The symbol of the Republic. A mist then flowed around the bottom of the symbol before forming the words: “One hundred years of Within the Water”.
The group barely had time to utter a sound before their commentator was back grinning at them.
‘Amazing, right? I love the way that it morphs at the beginning there. Trust me, they are going to be glued to their sets when this airs. Of course, that’s only the opening. What I need from you is the footage. Get some of your ministers onto it – they don’t do anything important really – just tell them it’s for the archives or something. It’s a real shame that the Guild won’t cooperate fully; they must have some great stuff from Abantos. But, anyway, I’ve sent you a list of some of the best bits that we absolutely have to include; they’re all classics, so we can’t leave them out. A bit outdated for my liking, but public love that cutesy quirky look of the old days. So, we’re going to have to amp up the gore and tragedy levels in the newer stuff. They are going to be in tears by the time I’ve finished with them and they are going to love it!”
‘A hundred years,’ Theo repeated numbly after the screen had faded to black again leaving the commentator’s words ringing in their years. ‘They’ve been doing this to us for a hundred years.’
‘“They” who, though?’ Melanie asked, wanting someone to direct her anger towards.
‘Carrington and his ministers for one group,’ Estelle spat out.
‘The Guild for another,’ Ben added darkly.
‘But they wanted these disks?’
‘Leverage, Sophie; I’ll bet you anything you care to that the Guild wants this for bargaining power, not to expose it.’
‘But who are they airing it to? Who are the audience? He still didn’t say.’
‘Life in the sun,’ Zhe repeated the phrase from the commentator. ‘They’re above the water.’ Everyone turned to look at her at that.
‘Above the water?’
‘That’s not possible.’
‘The Land War destroyed it.’
‘There’s nothing left.’
They all decried the idea as impossible, except Ben. Duncan turned to his friend and captain, saying, ‘Ben? Surely it can’t be.’
‘It makes sense. Anything down here and we would’ve spotted it, or someone would. But to hide it for a hundred years, it has to be where no one goes.’
‘But how?’ Theo asked looking up, as if he could see it.
‘And when?’
‘And, more importantly, why didn’t they share the knowledge?’
‘Power,’ Zhe spoke up again. ‘It’s always been about power. Up there we could be self-sufficient, but down here we rely on them for everything: food, drinkable water, breathable air… everything.’
‘That’s all it ever is with them,’ Ben agreed.
‘But now what? I mean, what the hell are you going to do with this?’ Theo demanded getting angry as the reality started setting in.
‘We need to broadcast it… but to the people down here,’ Ben told them.
‘Really, and that’s going to do what?’ Theo asked cynically. ‘They have a whole network of control, covering every inch of this place, and you’re going to try and air this?’ he demanded working himself up into a rant.
‘Theo.’
‘No, Estelle; they swan in here, saviours – them, ha!’
‘I’m no one’s saviour nor do I pretend to be, but the people need to know what’s going on! And this is the only proof we have,’ Ben told him.
‘Yeah, so say you,’ Theo huffed stroppily.
‘He has a point, Ben. What will it change?’ Duncan asked, before holding up his hands in surrender as Ben turned and levelled a glare at him. ‘I’m not disagreeing with you, Ben; this needs to be broadcast, but what will it do? Can you see the people rising up? They know nothing of outside the water – fear of the unknown will keep them here.’
‘We have to try, Dunc; we can’t not. Otherwise, we’re as guilty as they are.’ Ben waved an arm angrily at the screen.
‘Then we try,’ Duncan agreed, not wanting to push Ben too
far.
‘What do you need?’ Estelle asked, causing the two to look at her. ‘Well, you can’t do it all by yourselves; men, honestly!’
‘Thanks Estelle.’ Duncan smiled at her.
‘We need to get back to the Coelacanth as quickly as possible and get back to Eckarna; the Ministries house the only system to broadcast this to the whole Republic in one go,’ Ben thought out loud.
‘It won’t reach as far as here,’ Theo pointed out, ‘and here is where your best chance of rebellion lies.’
‘It’s true that the Republic abandoned all the communications posts that reach this far when they abandoned Abantos itself,’ Estelle added.
‘But communications get passed along just fine,’ Zhe said in confusion.
‘Small, simple messages do, but these are more complex and heavy. The lines we’ve got open to us won’t support them,’ Melanie explained.
‘Look, I could take a copy and transmit it from here. I’ll wait for your signal and send it at the same time; that could work,’ Theo offered.
‘Thank you, Theo.’
‘Hmph, still don’t reckon it’ll work, but, hey, count me in for the ride,’ he responded flippantly.
‘Estelle?’ Duncan turned to the woman who had helped them so much, unsure what to say to her.
‘We’ll be fine,’ she assured him. ‘You go and save the world.’
‘Right you are, ma’am.’ He gave her a jaunty salute before turning to leave.
‘There’s just one more thing,’ she said, stopping him mid-step.
Duncan turned back towards her questioningly, sparing a glance for Zhe who let out a quiet giggle that seemed most out of character.
‘Yeah?’ Duncan asked, as Estelle stepped forward until she was standing toe to toe with him.
‘Just this.’ She smiled as she reached up and kissed him. ‘Come back when you get the chance,’ she whispered to him as she withdrew.
Duncan grinned at her, ‘Yes, ma’am.’
‘Come on, lover boy.’ Ben gave Duncan a shove in the direction of the door.
‘I’ll come with you,’ Melanie declared standing to follow them.
‘Mel?’
‘You’re going to need another tech on this one, Soph; you can’t do everything on your own, sis.’
While Melanie and Sophie had a family moment, only Zhe noticed Estelle pull Ben back from the door and whisper in his ear as she slid something into his pocket. Noticing her curious look, Ben just smiled at her, ‘I’ll explain later, little darling.’
‘Right, let’s get moving,’ Ben declared to the room as he hustled everyone out. ‘Soph, you got those disks?’ he checked before moving into the passageway.
‘I’ve got them,’ Sophie confirmed, unable to hide her joy at being with her sister again, even in such circumstances.
‘We’ve got everything, Ben, so let’s just get going,’ Duncan said, taking one last look back at Estelle, who waved.
‘Oh, and Captain? Please tell your man to let Joseph go now,’ she called out cheekily after them.
‘How the hell did she know that?’ Ben asked shaking his head in wonder as they left the building.
‘Eyes always open,’ was all Duncan replied.
Chapter Thirty-one
‘Well, you lot took your bloody time,’ Blue greeted the crew on their return, but even his gruff greeting and manners couldn’t disguise the relief he felt at having them all safely back on the Coelacanth.
‘Sorry, Blue, we stopped to see the world,’ Ben replied, clapping him on the shoulder.
‘See anything interesting?’ Simon asked.
‘Define interesting,’ Duncan replied cryptically.
‘Yeah, we heard your commentary on what you found, but it didn’t make much sense.’
‘Wait until you see the real thing.’
‘That bad, huh?’
‘You’ve no idea,’ Duncan said darkly.
‘Come on, let’s get underway first, then you can see,’ Ben said organising everybody. He wanted to get going and run his plan past Duncan while they still had time for improvements.
***
‘I take it you don’t want to watch it for a second time,’ Duncan said as he sat down next to Ben in the nav. room, referencing the fact that the rest of the crew were down in the common room watching the videos with Simon, Blue and Ash, who were about to see the horrors for the first time.
‘I think I’m going to be seeing it enough in the next couple of hours without the group viewing,’ Ben responded.
Duncan raised his eyebrows at that. ‘Ah, research, huh? I should have known better.’
‘There’s more information to be had out of those files than we’ve found yet. Plus, these ledgers may start to make more sense as well,’ he said, dropping the books onto the chart table.
‘I’d forgotten about those,’ Duncan said picking one up and examining it.
‘They’ve kept me company for many an hour.’
‘Hmm, but onto the present. What’s the plan?’ Duncan tossed the ledger back onto the pile. ‘I know you’ve got a plan brewing, although you wouldn’t say what it was at Estelle’s.’
‘Too many unknowns there. I know you trust Estelle, but the fewer people who know, the better. As it is, we’re taking Melanie into our confidence and I’m not entirely convinced whose side she’s on.’
‘I think she’ll come through for us,’ Duncan reassured his captain, leaving aside all reference to Estelle – now really was not the time for such a discussion, and he knew that Ben was only looking out for them all and it was nothing personal.
‘Well, you know her better,’ Ben agreed, ‘and you’re right I do have a plan, of sorts, at least.’
‘Ash is going to hate it, isn’t he?’ Duncan grinned.
‘Ha! Never mind about Ash, I’m not sure that I don’t hate it.’
‘That bad?’
‘Well, you’ve seen what we’re up against, so it isn’t going to be pretty.’
‘True. So what have you got?’
Ben didn’t answer him right away, but took a moment or two, and shuffled a few papers around on the table before looking up at Duncan again. ‘It all goes back to the Sky Affair.’
Duncan’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline at that pronouncement. It was an unspoken rule between the two of them to never mention that tragedy again. ‘The Sky Affair,’ Duncan eventually managed to choke out.
‘Yeah. Look, I know we don’t usually talk about it, so I wouldn’t bring it up if it weren’t serious.’
‘I know, Ben.’
‘It’s just that… I think that’s where everything started – for us, I mean.’ Ben paused, collecting his thoughts. ‘Do you ever think about it, Dunc?’
‘Sometimes.’
Ben nodded. ‘I think about it a lot, particularly about this one part. It was only a small part of the whole mess, only lasted a few seconds at most and never made much sense. But now…’ Ben trailed off lost in the memory and Duncan let him take his time, not wanting to interrupt.
‘You never boarded the Sky, did you?’ Ben asked after a few moments, to which Duncan shook his head. ‘Horrific, the scenes were: heads without faces, limbs strewn across the decks interwoven with all the finery that had been spilled out from the cabins, bodies clutching at one another… did you know that not everyone was killed instantly? There were survivors when we got there. Looking back, I think there were probably a lot of survivors, but the Republic, we, saw to that,’ Ben said bitterly seeing it all in front of his eyes once more.
‘Ben…’ Duncan started, but didn’t know what words to offer.
Ben shook his head and continued. ‘I found one of the survivors; an old gent, he was, and bleeding out heavily, his lower body completely mangled, but he grasped hold of my lapels with such strength and pul
led me close to him. There was such determination in his eyes as he tried to speak, blood issuing from his mouth. Finally, he got out the words “out… up… above… above… you must… there is… above… water,” before he died in my arms.’
‘What do you think he meant?’
‘I think he was from above the water and that was what he was trying to tell me; that there was a world up there that we knew nothing about.’
‘They were all from up there?’ Duncan asked astounded, looking up as though he could see this world above.
Ben nodded slowly. ‘It fits, Dunc. The whole cover up, the fear – you remember, Carrington and Greyson, they reeked of it, our dishonourable discharges for “mutiny”,’ Ben listed the circumstances, ‘the name of the sub; damn it, they even called it Sky! And what were they doing there in the first place, anyway? No one in the Republic would have been stupid enough to head into the heavily patrolled West Waters!’
‘But what were they doing there, Ben?’
‘Probably a paid tour to see the inner workings of Within the Water,’ Ben scoffed.
‘And, by the time they realised it wasn’t a show, it was too late.’
‘Yeah.’ Ben sighed.
The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, each contemplating what had happened years before when the sub Sky had been destroyed and all aboard her lost to the blue.
‘Right, enough.’ Ben’s voice jarred Duncan out of his thoughts. ‘The salient point about the Sky Affair is that she must have docked up there somewhere; you can’t load passengers onto a sub without it being properly docked, and, chances are, she wasn’t far from home when it all happened, otherwise the Republic would’ve known about her and steered her straight.’
‘A way out then?’
‘That’s what I’m hoping, Dunc. As much as we need to let the people here know what their government has been doing to them, we need to get through to the audience up there that this is real and not some make-believe shit.’
‘So, we need to be up there to broadcast on their frequency then.’
‘Yeah,’ Ben agreed, waiting patiently for the penny to drop and Duncan to realise what he was about.
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