Emergency Transmission

by Sean McLachlan

  When Yu-jin translated this, Rachel said, “We’ll see what we can do. If it’s just a welding job, we might be done a lot sooner than that.”

  “You’ve had a long journey,” Captain Wang said. “Please accept our hospitality.”

  They returned to the reception room Yu-jin had seen on her first visit. Much of it was taken up by a long metal table, already set with red placemats and a full tea service. Chairs bolted to the floor were arrayed all around it. As they took their places Yu-jin stared at the pictures on the walls, those wonderful pictures of a China she’d only seen in a few faded pages from old magazines.

  Beautiful landscapes, gleaming cities full of technology, the Great Wall, and a giant palace her grandmother had told her about with that strange curved roof the Chinese seemed so fond of.

  We should have at least one roof like that in New City, Yu-jin thought. She wondered if she could get away with it.

  The pictures made China look beautiful. All those bright colors seemed even brighter being next to the patchwork and rust of the wall.

  Her thoughts got interrupted by the arrival of Song Jianfu and Song Panpan. They were both of low rank, and only got invited as a courtesy to Yu-jin. It had become tradition in China to recognize people with the same surname as coming from the same family. It was a way to rebuild the all-important family structure in a world where so many were alone.

  Her two relatives hugged her and handed her a gift wrapped in brilliant paper. Her own gifts to them looked a bit shabby in comparison, being wrapped in a rough woolen scarf that was part of the gift. The gift her distant relations had given her felt like paper. Perhaps some old Chinese magazines? Her heart leaped at the thought.

  Everyone sat and drank tea. The pleasantries were as short as courtesy allowed.

  “This is my chief engineer, Meng Xiong,” Captain Wang said after they had drunk two cups of tea. He indicated a heavyset man seated next to him. “He will oversee the repairs.”

  Yu-jin translated for him and Rachel as they discussed the problem. That didn’t go so well. There were too many technical words she didn’t know in either language and was therefore unable to translate. Meng Xiong grew impatient, but Rachel reassured him that she got the general idea, and that everything would be clear once she took a closer look.

  As everyone went back to sipping tea and looking polite, Song Jianfu leaned in close to Yu-jin, a wide grin on his face.

  “They tell a story about him. When the captain was interviewing candidates for chief engineer he had the five best lined up in front of him. All were in spotless uniforms, and had fine work records. All stood at perfect attention. ‘Show me your fingernails!’ Captain Wang ordered. ‘Yes, sir!” they all raised their hands so the Captain could inspect them. Captain Wang walked slowly down the line, studying each nail. All had immaculately clean nails, except for Meng Xiong. His had little crescents of grease beneath them. ‘You are the man I want,’ Captain Wang told him.”

  “A real hands-on guy, eh?”

  Song Jianfu bobbed his head. “He’s always in the engine room unless he’s called to the command center to consult with the captain. He even has a bunk in the engine room. He says he likes to hear the engine in his sleep to make sure it is running properly.”

  “Sounds like he and Rachel will get along.”

  Her distant relative got a pained look on his face, smiled awkwardly, and nodded.

  Once tea was finished, Rachel, Yu-jin, and the two guards carried the equipment through a maze of metal corridors and down flights of echoing metal stairs. The ship seemed endless, and she wondered if they had made it under the waterline yet.

  They entered a vast room. Walkways and stairs cut across a large interior space. Much of the rest of it was taken up with huge machinery unlike anything Yu-jin had ever seen. She couldn’t make sense out of the large slabs of metal, the countless pipes, and network of cables.

  Rachel let out a low, appreciative whistle.

  “Kevin is going to kill me for missing out on this,” she said.

  Kevin was her husband and equally obsessed with all things mechanical.

  “Why didn’t he come along?”

  “The Doctor only wanted one of us to go. You know, just in case. We drew straws and Kevin lost.”

  Rachel said this with a smug smile as she gazed around in wonder.

  The sailors led them to the lowest part of the engine room, where two large metal housings had been removed to reveal giant gears and pistons. Rachel walked up to one of them. It was only then that Yu-jin noticed it was cracked. Part of the crack had been repaired with a welder.

  Chief Engineer Meng Xiong turned to them.

  “As you can see we need a welder that can produce at least 12,000 amperes. Sadly, we only have one such, and it broke halfway through the job.”

  Yu-jin translated, wondering what an ampere was and hoping the word was the same in English.

  “This welder gives 15,000 amps,” Rachel told him through Yu-jin. “This should only take a couple of hours.”

  The engineer indicated a man standing nearby. “I’d be most grateful if you could instruct First Engineer Li Xianting in the use of your type of welder. It appears a bit different than the ones we’re accustomed to.”

  “That’s OK, I can weld it for you,” Rachel said.

  “That’s most kind of you, but First Engineer Li is more familiar with the engine.”

  “And I’m more familiar with the welder,” Rachel replied.

  There was an awkward silence. Rachel spoke up.

  “How about this? I’ll show him how it works while getting the weld started, and then he can do the rest under my supervision.”

  “Supervision?”

  “As a team member.”

  The chief engineer stared at Yu-jin a moment to see if there was going to be any addition or correction to the translation, gave the cracked machine a nervous look, then nodded his assent.

  Rachel got to work. Rachel, First Engineer Li, and a few of the Chinese engineers donned dark visors. Everyone else started to move away.

  “What’s going on?” Yu-jin asked.

  Rachel tapped the side of the mask she wore. “The welder is really bright. You’ll go blind if you stare at it. Stand at least ten meters away and don’t look directly at it.”

  Yu-jin moved back, the two New City guards lingering close by her side.

  Rachel turned on the welder with a loud hiss. Despite the warning, Yu-jin glanced at it, and quickly looked away. Purple afterimages danced in her vision. She had never imagined something so powerful. They said that a welder burned so hot it could melt metal.

  Yu-jin took in a sharp breath. All these wonders had been commonplace in her grandparents’ time. When her parents had been young and the last city states fell, much of the technology had disappeared with them. What was left had to be maintained, and over the years a shortage of spare parts, destruction in wars, and downright lack of care meant fewer and fewer of these wonders every year, until the average person had to be told to look away from what was once a common tool. Back in the Old Times, kids probably used welders as toys. Now they were so rare they had to be brought over the sea to fix a rusty old ship that had fallen apart.

  Even with her ignorance of machines, Yu-jin could tell this ship was barely holding together. Every surface was a patchwork of rust and recent repairs. Replacement wires and new pipes ran everywhere. On her trip down here she had passed darkened side corridors with a dank, unused smell to them.

  This ship was a wonder of the Old Times, but the sailors could barely keep it together. In a way she was glad it had broken down. Now both sides had to rely on each other. The crew now owed New City a favor. She wondered what Captain Wang would give in return.

  If she was asked her opinion, she’d suggest more rice. They were going to need it.

  After a couple of hours, the engineers finished the welding and replaced the housings. Chief Engineer Meng Xiong wanted to make a test run. A messenger cam
e to call Yu-jin upstairs to speak with the captain while Rachel and the two guards stayed in the engine room.

  She met with Captain Wang in the corridor. One of his men held his suit and hers.

  “I want to show you something from the rear tower,” the captain said. “I would like it if your colleague Clyde Devon saw it too. All his guards are welcome.”

  “Thank you, captain,” Yu-jin said. Apparently the captain hadn’t noticed there were two factions of guards. She felt bad that this relieved her. Despite these being her people, she understood the dangers the ship presented.

  They went outside to find Clyde and the guards where they had left them, sitting on bollards or equipment casings on deck while a few armed sailors lounged nearby, trying to look unthreatening.

  Yu-jin translated the request and everyone headed to the rear of the two buildings built on top of the ship. The last time the freighter had appeared, Yu-jin had noted that the front one was where the ship was steered. The back one didn’t seem to be used. The captain was being careful with security just like Clyde.

  They climbed a flight of rusty steps to a raised deck. In the distance she could see a plume of yellowish-brown smoke rising up to meld with the overcast sky. The clouds near it had the same ugly color as the smoke.

  “Aw hell, there it is,” Clyde said.

  Captain Wang passed her a pair of binoculars. She focused them on the plume and saw some sort of island beneath it. The island looked like it was made of concrete.

  “What is that?” she asked.

  “An old mining platform,” the captain replied. “The drill goes all the way to the bottom of the sea and below. They were drilling petroleum or natural gas by injecting chemicals into rifts in the bedrock and cracking it open. Some old tank that stores the chemicals at the bottom of the shaft must have corroded away and is now leaking.”

  “And every time the wind blows to the east we get a toxic rain,” Clyde said after Yu-jin translated this. She passed him the binoculars so he could take a look for himself.

  “When the wind blows to the west it hits us too. It is affecting our crops almost as much as your own. We need to fix it,” the captain went on.

  “Fix it?” Yu-jin asked. “How?”

  “I am hoping that our engineers can work together on this problem. First we must test out the engine to make sure it works. I suggest a trial run towards that derrick. We’ve already been there but I’d like you to get a better look.”

  As if on cue, the deck began to throb as the engines came to life. Yu-jin sent up a prayer that Rachel had managed to weld it properly. It seemed amazing such a big hunk of metal could break, let alone be melted back together.

  Yu-jin told Clyde the captain’s plan.

  “Let’s do it,” the Head of the Watch said.

  “You don’t mind?” Yu-jin asked, surprised.

  “That thing is a bigger threat than the Chinese,” he replied.

  The engine changed tone, growing louder and deeper. The ship started moving forward. Several of the Chinese crewmembers cheered. Captain Wang slapped the railing and stood a little taller.

  “I must congratulate your engineer. She has done a good job. We will see how good once we have made a few tests.”

  The freighter slowly picked up speed. Everyone returned below decks to get out of the toxic air, which Yu-jin knew would only get worse as they approached that plume. Even the guards agreed to come in. When Clyde took off his gas mask he looked worried and thoughtful.

  Yu-jin left him in the hallway and went down to the engine room with Captain Wang. They found Rachel looking proud and the ship’s engineers busy at their tasks, all with big grins on their faces. Yu-jin tried to translate as Rachel, the captain, and the engineers had a long technical conversation she didn’t understand. The crew tested the engine at various speeds and checked it with different instruments she couldn’t even name.

  The whole thing frustrated her. At least the only other woman in the room knew what she was talking about.

  And why was there only one other woman in the room? There were female crew members, even the gun crew was all female, but she had seen no female officers and no female engineers. It looked like China was ahead in some ways and had taken a step back in others.

  After about an hour, a voice came over a speaker announcing that they were approaching the derrick. Yu-jin could feel the engine powering down.

  “That is my second-in-command,” Captain Wang said. “He is on the command deck. Let’s go up and take a look.”

  I bet we’re not going to take a look from the command deck, Yu-jin thought.

  Sure enough, they didn’t. The captain led them to the rear tower after everyone had donned chemical suits and gas masks.

  The view was good enough.

  Off the port bow stretched an artificial island of rusted steel and crumbling concrete. A huge metal dome had a gaping hole it in ringed with rust, and vile-looking smoke billowed from it. Several other buildings stood around the dome, all rusted and decayed.

  The smoke came out at a steady rate. The toxic rains had been coming for a year now. Did that mean this thing had been pumping out gunk for a year? How many tanks of chemicals were down there? Could it keep going for another year? Two years?

  Everyone took a quick look through the binoculars before retreating inside. A few minutes later they met around a big table in a conference room. At the head of the table was a small computer. An officer opened up some images.

  “These are from a drone we sent up,” the captain explained. “We couldn’t get a good shot down the drill hole but you can see the pipe that leads from the dome down to the bottom of the sea. From there, my engineers tell me, there is a hole through the bedrock all the way down to where the people in the Old Times were digging.”

  A series of images came into view on the computer screen. Yu-jin saw the interior of the dome and a bunch of equipment that had been corroded so badly she doubted even the engineers could tell what they had once been. Later shots had been taken when the drone had entered the dome, and she saw a dark metal tube leading downwards. There were a few close-ups of the interior of the dome, as well as the big hole the toxic cloud had burned in it. The dome looked pretty thick.

  “How much more chemicals do you think are down there?” Yu-jin asked.

  The captain shook his head. “Impossible to tell. In the Old Times they stored a lot of chemicals at the bottom of these mines. This thing could keep pumping smoke into the air for days, months, or years.”

  “Why hasn’t it burned through the tube that leads from the derrick to the ocean floor?” Yu-jin asked.

  “That tube is designed to withstand such chemicals. Even with such a big leak it will survive from quite some time. If it breaks, then we’ll have water that’s even more polluted than it already is. Perhaps similar derricks have already broken. That might explain why the sea is still so polluted so long after industry stopped.”

  “So how did it get out in the first place?”

  “The cap that should have covered it seems to have broken, as you can see in this picture. Most likely from faulty construction. In the last days of industry, they got very slipshod. Profit counted far more than safety.”

  Yu-jin glanced at Rachel, who had grown pale, then back at Captain Wang.

  “So what do we do?”

  “My engineers tell me we can plug it. We can dump a load of refuse down there, preferably sand at a slow rate so that the force of it falling doesn’t make any more cracks. Once there is a layer of sand at the bottom filtering out most of the toxins, we can cap the tube with concrete.”

  When this was translated, Rachel thought for a moment and spoke.

  “I’m not familiar with these sorts of chemicals, but won’t the toxins slowly seep through the sand and corrode the concrete?”

  The captain nodded. “That is correct. But my engineers estimate that if we make a cap that’s two meters thick it will last twenty years. Of course someone will have t
o come back and add another cap on top of the first. It’s not an ideal solution but the only one we can think of given what little technology we have at our disposal.”

  Clyde looked Captain Wang in the eye and said, “New City will help in any way possible. You’ll have our full cooperation.”

  Yu-jin turned to him in amazement.

  “You mean that?”

  “Damn right I mean it. This is bigger than us and the Chinese. This is bigger than everybody. If this thing keeps pumping out toxins, it’s the end of everything.”

  “Wait a minute,” Rachel cut in. “We don’t have enough concrete to cap that thing.”

  Yu-jin turned to Captain Wang. “Do you have concrete on board?”

  “Unfortunately no, and to go back to China, collect enough for the job, and return here will take at least two months.”

  Yu-jin went cold. Two more months of toxic rains would finish every farmer in the region.

  She and the captain stared at each other a moment. His expression went from hopeful to worried. He did not ask the obvious question. He did not need to.

  “Your Doctor is a wise man. Perhaps he will have an idea,” he said quietly.

  I hope he does, Yu-jin thought. Because Clyde’s right. This will be the end of everything.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  David awoke to the late morning crowd coming into $87,953. People were sidling up to the bar and ordering beer, the more professional drinkers ordering their first shot of Roy’s special moonshine. Not three steps in front of him, a pair of scavengers were having a quiet conversation over their drinks, not paying him the least attention.

  Rubbing his eyes and stretching, David walked over to the bar.

  “Hey Lazarus,” Roy said with a grin. “You were so gone in that barber’s chair I was about to trade your boots to the gravedigger. He works cheap.”

  “Sorry for nodding off.”

  “Not at all, you looked like you needed it. Say, could you help Kyle here carry that into the back?”

  Kyle was an older white man with a high forehead and large bald spot. They shook hands and Kyle told him he was a farmer. He had the hard wiry muscles to prove it. The two of them went over and lifted up the chair.