The last time a bone-chilling fear of the ocean affected me like this was when I was ten on the beach with Jeremy and he challenged me to enter the water. Thinking back to that time my panic probably wasn’t justified. The water had taken my little brother and in my young mind, I blamed it. Now Jeremy was in my mind again surrounding me with his creation: a giant half gumball machine teetering on the bottom of the Pacific. Informed that it was an engineering temple of safety, I expected it to be just that, not the spook house I was experiencing. Dealing with the unknowns of a failed promise was far worse.
Rushing from my quarters, I ran into Briscoe exiting from next door wide-eyed and searching the hallway. All at once, doors down the hall crashed opened and seven crewmen flew into hallway appearing startled and confused.
“What in the hell was that?” one asked. Another mentioned that the jolt threw him from his bunk. A brief chaos ensued as the hallway filled with questions mostly about Bowman’s whereabouts.
One specific question caught my ear, “Where’s the Captain? Edwards? He’s not here either.”
Lt. Williams in camouflage pajamas scanned the small group and remembered.
“Last I saw of him he was prepping SeaPod 2 for today’s dives and intending to repair its AutoDocker.”
Her eyes widened.
“Oh my God! I wonder if he’s okay.”
Across the hallway on the core wall, the Ivy panel brightened and glowed steadily with the answer.
“No. I am sorry, Susan Williams, he is not. He took SeaPod 2 out of the bay an hour ago saying he was testing the AutoDocker but never came back. I warned him against diving alone but he insisted it was safe. I have analyzed the frequencies and source of the vibrations that rocked the dome with two conclusions. Either the dome just had a direct hit from a wandering sperm whale or a SeaPod impact just below Q1 on the crawler base. I have no other information. However I do not find the Captain’s biometric signals registering anywhere in the station so he must still be away on the outside.”
She ran to Ivy’s wall console.
“Did you try to SeaCom him?”
“Yes of course. He did not respond but it is possible that he was out of range.”
“What about sonar? See anything?”
“No. My sonar was in the passive mode. There were no sounds other than the SeaPod’s motors and some echolocation clangs from nearby sperm whales. They seem to be very active near Discovery One lately.”
“Ivy, heat and prep two Exosuits in Pod Bay 1 for an immediate dive,” Williams said, “Unlike Edwards I insist on going out with a diving buddy. His action was rather careless.”
The Lieutenant glanced back at our group.
“Who wants to go with me?”
Briscoe held up his hand.
“Count me in. Where do I start?”
He stared at me questioningly but I shook my head no. I wanted to volunteer but I had never been in an Exosuit and now was not the time to learn. I bowed to him and smiled my approval.
“Good,” she said, “Get into your jumpsuit and dive boots and meet me in Pod Bay 1 in five minutes. Marker, you’re up next time but you can help us load.”
Off the elevator onto Deck 1 Briscoe and I found the door leading from the core chamber into Quad 1 by its large overhead letters. Entering the room passing banks and banks of large electronics racks with indicator lights flashing wildly I immediately knew it was the computing quadrant. It was warmer than Quad 2, hummed with whirring fans, and smelled of electronics.
On the rear wall a stenciled sign over a downward pointing red arrow read Pod Bay 1 Hatch. It caught Briscoe’s eyes and he veered off toward the arrow looking at his watch. My watch said six minutes had passed since Lt. Williams told us to meet her and she was nowhere around. Suddenly Williams’ head poked up through the hatch; an eerie sight appearing to be a separated cropped blond-haired head resting on the floor. “Hurry your asses up,” she squawked. “Dr. Bowman and I are waiting.”
Briscoe followed her straight down but I hesitated leery of meeting Jeremy after almost twenty years. Would he recognize me? What would he be like? Was he really the tyrant they claimed he was?
I took a deep breath and started down the ladder.
Before my foot could hit the last rung, a somewhat familiar voice rang out through the bay.
“Well if I didn’t see this I wouldn’t believe it. I saw the name Matt Cross on the DV boarding list but never in a million years would I have expected it to be you my aquaphobic friend and sandcastle apprentice from long ago. How in the hell are you, Matt? Long time no see.”
I smiled pleasantly surprised at his warm greeting and held out my hand for a handshake. Instead, he rushed over, ignored my hand, and hugged me.
“Hello old friend,” I smiled. “It looks like you’ve done quite well for yourself Jeremy.”
I’m not sure if I would have recognized him had I not known it was him. He had shot up in height now reaching two inches over me (and I’m six feet tall) lost some weight to the point of almost being skinny and wore Ben Franklin frameless round glasses on the tip of his nose. With his short graying hair, black turtleneck, and faded jeans, he reminded me of someone but I couldn’t quite put my finger on who. I glanced away shaking the familiar but unidentifiable image from my mind.
“This is some sandcastle you built.”
“Thank you, Matt, but I go by Dave now. Jeremy just brings back too many bad juvenile memories.”
“Well then, Dave it is. You do realize that you’re the reason I’m here don’t you?”
“And, Matt, you’re one reason Discovery One is here. Many of your additions and suggestions for my sandcastles were incorporated into my design of this station; you should notice them as you tour it.”
“Like the submarine core?” I asked.
“Exactly. But how did I influence you?”
“That day on the beach before you left. Remember what you said?”
“Something about not fearing the water like a wild animal I’m sure. I wasn’t smart enough to create that maxim myself. I learned it from my dad. Except he continued on with words that I never told you. He always added ‘Learn from it. Live by it. Shape it. Make it your world.’”
“Ahem,” Williams interrupted, “I hate to break up this old home week, but in case you’ve forgotten we’re supposed to be diving right now. Briscoe’s already suited up and I need help getting into mine. Marker can you assist me while Dr. Bowman fires up SeaPod 1?”
“Sure, where do I start?”
Having sealed her in the Exosuit, I rolled the hatch stairs back from SeaPod 1 and followed her instructions. After climbing the ladder, I closed and locked the hatch then pulled a microphone off the wall.
“Ready. Now what?”
“You’re now communicating with us on the bay intercom,” Williams answered. “See the green Flood Pod Bay button to your left?”
“Yeah, got it.”
“Push it. It’ll turn yellow as the bay fills then red about five minutes later when you can push the Open Pod Bay Door button. If you forget my instructions Ivy will do it automatically so don’t worry too much but never try to open the hatch lock with a red light. A tiny stream of seawater at this pressure can cut you in half. We call it a water knife. Norris lost part of his hand to one.”
“Roger that,” I said.
“The hatch does have a safety interlock that prevents its opening with a flooded bay but things around here have been so strange lately I wouldn’t trust it. Just remember: green — bay is clean, red — open you’re dead. Same for when we return; wait for the green to open the hatch. Got that?”
“Well, I certainly hope so but what if the light fails goes dark? Then what?”
“Then SeaCom us. We’ll let you know when it’s safe.”