Novum Chronicles: A Dystopian Undersea Saga

by Joseph Rhea Rhea

  Wood cleared his throat before answering. “Yes I did. Dana’s test showed a twenty percent Beta reading. I ran the test four times and it always came back the same. Ten percent over the threshold.”

  “So that’s why you ran,” Jake said. Wood just stared at the wall.

  “Where is your wife now?” Vee asked.

  Wood looked at her and then at Jake. “New Braska city enforcers learned we were here and pursued us. We escaped into one of the cornfields on the other side of the dome. I thought we were going to make it, but...”

  “Where is she?” Jake asked, but he was sure what his answer would be.

  “She’s dead,” Wood spat out, rage building in his face. “They shot her in the head, like she was an animal. Like she was a...”

  “Beta?” AJ asked.

  Wood’s rage seemed to deflate suddenly. “I grew up in my father’s shadow, believing Betas were monsters, sub-human creatures living among us. Then I learned that my wife, my dear sweet Dana...”

  “I don’t believe you,” Jake said, then turned to his crew and added, “Those City Enforcers were helping us escape. I think they were helping him escape.” He turned back to Wood. “How did you get aboard this ship? Did you come in with the enforcers?”

  Wood’s eyes darted back and forth, telling Jake he was building a lie. “I came in with the HazMat team,” he said. “Twelve of us came in with the reactor, and only eleven left.”

  “And I suppose you got rid of that big yellow suit somehow,” Jake said.

  “Your galley’s disposal,” he replied.

  “So, no proof,” Jake added. “That’s very convenient.”

  Wood leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “I’m sorry, Captain, but I am getting very tired. I lost a great deal of blood when my enforcer friends shot me in the back and then brought me here to hide on board your ship.” He looked back at Jake. “Remind me why I did all of this?”

  When he thought it all through, he realized that Wood’s story could be the truth after all. Then again, something about the man’s story just didn’t ring true. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m truly sorry about your wife.” He turned to AJ. “We should probably let him get some rest.”

  “One moment, Captain,” AJ said as she pulled the chair closer to the bed and faced Wood. “You still haven’t told us how you got the captain’s name in the bar.”

  Wood started to open his mouth, when Ash called down from the bridge. “Captain, we have a problem.”

  Jake looked at AJ. “What is it, Ash?”

  “We seem to have another stowaway aboard.” There was a pause before he added, “And this one is probably armed.”

  AJ drew her weapon and moved cautiously towards the door. “Where’s the intruder, Ash?”

  “Cargo bay. Back near the drop door.”

  Jake looked at Wood. “Who is it?”

  Wood shook his head. “I don’t know. I came alone.”

  Jake moved over beside AJ, wishing once again that he had a gun as well. “Are you sure, Ash? We were just in the cargo bay. It’s not that big. How could a person hide there?”

  “Not a person, Captain,” Ash replied.

  Jake and AJ exchanged confused expressions before Raines spoke. “Is it a probe?”

  “Security probe from the looks of it, which is why I said it’s probably armed,” Ash said. “I picked up its visual feed just a few seconds ago. I’ll pipe it down to you.”

  A screen on the back wall came to life and began showing a view of the back half of the cargo bay. The view then rotated to the right and stopped at the door to the port observation corridor. A second later, the door slid open.

  “Security probe, all right,” AJ said. “Nothing else could bypass the door locks so quickly.”

  “And you think it’s armed?” Jake asked as he backed away from the door. The observation corridor led back to the staging area right outside medical bay.

  “Security probes are usually equipped with range-finding lasers.”

  “Which are non-lethal,” Jake said with relief.

  Raines shook his head. “They can be ramped up for short duration pulses, which are quite lethal if they strike a vital organ.”

  “Like your face,” AJ added, “which is what it will be aiming for.”

  Wood finally spoke up. “I think you just discovered what those enforcers were doing on your ship, Captain. They must have planted it here.” He looked at the others in the room. “They probably planted one in every ship in the hanger. I believe that probe is after me.”

  “Great,” AJ said. “Can we send him out to deal with this thing?”

  “Ash,” Jake said, “Where is it now?”

  “Aft end of port corridor, heading into the lockout chamber.”

  “Can we trap it in there?” Vee asked. “Maybe pressurize it. Crush it?”

  “That’s a good idea,” Jake said, “but if it can override our locks, it won’t work. Plus, I don’t want to let whoever’s piloting it to know we know about it.”

  “It’s probably automated,” Raines said.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Jake said. He looked back at the display. “Ash, locate everyone on the ship and tell them to hide. If they’re in their bunks, tell them to pretend to be asleep. If it’s searching for Dr. Wood, it will probably leave them alone.”

  “That’s a big gamble,” AJ said. “So, what’s your plan?”

  He took a deep breath to calm his nerves then said, “Keep your gun out, and I’ll show you.”

  Ash followed the probe’s movement on his dashboard monitor. Everyone else was hiding out in his or her quarters. He was the only one trapped out in the open with nowhere to hide. After the probe left the port lockout, it opened the hatch to D-deck and dropped down to where they had found their stowaway. It was a small area, and within a minute, it emerged from the hatch opening and headed up the stairs to B-deck.

  Ash held his breath as he glanced back towards the bridge stairwell. The probe was right at the bottom of that opening and would hear him if he made a sound. He forced himself to turn back to the view screen.

  Fortunately, the probe was being methodical and began searching the galley and mess hall first. Next would be the two storage rooms and then the officers’ crew quarters, where his sister and Jane were hiding. They had chosen to hide out in the same room, which meant they would be pretending to be asleep in the same bunk. He hoped that closeness wouldn’t lead to some sort of female bonding, where Jane might tell her about the rec room incident.

  He shook his head, remembering that the current situation was far more important. The screen showed the probe heading down the crew quarters hallway now. It stopped at the first door on the right: Captain’s quarters. When the door opened, he was shocked to see the blurry image of two pink bodies standing inside the room’s private shower. Not understanding what he was seeing, he turned up the volume and heard his sister’s voice. “No, you rub my back first.”

  Then Jane’s voice giggled and said, “I already did yours. My turn.” Then they both giggled.

  The image from the probe quickly turned and scanned the rest of the room and then turned and reentered the hall. As it continued to check each of the other five rooms, Ash realized the genius of the girls’ plan. If they had pretended to sleep, the probe’s sensors might have been able to detect heartbeat and breathing and might determine that they were faking sleep. Faking sleep could be considered proof that they knew about the probe, which would probably give it reason to kill them.

  He glanced around the bridge and realized his own plan to pretend to be asleep at his navigation console would no longer work. As the screen showed the probe now heading towards the bridge stairwell, he realized that he was about to die.

  With no other options, Ash dropped to the floor and dove under his navigation console. He carefully pulled the chair in close and then curled up in a fetal position. His only hope for survival was that the probe seemed to be in a hurry to find whatever it was looking for, an
d so far, wasn’t spending any time searching under beds, or under consoles. If it swept through the bridge as fast as the other rooms, he might live to see the morning.

  His face was pressed to the floor, and from there he could see under the other consoles and chart table to the opening to the stairwell. When the probe lifted silently from the opening, he held his breath.

  Then he remembered that his dashboard was still showing the probe’s broadcast. If it saw that, he would surely be found out. Very slowly, he slid his hand up the side of the console and onto the surface. Luckily, the ‘off’ tab was near the edge, and he could press it and then retrieve his hand without being noticed.

  Seconds ticked by with no sound or sign of the probe’s movement. Then it appeared less than two meters from where he lay as it moved between the helm and nav consoles on its way to the forward command station. That was a dead end, and he knew that if it bothered to look down, it would see him lying there and probably shoot him without hesitation.

  The probe was so close; he could just make out the nearly invisible microfilaments suspending it from the ceiling, making it appear to hover in the air. He closed his eyes and tried to slow down his heart, which seemed to be beating out of control.

  “Hey!” someone yelled and he almost jumped. The probe turned and raced towards the stairwell, pausing to hover just above the chart table. The voice was the captain’s, and he yelled again. “I said, lock Dr. Wood in the medical bay, and I’ll come back and deal with him later. AJ and I are heading to the rec room for a half hour.”

  The probe floated there for a few seconds, bobbing slightly up and down, probably making a decision about what to do next. If a human was controlling it, it might catch on that this was some sort of a trick. Who actually yells exactly what they are going to do, anyway? However, if it was automated as Raines had suggested, on a search-and-destroy mission, then it might not be that clever. He hoped Raines was right.

  The probe apparently made its decision because it suddenly raced towards the stairwell and then dropped out of sight. Ash quickly climbed back up to his chair and turned his screen back on. He saw the probe descending the final stairs to C-deck, and it reached the level just in time to see the captain and AJ walk through the back door leading to deck crew quarters and the recreation room. As the door slid shut behind them, Ash found himself holding his breath once again. “What are you up to, Captain?” he whispered.

  The staging area was empty and darker than he remembered it being. The probe was hovering in the area between the doors to the med bay and dive locker. Did the probe know which door to open?

  His silent question was answered when the view on his console lurched forward and made a sharp left turn. Then, just as the door to med bay slid open, Ash heard AJ’s voice say, “Looking for something?” The view suddenly pivoted around, and he saw a large gun barrel, just before a blast echoed though the ship as the screen went to static.

  “Are you okay?” Jake asked as he stepped through the med bay door. AJ was standing there with her gun pointed at what remained of the probe on the floor.

  Ash came barreling down the stairs before she could answer. “What happened?” he gasped, a look of confusion on his face. “I saw you two heading aft. How did you...”

  AJ lowered her weapon, apparently reassured of the probe’s demise. “It was Jake’s idea,” she said. “We split up. We used the two aft heads to circle back.”

  Ash stood there, catching his breath as Jessie and Jane came down the stairs behind him. Jane said, “The starboard head connects to the hyperbaric chamber in the medical bay, and the port head connects to the shower in the dive...”

  “I think my brother knows the floor plan,” Jessie said, jabbing a friendly elbow in Jane’s side. Ash didn’t respond but stepped to the side to let them pass. “So is it dead, Captain?” Jessie asked.

  Jake bent over and examined the probe. It was a sphere nearly the size of a human head, and it had a good-sized hole where its central camera used to be. “It certainly can’t see us anymore,” he said, “but I can’t guarantee it can’t hear us, or that it won’t blow up. I think we should jettison it as soon as possible, just to make sure.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” Raines said as he stepped through the med bay door with a large pair of medical tongs. He picked up the probe and headed forward. When he disappeared around the corner, heading towards the cargo bay, Dr. Wood leaned through the door.

  “This is my fault,” he said then grimaced. “I should have never come aboard.”

  AJ stood up. “You’re right on both accounts,” she said, “but getting out of bed before your wound has healed doesn’t change that.” She turned to Ash. “Please escort Dr. Wood back inside and stay there with him.”

  “For how long?” Ash asked, then quickly added, “Sorry Sir, right away.”

  When he went inside with Wood and the door shut behind them, she turned to Jake. “I don’t trust him.”

  Jake put a finger to his lips, and looked at Jessie and Jane who were standing on the bottom tread of the stairs. Their heads were soaking wet, and their clothing was damp. “I think you two have a mess to clean up in my quarters, don’t you?”

  Jessie’s face turned red. “Sorry, Captain. We’ll clean it up right away.” She turned to leave.

  “Very clever, though,” he added. “You probably saved both of your lives.”

  Jessie shrugged. “It was Jane’s idea, actually.” She grabbed Jane by the elbow and they ran barefoot up the stairs, leaving small wet footprints on the treads.

  Jake turned back to AJ. “I didn’t trust Wood when he came aboard either, but they killed his wife, they shot him, and they also sent a probe to kill him.”

  AJ shook her head. “Actually, we have no idea if he even had a wife. As for the bullet wound, anyone could have done that. He’s probably the most hated man in the colony right now.”

  “At least by anyone on the side of the Betas,” Jake corrected. “But, what about that probe? Do you think he faked that as well?”

  “I wouldn’t put it past him,” Raines said as he stepped through the lockout door. “He’s an ambitious man, and like many ambitious people, he might be willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals.”

  “What goals?” Jake asked. “What could he hope to achieve by sneaking aboard this ship?” He looked at AJ. “And why this particular ship?”

  “That’s what I want to know.”

  Jake glanced at the clock on the wall. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m starving. Let’s all give this a rest for now, and we can start back up after breakfast.”

  AJ nodded. “Vee just came off watch, so I’ll fill in for Ash on the bridge.” She looked at the med bay door. “Someone will need to bring Ash, and our guest, something to eat.”

  “Leave it to me,” Raines said. “In fact, I’ll relieve him after breakfast.” When AJ raised an eyebrow, he added, “I believe that I can find out what’s going on if I speak with Dr. Wood alone.”

  Jake thought about it for a second before responding, “I agree. Now let’s go eat.”

  Exile 04

  “How is the patient?” Vee asked when Raines came up the stairs to the mess hall an hour later. Jake and AJ were sitting with her at the table.

  “Sleeping,” Raines said. “I gave him a tranquilizer, so he’ll be out for a while.”

  “Did you get him to talk?” Jake asked.

  “Yes, but I’m not entirely sure I believe his story,” Raines replied. He poured a cup of coffee and sat down between AJ and Vee. “At least, not all of it.”

  “Care to elaborate?” AJ asked.

  Raines nodded. “The doctor told me that this whole thing with the Beta tester started a few months ago when he was asked to study an unusual sphere in the Council’s possession.”

  “Sphere?” Vee asked.

  “Yes, he described it as a meter-diameter sphere made up of interlocking pieces of different textures and colors. He said that it was the most a
dvanced piece of technology he had ever seen but had none of the identifying marks of a Pre-Fall device.”

  Jake flashed back to the sphere he had discovered in the forest dome three months back; Raines’s description matched it perfectly. “Go on,” he said.

  “Well, here’s the strange part. Wood said the center of the sphere was actually hollow, with a shape exactly fitting a small human in a fetal position. His initial guess was that it seemed to work like an egg or a cocoon, which led his team to speculate that it could be a birthing pod, once used to grow Betas.”

  “Grow Betas?” Jake asked.

  “Yes,” Raines said then glanced quickly at AJ before continuing. “What little remains of our historical text, states that the people we call ‘Betas’ were originally born, fully developed, inside birthing pods.”

  “An actual birthing pod for Betas?” Jake asked. The thought that he had stood so close to such a valuable device and then walked away made him a bit angry. He could have probably made a lot of money from selling that device, maybe even paid off all of his old debts.

  “Or so he claims, but that’s not the unbelievable part. Dr. Wood told me that he found actual skin cells inside the sphere; viable cells that contained, according to him, the first pure source of Beta DNA ever discovered.”

  “If the sphere is a two or three hundred year old Pre-Fall relic, how can it still have living cells inside?” Jake asked.

  Raines shook his head. “I have no idea. With what we know of Pre-Fall hibernation technology, I don’t know how they could remain viable for that long.”

  “So these preserved cells are what he used as a basis for his new Beta test.” AJ concluded.

  “Exactly,” Raines said. “And now, of course, with the new ten percent rule, they are finding Betas everywhere. Half the colony is demanding tests for everyone, and the other half is fighting to stop the testing altogether.”

  “That’s how civil wars start,” AJ said.

  “But that’s not the worst of it,” Raines added.

  “What’s worse than racial civil war?” Vee asked.