Unfathomed (The Locus Series Book 1)

by Ralph Kern

  “You say arrive?” Reynolds cocked his head to one side. “An interesting word to use.”

  “There’s no other word to use.” Slater turned her piercing blue eyes on Reynolds. “Clearly, we are not where we should be. That implies we have somehow moved. This region, wherever it is, is where the ships and boats are arriving.”

  “Commander Slater,” Solberg said. “I have been sailing in the Caribbean for the best part of two decades, and a decade before that in other places around the world. I’m not adverse to the odd ghostly sea dog story. But if you mention that we’ve slipped through the Bermuda Triangle, I am not going to be a happy man.”

  Slater gave a snort. “Captain, I can assure you I’m not inclined to give credence to those stories, either. The problem, however, is the incontrovertible evidence that we have moved. We are not where we are supposed to be. We have played with every theory we can, and still come out with nothing conclusive.”

  “I don’t think I’m breaching the Official Secrets Act here,” Reynolds said. “But even the British military, which doesn’t even have a hundredth of the infrastructure of the U.S., would still not lose track of a warship short of its complete and quick destruction. That is something which has clearly not happened to the USS Paul Ignatius. Even setting aside the fact that we have lost track of home, how can home have lost track of us?”

  “That’s the million-dollar question, Admiral,” Slater said wearily. “With nearly three hundred warships, several thousand aircraft, and hundreds more ancillary vessels, not to mention what resources the rest of NATO and our other allies would undoubtedly bring to bear, we should have been found by now if we’d simply been lost.”

  “And, assuming the time issue you mentioned is correct, then something slightly stranger than navigational difficulties is occurring here. What are your theories, Commander?”

  “You mean theories that don’t involve the Bermuda Triangle, alien abduction, or us all being dead and in mariners’ heaven?” Slater’s mouth gave the slightest twitch of a grin. “None that hold water.”

  “You’ve been here for two years and you have no ideas at all?” Solberg asked incredulously.

  “As I say, no. Our operations in this region have been seriously limited by fuel and supplies.”

  “Speaking of which. I find it a little hard to believe you have kept a functioning warship going for that length of time without provisions,” Reynolds said.

  “Yes, about that. We were ten days into our patrol when we arrived here. My ship, at a push, can manage an endurance of forty days, tops. We are now nearly two years beyond that.” Slater glanced at her petty officer as Reynolds calmly regarded her. The old admiral had an inkling of what was coming. “As we say, there have, periodically been other ships and boats arriving. We are, of course, offering our protection, but that protection comes with a price. A tax, if you will.”

  “A tax?” Solberg said in a low, dangerous voice.

  “My pilot here has used a significant amount of fuel and ammunition to protect the Atlantica. Those are resources we can’t replace.”

  “What are you asking, Commander?” Solberg’s voice was like ice.

  “Simple. Running a ship like Ignatius takes supplies. If you want our protection from the pirates, it has to be paid for.”

  “You’re the goddamn Navy,” Solberg’s voice raised in volume. “You have an obligation to render aid.”

  “Captain Solberg,” Slater said in a calm tone, her voice enunciating every syllable. “The Navy is a vast bureaucratic organization which exists in order to transform the resources of a nation into an ocean-going fleet. Those resources, we are no longer in receipt of. My ship can offer you protection, something you sorely need in this region. In return, we need supplies—fuel and food. If you don’t want protection, then I can’t afford to keep you.”

  Solberg’s face was a furious red. Reynolds held up a placating hand. “Commander, I’m sure you appreciate that we’ve had a lot to digest over the last few days. If we may, we should retire to the Atlantica and discuss what we have learned so far, and your offer, of course.”

  “Take your time,” Slater nodded as she stood. “Unfortunately, there are no free rides anymore, though. I cannot afford one more bullet in defense of you. I have an obligation to those that I have already taken under my protection, after all.”

  Chapter 16 – Day 4

  “What’s your opinion of them, Jack?” Reynolds asked.

  They were in the conference room, along with the rest of the Atlantica’s senior crew, having left Commander Slater to return to her ship. Solberg had filled the others in on the results of the meeting.

  “Their uniforms are standard Navy working rig, so that’s legit, and the RIB they came in on looked a spitting image of what’s in the Navy inventory.”

  “Quite,” Reynolds agreed. “Pity we don’t have the internet. We could probably google that captain’s name.”

  “The ship caches websites that people have looked at,” Kendricks said. “We might still be able to search for her. If anyone’s looked at a website containing her, it’ll still be in there.”

  Leaning over the conference table, Kendricks activated it, turning it into a giant touchscreen display. He canceled away from an alert that showed the internet link was offline. A touchscreen keyboard appeared and he typed in “Commander Heather Slater”.

  After a moment, an article appeared showing an image of Commander Slater along with an interview in the Navy Times entitled, “Women in command”. They scanned through the piece, a short article which seemed written to provide inspiration for young female officers seeking their own captaincy.

  “So she is the real deal,” Solberg said, sounding disappointed.

  “It certainly adds credence to her story.” Reynolds nodded.

  “Still, my opinion is that fucking woman is no better than those pirates,” Solberg was still angry from the meeting. “Demanding fuel and supplies which, if she is telling the truth, we will sorely need.”

  “However she does have a point,” Reynolds said in a placating manner. “She has a ship to run, one which can offer us protection from a faction that has already proven themselves to be highly hostile. I would say throwing a little fuel and food her way wouldn’t be the end of the world.”

  “She’s lucky we don’t keep her helicopter just for making the demand,” Solberg hissed. After a moment he calmed down. “Very well, we have a bowser of aviation fuel. The helicopter can top off from that. Liam, I want a full audit of our fuel and provisions before we even start considering giving anything else away, though.”

  “Aye aye, sir.”

  “Which brings me to another point. Carrie,” he addressed the normally bombastic Passenger Services Director, who thus far had been silent in the meeting. “We have to consider that we need to break our situation to the passengers.”

  “Captain,” Carrie Matthews’ voice was strained. “I’m having trouble processing all this myself. The passengers, and not to mention the crew, will likely have an even harder time.”

  “I appreciate that, however this is the situation we appear to have found ourselves in. They need to be told their holiday is off.”

  “In that case,” Matthews said. “I think it would be best coming from a personal address, Captain. We could rig out the promenade in street-party mode and you can make the announcement.”

  “I think it’ll be better through the ship’s PA system,” Solberg frowned. “They will lynch me if I tell them in person.”

  “Not if we put you up on the span,” Matthews replied, referring to the walkway that stretched over the promenade. Her voice was becoming less strained as she focused on the task at hand. Her position was roughly equal in rank to Kendricks’s, but she was there to run all of the non-technical needs of the ship—everything from the hotel service to the many bars and restaurants.

  “You may need to consider rationing as well,” Reynolds said. “I mean, I’m sure the ship’s larders are r
elatively full right now, but if we have to stay here for more than a few weeks...”

  “We are provisioned for around two weeks at normal consumption usage,” Carrie said, her mind clearly already whirling. “If we get really tight on that usage, we can probably double that out to a month.”

  “Start putting that in place,” Solberg said. “Get it ready to go after I make the announcement.”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  “Water shouldn’t be an issue; the distillation plants can keep us drinking and showering until doomsday. Neither is auxiliary power with our solar cells,” Kendricks said. “But there are items we cannot replenish. Worn parts for one thing. Our 3D printers can help with some things, but the real complex stuff...”

  “Liam, I do not intend to be here one day longer than we have to be. I am still hoping this turns out to be some god-awful joke.”

  “You and me both, sir.”

  “But Carrie,” Solberg said. “A thought occurs. Let’s stop using the paper napkins. Just in case.”

  Her nose wrinkled in disgust at the prospect of what he was suggesting.

  ***

  The battle-scarred Liliana swept toward the rocky island, her wake spreading out on either side of her in a white frothing “V” shape. The watch boats gave a brief radio challenge before letting her pass unhindered. As she circled around the cliffs, the setting sun began to give the world a red tinge.

  Slowly, it emerged into view. A vast container ship, beached and broken against the rocky flank of the island. Spilled out next to the ship were dozens of multi-colored shipping containers. Remaining on board were nearly nineteen thousand more, piled high on the angled deck.

  Urbano Bautista was always impressed on seeing his adopted home. Some of the containers had been re-purposed and were now homes for families, giving the surface layers of the container ship the appearance of a barrio from his youth. Other containers still served their original purpose and contained a wealth of goods.

  Even now, years after making the find, they had only scratched the surface of the massive ship. Crews were actually mining the vessel, chipping their way deeper and deeper into her bowels, never knowing whether they would find something useful or simply a shipping container holding nothing but junk. As the years had gone by, they had discovered everything from hauls of factory equipment to entire arsenals of weapons and ammunition.

  They had been quite a find. It seemed someone who had owned the vessel originally, before its arrival that was, had a little sideline in smuggling and gun running. They had found enough hardware to equip a small army.

  Right now, the container ship wasn’t the Liliana’s destination. As she surged past the hulk another, equally large ship revealed itself, nestled behind the island. The true center of their fledgling community—the mammoth super-tanker, Titan.

  ***

  “Urbano, I trust that the damage to your ship is not as bad as it appears.” The man looked at Bautista, not with disapproval, but a sense of resignation that the former drug runner had finally bitten off more than he could chew.

  Bautista sat himself down on the threadbare, uncomfortable seat in front of Eric Vaughan. They were in his cramped office aboard the Titan. The interior was all exposed sweating metal and pipes; not even the dubious modern conveniences of the Liliana were present on this ship.

  “Eric, before you say anything. We found something... something good.”

  Leaning back, Vaughan looked at Bautista for a long moment. That he was a dangerous man was beyond debate. But what was also beyond debate was that he was highly intelligent. It was a sad reflection of his upbringing, Vaughan thought. Bautista could have been become a scientist, an artist, a politician, or a military leader. Instead, he had been born into a drug cartel and his destiny was chosen for him. Still, the fact that he had chosen an alliance with, and eventual command by Vaughan rather than merely dumping him overboard, suggested his innate cunning had won through. Bautista needed Vaughan to run the administration of the community, Vaughan needed Bautista to hunt and keep the other, rougher members in check.

  “So enlighten me.”

  “A cruise ship, a huge one, is here.”

  “Go on,” Vaughan leaned forward, the scarring to the Liliana put aside, for the moment, with this news.

  “Karl was manning one of the watch boats in the zone. He got picked up by the ship, the Atlantica.”

  “The Atlantica,” Vaughan cocked his head, remembering the name from years before. “The Crystal Ocean Lines ship? The new one?”

  “That sounds about right. She’s huge, and stocked full of food, fuel, and supplies. She’s got to be the most significant arrival in the zone for years.”

  “And you tried to take her?” Vaughan asked.

  “Yeah, she was cruising toward Ignatius’s territory. I figured that it was worth the chance to try and get her before she got too near.”

  “And I take it you were unsuccessful.” It wasn’t a question.

  “We managed to get on board, but their security was good. They fought us off. I lost twelve people. ten on the ship and two went over the side.”

  “Jesus, Urbano!” Vaughan exclaimed. “Twelve?”

  “It gets worse. The Ignatius probably had her own watch boats out and they saw the same thing we did. A floating pleasure palace, stocked to the gills. They wanted her bad enough to send up one of their helicopters. I lost six more to that fucking thing. At that point I backed off.”

  “Okay, you made your play and lost. Shit happens. You get all the bodies back?”

  “No.” A flash of pain crossed Bautista’s face. “Some we had to leave on board the Atlantica.”

  Vaughan nodded. “We’ll have to tell their families.”

  “Eric,” Bautista leaned forward. “That ship can set us up for months... years, even.”

  “Yes, I agree. But chances are right now she’s deep in Ignatius’s territory.”

  “The only thing that’s stopped the Ignatius from wiping us all out is that she didn’t have the fuel to come after us,” Bautista said pointedly. “She now has a cruise ship full of it.”

  “Slater won’t waste her time, or missiles to do that,” Vaughan said, but not with the assured tone he was hoping for.

  “Maybe, but all of a sudden she’s a threat to us here. Look, Eric, there are two parts to this. One is we need the supplies on that ship. I’m sick of eating fish. And two, we need to end that fucking woman’s grip on her territory before she comes after us.”

  “Urbano, even if we could take on the Ignatius, we’d lose so many people doing it that any gains would be completely offset.”

  “Not necessarily,” Urbano gave a grim smile for the first time since coming into the cabin.

  “You have a plan?”

  “No, but I have a man on the inside, Eric. And that’s the start of a plan.”

  Chapter 17 – Day 4

  “We’ve got to tell her,” Jack said to Reynolds as they walked along the corridor. “If she finds out when everyone else does, she’ll be pissed.”

  “I know my daughter,” Reynolds said. His voice was as calm as ever, but the faint undertone of irritability was present just below the surface. “I’ve spent my whole life protecting her from the truth of how terrible this world can be.”

  “Yes, sir. But you can’t protect her from this... she’s going to find out anyway!” Jack took hold of the former admiral’s arm. The two men stopped and Reynolds looked pointedly at Jack’s hand. Remembering himself, Jack let go and pulled his hand back.

  “Sergeant Cohen,” Reynolds said sternly. “I may no longer be in the Royal Navy, but you will afford me the courtesy of a lifetime’s service in a NATO country, if you please.”

  “Apologies, sir,” Jack replied, long years in the military making him draw automatically to attention at the rebuke.

  “You know,” Reynolds sighed, his features softening. “When my wife, Laurie’s mother, died, I told my daughter that it was quick and painless. I told
her that her last words were how much she loved her daughter. Do you know the reality?”

  “No, sir.”

  “She was in a car crash and horribly injured,” Reynolds said in a matter-of-fact way. “The police had called me and my driver had got me to the hospital at the same time the ambulance brought Helena in screaming. She died in the A&E in agony. They didn’t even have chance to get morphine into her.”

  “Jesus,” Jack said. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Laurie will never know that and if you tell her, I will kill you with my bare hands, I don’t care how good you are.” Reynolds looked at Jack pointedly.

  “Sir, I swear, I’ll never say.”

  “But...” Reynolds exhaled, coming to a decision. “You have a point. Whatever shitty mess we’re in, we’re already up to our knees in it.”

  “That we are,” Jack replied. Then his face twitched in a small, rare smile. “Even’s even. Do you want to know my secret?”

  “Go on.”

  “I can remove one of my legs and clean all the shit off,” Jack replied as he bent down and slid his trouser leg up, revealing the prosthetic beneath.

  Jack stood upright again, the two men looked at each other for a long somber moment. Simultaneously, they both cracked grins before erupting into guffawing laughter.

  “What a bloody pair we are, to find ourselves lost in some bizarre Twilight Zone nightmare,” Reynolds said, finally able to speak. “Come on, tell me the story while we go up to my rooms and let high command know we’re in trouble.”

  ***

  “So that Captain Solberg arsehole has got us lost?” Laurie said, an incredulous look on her face.