Far From The Sea We Know

by Frank Sheldon

  Andrew tapped a few settings on the monitoring equipment to get readouts. “We have little to go on so far. Not really kitted out for this kind of barbecue.”

  “Any idea how this could happen?” she asked.

  He tapped another screen a few times and shook his head. “No one saw it arrive, including me. The whales had just disappeared. I’m looking at the tracer screen and the transceiver blip is suddenly dead center. I turn around and it’s just there where you see it.”

  “Are we sure it’s really the same one?” she asked.

  “As much as can be,” he said. “Becka checked the serial numbers. This seems to be the tag we attached to Lefty, a young bull in the same grouping that Matthew originally saw from the Eva Shay. Need to check a few more things to be dead cert.

  She looked down at the transceiver. “The casing’s getting all mixed up with the steel of the deck plating. Like they’re melting together.”

  “Casing’s plastic,” he said. “Normally, that would be impossible.”

  She nodded. “And the tendrils. You kind of wonder if there’s wire or something inside them. They’re all heading over to your navigation gear. Trying to connect?”

  “That’s what I was thinking.”

  Penny put her hands to her ears.

  “If one more person says, ‘that’s what I was thinking,’ I’m going to open up a psychic hotline.” She shook her head and looked up at him. “I was hearing that all day yesterday, every time I tried talking with the crew. Like they think they’re reading thoughts.”

  “People feel more connected.”

  “For all we know, the behavior change is part of a strategy for getting us where whatever’s behind all this wants. I’ve seen a snake fascinate a small bird. They really do this, and the bird just sits there mesmerized. Maybe it feels great, maybe it feels one with everything, but in another minute, it’s making a slow trip to snake stomach. Still alive.”

  “Doubt that’s what is happening here,” Andrew said.

  “I don’t really know, but that’s the point. No one knows, but many of the crew act like everything is just fine. Disconcerting. I find it even more disconcerting that no one else seems concerned.”

  Andrew looked thoughtful. “Crew’s been through a lot. Especially Matthew.”

  “I know,” she said, “but he’s become insufferable, like Moses down from the mountain, the prophet of the true word.”

  “Wait it out. Only advice I can give.”

  He was right. Yet, when she looked at the transceiver working its way into the ship like a parasite, she was not comforted.

  “Do you think it’s wise to probe the transceiver, if we can still call it that? We really have no idea what we’re doing and what consequence we may unwittingly trigger.”

  “Point taken,” he said, “though being excessively cautious has its own risks. Did tell Malcolm and Emory no cutting or probing.”

  “Remember their adventure with the scrambled eggs? Okay, I know they’re good techies and all, but watch them.”

  “Watching everyone,” he said. “Emory now seems in surprisingly good shape. More relaxed around people. Malcolm’s more relaxed about being Malcolm.”

  She smiled and didn’t say any more for a while. She looked at the horizon and tried in her own way to let all thoughts go. But she couldn’t.

  “There are risks in examining it, no matter how careful we are,” she finally said. “Risks that can’t even be calculated.”

  “Spoke with Chiffrey last night before he went to that frigate over there to report. They want to move some of their own people over here.”

  “You told him no, of course.”

  He shrugged. “You were talking danger a minute ago, so why not?”

  “I was simply urging caution, not suggesting we go to war.”

  “He claims he wants to bring over scientists,” Andrew said. “Not Navy SEALs.”

  “You can’t trust that,” Penny said.

  “Trained researchers,” he said. “Experts in other fields.”

  “Well, I don’t know the name of the field of study that has inanimate objects coming to life as its province. His ‘experts’ are probably just glorified technicians, but they’d want to take over….” She saw his smile. “Wait, you never intended to let them onboard.”

  “Not while we’re at sea.”

  She caught the implication. “Are we heading back?”

  “We have a boatload of students who got more trip than they signed on for. Some are bound to want to go home.”

  “Most of them seem to be enjoying it. In their own way, at least. And the whales?”

  “They could be anywhere. Not going to find them unless they want to be found. I won’t be a stalking horse for Chiffrey and his people. Too much like a hunt.”

  “Well, I’m with you all the way on that, but Chiffrey is right about one thing. At least we have hard evidence now.” She stared again at the mutating transceiver. “This thing makes mush of however we thought the world works. I guess he was right about that as well.”

  She gazed at the transceiver as if waiting for it to tell its secrets. But Andrew didn’t wait. “Still doing its job, you think?”

  “What?” Then it hit her. “You mean we’re tagged now? Being tracked?”

  “Could be,” was all he said.

  “If that’s true, shouldn’t we…” Her voice trailed off. She had already given her best argument why they should not disturb it.

  “We don’t know,” he said. She waited, but he remained as silent as a monk. He checked the heading on the compass again, an act that must be as natural to him by now as breathing. A gleam of light, like a spark of white fire, caught her eye. Hanging above the center port window over the compass was a string of tiny white shells interspersed with bits of silver. Penny knew it well, but hadn’t seen the necklace since she was a small child. She had always assumed it lost at sea along with the woman who had been Andrew’s wife, all those years ago. Valentina, the namesake of this ship they depended on to keep them safe on a now uncharted sea.

  The necklace gave her a strange pang of gladness, almost hopefulness. But like a rainbow fading into clearing air, the feeling was subsumed by the old ache of loss for Valentina, a loss they each shared in their separate ways.

  “A course for home,” Andrew said. He might have guessed her thoughts as he followed her glance to the necklace, because he added, “…and a star to steer her by.”

  “So soon?” she found herself saying, surprised by her own words.

  “There may be stops along the way. ‘Ports of opportunity’ in the old way of speaking.”

  She laughed. “Still a pirate at heart.”

  She knelt down one more to time to get a closer look at the transceiver. “Will you tell Chiffrey you suspect that thing may be tracking us now?”

  “No.”

  “He’s sure to figure it out.”

  “Counting on it.”

  CHAPTER 27

  Penny left Andrew on the bridge and went off to ponder his theory. Maybe something out there did watch, and listen, and who knows what else. The expanse of the ocean all around her suddenly seemed to close in as if they were in some faked zoo environment. It was getting to her, being cooped up on the ship. There was no way to really move around. She wanted to run a canyon trail, baking in the sun, and dive into a rushing river at the end.

  Instead she walked around and around the deck like a penned-in animal. Still, it was better than the treadmill she had tried using earlier. The acrid stench of dried sweat in the small hold they had stuffed it into had driven her away. She wasn’t cut out for life at sea and had always known that. She had no regrets as she had no desire to follow in her father’s long shadow, anyway.

  After three times around the deck, she decided to do a session of stretches. At the end of her last set, as she came to her feet, she had to suppress a cringe. Lorraine Hart, the TV reporter, was coming her way. The meeting was still going on, but here was Lo
rraine, wrapped in bed sheets, her once well tended blond hair now a mass of frizz. Without her layers of makeup, she at least looked human.

  As she approached, Lorraine’s gaze met hers. There was a certain look to her, and it was in her body as well. It was as if she had been inhabited by someone else. It brought back the memory of a Maasai tribeswoman Penny had met years ago while doing fieldwork on the African veldt. As the young woman had moved through the grass, each step was like a sacrament that kept her in perfect synch with her world.

  Lorraine strolled up but remained silent, a faint smile on her unpainted lips.

  “You okay?” Penny said.

  Lorraine barely nodded. She remained almost motionless yet not at all stiff. More like a still pool standing upright.

  She finally spoke. “And you, Penny?”

  “A good night’s sleep helped a lot.”

  Lorraine didn’t say anything, just stood there, somehow looking as if she were seeing everything.

  “You’ll have a whopper of a story to bring back,” Penny said to break the silence. “Should be a boost to your career. If anyone believes it.”

  “I’m not going back to my job.”

  “Why not?”

  Lorraine reached out for her hand, and Penny was so off guard that she let her take it. She didn’t know why, but she closed her eyes. After a moment, Lorraine said, “He will come back to you. Remember when you first met? Become each other.”

  When she opened her eyes, Lorraine had a smile shimmering on her face. Not the smile of the ambitious TV newswoman who had arrived several days ago. It was as if she had slowed down and caught up with herself. All the hurly burly was gone. The sensation of Lorraine's hand flowed into Penny’s until she could not distinguish it from her own. The silence went on and she couldn’t break it, nothing came to say. A lump formed in her throat and a feeling in her chest that she hated. “No…damn it.” She began to cry. Lorraine put her arms around her. Penny sobbed quietly for a long time, but it may have only been minutes.

  When it was all gone, Lorraine tenderly released her and took a step back. She lifted up the edge of the sheet. “Use this.”

  Without thinking, Penny dabbed the remaining tears from her eyes and face.

  “The nose, too. I’ve got another, and this one is due for a wash.” She laughed. “Come on!”

  She blew her nose.

  “Our secret,” Lorraine said, and glided off without a sound. There was some kind of enticing scent following in her wake, but it wasn’t perfume.

  Penny was sleepy. It just came over her, so she headed back to her cabin to lie down. She didn’t want to think, had no desire to. It felt good to let go, and she drifted off without a thought, glad to forget everything, if only for a while.

  CHAPTER 28

  Penny awoke and looked at the clock to find it was now late afternoon. She had only had coffee and a little toast all day. That was the problem: low blood sugar. The cabin hatch swung not quite shut as she left.

  Mateo pulled together a meal for her from leftovers in the galley. While she was picking at it, Andrew appeared and said, “Lieutenant Chiffrey will be back soon from some meeting on the frigate.”

  She quickly finished eating and went with him to the aft deck. “Matthew’s off somewhere,” she said.

  “Let him recover.”

  “I am,” she said. “But right now I want to know where you are with Chiffrey.”

  Andrew didn’t move a muscle. He stood as if welded to the railing. Perhaps his eyes blinked as he peered out across the water, but with his perpetual squint she couldn’t tell.

  “We don’t have to trust Chiffrey,” Andrew said at last. “Just have to work with him. Either that, or they move in and move us out. He’s the only thing keeping them back. Their hope is we come up with something they’ve missed.”

  “Damn, he’s here already,” she said, glancing over his shoulder. A Navy launch had just come into view and was cutting over the swells toward them.

  “We’ve got a few minutes,” Andrew said. “Anything you want to say before he boards?”

  “I’ll save it.”

  Andrew barely nodded. She knew he wouldn’t say anymore. They waited.

  A minute after the launch left, with sunlight flashing on the sea behind him, Lieutenant Chiffrey sauntered up and leaned on the bulkhead opposite them.

  “So we three meet again, but the weather foul not be,” he said, spreading his arms and looking up in gratitude. “Beautiful day, actually…”

  “Stow the glee,” Penny said. “Let’s have it.”

  “Well someone missed their sprinkling of fairy dust the other day,” he said, winking. Then he noticed her expression. “Okay, so first off, they still haven’t a clue how those ships lost their propellers. As I predicted, some of the decision makers up the chain are not at all happy about the intentional aspect. If they had something to shoot at, they probably would be pulling the trigger now.”

  “I hope this is not your way of trying to put us at ease.”

  “All that, and we have a new development, and this has really got them confounded. You noticed they sent down divers to inspect the props, right?”

  “Yes,” she and Andrew said simultaneously.

  “I wish you wouldn’t do that speaking-at-the-same-time thing. Did you know, when I just saw Emory and Malcolm they—”

  “Could you just get to the point for once!” Penny said, almost yelling.

  “Easy now. What happened was they didn’t come up. They sent other divers down after them, and they didn’t come up either.” He paused, as if for effect. “Finally, they rigged some nets and fished them out. No one was hurt, thankfully.”

  “What, did they pass out or something?” she asked.

  “More like mesmerized. They had sent down video cameras with the divers and got enough to show that there was something going on with the propeller shafts. The ships had two each and when the propellers were sliced clean off, the face of each shaft was cut smooth as glass. They could tell the divers were in trouble, since they were just floating in front of the shafts, gazing in awe. Then the cameras fried—yes, a little too convenient.”

  “How could they get hypnotized by a piece of metal?”

  “We have no idea. These divers had throat mikes, which stayed on, and they were just speaking…well, I heard it. Stream of consciousness. Almost poetic. Maybe it was poetry. Hmm, we should check that out…”

  “Did all this happen while the frigate was blocking our view?”

  “Pardon?”

  “Oh, come now. Earlier this morning, they got between the cruiser and us. They intentionally blocked us from witnessing the incident with the divers, didn’t they?”

  “I don’t think so. They may have been where they were for a good reason.”

  “Keep on believing it,” she said.

  “Now you’re the one who seems a little paranoid.”

  “If we are going to get anywhere, we need the full deck, remember?”

  “I’m filling you in now, aren’t I? And, by the way, your concern for our divers was touching. I did hear you express concern, didn’t I?”

  “Back off,” Andrew said. “Both of you. While on this ship, you all agreed to be under my command. Need to work together on this.”

  “I apologize, Captain,” Chiffrey said.

  “It wasn’t just you,” Andrew said. “Penny?”

  “Yeah, fine.”

  Andrew looked them both over for a moment. “How are the divers now?”

  “To the eye, they’re physically okay, but they seem to be in a state of ecstasy. They’re on that salvage ship, which is really a research vessel.” Chiffrey pointed across the water. “Over there, with the cranes on the aft deck. It’ll be towed soon, along with the cruiser, but apparently there is some discussion as to just where they should go.”

  “They want a place to hide them,” she said. “Come on, it’s obvious.”

  “Frankly, I don’t blame them and neither
should you. You can’t tell me you’d prefer those men and the ships become a tourist attraction? I saw the video of the divers underwater.” Chiffrey stopped for a moment and closed his eyes. “Light was coming out of the ends if the propeller shafts. You could see it shining on the diver’s face. The camera swung head-on at one point, and the screen just went white. The camera was still sizzling when they brought it up! Time’s like that, I wish I hadn’t given up smoking sixteen years ago. Yeah, I was twelve. Grew up on a North Carolina tobacco farm. Loved the smell.”

  A gull came out of nowhere and swooped so close they ducked. It rode the air wake of the ship for a few moments, then peeled away and vanished on the other side.

  Chiffrey looked puzzled. “Are there always so many birds this far out, Captain?”

  “No, but not unheard of. What’s the Navy going to do?”

  “They aren’t going down to look at the shafts again until they have a more controlled situation. We’ve been assembling a science team to investigate, but the immediate reality is that the people I report to are having a hard time coming to grips with what I am sending back. And the people they report to are really not getting it. Many of them don’t even accept what has happened. It will take a while longer before the dominoes fall far enough down the line to get a full reaction. That’s good for us, since they’ll leave us alone for a while.”

  “But they have their own proof now,” Penny said. “The divers, the prop shafts.”

  “For the divers, mass psychosis will always do. The prop shafts are harder, but some have suggested the ships must have hit some underwater obstacle, maybe containers from a cargo vessel. A thousand of those floating around, and some are tracked, but many are submerged just a few meters below the surface.”

  Penny laughed and said. “So it was just a crate of TVs from Korea that disabled the ships? Now I can breathe easier.”