Battle On The Marathon

by John Thornton

  “So, was Operation Barnacle to restore the giant squid through enhanced cloning or something like that?” I asked. “Or some massive program to save the sea in Foreigner? An ecological salvage program?”

  “Maybe.”

  The next door was open, and I could see the others up ahead. They were near the tube transport hub. The two scientists were at the center of the group, clearly being escorted by the militia. As we passed, that door slammed shut with a resounding clang.

  “I cannot contact connect with Phil-4. The manual overrides will not function, as there is flooding in the tube system. A lot of flooding,” Bartlet stated. She looked over at me and smiled. “Glad you saved the dogs.”

  Sylvia and Earle looked at me with disgust.

  The dogs would not go near them, but were staying close to Kulm and me.

  “That gunky water was very corrosive and ruining everything it touched,” I said. “The Marine Pressure Suits barely worked long enough for me to get the dogs out.”

  “Why do you think we had to wait until someone came for us?” Earle sarcastically said. “Under normal circumstance we could have used those pressure suits to just swim to the surface and get help. Now, get us out of here. I want to talk to some responsible adult.”

  My hand dropped to my holstered gimp. “You deliberately left dogs to die.”

  “So?” Earle snapped back.

  Bartlet stepped over to him. “You will shut up, or you will be left behind. Do you understand me? We only need one person to make a report. Maybe not even one, if the records on your slates are complete.”

  Earle looked incredulous. His mouth hung open in astonishment. He started to say something, but Sylvia put forth a restraining hand. She said, “How do we get back?”

  Matkaja had been reviewing the controls over the portal hatch. A small display was open showing diagrams and charts. “Bartlet is right. This shows some of the tube system is experiencing a ‘malfunction of unknown origin’ which reminds me of what Phil-4 called the problems with reaching that station. I would agree that more of the tube system is flooded. Even manual overrides are refusing to operate.”

  “Well, then we have a long walk,” Bartlet stated matter-of-factly.

  “What do you mean, a long walk?” Earle whined. “We cannot walk all the way to the surface of Foreigner.” He clutched his conservation slate to his breast. “I have essential information. The captain must hear this!”

  “About your eavesdropping on the orcas?” Bartlet asked. “Or about how you ruined Oceanography Station 16? Or what?”

  “Maybe these two are responsible for all that gunk,” Pilliroog added.

  The two dogs were cowering near my legs, and I squatted down to caress them and sooth their fears.

  “It is not for little girls, and brats who are playing army. Now again I order you to connect me to a responsible adult.”

  “No. Nothing you have shown me has convinced me to violate the rules. We were told to only make contact in an emergency. Sure, the tube transport is malfunctioning, as it was when we came here. It is just a more wide-spread problem now.”

  “Because of the flooding done by the monsters!” Earle screamed at her.

  “Monster you have not seen, right?” Bartlet asked.

  “The orcas reported it!”

  “According to your translation of their sounds. But have you personally seen this monster?” Bartlet asked.

  “The orcas are smarter than children playing at adult roles!”

  I had to hold tightly to the dogs, and they wanted to run away from Earle’s bluster and huffing. I was getting to the point of wanting to walk over and slap him.

  “Just answer my question. With all the technology at Oceanography Station 16, did you ever see, or directly detect this monster?”

  “No. However, the orcas are highly intelligent. They have one of the biggest brains among all ocean mammals, weighing up to six or seven kilograms,” Earle sputtered in frustration. “Oh, why am I lecturing pugnacious children!”

  “Insulting me, yet again, does not make me want to help you more. You do realize that, right?” Bartlet asked. “All I asked was if you had seen one of these monsters you are raving about. You have scanners, and monitors, and all sorts of equipment. Using any of that, or all of that, have you seen the monster?”

  “I have not. I am not a sea dwelling mammal, are you?” Earle spewed out his words.

  Pilliroog looked ready to explode.

  Sylvia interrupted. “I know it sounds fantastic, and bizarre. I did not believe it at first, but I ran numerous checks on our findings. None of our equipment is anywhere nearly as sensitive or attuned to the sea as what nature made. We had that station, a fixed point, to monitor hundreds of cubic kilometers of sea. Orcas are highly intelligent and supremely aware of their surroundings. They freely roam all of Foreigner’s sea. To them, the sea in Foreigner is not vast like the oceans of Earth were. The community of orcas in the sea used to be in three separate pods. But over the last year or two, they have coalesced into a single pod which is highly organized and always alert. They have been on the defense for a long while now.”

  “Against what? You claim they call it a monster, but you have not seen this monster either, right?” Bartlet asked.

  “No. I do trust what the orcas have reported. Their brains are well-endowed with a multitude of memory cells. Their communication is complex and we do understand what they are saying. They make at least five types of vocalizations: clicks, whistles, chirps, bubbles, and pulsed calls. They communicate complex messages, sing songs, and share information with each other. They are talking about the monsters that have come.”

  “Maybe the orcas are talking about the toxins in the water?” Bartlet asked. “To them it would be a monstrous thing. That foul water was sickening. But that does not mean some biological monster is roaming the sea.”

  Timofei interjected, “I agree with these scientists that orcas are smart, but how do you know those orcas are not just telling parables? Warning their young to stay out of the polluted areas?”

  “I am right in my interpretation!” Earle yelled.

  “But you claim to not know where the toxins originated?” Bartlet pressed. “Your job was to monitor the sea, and yet now people are dead, and species are extinct, and you blame some unseen monster? Maybe the orcas are bored and just telling entertainment stories? Stories to amuse each other?”

  “They were talking about the killings of the squid!” Earle screeched.

  “And you claim they said a monster did it?” Bartlet asked again. “Could it be a morality tale for their young? Trying to teach them to avoid the poisons you let in the sea? Your own people died! Why?”

  “Oh, bother! Impertinent girl! Just obey me and put me in touch with a supervisor, or some other responsible adult.”

  Bartlet was much more patient with Earle’s insults than I would have been.

  Earle tried to raise his height up and tower over Bartlet. He said, “Give her a gun and you make her a tyrant. Just connect me!”

  Sylvia again put her hand on Earle’s arm. She looked at Bartlet. “Two species of squid are all gone, extinct, and you must take my word for that. But you saw the flooding and the noxious water. Please let us call about that.”

  “Bartlet? The readings show the tube system is continuing to flood. I do not know if these two, scientists, are responsible or not. I suggest we move out. We are pretty deep in the corridors here, and even with the bulkheads sealed, I am not sure what is causing that flooding,” Matkaja said. “I am really surprised the emergency containment curtains have not fallen in some of these places, but the readings here are limited.”

  “Thank you. Lock down every bulkhead door you can, and maximize the pumps and air filtration systems,” Bartlet ordered. “Then we move out.”

  “Oh, you foolish child. Just make the connections!” Earle was screaming again.

  “The flooding is spreading, and I suppose that does constitute an emergency,
” Bartlet said with a deep sigh. She raised her wristwatch and made some adjustments. “This is Cadet Bartlet with the militia. Please connect me to the Marathon Defense Force.”

  Several odd clacks resounded from her wristwatch. “Unable to connect,” a mechanical reply sounded. “No available links or couplings.”

  “That is odd,” Bartlet stated. “I used the emergency channel.”

  “You dimwitted and silly child!” Earle cried out. “You have waited too long! The information I have must get to someone responsible! I have much more to analyze from the orca’s songs. I only scratched the surface of what they were saying. I cannot believe the captain only sent children to help me. Children!”

  “Ready to move out,” Matkaja reported. “Commander.”

  “At the next junction, set up a macroactinide capacitor enhancer and I will boost a signal,” Bartlet stated. “We should report all this.”

  “Oh, so now you think to make a connection, but it is too late. Such brilliant leadership!” Earle snickered. “Children with guns, and I am stuck with them in the middle of the worse crisis ever.”

  Pilliroog’s eyes were bulging in anger, but he restrained himself.

  Bartlet ignored the comment and gestured for us all to depart. As we walked along, I accessed my wristwatch and surveyed the deck plans. There were elevators not too far away. Being beneath the sea and over the reservoir was a somewhat barren part of foreigner. The reservoir blocked our passage to the hull sections where the funicular vehicles ran on their tracks. Being beneath the sea meant that there were only limited access points, beneath the few islands of Foreigner, where we could take elevators up to the biome’s surface. Most of the compartments around us were used for long-term storage. I then got the idea to review more about the reservoir as we walked along. I still kept my eye on the two dogs, but they were happily following Kulm and me. It was probably because of the food I had given them, but I like to think they liked me.

  Looking at the deck plans, I saw we were approaching a junction where a causeway intersected with the corridor we were following. Matkaja and Radha quickly set up two of our remaining macroactinide capacitor enhancers. They wired them into a section of the wall where a panel allowed access to the ship’s power system.

  Bartlet directly connected her wristwatch to the first of those mechanisms. “This is Cadet Bartlet of the militia. Please secure a connection to the Marathon Defense Force.”

  Static resounded from her wristwatch, but was then broken up by a lot of strange noises. Voices were in heated debate about something, but it was hard to make out the words. Then it cleared for a moment.

  “…uttles crashed into hull. No joy on launch! No joy on launch!” some woman sounded determined, but with an edge of fear. “Lenore said…”

  A more distance male voice replied, “Press on! Beat it down! Beat it down!”

  “System not respo… ther… anign…en… ore. Now! It is…” Her voice was lost as static cut in again.

  Bartlet boosted in the second macroactinide capacitor enhancer and tried again. “This is Cadet Bartlet, with urgent message for Marathon De…”

  She was cut off by a different voice. “Cease transmissions cadet! Cease immediately on…”

  More static came on and smothered over the rest of that man’s words.

  Bartlet reached over and shut down the system. “Take it apart and bring it with us.”

  “You are not quitting now!” Earle yelled. “You had them. You should have told them I was sending a message! Tell them it was me, you fool! Why are you such an idiot!”

  Pilliroog rushed over and pushed Earle up against the wall. “I am sick of you! Now, leave her alone or I will break out your teeth!”

  The man struggled against Pilliroog, and even though he was older and heavier, he could not escape from the teenager’s grasp. “Get your hands off me boy! Leave me alone! Someone has to lead this motley group of children!”

  Pilliroog grabbed his face in one hand and squeezed his cheeks. “Call me a child again, and I promise it will be the last thing you say with a full set of teeth!”

  Earle struggled against him for only a moment, but then locked eyes with him. They stood there, the taller, heavier, and older man staring at the flushed with rage teenager.

  I really was not sure what would happen.

  “Pilliroog, let him go. I think he got the message this time,” Bartlet said. “Besides, I got the order to cease transmissions, and we will follow that.”

  Earle started to say something, but Pilliroog cocked his fist back. The man refrained from saying anything. As Pilliroog released him, both dogs barked in approval.

  Bartlet then said, “Something is happening, and I think it is more than just this weird flooding. We need to get to a safe base of operations. The elevators ahead will lead us up to the surface. From what I can tell, it will be on one of the islands, but not near either the town of,” she looked at her display, “Baltia or Meropis. Once we reach that island’s surface, or some suitable place in the shell, we can better assess our options. Anyone, other than our friends Sylvia and Earle, have any ideas? I am open to suggestions.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Pilliroog said. “Just so long as that worm keeps his tongue from flapping some more.”

  “I think we should make sure to lock down every bulkhead door along the way,” Kulm added. “If those noxious waters do keep flooding in, it would help to slow that down.”

  “Good idea, and it will not take much time. Divide up into teams of two, I will stay here with our two guests. Follow the deck plans outward from here. If you run into a flooded section, just secure the nearest doors. If not, proceed at least three bulkheads away, then return, sealing each one on the way. If necessary, use the local link for communications, but do not use those command bands or frequencies.”

  Matkaja grabbed my arm and pulled me with her. As I was going, I looked at the dogs, and then at Bartlet.

  “Yes, they can stay with me.” Bartlet’s smile reassured me.

  “You are wasting time by…” Earle began to say.

  Before he could speak any more, Pilliroog slapped his face. “I warned you. The next time will be much harder!”

  Earle’s cheek was bright red from the handprint. His eyes blazed with anger and hatred, but he remained silent.

  “Use the command code—blue, blue, blue. That will be easy to recall if we have to come back this way,” Bartlet commanded. She had pulled out several packets of food and was offering them to the dogs, she also poured out some water so they could drink.

  Matkaja and I jogged down a corridor, past a series of doors which looked to be one of the suspended animation repositories, and came to our first bulkhead door. It was clear beyond it, so we continued onward.

  “More is happening here than we know,” Matkaja said. “What did you make of that transmission from the Marathon Defense Forces?”

  “It was short,” I replied.

  “They were in trouble,” she stated, “Serious trouble.”

  We jogged past the second bulkhead door. It had been standing open, and the corridor beyond was clear.

  Reaching the third bulkhead door, I knew we had reached the end by the smell. That dark fluid was so stinky, and the smell was emanating from somewhere. Matkaja sealed the bulkhead door, without opening it. We then ran back, sealing and locked each of the other bulkhead doors. My mind told me that the bulkhead doors should stop any kind of fluids from migrating from one place to another, yet the smells made me think it was all futile. If odors could get around, then the system was failing in bigger ways than a mere bulkhead door would stop.

  “The emergency containment curtains will come down if it gets too bad,” Matkaja said. It was almost as if she was reading my mind. “Nothing can get through them. But what was happening on that transmission? What had failed at launch? Did they say shuttles had crashed? Where would they be using shuttles?”