by Jack Soren
“If they keep getting stronger, we won’t be able to take much more,” Maggie said, huddled into Jonathan’s side.
“Tanaka! Where the fuck are you?” Jonathan yelled into the air. There was a slight buzz from his implant, but he couldn’t make it out with the storm raging over him. “Say again, Tanaka?”
“I’m . . . I’m almost . . . there,” Tanaka said louder, sounding strained. A minute later, Tanaka emerged onto the heliport, and Jonathan saw why his speech was halting.
“Tanaka!” Tatsu said.
Tanaka had been shot; deep red, almost black, blood oozed from a stomach wound in his pristine white uniform. His mask was pulled down around his neck, and he held another mask in a bloody hand. As soon as he reached the heliport, he fell to his knees. Jonathan got up to go to him.
“Tanaka! What the hell—” But then he looked starboard and saw a monster wave bearing down on them, bigger than the last two combined. “Grab onto something!” But there was nothing except each other. Tanaka was alone, kneeling, and wounded. Jonathan dove at Tanaka just as the wave crashed down.
Jonathan felt like someone had dropped a building on him. His senses were obliterated for a terrifying moment. Nothing but the roar of the storm. When they returned, he was sliding. Somehow he’d managed to grab Tanaka, but from the looks of it, he was out cold. Deadweight. And dragging Jonathan at incredible speed toward the port side.
Jonathan could hear Lew’s voice in his head—Let go, stupid!—but he hung on. If he let go, Tanaka was a goner if he wasn’t already. A tug on his leg made him look back. Per was hanging on to him as the three of them slid toward, then over the side.
Jonathan distantly heard Maggie and Tatsu screaming. He opened his eyes and saw that he still had ahold of Tanaka’s hand, but the two of them were well over the side of the boat, staring down at the dark, roiling ocean forty feet below them. He looked back and saw that Per had grabbed onto the railing and was having no trouble at all hanging onto it, but he was struggling with his other arm’s load.
How is he— Then Jonathan saw how Per was able to hold so much weight—now and when he’d jumped from the chopper. Per’s sleeve had pulled up to his elbow, or what should have been an elbow. In its place was a mechanical joint. He’s part machine!
“Let go of him!” Per yelled. “You can’t save him, and you’re going to kill us both!”
No way am I letting go of the poor bastard.
“Jonathan! Let . . . let me go,” Tanaka managed. “He’s right.” Jonathan looked down and saw that Tanaka had come around, but his pupils kept trying to roll up under his eyelids.
“No! Nobody dies!” Jonathan shouted.
“He’s already dead!” Per answered.
Then Lew’s voice in his head again: Jonny, think of Natalie. Think of Maggie. Hell, think of me!
A sound built in Jonathan’s throat like a rising roar. He looked in Tanaka’s eyes, which seemed hooded and vacant.
“I’m sorry,” Jonathan said, as he let go and watched Tanaka fall like a rag doll. He hit the surface and disappeared under the dark waves.
“Fuck!” Jonathan howled at the storm as Per hauled him up. They fell back on the deck, panting. They looked at each other and after a wordless moment, Per nodded. Per put out his human hand, and Jonathan grabbed it, each pulling on the other to stand. “Let’s get out of here.”
Jonathan marched past Per, ignored Maggie and Tatsu, and walked right through the doorway into the ship. Tanaka’s mask had been around his neck, not on his face, and—not counting his bullet wound—he’d been fine. Jonathan headed down the hall to the first junction and took a deep inhale. When he exhaled and felt normal, he ran back to the doorway.
“Let’s go!”
“What about Alex?” Maggie called.
“Leave him,” Jonathan said. “Let the fucking sea have him.”
Everyone ran inside, entering a little tentatively but continuing when the air didn’t lay them out.
When the foursome reached a Y in the corridor, they stopped. Everyone was shivering.
“We need to get out of these clothes,” Per said.
“There’s a maintenance room just down this hall,” Maggie said. “There should be some coveralls or something.”
A few minutes later, they were all dressed in gray coveralls that said “Tenabe” on the back. The coveralls were baggy but fit Jonathan’s lanky frame. Everyone else had to roll up the legs and sleeves, including Per. Jonathan thought they looked like the worst moving company in the world. The thought—and nonchalantly seeing Maggie strip down to change—had lightened his mood.
Maggie had dumped the messenger bag, thanks to the big pockets in the coveralls. She and Jonathan had guns in their pockets, and Jonathan carried the machine gun they’d taken off Alex slung over one shoulder.
“Now what?” Maggie said.
“Head to the moon-pool room,” Jonathan said.
“Why?” Maggie said.
“To hopefully get to the sub before Morgan does and get down to Ashita.”
“Again, why? Who is this Lew that Alex hit with a pipe and sent down there?”
“He’s my partner. There’s not enough time to explain everything, but I’m not with the CIA,” Jonathan said.
“You don’t say,” Maggie said. Jonathan looked at her, not really that surprised. “The implant made me suspicious, but if you were CIA, no bloody way would you have run around the ship trying to save a bunch of scientists. That was all Jonathan.”
“Look, just show me where the moon-pool room is; you don’t have to come down. I know you—”
“I’m coming,” she said flatly.
“Don’t take this wrong, I need the help and then some, but why? Even if I can get down there, the odds of a return trip are not promising,” Jonathan said.
“Jonathan, you just saved a hundred lives. Lives that, technically, I was responsible for. Without you, even if I had discovered Umi’s plan on my own, they’d all be dead. Including me.”
“Per and I are going, too,” Tatsu said out of the blue.
“Whoa, what?” Jonathan said. Maggie would be helpful, and he’d actually been hoping she’d come down with him. But these two? Per had saved his life, and no doubt that arm of his would come in handy, but Tatsu? She was practically a kid though she did have the inside track on this whole plan of Umi’s.
“I’ve got my own score to settle with Umi before she dies. Which means I don’t have much time. And I promised to show Per something down there in exchange for his help.”
“Show him something,” Maggie said, disbelief evident in her tone.
“Rest easy. I have no intention of interfering with your search for his friend. I simply want information. That is all,” Per said.
“But will you help if it’s needed?” Jonathan asked. “If you’ve got some kind of death wish—”
“Yes, of course I will,” Per said. “And I have no intention of dying anytime soon.” When Jonathan couldn’t detect any deception in Per’s eyes, he shrugged at Maggie.
“So, it’s a party,” he said.
“J . . . Jonathan.”
He spun around but realized no one around him was saying anything. It was his implant. Tanaka was still alive.
Then all Jonathan heard was coughing, gasping and grunting. Jonathan imagined the wounded Tanaka fighting to tread water in the violent seas. With his last breaths he was trying to tell him something.
“Tanaka?” Jonathan said. The shock on everyone’s face was evident.
“He’s still alive?” Tatsu asked.
“What’s he saying?” Maggie asked.
Jonathan waved them all quiet.
“ . . . SB,” Tanaka said, followed by thick swallowing noises. “ . . . ata dev . . .”
“Tanaka, you’re not making any sense,�
� Jonathan said, but what could he do? Tanaka would be lucky if he had two minutes left. Whatever he had to say was crucial, or at least Tanaka thought so. If he was ever in the same situation, Jonathan wondered if he’d be saying anything besides “help” and Natalie’s name.
“ . . . database . . . virus . . . dead lights . . .”
What the hell? He’d heard those words completely, but they didn’t make any sense. Maybe Tanaka had already lost too much blood. Maybe—
“Destroy Ashita!” Tanaka screamed. Jonathan hoped it was only in frustration at getting his point across. Regardless, Jonathan couldn’t do that. Never mind the loss of life of whoever was currently down there, that might include Lew.
“USB . . . device . . .” then gurgling. Tanaka fell quiet and didn’t speak again. It was over. Jonathan looked at the others and shook his head. He wasn’t sure what he’d heard or if it was even what Tanaka had wanted to say, but he kept it to himself for now.
With Tanaka gone, they continued their trek to the moon-pool room, albeit a little more somberly. They came to a large metal door with a wheel on it. Maggie spun the wheel on the door and yanked it open. Inside was an air lock, a small chamber with a similar door on the other side.
“There’s only room for two of us at a time,” Jonathan said. “Maggie and I will go first. You guys come in after.” Before anyone could complain, Jonathan shoved Maggie inside, stepped in, and pulled the door shut behind them.
“Press that button there,” Maggie said. Jonathan did, and they waited for the indicator over the inside door to turn green.
But it wasn’t an accident that Jonathan had gotten in there with Maggie alone. As they waited, he told her what Tanaka had said.
“What the hell are dead lights?” Maggie asked.
“I have no idea. I was hoping you’d know.”
“Not a clue. But until we do, I think you’re right to keep it from our companions.”
“See, we always did, um, think . . .” Suddenly Jonathan was very aware of the tight quarters and how close he was to Maggie’s body.
“ . . . alike,” Maggie said, her voice softer than before. The air seemed electric. She licked her lips, and Jonathan could feel himself unable to resist leaning in. But just as their lips were about to touch, something occurred to him.
“Of course, data device!” Jonathan said, routing through the pockets of his coveralls.
“That is the oddest rejection I’ve ever gotten,” Maggie said.
“That door will keep them out until we leave and shut this door, right?”
“Uh, yeah. The pressure has to equalize before they can open theirs. Why? What’s a data device?”
“This,” Jonathan said, pulling out the data device Fahd had given him. Maggie looked thoroughly unimpressed.
“It’s a phone.”
“Let’s hope it’s more,” Jonathan said. He reached up and pulled the end of his pendant apart, revealing the USB plug. “Cross your fingers.”
Jonathan inserted the USB drive into his data device. For a terrible second, nothing happened. Then the device came to life, a light on the USB drive blinked, and Jonathan could hear Fahd’s voice through his implant. He quickly explained what was happening to Maggie and asked her to be patient.
“Welcome to phase two, Jonathan. Your real mission,” Fahd said, the display of the data device coming to life. An old woman’s face was displayed.
“This is Umi Tenabe. You’ve no doubt been told quite a bit about her, by now. She’s deadly. Don’t underestimate her, or it will be the last thing you do. In cooperation with certain factions of the Japanese government, she’s built this.” The data device now displayed a geodesic dome under the sea, huge white triangles all across its surface.
“It’s called Ashita—Japanese for tomorrow—and is a self-sustaining deepwater city capable of housing almost five thousand people. In tourism mode, it can house twenty-five hundred people and host hundreds of others as guests. Or, that was the plan given to the Japanese government. Our intel, while not corroborated, says Umi has reneged on their deal and is holding Ashita hostage, if you will, threatening to expose sensitive information about key government personnel if they should try to take it back by force.”
“Which brings us to your target: Umi’s database,” Fahd said. A metallic briefcase displayed on the device. “For sixty years, Umi has done business with some of the largest and most important corporations on earth, including defense contractors, governments, and even DARPA. During every transaction, every deal, she either made information part of the terms or made arrangements to steal information. What she has now is the most complete and dangerous database of scientific research and military design ever compiled. If any one government were to get their hands on it, the balance of power in the world would change forever.
“Our intel says that the database is on Ashita. Umi had her scientists incorporate the data into the city’s advanced AI control computer, but one of the scientists is now with us. He was sent in from some company called Crystasis, but once he was in place, we approached him. He made a copy of the database and hid it. It is imperative that you contact him and, primarily, get the database out, but also retrieve our man, if possible. His name is Dr. Reese.”
Jonathan recognized the name from Tatsu’s story as one of the scientists who had tried to save Mikawa.
“Dr. Reese?” Maggie said. Jonathan had been relaying a précis version of what he was hearing for her.
“ . . . main objective, but we underestimated Umi’s desire for revenge. A biologist named Dr. Norris worked for her for a while but disappeared a few weeks ago. We don’t have much beyond that, as the communications perimeter went up shortly after. According to what we could piece together from Tanaka and Reese, Norris was developing a virus for her—a virus she was going to release into the food chain. Originally called Project Threshold, it apparently was recently renamed Project Dead Lights. Near as we can determine, it was designed to shorten telomeres on human chromosomes. I’m afraid that’s all we received. Our counsel is to make the database your priority and look into Dead Lights if there’s time. There’s no guarantee that Norris completed his work or what the real outcome of shortened telomeres are, but I wanted you to have all the information we do.
“In Reese’s final report, he said one of the sub’s automated systems had broken down. Since you might need it to get down there, we’ve incorporated our version of those systems into your data device. It’s not as sophisticated, but it will get you within sight of Ashita. Good luck.”
The recording ended abruptly. Jonathan spun the wheel to open the door to the moon-pool room. Per and Tatsu were no doubt getting antsy about why it was taking so long. He swung the door open and felt his heart sink even further.
“The sub,” Maggie said.
It was gone.
“DO YOU THINK this implant of his is for real?” Tatsu said.
“No reason not to,” Per said.
“You think he’s telling us everything?”
“Highly unlikely,” Per said. “Much the same way your story left details out.”
Tatsu felt her skin flush. She’d always been a terrible liar. She wondered why she cared if Per knew she was leaving things out or not.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tatsu said, finally.
“Of course,” Per said, not seeming to care one way or the other, “as long as you follow through on your promise, I don’t care what you tell them.”
The light over the air lock changed to green, indicating the inside door had been shut and the room had pressurized to match the ship’s normal pressure. Per spun the wheel on the door and pulled it open.
“And you promised to help me get to Umi before she . . . before it’s too late.”
“And so I shall. Getting us to Ashita is the only thing that matters, now.”
<
br /> “Which means what? You’ll kill anyone who gets in your way?”
“You’re not really one to talk about killing, Tatsu. In the short time I’ve known you, you’ve left bodies for me to find. Twice. And I think I’ve proved that I don’t intend anyone any harm, as long as I get what I want.”
“Proved?”
“I’ve saved both your and Jonathan’s life since we got here. There have been a ridiculous number of times I could have hurt or killed you all. Yes, proved,” Per said, as they stepped into the chamber, and he pulled the door shut behind them. When the door was secured, Tatsu hit the button to start the pressurization process.
“And I suppose pointing a gun at me back at the helicop—” Tatsu stopped talking as Per handed her his gun.
“Take it.”
Tatsu took it slowly, unsure of this game.
“Shoot me.”
“What?”
“Go ahead,” Per said, grasping the barrel and placing it against his forehead. “Shoot me.”
Tatsu thought about it for a minute, looking in Per’s eyes. What little emotion she could find there seemed to say he was serious. She put her finger on the trigger and applied a little pressure, the hammer easing back ever so slightly. Time seemed to stand still, the only sound the slight hiss of the chamber’s pressure changing and the blood pounding in her ears. Finally, she flicked the magazine eject button with her thumb and caught the clip that slid out of the gun’s grip. It was empty. No bullets. She took the gun away from his forehead and pulled the slide back to see if a round was waiting in the chamber, but it was empty too.
“You unloaded it,” she said, though when she thought back to being on deck when both Alex and Mr. Morgan were shooting at them, Per hadn’t fired a shot.
“It was never loaded,” Per said. The light changed to green, and he spun the wheel on the door.
They stepped through the door, leaving the empty gun behind them. Jonathan and Maggie were standing by the edge of the moon pool. The empty moon pool.
“Where’s the sub?” Per asked.
“Morgan,” Maggie said.