Masters of the Broken Watches

by Razi Imam

  “I’m a professor and a researcher,” Vu explained, “and I have in my possession special documents from the Chinese embassy that, if required, will give us safe passage. I’m also willing to increase the compensation to make it worth your risk. The specimen you found is the most unique I’ve seen in my entire career.”

  Pham Kai requested that he and Minh step out to discuss it. Both their guests nodded and bowed.

  Minh stood unwavering that Pham Kai refuse to take any more risk in order to pay for her treatment. Pham Kai, for his part, insisted that if he didn’t make every effort to find a way to get her treatment, he would regret it for the rest of his life. After hearing Pham Kai’s emotional plea, Minh agreed that if Vu offered the means to cover her treatment for six months, granting her the best possible chance for longer-term survival, which would be enough to take such a big risk. Perhaps Vu’s special government papers from the Chinese embassy could provide some protection.

  Vu placed his right hand on his heart after hearing about Minh’s condition. He agreed to finance Minh’s treatment, and as a final condition, Minh insisted that she accompany them on the mission—she didn’t want her husband going alone. Vu bowed, though he did point out that she should consider starting her treatment, rather than delaying it. Minh smiled, silent and defiant.

  With the agreement now made, Pham Kai glanced around the room and found a scrap of paper. Using a broken pencil, he started writing. Hoang peeking over his shoulder saw it was a supply list. He laughed, telling Pham Kai to dictate the list and he would put it in his phone. With a gentle shake of his head, Pham Kai explained that by writing the items down, he wouldn’t forget any of them. He assured them that as soon as they had secured the items, they would set sail.

  Looking at the list, Hoang and Vu noted typical items like fishing nets, weights, motor oil, fuel, and food rations. Collectively, they determined that the safest way to proceed would be at night, meaning during the day they would need to be well within Vietnamese waters. This would reduce their chances of being caught by Chinese patrol boats.

  Vu agreed with the plan. They shook hands, bowed, and made their way outside. Hoang walked Vu back to his hotel, where he bid him goodbye and good luck.

  It was a restless night for Vu—the excitement of searching for the specimen kept him awake. Not wanting to linger in bed too long, he got up at six the next morning and decided to go down and book a TATA Super Ace Mini truck—a vehicle designed to navigate the small streets and gullies of Vietnam’s villages.

  The mini-truck driver and Dr. Vu Ha pulled up to Pham Kai’s house that evening. Vu had all the supplies Pham Kai had requested, as well as some additional items, including a flare gun, a spear gun, oxygen tanks, scuba gear, a fish tank, laminated nautical maps, a sleeping bag, and rubber boots. Pham Kai smiled at the laminated nautical maps, which would be useless. Only the maps drawn by his grandfather and father would do.

  Vu once again urged Minh to stay back and start her treatment. She brought both of her palms together forming the gesture of Namaste, refusing—she wouldn’t let her husband go alone.

  It took them several trips on the basket boat to load all the supplies onto Pham Kai’s fishing vessel. Vu noted some serious damage in the cabin—he surmised that it was caused by the Chinese patrol boat incident, and asking them would reintroduce their fears of the risks involved.

  Pham Kai checked one last time with Vu. “Shall we head out?” Vu nodded, stepped out of the cabin, and strolled toward the stern of the boat. There was a small wooden bench and table, anchored to the deck with screws—a great place to spread out the maps, chart their course, and strategize about how to find the fish.

  Even in her frail condition, Minh pulled in the anchor. She had already stacked all their supplies against the front wall of the cabin. She had also strung up three hammocks. She wasn’t going to let her health slow her down.

  A loud shot broke the quietness, followed by a sputtering of engine, and diesel smoke poured from the exhaust pipes. In the pitch darkness of the night, they made their way out to open sea.

  ***

  DICK FUMED AS he listened to the report from his team leader. Major Francrey Williams was trying hard to calm him down. He and Major Williams had spoken just days ago about the situation, and Major Williams had been overconfident.

  Today, that confidence was still present, which only served to further exasperate Dick. Taking the fish and research data was supposed to be a simple, discreet extraction, not a complete and utter failure. Cebrián’s team of scientists hadn’t just neutralized his men, they’d dropped them like rag dolls.

  “What do you mean, you can’t track their plane?” Dick shouted into his cell phone. “With the surveillance satellites we have at our disposal? Are you saying they disappeared after taking off from Andersen Air Force Base?”

  “Yes, sir,” Major Williams responded. “They’re not showing up on any radar. It appears their jet has stealth capability. We’re not getting any transponder pings, no cell communications, and no Internet server traffic.”

  “Major Williams,” Dick said, “your team’s incompetence is astonishing. They only brought unwanted attention by storming the hangar.” His voice trailed off, but he caught himself and launched in again, stronger than ever. “I need you to fix this, Major. Find that plane. They have to land and refuel at some point. I need you to invoke Goliath—we have to track, intercept, and retrieve that specimen. As of now, this is your only job. Don’t fail me, understand?”

  Major Williams hurried through the corridors of the Pentagon to a special command center. He scanned his ID badge and punched in his code, stepping inside a room bustling with activity. Several duty officers were monitoring live missions in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia. He walked over to the officer in charge and ordered him to initiate the Goliath Protocol. The officer pulled together a team of four experts trained to find covert operations.

  Activating a network of surveillance, GPS, and multiband image processing satellites, the Goliath Protocol also authorized tapping into the NSA’s visual and voice monitoring servers. This allowed them to track cell phone conversations, live camera feeds from all over the world, and deep web traffic in real time. If a way to find Sebastian and the team existed, then Goliath was it.

  ***

  AFTER SPEAKING WITH the team, Cebrián made his way to the NOC using the same route he had taken with Sebastian—past Ritter Hall, into Vaughan Hall, then deep underground via elevator. The command center stood empty and still, its five huge screens showing maps of various locations. “Poseidon, please invoke the Honeycomb Protocol,” Cebrián ordered. “Include all research on the specimen.”

  Cebrián had set up Honeycomb for just such a day. Unbeknownst to the politicians who had approved the funding of his research, he had recruited thirteen of the best scientists from top university research labs, private enterprises, and even secret government research. They were aware of Cebrián’s research, and they knew that the day his team found something important enough, they would come under immediate threat from governments all over the world—those looking to militarize it, monetize it, or both, depriving humanity of any benefits the research uncovered. These thirteen scientists didn’t subscribe to the concept of imaginary borders that divided countries—they were loyal to science and its ability to uplift humanity.

  The first scientist to respond to the Honeycomb call was Hamza Hamad from Pakistan, a genius in applied mathematics, astrophysics, and a savant at communicating with machines. Sitting in his living room, he could remotely hack into and take over any machine in the world that had a control panel.

  The second scientist to sign in was from Israel, Talia Goldman, a brilliant quantum physicist, futurist, and another celebrity hacker.

  As each scientist responded, their images appeared on the oversized screens in the NOC. Hamza started tossing his hair with his hands when he saw that Talia had logged in. The third scientist was from the UK, then India, Japan, Germany
, France, Italy, Spain, Algiers, Iran, Switzerland, and Russia.

  Hamza was the first to speak, reading his screen. “Cebrián, what are you saying in this report? I don’t believe it, this is amazing!”

  The Honeycomb team scanned through the documents as Cebrián took control of the conversation. “The reason I asked Poseidon to initiate Honeycomb is that members of our hive need immediate protection. As you can see, we’ve found a marine specimen that has evolved to use time as a defense and survival mechanism.” Spellbound, the team didn’t utter a syllable as Cebrián continued. “When we got the specimen, it was already dead. We don’t know for certain if there are more in the South China Sea. Its presence and capabilities have leaked within the U.S. government. Around 2300 hours Guam time, a covert team attacked the Paramarines. We don’t yet know who they are, but we can no longer trust the United States.

  “On my orders, the Paramarines have gone stealth. They’re making their way to the possible source of the new species. If they find it, they’ll work toward securing it from poachers.”

  Some of the experts held their heads in their hands, shocked at the enormity of what they were reading. Some even got up and started pacing their labs and offices. Without exception, they all understood the astounding significance of the discovery.

  Kabir, the scientist from India, spoke up. “Reading this report mandates that if such a discovery is to be applied, we’ll need to create a multinational and multi-disciplinary council of officials to develop and manage our first World Temporal Organization, one that sets the rules of application for these time particles.”

  The scientists continued to share their collective astonishment. One scientist, however, had remained quiet all the while, and that was Omar Tabreze from Iran, a brilliant geneticist. “Cebrián, what if your team doesn’t find the source? What if it’s the only surviving specimen due to its miraculous capabilities? Does it even have the evolutionary need to reproduce?”

  Having expected the question, Cebrián offered, “I then hope we might find some living stem cells in the specimen, and I would ask you to develop a cloning capability for the nodule. I don’t think farming this specimen is an option.” Omar nodded, and moved his hand to touch his forehead—an Eastern gesture of deep respect.

  “Okay, Cebrián,” the Russian scientist said in a gruff voice. “What do you need us to do?”

  Cebrián laid out the plan. “Ordinarily, I’d be using my own resources. But given the attempted infiltration by the U.S., we have to employ a covert approach. I want the geneticists to start developing a plan to clone the nodule. The quantum biologists, please formulate some hypotheses concerning the time particles—for lack of better understanding, we’re calling them dark matter particles. I need our geoscientists to figure out how to find the specimen. I also want the anthropologists, cognitive psychologists, and neuropsychologists to determine the effects of these particles, from individual to societal levels.

  “Finally, Hamza and Talia, I need two things from you. First, find and access any available autonomous, remotely controlled vehicles that our Paramarines may use in the field. Second, find out as much as you can about this secret U.S. government faction that’s after our specimen.”

  Talia texted Hamza on the chat screen that she would take care of getting into the Pentagon, and he should work on finding the transport. Hamza responded via chat, Cool.

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” Cebrián said. “Kabir, you’re right. We need you and Omar to start developing the framework for the World Temporal Organization.”

  Hamza, whose fast strokes of keyboard could be heard by all, spoke up. “Cebrián, I’ve found a Skjold-class boat, a small, stealth-shielded catamaran warship operated by the Royal Norwegian Navy, anchored at the port of Haiphong.” Tapping away, he continued, “The boat’s crew are on a week-long shore leave. There isn’t a single person on board, and according to the logs, they won’t be returning for another five days.”

  Cebrián, hearing Hamza, picked up his phone and started searching for a phone number. Alfred Burland III, the Fleet Admiral of the Royal Norwegian Navy, was an old friend of his. “Great, Hamza. I’ll speak to my friend in the Royal Norwegian Navy and take care of approvals and authorizations.”

  Poseidon spoke up. “I have found an airstrip close to Nhon Ly village. It belongs to a closed Nike factory. There are no workers managing the facility, except for a security guard.”

  Hamza piped up enthusiastically, “Oh, hi, Poseidon! Good to hear your voice! If our team is landing near Nhon Ly, I can navigate the boat there.”

  “Good to hear your voice too, Doctor Hamad,” Poseidon replied. “And yes, positioning the boat as close as possible to Nhon Ly would be ideal.”

  “Thank you, Poseidon,” Cebrián said. “I’ll ask Zeke to meet the team at the Nike factory.” He then addressed the assembled scientists. “Friends, thank you for responding so readily to Honeycomb. What we’re about to do to secure the specimen and get our team home safe will no doubt be in violation of several laws, both national and international. My sincerest thanks to each of you for your support. Good luck, and be safe.”

  Just then, Talia spoke up. “Wait guys, someone in the Pentagon has invoked the Goliath Protocol.”

  “Well then,” Cebrián said, with beaming determination, “it looks like it’s going to be Goliath versus Honeycomb.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Return to Bombay Reef

  “Water, stories, the body, all the things we do, are mediums that hide and show what’s hidden.

  Study them, and enjoy this being washed with a secret we sometimes know, and then not.”

  ~ Rumi

  VU SAT ON the old trunk in the cabin while Pham Kai steered the boat toward the north side of Bombay reef. It was 1:30 a.m., and they had just arrived in the area. There were no signs of the Chinese patrol boat. Pham Kai had beads of sweat on his forehead—due to the heat, and due to the memory of what had happened to him the last time he was in this area. He reduced the speed of the boat as he found the channel his grandfather had mentioned in his notes—the same channel he’d taken deep into the reef before transitioning to the basket boat and getting caught in the whirlpool.

  Minh came inside the cabin where the two men were standing. “Is this where you found that fish?” she asked. Pham Kai nodded. She stood next to him and whispered, “Pham Kai, something is wrong with this place. There’s mist everywhere.”

  Pham Kai didn’t have an answer for her—he too had felt this way during his fishing trips to the area. However, he’d always been more worried about being caught by the patrol boats.

  Vu watched as Pham Kai managed the fishing net. After untangling it, he folded it over his left shoulder. Standing on the starboard side of the boat, he swung it over the water. It was hard to see much in the lantern light, as Pham Kai insisted they not use the spotlights. Vu had already explained to them that since he was paying for the trip, he didn’t need them to store the catch in the hull—he was looking for that one specific fish. This was hard for Pham Kai and Minh to accept. Releasing them back into the sea was so contradictory to their way of life. However, since Vu was paying for everything, including Minh’s medical treatment, they didn’t argue. Pham Kai did make one request, however—if he happened to catch a su vang, he could keep it to sell. Vu agreed.

  They cast the nets for three hours from both sides of the boat, each time emptying their catch into the large tin tub filled with seawater. Pham Kai and Minh would then stand aside and watch as Vu brought the lantern close for inspection. Each time, he would shake his head. He’d hand the lantern to Pham Kai, so he could check for su vang fish, then both men would lift the tub and empty it into the sea, feeling the bite of disappointment a little more each time. This went on more than a dozen times in the course of a few hours. By 4:30 a.m. they were exhausted.

  Frustrated, Vu sat at the table facing the dark outline of the reef. Pham Kai joined him, and Minh made them some chai. Vu, in between taking car
eful sips of the hot tea, kept glancing at Pham Kai, who sat on the floor with Minh. Their faces lit up with the soft light of the lantern. They both looked tired, but not broken. They kept whispering to each other— something he had noticed several times during the trip. Minh would whisper her thoughts to Pham Kai. Vu found it quite endearing.

  “What are you two whispering?” Vu asked. Pham Kai shook his head. Minh then whispered again, and Pham Kai shook his head again. Vu pressed on. “Obviously, she’s saying something important to you. What is it?”

  “She is reminding me to share with you the details of the night I caught the fish,” Pham Kai said.

  “Go ahead then, tell me.” Vu said.

  Pham Kai explained to Vu what had happened that night—how he had rowed his basket boat deep into the most treacherous part of the reef and gotten caught in the dangerous whirlpool. He then described how he had escaped, complete with his boat and net. That was how he had caught the fish Vu was so interested in.

  Vu’s eyes grew large—that was an important piece of information Pham Kai hadn’t shared in the past. Being a marine biologist, he knew that if a whirlpool had formed in this area of the reef, then a deep underwater cavern must exist to cause it. This meant the specimen may have come from the cavern itself—a cavern that may have yet to be explored by humans, which would explain why the specimen had gone undiscovered.

  Vu asked if Pham Kai knew where the whirlpool formed. This was why Pham Kai hadn’t volunteered the information—he knew the instant Vu heard about the whirlpool, he would want to fish as close to it as possible.