Masters of the Broken Watches

by Razi Imam

  “So, what’s in the incubator?” Sebastian asked.

  Fabienne laughed. “There was a pomfret fish in the kitchen’s freezer. I replaced the specimen with that.”

  “A pomfret,” Sebastian repeated in a hushed voice. “So, they’ve boarded the plane and walked away with a pomfret.” He wrapped Fabienne in a hug as the three of them burst into laughter.

  Sebastian headed back to his cabin and texted the captain: Not to worry. Take off as soon as you can. I’ll send you new coordinates. Be sure to maintain stealth mode.

  The captain replied: Yes, sir. They’re not interested in detaining us—they have what they came for. We’ve refueled and all systems are go.

  Sebastian’s phone buzzed again—this time it was a call, and a smooth voice with a unique accent he couldn’t quite place greeted him. “Hi, Sebastian, this is Talia Goldman. I’m one of the Honeycomb scientists.”

  “Hi, Talia, thank you, we appreciate all the support,” Sebastian replied.

  “Don’t mention it,” Talia said. “I’m calling to inform you that I’ve tracked a hacked phone belonging to one of your team members.”

  “Really?” Sebastian exclaimed.

  “I’m not sure whose phone it is,” Talia continued, “but it sent a text to a cell tower in Guam. I can’t access the content of the text, but it’s a Guam number.”

  “Thank you, Talia. I think I know who it may be,” Sebastian said.

  “Sebastian, you need to destroy that phone,” Talia warned.

  Sebastian hung up and hurried to the mess area, where Maria and Charles still sat with Pham Kai and Minh. “Charles,” Sebastian said, “where’s your cell phone?”

  “I don’t have it with me. I left it in Guam, in our apartment.” Charles replied.

  Sebastian nodded and took the flight of steps to the bridge. Adora sat on a chair, looking out at sea.

  “Hey, Adora,” Sebastian said, “did you send a text to someone in Guam recently?”

  Adora turned to him, a bit startled by his voice. “Yes, why?” Then, as if knowing she had messed up, continued to explain herself. “I was concerned that my family would start searching for us, since we’d just got up and left.”

  Sebastian motioned for her not to speak. He grabbed a paper and pen from one of the stations and began writing. Where is your phone now?

  She fiddled with a bag next to her chair, pulling the phone out and handing it to him. He took the phone from her and wrote on the paper: Sorry, Adora. When you texted your family, the group hunting us hacked your phone. They’re listening in and tracking us. I have to destroy it.

  The warm, wet heat of Vietnam hit him as he stepped out on deck. Taking a couple strides and reaching the edge of the boat, he cocked his arm and threw the phone into the sea. The phone hit the surface of the water, skipped, and sank.

  He stepped back onto the bridge and hugged an embarrassed Adora. “Relax. We rushed out of the hangar in a hurry. I understand you had to inform your family.”

  She nodded and looked like she felt a little better as they joined Charles and Maria in the mess. Pham Kai and Minh had been given a cabin and had gone off to rest.

  “How’d it go with Pham Kai and Minh?”

  “Good, we have what we need,” Maria replied. “Pham Kai insisted he could fix his engine and they could make their way back to their village. I requested that they relax, and that we’d drop them off. His boat is done, anyway. It’ll sink in a day or so. How’s Vu?”

  “I’ll gather the team and update everyone.” Sebastian pressed the intercom button and invited the team to the mess area.

  “So, folks,” he began, “here’s the situation. Doctor Vu Ha has some fractured vertebra. Any sudden movements could be fatal. This means we can’t continue on to Bombay Reef or head back to Nhon Ly village. And Panther Two was boarded by a group of armed men who’ve taken possession of the incubator.”

  “What? They have the specimen?” Nidal asked, alarmed.

  “Actually, no,” Sebastian smiled. “Thanks to Fabienne and Shiloh, we have the specimen here, stored safely onboard.”

  A cheer went up from the team, for Fabienne.

  “Stop it, guys. It was nothing,” she said.

  “We can’t move Vu, we can’t head to the reef—is our mission over?” Michelangelo asked.

  “Not yet,” Sebastian responded. “We’re trying something new. Fabienne had another breakthrough idea—use the Fisio time particle to stabilize Vu’s condition to the point that we can continue on.”

  “So,” Nidal said, “when will we know if we can start moving again?”

  Just as Sebastian was about to respond, the intercom crackled, followed by a hiss of static. A weak, barely audible voice came through. “H-Hello?” They glanced at each other in confusion, not sure what they were hearing.

  Fabienne was the first to realize what was happening. She ran out of the mess, down the corridor, and yanked open the medical bay door. There on the edge of the bed sat Vu, his quivering finger trying to hold the intercom button.

  Sebastian came running behind her, and they both stood frozen at the door. Shiloh’s time warp device had stopped firing. All the mist was gone, and it appeared that Vu had regained the use of his limbs. His face was almost back to normal as well.

  They approached, still unsure of what total effect the Fisio time particle had on him. They’d hypothesized that the particles would support the body’s normal repair functions by activating the stem cells near his neck, but it was all conjuncture. They never in a million years expected this—and with such speed.

  They couldn’t localize the Fisio time particles to his neck area specifically, so his whole body had been exposed to them—which could mean that the stem cells in the other parts of his body had also been activated, repairing any and all ailments at once.

  That was when they both realized why he appeared so different—the thick wave of gray hair on his head was gone, replaced by its original jet-black. His hair follicles had begun producing melanin again.

  He was alert, but incoherent. His hands moved like he was intoxicated. He gave Sebastian a puzzled look, as if trying to recognize him. He stretched his hands to Sebastian’s face, and something wonderful happened—he gave a faint smile. It wasn’t his usual beaming smile, but it was a huge improvement over his initial condition.

  They took a second round of X-rays as the team gathered at the bay door, looking on with wonder. The images came up on the monitor, and what they saw shocked them—his fractured vertebrae were repaired. Sebastian and Fabienne whispered back and forth in amazement, not wanting to alarm the professor—it would take years to understand the science behind this. Each time particle was proving to be a miracle unto itself. Given Dr. Vu Ha’s remarkable recovery, Fabienne recommended no further exposure to the Fisio time particles. They still weren’t sure as to the long-term effects. Sebastian agreed and they left him to rest.

  With Vu resting again, the team moved all the gear and personal items off Pham Kai’s boat, including his old trunk and brought it onboard. They placed Vu’s gear in a cabin, setting it up for him to use once he was ready to move out of the medical bay. They then sat around the mess table, discussing their plans to head straight to Bombay Reef in search of Isikhathi Isilwandle.

  ***

  AS THEY SAT discussing their plans, Sebastian’s phone buzzed once more. “Hey, Cebrián,” he answered, heading to his cabin.

  “Sebastian, I’ve learned who ordered the attack at the hangar,” Cebrián informed him. “Talia was able to hack into Goliath and get me the facts.”

  “Who was it?” Sebastian asked.

  “The secretary of defense,” Cebrián said matter-of-factly.

  “The secretary of defense?” Sebastian repeated, bewildered. “I thought he supported our research.”

  “He did, until we found the specimen. He wants to militarize it,” Cebrián said, and then he shared that armed men had boarded Panther Two in Singapore and taken the incubator.
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  “Yeah, I know, but we have the specimen and the nodule,” Sebastian said.

  “What? How? That is great!” Cebrián said, shocked.

  Sebastian filled him in on everything, adding that they were now back on track, headed to Bombay Reef.

  “This is excellent news. Okay, you investigate Bombay Reef, and I’ll continue to work on my plan to convince the Swedish Navy to help us out. Be safe,” Cebrián said, hanging up.

  Sebastian, standing on the bridge next to Charles, was looking at the approaching island of Bombay Reef on the monitors when he caught a movement from the corner of his eye. He turned around and saw Pham Kai standing outside the door of the bridge, peeking. Sebastian walked up and stretched out his hand, and welcomed him onto the bridge.

  Pham Kai entered the bridge, looking at the stations, when the image on the monitor caught his attention. He spoke in Vietnamese, pointing to the monitor. Sebastian asked Poseidon to translate.

  “Pham Kai is saying he knows this area well and is here to help you,” Poseidon responded.

  Sebastian smiled, appreciative of the Pham Kai’s support. He turned to Charles. “How far are we from the cavern?”

  After doing some quick calculations, Charles answered, “About half a mile northeast of our current location.”

  “Let’s make two teams,” Sebastian said. “One to check out the lagoon, the other to perform an investigative dive of the area near the underwater cavern. Our scuba gear will only allow us to get to ninety-five feet. The seabed is less than thirty feet, so we can explore the cavern up to sixty feet deep. Hopefully, we’ll find something interesting that may shed some light on our specimen.” He looked to Charles. “I forgot to ask, how deep could you dive?”

  Charles nodded. “I’m fully certified up to one hundred feet.”

  “Great.” Sebastian said, relieved. “Okay, Shiloh, get us close to the reef. Nidal, Michelangelo, Fabienne, you guys check out the lagoon. Maria, Charles, and I will search for the cavern. Adora, may I request you stay on the bridge to support Shiloh, and also check on Vu and our guests?” Adora nodded.

  Everyone met up on the main deck. “Shiloh,” Sebastian said, with a hint of humor, “you have the bridge.”

  Shiloh smiled back at the Star Trek reference. “Aye, captain.”

  The cavern team jumped off the diving deck while Nidal, Michelangelo, and Fabienne left for the lagoon in a rigid inflatable boat (RIB). They had to be careful navigating the reef and of the changes in current. When they reached the beach, the first thing they realized was this was no tropical beach paradise with pristine white sand. It was rocky, with a thick carpet of sharp stones.

  Bombay Reef was shaped like a bean, and the lagoon conformed to its odd shape. Thanks to their scuba boots, the walk was uneventful as they made their way through the vegetation, which was comprised of patches of short bamboos, occasional orchids, and an abundance of rubber plants.

  They soon noticed a distinct lack of any birdlife. It didn’t make any sense—they heard insects everywhere, and they’d seen a multitude of snails on the beach, both of which made up the main food supply for many birds.

  “I think I have a theory,” Nidal said. “Birds, out of the entire animal kingdom, are most sophisticated in their use of their biological clock. Time plays a pivotal part in their lives, from hatching eggs, to pushing their babies out of the nest, to migrating. I believe birds know there’s something wrong with time here, and their genetic memory avoids this reef.” Both Fabienne and Michelangelo paused, strained to hear any birds and then nodded in tacit agreement.

  After about an hour of trekking, they came across a geological anomaly. The vegetation gave way to an open area with a large sand dune made of soft white silica sand. They started climbing it, unsure how and why it was there. Upon reaching the top, what they saw took their breath away. Fabienne almost fell, holding onto Nidal to stabilize herself.

  Looking down at the lagoon, plants, fish, leaves, and other bits of natural debris, were all hovering in mid air. Schools of fish glided along without any water. It was a symphony of colorful marine life miraculously suspended in air. The three of them stood there in silence, hypnotized.

  “Oh, my God, what is all this?” Fabienne whispered. Nidal and Michelangelo didn’t answer. They kept staring at the gleaming beauty of the illogical moment.

  They skidded down the dune closer to the suspended marine life, and then realized what they were experiencing—the water was so incredibly clear, they couldn’t even see it. With no ripples or waves, it was impossible to see where the edge of the water started. The three of them stepped forward and squatted on the edge of the dune, stretching their hands until they touched the water. Fabienne cupped her right hand and lifted it, seeing the water as it trickled through her fingers.

  “What do you think causes the water to be so clear?” Michelangelo asked.

  “Several factors,” Fabienne replied. “Lack of wind, no waves, no tides, and light bouncing off the silica in the sand dune, creating a perfect mirror. I’ve seen a similar effect on the beaches of Cala Macarelleta in Spain.”

  Michelangelo didn’t buy it. “I have a different theory. I think it’s a remnant of the time particles.”

  “How do you figure?” Nidal asked.

  Michelangelo sat down on the dune. “Look at the suspended bubbles—they appear to be still. We still don’t know how these time particles work. I think the water here is under a much slower time field. That’s why everything so vivid.”

  Fabienne did not give a counter argument. She was unconvinced, and there wasn’t enough data to form any hypothesis.

  After several minutes admiring, they climbed back to the top of the sand dune and started walking the length of the lagoon. They soon saw a set of unique geological formations in the water. Large obsidian boulders were spread throughout the lagoon, seemingly at random. There was another interesting feature, a botanical formation. A coconut tree had sprouted on the dune and grown at an angle over the years. Its trunk now hung over the water, crossing four or five feet over it—they couldn’t tell where the tree’s branches ended and where the water began.

  Fabienne climbed over the tree, and straddling the trunk, slowly moved over to the part that hung over the water. She then flipped over, dangling with her head down, arms stretched out and her crisscrossed legs holding onto the tree, her face and arms submerged in the water. It was the best representation of the optical illusion. The schools of fish and plants all appeared to be suspended in the air, level with Fabienne’s eyes.

  Nidal pulled his phone out and took pictures, as he had been doing all along their walk.

  After a thorough exploration, they decided to head back to the boat. Other than the spectacular appearance of suspended marine life, they didn’t find any evidence of Isikhathi Isilwandle.

  ***

  SEBASTIAN, MARIA, AND Charles descended to the sandy seabed. Brightly colored fish swam around them, darting through and around the reef. They saw a massive coral field, which appeared untouched by humans. There were over two thousand species of coral in the world, and many of them were present here. Sebastian recognized Acropora, Panova, Montipora, and Porites, among many others. In between the corals were strategically placed oysters the size of their hands, filtering the water to ingest planktons.

  They swam on top of the reef, searching for the cavern, when they came across another spectacular sight—a set of unique sand structures, like underwater crop circles. Six to seven feet in diameter, with two concentric rings, they were true works of art—amazing geometrical representations of the Fibonacci sequence.

  As they swam over the structures, they found the little pufferfish responsible, busily carving a new masterpiece in the sand with its fins. Sebastian, found the moment to be uncanny, he had been watching a documentary of this exact species when he’d gotten the call from Cebrián.

  The divers were careful not to create turbulence that would disturb the intricate patterns. Several minutes later
, they neared the coordinates of the cavern.

  Charles, oblivious to all the beauty around them, constantly checked the ADCP he had found on the Skjold. An Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler worked on the principles of Doppler, emitting a “ping” at a constant frequency. The sound waves hit suspended particles in the water and returned to the device, allowing it to measure the speed of the current. If there was a whirlpool in the area, the ADCP would track it.

  Reading the device, he pushed on his fins hard and swam in front of Maria and Sebastian. Stopping their forward movement he pointed at the device. According to the reading there was an incredibly strong tidal movement few hundred yards away, comprising up to three hundred million cubic yards of water. Such a volume was capable of creating a giant whirlpool over forty feet wide and fifty feet deep.

  Sebastian shook his head at Charles in disbelief—nothing indicated that such an intense event was happening. A whirlpool this massive should be felt well over three miles away, possibly more. It should be pulling plants, fish, and all kinds of material toward it. Charles inspected the device, looking for any sign of malfunction.

  Sebastian pulled out an underwater marker from his pocket and lifted a flap on his sleeve, revealing a white plastic surface. He wrote on it like a whiteboard: Keep going. Readings not making sense. Yes?

  Charles took the pen and wrote: Dangerous? Can’t risk it.

  Sebastian then pointed at the small plant next to him that had long, wiry leaves—it was flowing normally, not being pulled in any direction. Charles knew what Sebastian was saying. He nodded, not fully convinced, and reluctantly gave the “Okay” sign.

  They continued to swim for several more minutes, realizing there was nothing in front of them but clear, blue, open sea—there was no marine life anywhere ahead. The ADCP was indicating a difference of speed in the water particles right in front of them, yet they could not feel or see any evidence of it.