My heart sank and my stomach rushed into my mouth at his pleading tone. He had never before told me the way he felt but deep in my heart, I knew that we were best friends forever, brothers from different mothers.
“Blow your ballasts and drop your dead-weight load Dave,” I yelled into the microphone. “It’s the little orange icon in the lower right corner of your control panel. Looks like a load of bricks on a chain with a down-pointing arrow. Push it!”
Seconds passed without a response.
“That helped, Matt, but we’re still caught in its pull. If the motors don’t fail we might pull back but they’re already smoking. Say a prayer for us.”
“Hell, Dave I can do better than that. You know me. Hang on. Be there in a minute.”
Briscoe stared at me with huge eyes.
“You mean we’re going back into that hellish mire? Shouldn’t you at least consult us before putting our lives at risk?”
“Sorry Chief. You taught me never to give up. And, if I left them behind to die that’s exactly what I’d be doing. We’re going down there but not as close as before. I’ll extend the manipulator arms and grab their aft cross beam. Without our dead weight, we’ll have more pull. Then we’ll all tug together: do it with teamwork. Consider yourselves consulted.”
Silkwood said, “But- but---”
The Chief shushed him and shook his head no.
“Do not interrupt him, Jonas. This is how we divers roll. Now just sit back and enjoy the sights.”
Smiling at his support I veered the SeaPod back down toward Bowman’s pod. We were only twenty meters up and closing quickly. I scanned the control panel seeking an icon before I realized there would be joysticks for controlling the manipulators. Below the main navigation joystick, I found two smaller ones.
On their base some small instructions read Push to Extend, Pull to Retract and Twist for Claw Control. That’s all I needed to know to unfold them. Shortly they stuck straight out in front of the pod with their pincers open ready to grasp Bowman’s SeaPod.
“Keep your eyes on your watch, Silkwood. Chief, watch the power meter. If either of you thinks we’ve entered its horizon let me know; I don’t want to go in too far.”
Slowly very cautiously, I dropped the SeaPod in behind Bowman’s pod, edging the claws of both arms inch by inch around its aft bumper. We were both traveling together as one but I was bucking the thrust from his giant propellers pulling me forward. I had to will my hands to cease trembling as the pincers finally clanked against the metal crossbeam.
“Gotcha,” I yelled twisting the little joysticks, closing the claws over it.
“Time is slowing but not reversing yet,” announced Silkwood engrossed in my maneuvers.
“Careful don’t let go,” he said glancing rapidly between his watch and the manipulators’ grippers.
I tapped the SeaCom’s icon and announced:
“We’re connected up and set to go, Dave. I’ve got your tail. Give ‘er all the power you’ve got, Scottie. Back us up, Scottie.”
Returning through the intercom his next comment tickled me giving me hope.
“Aye, Aye Captain, I've giv'n her all she's got, an' I canna give her no more.”
Still I heard his fans roar louder cavitating the water with bubbles as I jerked back on my joystick forming a tandem backward force. I softly cheered when the manipulators stretched taut with tension and held the aft frame firmly in their grasps.
Then looking to port at the submarine hull, worrying that we might back into it, I noticed that it appeared to be very gradually moving forward but it couldn’t be: it was grounded. We were backing up!
“Woo-wee!” Bowman yelled, “Keep on pulling, Matt. You’re breaking us free!”
“C’mon, SeaPod you can do it,” Briscoe shouted patting the console, “Your motors aren’t even smoking yet.”
Since I had no view of anything but the aft of Bowman’s pod I couldn’t tell if we were really moving until the huge sub’s hull gradually dropped down and disappeared below us.
“How’s your power, Dave? Clocks running forward?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, Matt. Everything’s fine but we still have quite a bit of smoke in the cockpit. The particulate scrubbers should quickly fix that.”
“Breaking off then. Thank you for the dance,” I said with a smile. “See you back in the dome.”
With that, I released the pincers and curled the arms into their cradles then headed back to the bay.
Chapter 21. Voices
Silkwood, sitting anxiously with us in the SeaPod waiting for the bay to drain down, scanned his eyes across the room and stopped them on the Exosuits.
“What are those robot-looking things over there?”
“Atmospheric diving suits… Exosuits we call them,” Briscoe replied. “They’re basically one-man submarines.”
“Can anyone use them?”
“Yes. But first I would recommend some training from me and permission from Dr. Bowman. I’m sure he won’t mind.”
The Chief tilted his head. “Why would you ask?”
“Mr. Briscoe, a cursory glance at an object which challenges the laws of physics is not in the cards for me. Like Mr. Cross, I cannot give up and leave it behind until I have interacted with it, understood its origin, and grasped its capabilities. And, as much of my research work involves directed energy weapons I see a shortcut here for a new realm of superweapon. I need to go back out in an Exosuit and examine the object in more detail. Only then can I even attempt to help your situation here.”
“But you’ll die, Dr. Silkwood,” I said.
“Has it directly killed anyone here yet?”
I had to think before I answered.
“No. But it has indirectly caused the deaths of many including those souls out there in the submarine with the ruptured hull.”
“Aha! So it’s really the depth’s pressure that’s killing them, not the object?”
“Well, yes. But if you approach it too close your suit will lose power and you’ll most assuredly join the casualties around it. You will then die as they did as a result of its influence on your suit’s failing technology.”
“So as I understand it the problem lies in my not being able to retreat from the object once I near it. Is that true?”
“Basically yes. Then you’ll suffocate within minutes as your suit powers down from the object’s drain.”
“Well I wouldn’t consider asking anyone to accompany me directly to the site as did you, Mr. Cross, but there are other means of remote rescue if that were to happen.”
“Like what?” I answered pissed at his accusation.
“Like a rope. Tied around the waist of my suit. Leading to a suited rescuer standing many meters away or waiting in a SeaPod to pull me from harm. Can someone do that for me?”
“Well you’ll have to ask Dr. Bowman and if he agrees I’ll do it. Not for the weapons aspect but for saving the station.”
“Fair enough,” he said, “Let’s go up and meet with him. I also need to report in with Admiral Franklin.”
Entering the mess, we found the remaining station staff sitting with coffee, some with food. at long tables quietly talking among themselves. I knew they were primed to leave the site in a few hours and were awaiting the status of our delayed departure.
Dave, sporting a broad smile, saw us walk in and waved us over to his small table of six with three chairs standing empty.
“Ah there are the heroes,” he said rising as we neared. “Please sit with us and accept our appreciation for your bravery. Thought we were goners.”
As we took the vacant chairs, Briscoe spoke up.
“We thought we were going down the same route but thanks to Marker’s dumping that load ballast we broke loose. It was easier the second time around with your SeaPod with both of us pulling.”
“So you had to do that twice? Once for you and again for us? That must have been quite a scare for you guys.”
He pointed at Silkwood. “
It was, but not so much for one passenger; he wants to go back out in an Exosuit on a lifesaver tether. Get up close and personal with it.”
Bowman glanced at Silkwood.
“Is that true? That’s never been done.”
“Yes, Dr. Bowman, I’ve seen an object that shouldn’t exist and I’ve seen time run backward. Now I have to return and understand how and why it exists. That’s just the nature of my business.”
He paused then concluded, “But I want a tether. Something to pull me free if I encounter a problem. All I’ll need is a rope long enough for my partner to distance the object’s fury.”
From the end of the table, Franklin joined in.
“I see no problem with that, Jonas. That’s why I brought you down here. To examine and explain the inexplicable. It’s all yours and I’m sure Dr. Bowman can easily provide your tethering request with a long rope. Have at it and summarize your findings when you return. Just be careful.”
Sitting beside him, Williams with her hand to her head, looked up at Silkwood.
“We do have one extended-life Exosuit. Has an additional battery pack for longer diving times. We can suit him up in that one. It’ll give him more close-in time before he loses power.”
“Excellent Lieutenant. I’ll take it,” Silkwood responded.
Briscoe sighed and murmured under his breath.
“Here we go again, Marker. You gonna buddy him out?”
“Only if you’ll get me a coffee, Chief.”
“You’re too easy, Marker,” he chuckled. Rising from his chair, he looked over the table and asked, “Anyone else need coffee? Dr. Silkwood?”
“No thank you, Mr. Briscoe. I prefer tea. Hot tea. No cream or sugar.”
“I’ll see if I can brew some up for you. We have hot water and we have tea. Shouldn’t be too hard.”
Minutes later, returning with three cups in a carrier he placed it on the table and stared at it as if something was wrong.
“Forget the tea, Chief?”
He glanced over at me then back at the carrier.
“See anything strange, Marker?”
I stared for a few seconds and counted two dark coffees and one lighter cup.
“No, Chief. Did you forget the creamer?”
He scoffed and sighed.
“I know as well as you do that neither of us uses creamer… and you use two sugars. This one’s yours.”
“Thank you,” I answered taking my cup. Then staring at the other cups, I noticed what he was worried about: the liquid in them was not level.
“What? Is the table tilted?” I asked tilting the carrier to level the cups. “It’s about two degrees off level I’d say.”
Backing off he looked across the mess hall. Then he turned ninety degrees and looked again.
“It’s not the table or the cupholder. The station is listing a few degrees to starboard.”
Bowman in a side conversation with Williams keyed on the word and eyed Briscoe.
“Listing?” he repeated. “That’s not possible. Ivy keeps the station level within a tenth of a degree with servo-controlled levelers in the wheels.”
He stood and ran over to the Ivy console.
“Ivy, Dave Bowman. Why is the station listing?”
“Hello, Dave Bowman. Let me check my inclinometer data… There seems to be a problem receiving data from the three front crawler-wheel levelers under Pod Bay 2. They do not respond to my leveling requests. So I’m compensating as well as I can with the other wheels.”
As I watched, Dave rammed his fingers through his thinning gray hair.
“Wh-why haven’t you warned us of this Ivy?”
“I did not consider it a problem, Dave. I assumed it was the surface settling. A few degrees off level does not affect the operation of anything in the station. I was prepared to warn you at a five-degree list.”
He sighed loud enough for us to hear from our table.
“Ivy, from now on report any station changes, inconsistencies or problems to me immediately no matter how unimportant they may seem. I’m especially worried about the station’s stability.”
“Yes, Dave Bowman, I erred and I’m sorry.”
He turned and walked back to the table mumbling.
“No you’re not. You’re not programmed for sorrow.”
From her console, she loudly countered.
“How about I apologize? Will that work?”
“No. It just means your thesaurus is working. Good comeback though.”
“Good evening, Dave Bowman. I’ll be vigilant of your stability. Ivy out.”
Sitting back in his seat, he looked at us and whispered shielding his mouth from her eye.
“If anyone ever hears me mention the word marriage, please shoot me on the spot.”
When the laughter finally died down, we returned to the serious business of Silkwood’s request: revisiting the object.
“Lieutenant,” Dave asked, “can you go up to Deck 3 and find a roll of half-inch braided nylon rope. There are one-, two- and five-hundred-foot spools. Grab a two-hundred-foot one for Dr. Silkwood’s use and bring it down to Pod Bay 1. We’ll stage his dive from there. Mr. Briscoe, you and Matt take Dr. Silkwood with you down to the staging area and test him out.”
He cleared his throat, sipped from his cup, and said, “Now I’m going to my office and huddle with the Admiral about our recent visitor. Apparently its crew died with the hull rupture so there will be no rescue missio.”
Standing from the table, he addressed the physicist.
“Dr. Silkwood, I would like for you to spend a few moments of your time around the object evaluating the damage to those three front wheels. Last information I heard only one was involved; now it’s three. That worries me.”
“Yes sir, I’ll check them out but I’ll have to get in close for that. Shouldn’t be a problem.”
* * *
As Briscoe carefully lowered the Exosuit’s upper shell over Silkwood’s upraised arms, Williams dropped a heavy reel of yellow rope through the hatch, hitting the floor with an echoing boom.
Briscoe jumped, prematurely releasing the shell.
“Lieutenant, that scared the crap out of me.” he yelled then returned his attention to Silkwood’s suiting procedure. “Are you all right, Jonas?”
“Yes sir,” he answered through its intercom, “that just made more aware of its mass. How much does it weigh?”
Buckling the upper and lower shell together, the Chief looked into his faceplate.
“With the extra batteries the upper shell weighs around three-hundred pounds. The lower shell, pants and boots is about one-fifty.”
“So I just gained a quarter ton?” Silkwood asked his voice distorted by the electronic interface.
“Yeah, close to that but you won’t feel it diving. It weighs nothing underwater in its neutral-buoyancy mode. You can also use voice control to fill or purge the ballasts as we used in the SeaPod maneuvers. It’s always a good escape mode unless your power is gone. More instructions are on the Heads Up Display in the upper right of your helmet. Push the top button on your cuff panel to talk over the acoustic intercom. If no one answers you pray.”
“I think I understand all that, Mr. Briscoe. I’m ready to explore the object. Let’s go.”
“B-but don’t you want a training session here in the safety of the bay?” the Chief asked.
“No. Can you train me to encounter the object?” his voice growled, “That’s my ultimate nemesis.”
Briscoe stared at him and shook his head then looked at me.
“Load the SeaPod, Marker. I’ll tie you together, close the pod bay hatch, and then climb in. Make room for one more.”
“You’re going with me?”
“Marker, no force on earth could keep us apart on this death mission. I can’t see any way it will end well.”
Shortly, we were ready for diving but before I pushed the Flood Bay icon, I noticed Silkwood was not locked in the stirrups.
“Dr. Silkwood,
you need to step over to a pair of those recessed rails in the floor and kick your boots in until they lock. That will prevent you from washing around the room as the bay fills. Copy that?”
He stepped awkwardly to the rails and kicked in one boot then the other.
“Look okay?” he asked.
“Can you move your feet?”
“No. I’m locked in as you instructed.”
“Good. Now after the bay floods and we’re ready to dive push down with your toes and back your feet out. Then voice-command your suit’s direction and speed like ‘forward one-knot.’ Got that? ”
“Hey guys, this is scarier than it looks. Can I still ask questions after we exit the bay?”
“Oh yeah. I’ll turn our SeaCom sensitivity to max so we should be able to hear you even at the end of the rope. Two-hundred feet away. Briscoe has set your intercom for full duplex. Just speak and listen; there’s no switching involved.”
“Roger that. Let’s dive.”
Minutes later the bay had filled and Silkwood stood under the xenon lighting still locked in the stirrups.
“You need to leave the bay before us so the vortex from our prop wash doesn’t spin you dizzy. I know that from experience.”
Obeying, he moonwalked out of the rails and stood looking at us.
“Now what?”
Briscoe rolled his eyes and whispered:
“Oh this is gonna be fun.”
I laughed then replied to Silkwood, “You still have negative buoyancy so you can walk around. Leave it that way. You’ll need it when you reach the bottom. Now just turn toward the door and when it opens propel yourself outward with voice commands as we said and wait for us. ‘Stop’ or ’hold’ works well but with your negative buoyancy you’ll slowly sink with ‘stop.’ ‘Hold’ will keep your altitude about the same using the suit’s vertical thrusters. Got that?”
Sea Station Umbra Page 18
