“You’re in the emergency room in Vancouver General Hospital. You gave us quite a good scare.”
“What happened?”
“There was an accident on the ship. You had a severe head trauma—lost a lot of blood. Do you remember?”
Jamie was still trying to bridge back to the body. She had lost almost a full day. She was dazed, and still extremely confused. “I am swimming … the tunnel … the city of lights deep down there. Let me go.”
“Come back to us, now, Jamie. Right here.”
“The whales,” Jamie mumbled.
“You were on the ship and you hit your head. Do you remember?”
Jamie winced from the pain of her wound. “We have to stop the killing drums.” Tears flowed from her eyes. “I am their Emissary.”
Varja turned to the nurse. “I’m going to need that CT scan.”
“Yes, Doctor,” the nurse replied. “I’ll check downstairs and see how backed up they are.”
He spoke in a loud voice, trying to keep Jamie stimulated. “You have a very serious head wound. I need you to calm down now and take it slow. Can you lift your index finger for me?”
Jamie responded.
“That’s good.” He raised three fingers. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
Jamie strained to see. “Two.”
“Okay,” he replied, noting on the chart that her vision was impaired.
Jamie became agitated. “You don’t understand! There’s not much time left. We have to stop them.”
“It’s okay … it’s over now. You’re safe.”
“No, it’s not over … only they can stop it.”
Varja whispered to the nurse, “Looks like we’re going to need to sedate.”
“I saw the towers … electrical waves—was it? Nothing lives … no one.”
“Everything is fine, just relax now. We need you to just rest now. You’re in good hands. Quiet your mind.”
“Don’t you understand? We have to help them. Please.” She struggled to get out of bed, and in one sharp movement, ripped the needle out of her hand. Blood started flowing. The nurse grabbed her hand and held it up, to stop the blood flow, applying pressure on the vein. Once they got her back in bed, the doctor and nurse worked together, testing for another vein to jab, since that one had now collapsed. They had to get her back on the saline drip immediately.
“We need you to cooperate with us. You are not out of the woods here. Do you understand me?” Dr. Varja said, forcefully.
Jamie nodded, too weak to fight. “Let me go,” she muttered. “Take me back with you.” She was beginning to hyperventilate.
He turned to the nurse. “Infuse half a milligram of midazolam.”
She exited the room and returned with a hypodermic needle, which she injected directly into the drip.
“I’ve just administered a sedative to help calm you down. I want you to just breathe slowly and let yourself relax.”
Jamie reacted quickly to the medication. Her eyes got heavy and finally closed.
While the nurse was taping Jamie’s hand to secure the needle, Varja asked, “Do we have family here?”
“No, Doctor. Just a colleague—she’s down the hall.” She looked on the admitting report. “Her name is Elizabeth Bartholomew.”
Varja exited to go look for Liz in the waiting room, but found her, instead, standing right next to the doorway, within ear’s reach. “Are you here for Ms. Hastings?”
“Yes. Is she okay?”
He was wary about giving out information. Hospital policy—only family was privileged to patient diagnosis. “Ms. Bartholomew?”
“Yes, I came in with her.”
“Has her family been contacted?”
“I don’t know, Doctor—it’s been a crazy scene here. We flew in by helicopter. I just accompanied her. I don’t know what else has been put in motion. Please give me some information—we’re all worried sick.”
“She’s just come out of coma.”
“What a relief!” Liz said, interrupting.
“… but she is still incoherent and very disoriented. She doesn’t understand what has happened. Her speech is slurred—she’s delirious, she has hallucinations. These symptoms, I’m afraid, could indicate brain damage.”
“Hallucinations?”
“Well, she is somewhere between here and a ‘city of lights’ at the bottom of the ocean. This could be a transition, or it could mean bleeding in the brain. The experience of lights triggering—that could indicate pressure on the brain tissue. We don’t know at this stage.”
Liz tried to conceal her reaction.
“We had to defibrillate after she went into cardiac arrest. We still don’t know what caused it.”
“Her heart stopped?”
“Yes, we lost her for a few minutes. She’s definitely been through extreme trauma. But for now, she is stable.”
“Oh, man. Poor Jamie.”
“Unfortunately, we did have to sedate her. I would have preferred not to do that—we need to run a series of neurological tests, but she was in a high state of agitation and intense pain, so, for now, I decided that was the safest course of treatment.”
Liz sighed. “What a freak-out.”
“The head of neurology, Dr. Katarov, will be in early tomorrow morning. We will need his expertise.”
“Right.”
He looked at Liz, curiously. “What exactly happened out there?”
“Oh my god! I’m not even sure. The ship was surrounded by whales—we don’t know what caused it. I guess you could say the same thing applies: we just don’t know at this stage.”
Varja was more than skeptical. “When you say the ship was ‘surrounded by whales,’ what do you mean, exactly?”
“We were caught up in some kind of freak situation—there were … god … maybe a hundred whales surrounding the ship. No one knows what could have triggered them to do that. That’s why she fell. Jamie was trying to free one of them, after it got entangled in the cord from the hydrophone. She was standing there one minute, and in the next she was down—soaked in blood.”
The doctor looked at Liz as if she were the one hallucinating.
“I know it sounds insane, but that is what happened.”
“Was she conscious when she hit her head?”
“I’m sorry … I don’t know. It all happened so quickly.”
“Do you know if she suffers from epilepsy?”
“I really don’t. I only just met her a few days ago.”
“Can we check her purse for medication? We need to know what she’s taking.”
Liz felt so foolish—she hadn’t even thought to grab Jamie’s purse on her way to the helipad. “Sorry, in the panic, I guess no one thought of that.”
The doctor finally resigned himself to the fact that Liz was going to be of no help whatsoever. “Well, the next twenty-four hours are going to be crucial. We need to advise next of kin. It’s best if they come to the hospital.”
“I know she’s from San Francisco. They’ll have to fly in.”
“That would be a good idea.”
“But she is going to be all right, isn’t she?”
“We’ll know better once we’ve been able to run more tests. First, we need to get her to a calm, conscious state. Hopefully, in the morning we can do a complete neurological workup.” He started walking towards the nurses’ station. “Can you come with me, please?”
“Our ship doctor has already spoken with your nurse. I was there in the lobby when he called.”
“Good, then. Next step is to get them to phone the family.”
“That sounds pretty ominous, Doctor.”
“It’s normal procedure to call in the family,” he replied.
“It sounds like you think she’s not going to make it.”
“I didn’t say that, but it is a serious trauma. She came in comatose, she flatlined in emergency—we had to bring her back from that. The good news, though, is that she’s out of coma. She is able to
speak and she has motor response—those are all good signs.” He handed Jamie’s chart to the nurse. “That’s all I can tell you for now.”
“May I stay with her?”
“I don’t see why not: a few hours anyway. Once we’ve moved her to ICU, you will be able to visit her. For now, though, we’re holding her in ER until we’ve got a bed up there. I’ll be checking on her personally in the morning.”
Liz thanked the doctor and watched as he walked away down the hallway, before dialing her mobile. She spoke furtively. “Sorry to disturb you.”
The male voice on the other end replied, “What’s up?”
“Jamie Hastings took a bad fall and nearly cracked her head open. I’m here in the hospital ER. She just came out of coma.” She didn’t want to get into the insane story of the whales—that could come later.
There was a silent pause. “Who else is with you?”
“Nobody, I flew in with her alone.”
“Good.”
“Doctor said she was talking out of her head. Delirious. She was trying to tell him about the colony.”
“I’ll be there in ten.”
“They’re moving her up to intensive care. I don’t know the room yet.”
“Stay with her. I’ll find you.”
As soon as she hung up, Liz overheard the nurse on the phone.
“We need a bed for an ER,” she said into the phone. “Patient name Hastings. 368B? Got it—I’ll get her signed out of ER and then send her up right away, thanks.” She leaned through the partition and said to Liz, “We’re in luck. They’ve got a bed for your friend.”
12
Black Ops
The whales clung to the ship until the helicopter disappeared, carrying Jamie away. Then, just as mysteriously as they had come in to hold the ship hostage, they swam away, releasing The Deepwater back to the open sea. It was almost impossible to believe any of it had ever happened—as if they’d all slipped through a crack in the universe and then sailed back in from the other side.
The crew was eager to get home, awaiting instructions from the captain. They were all somewhere between shock and denial, aware that they had lived through something supernatural, even if they didn’t know what or how. They wanted to touch land, and ground out, which was understandable, considering what they’d all been through.
Jimbo was troubled. He stood near the railing on main deck, drink in hand, reliving the accident over and over again in his mind, and hearing Jaime’s words resounding through his brain. “They’re using you … it’s a lie.” He couldn’t let go of them. Despondent, Fin sat with his head on Jimbo’s leg. He searched for Jamie everywhere, knowing she was gone, but he couldn’t understand how she’d gotten off the ship. He ran around, checking the docking ramp, well aware land was nowhere in sight. He returned to the lower deck, where he could smell Jamie’s blood on the floor, and he despaired, whining and crying for her for hours, until he simply wore himself out.
Everyone was exhausted: Doc had drunk only one glass of scotch and had fallen asleep on the couch; Alberto and Domenico were in the galley, throwing together the first meal of the day; Brady and Bobby were at the helm, awaiting orders; and Sam had gone up to his office, with strict orders from Jimbo to leave all sonar and radar systems down.
Jimbo gave the order to head back in to the harbor. He needed time out in the fresh air, trying to clear his head. There was so much he still had to work out. What was he going to report to his boss in Houston? What if Jamie didn’t make it? He emptied his drink into the ocean and then kneeled down, stroking Fin’s neck. “If only you could talk to me, boy.”
Fin nodded his head up and down. He was thinking, “If only you could hear my thoughts, like she could.”
Alberto appeared from the lounge. “Is there anything I can get you, Captain?” he asked. “We’ve got the galley open.”
“You know the drill, Alberto—let’s get some java brewing.”
“Five minutes.”
“I’m headed up—maybe you can feed this guy here?”
“Okay, come with me, boy,” Alberto said, and the two of them left. Jimbo stayed until he felt the engines start up, then he proceeded up to the bridge. As he passed by Sam’s office, he heard him talking on the radio.
“Yes, sir,” he said, “I can confirm that.”
Jimbo listened furtively from the hallway.
“I’m simply saying they were extraordinarily large anomalies, and I …”
Before he could complete his sentence, Jimbo walked in on him and hung up the line. “Jesus, Sam, now why did you have to go and do that?”
“Do what?” Sam couldn’t believe Jimbo had had the effrontery to simply cut off his call with the home office.
“I thought I told everybody to answer no questions—were you not paying attention?”
“Captain, I was only answering a direct question from Logistics. They call me every day—I report data. You can’t think I would disregard express orders from you.”
“I’d like to think not, Sam. That would be a serious lack of respect,” Jimbo replied.
“Sir?” Sam said, quizzically. One thing he’d never lacked when it came to Jimbo was respect.
“Call them back and tell them you found the glitch. Nothing else to report.”
“That was no ‘glitch,’ Captain. I saw these things move across the screen. You’ve got the proof sitting in your desk somewhere.”
“So, you’re still not reading me? I’m talking about a glitch in the equipment. Make the call,” Jimbo said, with authority.
“Captain, is there a reason you want to ignore this information?”
“Damn, kid. This is no time for this. There’s things goin’ on that you really don’t want to get yourself involved in, boy.”
“I’m just trying to understand.”
“I’m talking about shit you can’t possibly understand—do you read me?”
“No, sir, I don’t. Would you mind telling me what’s going on?”
“I’m not really sure.”
Sam dialed and got the home office back on the line. “Sorry, it’s me, Sam. We’re having some problems with our equipment out here. I can’t find this thing: not a trace. But I do have a glitch in my main screen. I’m embarrassed to tell you this, but I think that may be all it is.”
The voice on the other end replied, “No problem. We’ll check back in with you tomorrow.”
Sam hung up with the home office, and looked to Jimbo for an explanation.
“Well done, Sammy. And now do me one more thing—pretend like you never saw whatever it is you think you saw.” Jimbo went to the door. “Just wait for my orders.” He walked out, and headed back to the bridge to relieve Brady and to have a little private think time, telling himself the time had come to set things right.
Sam worked the computer feverishly, still searching to find the images from the radar-tracking screen, for his own gratification. But they were gone—not a trace anywhere within the system. He couldn’t fathom why Jimbo would want to hide something so potentially important.
He burst in on Jimbo, who was just setting himself up at the helm. “Sorry, I just can’t let this go without asking.”
Jimbo leaned back in his chair, tired and weighted down by a sense of responsibility for what had happened to Jamie. Moreover, his mind was working overtime, running her warning through his mind, like a recording on automatic reply. “What’s that?” he said, distractedly.
“Come on, Jimbo. You’ve got the image. There were two huge objects, moving so close to us. I’m not making this stuff up. The computers show no memory of it—like they’ve been wiped clean. What does this have to do with the whales? It has to be related.”
“What the hell do you think you picked up out there, kid?”
“I don’t know,” said Sam. “All I can see is that you’re hiding something, and I’m here in the middle of it—trying to make sense of what’s happening. If I need to hold back information from headquarters, you need t
o tell me. Shit, Jimbo, talk to me.”
“There are things I can’t tell you … not yet. Just give me time to get my mind right.” Jimbo overrode the automatic satellite guidance system and set his course for the harbor. “I’m bringing this ship in ahead of time. I’ll fill you in once we get there. Round up the crew for me, and let’s roll.”
Frustrated, Sam headed for the doorway. He hesitated, wanting to ask for more, but Jimbo cut him off before he could utter a single word.
“I will fill you in, Master Sam, once we get back to shore.”
Liz sat patiently by the bed, where Jamie was hooked up to every kind of monitor, oxygen tubes, and the intravenous drip. Beyond the natural state of confusion from all she’d been through, they now had Jamie in a pharmaceutical fog, sedated, and on pain medication. She struggled to wake up. Her will was so immense, she was able to push through it all, knowing one thing: she had to deliver the message. At last, she opened her eyes, surprised to find Liz there next to her.
“What am I doing here?” she asked, groggily.
“Heya. How are you feeling, lady?”
Jamie grumbled, incoherently. “How did you get here?”
“I flew in with you on the helicopter.”
“Helicopter?” Jamie was completely nonplussed. She had no recall whatsoever.
“You were bleeding out pretty badly—and you lost consciousness for several hours. Jimbo called for a medivac to come in for you and I jumped on, to be with you. You’re here now, safe in the hospital. Everything is going to be okay now.”
Jamie looked past Liz, through the dividing curtain between her and the next bed. It was backlit from the light in the hallway. She saw a shadowy silhouette of a man, sitting in the visitor’s chair, but there was no patient in the bed next to him. She was too out of it to know if she was looking at someone’s spirit—perhaps a recent passover—or if someone was actually physically there. Whatever it was, there was a darkness to it: an inky, vile energy—just a few feet away, lingering close to her. Jamie spoke in a soft voice, cautiously. “I need you to listen to me. It’s important.”
“I’m right here for you.”
She struggled to get the words out, slurring her speech. “The whales. They came to show me the weapon. There are these towers … do you know?”
The Emissary Page 19
