Silent City Page 5

  I took the single step from the base of the ladder into the bunk room and shoved my travel bag beneath the bottom one. The beds were really just shelves covered with a thin blanket. I sat down on the floor, picked up the tablet screen from one of the beds, pressed my thumb to it when directed and started reading about my destination, Calhoun.

  There were maps of the sea floor directly surrounding the very small city, more an outpost, and some schematics of the structure itself. It was a simple box with a few bolt-on pieces that weren’t labelled with a purpose. There was room, given the military’s need to make everyone, apart from officers, uncomfortable for maybe a hundred people.

  I could see why they needed a Fish-Suit, especially if the fractures were low down near the sea floor. Though floor would be a little bit of misnomer as it was more a series of jagged peaks into whose narrow valleys the support piles had been driven. The city itself was situated in a much larger valley between two great mountains. If you didn’t know the city was there, you’d never find it.

  Chapter 11

  The little sub made good time and I did my shift. Really just sitting in the seat and looking at dials and screens which didn’t move. I managed to get a little sleep on one of the shelves before having a simple ration breakfast.

  “Mr Hayes.” The call came from the command cabin and I poked my head out of the bunk area in response. “We are approaching Calhoun.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “From here on in we are running silent. Can you stow the beds and strap yourself in? The currents can be a little rough.” The commander turned back to the front screen and began to flip switches, as did the other crew members. The lighting changed to dull red and the view screen, which had previously shown nothing but the glow of the sub’s running lights, and the marine snow that fell through it, went dark.

  “I hope you have good maps,” I said.

  He turned and gave me a big grin before adding, “No talking. Silent running.”

  There was nothing to see and nothing to do, but enjoy the ride. The bumps, sudden dips and drops were not that enjoyable, though the crew worked hard and well. The silent run in took an hour, give or take a few minutes, and there was a moment of calm as we entered the city’s current shadow. The sounds outside the sub changed, from the groan of the ocean to the cleaner sounds of civilisation, as we rose into the small city’s moon-pool.

  “Mr. Hayes, your suit will be taken out of the hold and put into storage in Calhoun. I’ve been informed you will be met outside by a member of staff who’ll take you to the base commander. We have orders to do a quick turn around.”

  “Thank you, Commander.” I stood, grabbed my bag and put my foot on the first rung of the ladder then paused. “Will you be picking me up when the job is done?”

  “Not for me to decide, sir.” The sub commander sketched a quick salute of goodbye and turned back to his crew, issuing orders. At the top of the ladder, the hatch swung open and the face of a young man smiled down at me.

  # # #

  “Take a seat.” The base commander indicated one of the blue plastic chairs in his office. “The city foreman will be here in a moment and we can begin the briefing.”

  I took the offered seat and looked around. The walls were painted a dull grey and there was a single desk in the tiny office, behind which the commander sat. The wall had a pin board covered with single sheets full of names and data. There was nothing I could read from where I sat. The commander himself was older than me, his hair was turning grey at the temples and beginning to recede at the front. He had an easy smile and I couldn’t find a reason to dislike him straight away. Given time I was sure I’d find one.

  “What can you tell me about the base, Commander?” I asked.

  He looked at me for a moment then tapped at his computer screen. No city-web or in-eyes here.

  “This is a research station, Mr Hayes.”

  “That sounds exciting. What is it you research?”

  “Deep ocean currents and the movement of the plates. We are testing out a new technique for determining the pole shifts using the paleomagnetic properties of the extrusive lava. Not very exciting for a non-scientist.” He gave me a smile that said “and that is the official story.”

  “Problems with pirates?” Any man with a sub capable of carrying a torpedo could call himself a pirate. They were rare in most of NOAH’s territory, but in the overlapping zones they were much more common. The tiny corps, or those that struck out on their own, sometimes turned to it as a way of paying the bills. It wouldn’t be unheard of for a more organised group to attack a small place like this. And, if this was a Silent City, then it would be unlikely to have an acoustic net set up to detect any incoming threats.

  “No more than usual,” he said. “We’ve had reports of some small bands operating in the area but nothing too worrying.”

  “And that’s why the subs come in dark?”

  “Dark?” He asked, which told me he wasn’t a military man. Curious.

  “Dark, as in no lights, no emissions, everything shut down apart from the bare minimum to operate.” I watched his eyes as I spoke, was there a flicker in them and if there was, what did it mean? “Small subs use it as a technique to sneak into areas they shouldn’t be in or when they wish to remain undetected.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep. You can take that technique and, with some modifications, scale it up to the size of a small city or outpost. No emissions, nothing to give away the fact there is even anything there. They’re are called Silent Cities.”

  “That is interesting, Mr. Hayes. Not sure how it is relevant but interesting. Ah, here is the foreman.” He stood from his seat and extended a welcoming hand to the man who entered. I stood and turned as well.

  “This him?” the foreman spoke to the commander without meeting my gaze.

  “Indeed it is,” the commander said and used an open hand to indicate the foreman. “May I present our city foreman, Morris Keller. He will be in charge of the process and oversee it. I believe you have already seen the plans and the nature of the problem we face?”

  “On the sub,” I said and studied Keller's face trying to see if I knew him from anywhere. My memory came up blank which was a good sign. I stuck out a hand and left it there until the awkwardness of the situation forced him to shake it. “Corin Hayes, pleased to meet you.”

  There was no recognition in his eyes and I released his hand. Hopefully, my fame hadn’t reached out this far. As I had been unable to travel up until three days ago, I was unsure whether the accident and my part in it was just local knowledge or if it had spread. There would be folks out there who would know my name, but the oceans were big places and there were still lots of people on the planet. Not the nine billion or so that it had once been, too many had died and it would take centuries to recover to that level. If the ocean could support it, that was.

  “Yeah.” He turned away. “We can get the job done over the next few days. We’ll need to check all the supports and then see if this fellow can get close enough. Is there anything on the horizon we should know about, Michael?”

  The commander shook his head. “No, nothing. Sooner you can get it done the better, I think.”

  There was definitely some meaning behind those words, whatever it was eluded me. I did notice the use of first names though. Another hint that the commander was not in the military. I thought back to the docks. Apart from the moon-pool, which was a squeeze for the sub I had arrived in, there were, maybe, only six other subs in their dry docks. They were all small, one or two man. Nothing that looked as though it could put up much of fight. But then, a Silent City relied on not being found, not on the strength of its defence forces.

  “Good,” the foreman turned back to me. “I’ll show you to your bunk. I suggest you get some food and sleep. We’ll start early tomorrow with the southern supports and struts.”

  I nodded to the commander and followed Keller out.

  Chapter 12

&nbs
p; I woke up with a headache which was really disappointing. I hadn’t had a thing to drink the night before. Which might explain it.

  My quick tour of the base last night, guided by Keller, had confirmed some of my thoughts. All the sleeping quarters were on the outside of the city and none seemed to have anything but a bed and washbasin in them, certainly mine didn’t. They didn’t even have windows or small portholes. I put my hand against the outer wall expecting to feel the cold of the ocean leaking through, but there was nothing.

  The bottom level was the moon-pool, docks and, above that, a cargo hold. The next level up contained the admin offices, where I had met the commander. The middle level seemed to be labs, but I didn’t get much of a look at those. Keller steered me away from the doors so all I could get was a brief glance through a door’s vision panel.

  The penultimate level, below more crew quarters, was the mess hall and medical bay. Simple ladders and stairs carried you from one level to another. There was no wasting of power that could leak out and advertise their presence; light levels were low, food was a mix of cold and flash-cooked. The cargo and docks would shield the labs and I’d bet the sleeping quarters were lined with insulation.

  I threw some water over my face and swirled some more round my mouth a few times before spitting it out. In the mirror, my face looked as though it had returned to normal. It still wouldn’t win any awards, but the bruising was mostly gone. I prodded my cheeks and waggled my nose, just to be sure. Not a bad job.

  The Fish-Suit skins were a struggle to get into. On top of those, I dragged on yesterday’s top and trousers. A simple pair of shoes and a badge declaring my name, and right to be here, completed the outfit.

  The mess hall was easy to find, it was on the same level as my quarters. I found a bowl, ladled some of the porridge into it and picked up a glass of water. There was an empty table at the back which I headed for. I didn’t make it. Keller stood up from a full table and beckoned me over.

  “I’m leaving, but you might as well introduce yourself to the guys.” He nodded towards the two men and a woman sat the table. “They’ll be out with us today. See you later.”

  Keller walked off and I sat down. The three stared at me, measuring me.

  “So, you’re the Fish-Suit guy?” the one to my left said. “I’m Jordon, Rake’s the guy with the sea cucumber sleeping on his upper lip, and this is Elena.”

  I nodded to all three. Jordon was the youngest, barely twenty I guessed. Rake was older, he had some lines around his eyes and that moustache drew your attention away from the lazy eye. Probably why he grew it.

  Elena was beautiful. Her dark hair fell long, past her shoulders, and she had gorgeous, bright blue eyes. She was the last to look up from her food and when she did, she smiled. I fell in lust.

  “That’s me. Name is Corin.” I clasped my suddenly shaking hands together and waited for a reaction. As before, I couldn’t detect one. “Been here long?”

  “Helped build the city, we did,” Jordon said. Elena nodded whilst Rake spooned another helping of breakfast into his mouth, leaving enough on his upper lip to feed the creature living there. “Been here since then. Course the ground is always shifting a little due to the ridge, but we factored that in to the plans. We do the maintenance now. Keep it all running.”

  “So why is it fracturing?” I spooned the porridge into my mouth. It was tasteless. I counted that a blessing.

  “No idea. We can’t get close enough and the scanners have too short a range. That’s why we need you. Can’t even get a deep-diving suit close to the area.”

  Jordon spent the next ten minutes telling me all about how he built the city and nothing about why it was built. It was likely he didn’t know. I’d bet that Rake and Elena had a good idea.

  “Corin,” Elena said as we stepped out of the mess hall. I stopped and turned. The other two kept on walking.

  “Yes?”

  “Corin Hayes?” It was the tone of her voice which caused my stomach to drop. I took a half-step back, turning side on, and clenched my fists.

  “That’s me,” I said, lowering my chin a little. My ribs still ached a little and I really didn’t want to do this.

  “I heard about you.” She hadn’t moved and a quick glance showed that her hands were still in her pockets.

  “Really?” My heart was hammering in my ears.

  “Yeah.” She shook his head a little. “Real sorry about your kid. I got two of my own, though I haven’t seen them for a couple of months. Not sure what I’d do if mine died.”

  “Thanks.” I didn’t relax. I’d made that mistake before.

  “I was on Base 1 when the news broke about the murder. I put a call through to my kids as soon as I could. Just to check. Did they ever catch that twisted son of a bitch?”

  “No,” I said in a heavy voice, “not yet.”

  “Ah.” She nodded, to herself it seemed. “I shipped out the next day. Anyway, like I said, I’m real sorry.”

  “Thank you.” I let my hands relax, the tension and adrenalin leaving my body. No fight today and I counted that a victory.

  “I’ll see you out there,” Elena said, and walked to the nearby stairs before turning back, glancing over her shoulder. “Maybe we can have some dinner afterwards?”

  “I’d like that,” I said. Score one for the pity factor. It was about all I had and sometimes it worked.

  # # #

  I wouldn’t be leaving via the moon-pool. The suit had been stored in a hastily emptied locker a few steps from one of the airlocks on the same level. It would have been fitted out with all the usual connectors I needed and a store of Oxyquid would have been added.

  Back in my room, I emptied my bladder. Needing a piss in a Fish-Suit was never pleasant. I gave my ribs the once over. They would be doing a lot of work today, dragging in and pushing out the Oxyquid. I met my own eyes in the mirror. They weren’t rimmed with the red evidence of a night’s drinking and I could, for the first time in a long while, look deep into them. There was just the hint of self-respect in them, but I recalled the package that Derva was holding onto for my return and the hint faded away.

  I left and headed down the stairs following the signs through bulkhead doors and past the docks. It was a strange thing to walk on floors that did not creak under your weight. Rounding a corner, I stopped dead. Keller standing by an open door, looking into the compartment beyond and next to the door was the airlock. I watched and waited.

  The door blocked my view of his actions. I saw him raise an arm and drag something out from the locker. He held it up to his face and rotated the object, examining it. It wasn’t hard to recognise, it was one of my suit gloves. I saw him put it back in the locker and step forward into the locker itself, the one containing my Fish-Suit.

  My breath stuck in my throat. I could shout out now and challenge him, or wait and see what he did. You didn’t touch another man’s suit. It just wasn’t done. Out in the deep, that suit was the only thing between you and a painful, though quick, death.

  Each user was responsible for their own suit. They’d taught us to operate, maintain and fix the things. I could take apart the filter and put it back together before I got anywhere close to putting it on. Knowing how it worked, and that you’d made sure it worked, was part of the process of feeling safer when the Oxyquid was forced up your nostrils and down your throat. When you took that first breath that wasn’t a breath of air. When the panic set in you needed to know it was safe, that you’d made it so.

  He was in there a while. I didn’t like the feeling, so I backed off down the corridor, making as little noise as possible. Ten steps away I took a deep breath and began to sing, quite loudly, a song I’d heard a few times on the clip shows back home. After a two bars, I started walking towards the corner. Within five steps, I heard the locker door shut but didn’t stop singing. I rounded the corner and saw Keller stood by the airlock door.

  “You’re late,” he snapped and tapped his watch.

  “So
rry,” I replied. “Anyway, I’m here now. We all ready to go?”

  He stared at me. There was real anger in eyes and I didn’t know why. He’d come close to being caught messing around with my Fish-Suit so I expected some anger, as a cover, but this looked genuine. Curious.

  “Your suit is in there.” He pointed to the locker I’d seen him going through. “You have the code?”

  “Yep, got it,” I said.

  “Good.” He stopped and I could see him thinking about his next sentence. “We’ll meet on the north side. Don’t be late.”

  “Of course not,” I replied.

  Keller stood there for a moment, unsure or caught between decisions. A second later, he had made up his mind, nodded to me and left round the same corner I had used.

  The four digit code they had given me opened the locker and I dragged the suit out, along the corridor and into the airlock proper. Tapping the control panel, I stopped the outer door from closing. I wasn’t in the suit yet and if it closed some idiot might decide to flood it early.

  There was just room to lay the suit out on the floor and I began to check it. I worked from the boots up, slowly and methodically looking for tears, holes, scuffs, pinpricks, anything that could threaten the integrity of the suit. There was nothing I could see.

  Next the computer and electrics. I put on the gloves and placed the helmet on my head. Flicking my fingers on the touch pads brought up the screen and I set it to run a diagnostic. It came back clean. Everything working as it should.

  I checked the activity log and it showed the last time the suit had been used was back at home. It hadn’t been booted up since and there was no change in the operating systems or structures.

  I took it off again and laid it all out, in place, on the floor, and sat back on my haunches. There was no way to know how long Keller had spent with my suit. He could have come straight from breakfast or got here just before I rounded the corner. Any quick damage would have been visible and he was an experienced operator. He knew that I’d check it thoroughly before leaving the safety of the city.