21

 

March 25, 2042

 

The smell of iodine was all too familiar, but Gary still hated it. It was an odor associated with blood and pain, and the field hospitals that featured into the worst memories of his service as an ‘individual augmentee’ with the army in trouble zones: comrades with faces ravaged by homemade incendiaries, limbs missing, guts riddled with shards of scrap metal. Field hospitals were places of dying, not healing; and in the Middle East, they were not even safe havens, but targets. He’d never imagined he could be so glad to get back to his Navy job.

He hadn’t expected to smell iodine on this mission—the dangers involved were of a whole other level. Go figure.

The ship’s surgeon on Orion was a young woman named Bannerjee. She’d done a good job on his arm. Fortunately, it was a clean break, but the force of the blow from the cable had nearly pushed the broken bone through his flesh. In battle zones, infection was nearly guaranteed with an injury like that; but it wasn’t a concern this time. The cable was made of nano-materials—probably carbon-60 fibers—without the ragged filaments and barbs that formed the surface of steel cables that readily shredded flesh.

He’d been lucky.

Lucky that Alex Rhys had kept his head. Gary had to admit that he’d underestimated the man. There were times when he was glad to be wrong.

Modern arm casts still weren’t comfortable, but they were a lot lighter and durable than the old plaster kind. You could also get them wet, which was a bonus because Gary could really use a shower. That was the thing he was most looking forward to, now that the hab had been recalled to the surface.

But that pleasure would have to wait until after he met with his team.

He left sick bay with a warm thank you to the doctor and went down one deck to the conference room and library where Phillip Watanabe had gathered the others. He’d already briefed Phillip while the surgeon was doing her work, but there was more that hadn’t been said.

As he entered the room, his companions gathered around to offer sympathetic touches and words of relief. Ironically, they finally seemed like a team; but that didn’t change his mind. He would go ahead with his plan, because there was a second reason to do so—a more sinister one.

“Thanks, everybody,” he said. “The good news is that my arm should heal without any complications in about six weeks. The bad news is that I also suffered a slight concussion.” He noted the sharp look Phillip gave him, but at least the agent didn’t say anything. The other five made noises of surprise. “Yeah, so that means it’s too risky for me to go back down with you. Concussions are unpredictable, and so is a habitat environment on the ocean floor. The doc won’t let me take the risk.”

“You mean we’re going down to the bottom without you?” Elle asked, eyebrows disappearing behind her bangs.

“You can handle it. We’ll maintain constant contact, and I’ll still call the shots from up here. Underwater, Lee-Anna will remain in charge of everything to do with habitat operations. For any other decisions in the event I’m not available,” he turned his head, “I’m putting Alex in charge.”

Lee-Anna looked pissed. Alex actually gasped.

“I don’t want to be in command. I’m a consultant. I don’t do command.”

Gary laughed. “Command isn’t a dirty word. This is a team, remember? So, you’re the backup quarterback because I’ve been sidelined with an injury. No big deal. You’ve got the smarts, you’re a quick thinker, and you keep cool under pressure.”

“Lucky me.”

“You’ll do fine. And I know everybody will give you their full cooperation.” He found himself meeting Lee-Anna’s gaze. She looked away. “Besides, we’ve got to get this done. We know that the entity is fully aware of us, but there shouldn’t be any more daily energy transmissions to worry about for a while because the Moon has moved and will remain hidden by the sea-bottom mountain ridge to the south of Ground Zero. We have to take advantage of that time window. The downside is that because of this circumstance, our superiors, in their wisdom, have cancelled the ‘no-fly’ zone. Prematurely, if you ask me; but I don’t want any deaths on my conscience because we didn’t get the job done. While the hab is repaired and checked over, we’ll take a day tomorrow to re-evaluate plan details and get a little rest. The hab goes back down the day after. All the way down.”

He expected questions, but everyone seemed stunned. Either that, or they were all waiting to race to the showers. He dismissed them and hoped there’d be some hot water left for him.

Phillip remained behind.

“A concussion? And Doctor Bannerjee didn’t see fit to tell me?”

Gary kept his face impassive and said nothing.

“Fine. I’ll let you explain that little deception to your superiors when they ask, as I’m sure they will. Especially since you’re abandoning your responsibilities and leaving the decision making to civilians with no command experience.”

“I’ll still be close enough to keep on top of things.”

“And what if we lose communications again, or something more serious happens?”

Gary hesitated, then said, “Let’s face the facts. Once the hab gets down to the bottom, it’s the entity that will be calling the shots.”