“Hello,” said a hushed voice, picking up on the first ring.
“Hi, this is Lieutenant Everett from Naval Safety. My office just called. You wanted to speak to me?”
“Hold up,” the voice said.
Ruby ripped open the second 5-hour ENERGY. It was empty when she placed it down into the Kia’s drink holder.
“Hello?” the voice said.
“Yes? This is Ruby Everett. Is this you, Steve?”
“No, this isn’t Steve. My name is... Screw it, I won’t even say in case they’re listening.”
Listening? Ruby thought.
“Listening? Who’s listening?” she said.
“It doesn’t matter,” the voice said. “We met on the deck of the Surmount. You said to Steve, ‘Can you go deeper?’ and I said like a jackass, ‘You’d be amazed.’”
Ah, yes, the deck ape, Ruby remembered.
“Now listen to me very carefully,” he said. “They took Steve.”
Ruby stared at the steering wheel as she tried to absorb the statement. She glanced at the empty parking lot asphalt, at the traffic going by on Interstate 10.
“Took him?”
“Yes. The government took him. He’s been medically quarantined, they said. Whatever the hell that is. But no one knows where he is. It’s like he’s been swallowed into a black hole.”
Ruby held the phone, silently trying to understand. She was having trouble. She tried to think despite her exhaustion.
“Wait. Slow down. Where are you now?” she finally said. “Still at the base?”
“Yes. They have us in a dormitory now. Tuesday, around five, they started interrogating all of us about the crash. Lie detector tests. They were complete pricks. They threatened us with jail time if we failed the test.”
“Who were they? Military investigators?”
“No. Some Washington stuffed shirts. FBI agents or something. They wouldn’t say. You should have seen how badly they treated us. They took us all into this disgusting prison cell. Asked us if we took anything from the crash site. If we knew anyone who was hiding anything they might have found. I feel like suing them.
“Now they’re saying we’re all quarantined due to some virus going around. But that’s bullshit. None of us are sick. But that doesn’t matter. We have to find Steve. Everybody came back except for him. They claim he’s really sick and is being treated at a hospital nearby. It’s complete shit. It’s all lies. He’s been secretly arrested or something.”
“C’mon,” Ruby said. “For real? Is this a joke?”
“I wish. Shit, wait! Someone’s coming,” the deck ape said quickly. “I have to go. Listen, there’s a guy in New York you need to contact for us. An independent investigative reporter. We told him what’s going on, but he needs corroboration, more info from a credible source. Here, take down this number. You got a pen?”
“Wait. No. Listen. You don’t want me. I’m actually off this,” Ruby said. “I’m on leave now. You need to contact my coworker down there. His name is Mark Thanh. He’s in charge now. He relieved me yesterday. Are you in contact with him?”
“What are you talking about? There’s nobody here except us. It’s just our crew.”
Ruby took a deep breath, trying not to lose her patience.
“You need to talk to Mark Thanh. I know he’s there. I saw him myself. He drove me to the airport. He’s a wiseass Asian guy from New York?”
“I don’t have a damn clue who you’re talking about,” the deck ape said in a kind of plea, emotional now. “Please. We haven’t seen him. We haven’t seen anyone. There’s nobody else down here. Please take down this number quick. I don’t know if they’re listening.”
Ruby rifled through her glove box.
“Okay. Shoot.”
“The reporter’s name is Eric Wheldon,” he said after she had taken the number down. “You can see him on YouTube. He has a channel.”
“An internet reporter? You mean like some conspiracy guy or something?”
“He’s the real deal, Lieutenant. He works with a lot of whistle-blowers, especially military. One of the guys here had a brother in the merchant marines, and he was screwed until he told Wheldon, who got the story in the Washington Post.”
“I don’t know if I can do that,” Ruby said.
“You need to talk to him and verify everything you know about the crash and how they got us stuck here on the base and especially that Steve is missing, okay? Contact him, please. I have to go.”
“I really don’t think I can help you,” Ruby said.
“You have to. You’re the only one who can,” the deck ape said.
Then the line went dead.