Far From The Sea We Know (20 page)

It was as if Matthew were watching someone
else’s dream. He looked at Penny, but she just glanced at Lorraine,
and said in a low voice, “Sorry, but I’m close to my limit
here.”

Lorraine’s laughter had simmered down to a
steady rhythm of soft giggles. She smiled and seemed blissfully
happy.

A knock sounded on the hatch. “It’s me.
Dirk.”

Matthew opened it slowly and Dirk leaned in.
“The Captain would like to see you two in his cabin. Right away.
There will be a meeting after lunch, everyone who can make it, in
C-lab. I’ll watch her for now.”

“Be our guest,” Penny replied and headed
out. “If she demands food, just throw her a mackerel.”

“Huh?” Dirk looked at Lorraine, who was
still giggling. “She okay?”

“Lorraine’s going to need some lunch,”
Matthew said. He started out the hatchway and gave Dirk a sign to
follow. They stopped a half-dozen steps down the passageway.

“Watch her, and be ready for anything,”
Matthew said. He tapped his temple and spun his finger. “A
tranquilizer may be in order. Maybe whatever they gave the
cameraman. Do you want me to send someone else?”

“They promised me some help in a while.”

“Okay.” He reached over, held Dirk’s forearm
and whispered, “Watch yourself.”

Dirk returned the clasp and said quietly,
“Guess I just need to roll with all this.”

“What do you mean?”

“What?”

“What you just said. Why did you say that?
You said, ‘I need to roll.’”

“Nothing, really.”

“I’m late,” was all Matthew could finally
manage, letting it go not so much by decision as overload. He
turned and ran down the corridor to catch up with Penny. They
walked quickly down toward Thorssen’s cabin, his breath faster than
the short run would account for.

“What’s up now?” she asked.

“What’s not?”

“I mean this meeting with Captain Thorssen.
Any idea?”

“All bets are off at the moment.
Lorraine…”

“She doesn’t seem to think it at all strange
that a whale spoke to her or whatever she believes happened. Almost
seems like psychotic delusion.”

They arrived at Thorssen’s cabin. Penny
knocked.

“Enter,” came the reply.

Matthew pressed up close against Penny’s
back as she swung the door open and stood in the hatchway.

“We’ve been talking since I got a call from
Martin,” Thorssen said, glancing at Chiffrey who sat like a child
on a low stool by the desk.

Penny guided Matthew to the bed, and they
sat down side by side. “What’s the news from Dad?” she asked.

“Not so good. He got a call from someone on
the Board at the Point. Questioning his judgment for our change of
plans. And for getting involved with the military.”

Penny glanced at Chiffrey. “And whoever else
they are.”

“As I mentioned before,” he said, ignoring
her dig, “what we would like to do is work together on this. We
need your help.”

“Then don’t go behind our backs,” Penny
said.

Chiffrey leaned back on his stool and
smiled. “I’ve just made a promise to the Captain that I will make
an all-out effort to persuade the brass to give you a high enough
level of security clearance that you get all of our side of the
story. We’ll catch more flies with sugar—that’s what I told them
and I know they’ll go along.”

“And what about us?” Penny asked. “You must
know that we will eventually make public and put into the record
whatever we find. Isn’t that likely to conflict with your so-called
‘security’?”

“Mine, no. The Air Force or certain other
agencies of the federal government, it depends. I can’t give you a
guarantee—much as I’d like to—that you will be able to print
everything.”

“Well, then,” Penny said.

“I can, nevertheless, say that we are not
interested in suppressing any information having to do with marine
science. We still don’t know what phenomenon we are really dealing
with here, of course. In the end, it may have nothing to do with
your work out here, and truth to tell, that would be my best guess
at present.”

He almost laughed. “Look, you’re in way over
your heads here, and I’m not talking about water. You need us, too,
and probably more than you realize.”

Matthew was tired and had decided to just
listen. Besides, he could see that Penny had enough wind in her
sails for both of them. Now she was starting on a new tack. “We
know there’s more to it than the technical problems with your
radar.”

“With a bit of luck, I’ll be able to fill
you all in later. Now wait a sec, please—”

“Later, it will have to be,” Thorssen said,
holding up his hand like a referee. “We have a meeting in half an
hour, so we better get to lunch.”

“Now that, at least, is something we can
work on together.” Chiffrey spoke as if everything had worked out
great, when it clearly hadn’t.

Matthew got up first and went out, the rest
following him down the passageway.

“You’re the cause of all this!” Ripler cried
as he came around the corner from nowhere and pointed his index
finger in Matthew’s face like a sword. He grabbed Matthew by his
shirt collar and wouldn’t let go. Mary Sims appeared and tried to
pull Ripler back, but he was oblivious to her efforts.

“I hold you responsible for the death of
that whale!” he yelled in Matthew’s face, spraying him with saliva.
“Why didn’t you
listen
!”

Matthew took Ripler by the wrist and stared
into his ravaged eyes. Anguish played upon every muscle in his
face, contorting it into a mask of despair. There was incredible
strength in his grip and the shirt collar tightened around
Matthew’s neck.

“Jack, let go. We still don’t know for
sure…”

“She’s dead, dead, dead! Nothing but evil
you’ve brought, wretched fool, they’re using you, why can’t you
see? Leave us now before…”

All at once the tension dissolved out of
Ripler’s hitherto taut body and he collapsed to the floor like
clothes gone empty of their wearer. He sat leaning forward with his
legs straight out like a child, his head in his hands. Matthew
still held his wrist but loosened his grip. Mary supported Ripler
from behind.

“Let’s get him to a quiet place,” Chiffrey
said to Mary. He turned toward Thorssen and whispered something
about tranquilizers.

“Do you think…,” Matthew said. “I mean, I
could try—”

“Best if we take it from here,” Chiffrey
said. Matthew got the meaning clear enough and nodded agreement.
With Mary’s help, Thorssen and Chiffrey got Ripler up and guided
his listless form back toward the infirmary.

Matthew felt Penny’s hand on his hip.

“You okay?”

“Not really.”

“Go to my room. I’ll bring us something to
eat.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“And maybe you could air out the bottle for
me. It’s past noon.”

“No argument.”

He held her hand and drew her closer. Her
breath warmed his neck, but the feeling combined with the lingering
sensation of Ripler’s hand tugging and shaking him.

“Okay, so go,” he said. “I’m starving.

He looked at her, and the innocence of a
child suddenly smiled through her face. Why would she want to have
anything to do with him?

She walked away, and said over her shoulder,
“Don’t complicate it, Matthew.”

And, of course, he already had.

“What’s the buzz in the galley?” Matthew
asked as Penny backed into the cabin carrying two plates of some
kind of stir-fry. He had already poured shots of scotch into paper
cups, though his own was still untouched.

“Ripler,” was all she said at first. Then
when she saw his face, “No, he’s not there but he might as well be.
His meltdown’s got everyone going. I could never understand it,
really, but he’s always had this way of influencing people. And
lately, he’s been almost messianic.”

“He’s not the only one.”

“If you mean a few more people are turning
fey almost every day, no, he’s not.” She picked up her scotch and
drank it straight down. “I swear by this. Keeps me immune.”

She splashed another shot into her cup,
seemingly untouched by the day’s events.

He looked at the bottle. “About gone.”

“I’ve got another.”

He glanced at her.

“Not interested in your opinion,
Matthew.”

“Well, I’m interested in yours. What’s
happening to people here?”

She grew silent and seemed to be looking
somewhere else. “It’s reminiscent of the effect of psychotropic
drugs, particularly hallucinogens. Euphoria and obsessive wonder,
at least for a while. Ripler seems the worst. Manic, almost
apocalyptic.”

“But I doubt if somebody is spiking the
coffee.”

“And unlikely to be accidental, like ergot
poisoning.” She took a few bites of the stir-fry and, without
looking up, said, “Some of the behavior is highly reminiscent of
religious hysteria. I have no idea why this would happen here, but
something is touching people, and for some, touching them
deeply.”

“Except you.”

She gave him a weary smile. “Not much gets
to me. Hey…are you all right?”

Like beads from an endless string, he
fell through soundless space, past time and light, past all thought
and understanding, fell one by countless one into a single instant
with no beginning or boundary
…

He drifted
…

“
Maaaathew? Heeeyyy!”

The bed came up as if catching him, and he
clutched the sheet like a lifeline. Penny was leaning over him. Her
face, finally coming into focus, showed fear.

“Matthew?”

“How did I get back?…”

“Don’t you
ever
do that again!” she
said, and let out a deep breath.

“How long?…”

“A few minutes.” She reached for the bottle.
“Any more and—listen, I don’t want you wheeled away strapped to a
gurney, okay?” She brought the drink close to his mouth.

“Smells like violets,” he said.

“Drink it!”

He took the paper cup with both hands,
swallowed a sip and savored the taste. “I don’t know, but just for
a moment there, it did smell like violets. Really.”

He had never seen her flustered like
this.

“Penny, I’m okay. I don’t know what
happened, but I’m fine now.”

“All right, all right,” she said, “but it’s
creepy enough around here as it is.” She looked at his plate.
“Maybe you should eat, the meeting’s in ten minutes.”

He was hungry, and dove into the mounds of
vegetables and rice, happy that he had an excuse to eat fast.

“Slow down!” she almost yelled. “Remember
Emory?”

He slowed down, but not by much. In between
mouthfuls, he asked her what had happened. She kept a steady eye on
him.

“You just zeroed out. You wouldn’t answer
me, you were just staring off into empty space. Then you fell back
on the bed.”

“Glazed over?”

“No, you looked peaceful, although…I had a
sudden feeling you would never come back.” She gave him a gentle
shove. “I’m not through with you yet.”

“What?”

“Kidding.”

Her plate was empty. He had no memory of her
eating anything.

“Did you eat when I was unconscious?”

“Of course not.”

“But…”

“Are you sure you’re back?”

“Yes, and I didn’t do it on purpose, you
know.”

“Just get a grip. We need you.”

“And what about you?”

“I’ve had enough talk,” she said and flung
her arms around his neck.

“Don’t we only have a few minutes?”

“Yes, so let’s use them.”

She fell over him on the bed, and every part
of her was like a puzzle finding the one place in him that fit
perfectly. Her hair washed over his face like a balmy breeze, and a
memory came back, then slipped away, not lasting long enough to be
forgotten.

When Matthew walked into the crowded C-lab
with Penny, he decided he did not want to spend the entire meeting
with all those eyes drilling into the back of his neck, and went to
stand against a bulkhead near a porthole. The Captain was up front,
leaning against a lab counter. Chiffrey was up there as well,
looking back at the crew. Mary Sims was off to the other side.
Malcolm and Emory, looking subdued but content, stood at the back
on the other side of the entryway. Dirk was still watching Lorraine
Hart in the equipment room. Becka was with Ripler in the infirmary,
and his absence became a presence impossible to ignore.

More crewmembers arrived, most of whom he
had barely met. A few others would not attend, as they were needed
to run the ship. This was just as well, as it was doubtful that the
lab could hold any more. People had been talking among themselves
but now became silent.

The Captain looked up, slowly perused the
room and began to speak.

“Don’t want this meeting any longer than
necessary. First, an update. Two or probably three US Navy vessels
are going to reach us within the hour to take off the news team.
Jack Ripler is also leaving us.”

There was a murmur in the room and someone
asked, “What happened to Jack, anyway?”

“A nervous breakdown, perhaps with some kind
of clinical hysteria. Becka staying with him now. Been given a
sedative. Expect most of you heard the details of what happened in
the corridor.”

Some of the crew looked at Matthew. He held
their gaze until they eventually looked away.

Mary Sims looked around anxiously and spoke.
“‘Hysteria’ might be too strong. However, it may be best if Jack
gets some rest back home. He has a sister north of Seattle, and we
will contact her soon, I am sure, and he could—”

The door flew open.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Ripler yelled, entering
like an actor taking center stage. “Not getting rid of me as easily
as that, I’m happy to inform you.” He stood facing them, the
picture of good health and abundant vitality. Becka was nowhere in
sight.