Far From The Sea We Know (42 page)

“That’s not really helpful.”

“I know, but trust me, as you have asked me
to trust you. I absolutely will, and soon.”

“Okay. I owe you,” he said but could not
help adding, “Sooner would be much, much better than later.”

She took a breath, let it out, and made a
point of keeping direct eye contact before speaking. “For now, we
acknowledge that we will never put Humpty Dumpty together again,
and move past what we thought we knew. We need to listen and see
without editing. That is essential. Trying to put things that don’t
fit in our old tattered boxes will be fatal. Coming to conclusions
too soon could be fatal.”

“I’m good with that.”

“You may think this strange, coming from
me,” she continued, “but we need to let our guard down. Open the
gates.”

“Just remember what I’ve been telling you,”
he said. “The forces-that-be are standing by and ready. People
upstairs are waking up and not liking the smell of the coffee. The
new intel means they will begin to look at this as some kind of
invasion. I sense a hammer coming down soon. We need to pull up
some good news, and pronto. I don’t like to put it this way, but
although getting Matthew back safely can be our first priority, it
can’t be theirs.”

“I know that,” she said, “and if that is
intended to build a fire under us, we already got the message, long
ago.”

“I’m just saying how it is, so don’t stiff
the messenger. And we will need to give them specifics soon.”

“Well, I need some specifics, too. Those
ships hanging on the west horizon, that we saw when we were near
the edge of the circle earlier? What kind are they?”

“Sub chasers.” Chiffrey said. “We do need to
stay vigilant in case—”

“They’ll just make it worse,” she said. “And
you should know that by now.”

Chiffrey put up his hands in submission.
“The ships are only there as a contingency. They will only act if
we—and that means you—are in danger, being attacked, requesting
assistance. That is, if it becomes clear we are dealing with a
hostile force.”

“Did you ever stop to consider that the very
presence of the sub chasers could be perceived as an attack? I
think that’s what happened to your other ships.”

“Excuse me,” he said, stretching up his
arms. “Could use a little exercise. It’s odd. Even with fewer
people onboard, the ship seems more cramped than ever.”

“Because it’s harder to blend into the
crowd. But don’t change the subject. It’s clear now that it doesn’t
take much to elicit a response from whatever is down there.”

“That’s a little too delicate a way to put
it. If the disabling of warships doesn’t matter to you, what about
taking Matthew? Who’s next? We have to face the fact that, for all
we know, anyone could be taken from anywhere and at any time. Sure,
let’s hope for the best, but we need to be ready for the worst.
That’s my job, and if it all does come crashing down, you’ll cry
for our help just like everyone does.” He shook his head. “Sorry,
but that’s the way the world works.”

“And in that same world, the point I am
making is still completely valid.”

“Yes, but it’s a hard sell for me to make.
Maybe we already have the right balance. Those ships have not had
any trouble lately, so we might conclude that our standoff distance
is acceptable to whatever is in that craft down there.

“You still don’t know it’s a ship.”

“I won’t quibble, because we don’t need to
settle that yet. The point now is that the Navy isn’t going to
leave. They have to be ready. They won’t do anything unless clearly
attacked, as I just told you. So far, no one has been physically
harmed. Not even Matthew, as far as we know, despite his
disappearance. Though as I told you, they don’t really believe me
on that one.”

“Then what do they think?”

“That I must have missed something, that
maybe you folks pulled one over on me. Well, can you blame them?
After all, Matthew being spirited out of a sealed minisub, hundreds
of meters below the surface of the sea? Matthew, someone they were
intensely interested in, conveniently disappears? They don’t really
buy it, I can’t blame them.”

“What about the propellers in their
courtyard?”

“I know, but out of sight, out of mind.”

“There must be someone you can reach who is
not a complete moron.”

He looked at her with eyelids drawn down.
“Listen, they aren’t here. They’re getting everything from reports
and satellite images and so on, which really don’t tell them
enough. What I’m sending them must sound like the ravings of
lunatic.”

“They’re watching us?”

“Of course. I had to tell Becka she would do
well to scale back her, ah, sunbathing, in that out-of-the-way nook
near the radar mast. The resolution on these things can pick out a
flea on a hound.”

“You are disgusting,” she said.

“You’ll just have to bear me, as I am going
somewhere with all of this.”

“Couldn’t you just go there
now
?”

“Okay, no preamble. Our assumption now is
that we are being closely scrutinized, in ways that we don’t
understand and, therefore, have no idea how to protect against.
There may not even be any way.”

“So, are they panicked?”

“Not quite, but it will head in that
direction if nothing else changes. And, of course, there is still a
strong level of denial as you move up from where I am directly
involved to the higher decision-making grids. My point is we have
to continue on the basis that there is some directed purpose to
everything that has happened so far and especially in Matthew’s
abduction. We need a plan soon, and the best way to come up with
one is by working together. I think it’s time we spoke to your
father. But you need to first.”

“You don’t get to say that.”

He turned away from her and, shaking his
head, ran his hand along the rim of the single porthole of the
small lab. “Listen, if you want to blame someone, blame me. It’s
the truth, after all. Go talk to him. Please.”

Penny left Chiffrey and walked the deck for
a while until she came to the
Bluedrop
in its cradle. After
the minisub had surfaced on that terrible day, she had sat with her
father until it was clear he would be fine, but then had retreated
to the cabin. Since then, she had avoided him completely.

She wasn’t sure about everything Chiffrey
had told her, but she did need to speak to her father, even if it
was the last thing she wanted right now. After staring at the
Bluedrop
for a while longer, she just started walking,
letting her legs take over until she found herself standing in
front of her father’s improvised quarters in a storage room. She
knocked.

“Not now, please.”

“Dad, it’s me.”

A brief silence, then he opened the
door.

“It’s time we cleared away the debris,” she
said. “Don’t you think?”

He gave her the stern face that he sometimes
used, until a rare look of sadness came into his eyes. “Yes, a job
that takes two,” he said. “Come in.”

“Dad, I didn’t come here to blame you.”

“As they usually say, there’s plenty of
blame to go around. But none for you on this one, and I seem to
have taken far more than my fair share. I should have listened, and
I didn’t. I am so sorry.”

“Matthew wanted to go, I know that. He might
have been taken even if he hadn’t gone down. At this point, there’s
no reason to think that’s impossible.”

“I should have considered more, should have
been more…careful.”

“Your least favorite word, but that’s not
who you are, we both know that, and we know nothing is going to
change on that score. So let’s dispense with the contrition.”

“That’s laying it on with a trowel, don’t
you think?”

“It’s the truth.”

“And this from the daughter who is always
saying, ‘You don’t know me.’”

“I don’t have to know you to accept what you
do and will keep doing. And I didn’t come here to spar.”

He paused and considered with that bemused
manner that never quite left him, even in dire circumstances. He
wasn’t going to answer, so she added, “What’s important is getting
Matthew back.”

“Of course.”

“Then if it’s obvious, why aren’t we doing
anything? Chiffrey needs us to look like we have a game plan soon,
so he can bring a bird back to his handlers. Otherwise they’ll move
in and we may lose our only chance to find Matthew.”

“I know, he filled me in,” her father said.
“And they’ll likely give us the boot when we get enough results for
them to take over, whether we have found Matthew or not. They want
to be free to plunder whatever it is down there.”

“There isn’t anyone else we can turn
to.”

He nodded. “I’m afraid in this case, the
devil you know really
is
better. So let’s get Chiffrey in
here.”

He used the intercom to call the bridge.
“Emory, is that you? Good. See if you or someone can locate our
lieutenant and have him come to my cabin, please.” He clicked off
before Emory had a chance to question him.

She did her best to catch him up on the
conversation she had just had with Chiffrey. When he arrived, she
was happy to see that he didn’t fake surprise at being called in.
Her father motioned him to the stool, but before he even sat down
Chiffrey said, “We’re agreed that what we all have in common is
seeing Matthew safe again, but I have people to convince that we
are doing everything possible to find out what is going on here.
I’d like to know what’s your take on this, Doctor Bell. What should
we do next?”

“Are you ready to listen?” her father
said.

“Always ready.”

“All right then. We’ve seen how easy it is
for a warship to be disabled. We’ve now seen what can happen with a
submersible—even the disabling of its occupants. Even…well, we
still don’t know what really happened down there.”

“I need to give them options.”

“First, send the warships away.”

“Well…”

“That is an option, and a good one. This
forward-leaning stance can only be seen as provocative and is only
complicating the situation. If need be, you have the means to move
in quickly. They have their satellites to keep an eye on us.”

Chiffrey sighed, did his ear scratching
routine, and said, “Not a string I can pull, sorry. We need a plan.
Options they can accept.”

“Lieutenant, I’m a scientist so I am always
looking at the best way to get the most results with the least
cost. Not so much because of economics, but simply because it takes
so much work and time to get anywhere and there is neither to
waste.”

“I trust your judgment on that completely,
but the scientific mission is not the only fish frying on the
grill. I’m here to serve you and advise you and to see that we stay
within the boundaries of acceptable risks.”

“I appreciate that,” her father said.

“Then I hope you can appreciate that in any
other situation, the reasonable thing to do now would be to pull
back the
Valentina
. And even in our present circumstance
that might make more sense than just sitting here in the crosshairs
doing nothing, which we are at the moment. I can’t sell that. If
you have any specific strategies in mind, now’s the time to lay
them on the table.”

“Lieutenant,” her father said, “Matthew
needs our help. If we can find him, he might well be the loose cord
to the whole tangle.”

“Penny and I have already agreed on
that.”

“And if we can’t crack this soon,” her
father said, “what about him?”

Before Chiffrey could answer, Malcolm
appeared at the hatchway.

“Sorry to interrupt. Ah, Lieutenant, we just
had a call from the Navy, from Admiral Stassen, I think he said. Or
maybe Stetson, like the hat.”

“You mean Statsen.”

“Right. He needs you to call him
immediately. On your satphone. He specifically requested that.”

Chiffrey’s gaze seemed to fix in space for
an extra moment, then he smiled, but barely. He said, “You’ll have
to excuse me.”

“Very well,” her father said. “Let me know
when we can meet again.

“I certainly will, Doctor. Again, please
excuse me.”

Penny watched him make his way out of the
cabin, a little too quickly. His people had never before called and
left a message like this. They wouldn’t have now unless it were
extra important. She turned to her father and let out a breath.

“I hope that’s not more trouble,” her father
said. “In any case, your old Dad needs to attend to some business,
dear, and it’s a bit of a stroll to the head from here.”

“Afterwards, you can move back into your
cabin.”

“No, I didn’t mean that. I’m fine in
here.”

“No arguments,” she said, raising her
eyebrows like swords drawn. “There’s plenty of extra room in the
women’s quarters now that Mary’s gone, and that’s where I should be
anyway.”

“Well, then. Thank you.”

She gave him a long hug and said, “Let me
know when Chiffrey surfaces again, okay?”

“Have a feeling that won’t be
necessary.”

After moving out of the cabin and stowing
her gear under the first empty bunk she saw in the women’s
quarters, Penny ran into Becka on the foredeck. Becka was telling
her that she had identified three more known amino acids in the
tissue sample when her voice trailed off. Penny turned and saw
Chiffrey marching towards them. He looked pale, and when he was
almost to them, he froze as if he hadn’t seen them at first. His
usual innocent face was gone, and what had replaced it made her
chest tighten. Fear. Held in check, but it was there. He did not
bother to establish rapport.

“I have some news for Penny, and I’m afraid
I need to talk to her alone.”

Becka stiffened a little. “Don’t let me keep
you.”

They watched her as she walked away,
hurrying a little as she rounded the bulkhead.