Undersea (8 page)

F211 had signaled the
Uni
, so when Ralla and Thom stepped off the transport it was to a hero’s welcome. Everyone they knew, and everyone those people knew, filled the large forward bay and the corridor beyond. Cameras broadcast their arrival throughout the ship.

Of course, it was predominantly for Ralla. Her father did his best to look regal as he greeted his only child, back from the dead. The tears were real, though his standing was not. He was supported by no less than two aides and a hastily made brace hiding under his robes.

Thom spotted Olly and the crew, but before he could wave, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Ralla had released her father and was now kissing a tall, handsome young man, much to the delight of the crowd. Thom was glad the cameras weren’t on him. To their credit, Olly and his friends either didn’t notice the look of disappointment and jealousy on his face, or said nothing if they did. 

As the mass of people slowly made their way out of the bay, Thom received more pats on the back and handshakes than he could count. The crowd moved with them and in front of them, as if a single entity. Thom started walking slower and slower, letting the bulk of the crowd—and the cameras with their built-in spotlights—follow Ralla, her father, and Mr. Handsome. Thom caught glimpses through the crowd of the two holding hands. After a few more minutes, Thom just stopped, and his friends stopped with him. They all understood what he was doing, and he motioned for them to go the other direction down the corridor. They were able to disappear through a lock in the Dockyard.

The Dockyard was the largest bay on the ship, running down the keel for almost the entire length of the Garden. This was where the largest ships were able to dock, and even be lifted from the water if the need arose. With the reduction in the average sizes of the ships in the
Uni
’s small merchant fleet, it wasn’t used much anymore.

At least, it hadn’t been. The amount of activity surprised Thom as they made their way across the huge space. Subs hung from cradles. Groups gathered around long tables all around the pool, which had its lock closed. People with carts drove trailers of parts big and small all over. Sparks flew from grinding. Searing bright pinpricks of light denoted welding. There was activity everywhere. Seeing his confusion and his pace slow, Olly nodded to the lock on the far side.

“I know it’s only been a few days, but a lot has changed. We’ll explain at the bar,” Olly said over the din.

It took them a few more minutes to cross the space, then a few more to make their way down the main corridor on that other side of the ship. A short elevator ride later and they were at The Landing getting utterly annihilated. Thom drank for free.

Ralla exhaled slowly to the silence of her cabin. Behind her, Cern closed the door, and as soon as his hands left the door controls they were on her shoulders. Suddenly he was this abnormal presence in her space. She smoothly slipped away and stepped further into her quarters. Things were different.

“I cleaned up a bit while you were gone. I couldn’t think what else to do,” Cern explained, sensing her confusion. She didn’t know what to say. The bed was made with her favorite pale green sheets. Her glass desk was empty of its usual clutter. Gone were the piles of clean and dirty clothes, presumably in one of the closets. Even the curtain that had fallen and been forgotten was rehung. It was all very sweet of him, so why was she so uncomfortable? He tried rubbing her shoulders again, and his soft touch was grating. She ducked away from him again.

“I’m sorry, Cern. Please. I just need some time alone.”

“OK, sure. I understand,” He held his hands up and gave his patented disarming smile. “Can I see you later?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“OK, well, I’ve got dinner planned for us with some of the Council members tomorrow. I’ll send you the info.”

“Cern...”

“What?”

“Nothing. I’ll talk to you later.”

He stepped up and kissed her on the forehead, then left. She fell backwards onto her bed, hoping for sleep, but got nothing.

IX

“At some point do, any of you actually want to listen to what I have to say?” Ralla said rather loudly over the varied conversations. The conversations continued.

 The Council chamber was full. Each of the eight other Council members plus her father sat at their seats, while their various aids behind them jockeyed for position amongst each other. Mixed in were the Chief of Mechanics, Chief of the Fleets, and for good measure, representatives of the Farmer’s lobby, the Fisherman’s lobby, and the Dock and Bay Workers’ Union. Captain Sarras sat stoically in his seat at the end of the black glass table closest to the door. Ralla stood at the other end, her back to the balcony and the Yard. Sarras was a tall, thin man with black hair, angular features, and a piercing stare. His body made no unnecessary movements, which made him an odd person to look at. He rose slowly from his seat. The room silenced immediately. His eyes focused sharply on Ralla.

“Miss Gattley. Please tell us of the
Population
and your time there,” he said, before sitting back down as slowly as he had gotten up.

Ralla stifled a smile, and told the silent room of the previous days. When she got to the part of the flooding and the presumed murder of the personnel in the dome, there was hushed surprise and concern from the room. She took a moment to drink some water from the table, mostly to give her a chance to gather her own composure. Cern Hennorr caught her eye, and gave her a wink. She pretended she didn’t notice, lowered the aquamarine glass to the table, and continued with the briefing. She finished with the escape and the journey back to the
Uni
.

“There were a few other things that Thom and I noticed. Their ship is in bad shape. Really bad. Worse than ours. Things were rusted, corroded. They seem to be doing fine with food—we didn’t see anyone wanting for anything—but it was as if none of them could see what was right in front of them: how much danger they were in by letting their ship fall apart before their eyes.” Her comments were not lost on the Council members, but not in the way she had hoped.

“Miss Gattley, were you able to discern their overall military strength?” Council Junior Larr said, interrupting.

“No, we didn’t have time.”

“How about overall fleet numbers, sizes, that kind of thing?”

“No, that information wasn’t in the terminals we found,” she replied with a sigh. Larr nodded and leaned back in his chair, as if done with the entire proceedings.

“Let us adjourn for the day and go over what Miss Gattley has said. We’ll meet back here tomorrow and discuss our next plan of action,” Council Proctor Jills said, rising from his seat opposite Sarras. The Captain also stood, nodded once at Ralla, and left with his two lieutenants.

The room started to empty, and aides came up to her with questions their bosses didn’t want to ask in front of the room. Her father nodded at her as he was wheeled out in his cart, and she nodded back. Cern stood off to the side, patiently waiting. One by one the aides got their answers, and left quickly to report back. Soon, the room was empty, and Cern and Ralla were able to step out onto the balcony overlooking the Yard. He wrapped his arm around her, and kissed her on the top of her head.

“We all just figured they were holding you for ransom. When we hadn’t heard anything after a few days, I started pressuring the Council to organize a rescue party.”

“I’m sure that went over well,” Ralla said, turning towards him and freeing herself from his arm in one motion. She looked up at his face. He really did have some amazing eyes, she thought.

“After hearing all that you were going though… it kills me I wasn’t there for you.”

“Well I did do OK by myself.”

“And this Thom guy. I’ll have to thank him personally.”

“I’m sure he’ll love that.” Her sarcasm was completely missed as Cern nodded, looking out into the Yard.

“Is everything OK? I didn't hear from you last night.”

“Everything is fine. I just needed some time to myself.”

“I missed you, that's all,” he said, hugging her.

“I missed you too.” After a pause, she returned the hug.

This time, Mrakas Gattley was in bed when Ralla arrived, and he looked grateful for it. The bedcovers were pulled up to his chin, and he was pale, gaunt, and shivering. She sat down on the edge of his bed and he took her arm in his hand. She leaned over and curled up next to him, like she had done since she was a little girl. He rested his hand on her head and, the world temporarily forgotten, she fell quickly asleep.

The next morning, Ralla and Cern met for breakfast at a restaurant halfway up the starboard wall in the Yard. It had a terrace that stuck out from the wall, offering unmatched views of the greenery through the hanging vines. The food was mostly fresh vegetables, with some fish, and for the more flush patrons, even fresh eggs. The owner seated them at the best table, at the apex of the terrace, and made it a point to bring them two omelets, on the house. Even Cern was impressed, and he thanked the owner profusely.

Cern was almost as well known around the Yard as Ralla herself, though perhaps not shipwide. His parents had been extremely successful turning his father’s fishing business into a small empire, with a few dozen ships and their own processing facility in the outer ring. They supplied fish to half the restaurants in the Basket. While neither of his parents had aspired to politics, they might as well have, as there were few decisions made by the Council that didn’t involve input from one or both of the Hennorrs. They owned an entire shipsuite on the bow side of the Yard. Tenncy Hennorr and Mrakas Gattley had known each other, and were often friends, their whole lives. When the Hennorrs had Cern, many within the families and throughout the Yard, secretly hoped for a daughter.

They inevitably grew up together, but ended up going to two different schools for most of their education: Ralla at the leadership school Ahead, while Cern attended the larger business school that was part the ship’s college. Though their families lived only a few minutes from each other, after adolescence they ended up seeing each other only in passing and on holidays. After school they reconnected, and much to the delight of their parents, started dating. That was five years ago.

Ralla knew from his silent wince that he wasn’t enjoying his omelet. She reached across the table, jabbed the remainder with her fork, and swung it over to her plate. He scowled, but said nothing. She hadn’t taken more than a few bites when she noticed a young man nosily making his way across the restaurant. She recognized him as an aide assigned to the council, but couldn’t remember his name. As he approached the table, his eyes couldn’t leave the double stack of omelet on her plate. He addressed it as he spoke to her.

“Miss Gattley, the Council requests your presence immediately.”

“Uh...” she said, motioning towards the plate, even though his eyes still hadn’t left it.

“I’m sorry, Miss Gattley. They said I needed to find you and bring you down to the Dockyard immediately.”

“The Dockyard?”

“Yes. I was told to say to you, ‘Sunlight.’”

Ralla was out the door before her dropped fork settled to the floor. Cern nodded at the aide, and then motioned at the omelet. The younger man’s eyes went wide.

The Dockyard was empty, save for a dozen or so people gathered around Ralla and Thom’s stolen attack sub. There were four Council members including Jills and Larr, their long maroon robes a stark contrast to the wet gray steel of the deckplates. A handful of techs and mechanics poked at different areas of the sub. A half-dozen aides and two very out of place and armed marines hovered nearby. Standing and slightly swaying, facing it all, was Thom. He turned as she approached, then turned back to the sub. Jills and Larr separated from the group and approached Thom and Ralla with the marines in tow. Jills raised his hand to silence Ralla before she spoke.

“Miss Gattley, you are not to speak. If you say a word to Mr. Vargas, you will both be confined to the brig until the current crisis is resolved. If I am clear you may nod.”

She did as he instructed.

“Mr. Vargas, would you please tell us exactly how you escaped from the submarine
Population
.”

Thom shook his head like he had just woken up, thought about the question for a moment, and then started to tell them about the previous days, starting with the escape from Dome M3324 and how they got on board the
Population.
When he started talking about their theft of the attack sub, Larr raised his hand.

“Stop,” Larr said, his eyes darting between Ralla and Thom. “Now I want you to tell us what happened, starting at the point you landed here and working your way backwards. Spare no detail.”

“Ummmm...” Thom said slowly. He started to turn around to look at Ralla.

“Do not look at Miss Gattley. Do not move at all. Marine, garnish your weapon.”

Without hesitation, the marine did as he was asked. Thom froze for a moment, resumed swaying a bit, and then turned back towards the Councilmen. It took him a moment, but he relayed the story starting with their celebrated return, then the farming dome, back to the sub, the escape, and the rest of the days back to Dome M3324. The whole time, Larr’s eyes continued to dart between Ralla and Thom. Once finished. Jills looked at Larr, who seemed satisfied. Jills nodded at the marines who saluted and left.

“I apologize, Miss Gattley, Mr. Vargas,” Jills said, placing his hands into his robe.

“There was something on the sub,” she said.

“Yes.”

“Is it leading them here?”

“We don’t think so, not exactly. The technicians are pretty sure it can’t escape the
Uni
’s hull, but it’s powerful enough to transmit for hundreds of miles in the water.”