Submerged, page 12
Theo had never forgotten the wail that erupted from his brother when he’d heard the news—just as he had never forgiven Charlie for the pain she had caused his brother by being born—the kind of cry that imprinted on your brain and never let you forget.
“Here you are,” Erwyna said, gesturing to the open doorway off the hall. Charlie headed in and Theo snapped out of his melancholy mood, muscling his way past Callum and Kaerius so he was second into the room.
Noise bombarded them as soon as they entered, so much so that Charlie was forced to shout to be heard. “Hey!” she shouted, but Malik and the soldiers continued to inundate her with questions.
“Listen up!” he called, his voice thundering against the stone walls of the room. Charlie rounded on him, her dark blue eyes—so like her mother’s—flashed with rage. “Charlie has something to say.”
His niece blinked in surprise and cocked her head for a moment before turning to face the room.
“Alright asshats, Cyraeni says we can take a sub out of here to bring Ria’s body—to bring her back home. I think you all should be on it, it would go a long way to making any sort of progress in food negotiations,” she said, hand planted on her hips as she stared down the room full of soldiers and Malik.
“Charlie, I’m sure this is a very sad occasion but I must insist—” Malik began.
“Must insist what Malik? Insist that you, the liar, be allowed to stay and attempt to build relations with the people I’ve been working with for weeks? One of my team is already dead because of you! I want you personally to go back with Jamal and face Tanis, explain to her that her daughter is dead because the UGC decided to be secretive and shitty,” Charlie shouted before Theo could stop her, her fists balled at her sides and shaking as she faced down their colleague. “Tanis trusted you! We trusted you! Ria trusted you!” Tears splashed down Charlie’s cheeks as she continued to shout, Callum had pushed his way past him and was holding her shoulders.
Theo couldn’t bring himself to say anything. Normally he would hate to let Charlie take the stage this way, to let the others think she was in charge, but Jamal’s cries echoed in his ears, overlapping the memory of his brother's own anguish from so many years ago.
“Charlie, I—” Malik began, stuttering in his attempt to finish the sentence.
Charlie sucked in a deep breath. “Just stop Malik. If you care anything for our people you’ll leave.” She swiped a hand across her face, wiping away the tears, her red rimmed eyes only making her look all the more fierce in this instance. “The soldiers have to go with you, and maybe someone to touch base with Anna, Uncle Theo, would you?”
And just like that, exactly what he wanted fell into his lap, the chance to go back to the surface and relay the information about Atlantis to Anna Kershov, to act as liaison between the two civilizations. And yet it tasted sour in his mouth, he wanted it desperately for himself of course, but not like this. He wasn’t a fool—he’d known going in that sacrifices might’ve needed to be made—but he wouldn’t have chosen this for Jamal, his protege, the young man who’d spent so many hours on his boat asking him questions and learning from him.
“Of course,” he said. It was the only answer to give. He would continue to feel bad about it but he could not pass up this opportunity to finally wrest control of this mission from her and into his own—much more experienced—hands.
“When do we set sail?” he asked.
“As soon as possible I think,” said Charlie. “Jamal is getting Ria’s—getting Ria ready. And it’ll be a tight squeeze to get you all in, I hope the new sub you came down in is comfy because you are not taking mine.”
Theo stepped into the middle of the room—it was time for him to take charge of the situation. “We’ll be fine in the new sub,” he said. “I think Charlie is right and we should go ahead and pack up to go.”
“I will let Cyraeni know you plan to leave now,” Erwyna chimed in from the doorway. She turned on her heel and walked away, effectively putting an end to any discussion.
“That settles it then,” Theo said. “Time to go gentlemen.”
“Thank you Uncle,” Charlie said before anyone else could reply. The soldiers glared but said nothing. Charlie, Callum and Kaerius left the room, leaving Theo, Malik and the soldiers to wait for Erwyna to come back and escort them to the dock.
“Malik, I’ll be sure to mention your contribution when we get back to the UGC,” Theo said.
“I’m sure you will,” Malik replied, sinking into a bamboo chair parked in the corner of the room.
There was nothing left to do but wait. Theo took the time to practice his speech for the UGC, how he could convince them that they had already lost one promising scientist to the expedition and could not afford to ignore what was there. He hoped that this trip back would be the first in a succession of expeditions to and from Atlantis, whether Cyraeni wanted them or not.
24
The slow rise to the surface—to prevent any members of the crew from getting decompression sickness from being so far underwater for so long—was interminable for Jamal.
Thankfully the ride back in the second submarine had passed by quickly enough up to this point, that actual distance from the entrance to Atlantis to the docking bay was relatively short. Still with the soldiers, Malik, Theo and himself all crowded into the craft, it was a tight fit, which resulted in Jamal spending most of the trip by himself, in the bunk assigned to him which he has insisted on laying Ria’s body on instead. He refused to allow her to be placed in the cargo area. She wasn’t cargo, she was everything, and he was not ready to be separated from her.
He used the time to rehearse what he would say to Tanis, a conversation he would never have wanted to have and could not begin to prepare himself for, but he did the best he could. He owed Ria, her mother and siblings that much at least.
The low hum of the engines ramped up suddenly, and the water craft shifted heavily to one side. Jamal braced himself against the table he sat at that was bolted to the floor. When they regained their equilibrium, he stood and made his way out to the crowded cockpit.
They rocked and swayed, several soldiers and Theo standing around the pilot’s seat looking anxiously out the front viewscreen waiting for the telltale splash when they broke the surface of the ocean. Jamal fervently wished Charlie was in that chair right now. He resolved to tell her when he saw her next just how appreciative he was of her piloting skills and the smooth ride she had provided for them.
He pushed his way through until he reached Theo’s shoulder, the older man pulling him in close with a large arm around his shoulder. “Almost home now Jamal,” he said. “Are you ready?”
“No,” Jamal replied with a dark chuckle. “But I don’t think I ever will be, how do you tell someone their child is dead?” Tears welled up in his eyes at the very thought of confronting Tanis.
Theo pulled him in closer as the pilot manoeuvred them into position at the docking bay. Jamal leaned into his mentor, muffling his tears and trying to calm his racing heart.
The hatch popped open with a hiss as the pressure equalized, Malik went out first, followed by the soldiers. Theo waited with Jamal, for which he was incredibly grateful for the opportunity to bring himself under control.
“I have to get Ria,” he said. Theo only nodded and stepped back, but didn’t leave.
Jamal made his way to the back of the craft and gingerly lifted Ria’s stiff body, tears splashing onto the soft linen Cyraeni had provided to wrap her. He carried her back to the ladder leading to the hatch and paused, staring up at the only way out and unable to think straight in his grief. He stood, dumbfounded until Theo approached and gently lifted Ria out of his arms.
“You go first, and then you can take her from me,” Theo said. Jamal nodded silently, he didn’t trust his voice just now. He made his way up the ladder and out the opening before turning and reaching back down into the craft.
Theo lifted Ria’s body and rolled her into Jamal’s arms. Due to the angle, he had no choice but to pull her cold body close to his warm one and lean back, yanking her out unceremoniously. He collapsed back against the steel frame of the sub with Ria’s body laying across his own.
Quite suddenly he found it impossible to draw breath, Ria’s unmoving form across him sucked all the air away. His dark eyes went wide and he gasped, struggling and desperate for air but seemingly unable to get any.
Then, someone pulled Ria’s body away and yanked him down the side of the sub until his feet crashed into the hard cement of the docking bay.
His knees buckled as he smashed into the hard ground and a loud shout of, “Hey!” Echoed from above. Theo dropped off the adjoining ladder on the side of the sub and hauled him up by the elbow. “Take it easy boys,” he said, addressing what Jamal assumed were the soldiers arrayed around them. His own vision swam as he fought to regain his equilibrium.
“Where’s Ria?” he asked, shaking his head to clear his foggy eyesight. “Give her to me.” He held out his arms, expecting the weight of Ria’s slight frame to fill them at any moment.
“Not so fast, we radioed ahead,” Theo said, “there’s a gurney here for her.” He motioned with one hand, drawing Jamal’s attention to the medics crowded around a medical transport bed with Ria laid out on it. The linens had been stripped off her body, leaving the large hole in chest from the spear open for everyone to see.
“No!” he cried, surging forward and throwing his body over hers. He pulled back and frantically tried to wrap her back up in the fabric that had been cut away by the medics. The strips fell away so he resorted to just laying across her prone form. “She deserves privacy! You can’t take her out of here like this!”
A large hand on his back grabbed his attention, Theodore no doubt, offering comfort once again. “Jamal, it’s okay. They’ve brought blankets, let’s just let them take her.”
“No,” he replied, “I have to tell Tanis, I have to tell her myself. Ria would’ve wanted…” he choked on a sob, “I need to be the one to tell Tanis.”
“No one is going to take her to Tanis without you, I promise,” Theo reassured him.
“Okay,” he replied, allowing Theo to lead him up the semi unstable staircase from the dock to the university building above. The top of the stairs led through a doorway guarded by nothing more than a broken door on just one hinge.
Beyond that a short trip down the hall brought them all to the library Jamal and Ria had spent so much time in. The soldiers carrying her body laid the gurney on the floor just out of the way of the library door.
Jamal sank into the well worn cushions of the couch they had spent so much time curled up on researching together, his head dropped heavily into his hands.
It didn’t take long for the sound of approaching voices to reach his ears, he couldn’t make out what they were saying but the distinctly feminine lilt let him know it was likely Anna Kershov and Tanis Noble. He jumped from the couch and rushed to make sure Ria’s body was properly covered and then stood in the doorway of the library to greet them.
“Jamal,” Anna said as they slowed to a stop, “what’s going on, we were only told that some of you came back and some stayed behind.”
Jamal ignored her and turned his attention to Tanis, her worried face swam in his field of vision as his eyes watered once more.
“Mrs Noble,” he said, taking a deep shuddering breath, “I have to tell you, something’s happened to Ria. I’m so sorry.”
“My Ria? What’s happened?” Tanis’ body began to shake and she closed the space between them in a single step, pushing past Jamal into the library behind him. He spun around and followed her in, tears trickling silently down his cheeks.
“No, nononononono.” Tanis’ legs gave out and she hit the ground with a hard thud beside the gurney where Ria’s body lay stiff and cold. Anna rushed into the room behind them and dropped to her knees beside the grieving mother, pulling her into her arms.
“Oh Tanis, I’m so sorry,” she said. Tanis listed her head from Anna’s shoulder to take a breath between sobs and exhaled on a long high pitched wail. It was like no sound Jamal had ever heard before. An indeterminate number of minutes passed while Jamal and Theo looked on, the younger man stifling his own cries as Ria’s mother cried out in a pain that none of them could understand.
Eventually she regained the ability to breathe without shaking and she turned to the blanket covering Ria, pulling it back with a gentleness usually reserved for handling only the most delicate of things. Which, Jamal supposed, is exactly what a child is to their mother—delicate, precious, priceless.
“Oh my baby,” Tanis whispered, running her hand down Ria’s cold cheek.
Anna had crossed the room to where Theo was standing well out of the way and the two were now engaged in a quiet but heated conversation. Jamal guessed she must be demanding answers.
Jamal crouched down and reached tentatively out to place a comforting hand on Tanis’ shoulder.
“I’m so sorry,” he said again.
“Jamal.” Tanis turned and looked surprised to see him for a moment. “Thank you.” She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. “Thank you for bringing her home.”
Any semblance of control he had left melted away in Tanis’ warm parental embrace. He hugged her back and they poured their grief out together, weeping with abandon over their shared loss.
25
“Silence!” Anna raised her voice to make herself heard over the back and forth arguing of the other UGC members. Theo and Malik had rejoined their colleagues and filled them in on the circumstances surrounding the death of Ria Noble and subsequent ousting of all their soldiers.
They had also brought a much more comprehensive explanation of just what they had found, including detailed notes that Ria and her partner Jamal Morgan had made during their time in Atlantis.
Now Anna watched them squabble and was struck by the similarity in this scene to the one that had started this mission almost three years ago, an argument in this same room with these same people, only Charlie McIntyre was missing. The room did seem emptier without the younger woman’s glowering face frowning at them from her customary spot leaning on the wall with her arms folded.
“We should go back and harvest whatever we can,” Malik was saying.
“I agree,” said Theo, “I have a contact on the inside we could work with to get what we need.”
“After everything that happened is that a good idea?” asked Niklas.
“Who cares if it’s a good idea, we need what they have!” Elise shouted, thumping her fist against the table.
“And we should just take what we want, is that what you’re saying?” Shakeel asked, tilting his head to the side and fixing Elise with a pointed stare.
“Quiet!” Anna tried again to silence her colleagues, they had been arguing in circles and making very little progress. Finally a hush fell across the meeting room and all eyes turned to her. Some expectant, waiting for their leader to make a decision, and some outright hostile.
“It seems to me the solution to this problem is simple one,” she began, shifting her gaze to each of them in turn as she spoke. “We negotiate with this,” she check the notes in front of her, “Cyraeni, or we walk away and keep searching.”
Shouting rose up immediately as expected, she held up a single hand to silence them again.
“This is not up for discussion, we’ve already lost one team member—”
“Exactly!” Theo shouted from the other end of the table. “One of my team members is already dead, if we don’t go back and take what we need her death is for nothing.” Others around him murmured in agreement, while still other members around the table shook their heads.
Anna took a deep breath to steady her nerves, Theo had only been back on the surface for a couple of days and he was already trying her patience. “I disagree Theodore, and I have to keep the welfare of Charlie and Callum in mind as well.”
“They chose to stay behind,” Elise said, scoffing, “I say their fate is their own problem.”
“From what Jamal has told me we wouldn’t even have the option to negotiate if not for Charlie, so let’s not dismiss them just yet,” Anna replied. Theo rolled his eyes but said nothing, and Anna tried and failed to suppress her smirk of triumph.
Niklas met her eye from across the table and shot her a quick grin. “I agree with Anna, perhaps we should send a smaller delegation, maybe with some gifts as a gesture of goodwill, to rendezvous with Charlie and Callum.”
“Ultimately I think our first goal should be to establish real time two way communication,” Johnson chimed in for the first time that afternoon.
“Good idea,” Anna replied. “Now we’re making progress.”
The round table discussions continued long into the night, with ideas being shared, shot down, repeated and eventually withdrawn until they finally arrived at a consensus for what they should do next.
Malik had the particularly brilliant idea to deploy a radio relay station buoy at the halfway point between them and the entrance to Atlantis and to send down equipment to set up a transmitter in the cave entrance, the same place Ria sent the first beacon from. From there they would have the closest thing to real time two way communication as long as the person in Atlantis was at the transmitter and the person in the colony manned the radio station.
“Alright, it seems we have come to the most workable solution,” Anna said, leaning back heavily in her chair. “I don’t know about the rest of you but I am exhausted and we all have a funeral to attend tomorrow.”
“One last thing before we recess Anna,” Theo replied, holding up his hand to stall the other members who were already pushing back from the table and standing to leave.
Anna sighed, “Yes Theo?”
“I must insist that I head up the mission to take the radio equipment down and meet up with Charlie again.”
