Infinity's Gateway, page 11
“Defense against what?” asked MacKay. “You just told me that Argos is impregnable. Has your area been breached?”
“No sir, nothing like that,” said Sahir. “If somehow Argos became, overloaded, for lack of a better word, with data at such an immense level that the feed could potentially damage Argos, then, strictly as a defensive move, Argos would take itself off-line.”
MacKay stared at the phone for a moment. Computer systems were not his long suit. “Update me as soon as you can.”
Colton shrugged his shoulders. “The only possibility that Sahir gave us as being practical is that somehow it became ‘overloaded’?” Colton smiled at MacKay. “Didn’t think a computer could do that, but it sounds like our impregnable Argos may have fainted.”
Before MacKay could reply, Mercer joined the two men. “We had seventeen crewmen injured. Fortunately, only three of the injuries are serious. Severin believes that they’ll recover, but they’re out of action for quite a few days. In addition to that, we have two men missing. I have a search of the ship already underway. Regarding the ship itself, as you said, we seem to be in one piece but many of our systems don’t seem to be functioning properly.”
“Explain,” said MacKay.
“For starters, as Hatfield pointed out, we’re now in much shallower water than before that wave washed over us. Also, we were well over a hundred miles from shore, but now we’re picking up a giant landmass just six hundred yards to starboard. To top everything else off, it appears that all our communications are dead,” said Mercer.
“Dead?” queried Colton.
“Yes sir, at least that’s how it looks. We have not been able to reach anyone on the radio, and we also haven’t been able to get any feeds from our satellites. What’s even stranger is that we aren’t even able to pick up anything on regular radio, I’m talking nothing on any of the AM or FM bands.”
“Well, whatever the wave was comprised of, it seems to have fried our communications gear,” said MacKay.
“Not sure if this is good news or bad news, but that’s not it. We immediately ran a system check on our communications gear and they all check out as being undamaged. But then you try to use them, and they don’t function as they should. Had they been fried, as you suggested, you would not have been able to have the call you just had with Sahir. For some reason, we’re cut off from everything outside this ship. I just can’t tell you why.”
“The landmass to starboard,” said Colton. “Have you been able to identify it?”
“Without the satellites, no, we’ve not been able to do that. At first, I thought we’d strayed into some small, isolated island, but radar indicates otherwise. From the size of it, we could be right off the coast of Florida.”
“Gentleman, I need some fresh air. Would you join me outside?” asked MacKay.
Colton and Mercer followed MacKay outside the bridge and all three men stared off into the inky blackness. In the distance they could see the faint silhouette of land, but not one light pierced the darkness. The air was thick with humidity and the same odor that had assaulted Colton as he came to was even more pronounced.
“Well,” said Mercer, “wherever we are, it doesn’t look like anybody’s home.”
“I wonder if the same thing that is affecting our communications gear could have knocked out the power on the mainland,” said Colton. “It scares me to think of the possibilities, but the facts we’re facing are starting to lead me to some pretty serious conclusions.”
“What are you suggesting?” asked MacKay.
Colton gave a small smile, but there was no humor in it. “You know what I’m suggesting. It’s why we’re standing outside. We may be at war. We may have encountered the effects of a first strike, which would account for the loss of all communications, as well as the mainland being completely blacked out. That might also explain why Argos was ‘overloaded.’ ”
MacKay nodded his agreement. “That was my first thought. Once Sahir gets Argos back up and running we’ll check for radiation levels in the air.”
“Our compasses are still working,” said Mercer. “Shall I plot a course to take us back to base?”
“That’s going to be tough to do if we can’t figure out exactly where we are, and at the moment, that does seem to be in question,” said Colton. “And if we are at war, then there’s a good chance that our base no longer exists. I recommend waiting until we can at least get Argos back up and see what information we can pull from it.”
Everyone who signed up for the military had trained for this very day. But no one, in their darkest nightmares, ever expected it to happen. Nuclear war was a no-win option for anyone.
MacKay sighed deeply, leaned back against the wall, and gazed up into the night sky. There was a thick mist in the air, but the breeze around them occasionally made it give way, allowing them to clearly see the star-filled sky. “Can’t recall the last time I’ve seen the sky this bright. Even as a kid, I used to love going out on a summer’s night and seeing how many constellations I could pick . . . .” his voice, rather suddenly, trailed off.
Colton looked over at MacKay and was shocked to see the look on his face. It was one of pure, unadulterated fear and confusion. “Captain, are you all right?”
MacKay could not pull his eyes away from the night sky. “It’s wrong,” he whispered. “This can’t be. It’s all wrong.”
He’d started to slide down the wall, but Colton got to him in time to keep him from falling to the deck. “It’s okay; we’ll get you down to sick bay.”
MacKay, getting his legs back under him, jerked his arm away from Colton. “I don’t need a doctor,” he nearly shouted. “I need someone to explain to me what is going on around here. Look at it! Can’t you see?”
“What is it?” said Colton. “What am I missing?” Colton’s training had prepared him to face the unexpected, to be ready no matter what happened. Too many times he’d seen people break down when the pressure was on. He knew how much of a threat those people posed to themselves and to the mission. Even though it would be completely out of character for him, Colton feared that MacKay may have reached his limit.
“It’s the stars,” answered MacKay. Mercer was also staring intently into the sky. The realization of what MacKay had seen hit him with the same staggering impact. “They’re all wrong.”
“This can’t be,” said Mercer, more to himself than anyone.
“MacKay,” snapped Colton, “tell me what you’re seeing.”
MacKay finally broke away and looked Colton in the eye, struggling to control his emotions. “The stars aren’t where they’re supposed to be. It’s not possible, but they’re not. Mr. Colton, I don’t recognize this sky.”
“I don’t understand,” said Colton.
“Neither do we, Colton,” said Mercer, “but that’s not our sky.”
CHAPTER 8
The sun was just starting to breach the horizon as the senior officers gathered in the briefing room just off the bridge. There was a slate color to the world, something unreal. It was a somber crowd, many of them looking like they’d just come from a bar fight. The wave, or whatever it was that hit them, had tossed the crew around, resulting in several injuries. To his credit, despite a deep cut across his forearm, Hezekiah had already brought in coffee for them in two large thermoses. Except for Colton and Garrett, who were leaning against the wall, everyone was seated around the table.
MacKay stood at the head of the conference table. Despite the ventilation, the air was thick, the humidity terrible. A heavy rain had settled over the ship. He didn’t have much in the way of information to share with his team and he prayed their training would see them through. No one had relevant experience, but quite a few had seen combat. He had to convince them they could handle this, whatever the hell this was.
“It’s good to be standing here with you this morning,” said MacKay. “There were a few times last night when I wasn’t sure how things were going to turn out. I can tell you this; Hezekiah’s coffee has never tasted so good.” They all smiled at this, a few giving way to quiet laughter.
“I know that each of you have questions. Clearly, we have a great deal to discuss, so we’ll get right to it. Although what we experienced may indeed have been the first strike in a war, as many of us have already speculated, we really don’t know if that’s true. It falls to each of you to keep your teams focused. I cannot stress the importance of that enough. It is imperative that the sailors serving under you do not start to panic over pure speculation. We’ll soon know what happened, and at that time we will face head-on whatever it is we’re up against.
“Dr. Severin, would you please give us an update on casualties?” Dr. Severin stayed seated. Remarkably he was one of the few officers who had not been injured. Severin, easily in his late forties, made a point of eating right and staying in shape. His business was health, and therefore, he felt a need to practice what he preached.
There were several papers piled in front of him, but he didn’t refer to them once. “Close to two-thirds of the crew sustained a broad spectrum of injuries, but none, fortunately, are in any way life threatening. Sadly, it appears that we may have lost two of the crew. Initially we had two men missing. One has been found, crewman Harris. He fell and landed behind one of the engines, striking his head against the support braces. I’m sorry to report that crewman Harris died from his injuries. The second crewmember, Ensign Nadir, is still missing. The last time he was seen, he’d stepped outside to smoke a cigarette.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” said MacKay. With the medical report finished, he wasn’t exactly sure how to proceed. MacKay had been in tight situations before—this was not his first rodeo—but he’d never found himself at a loss for words. The problem this time was that there were so many unknowns, and the facts they did have didn’t make any sense. The significant change in the climate, their sudden proximity to land, and the depth of the water beneath them was vastly different from where they’d been. All of this was so fantastic that he really didn’t know where to begin. And that list didn’t include the impossible positioning of the stars he’d witnessed in the sky above them. That alone scared him to his core.
So, as experience had taught him, when in doubt, trust in the basics, delegate. “Mr. Colton, would you care to give the crew an update as to where things stand?”
Colton could see the frustration in MacKay’s face. These were his people. He was their leader. Many of them had served under him for years, and they’d all come to trust him. So how do you stand up in front of your crew and tell them that not only do you have no idea what happened, but what you do know is so impossibly fantastic that none of it makes sense?
Colton moved to where MacKay had been standing, looking at the anxious faces in front of him. There was an air, a sense of strength about Colton that was hard to define. Leading teams in dangerous situations came naturally to him, his presence alone exuding a sense of calm in even the darkest of times. He was a man that others instantly trusted, someone they instinctively knew they could rely on.
“Thank you, Captain. What we first thought was a rogue wave heading straight at us turned out to be some kind of massive energy wave that, for lack of a better explanation, engulfed the Eclipse. That said, we’re only guessing that it was an energy wave, and that’s primarily based on how it affected many of our systems. The blackouts, the nausea, and the terrible headaches that almost all of us experienced we believe were due to this wave, but we don’t yet know why.”
Dr. Severin interjected at this point. “I guess I should say that the good news, as far as we can tell, is that there aren’t any long-term, negative effects from this. However, should any of the people in your command start to have recurring issues, get them to sick bay right away.”
Colton continued, his voice strong, steady, confident, providing a calm that was desperately needed. “As crazy as things have been up to now, here are the facts as we know them. Unfortunately, they’re going to create more questions than they answer. Prior to the wave hitting us we were in more than four thousand feet of water. The ocean floor now lies just seven hundred feet beneath us. We were roughly 120 miles off the coast of Florida. There now appears to be a very large landmass six hundred yards to port. Six hundred yards! We went from being at sea to suddenly almost being docked.”
“Excuse me, Commander, but how is any of this possible?” asked Lieutenant Tanner. “Could we have blacked out long enough to have drifted that far from our previous position?”
“Of all the crewmen we’ve talked to, we don’t think anyone was out for longer than maybe thirty seconds,” said Dr. Severin. “In fact, there were a small number of crewmen who didn’t black out at all, but they’re now suffering significant inner ear problems, causing them to have issues with balance.”
“Both are good questions, Lieutenant,” said Colton, “questions that we will find answers for. We have also lost all communications with our satellites and have not been able to reach anyone, civilian or military. At this point we’re not even able to pick up any normal radio bands. This too is all but impossible, and yet that’s the position in which we find ourselves.”
There was more, but Colton paused long enough to let all of this settle in. While he was doing his best to calmly communicate their situation, he was all but convinced that they were at war. There were very few alternatives that he could think of that would explain at least some of what they’d experienced. But perhaps the hardest fact to understand, the hardest fact to explain, was yet to come.
“I’m afraid there’s one more fun fact I need to share with you. This would have passed right by me but was spotted by the captain and Mr. Mercer. It seems that even the stars have shifted. Captain, I’ll let you explain this one.”
MacKay stood there slightly nodding his head. It was the posture of a man who’d witnessed an accident but couldn’t wrap his mind around the horror he’d just seen. “Afraid there’s not much more that I can say to elaborate on what Mr. Colton has just shared with you. Thanks to my dad and my grandfather, as a teenager I was able to navigate my way home just by using the stars. At Annapolis, I studied astronomy in far more depth. All I can tell you is that the night sky that we saw after that wave passed over us is not the sky I’m used to seeing.”
“I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying,” said Father Ryan. “Do you mean it’s completely different, or just looks different as if we were suddenly in a different hemisphere?”
MacKay looked at Father Ryan a couple of moments before answering. “Mr. Mercer and I were equally shocked. What I’m trying to say is that it is completely different, which I know isn’t possible, but it is. To put it another way, I’ve never seen that sky before, which tells me that I have no idea where we are. Hopefully, if we can get Argos back on line, we’ll get some help in figuring all this out.”
Years of listening to confessions told Father Ryan that the captain suspected more than he was admitting to.
The room went silent, everyone struggling with their own thoughts, trying to reign in the fear that was coursing through them. Just as MacKay was doing, they too would be sharing all this information with their people. As hard as it had hit them, they could only imagine how their teams would react. A gnawing sense of loss and uncertainty began to set in.
“Finally, there is one last item I want to cover with you and it doesn’t leave this room,” said Colton. “When Admiral Fairfax assigned me to this mission, it was a real shot in the dark. Neither he, nor his staff, had any idea of what we might find. In the event we did encounter hostile activity, the admiral gave written orders to Captain MacKay and myself stating that at my discretion, I would take over command of the Eclipse.”
The expressions on the faces looking back at him ran the gambit from shock to barely concealed anger. “You’re taking command?” said Garrett, her voice hard and cold. “So, is this your way of telling us that we’re caught up in the middle of some crazy black ops mission? Tell us, Commander, what is going on here?”
“Captain,” snapped MacKay, “you are addressing a senior officer. You will show the appropriate respect at all times.”
Colton raised his hands to quiet the room. “The reason I’m sharing this with you is so that from here on out there won’t be any secrets between us. A very wise man told me how strong and talented the crew of the Eclipse is. He told me that not only should I trust you, but that I should do all I can to earn your trust. So, I’m being as open and transparent as I can. Under the circumstances I want you to know all that I know.”
“What the commander is telling you is completely accurate,” said MacKay. “Also, I agreed with him that this is something you needed to know.”
“So, sir, if I may ask, are you taking command? To be ‘transparent,’ is this some kind of black ops that we’ve stumbled into?” asked Lieutenant Tanner, backing up Garrett.
“Things have been moving so fast that Captain MacKay and I haven’t had too much time to talk,” answered Colton. “However, in answer to your questions, no, I have no intention of taking command of the Eclipse. As to whether this is tied to a secret operation, frankly, I wish it were. At least then we’d have some idea as to what is going on. However, and I do want what I’m about to say to be clear and understood by all, for all activity that we may engage in ashore, I will be in command. Any questions?”
“Thank you, Commander,” said Father Ryan. “Your candor is greatly appreciated. Captain, on a different note, have we heard anything from any of our other ships?”
“No. As I stated earlier, we have not been able to establish communications with anyone, military or civilian. Frankly, we’re not even sure where we are, so until we get more information we’re holding our position,” said MacKay. “Mr. Sahir, do you have a status update on Argos?”
“The good news is that Argos took itself off-line as a defensive measure,” said Sahir. “Fortunately, as best as we’ve been able to determine, it did not sustain any damage. Argos is in Orientation Mode.”
