Текст книги "Deep Fathom"

Автор книги: James Rollins

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Текущая страница: 15 (всего у книги 27 страниц)

“Put him on.”

A short pause, then Rolfe’s voice came over the radio. “Sorry to disturb you, sir, but you told us to let you know if there were…um, any change in your secondary objective.”

David frowned. Secondary objective?He had been so focused on the timetable here and on the growing drums of war that he had momentarily forgotten about Jack Kirkland. “What is it?”

“The target has vacated the zone.”

David bit back a long curse. Kirkland had gone missing. He knew any further details and explanations could not be discussed over an open radio. “I’ll be topside in two minutes. Meet me in my cabin and brief me then.”

“Yes, sir.”

Grimacing, David shoved aside his concerns about Kirkland. Right now he had work to finish. He swept the sub around on a wingtip, aligning its trajectory into the proper approach. He checked the sub’s clock. He had been underwater for almost six hours. After he surfaced, the Perseuswould be checked over and reoutfitted for the day’s third dive. An alternate Navy pilot would take the submersible down to the work site on the seabed floor. Then, in another seven hours, it would be David’s shift all over again.

But the two pilots were not the only ones with tough schedules. Since the arrival of the research team and barges from Maui, the entire crew had been working around the clock. Aided by the researcher’s submersible and robots, the sea base’s support framework had already been bolted to the bottom. Starting this afternoon, the three-tiered living units and labs would be sunk to the bottom and assembled. Barring any mishaps, David expected the entire base to be established within the next forty-eight hours and manned soon afterward.

He had been ordered to get this base up in four days, and he would not disappoint, even if it meant cracking the whip. In fact, earlier in the day, when the research team’s leader, a geophysicist named Ferdinand Cortez, objected to the strenuous pace, David encouraged him to call Washington. It had given David great pleasure to see the Mexican browbeaten by Nicolas Ruzickov over the satellite phone. Even from a step away David had heard Ruzickov screaming at the scientist. Afterward, though tensions remained acute, no one questioned his orders nor his schedule again.

He was in sole control of this operation, and he would not let anyone or anything delay its completion – not the embarrassing loss of Taiwan, nor the mysterious disappearance of Jack Kirkland. He would not fail.

Ahead, out of the gloom, the submerged docking bay appeared. David angled the sub with deft skill, gliding her skids onto the submerged platform. He settled the sub between the self-locking clamps. As he released the controls, the sub’s wings retracted and two C-clamps snugged against the vessel’s ceramic sides. “Locked and loaded,” he called topside.

“Locked and loaded,” the technician acknowledged. “Pulling you up.”

Through the Perseus’s hydrophones, David heard the whine of the hydraulics as the captured submersible was drawn to the surface. Around him the seas grew brighter until, at last, he surfaced. Saltwater sluiced over the nose cone and small waves crashed against the sub’s side, but the vessel did not move. And after a few seconds even the waves were no threat. The Perseusand its pilot were hauled up out of the ocean and craned onto the stern deck of the Maggie Chouest.

As soon as the platform settled to the deck, the sub’s five-man maintenance crew swarmed over the vessel. The nose cone’s O-ring was unscrewed and the glass bubble dropped open. David slid like a beaching seal onto the deck. One of the crewmen offered him a hand. After six hours on his belly in the cramped space, his limbs were un-trustworthy.

Once on his feet, David unzipped his wet suit and stretched the kinks from his muscles. Behind him the maintenance crew was already at work: checking seals, blowing the carbon dioxide scavengers, piping fresh oxygen into the two flank tanks. They reminded David of an Indy 500 pit crew. Fast, efficient, and coordinated.

David turned his back on them and found Cortez aiming his way across the deck. Groaning, David straightened. Right now all he wanted was a hot shower and his bunk. He did not want to deal with the geophysicist. He set his face to a hard scowl as the man stopped before him. “What is it, Professor?”

From the dark circles under his eyes, the man had slept little. Even his clothes, khakis and a flannel shirt, were wrinkled and worn. “A request, Commander.”

“What?”

“On this next dive, I was wondering if Lieutenant Brentley could take a few moments and scout closer to the crystalline formation. From the video feed of the previous dives, we’ve spotted some scratches on its surface. They appear too regular to be natural. We think its some form of writing.”

David shook his head. “Any such investigation will have to wait. My first priority is to get that base built and manned. After that, you and your scientists can begin your own investigation.”

“But it would only take a few—”

“My orders stand, Professor.” David spat out the last word as if it were an insult. “Stay clear of the crystal until the station is built. That pillar radiates a strong magnetic signature, creating glitches and communication problems. I will not risk the Perseusjust to satisfy your curiosity.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Though the researcher backed down, David spotted the contempt in the man’s eyes. He did not care. The Mexican was under his command. He would do what he was told.

Across the deck, near the aft hatch, one of David’s subordinates was on guard. He stalked up to the man. “Where’s Lieutenant Rolfe?”

“In your cabin, sir.”

David nodded and ducked through the hatch. He climbed two flights up to the ship’s flag deck. He had commandeered this level’s cabins for his men. Ahead he saw his room’s door was ajar. Another of his men patrolled the passageway. He nodded and pushed into his cabin.

Inside, Rolfe stood up.

David closed the door and began stripping off his wet suit. “So what happened to Kirkland? Did you lose his ship?”

“No, sir.” Rolfe cleared his throat. “We’ve been monitoring the location of the Deep Fathomcontinually. It still circles the Kwajalein Atoll.”

“So then what went wrong?”

“Earlier this morning, Lieutenant Jeffreys got suspicious about why the ship was remaining in the area for so long. So he did a little checking and found Jack Kirkland’s name on a Quantas passenger list leaving the atoll.”

David kicked out of his wet suit and stood naked. “Dammit! When did he leave?”

“Two days ago. From the itinerary, it appears he traveled to Okinawa.”

David scowled. What was the bastard doing in Okinawa? He stalked to his cabin’s bathroom and twisted on the shower nozzle. “Do we know exactly where he went?”

“No, sir. He had reservations at the local Sheraton, but he never showed up. However, he did book a round-trip ticket. He’s due back in two days.”

David’s face darkened. Two more days. He had been looking forward to completing this little side objective much sooner. Still, he was impressed by his own team’s resourcefulness. Kirkland would not escape him. As busy as he was here, he could wait out another two days.

“Very good, Mr. Rolfe. But I want to know as soon as we have confirmation that Kirkland’s back on his boat.”

“Yes, sir.”

David tested the shower. The small bathroom was filling with steam.

“Sir, we have another problem.” The lieutenant’s voice was pained.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know if we have two days to wait. According to Handel, the transmitting signal has been deteriorating. He estimates a day or two until we lose contact.”

David swung around, angry. “I told Handel to make sure the bomb remained functioning for at least two weeks.”

“He knows, sir. He believes one of the bomb’s electrical circuits may be faulty. He says that Chink crap is not reliable.”

David stood there, almost shaking in frustration. Refusing to admit defeat, he pondered other options and angles. He knew no plan was as foolproof as on paper. Improvisation was the key to a mission’s final success. As he thought about it, a new strategy formed. “Fine. Then if Kirkland’s not back in time, we blow his ship anyway.”

“Sir?”

“Destroying his boat and killing his crew will be only our first steps in bringing Kirkland down.” As David stood in the steamy bathroom, he warmed to his new plan.

Slowly torturing Jack Kirkland did have its appeal.

8:15 P.M., Ryukyu University, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

“Anyone for dinner?” Karen asked, stretching her neck. Her eyes were blurry from studying the computer screens. “I can’t take any more of this.”

To her left, the tall American sat crouched over his terminal. He seemed not to have heard her. “Gabriel, let’s move on to symbols Forty A and B.”

“Certainly, Mr. Kirkland.”

On the far side of the American, Miyuki remained lost in her own work, busily scanning in the final few pages from the notebook. Processing the data had turned out to be a slow and tedious chore. It had become necessary for the computer to compare each glyph to the set already catalogued.

Karen glanced at Jack’s workstation. Two figures appeared on his screen: one from his notebook and one from their own collection of glyphs.

The American’s notebook contained only a handwritten copy of the pillar’s inscription, drawn by the historian aboard his boat. This led to a certain level of ambiguity at times. Like now. Were the two figures the same glyph, Karen wondered, or were the subtle differences just minor discrepancies on the part of the transcriber?

During this process, Gabriel had learned to compare over two hundred loci sites on each corresponding glyph. As long as there was at least a ninety percent match, it was decided that the two symbols were the same. A match ranking less than fifty percent was considered unique enough to be classified as a new symbol. This resulted in a gray zone between fifty and ninety. And so far, there were three hundred paired symbols falling into this category. Each of these required visual inspection by the trio of humans.

“Figures Forty A and Forty B,”Gabriel explained, “are a match at fifty-two percent. Will we classify A as the same or different from B?”

Jack leaned closer to the screen. “It’s like that old children’s puzzle. What’s different between these two pictures?”

Miyuki piped in as she finished the last scan and leaned back, “The first figure has an eye drawn on it, the other doesn’t.”

Jack nodded. “And the first figure is holding up two balls, the other only one.” He glanced at Karen.

Again she was struck at what a brilliant blue the man’s eyes were. They had to be contact lenses. No one had eyes thatblue. “The rest looks the same,” she said, clearing her throat.

Jack asked, “So what’s the verdict, folks? Are they different enough from one another to be two separate symbols?”

Karen shifted closer to the monitor, brushing her shoulder against Jack’s. He did not move away. Instead he bowed his head beside hers, both concentrating on the screen. “I’m gonna dismiss the eyes as being insignificant,” Karen said. “But not the differences in the number of items in the figure’s raised hand. I think this discrepancy is significant enough to be unique. Over the past few days, we’ve discovered other symbols with counting icons built into them: the number of legs on a starfish, the number of fish in a pelican’s mouth. I think this is one of those counting icons. Though similar to one another, they are ultimately unique.”

Jack nodded, satisfied with her answer. “Gabriel, please classify Figure Forty A and Figure Forty B as separate icons.”

“Done. Shall we proceed to Figures 41A and 41B?”

Karen groaned. “I don’t know about the both of you, but I’m starved and my eyes are aching. How about a couple hours rest break?”

“I guess I could use a little dinner myself,” Jack said. “All I’ve eaten for the past twenty-four hours has been airplane food.”

As Jack stretched, Karen tried not to notice the breadth of his shoulders or the way his neck muscles corded up. “I know a restaurant only a few blocks away. They serve the best Thai food around.”

“Sounds good. The spicier the better.”

“It’s tongue-blistering. Guaranteed.”

“Just the way I like it.”

Standing, Miyuki shooed them. “You two go on by yourselves. There’s something I’d like to try with Gabriel.”

“Are you sure?” Karen asked.

Miyuki nodded, but her eyes traveled up the tall man as he stood. Once Jack’s back was fully turned, she winked at Karen. “I’m sure,” she said to Karen with a small smile.

Karen blushed. Was her attraction to Jack so obvious? She scolded Miyuki with a consternated expression, but this only widened her friend’s smile.

“Besides, I just had Thai food,” Miyuki said louder. “But I know how many months it’s been for you.”

The double meaning was not lost on Karen. Her blush darkened. She glared at her friend as Jack called from the doorway, “Is there anything you’d like us to bring back for you, Miyuki?”

“Oh, I’m fine. I’m not the hungry one here, but you’d better get something into Karen right away.”

“Will do!” Then he was out the door.

Karen playfully swatted at Miyuki. “You are so wicked.”

“And you are so smitten. Go on. Make a move. I already checked him out. No ring, not even a girlfriend. And I think he sort of likes you, too.”

“He does not. He never even looked twice at me.”

Miyuki rolled her eyes. “Not when you would notice. It was like watching two teenagers, both of you sizing each up when the other’s back was turned.”

“He was notchecking me out.”

Miyuki shrugged and turned back to her computer.

Karen touched her shoulder. “Was he really?”

“Like a lovesick puppy. Now go on. Give that puppy’s belly a rub and leave me alone for a few hours.”

“We’re only going to dinner.”

“Uh-huh.”

“We’re both professionals, colleagues in this matter.”

“Uh-huh.”

“He’s only going to be here for a couple more days.”

“Uh-huh.”

Karen grew frustrated and stormed away. “It’s only dinner!” she called back to Miyuki.

As she exited, Miyuki’s answer followed her. “Uh-huh.”

10:02 P.M., Ryukyu University, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

As they walked back from the Lucky Thai Restaurant, Jack bellowed out a laugh that had the smaller Japanese pedestrians glancing in his direction. Embarrassed, he leaned closer to Karen. “You’ve got to be kidding! You told the president of the British Anthropology Society to pull his head out of his ass?”

Karen shrugged. “He ticked me off. Him and his stick-in-the-mud ideas. What does he know about the South Pacific? My great-grandfather had traveled South Pacific islands for decades before that man was in diapers. What right did that pompous ass have in claiming my ancestor was a crackpot?”

“Oh, and I’ll bet your response set him straight. He must think your entire family is nuts. No wonder you had to come all the way to Japan to teach.”

Karen glared up at him, but Jack could tell her anger was feigned. “I wasn’t exactly expelled from Canada’s shores. I chose to come here for my own research. Colonel Churchward, my mother’s grandfather, may have jumped to some ridiculous conclusions about a lost continent in the middle of the Pacific, but I came out here to prove that much of the accepted historical dogma of this region is wrong. And with what we both have been uncovering here, I’m beginning to think my ancestor’s claims may not have been so off base.”

“A lost continent?” he scoffed.

“C’mon, Jack, think about it. Off the coast of Chatan an ancient city rises from the sea. And if Gabriel’s translation of the star chamber’s calendar is correct, it dates the construction around twelve thousand years ago. During that era, the seas were about three hundred feet lower than they are now. Who knows how many other landmasses and cities might be hidden in these waters? And what of your own pillar? Are you saying this lost race could dive to the ocean bottom and carve letters on a crystal pyramid?”

“I don’t know what I’m saying. But after all you’ve shown me today, I’m learning to see things with a more open mind.”

Karen nodded, as if satisfied. “You really should see the ancient city and pyramids. That would help convince you.”

“To be honest, I wouldn’t mind a trip out there.”

“If we have time, I’ll take you. It’s only a couple hours by boat.”

“I…I’d like that. It’s a date.”

A long awkward moment arose between them. They continued in silence through the university’s grounds. The scent of lavender and hibiscus colored the garden paths, but all Jack could smell was Karen’s jasmine perfume. What was so captivating about this woman? Back on the Deep Fathom, Lisa had twice the physical attributes. Still, there was something exciting about Karen’s passion and boldness.

During dinner, Jack discovered Karen was also her own woman. Her wit was as sharp as a knife blade, while her eyes shone with constant mischief. Her crooked smile both mocked and enchanted. Over dessert he had stopped seeing Jennifer and saw only Karen…and he wasn’t disappointed.

“We’re almost to the computer building,” Karen said quietly, breaking the silence.

Was there a trace of regret in her voice? Jack knew he felt it in his own heart. He longed to spend more than a few snatched hours with her in private. He found his steps inadvertently slowing.

She matched his pace. At the bottom of the stairs to the building, she stopped and turned to him. “Thanks for dinner. I had a nice time.”

“It’s the least I could do for your putting me up for the night.”

They stood too close together, but neither moved.

“We should see if Miyuki has discovered anything new,” Karen said, half raising an arm to point toward the building. She climbed the first step.

Her face was now even with his. Their eyes met and held each other for a heartbeat longer than necessary. Jack leaned closer to her. It was foolish, inappropriate, juvenile…but he could not stop. He was not sure if she shared any of his feelings, so he moved slowly. If she pulled away, he would have his answer.

But she maintained his gaze. Only her lids lowered imperceptibly.

He began to reach his arms around her when a voice barked from the doorway. The pair were speared by a flashlight’s beam.

Karen coughed in surprise and backed up a step, retreating.

The man called out to them in Japanese.

Half turning into the flashlight’s glare, Karen answered in the same language.

As the light was turned aside, Jack saw it was one of the security men from the building. “What did he want?” he asked as the guard swung away.

Karen turned to him. “Miyuki warned him to watch out for us. She has news.” Karen led the way up the steps. Her voice grew excited, drowning away the passion from a moment ago. “Let’s go!”

Jack followed, both disappointed and relieved. It was ridiculous to start anything with this woman, especially since he was leaving in two days. Not that he had any rule against one-night stands. Though his heart was guarded, he had physical needs like any other man, and seldom had problems finding a willing partner during port calls. But in this case he knew any brief dalliance with Karen would hardly satisfy him. In fact, it would make matters worse.

He climbed the steps and passed through the doorway. Maybe for all concerned, he thought, it was best to leave their passions at the bottom of the stairs.

Across the lobby, Karen waved to him from beside the elevator bay. He stretched his stride to reach her just as the doors opened. With the guard escorting them, neither one spoke. Each stood in a cocoon of privacy.

When the doors whooshed open, they hurried down the hall. As they neared the door to the lab, it cracked open and Miyuki gestured them to hurry, saying, “It worked! Come see! I have all the glyphs catalogued.”

“All of them?” Karen said.

Jack understood her surprise. It had taken them hours to reach number forty in a list of discrepancies that numbered over three hundred. How had the computer scientist accomplished so much in so little time?

Miyuki didn’t respond. Instead, when they had accompanied her into the lab and to her computer station, she pointed to the screen. Symbols were flashing past. “Gabriel is rechecking his data,” Miyuki said. “It will take another hour to double-check everything for accuracy, then he’ll try decoding the various inscriptions.”

Karen just stood there shaking her head. “How? How did you do it?”

“As I mentioned before, Gabriel is an artificial intelligence program. He can learn from experience. While you were at dinner I had him study the first forty pairs of glyphs and incorporate why the three of us rejected or accepted various symbols as unique or not, then apply those parameters to the remaining couple hundred.” Grinning, Miyuki said, “He was able to do it! He learnedfrom our examples!”

“But he’s a computer,” Karen said. Jack noticed how she whispered these words as if somehow afraid of hurting Gabriel’s feelings. “How can we trust that his decisions were correct?”

Instead of her words dampening Miyuki’s glee, she grew more excited. “Because after completing this exercise, he’s been able to expand his rudimentary understanding of these people’s lunar calendar and dating system.”

“What do you mean?” Karen asked, still skeptical. “What has he learned?”

“Buried in the text are hidden references to a specific site in the Pacific.”

“What site? I don’t understand.”

“I’ll let Gabriel explain, because frankly even I have trouble understanding it.” Miyuki glanced to the side, speaking to their invisible partner. “Gabriel, please explain your calculations.”

“Yes, Professor Nakano. From the celestial map and my understanding of their lunar calendar, I discovered a reference to a specific location, triangulated by the position of the moon, the sun, and the north star in the text.”

Jack was stunned by this revelation. “And you’re able to do this even though you can’t translate the language yet?”

“It’s all astronomy and mathematics,” Miyuki explained. “Numbers and the movement of the stars are really a cosmic language. Such information is the easiest to translate since it is a relative constant across cultures. In fact, when archaeologists first attempted to decipher the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt, the first thing they understood were the Egyptians’ mathematics and celestial designations.” Miyuki pointed to the scrolling glyphs. “The same is true here.”

“So what did you find?” Karen asked, impatient.

“In the pyramid’s inscription,” Miyuki said, “there are two references. Each mentions the same site in the Pacific. Gabriel, bring up the map on the second monitor, and highlight the location for us.”

A map of the Pacific appeared on the small screen. Jack had a flash of déjà vu. It reminded him of a similar discussion aboard his own ship, when George had related the mysteries of the Dragon’s Triangle. Jack assumed the mysterious site from the inscription was going to be the location of the crystal pillar – but instead a small red blinking dot bloomed farther south on the map, just north of the equator.

“Gabriel, zoom in on the location. Three hundred times normal.”

The map swelled, sweeping deep into the South Pacific. Islands, once so tiny they could not be seen, grew in size until names could be read: Satawal, Chuuk, Pulusuk, Mortlock. They were all islands of Micronesia. The red dot was positioned at the southeastern tip of one of them.

It was Pohnpei, the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia.

Karen sat up straighter. “Gabriel, can you pinpoint the location in any finer detail?”

Though Jack had known Karen less than a day, he sensed that she was on to something.

The other islands of Micronesia faded off the screen as the outline of Pohnpei filled the monitor. Individual villages and towns grew clearer. The blinking red marker hovered near the island’s southeast coastline.

Jack leaned toward the screen. He could just make out a name written beside the red marker. “What does that say?”

Karen remained stiff in her seat. She was hardly looking at the screen. “It’s Nan Madol.”

Jack glanced over at her. “A village?”

“Ruins,” she answered. “One of the most spectacular set of megalithic ruins in all the South Pacific. The site covers eleven square miles of coastline, an engineering marvel of canals and basalt buildings.” She turned toward him. “To this day no one knows for sure who built them.”

Jack sat back and nodded to the neighboring screen, where the glyphs continued to scroll. “Maybe now we do.”

“I have to know more!” Karen said, grabbing Miyuki’s sleeve.

The computer scientist frowned. “I’m sorry. That’s all I have. After Gabriel double-checks his own work, it’ll still take at least a day to begin any significant decoding. With these new additions, the total number of individual glyphs is now over five hundred, and the list of compound glyphs has grown into the range of ten thousand. This is no easy language.”

“How long do you think it’ll take?” Karen asked, breathless.

“Try me late tomorrow afternoon,” Miyuki said. “I might – and I repeat might—have something then.”

“A whole day,” Karen groaned. “What am I going to do for a whole day?”

Jack knew the anthropologist needed something on which to focus her energy. “How about your promise to me?”

Karen’s brows bunched up, not understanding.

“The ancient city off the coast of Chatan. You promised to tour me through there.”

She brightened, but not for the reason Jack had hoped. “You’re right. If the ruins of Nan Madol are referenced, some other clues may still be hidden out at Chatan. It’s worth investigating again.”

“And this time out, you’ll have better company than me,” Miyuki added. “A strong man to guard your back.”

Karen looked at Jack, as if finally seeing him again. “Oh.”

In her green eyes, Jack recognized her burning passion for this newest mystery. He searched for something more…but came up empty.

He smiled weakly. So much for romance.