Shattered Hourglass Part 22

"Roger that. Let's go, Commie." They both dropped their heavy packs, bringing only weapons. None of them looked forward to the next twelve hours-the trip back through the island's belt of undead.

USS Virginia December I'm going to be a father! Me?! Though the team is on the ground ten miles into Hiroshima-like terrain, I still can't stop smiling. Good news-great news. Best news since last Christmas. Nearly one year since the world died, and I find out that I have made a new life.

The message from Tara was simple, but it changed me forever: WE ARE PREGNANT.

I paced around for what seemed like an hour, smiling and happy. Oblivious to what was happening around me. I wasn't on a submarine off the coast of Hawaii, I was somewhere in the clouds!

On to more pressing matters.

The sun will be down in a couple hours and two things will happen. I will have another chance to communicate a relay to Crusow and I'll be supporting the Kunia exfil. Crusow sounded so happy and proud for me when he broke the news from Tara. Funny how I've never met him, and yet he knew about the baby before I did because of the relay. It's hard to believe he's so far away, somewhere so opposite me. It's a hundred and forty degrees of temperature difference between him and me, and yet we still find some joy in our situations. Me more than him today!

Names for the relay: Something strong like Alexander if he's a boy. Something like Lillian or . . . need to think of another name for a girl. d.a.m.n, I need to get married when I get back. My mother would kill me if she knew I was going to be an unmarried dad. My mother . . .

42.

USS George Washington John clandestinely monitored the entire volume of the ship's message traffic by way of the improvised splice of certain sensitive lines, intercepting some troubling news. He'd also siphoned traffic mentioning intelligence collected over the Beijing area by an aircraft called Aurora in the sourcing lines.

John had already encoded and transmitted a short line of warning to Kil, but wasn't yet sure of his receipt. Kil's confirmation before the boat was due in the Bohai was necessary or he might be forced to transmit in the clear, unencrypted for anyone who might listen. John was gravely worried about Kil. He decided not to mention his findings to Tara to avoid unnecessary worry and confusion. He knew of the good news and didn't want her upset. The particulars of Kil's business in China were unknown to John, but he had suspicions that whatever they were going after over there might be related to the recently intercepted messages.

During the leadership meeting he had attended yesterday-attended being a loose term, as he had been dismissed halfway for security reasons-John learned of a concern that the admiral had with one of the civilians...o...b..ard. The officer speaking used his allotted time to brief the admiral, careful not to use names, knowing there were civilians present at the meeting.

"The boy claimed to hear things, Admiral, aft on the O-3 level. Told his nurse and doctor. How do you want to proceed?"

With a wave of his hand, the admiral dismissed every nonmilitary person in the room. Then Joe, the admiral's aide, ushered everyone out and closed the door. John knew that he'd likely not be requested back, so he took this time to make a phone call from the phone in the hallway. He dialed the sick bay.

"Jan. Is this an emergency?"

"No, it's John. Listen. Remember that discussion we had a week or so ago about Danny?"

"Yes, why?"

"Did you tell anyone about it?"

"No, I just talked about it with Dean. Dean told me she'd take it up with the admiral during the next town hall meeting next week."

John paused for a moment. "The reason I'm asking is that I was at the leadership meeting this morning, and I overheard something before they dismissed the civilians. Something about a boy who heard things." John reached for his notepad and flipped to the first non-dog-eared page. "A boy who heard things aft on the O-3 level and told his nurse."

Jan was silent on the other end of the phone.

"Jan? I think it's best we call a Hotel 23 meeting."

"Okay, that sounds good. I'll see you in a few minutes. Meet me in the hallway at our staterooms."

"All right, see you soon. Be careful."

"Will do. Bye, John."

John dialed up Will, Dean, and Tara before heading to the meeting. After efficiently traversing the levels and ladders, he arrived to find Jan and Will already there, and a little treat standing alongside her: Laura with Annabelle.

"Hi, Laura! Taking care of my doggy for me?"

"Yes! She's mine though, she told me!" Laura said, giggling and scratching Annabelle's back. The dog's curly, piglike tail wiggled as if she somehow understood.

"We'll see about that, little girl!" John said in his evil-uncle voice, causing more giggles from Laura.

Annabelle wagged her tail and ran over, tongue already licking in advance, tail wagging uncontrollably.

"Will, how have you been? I'm sorry that I haven't even had five minutes to talk to you in the past few days. Been busy with the comms and such."

"Don't worry about it-Jan has me changing bedpans and rigging IV bags. She's worked me like a cheap mule."

Jan shot a disapproving look at Will, prompting smiles all around.

A stateroom door closed behind John; turning, he saw Tara walking up. "I don't think it's a big deal, but we should probably get out of the hallway as soon as everyone shows up. We're still missing Dean."

"I'm here." Dean's voice echoed up the hallway. A basketball bounced off the steel deck, a clue that Danny was in tow. "Danny, you and Laura go study in the cla.s.sroom. I'll get you when we are done, and I don't want any lip about it, young man."

"Okay, Granny," Danny responded rather sadly. It was never fun to be a young boy told to babysit a girl.

Rubbing the top of his head with her rough working hands, Dean rea.s.sured him, "It'll be fun, kiddo, won't be long. Scoot."

Danny, Laura, and Annabelle scattered to the next room with Annabelle jumping over a knee-knocker like a woodland doe over a log. After a few moments, Annabelle's gallop could be heard again getting louder right before she returned, skidding to a stop at John's feet.

"That's my girl!" said John. "Let's do my room, it's got more s.p.a.ce."

"Wow, look who's movin' up!" Tara said, smiling sarcastically.

"Yeah, I feel slightly guilty about it, but I'm up at all hours of the night and living in the stateroom of the guy who did my job before. I'm staying in the COMMO's quarters. They're still spartan compared to Hotel 23, but pretty roomy considering where we're at."

"Oh, stop it, John! If one of us gets a break, well that's good news," Dean a.s.sured him.

"Thanks, Dean, just didn't want anyone thinking I was forgetting about you all. Should we get started?"

They all piled into John's stateroom and closed the door. They took seats on the bunk beds, sink, and small foldout desk as John began to go over this morning's events. Annabelle found the piece of rope that John had scavenged from the forecastle and converted into a chew toy. As John explained what he had overheard, Dean's face showed signs of worry. Dean was going to request a meeting with the admiral, but since Danny hadn't actually seen anything with his own eyes, she thought it best to let it go for now.

"I know how this made it to the admiral," Jan blurted out. "A week or so ago I was in sick bay with Dr. Bricker. Danny came in needing st.i.tches and mentioned that he thought that there were zombies...o...b..ard, and that he was playing zombie with the other children. After Danny left, Dr. Bricker told me that he'd sometimes receive tissue samples for a.n.a.lysis, and that he was suspicious of where the samples came from."

"That doesn't really mean anything, Jan. Besides, do we really want to jump to conclusions and get ourselves all worked up over tissue samples?" Tara asked.

Jan frowned and began to explain: "It's not just some tissue samples. Bricker said they were highly radiated brain-tissue fragments. He stressed that no reconnaissance or salvage missions occurred in the two weeks prior to receiving the samples."

"Jan, I'm not doubting you . . . I just don't think I'm ready to think about those things being on this ship with me and . . ." Tara put both hands on her belly, rubbing it softly, and began to sob.

"Tara, it's okay," said John. "If they're onboard, at least we'll know. We're all armed despite what we thought might happen when we got here. Instead of disarming all of us, the military required we have weapons at all times...o...b..ard the ship; this plays to our advantage. The only thing left to do is prove that the undead are here with us."

John stood up from his desk and pushed his gla.s.ses back up the bridge of his nose. "I think I may just have the perfect undead detector, batteries not included." He looked down at Annabelle as she chewed on her rope, tail curled and wagging.

"Those hackles saved Kil and me more than once."

ZAAUZYUW RUEOMFC7685 1562255-TTTT-RHOVIQM ZNR TTTTT ZUI RUEOMCG340X 1562254.

Z 042253Z.

FM USS GEORGE WASHINGTON.

TO RHOVNQN/COG MT W.

BT.

T O P S E C R E T N//002045U.

SUBJ:/SITREP CAUSEWAY-DOWNTOWN RMKS:/FINAL PHASE OF EXPERIMENTATION ON SPECIMENS CAUSEWAY AND DOWNTOWN WILL BIGIN IN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. IAW COG DIRECTIVES, PLANNED AREAS OF BRAIN WILL BE LOBOTOMIZED, ONE EYE REMOVED FOR TESTING OF SUSPECTED THERMAL SENSORY PERCEPTION. THIS STATION WILL SEND UPDATE SEPCOR.

BT.

AR.

NNNNN.

BEGIN TEXT TRANSMISSION.

KLIEGLIGHT SERIAL 209.

RTTUZYUW-RQHNQN-00000-RRRRR-Y.

T O P S E C R E T//SAP HORIZON.

SUBJ: NEW ORLEANS SPECIMEN RADIATION EFFECT FINDINGS.

RMKS: THIS STATION HAS COMPLETED INITIAL EXAMINATION ON SPECIMENS CAUSEWAY AND DOWNTOWN (LABELED IN REFERENCE TO NEW ORLEANS EXTRACTION AREAS). DURING THE INITIAL TESTING, BOTH SUBJECTS DISPLAYED CONGRUENCY WITH HAND EYE FUNCTION, SIMILAR TO A YOUNG CHILD IN ABILITY TO MANIPULATE SHAPED WOOD OBJECTS INTO SHAPED HOLES. DURING MORE ADVANCED COORDINATION TESTING, DOWNTOWN POSSESSED ABILITY TO MOVE AT TEN MPH BURSTS. CAUSEWAY COULD ATTAIN SIX MPH. DOWNTOWN ALSO POSSESSED SIMPLE PROBLEM SOLVING ABILITY AND WOULD CHOOSE CERTAIN TOOLS TO ATTEMPT TO BREAK GLa.s.s TO GAIN ENTRY TO WHAT IT PERCEIVED MIGHT BE LIVING PREY BEHIND BALLISTIC GLa.s.s. DOWNTOWN DISPLAYED ADVERSARIAL BEHAVIOR TOWARD CAUSEWAY WHEN FOOD WAS IN PLAY, AND WOULD SHOVE CAUSEWAY AWAY FROM FOOD SOURCES AT TIMES.

BEHAVIOR OF NOTE: DOWNTOWN WAS OBSERVED WATCHING RESEARCHERS ENTER AND LEAVE AND WOULD MIMIC THEIR HAND MOVEMENT WHEN THE RESEARCHERS WOULD THROW HATCH LEVERS TO THE OUTSIDE, SUGGESTING AT LEAST RUDIMENTARY LEARNING ABILITY. BOTH CAUSEWAY AND DOWNTOWN POSSESS SPEED AND AGILITY NOT YET OBSERVED IN CREATURES UNEXPOSED TO RADIATION BOMBARDMENT OF PREVIOUS NUCLEAR DETONATIONS.

SUMMARY: USS GEORGE WASHINGTON WILL CONTINUE TO OBSERVE THE SPECIMENS. WILL ADVISE COG ON ANY DESTRUCTION INTENT. FIVE SUBJECTS IN VARIOUS CONDITIONS FROM DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHICAL SECTORS REMAIN ONBOARD. THIS STATION IS SKEPTICAL AT THE POSSIBILITY OF EXTERMINATION OF THE AMERICAN POPULATION OF UNDEAD. RADIATED UNDEAD ARE AT THIS TIME SHOWING NO INDICATIONS OF DECAY. HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI ARCHIVE DATA INDICATES SOME PRESERVATION OF THE DEAD BY RADIATION BUT NOT TO THIS ORDER OF MAGNITUDE. WE SPECULATE THAT HIGH ORDER RADIATION HAS FORMED A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ANOMALY ON A LEVEL WE ARE UNABLE TO VERIFY OR MEASURE AT THIS TIME. GOOD LUCK.

GW CHIEF SCIENTIST SENDS . . .

BT.

AR.

Tunnel in the Sky . . . I was so caught up with the mission, I had no clue what John meant. He's been including extra codes with his chess moves for well over a week now. I wrote them down without thinking, as they were basically gibberish to me at the time. John sent the encrypted messages using our twin copies of Tunnel in the Sky. He'd sent page, paragraph, and sentence cipher codes referring to specific words and letters that matched my copy of the text, forming short sentences. I discovered this after Crusow's last transmission relay from John. Although I informed John that I finished the book a while back, he still asked again after the most recent set of codes. "Read Tunnel in the Sky yet?"

I sat confused in my rack for a while, flipping through the pages, waiting to hear an update from the team coming back from Kunia. I looked for something that John may have written inside the book, something I may have missed.

I finally pieced together the message. The gibberish code hidden in plain sight with the chess moves referred to specific sequences that could only be deciphered if the recipient had the exact same key as the sender. In this case an uncommon and out of print book. It took a few minutes, but his message was clear.

"1947 NEVADA CRASH SPECIMEN JUST EXPOSED TO ANOMALY . . . VERY STRONG . . . GUNS INEFFECTIVE, FIRE NEUTRALIZED . . . MEAN ANYTHING?"

I am of course surprised and confused as to how John came across this information, but it is starting to make more sense, considering he's the acting communications officer onboard the carrier. The navy always seems to operate on two primary working principles. One of them is the f.u.c.k up move up rule, wherein the more f.u.c.ked up you are, the higher chance of your promotion. The other principle that has held true in my time in service is curse of the competent. John falls into the latter. The more competent you are, the more uncompensated responsibility you are given, and the more work is expected of you.

Without fail, the ones that ruled the competent typically fell into the first category. I suspect John has been given full access to the ship's communication networks because he's the only one that can do the job. Either way, I won't be revealing this message to the captain until I'm very sure what side he's on. I'll tell Rex and company when the time is right; they are the operators, and deserve to know. China will be problematic at best.

This encoded message from John would have sounded pretty d.a.m.n strange if I had not been briefed on what our government had been hiding all these years in the mountains out west.

43.

USS Virginia-Hawaiian waters "Kil, when will they be back?" Saien asked.

"They're leaving the cave an hour after sundown. The creatures seem to be a little calmer then. Why do you ask?"

"I just wanted to see if we had some time to chat before you went back to work."

"Yeah, I guess. Whatcha got on your mind?" Kil said as he slid off the top rack and sat down in front of Saien.

"I don't think I believe in what we were told on the way over here. I've thought about it for many days. At first I thought some of it might be true, but after going over it again in my head it seems ridiculous. I wanted to know how you felt about this, this wild story?"

Kil took a deep breath and sat back in his chair for a moment, pondering the question. After some time, he spoke. "Well, I think I'm with you on this one. Someone close to me used to say: 'Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.' "

They shared a laugh even though Kil wasn't sure that Saien understood the intended meaning.

"Now that we're on the same page I think I need to tell you something," Kil said with a conspiratorial whisper. He stood up and walked over to his rack, reaching under the pillow. Out from underneath he pulled a worn paperback novel. "Remember this book John gave me before we left?"

Saien nodded.

"Well, I just found out that John has been pa.s.sing a message to me using the pages of this book, embedded in his chess moves. You know, with the normal message traffic and such."

"Are you going to tell me what it says?"

"The basic message was that the Roswell specimen had been exposed to whatever this s.h.i.t is."