And the Rocks Shall Speak

by

Beth Kauffman

 

 

Revised version of my Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea story that appeared originally in Silent Running 5 in 2000

 

 

 

 

Admiral Harriman Nelson strode through the Control Room of the submarine Seaview, his design and creation, stopping at the side of his captain, Lee Crane.

“What’s our position, Lee?” he asked, leaning over the plotting table. 

“Approximately here, Admiral,” he replied, pointing to a spot off the coast of Florida.

“Hmmm,” Nelson murmured, rapidly making calculations. “We’re in the area of the last reported seaquake.  Dr. Dotson at the Harbor Point Institute confirms this is the area the quakes are originating from.  The question is, why?”

Nelson threw his pencil on the plotting table and walked slowly to the front of the boat, his hands stuffed into his pockets and stared out at the ocean before him, Crane and the Seaview’s executive officer Chip Morton joining him there.  “This area has always been considered stable in regards to quakes. Now all of the sudden, we’re seeing quake after quake rock the region, five in the past 2 days.  We’ll need to...”

“Sir!  I’m picking up something strange on sonar,” Kowalski reported in an excited voice.

Nelson walked quickly to his side and stared down at the screen, taking the headphones from Kowalski.  He listened for a moment before he spoke.

“Interesting.  The bottom seems to have shifted here.”  He listened for a moment more, the entire Control Room silent as they waited. “There seems to be something hidden beneath the layers of silt and rock.  Can’t quite make it out.  Strange readings though.  Like none I’ve heard before.”

A moment more and Nelson turned to Crane.  “Lee, I want you to take a diving party out and examine the seabed in this area. There’s something strange out there but I’m not sure what yet.”

Crane smiled, happy to have a chance to go out for a little explore.  “I’ll have a team in the water in fifteen minutes,” he said with more than a trace of enthusiasm.

Nelson reached out a hand as Crane started past him. “Lee, be careful out there.  If another quake hits this area, those walls out there could come down on top of you.”

Winking at Chip Morton, Crane smiled at his friend’s concern and hurried to the missile room.  Dressing quickly, he had his team in the water in the promised fifteen minutes.

Back on the Seaview, Nelson paced a path in front of the windows in the Observation Nose and waited for word from the diving party.  Finally, Crane’s voice came over the intercom.

“Admiral, we’re exploring the area nearest the reported anomaly.  There’s a lot of silt in the water making it difficult to see anything.  I...”

“Skipper!”  Another voice interrupted.  “Over here!”

“What is it Lee,” Nelson asked impatiently.

“I...I’m not sure.  Some kind of opening down on the sea floor.  I’m swimming down for a closer look.”

“Be careful, Lee.  Don’t take any chances.”  Nelson was hard pressed to keep the worry out of his voice.  Something was wrong, he could feel it.   A wave of apprehension flowed over him like a cold wind as he stared out the huge windows.  He shook his head to clear it from the unwanted feelings, trying hard to focus.

An urgent voice from the sonar station brought him back to the situation.  “Sir! Another quake is...”   But before Kowalski could finish his sentence, the Seaview was rocked from side to side by another underwater quake.  Nelson was thrown to the floor and against the plotting table.

A few seconds later, the Seaview stopped her side to side dance and men began to pick themselves up off the floor.

“Damage control!  Report!”  Morton’s voice boomed out.

“No damage, sir.  We’re water tight.”

Morton turned back to the Observation Nose to ask Nelson if he had any view of the diving party when he noticed Nelson was no longer standing at the windows.

Hurrying to the front of the plotting table, he saw Nelson just beginning to regain consciousness, a hand pressed to his head. Kneeling by his side, Morton was about to call Sick Bay when, with a look, Nelson vetoed the idea.

“I’m all right, Chip.  Just help me up.”  Morton gave his commanding officer a hand up and steadied him as he swayed unsteadily on his feet for a moment.

“Sir, I really think I should call the Doc.  Just to make sure.”

“No, Chip.  I’m fine. Any word from the diving party?”

“No, sir.”

Nelson reached for the microphone and tried to raise Lee or any of the diving party.  After what seemed an eternity, a voice answered.  Seaview, this is Brown.  We...we’re all right.  The Skipper was on his way down to that opening he found and was caught by the quake. A rock wall collapsed on him.”

“Is he all right?” Nelson asked, alarm in his voice.

“I...I’m all right, Admiral.  Just shaken up.  Brown and the others got to me quickly.  How’s the Seaview?”

Nelson expelled the breath he didn’t know he had been holding.  “We’re all right here, too.  Come back aboard and give me your report.”

Twenty minutes later, Crane walked slowly through the Control Room and to the Observation Nose where Nelson waited.

“Lee!  Are you sure you’re all right?  Maybe Doc should look you over.  That rock wall...”

“Missed me,” Crane interrupted, slightly irritated. “Mostly, anyway,” he said rubbing his shoulder.  “I’m fine.”

“You both should go down to Sick Bay and have Doc look you over,” a voice from behind said.

Crane turned to see Chip Morton standing beside him, arms folded across his chest and concern written on his face.

“Both of us?  Why?  What happened?” he asked turning back to Nelson, now noticing the bruise that appeared on Nelson’s temple.

“Nothing, Lee.  I just took a spill.  That’s all. Now...”

“Spill nothing, sir.  You were out cold.”  He turned to Crane.  “That quake knocked us about a bit.  The Admiral was thrown against the plotting table.  I didn’t notice for a few seconds.  When I did, he was just beginning to come around.”

Crane placed a hand on the Admiral’s arm.  “Maybe you should have Doc...”

“Look, I said I am all right and I’m all right! Now, what did you find out there?”

Crane looked unconvinced, but gave in anyway. With a sigh, he described the fissure and the strong current that seemed to come from the opening.

“Oh!  And I found this,” he said taking a large, smooth rock from his pocket.  “It has some kind of markings on it.  What do you make of it?”

Nelson took the rock from Crane’s hand and stared at it, turning it over in his hand.  “Strange.  So warm. Like it has a heat source inside it.”

Crane nodded in agreement.  “I know.  When I first picked it up, I was surprised at its warmth; it was almost hot to the touch.”

“Unusual for something that has been on the bottom of the sea.  It should be cold,” Morton spoke up, intently staring at the rock in Nelson’s hand. 

“And theses markings,” Nelson continued.  They’re almost like something I’ve seen before.  Something...”

When Nelson didn’t continue, Crane looked up in concern.  He watched Nelson’s face as one emotion after another flickered briefly over his face.  Anger, fear, sadness, and then blankness descended over Nelson’s features and his eyes slid shut.

“Admiral?  Admiral, what’s wrong?” Crane asked anxiously, his hands on Nelson’s arms.

A slight moan escaped Nelson’s lips and he began to sink to the floor, Crane catching him before he hit the deck.  Gently, Crane laid Nelson on the floor and stared in concern at his friend.

“Get Sick Bay down here.  Now!” he barked out to Morton who was already picking up the mic.

“Medical emergency in the Control Room!   Repeat!  Medical emergency in the Control Room!” shouted Morton into the microphone.

Crane fumbled for the Admiral’s pulse and was relieved to feel the steady beat beneath his fingers.

“He’s alive,” Crane said with relief as Morton joined him at Nelson’s side.

“What happened?  One minute he’s fine and the next he’s out cold on the floor.”

Crane shook his head and tried gently to awaken the Admiral, not knowing what else to do.  His efforts met with failure, as the Admiral remained still and unconscious.

Morton’s eyes met the worried eyes of Crane’s.  “I don’t . . .”

Further words were interrupted by the arrival of the ship’s Doctor, Will Jamieson.

“Captain.  What happened?” he asked as he knelt by Nelson’s side doing a quick examination.

“I don’t know.  One minute he was talking, examining that rock and the next he . . . passed out,” Crane’s voice evinced his concern for Nelson.

“He was knocked unconscious by that quake,” added Morton.  “It was only for a moment.  He said he was all right.”  Jamieson grimaced at Morton’s statement.  Nelson always thought he was all right.  Even when told he wasn’t

Crane watched as Jamieson continued his examination of Nelson.   He glanced from Nelson’s still, pale face to the rock still clutched in his hand.  He reached out and tried to pry the rock from Nelson’s grip.  Heat seemed to flow from the rock and Crane drew back his hand in shock.

“What is it, Lee?” asked Morton standing behind him.

 “I . . . I don’t know.  That rock is warm, almost hot.  And I can’t get him to let it go,” Crane said in consternation as he looked at the rock in Nelson’s hand. 

By now, Doc had finished his examination and looked at Crane and Morton.  “Well, Doc? What’s wrong with him?  Did that bump on the head cause this?” Crane asked.

Jamieson looked down once more at his patient and grimaced.  “I don’t think so.  I can’t be sure, but there’s no evidence of a concussion.  His heart is beating strongly.  Breathing is fine.”  He sat back on his heels and stared at the two men.  “I have no idea what’s wrong with him.”  He shook his head once more.  “Let’s get him to the Sick Bay.  Maybe we can figure something out there.”  Two corpsmen moved to place Nelson on a stretcher and carried him from the Control Room.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Nelson felt himself floating in a sea of blue-green mist.  Glimpses of shadowy figures flitted on the edge of his vision, there but not there.  He heard voices, whispers of unknown tongues assaulting his ears and felt a fluttery rustling all about him. 

Distantly, he heard a name being called over and over, gradually filling his head.  Slowly, he realized the name it called was his.

“Admiral Nelson, do you hear?”

Struggling to speak, Nelson answered.  “Y . . . yes, I hear you.  Where am I?  And who are you?”

“Patience my dear Admiral.  All will be made known.  In time.”

A shadowy figure began to emerge from the mist beside Nelson.  He turned his head and watched as the shape appeared from the haze.  Clothed in purple robes that reached to his feet, the figure stood a bit taller than Nelson himself and seemed to emanate an aura of power.  His features remained hidden by the swirling mist but, prominent on his left hand, was a ring of fair proportions, its blue stone glittering.

“Who are you?  And where am I?”  Nelson asked once again, his voice gaining in strength.

“Patience.  In answer to your first question, my name is Megaron.  As for where you are, that may take a bit to explain.”

“Try.”

Megaron laughed, a not exactly pleasing sound that echoed about the chamber they were in.  He stepped from the mist and moved closer to Nelson.

“You amuse me, Admiral.  I haven’t laughed in . . . well, a very long time.”

Nelson paced about the mist-shrouded room, his anger growing.  “You can’t hope to keep me here for long.  My people will find me.”

Megaron gave another harsh laugh.  “They already have my dear Admiral.  They already have.”

At Nelson’s perplexed look, he pointed to an area behind Nelson, the ring once more glittering.  Nelson turned and saw before him Crane, Morton and Jamieson in what appeared to be the Sick Bay on Seaview, leaning over the prone figure of . . . himself! Their voices became audible.

“What’s wrong with him, Doc?  Why isn’t he waking up?” Crane’s concerned voice asked, the sound vibrating in the chamber.

“I don’t know.  There’s no evidence of a head injury of any kind.  His vital signs are normal.” Jamieson turned to a monitor behind him.  “But look at that EEG!  Brain activity is off the chart!”

Morton leaned over the Admiral.  “Look at his eyes.  They’re moving, as if . . .”

“As if he were asleep and dreaming,” Crane finished quietly.

Jamieson straightened up from his examination. “It’s obviously more than just dreaming, but what?  And what’s causing it?  I don’t have any…”

The voices from the Seaview began to fade away and their faces disappeared into the ever-present fog once more.  Nelson stood for a moment staring at the spot where only a moment before his friends had appeared.  He dropped his gaze and slowly turned to face Megaron once more.

“How?” he asked.

Megaron smiled and shrugged.  “Does it really matter?  Accept it as fact.  You are here and there at the same time.”

Nelson turned thoughtful eyes back to the wall and stared for a moment longer.  “That rock . . . It has something to do with this, doesn’t it?”

Megaron sighed deeply and nodded after a moment. “Yes.  It is called a bibios.  It would convey roughly as a speaking stone in your English.  It is able to project thoughts and actions through a person’s subconscious.  You are here and there at the same time, as I said.”

“And it’s warmth?”

“A simple protective device.  Once the link has been established, it would be dangerous to remove it prematurely.”

“Link?  I wasn’t the first to touch it.  Why me and not my captain?”

“He was not chosen.  You were.”

“Chosen by?” Nelson asked as he paced about the chamber.

“By the bibios.  Intelligent and resourceful as your captain is, he is not the one truly in control of your vessel.”

“And this rock knows that?” Nelson said with more than a touch of skepticism.

“Yes,” Megaron said simply as he watched Nelson closely.

“Assuming I take that as fact, I again ask you why I am here?”

The smile left Megaron’s face.  “I need you.”

“For what?”

“To save your world.”

“Oh.  Is that all? Well, why didn’t you say so?” Nelson asked with a short laugh and a smirk. 

“I assure you, Admiral, I do not jest.  Your world is being destroyed and I have chosen you to save it.”

Nelson gave a short laugh and ran his hand over the side of his head, pacing away from the strange being.  “Forgive me if I find that a bit hard to believe.  Why me?  And what does my world need saving from, besides its own short-sightedness?”

Megaron turned from Nelson and dropped his head. “You may find it amusing Admiral, but I assure you, you won’t.  Your world is facing destruction, just as mine did.”  He turned back to face Nelson, his features hardening.  “I wasn’t able to save my people.  I don’t intend to let that happen to yours.”

Exasperation filled Nelson as he tried to understand what it was the being wanted of him.  “You aren’t making much sense!  Where is your world?  What happened to it and how am I to save my world?  And from what?”

Silence filled the chamber as Megaron, his eyes closed, stood silent and unmoving.  Wisps of gossamer mist flowed about him, sometimes obscuring him.  Nelson waited, his patience waning, till Megaron lowered his head and shook it as if to dispel a sight he didn’t want to see.  Raising his head, he stared Nelson in the eye for a moment, then turned and walked about him in a circle.  His voice when he spoke was filled with a dark anguish.

“My world, Admiral, is here,” he said gesturing about the chamber, his arms flung wide.  “This is all that is left.  All that was spared.  I alone remain.”

“Spared?  Who are you? And where did your people--your world--come from?  What happened to it?” Nelson asked, striding towards Megaron who had now stopped by a section of wall that seemed to shimmer.

Megaron reached out a hand and gently touched the wall.  Nelson was amazed to see the wall pulse and glow, as if it were alive.  Dropping his hand he turned back to Nelson and sighed.

“We were an ancient race.  Alive and thriving when your world was still young.  My people were born and lived and died on our home world,” he said with a sigh.  “I was a leader among my people.”  Turning from Nelson, Megaron’s voice dropped to an almost inaudible level.  “I was also the instrument of my people’s destruction.”

Bewilderment marked Nelson’s face as Megaron suddenly faced him.  “I assure you, the destruction was purely accidental, but devastating nonetheless.  As a punishment, I remain alive to ensure it does not happen again.”

His thoughts fleeing in a thousand different directions, Nelson struggled with what Megaron had said as well as the implications. A violent shaking that threw him to the floor, however, interrupted further thought.  When the floor beneath him had settled, he rose and stared about him.

“Another quake?” he asked. 

Megaron stared about him, seemingly confused. “Yes.  A large one.  We run out of time.”

“My boat.  I need to know if she is all right.  And the crew,” Nelson said as he moved to the opposite wall as if seeking a way out.

“Your boat is all right,” Meagron said.

“I want to know for sure.  Send me back!”

“No.  I am sorry. I cannot risk that.  I will allow you to see one time that all is well with your ship.  Behold.”

The wall that had shimmered in Megaron’s touch, now burst forth with color, coalescing to form a picture.  Crane and Morton were picking themselves up off the floor, seemingly unhurt.  Words began to be heard as if a volume control button was pushed.

“Chip, check damage control.  Find out if we’re still watertight.”

Nelson watched as Chip sprang to the mic dangling from the wall.

“Doc, any change in his condition?” Crane asked, concern filling his voice.

“No change,” Jamieson said.  “No, wait.  That’s not true.  Vital signs are beginning to rise slightly.  I can’t understand this.  And I can’t do anything to help him.”  He looked up at Crane with dismay and frustration written on his lined face.

“Damage control reports minor flooding in frames 33 and 45.  But we’re all right.  For now.” Morton stood behind Crane, staring at Nelson with the same troubled expression on his face as Crane.

Crane dropped his eyes to the rock still clenched in Nelson’s hand and reached out to tentatively touch it.  Its continued warmth forced Crane to draw back once more.  “I think this has something to do with the Admiral’s condition,” he said, pointing to the rock.

“That rock?  How?  There isn’t any way that that thing could be causing this.  Is there?” asked Morton uncertainly.

Jamieson shook his head and shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I wouldn’t think so.  But then, I’ve seen lots of things I wouldn’t have believed before I served on board the Seaview.”  He reached out his hand and gently stroked the rock’s surface.  “It is hot.  But I don’t see any burns on the admiral’s hand,” he said as he tried to peel Nelson’s fingers from around the rock.

Giving up, he stepped back and looked at Crane. “We may be able to pry the rock from his hand if we protect our hands from the heat.” 

Turning, he glanced around the Sick Bay and smiled, reaching for a pair of gloves left there by a reactor technician.  “Here, this may help insulate your hands.  You try to peel the rock away.  I’ll keep watch on his vital signs.”

Crane took the gloves and began to slip them on. “Vital signs?  Why?  What do you think will happen?”

“I don’t know.  But I want to be prepared for anything.”

Nodding, Crane looked to Jamieson who motioned for him to begin.  Reaching out a hand, Crane gently began to peel Nelson’s fingers back, the gloves protecting him from the heat.

“It’s working,” Morton whispered, looking over Crane’s shoulder.

“Yes, it is.  I almost have him free of it.”  A few seconds more and he said, “There!  Got it!  I…”

A shrill beeping coming from Nelson’s heart monitor interrupted Crane.  “What’s happening?”

Jamieson stared in consternation at Nelson’s vital signs.  “His heart rate and blood pressure are dropping!  Brain activity is slowing.  He’s going into cardiac arrest!  Put it back!  Now!”

His hands shaking, Crane put the rock back into Nelson’s hand, watching as his fingers closed about it once more.  The sounds coming from the heart monitor ceased and were replaced once more by a steady beeping.

“Is he all right?” Crane and Morton asked almost simultaneously.

Jamieson took his time taking Nelson’s blood pressure and listening to his heart.  Finally, he looked up.  “I think he’s all right.  But we won’t try that again,” he said.  “I don’t know what to . . .”

Their features began to wane and their voices faded to nothing as Nelson found himself back in the chamber.

“Satisfied, Admiral?”

Nelson turned back to face the voice once more. “Not entirely.”  He stared unflinching at the man before him.  “But I suppose I will have to be.  Are you ready to tell me what this is all about?”

The slight smile dropped from Megaron’s face. “Yes,” he said after a time.  “Yes, I suppose I am.”  He dropped his head and walked away from Nelson, his robes flowing about him in the slight breeze that wafted through the chamber. He stopped in front of the wall that still shimmered, the same one through which he had shown Nelson the Seaview.  Reaching out a hand, he stroked its surface gently.  Nelson heard him whisper strange, unknown words as he continued to caress the wall.

After a time, he stopped and dropped his head. His voice when he spoke trembled with long held emotion.  “My people were an ancient race.  Full of the ways of science.  Inquisitive. Seeking.  We were also...refugees.”

The silence in the room seemed to stretch on forever till Megaron turned and stared Nelson in the eye.  “Our world was destroyed many thousand years ago when our sun went nova.  Our scientists knew what was to come and made preparations.  Thousands of us were selected to seek out new worlds to colonize. We came upon your world when Greece was at its height and chose this area to colonize.”

Nelson listened, watching Megaron’s face as he told his tale.  Disbelief warred with his quest for knowledge.  “This area has no land mass near by.  Where did you live?  In the sea?” Nelson asked afraid if he stopped Megaron’s tale, he would not start again.

“There is no land here now, no.  But when we arrived, a large landmass existed here where we are now. Our new home,” he said quietly.

Megaron turned to face Nelson and saw the disbelief in his eyes that crowded out his wonder.

He stared at Nelson a moment longer and then seemed to shrink a bit.  “I can see you do not understand.  I suppose the only way, is to show you.”

Turning back to the shimmering wall, he waved a hand before it.  Nelson was astounded as the wall shimmered and pulsed once more.  But this time he felt himself move. The mist increased about him, swirling, till he saw nothing. 

When Nelson opened his eyes, he found himself standing on a large cliff looking down on two identical valleys.  On either, fields spread out in all directions, tended by men, women and children of all ages.

“These were my people.”  Nelson, startled, turned to see Megaron standing beside him, unfathomable sorrow etched upon his face.  “We planted, tended and harvested our crops.  Raised our children and buried our dead.”

Nelson again felt himself moving, the mists closing about him once more.  This time he found himself in a market area.  Merchants set their wares out on blankets of many hues.  Calling to one another in a language that was somehow familiar to Nelson, they bantered back and forth good-naturedly.

Extending out from the marketplace was a large open area. Nelson walked to the edge and marveled at what he saw.  Stretching out before him was a large open area that was dominated by a large stone ring consisting of concentric circles, each one larger than the one before it. In the center of the circle was a round area that seemed to shimmer and pulse as the wall in the chamber had.

“Here was our discovery, our eventual down fall.” Nelson didn’t bother to turn this time, knowing Megaron had come up behind him once more.

Feeling the pull of the area, Nelson fought to bring himself back.  “What . . . what happened here?  What was your discovery?”

“We were attracted to this area by an energy field similar to what we had found on other worlds in our quest.  The field was highest in this area and we made it our capital.”

“We strove to tame the fields to our use, to blend in with other cultures on your world, and tampered with something we did not understand.  We assumed they were similar to fields we found on other worlds but we were devastatingly wrong.”

Nelson stared about him in wonder.  “These fields, what were they?” he asked after a moment.

“They were portals.  To other times, other places, other worlds.”

“You said you found these fields elsewhere.  Why didn’t you stay on those worlds? Why here?”

“The other portals were unstable, unpredictable. Some closed trapping our explorers on other worlds.  Some exuded such energy, it destroyed anything nearby.”

“Your world housed a similar portal but we, in our infinite arrogance, thought we could control it and meld it to our desires. Our scientists worked to change the fields and make them stable and in so doing, caused the destruction of our new world, your old.  The reaction was stopped in time but not before my people were destroyed, killed in the cataclysmic eruptions.  Our homes, our land were torn apart by violent earthquakes.”

Silence stretched on between the two till Megaron shook himself and faced Nelson.  “The same thing is happening now.  The portal is reopening.  It must be closed.”

“The earthquakes.  They’re caused by this...portal?” Nelson asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yes.  How, I do not know.  We were able to close the portal but not before my people were killed.  There was no chance for them to escape through to another time or place.  There was… no time.”  Megaron’s voice had dropped to an almost inaudible whisper, his face reflecting the horror of seeing his world destroyed.

Nelson turned back to the portal he saw from a different time.  He watched the people as they went about their business; children laughed and parents scolded.  Just as any other time and place.  But he knew these people, refugees from one disaster, had died in another and he felt an overpowering sadness.  He wouldn’t let that happen to his world.  Not if there was something he could do about it.

“What can I do?” he asked quietly, hesitant to intrude in Megaron’s grief.

The words brought Megaron back to the present and he turned back to Nelson.  “You have aboard your vessel torpedoes and missiles, do you not?”

“And how do you know this?” Nelson asked quietly.

 “I have spent many thousand years alone.  I explored your culture, listened as your people sailed the oceans, explored the stars and now the oceans.  I have heard of you and your submarine and heard of your renown.”

“How?  How are you still alive?”

A stillness descended upon Megaron’s features as he remembered his old life.  “Among my people, there were those chosen to be caretakers.  Men and women that were endowed with a special power to allow them to live forever if they chose.”

“Why?”

A small smile flitted about Megaron’s face as he contemplated Nelson.  “I like you, Admiral.  You are full of questions.  A man not satisfied with a simple because.”  He gave a short laugh and continued, “To you perhaps the idea of immortality is attractive. To us, it was a way of insuring that our knowledge would endure so that mistakes made before would not be repeated. I was one of those chosen to be a caretaker and I went with the first group to search for new homelands.”

Megaron seemed to shrink a bit as he relived old memories.  “Most of us had the luxury of being with our own kind.  To talk of our history, our memories, our discoveries.  When this world . . .” he broke off what he was about to say then continued.  “When we destroyed ourselves, I chose to remain alive to ensure the portal would not reopen.”

“You said you “chose” to stay alive.  You can die then?”

Megaron stared long at Nelson as if looking inside him, trying to decide what to say.  After a moment he nodded briefly.  “Yes, I can.  If I choose.”

Nelson turned away at the frank admission.  He didn’t know why, but the simple confession filled him with confidence. 

“What do you want me to do?” Nelson asked finally.

Closing his eyes as if in relief, Megaron said, “If I give you the coordinates to the portal, torpedoes fired from your submarine should close the portal once again.”

“And if I do what you ask, what happens to you?”

“Nothing.  I go back to watching and waiting.  The blast will have no effect on me if that is what you fear.”

Feeling the weight of the decision he was about to make, Nelson turned to stare once more at the civilization that spread out before him.  Once alive, happy and profitable, now dead.  His decision made, Nelson faced Megaron once more and agreed.

Before Nelson could react, he felt himself moving again, falling through mists that enveloped him.  He thought to find himself back in the chamber again but heard, with surprise, Crane’s anxious voice.

“What’s wrong now?  What’s happening to him?” Crane’s tone was laced with fear.

“I don’t know.  His vital signs are continuing to drop.  Brain activity is decreasing.  He seems to be . . .” Doc’s words were cut off when Nelson gasped and gave a low moan, his hand reaching for his head.

“Admiral?  Are you all right?” Crane asked, his voice taut with concern.

Nelson slowly opened his eyes to stare into Lee Crane’s anxious face.  He smiled and then groaned at the pain that coursed briefly through his head.  “Yes, Lee.  I’m . . . I’m all right.  I . . .” He stopped and stared down at the rock that was still gripped in his hands.  A curious expression came over his face as he unclenched his hand and stared at the rock.  His expression quickly changed to one of understanding and he smiled and nodded.

“Admiral?”  Jamieson’s voice broke through and Nelson realized he was still connected to several machines, his officers staring at him with a mixture of interest and concern.

“You can take those off now, Will.  I’m all right.”

“Admiral, what happened?  What . . .” Lee’s questions were interrupted by Nelson who, now freed of the wires, suddenly sat up and fixed him with a stare.

“Lee, I want you to ready four torpedoes for immediate firing.”

Crane stared at him, disbelief filling his face. “What?”

“You heard me.  Ready four torpedoes.”

Confusion and anxiety forced Crane to pull his gaze from Nelson to Jamieson, who shrugged his shoulders as if to say he didn’t know what to make of it.

“Admiral, I don’t think you should be making...”

“Lee,” Nelson interrupted “I don’t have the time to make you believe I’m really all right.  I need you to ready the torpedoes and I need you to fire them at these coordinates,” Nelson said, quickly grabbing a chart Jamieson had been holding and scribbling a set of coordinates.  He handed it to Crane who took it slowly from the Admiral, his eyes never leaving the Admiral’s.

“Trust me, Lee.  I know what’s causing the earthquakes but we don’t have much time. Back us off a safe distance and fire the torpedoes.”

Long years of friendship between the two men convinced Crane to do as the Admiral asked.  He turned slowly to the intercom and ordered the missile room to ready the torpedoes.

Nelson nodded in relief and glanced down at the rock in his hand, smiling.

“Sir, torpedoes are readied and coordinates set. We’re a safe distance away.”

“Fire.”  Nelson’s voice was strong but laced with something Crane couldn’t make out.

The torpedoes sped on their way to the mark and exploded, closing off the portal once more.  The Seaview rocked slightly from side to side but no harm was done.

Crane turned back to Nelson who continued to stare at the rock in his hand.  He walked slowly to his friend’s side and gently touched him on the arm.  “You are going to tell me what that was all about, aren’t you?”

Nelson drew his eyes level with his captain’s. “Of course, Lee.  When have I ever left you in the dark before?” he asked innocently.

Crane frowned and was about to mention several times when he had indeed been left in the dark when he noticed Nelson grinning broadly.

“Come on Lee, Chip and I’ll tell you all about it in the Observation Nose over a cup of coffee,” he said as he tossed the rock in the air.

The three men headed for the door but were stopped by the voice of Jamieson.  “I don’t suppose anyone is going to ask me if it is all right for you to go.”

Nelson turned back and looked questioningly at Jamieson.  “Why would I ask you that, Will?  I simply had a little nap.  You’re always telling me I don’t sleep enough.”

Jamieson made a rude noise and waved him out the door. “Go.  But don’t come to me if someone finds you collapsed on the floor.”

Chuckling, Nelson strode from the room, his laughter ringing in the hallway.

 

 

Beth Kauffman 2000. All rights reserved.