The rift, p.25
The Rift, page 25
“Yeah…yeah,” Neil said then turned and walked away.
Sam could clearly see whatever was affecting his crew was also causing the chain of authority to break down. Soon he worried he wouldn’t be able to control anyone…let alone himself.
Chapter 15
Pops stared at AJ, his hand on the switch. AJ nodded and watched him flip the switch. Moments later they could feel the air handling system come on blowing cool clean air throughout the ship.
“Boy could anything feel better right now?” AJ grinned.
“We'd best move onto the next project, we ain’t out of the woods yet,” Pops said gathering his tools.
Days had passed since they crashed to the bottom. The air system had worked sporadically but kept quitting. Repair teams worked double time to replace or repair all the damaged areas around the ship.
Sam entered sickbay after leaving Lomkin to work on the computer system. He also threatened the little man if Ginny was hurt in anyway by his actions. As he walked further into the room he felt the air handling system come back on. He wanted to breathe a sigh but the sight before him alarmed him greatly. Every bed was filled, there were people sitting on the floor with bandages around their arms, some around their legs and others had head wounds. Looking around he had to bet that half the crew was here and a couple of the Seals. People rushed about trying to help the injured. Sam spied the doctor in the next room staring into a microscope.
“Doctor,” he said entering the room.
McCormick looked up from the microscope. Sam suddenly became rooted to the floor. The doctor’s face looked different, he was a balding man and now his hair was full and rich but what struck out the most was his eyes. His forehead was slightly bulging making his eyes looked deeply recessed.
“My God! What’s happening to you?” Sam said shocked.
“What does it appear like?” the doctor said sarcastically.
“You seem to be…changing. But why?”
“The answer should be quite simple actually,” he snapped then looked back into the microscope.
“Enlighten me doctor,” Sam said finally getting his legs to move him closer.
“Look at this,” the doctor said motioning for him to look into the microscope.
Sam peered into the twin receptacles. He watched as organisms moved about.
“So what am I looking at?” he said backing away from the scope.
“You’re seeing the ships water system,” the doctor said. “I first noticed the changes going on not only in myself but in many others too. Stress seems to bring it on faster. So I took a blood sample from myself and began to study it. Those organisms are in my blood also and most of the crew if not all. There had to be a source where it was coming from and it took me a while to track it down but I’m positive it’s our water system.”
“But how? The water system is filtered, purified,” Sam explained.
“Yes it is, but it is also a desalination unit. It pulls seawater in and makes drinking water from it. We’re back sixty five million years Captain…who’s to say what’s in the ocean water. Anyway, our filter system wasn’t able to extract it…so here we are!” the doctor said holding his hands out.
“So, what is happening to us?” Sam asked the question he knew he didn’t want an answer to.
“As near as I can tell…we are de-evolving.”
“Run that past me again?” Sam said shocked.
“We are de-evolving Captain, we’re reverting back to where we came from,” the doctor said.
“Cave men?” Sam exclaimed.
“Neanderthal…or worse yet, Cro-Magnon. There’s no telling just how far this will go. You have to realize Captain and I already spoke to Miss Carter about this…man didn’t exist back in this time period. Our race wasn’t even conceived yet…monkeys if that’s what we descended from didn’t even exist.”
“My God!” Sam muttered.
“Think about it Captain, if we allow this to go far enough…how far will we actually de-evolve to? Actually from a purely scientific standpoint it would be interesting to see what we started from,” McCormick grinned making his brow look more pronounced.
“Is there any way to reverse the process? Any way to destroy the organisms within us all?” Sam asked.
“I don’t know yet, I just figured out where it was coming from I haven’t even started to figure out how to stop it,” McCormick said. “Keep in mind Captain, some of us will de-evolve differently than others. Some will turn quickly, while others may show no effects.”
“Like you?” Sam asked.
“I’m showing the effects but retaining my faculties, others out there are totally de-evolving becoming savages.”
“The total resources of this boat are at your disposal doctor, anything you need it’s yours…find a cure,” Sam said.
“What I need, you or anyone else can’t give…that’s time.”
Sam turned to leave the weight that was now thrust upon his shoulders weighed heavy and it suddenly felt like it would crush him where he stood.
“One other thing Captain…” McCormick yelled out.
“What is it doctor,” Sam said turning.
“Keep this in mind Captain, we can’t go back through that rift as long as this organism is in us. If we bring it back to our time…and the organism can survive in our world we could inevitably cause the destruction of our race. We can’t go back Captain…ever, unless we rid ourselves of this,” McCormick said pounding his fist on the tabletop.
Sam said nothing and just nodded, then left the room. He gazed at the many people that were strapped to their beds; some where showing the signs…others had regressed to the point where he couldn’t even recognize them, he was surprised he hadn’t noticed them when he walked in. Heading quickly out of sickbay he headed for engineering where he found Pops and AJ working on a control panel.
“We’ve almost have propulsion up and running Sir,” AJ said watching him draw close.
“Good…and excellent job with the air handling system it wasn’t a moment too soon either. Pops I hate to bring this up right now, but I need to know how far you and Mr. Brooks had gotten on developing a weapon to penetrate the Zeallion defenses.”
“Well, quite far actually, what we came up with was modifying our existing weapons to penetrate their ships. We took spare metal…that weird stuff this ships is made from and made casings for the torpedoes and missile batteries. There is still much to do, all the equipment is ready the metal just needs to be machined properly,” Pops said wiping the sweat from his brow.
“Is it something you can show another crewman how to do?” Sam asked.
“Not really, the damn stuff is delicate, you might be wasting what metal we have if you do. What we can do though is put a few more details on this equipment and I can get back to work on it,” Pops suggested.
“We also have a problem with number two reactor Captain. One of the control rods has been destroyed as it was being slipped back in during an emergency shutdown. It cracked the reactor casing and is causing cooling liquid to drain out into the reactor room. Pops has been controlling it by pumping in fresh seawater then pumping out the contaminated stuff,” AJ explained.
“Will it hold together?” Sam asked sighing.
“It should captain as long as the pumps hold out. We have spares but we won’t be able to get in there to change them out. If someone goes in there for longer than a few minutes…you might as well write them off,” Pops said making a slashing motion across his throat.
“Understood, AJ you assign a work detail to finish off what you two are doing here,” Sam said.
“Captain I don’t think there are any more details to go around, if you haven’t noticed sickbay is overflowing,” AJ explained.
“Yeah, I know and it’s only going to get worse,” Sam muttered.
“Captain, what’s happening to us…I mean I’m seeing some strange behavior in people I would have never expected.” AJ asked.
“Once were up and running again I will be calling a meeting of all senior staff. I’ll explain it all then. Till then, why don’t you continue working here and let Pops get to work on our defense system, I’ll have Bob give you assistance.”
“Aye, aye captain,” Pops said nodding.
Sam headed back to the bridge where he watched Lomkin working diligently on the computer system. Around him other details worked to try and repair damaged systems. Sitting down in the control seat he grabbed his mike.
“Damage control this is the captain,” he said.
“Damage control here sir,” a voice responded.
“Has the forward torpedo room damage been assessed?” he asked.
“Negative sir, the water coming in has gotten stronger than the pumps and handle. It’s totally flooded.”
“Have you tried forcing negative pressure into the room?” Sam asked.
“First thing we tried sir, unless we can get it pumped out that room will remain flooded.”
“What about the bulkheads in C through F decks?” he asked.
“The damage appears to be just some minor sweating. It’s steady but I don’t think it will buckle. There must have been some plate separation on the outer hull. For the life of me with the impact we sustained I’m surprised this boat is still in one piece.”
“Yes…so am I,” If you can get that forward torpedo room pumped let me know, Captain out,” Sam said hanging up the mike. He then turned his attention to Lomkin.
“Report Mr. Lomkin.”
“Look Captain…understand something right here right now…I am not in the Navy, you can’t order me around like I’m one of your men!” Lomkin snapped angrily at Sam.
Sam looked at him; he was showing signs of regression. Hair grew from his cheeks and his forehead began to bulge out. When he rose to his feet he was slumped over and Sam could even see that his arms had grown longer.
“I am sorry Mr. Lomkin, could you please tell me how much longer before you are done?” Sam asked his voice more soothing.
Lomkin stared at him his face showing disgust. Tossing the computer board over his shoulder he stormed out the hatchway. Sam quickly rose and knelt beside the computer terminal. Grabbing the board Lomkin had, he stared at the many open slots that it could fit in.
“Damn it Ginny, I wish you were here to help me with this,” he mouthed softly. “C…card…slot…insert…third…third…left…third…left….” she stuttered.
Sam slipped the card into the slot the third from the left locking it in place. He then looked up at the ceiling of the bridge.
“Ginny?” he said softly.
“Oh my, that’s better!” she said making a sound like she was clearing her throat.
“Thank God! I thought for sure I had lost you,” he said sighing.
“It will take a little more than that to get rid of me dear,” she said laughing.
“Ginny, we have a lot of problems, could you tell me the status of the ship, where are we sitting? We’ve almost got propulsion on line again,” Sam explained.
“Well, you already know this but you’re at the bottom of the ocean. Even when you do get propulsion back you won’t be able to move. There is approximately four hundred tons of rock and debris resting on the hull of this vessel. Propulsion will not be able to free us alone, some of that debris will have to be cleared. The nose of the ship has been fractured. The hull hasn’t been split wide open but there is a fissure allowing water in, the pumps will not be able to control the flooding. There are also many other stress fractures that are weeping. They are not critical but I wouldn’t take this vessel any deeper than you have to. The number two reactor has a major fracture and is spilling radioactive cooling water. It would appear that the chief engineer had found a temporary solution to the problem. There also appears to be intruders aboard, how did they get here?” she asked.
“They are not intruders, they are the crewmen. There are organisms in the water we’ve been drinking that are causing us to de-evolve…revert back to Stone Age people…or worse,” Sam said sullenly.
“My, we’re in quite a pickle aren’t we?” Ginny said sadly.
Sam closed the compartment to the computer terminal and quickly headed off the bridge and down to his cabin. Once there he shut and locked the door.
“Ginny, I don’t know how we’re going to get out of this one. Everything is falling apart around us. We can’t go back through the rift while we still have this…this virus in us!” he said growing angry.
“I always thought that when things seem their bleakest an answer always appeared. Sometimes you might not know it’s there, sometimes you just have to look for it,” she said softly.
“I’ve lost so many people Ginny…so many lives gone because of me!” Sam yelled.
“I know this doesn’t help…Sam my love. But, you’ve done the best with what you had to work with. If you hadn’t done the things you did then many more would have been lost,” she said trying to sound reassuring.
“I know…I know it doesn’t make it any easier though. I have to tell you that right now I’m fighting my anger…I’m affected by this virus too,” he said staring as his hand shook.
“You need to take things one step at a time. Obviously finding a cure for this virus is the most important. Second I would get us off the bottom before those stress cracks turn into ruptures…then I’d tackle getting back through that rift.”
“Yes…must concentrate take things one step at a time. Is there anything you can do to help the doctor in his research?”
“I might be able to help, I can analyze things quicker than he can…and I might be able to spot something that he might overlook,” she said.
“Then go there and help him anyway you can,” Sam said running his hand through his hair.
“I am worried about you Sam…I don’t want to leave you alone.”
“It's best that you go Ginny…I might say something I don’t mean. You want to help me then help the doctor find a cure for us,” he said rocking back and forth in his chair.
Silence filled the room and he then knew she was gone. He hadn’t told her…hadn’t told anyone, his insides were burning up and his body ached all over. His mind was still coherent though, and he kept it constantly thinking…thinking about anything. He knew that if he allowed himself to slip, then the virus would claim him and he would turn into some beast. Feeling overwhelmed he thought about his next move, the Zeallions where technologically superior yet there had to be a way to get through their defenses.
He began pacing the room.
AJ slipped the card back in the computer terminal and engaged the power to the console. Instantly it lit up and the gauges began to register the output of the reactors. Walking over he grabbed the mike from the wall.
“XO to Captain…XO to Captain…” there came no answer.
Rushing from engineering he made his way to the bridge where he found repair crews still working. Turning he headed to sickbay where he found Jenna and the doctor. The room was full and he gazed upon his crewmates that had transformed into something his mind almost couldn’t comprehend. He then made his way down to the Captain’s cabin, reaching out he knocked then tried the handle, and it was locked.
“Captain?” AJ called out. There came no reply.
Backing up he threw his weight against the door but it held. He did this repeatedly until he felt like his shoulder was going to cave in, but the lock gave. The door burst open and he tried to control his momentum as he flung himself into the room.
“G…get out!” a gruff voice yelled to him.
“Captain?” AJ asked looking around.
“G…get…get out!” the voice erupted again.
AJ followed the voice, behind the table on the floor was the Captain…at least the clothes were the Captains. The creature that was in them was covered in hair, its nose was broad and flattened and its brow was thick and overhung its eyes. The lower jaw was protruding and looked extremely thick. Thick black matted hair covered its hands also. He knew thought, that it was the Captain, he looked up at him and through the eyes he could see it was Sam.
“Sam! What happened to you?” AJ said kneeling down and lightly grabbing his arm.
“Virus…taken over…fighting it as best I can…fighting,” he said in a hoarse voice.
“Virus? What virus?” AJ asked.
“Water…in the water, desalination units…water,” Sam replied in a throaty voice.
“Come on…have to get you down to sickbay, let the doc take a look at you,” AJ said trying to scoop him off the floor.
“No! Can’t let the crew see me like this…. No! Doctor is already working….Ginny helping…only need time…time,” Sam croaked out resisting AJ.
“Sam, we have to do something,” AJ said softly.
“Take…take control…sub…until they…find a…cure. Have…to…get us…off the bottom,” Sam said his body convulsing.
AJ looked at him, then reached down and helped him up, his friends body shook with spasms causing him great pain. He helped him to his bunk where at least he might be more comfortable.
“I’ll take care of us Sam, you rest,” AJ said and then turned to leave.
“Sub…sub is buried…under tons…tons of debris,” Sam yelled out.
AJ nodded and then left the room forcing the door back into position to look as if nothing had happened. He then quickly headed down to sickbay again. When he entered he walked past all the altered crewmen and to the laboratory in the back. When he entered he saw Jenna working with a bunch of slides while the doctor peered into a microscope. Even from across the room he could see the man's hands shake. The change was coming over him also.
“Jenna…has he found anything yet?” AJ asked.
“No, nothing,” she snapped.
AJ looked at her; she was beginning to change also, though her transformation was subtler.
“If you’re not going to do anything then get the hell out of here and let us work!” McCormick yelled his anger quite apparent.
AJ looked from Jenna to the doctor then turned and left the room. The virus was spreading fast; it was out of control. Looking around the sickbay he was alarmed at how many crewmen were actually altered. More than half the crew now had been changed and he realized that even now some could be going over. Walking out of the room he leaned heavily against the wall in the outer hallway.
