AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As theCormorantclosed on the location of the wrecked submarine, Monk stared out his viewport. The glowing forest stretched in all directions. He found himself rubbing at his left wrist, a habit whenever he grew anxious. At such times, his fingers were drawn to his old maiming, as if unconsciously trying to remind him to stay alert, lest he suffer worse than losing a hand.
Or maybe it was just that his new prosthetic hand chafed.
He had only been wearing it for three months. The latest bit of DARPA tech was attached to his wrist by magnetic contact points, which were wired into his arm’s nerves, both motor and sensory. Between lab-grown skin and a wireless cortical implant to control it all, he could barely distinguish his prosthetic hand from the real one. It certainly looked the part. No one aboard theCormoranthad given it a second glance.
The prosthesis was also far more than it seemed. The fingers were strong enough to crack walnuts. The palm hid a potent charge of C4. The DARPA engineers had also incorporated a suite of electronic warfare countermeasures, including hacking tools.
In many ways, it was as much a weapon as any sidearm.
Not that any of it helps down here.
Monk forced his fingers away from his wrist and shifted in his seatto study the bathymetric map near the pilot’s shoulder. A green triangle marked the position of the submarine.
Another half-kilometer and we’ll be on site.
He returned to staring out his viewport, but he kept a sidelong watch on the man seated across from him. Datuk Lee had shown no evidence of being a mole, a Chinese agent. Still, as they approached the sub, Monk intended to keep a closer eye on the man, to spy for any crack in his jovial demeanor.
Behind Monk’s shoulder, Adam was doing the same from the rear seat, but with much less circumspection. The TaU agent watched the biochemist steadily, barely looking away. Not that Datuk noted it. The man continued to monitor his sensors, muttering occasionally to himself.
Movement drew Monk’s attention below, but it was nothing to be concerned about. A bright red KitKat candy wrapper rolled across the coral canopy, stirred by the current of their passage. He had noted other signs of man’s reach down here: a few beer cans, several fluttering plastic bags, a huge tire. It was a sad testament that even at these depths there was no escaping the trash from the world above.
But that was not the worst damage.
Phoebe gasped from the front seat.
Monk saw it then, too.
Ahead, a dark wound blackened the brilliant landscape. It spread in a vast, cancerous swath across the coral.
“We’re coming up on the submarine’s location,” Bryan reported.
The damage ahead looked far worse than could be attributed to the impact of a submarine. Where the lander,Louie,had crashed, the forest around it had still glowed.
Unlike here.
The coral fields ahead appeared black and dead. As they drew closer, the dark expanse grew, spreading outward in a widening circle.
Datuk offered an explanation. “I’m picking up gamma radiation.”
All eyes turned to him.
“How bad?” Monk asked.
“Eighteen rem,” he reported. “Not too dangerous while we’re insulated in here. But it’s climbing steadily. We should not travel too close to that sub.”
Bryan had already cut the thrusters with Datuk’s first warning. Momentum still carried them forward, bringing theCormorantto the edge of the dead zone.
“Twenty rem,” Datuk sounded off. “Thirty...”
“Back us off,” Monk ordered.
Bryan reversed their thrusters and set them gliding away.
“Guess we know what killed the coral out there,” Adam said. “The wrecked submarine must have a massive leak. Still, water acts as a good insulator. With six miles of ocean overhead, the radiation shouldn’t pose any risk to the surface—just to the local sea life.”
“Then let’s make sure that doesn’t includeus,” Monk added.
Phoebe turned to them. “Adam, the radiation might not pose a danger to the greater world, butsomethingdown here has your uncle worried. It’s this section of the Tonga where all the quakes have been clustering. The submarine’s crash could just be coincidence, but I’m not buying it. Especially if the vessel went down two weeks ago.”
