[Original Novel] Pressure: First Encounter, Part 14

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Previous parts:} 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

“It’s all underwater”. Angie was excusably slackjawed. And correct. the bright blue sky, upon closer inspection, was sunlight filtered through ocean water. Something similar to a whale but an order of magnitude larger sailed lazily overhead in pursuit of a creature one third the size, with a long neck and flippers.

In nearby regions of the dome it was clearly raining, not from clouds but from inlets embedded in the dome which admitted water, presumably desalinating it as well. The realization struck Angie like a thunderbolt. “The waters above and below, separated by the firmament of the sky.” Eliot was too engrossed in the imagery to ask what she meant.

The view seemed to take flight, leaving the grassy hill behind and accelerating towards the dome itself. A long black cable became visible, trailing from the outside of the structure up to a hexagonal platform floating on the surface.

“What is that? What the fuck is that?” Neither ventured a guess. with a startling feeling of impact, their point of view passed straight through the transparent membrane into the radiant blue abyss just outside of it. Only from this aerial vantage point was it now possible to notice encampments far below, complete with bonfires and barely distinguishable figures dancing around them.

“Tribal, Pacific Islanders maybe? Did the NOAA build this? Why would they keep natives here? Does a habitat this big actually exist anywhere? The Belusarius was news to me, so-” Eliot put a finger to her lips. Glancing at the screen she at once understood why. Before them a familiar serpentine form hovered silently in the water, small black eyes reflected by the dome as it peered inside.

“So it’s lying to us?” Angie paced frantically, running fingers through her hair and tugging at knots. “Well, that’s one possibility.” She spun on her heel. “Did we just see the same thing? What’s the other possibility, Eliot? That it’s all true?”

He chewed his fingernail thoughtfully, perched on one of the increasingly dingy chairs. A foul musk hung in the air. Their eyes locked, and several seconds of tense silence followed. “Look neither one of us is the type to take it at face value, but the bottom line is that we’re down to the air that’s in the Argyro right now and that’s rapidly fouling with every breath we take.

There’s just no time left. We have to act. What we do depends on how we interpret what we’ve seen.” Infuriatingly logical. “Everything it’s done so far has been a lie, in one way or another. The hallucinations we can agree on, if not the dreams.”

Eliot nodded. “So we’ve got all lies or all truth. What about a mixture?” Angie calmed somewhat and sat opposite Eliot at the table, gesturing for him to continue. “Well, imagine how long it’s been down here. Crippled, lonely, perhaps going slowly insane from it. Waiting eons for us to evolve to the point that we can discover it, and make contact. Imagine the desperation and anxiety. So alien to us, unsure of how to communicate, afraid we’ll recoil in disgust.”

“You make it sound like a frightened child.” Eliot shrugged. “Maybe it is. We don’t know anything about it, except what it’s shown us. Supposing it told us the truth until we began to show signs of fear and distrust? Then began showing us what we wanted to see instead.”

Angie interjected. “Nate’s dream! The garden, the firmament, all of it’s straight from scripture.” Eliot nodded. “And whether or not the rest was true, it fits neatly enough into that perspective.” Angie mulled it over. “Leo needs to know about this.” Both scanned the room.

“How long has it been since you saw him?” Just then, the inner door of the airlock swung open. Leonard, smeared with grease with a toolbox in each hand and a wrench gripped in his teeth, stepped over the rim of the hatch and then collapsed into the third chair.

For the most part he ignored the barrage of questions and instead spit out the wrench, pulled a small comb from his chest pocket and began tidying his hair. “Where have you been all this time? What were you doing? How much did you hear?”

When it became apparent that he would reply in his own time the torrent of questions slowed to a trickle and then finally stopped. Leo looked around the room. “This tub is in a bad way, isn’t it.” They stared, visibly confused, waiting for more.

“I didn’t hear it all but I got the gist. I saw Nate go by with Angie when he was having his little episode. I’d have done something if I thought Nate was any danger to her, but we both know he’s not. For my part, since we’re out of O2, I was scooping CO2 absorbant into buckets and carrying it up here to top off the pressure suits. With the subs out of commission, the suits are our last way out.”

“But we can’t surface!” Angie blurted out, nearly falling out of her chair. Leo slowly shifted his gaze to meet hers. “Don’t intend to. I also don’t intend to die here. I think we should head for the Belusarius.” This time Eliot objected. “And spread whatever we’ve got to them? We’ve been over this, Leo.”

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, then continued. “That’s assuming they’re unaffected. And it can only reach them through us while we’re halfway between the two. That’s my theory anyway. And even if I’m wrong, better the world know what’s down here and put people to work figuring it out, right? This way it’s still contained, the Belusarius is just as far down and just as remote. Whether or not anyone comes with me, that’s where I’m going. Only problem is, we’re short one suit.” All three peered into the airlock. The two pressure suits hung in their cradles, silently demanding that a terrible choice be made.

The air stank mightily. Angie cradled her head in one hand, struggling to clear her vision as the men made final preparations. Hypoxia, she recalled, triggers a flight instinct in all complex animals. A leftover from burrow dwelling ancestors. When the amount of CO2 in the air passes a certain point, feelings of panic overwhelm you.

Under the circumstances it was difficult to determine how much of that was hypoxia and how much was sober awareness of their predicament. The men finally settled on splitting the suits between Leo and Angie, while Eliot followed in the repaired minisub. Incidental emergency lights had already begun to shut off and finding their way to the docking port required a great deal of fumbling.

There was a powerful sense of finality to it. Whatever lay ahead of them, hanging back and deliberating any longer was off the table. This cramped, fragile bubble of air and light no longer offered either. Each time they inhaled, less oxygen was added to their blood. With each exhalation, more CO2 filled the station. The walls dripped with bacteria growth, a biofilm that in the past three days had completely enveloped every available surface. Even as they were driven out, something else intruded.

“Wait for my okay from the airlock.” The floor seemed to sway gently under her. She focused on Eliot’s face, grimly nodding to Leo, and felt momentarily stabilized. “Once we’re suited up and flooding the lock, you disembark, and stay in sight.”

Just then, the last of whatever force held her up gave out and Angie collapsed against the bulkhead. “Angie!” Eliot moved to assist but Leo was closer. “Foul air got to her. She’s been showing symptoms for hours. Don’t worry, once she’s in the suit and breathing easy, her strength will return. Just prep the sub and wait for my signal.” With that, Leo hoisted her into his arms and began trudging up the stairs.

There would be no easy exodus. The airlock door was shut, the control panel indicating a recent egress. Minutes later the lock was drained and open to the interior, with a conspicuous absence. “Eliot!” Angie watched Leo’s face as he shouted into the intercom.

It helped to have a fixed point of reference, and at the same time unsettling to watch even Leo losing his composure. Spots of light entered the edges of her vision. Not promising. “Leo, why aren’t you outside yet?” Leo was inside the lock, still dripping with sea water, frantically searching for the second suit as if there was enough room in there to lose it.

“Eliot, Nate’s gone.” The garbled sound of confusion and static came back. “He’s gone. Took the suit. There’s only one now. He took the suit Eliot, what the fuck do we do now.” Darkness replaced the points of light, and began to creep towards the center of her vision. The last thing she witnessed before passing out was Leo hunched over her, shaking her by the shoulders and yelling.

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^{Stay Tuned for Part 15!}