Chapter 25: Awakening

“No more secrets, Jack.” Mr. Ozera said firmly. “This habit of yours of keeping things from me is going to get someone killed some day.”

“Is that a threat?” Jack asked calmly.

“It's a threat that your carelessness is going to hurt our people.”

Jack tried not to sigh. “I'm not trying to keep secrets from you.” Lie. “I'm doing my job without-”

“-without telling me about what you're doing! Jack, I'm begging you, just once, tell me what's going on.”

Jack did sigh this time. “Fine. I got a report from Ilia Redreak, a fairy who works as a technician for us, that the manned sub was taken out by a kraken. The creature was confirmed by Brooklyn Meyers, our mythic expert. Two of our people were down there when it was taken out.”

“Did they...” Mr. Ozera started.

“No, sir.” Jack assured him. “One was a merman, the other human was on DCBI's. They've both been confined to a decompression chamber. I've been assured by the doctor on board that they would both live.”

It was silent for a moment. Finally, Mr. Ozera said, “Thank you, Jack. That will be all.”

Jack hung up without saying good-bye, glad Mr. Ozera hadn't pressed. That, of course wasn't all.

Krakens, Brook assured him, were gentle creatures. Much like pit bulls, when left to their own devices, they were as sweet and kind as any other. It was only when they were trained to be mean that they became so.

That meant that some one had trained that kraken to be vicious then set it on the sub. His people had come under attack for getting close to that base one too many times.

And a direct, obvious attack on his people meant that Jack could act without worry. That base was going down. He had already sent two more ships after the first three. They were bringing the back up the first three needed to take that base out.

XXXXXXXXXX

Crispin was shackled, the shock collar on full strength around his neck. Even being able to whisper was a privilege taken from him.

He was alone but for only one of the girls he was brought here with.

The changer had been taken away first, then the more obvious of the pregnant humans.

The other human, also pregnant though not showing yet, was still with him.

Again, they weren't bound but, again, they didn't need to be.

The room had no windows like the one they had first come into, there was only one low light. It illuminated a small space that was terrifyingly empty.

Crispin had sat against the wall opposite the door, as from the people who put him here as possible. The human girl, who told him was named Ashley, was curled into his side. They took comfort in each others warmth, presence, and solidity. The only point of comfort in a dark, cold room so many leagues from any person with an ounce of sympathy for them.

Ashley and Crispin passed the time by him teaching her sign language. She spoke of her husband, an elf who had been her high school sweetheart, and the joy both of them had had at learning she was pregnant.

Crispin wished he could comfort her, tell her that they would be fine, that they would definitely be saved.

But he just couldn't bring his hands to form the words.

The other two women had been taken away first one, then the other. Crispin saw and heard no sign of them since. And, judging by the woman's words, he didn't have high hopes that either of them were still alive.

“Don't worry, Crispin.” Ashley smiled at him, as if she could sense where his thoughts had headed. “We'll get out of this. I know we will.”

As if fate conspired to prove her wrong, the door slammed open, making them jump.

In the doorway, stood a rather big man who had only come on two other occasions.

To take away the other women.

Crispin did his best to shield Ashley, but the collar on his neck proved his downfall.

One push of a button, and he was writhing on the floor, unable to prevent Ashley from being led away.

XXXXXXXXXX

Joe came to consciousness slowly. It came to her slowly that she couldn't be dead, that she must have survived.

Her body ached like a new bruise, there wasn't an inch of her that didn't feel like it was weighed down with sand.

When she finally got it into her mind to open her eyes, she was nearly blinded by the white light that was shining right in her eyes.

She moaned, turned over a bit, and tried again.

She was laying on a bed, not unlike the ones found in the sickbay, but she wasn't in the sickbay.

Joe looked around, she was in a chamber with three other beds just like hers. There was a small window by each bed that looked remarkably similar to the ones in the sub.

There was only one other person in there with her.

Kai, her was turned away from her, laying on his side, was in the bed right across from hers. Judging from the slow rise and fall of his chest, he was sleeping.

The room had a few pieces of medical equipment in it. An IV drip was hooked onto her arm and the gentle, slightly muted, beep of a monitor marked the progress of her heart beat.

A decompression chamber, she realized a little bit late.

It made sense, she thought as she sat up and let her legs dangle off the bed.

Such a high pressure had been exerted on her and her high speed ascension to the surface together probably wreaked all kinds of damage on her body.

They put her in here to bring her back up to a normal air pressure slowly, so her body could adjust to it naturally.

In fact, she felt fine now.

She jumped off the bed, grabbed her IV pole, and navigated it over to the door of the chamber.

Just outside on a gauge clearly visible from the window on the airtight door was the psi inside the chamber.

180 psi.

Doing the math in her head real quick, Joe came up with 400. Inside the chamber, she was experiencing the same amount of pressure she would at 400 ft below sea level.

The number, however, was slowly lowering itself. When it hit 14.7, the pressure inside would be the same as outside and they could safely leave.

Which made Joe wonder why Kai was in there with her. He ascended just as quickly as she did but merfolk bodies were able to stand that kind of sudden transition in a way her human body wasn't.

“You're up.”

Joe turned and saw Kai sitting up in bed. The noise from her IV pole moving across the floor must have woken him up.

“How are you?” he asked, standing and coming over to her.

“Fine.” Joe shrugged. Her muscles were all sore, pretty much the same as she would feel after a workout she probably shouldn't have pushed as hard as she did.

“Jack's pissed.” Kai said without preamble as he put one hand on the small of her back and led her back to her bed. “He's sending the MS Dragon and Phoenix to take down that base.”

Joe thought about it for a second as he helped her back onto her bed. She didn't lay back down though, she wasn't tired. “Wait, I know the Dragon. That's a...”

“It's an armored ship.” Kai said. “MCRC uses the Dragon mostly to help the navy or military. It's the only MCRC ship that's allowed to carry weapons.”

The Dragon.

It was a famous ship even outside the oceanic division. If half the rumors about it were true, it would still be a pretty fearsome ship.

He kept talking, explaining. “The Phoenix is equipped for deep sea recovery. He wants the base taken down and as much of it pulled up as possible.”

Jack's anger was legendary. MCRC was his life, it was everything to him. And when something or someone did something to try and hurt any part of it, it didn't escape his wrath.

But Joe didn't think that what happened warranted the Dragon being sent to their aid.

“Also, Ilia said Brooklyn Meyers figured out what attacked us.” he continued filling her in on everything she had missed. “It was a kraken. They live more in the Pacific than the Atlantic or else I might have guessed what it was.”

“Why didn't it come after us once we escaped the sub?” Joe couldn't help but picture the enormous, octopus like mythic that could rip steel with it's giant, muscular tentacles. That had been what had taken down the sub?

“They aren't that fast of swimmers.” he said, sounding a bit thankful. “We probably got away from it before it could catch up.”

“Lucky us.” Joe smiled a bit as she wrapped her arms around him.

She had been sure, for quite a while there, that she was going to die. That she was alive, sore and bruised to be sure but alive, was a greater miracle than she could ask for. That she could once again put her arms around his shoulders, breath in the sweet, oceany smell that came from his skin, was the sweetest gift she could ever ask for.

And judging by the way he squeezed her close, almost as tight as their swim up, she could tell he felt the same.

“What else has been happening?” she asked a few minutes later.

“Ilia is pretty happy.” Kai said, joining her on her bed, keeping an arm around her shoulder. “Said we're both okay so everything is fine.”

“I'm glad she's okay.” Joe rested her head on his shoulder. It was a quiet moment because there was really nothing to do in a decompression chamber. “How's Josh? Is he mad we broke his sub?”

“He hasn't visited.” Kai didn't seem to care though. “Just Ilia, Doc, and the captain. The captain wasn't happy either.”

“Yeah, we kind of broke our promise.” Joe smiled. “Aw, well. How did you know about Jack?”

“Captain Hughes told me.” Kai told her. “Right after he finished yelling at me.”

“As if it was somehow our fault.” Joe laughed.

“It's how he worries.” Kai shrugged, experienced with Captain Hughes.

“So, what's the plan?” she asked, not really worried about anything at the moment. She was really just happy to be alive, tomorrow was early enough to worry. “And how long have we been in here?”

“About a day and a half.” he answered. “Doc gave you some medicine to keep you asleep. I don't really know the plan details though. We're to be filled in when the Dragon and Phoenix arrive. Either way, I'm going to be with the attack force.”

“Are you qualified for that?” Joe asked immediately, suddenly very worried.

“Of course.” he nodded. “It's what I usually do.”

“Since when?”Joe leaned back.

“I was assigned to you because I'm a fighter, Kyma.” Kai looked confused at why she was so totally alarmed. “Taking down the enemy is my job description.”

“Oh, yeah.” Joe frowned. There had been so little confrontation on this mission she forgot that Kai's purpose was to take down the base if she determined it to be a threat.

“And we still haven't found who pushed you off the ship.” she saw Kai's knuckles whiten as he tightened them into a fist. “That bothers me.”

“We'll find him, Kai.” Joe smiled reassuringly at him. “Or our replacements will because I really feel like we deserve a vacation for all the stuff we've been through.”

Kai smiled just a little bit as he brought her back into his arms. “We'll be here for hours yet. But, when we get out, the Dragon and Phoenix will be close. Then that base is going down.”

XXXXXXXXXX

“Uh, sir?” Josh said hesitantly.

“Hurry up!” the voice on the other end of the line snapped.

“Yes, sir.” Josh cleared his throat. “I just, uh, just found out the plan. Jack has dispatched the Dragon to-”

“The Dragon? Damn him. How long do we have?”

“Not long, sir.” Josh looked nervously towards his room door. He was always afraid that someone would come in while he was talking to his boss. “I just found out that the ship had been sent to us. That ship is faster than ours. It wont take them long to get here.”

“Then we don't have long to clear out the base. You've done good work, Josh. You have a very bright future ahead of you.”

“Well, thank...sir?” Josh blinked at the phone that blared the dial tone that told him his boss had hung up.