“The scientists assure me it can cope,” said Katt. “It has been specially reinforced.”
“I’ve met your scientists,” said JC. “And I didn’t find them at all reassuring. Where did you get this thing?”
“Bathyspheres are so out-dated, no-one makes them any longer,” said Chang. “And museums won’t give them up. The Project had to buy one, and all its support equipment, from a private collector.”
“What kind of person collects bathyspheres?” said JC.
“Come on, JC,” said Melody. “People collect anything. I once saw an ad for a convention of barbed-wire enthusiasts.”
“You can find anything on eBay,” said Happy, nodding wisely.
“You should have seen the size of the crane it took, to transfer the bathysphere onto the Moonchilde,” said Katt. “I was convinced the other ship was going to tip right over.”
“A bathysphere?” said JC. “Really? Somebody actually thought this was a good idea?”
“According to our pet scientists, we can’t risk any kind of standard submersible,” said Katt. “The Flesh Undying would detect the computers that are built into everything these days. And we can’t risk doing anything that might wake it up . . .”
“How did it destroy the last submersible?” said JC. “I mean, if it just sits there and doesn’t move . . .”
“Some kind of energy attack, I’m told,” said Katt.
“It didn’t just destroy the submersible,” said Melody. “It also reached out to attack the scientists associated with it, half a world away in Brighton. The Flesh Undying has powers and abilities beyond our understanding.”
“Then why does it need human agents?” said Happy. “Like the Faust and Heather?”
“Good question!” said Melody. “Are you back with us, sweetie?”
“Now and again,” said Happy. “I’m still waiting for an answer to my question.”
“I think . . . it needs individual agents for individual actions,” said JC. “For when subtlety is required. Maybe that’s why it killed a whole roomful of people at the convention. Because it can’t focus enough to kill specific people.”
“Okay,” said Melody. “You are reaching now.”
“Somebody has to,” said JC.
“All right!” Melody said loudly, glaring dangerously at the bathysphere. “What do we do? Pack this thing full of sensors and data collectors, then just . . . lower away?”
“Not quite,” said Katt. “We can only use the most basic equipment if we want to get really close to the Flesh Undying. So we need volunteers to go down inside the bathysphere, to oversee the tech and make sure it’s pointing in the right direction. The scientists were getting ready to draw lots, to see which of them would go, before we got word you were coming.”
“Why is he looking at me?” said Happy. “JC, tell him to stop looking at me!”
“The bathysphere is so old-school it should sneak past the Flesh Undying’s radar, so to speak,” said Chang.
“Old-school?” said JC. “That thing is practically steampunk!”
“And that’s why it will work,” said Catherine Latimer.
They all looked around sharply as Latimer emerged from behind the bathysphere. No-one had noticed she was there. She nodded briefly to everyone before returning her attention to the sphere. She seemed to approve of it.
“Thought you were sleeping?” said JC.
“I’ve slept enough,” said Latimer. “You don’t need much, at my age.”
“Whatever that really is,” said Happy.
“I think I preferred him when he wasn’t talking,” said Latimer.
“Lot of people say that,” Happy said sadly.
“Did you know about this in advance, Boss?” said JC.
“You couldn’t have!” said Chang. “This was all kept highly classified, at the highest levels! Really high levels!”
“When I thought about the problem, this was the only approach that made sense,” said Latimer. “I have seen one of these in action before . . . Not a word out of you, Mr. Palmer, if you like having your organs on the inside . . . This model seems perfectly sound. It should do the job.”
“Could we use it to deliver a nuke?” said JC.
“You keep coming back to that,” said Happy. “And I keep telling you, a nuke won’t work.”
“Why not?” said JC. “I know the Flesh Undying is a bit on the big side, but . . .”
“Because apart from its very unpleasant side effects, any atomic device is still really just a big bomb,” said Melody. “Something that goes bang. The Flesh Undying isn’t a natural object, so we can’t expect it to react in natural ways to simple physics. The blast might not reach it, or damage it; or it might just put itself back together again.”
“I’m not sure any physical weapon would work,” said Latimer. “The Flesh Undying exists in more than three spatial dimensions, remember? You can’t hope to destroy something that exists in physical dimensions we can’t even detect. Traditional weapons wouldn’t even touch it.”
“Then we need untraditional weapons!” said Melody. “You have contacts with all sort of groups; somebody must have something!”
“You have to remember I’m rogue now,” said Latimer. “By the time I could convince anyone to listen to me . . .”
JC looked at Chang. “Your people don’t have anything?”
“At the Crowley Project,” Chang said carefully, “in the Armoury I wasn’t allowed to show you, we have all kinds of weapons and devices and really nasty surprises. Designed to destroy all manner of things, in and out of this world. The living and the dead and everything in between. But the Flesh Undying is so far beyond our experience, our comprehension . . . We were rather hoping you’d have something.”
“Maybe we could exorcise it,” said Happy.
They all looked at him.
“Just a thought,” said Happy. “Of course, we would need a really big book, bell, and candle.”
“That’s not for exorcisms,” said Melody. “That’s for when you want to curse someone.”
“I feel like doing some serious cursing,” said Happy.
“So do I,” said JC.
“We can use the bathysphere to study the Flesh Undying up close, undetected,” said Latimer. “Get new data, and just possibly a better idea of what it is we’re up against.”
“We?” said Happy. “What’s this we shit, kemo sabe?”
“Exactly,” said JC. “Does anyone here feel like volunteering?”
Everyone looked at everyone else. Hoping someone would raise their hand so they wouldn’t have to. Katt shook his head firmly.
“I will not be going, and neither will any member of my crew. We just run the ship.”
“There could be a substantial bonus involved,” said Chang.
“There isn’t that much money in the world,” said Katt.
“Don’t you trust the sphere?” said JC, innocently.
“I do not like the idea of walking up to the Flesh Undying and banging on its door,” said Katt. “Studying it is one thing; disturbing it quite another.”
“But you’re happy enough for someone else to do it?” said JC.
“Of course,” said Katt.
“What about the scientists?” said Melody. “I would have thought they’d jump at the chance.”
“It has been decided, at the highest level, that the scientists are needed here,” said Chang. “To run their equipment, and sort and study the new data as it comes in. So who does that leave, to volunteer for this highly dangerous and quite possibly suicidal mission?”
“You are enjoying this far too much,” said JC.
“I still have my guns,” said Melody.
Chang folded her arms and looked smug. “I do not do the volunteer thing.”
Catherine Latimer look
ed suddenly old, and frail.
“Oh stop it,” said JC. “You’re not fooling anyone.” He sighed, loudly. “It has to be me.”
Kim appeared suddenly, standing right in front of him. Everyone jumped at the ghost girl’s sudden reappearance, especially Katt.
“You do get used to that,” said Latimer. “Eventually.”
“I will not have ghosts on board my ship!” said Katt.
“Why not?” said Melody. “Because they’re unlucky?”
“I thought that was women?” said Happy.
“Depends on the woman,” said Latimer.
Kim was still staring at JC. She looked solid and real and very human. “Why, JC? Why does it have to be you? Why does it always have to be you?”
“Because I was there at the beginning,” said JC. “When forces from Outside reached down to save me from a terrible death and mark me as one of their own. I think perhaps they knew, even then, that this was where my life would lead. To this place, this moment, this decision. So I could be their weapon.”
“If you go,” said Kim, “I go with you.”
“And that means Happy and I go, as well,” said Melody.
“We do?” said Happy.
“Yes,” said Melody.
“Okay,” said Happy. “Just checking.”
JC looked at them all. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Of course we do,” said Melody. “We’re a team.”
“Damn right,” said Happy.
“Forever and ever,” said Kim.
The four Ghost Finders looked at each other.
“We’ve come a long way together,” said JC.
“And it would appear we still have a long way to go,” said Melody.
“Straight down,” said Happy.
They all laughed, quietly.
“Don’t any of you dare die on me,” said Kim. “I like being the only ghost in the Ghost Finders.”
“I am not going!” Chang said loudly.
“No-one ever thought you would,” said JC, not even turning his head to look at her. “And you’re not going either, Boss.”
“Of course not,” said Latimer. “I’m going to be needed here, to keep an eye on everyone. Go get some rest. You’re going to need it. You dive at dawn.”
“I thought that was for executions?” said Happy.
“Exactly,” said JC.
NINE
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THINGS PEOPLE SAY BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
They all decided they’d had enough for one day. Captain Katt escorted them back below, showed them to their cabins, and wished them a pleasant good night. Everyone nodded to everyone else and prepared to turn in. It had been a very long day. JC opened the door to his cabin and looked it over. It had clearly been occupied before, and by the look of it, quite recently. The narrow bunk bed was still half-made, and there were personal belongings scattered everywhere. Including a half-full bottle of Gordon’s gin, standing on the pull-out table. JC looked at Katt.
“Who did these cabins belong to, originally? Why are they empty now?”
“I told you,” said Katt. “People have died on this ship. They don’t need these cabins any longer. What’s the matter, Mr. Chance? Afraid they might be haunted?”
“No,” said JC. “I always bring my own ghost with me.”
Kim smiled dazzlingly at Katt, who looked away.
“I wouldn’t mind if there were a few ghosts still floating around,” said Chang, from further down the corridor. “I could use a bedtime treat.”
“Don’t even think of coming visiting,” said JC. “I shall be locking my door.”
“If you think that’ll help . . .” said Chang.
“I have a gun,” said Melody.
“So do I!” said Chang.
“I’m not ready to retire, just yet,” said Catherine Latimer. “I’ve already had enough rest for one life. I think . . . I’ll go back down and talk with the scientists some more.”
JC looked at her thoughtfully. He had no doubt Latimer was keeping something from him. But that was just business as usual where the Boss was concerned.
He ushered Kim into the cabin ahead of him, then went in, locking the door behind him. He stood by the door, listening to Happy and Melody going into their cabin, then Chang entering hers. Followed by the departing footsteps of Katt and Latimer. It promised . . . to be a very long night.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
JC pulled all the sheets and blankets off the narrow bed and threw them to the back of the cabin before lying down on the bare mattress. It felt less like lying on a dead man’s bed, that way. JC could be surprisingly fastidious about such things. He was almost too tall for the bed, his heels resting on the bottom edge. He worried about putting creases in his marvellous white suit but didn’t have the energy to get undressed. Besides, he wanted to be ready for . . . anything that might happen. Kim lay down on the air beside the bed, floating horizontally, as close as she could get without actually touching him. For fear of spoiling the illusion. JC smiled.
“I appreciate the thought, Kim, but you’re lying on nothing. It’s not much of an illusion.”
“You always know what I’m thinking,” said Kim.
“Not always,” said JC. He wriggled a little, settling himself.
“Try and get some sleep, love,” said Kim. “It’s been a hell of a day, and you’ve been through a lot. It’s all right; you’re safe. I’ll keep watch. Nothing will get to you while I’m here.”
“I’m tired,” said JC. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt this tired in my life . . . My body feels like it’s made of lead . . . But I’m not sleepy. My head’s too full. Too many thoughts, racing at a thousand miles a minute. Far too many questions and not enough answers.”
He sat up again, scowling and hugging his knees to his chest. Kim sat up on the air beside him, hovering gracefully on nothing at all. Still keeping as close to JC as she could. She was wearing the memory of a battered old dressing-gown she used to have, back when she was alive. It helped her feel casual.
“I wish I could hold you,” she said. But she could tell he wasn’t listening, too busy re-running the events of the day. She sighed and fluffed out her long red hair without touching it. He liked it when she wore her hair long.
“I’m not even sure what time it is,” said JC. “My watch says one thing, that clock on the wall says another; but it doesn’t mean anything. My body clock’s not even talking to me after everything we’ve been through. Especially since we passed through Latimer’s dimensional Door.”
“Maybe you’re suffering from dimensional jet lag?” Kim said brightly.
JC could tell she was trying to cheer him up. It didn’t help, but he managed a small smile for her, to show he appreciated the effort.
“I’m not even sure what time-zone we’re in,” he said. “This far out in the Atlantic. It’s day now, when it used to be night; but is it the same day, or the next day . . .”
“It will be dark soon,” said Kim. “I can feel it. Do you think bad things will start to move around up on deck once it’s night, like the Captain said?”
“I hope so,” said JC. “I could use something straightforward to fight.”
“What’s really worrying you, JC?” said Kim. “You’re not usually this . . . tense.”
“The bathysphere!” said JC. “The bloody bathysphere! Can you believe that thing? I wasn’t sure where the day’s events were leading me, but that big steel ball wasn’t even on my list of things to be worried about. The last time I saw a bathysphere, it was on a television show, when I was a kid. The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau.” He looked at Kim, but she just looked back at him. “Don’t make me feel old, girl. The point is, they never seemed safe to me. And now I’m supposed to trust my life to one.”
“It looks . . . very sturdy,” said Kim. “Do you know what it’s like, inside? Have you any idea how to operate it?”
“No!” said JC. “Well . . . given the period it comes from, the systems can’t be that complicated. I should be able to handle the basics. And once we’re down on the sea-bottom, all we have to do is make sure all the equipment they load in with us is functioning properly.”
“How safe is a bathysphere, really?” said Kim.
“Normally, very, I would think,” said JC. “But these aren’t normal conditions. Bad enough that we’ll be sitting on the bottom of the ocean, our only link to the ship a bunch of fragile cables . . . surrounded by God knows how many pounds of pressure per square inch . . . But once we get right up close to the Flesh Undying, anything could happen.”
“What if it attacks you?” said Kim. “Could you defend yourselves? Does the bathysphere have any weapons?”
“Just a really thick shell,” said JC. “And Latimer’s right—weapons wouldn’t be any use against the Flesh Undying. Our best hope lies in not being noticed. I think that’s what’s really bugging me . . . How helpless we’ll be. I hate being in situations I can’t control. Where I can’t hit back.”
“You don’t have to do this, JC,” Kim said steadily. “Tell them to go to hell. I’ll back you up. Send that Natasha Chang cow down instead. No-one will miss her.”
“No,” JC said immediately. “We couldn’t trust her. Not that close to something so powerful.”
“You think she might be an agent of the Flesh Undying?” said Kim.
“No . . .” said JC. “I like to think she’s got more sense than that. Or at least, a better sense of self-preservation. I think it’s more . . . if there are secrets to be discovered down there, we need to be the ones who do it. And I can’t help feeling . . . that this is what everything in our lives has been leading up to. We’ve been through so much, there has to be a reason.” He stopped and looked at her. “Did I die, down in the London Underground? On that demon train? When the forces from Outside reached down and touched me, altered me; did they bring me back from the dead for their own purposes? Does that make me a ghost?”
“No,” Kim said immediately. “I’d know.”