Return to The Deep (From The Deep Book 2) (5 page)

OBSERVATION AREA

!!!WARNING!!!

NO
MOVEMENT IN PRESENCE OF SUBJECT!

NO
CAMERAS / MOBILE PHONES!

NO
ARTIFICIAL LIGHT SOURCES!

NO
ADMITTANCE WITHOUT PRIOR AUTHORISATION!

Why was it so urgent? Why all the exclamation points? She knew that whales in general were social creatures, despite their treatment at the hands of mankind. Even if she could understand the governments need to keep it a secret, the nature of the warning suggested the tank contained something more dangerous than the evidence suggested. There was a noise, although it didn’t come from the water, but somewhere above her. The sound of a heavy door being opened. She waited and listened, and almost screamed when the dull rumble of an engine of some kind growled into life. Without wanting to wait around and risk being caught, and potentially having her camera confiscated, she hurried out of the observation area and back the way she had come. Had she waited just a few seconds longer, she would have seen the creature swim into view as it moved towards the winch operated by Andrews on the surface. She would have also, upon seeing the true nature of the creature, have reconsidered the decisions made in the following hours, which would lead to an eventual disastrous chain of events.

CHAPTER SIX

The pain of the hangovers didn’t hurt anymore, at least not as much as having to look at his sorry reflection every day. To say the years had not been kind to Henry Rainwater was an understatement. He rolled onto his side, grunting as he sat up in his sagging bed, his feet kicking at the empty beer cans that seemed to swarm the floor. He rubbed his eyes, trying to ignore the involuntary shaking of his hands and the already desperate gnawing in his gut for more alcohol so he could blot out the coming day. It wasn’t lost on him that he sat feeling sorry for himself and trying to ignore the stench of sweat and stale farts in his hovel of an apartment, or that he was a twenty eight year old man who looked ten years older, and felt even twenty years older than that. He rubbed at the white scar on his shoulder, the trophy of the bullet wound inflicted by Russo, which even now still hurt sometimes. Scratching at his unkempt beard, he reached over and grabbed his cigarettes from the bedside table. With hands still shaking, he lit up, and then dumped the overfull ashtray into the takeaway container on the floor, giving the half-eaten cheeseburger a dusting of grey ash. Inhaling deeply on his cancer stick, he tried to figure out how to best deal with the day. Laying a hand on his flabby stomach, he looked across the room to the dresser mirror, somehow managing mostly to ignore his own impish reflection and concentrating instead on the yellowed photograph and accompanying newspaper cutting taped to the glass. Although he couldn’t quite read the headline, he had read it enough over the years to know it word for word.

LOCAL FISHERMAN WHO CHEATED DEATH DIES IN HEROIC RESCUE

Rainwater grunted, flicking ash absently to the floor. He looked at the photograph of Mackay, one of him as he should be remembered, a broad, loud voiced man, tough as nails, but warm and friendly. Better at least than Rainwaters last memory, which was of him sitting on the ice, holding the slick coils and contents of his stomach one hand, whilst he smoked a cigarette with the other. Unlike the photograph on the mirror, Rainwaters last image of Mackay was of a frightened man who knew death was coming to him no matter what he did, and there was nothing that could be done about it. In the end, he had been the hero, and had destroyed the giant sea creature in the Antarctic ice cave when he triggered an explosive charge that brought down the roof, and ensuring that the oceans remained safe.

Of course, the government made up their own story to explain Mackay's death, which made headline news in Alaska at least. The wider world had bigger things to worry about than a fisherman. Even so, the official account of what happened was, quite simply, bullshit. The article pinned next to Mackay's photo told a story of how Mackay made a solo rescue attempt on a stranded government vessel called the
Victorious
, and sadly drowned after saving all but two men, who also went down with the ship. For the government, it was a nice tidy story. They managed to explain away the deaths of Mackay, Russo, and Dexter, along with the sinking of the Victorious without fanfare or anyone being willing or able to prove otherwise.

Rainwater reached for the beer cans on the table, shaking each in turn and hoping to find liquid in one of them. At the third attempt, he got lucky, and although it felt like less than a third of a can, it would do. He held the can towards the picture on the wall.

"Happy anniversary, Mac," he slurred under his breath. "I'll never forget what you did for me."

With that, he drained the remainder of the cheap booze, wincing at the taste. Stifling a sour belch, he tossed the can on the floor with the others and took another drag on his cigarette. He knew he needed to make a change, to get himself clean and back on track. He hated the perpetual misery of his existence. Most of the time, he was able to forget it and bury his head in the sand. Today however - on the anniversary of Mackay's death - the guilt of how much of a mess he had made of his life after everything his friend had sacrificed was almost too much to handle. He promised himself he would do it. He would prove it to Mackay, and do his memory proud. He would get off the booze and get healthy. He would make his life one worth living.

Just not today.

Today was a bad day to try something so extreme. Today was a hard day.

Tomorrow.

Yes,
he agreed with the weak voice in his head. Definitely tomorrow. A fresh start. A new beginning. Twenty four hours from now, he promised himself he would start on his journey to be a new man. First, though, he just needed a little drink, just something to take the edge off and help him to get through his day.

Just one. For Mackay.

Yes. Just one more drink, then tomorrow, he would do what he had to. Tomorrow, he would get clean.

II

Tom lived in an apartment complex close to the Florida Keys. The gated property was hardly extravagant, but it was his and that made all the difference. The rent was low, and it was close to where he worked. Joanne had used her key to let herself in whilst her boyfriend was at work, and was sitting at the computer showing Fernando and his friends the evidence from her late night trip into the restricted area of the aquarium.

"You're sure it’s a blue whale?" Clayton said.

"No, I’m not sure at all. All I can show you is the photos I took. Either way, they're keeping something in there out of view of the public."

"So much for your sea monster," Marie said, nudging Clayton in the arm with her elbow.

Fernando looked at them, jealous of how close they were standing, and how little either seemed to mind that their skin was touching. "Whatever it is, it’s not right that they're keeping it captive."

"Tell me about it," Joanne said, turning away from the computer screen. "It was awful in there. Those conditions were appalling. The poor thing must never have seen daylight."

"Maybe we should tell someone. The police maybe?" Marie said.

"No, that won’t help. It would just drag on for years like the SeaWorld protests. Something needs to be done now. If this is a Blue Whale, it needs to be freed," Joanne said, just as angry as she had been the night before. She was about to say more when the apartment door opened and was slammed closed. Tom strode across the room, glaring at his brother.

"What’s going on? Why aren’t you at work?" Joanne said.

"I got fired thanks to my little shit of a brother," Tom said as he dropped down into the chair by the window.

"They can’t do that! Why fire you?" She replied, crossing the room to sit on the armrest of the chair and hugging him.

"Because, when the new security team went back through the systems, they figured out he used my key card to access the building when him and his pals decided it would be a good idea to break in. Gross negligence they said. It apparently put them in a position where they had no choice but to let me go.”

“So they know who we are now?” Jim said.

“No, for some reason I covered for you all. They think my card was stolen, but they still say I was responsible for losing it in the first place.”

"Sorry, man, I had no idea-"

"Don’t even bother," Tom snapped. "As always, you do stupid shit without thinking of the consequences. This is why mom and dad couldn’t cope with you."

"Fuck you, Tom," Fernando shot back, not wanting to be embarrassed in front of his friends. "If you hadn’t left it lying around, I wouldn’t have been able to take it."

"You're seriously trying to blame me for this? For leaving my own stuff in my own house without thinking of hiding it away from you and your stupid fucking friends?" Tom hissed, glaring at his brother.

"They didn’t know I took it. Hell, we didn’t even know that we were even going to try to get in until we got to talking on the beach.”

“Let me guess, another day wasted getting drunk whilst the rest of us go to work. Why the hell don’t you just get a job like everyone else?”

“It’s summer break. Pretty soon, I’ll be going to college. Jesus, Tom, don’t be such a bitch about this. You hated that job anyway."

"That doesn’t mean I didn’t need it. It’s all right for you. You still live at home and seem quite happy to let our parents pay your way. It's different in the real world. There are bills to pay, not to mention rent, food, and the countless other things that exist outside your little dream world. We can't all sit around on the beach all day watching the world go by."

"Who the hell are you to judge me?" Fernando fired back as his friends looked on. "You're not perfect you know."

"Look, this isn’t helping," Joanne said, hoping to diffuse the coming argument. "You both need to calm down and take a breath."

Reluctantly, they did as they were told, Fernando returning to his seat and ignoring the smirk from Clayton as he passed him.

"Anyway," Tom said as he removed his tie, "what the hell are you all doing here in my soon to be former apartment?"

Nobody said anything at first. Instead, they all looked to Joanne, knowing that she would be the best intermediary between them and Tom, and the one who would have the best chance of making him listen to what had happened.

"There's something we need to tell you, and when you hear it, you just might be glad you don’t work at that place anymore."

“I don’t like the sound of this,” he muttered.

For the next ten minutes, Joanne explained the situation and showed Tom the photographs she had taken. Fernando was sure he would walk out or call them idiots at any point, and yet, the outburst never came. Instead, he listened and let them finish.

"So, what do you think?" Joanne asked.

“This is old news, or at least to me it is. That holding tank has been there since the place opened.”

“You knew about it?” Joanne said.

“I knew it was back there, after all, I work security. At least I did. We were always told it was a, uh, what was the word they used,” he frowned, searching his memory, “observation pool. All part of the next stage of the opening of the aquarium apparently. No big deal.”

“You don’t think it’s a little weird?”

“Are you kidding?” Tom said, managing a smile. “That entire place is weird. Even though I was on security, there are parts of the building that were always locked. Doors with keypads on them, which nobody seems to know the numbers to, plus all the people who come and go that aren’t part of the official staff list or have official job titles. Come on, babe, you work there, you must have seen it.”

“I only saw the gift shop and the staff room. It’s not something I ever knew about. How come you never said anything before?”

“I don’t really know,” he said with a shrug. “I never really linked it to anything sinister. All I was concerned with was keeping my job, which actually makes what happened this morning seem a little bit easier to understand.”

        "What do you mean?" Joanne asked.

"This morning, the new security teams were due on site in response to the break in. My job was to coordinate them, set them up, and show them the ropes. Usually, my patrol route only allows me on the walkway above that lagoon, and only at certain times of day, it’s always been that way. Anyway, old Harry had been on his patrol during the night shift and had lost his radio somewhere on his patrol. It's an instant dismissal, and because the two of us were already in the shit for our slow response to the break in, I offered to go look for it for him to make sure the new guys didn’t have anything to report to Mr Andrews. Harry thought he might have left it in one of the labs near where I caught you all trying to break in. Apparently, he'd stopped for a breather and to give his legs a rest. Anyway, I went up there to look for it and there it was, just sitting on the table. If I'd just turned back then and gone back to my station, I might still have a job. Instead, my curiosity got the better of me."

"What did you see?" Fernando asked.

"Well, usually, the lagoon is in darkness when I patrol. They have lights aimed at the windows up there so you can never really see down below because of the glare. This time though, there were no lights. Probably because I wasn’t supposed to be in there as it was outside of the designated patrol times. Anyways, there are all these people rigging all this equipment up around the edge of the water."

"Like what?" Joanne asked.

"Cranes. Lifting equipment. Heavy duty stuff too. Seems to me your little adventure has the people in charge spooked. Looks like they're planning to move this whale of yours."

"Move it? Where? How?" Joanne asked.

"Hell, I don’t know. They saw me and gestured for me to move on. Ten minutes later, I'm pulled into the supervisor’s office and told I was being let go because of this whole key card thing. Bastards."

"Seems to me like you saw more than you were supposed to," Clayton muttered.

"Either way, it’s best left alone. Whatever they're up to, it’s obviously way bigger than us.”

"Could they be returning it to the wild?" Marie said, giving another of those flirtatious glances towards Clayton.

"Doubt it," Tom replied. "They spent a small fortune on keeping that area secure for a reason. I can’t see them just throwing away whatever is in there just because my dumb shit of a brother decided it would be fun to break in," he said, winking at his sibling who replied with a half-smile.