Notes and Credits
Notes: This story takes place after - What Lies Beneath (please see profile)
Beta Reader: Sparklyshimmer2010
The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea
Chapter One: - Light's Out
Elizabeth was sitting in her office when it happened. Reports were coming in from all over the city. Lights were systematically turning off and emergency lighting was coming on. It wasn't long before she and the other people in the Control Tower fell victim to the problem plaguing them.
--
Rodney was already on the case. He had picked a team of skilful scientists, Radek being one of them, and together with a handful of flashlights they tried to find the source of the problem.
They started by visiting the first reported incident and that location was in the lower part of the city. A team had been working in that area for about a year and were restoring some of the functions in the rooms they had found.
The emergency lighting was barely efficient enough to work in, so in one room the restoration team had been sitting idol waiting for a repair crew to arrive having been ordered not to touch anything and to stay put. When they saw Rodney and his team, the four of them quickly scrambled to their feet, bringing the number of people in the room to eight.
Rodney shone his flashlight at each person individually before he picked someone out at random and pretending to know his name he started to question him. "Just the person, I need you to explain to me exactly what happened here before the lights went out."
Dumfounded by the unexpected approach from his superior, the tall dark haired scientist explained what had happened. "Not much to explain, Adams was assigned to work on the panel over there then the lights suddenly went out."
Rodney followed the direction the man had pointed to and his eyes fell on the control panel at the back of the room. "What was the last control switch touched?"
Everyone turned to face Adams. "I swear the lights went out before I touched anything."
Rodney sighed; it was going to be one of those days.
--
John entered Elizabeth's office only to find her pacing the room. "Problems?"
Elizabeth spun round at the sound of John's voice and saw him standing in front of her desk. "So it would seem." Pulling her chair out she sat back down. "Rodney is investigating the situation but so far he hasn't a clue to the power loss."
"How many people does it take to fix a light bulb?" asked John sarcastically, in an attempt to get one up on Rodney.
Elizabeth half smiled at the attempted humour in John's voice. "Not enough it would seem."
Elizabeth noticed Chuck appear in the doorway. "Ma'am sorry to disturb you but the sensors have picked up an anonymous reading on the ocean bed."
Raising a curious eyebrow at John whilst getting up from her chair, they both followed Chuck.
--
In the Control Room by the monitor screen, Chuck pointed out what appeared to be something large moving in the water near the edge of the city. "It appeared a few minutes ago."
"No indications as to what it is?" asked Elizabeth.
John remembered his encounter with the whales when they rescued Rodney from a downed Puddle Jumper. "Not one of the whales we discovered a few months back is it?"
Chuck shook his head. " Too small for that. We're not even sure if it's a life sign."
This got John curious; normally the sensors would indicate if that were so. "What else could it be?"
--
John had taken a Puddle Jumper out and flown it into the ocean to search for the illusive object the cities sensors had detected. Doctor Weir's voice came over the ships intercom system. "Anything John?"
Keeping a lookout on the forward porthole John responded to her call. "Nothing yet. I'm not picking up anything on these sensors."
The connection cut out for a second before Elizabeth responded. "We're picking it up on the other side of the city. Opposite to where you are."
"Copy that." John turned the Puddle Jumper full circle to see if he could spot it. "I can't see it, I'm going to fly under the city rather then around."
"Understood. Be careful."
Proceeding as reported John took the Puddle Jumper underneath and across to the other side. Halfway he contacted the Control Tower. "Am I getting close?"
John could hear the tension in Elizabeth's voice, as he supposedly got closer to the object. "Not far. Just a few minutes from your current position."
Even with the headlights on, it was still too dark to see in the waters clearly. "I can't see a thing."
"Your almost on top of it Sir," came Chuck's voice.
Suddenly the whole console exploded as lightning engulfed the ship and John blacked out on contact with it.
TBC