As Clarissa climbed to the top of Harden Tower, she periodically looked over Epiphany Fields to see if Anna had caught up with her. Both legitimately frustrated at the woman and severely projecting her own emotions, Clarissa cursed the woman's attachment to the past. She wasn't even sure why she wanted Anna present for this, when it would all be rendered null and void in just a few minutes, she hoped. Getting to the top, she took one last look over Edwards Island. She flipped off the beach and phased through the door to the station inside. She looked around and found a calendar, though it lacked any artistically drawn women in the nude. She was still in 1951.
Taking a deep breath, Clarissa closed her eyes and concentrated. If she'd "swam" to the last time Anna was in Fort Milner, and that year just so happened to be 1951, she reasoned that she could swim to the year and then find where Maggie Adler had made contact with the Sunken triangle ghosts. If she could just steal away some important piece of radio equipment, she could prevent Maggie Adler from ever making contact with them. Breathing calmly, Clarissa began to swim.
Having gone through it so many times, both of her own accord and against her will, it came more naturally to Clarissa; but it was still a stressing task to undertake. For once, she was actually focusing on doing it, so she took in a lot more sounds. Not daring to open her eyes, out of fear of being overwhelmed at the currents she was being thrown through, Clarissa heard years upon years of conversations, all jumbled and accelerated beyond human comprehension. She reached out, slowing down, isolating two specific waves in the turbulent river: Maggie Adler and Anna Shea. They were unique to her, so she swam towards them; it got more and more difficult as she swam back and forth across hundreds of voices, but she eventually closed in. She found it easier to make broad strokes across long periods of time versus precise, micro strokes through shorter intervals of time.
There were quite a few pools on the side of the river. Clarissa swam between them. Most were calm, happy, quiet even. One sucked her under, almost drowning her. It was rough, heavy, even violent. Clarissa tried to swim out, but she was pulled in too far. She thrust her eyes open, gasping for air, and the world came to as the radio station materialized in front of her. Not much had changed, except for the lighting, calendar, and people in it.
Clarissa collapsed, falling onto her rear and taking it all in as she caught her breath.
Maggie Adler sat at the station. Anna Shea stood right behind her, leaning into the woman and giving her a loving massage. Maggie was content to sit where she was, moaning every so quietly as Anna massaged her muscle knots. Two cups of coffee sat close by, along with Maggie's M1 Garand, three clips of ammunition, and a "Batman and Robin" comic. Clarissa was half-tempted to take the comic, knowing it had to be worth a fortune in her time. Radio static sang across the room, softly drifting. It was clearly a quiet day for Site 82, but Clarissa was sure of what she had just gone through. She glanced back to the calendar. Not only had it never changed positions, it had stayed where it was for eight years. Clarissa had swam and been sucked into October 25, 1943.
Looking back at the women, Clarissa wondered why the day was so important yet so quiet. Her curiosity wavered as Maggie moaned again. Clarissa had to ask, "Are you gonna bone or break up?"
"Control, this is Sergeant Adler of Site Eighty-Two, come in, Control," Maggie announced on her speaker. She immediately let go of the button as Anna dug into a muscle knot. "Ach! No, keep going, keep... aaah, yeah, that's it, ughhh!"
"Anything for my sergeant's health," Anna chuckled and obeyed, bending down to plant a kiss on the woman's neck. The two shared a giggle, much to the annoyance of Clarissa, who hated all public displays of affection. "Poor thing. Poor, 'rich' thing! Before you leave to party, remember that I always accepted you when you were poor," she sweetly reminded her.
"Keep it up, corporal," Maggie laughed at first but droned into a moan. " Ah reckon you'll be due for a pro-"
"Site Eighty-Two, this is Control. Go ahead, over," a man said back to Maggie.
"Control, Site Eighty-Two has nothing to report as of twenty-two hundred hours, over and out!" Maggie explained to Control before promptly leaning back into her massage. "Ah swear, the recruiters gotta get more kids out here. Y'know it's bad when a sarge an' a corporal gotta do shifts up here."
Clarissa knew that couldn't be true, the 'nothing to report' part, and so she defiantly phased outside the door and into the night. She could see Fort Milner off in the distance, its lights bright. In fact, now that she surveyed the island, it had a lot more spotlights than she remembered. Eight different lights shot into the sky, scanning, patrolling. Several engines hummed, but they were far away. Clarissa figured they had to be aircraft. Pulling out one of her pocket cigarettes, she grabbed her Vietnam War lighter and raised it to her cigarette, cupping her hand around both as she tried to ignite. She took in the scenery for a few moments before she realized that she was doing it again, repeatedly striking the lighter, but the spark flew out by its lonesome, catching no fuel for a flame.
"I guess the forces of Nature don't fully apply in the Shallows," she reasoned to herself as she grabbed her pack of restaurant matches and lit up, confident that Edwards Island would suffer no Japanese air raids tonight. For a forgotten military post, the island sure could be beautiful. When it wasn't haunted by triangle ghosts. Clarissa pondered the mystery at hand. To here knowledge, October saw no major bloodshed this year. Kursk had ended in July, the invasion of Sicily wasn't a bloodbath, and the island hopping was a steady campaign. Drawing a blank, she groaned in frustration.
As much as she enjoyed it, and as much as she didn't want to, Clarissa finished her cigarette and went back inside. To her total and utter shock, Clarissa rolled her eyes at the terrible sight she bore witness to: Anna was now receiving a massage from Mags.
Clarissa wished she could puke on command, just to make a point. She figured she had to have made a mistake, a rare occurrence that Alex would never know had happened. Conveniently for her, things started to happen just as she was about to swim away.
The radio burst with life, its static growing violent and jumbled. "...in... wards... land... this...B-eighteen-B! ...ome in!"
The women went to work. Anna leapt out of the chair, with Maggie hopping in, manning the radio. Anna pulled up a second chair on her left, pen and paper ready. "Anti-submarine aircraft, this is Site Eighty-Two of Edwards Island, do you copy, over!" Mags radioed back, finger off the button as fast as she had pressed it.
Static rained down for what felt like hours until she finally got a reply. "Site...ghty-two... USO spot... can't... contac...Roy... USO... submerged, ov...!"
Anna had calmly but swiftly been writing down everything, annotating as she went. Watching over her shoulder, Clarissa saw that she even had possible completions of the sentence. Anna quickly shared her suggestions with Maggie.
Nodding, Maggie called back, slowly and deliberately giving pause after each word to account for any static. "Anti-submarine aircraft. Is. Your. Equipment. Damaged. Over." She quickly looked to Anna. "Which ships launched ASAs tonight, and which ones are in our sector? He said 'Roy', I reckon that's 'Walter Roy' he's tasked to. An' just what the hell is an unidentified submerged object doin' off the coast?"
"Let us see what we can see." Anna went to work, leaping from her chair and plowing through a filing cabinet next to their coffee and rifle.
There was a pause as Anna worked. Finally, the pilot answered back, "...gativ... ov...!"
Glancing at each other, the two shared looks of concern. Anna quickly found what she needed. "The USS Walter Roy patrols our sector for the rest of the month. It's escorting an intercept carrier that launches ASAs," she summarized from one of the many files at her disposal. "Sixty miles off the coast."
Maggie went to work. "Anti-submarine-aircraft. You. Are. Being. Jammed. Give. Coordinates. Over!" As she let off her radio, she looked to Anna. "Get me the Walter Roy's frequency."
Clarissa could tell that no triangle ghosts were at work tonight, but she reasoned that she just had to stick around for the show.
Anna had written down the designated frequency for Maggie just as the pilot managed his reply. "...our! One! By... minus... one! Tw... ive! Ov...!"
Anna didn't need to derive too many variations. She showed Maggie the list, who then radioed back, "ASA! Four. One. Minus. One. Two. Five. Correct? Over!"
"...correct! O..."
Anna quickly got back to the filing cabinet and pulled out maps. Maggie moved her hands around the radio's controls, switching and clicking too quickly for Clarissa to see exactly what she was doing.
"USS Walter Roy, this is Sergeant Adler of Site Eighty-Two on Edwards Island, can you confirm the livelihood of your pilot's status, over?" Maggie quickly asked. She looked back to Anna. "Got anything, Annie?"
Anna had a map. "Forty-one by negative one-two-five, it's in our sector and about forty miles off shore, North by Northwest."
"Edwards Island, this is the Walter Roy, all pilots are out on patrol. What have you to report, over?" a younger man answered, his radio in perfect order and suffering no hostile effects.
"Walter Roy, we just got a call from one of the ASA pilots assigned to your task force. Mentioned your ship by name. His transmission was garbled somethin' fierce, and I reckon it ain't the weather. He reported his equipment functional too. Can you confirm his last position as forty-one by minus one-two-five, over?" Maggie requested just as Anna laid the map next to the coffee and rifle.
There was a pause. Clarissa forgot to breathe and took a few deep breaths. The silence dragged on for almost a minute until finally the man replied, "Edwards Island, we cannot confirm his position, over."
Maggie wasted no time and immediately radioed back, "Walter Roy, your Bolo managed to sight and report a USO to us at those coordinates. Do you know of any vessel in that immediate vicinity? It ain't none o' my business if it's a secret, but you gotta confirm if it's one o' ours first!"
"One of ours?" Anna asked, clearly concerned. "Who else could it be, Mags?"
"Japs, Gerries, Commies?" Maggie fired off without hesitation, looking to her partner. "We're not safe all the time, Annie. If it ain't one o' ours, it's gotta be-"
The man answered back, "Edwards Island, we can confirm that no vessels were scheduled to travel within those coordinates, over."
Maggie went back to her radio. "Walter Roy, get your task force t'gether 'n find that USO. As of this minute, you're hereby authorized to search an' destroy!"
Anna was at Maggie's side before she realized it. Snatching the transmitter out of Maggie's hand, she radioed, "Belay that action, Walter Roy!"
"Annie, what in th' Goddamn Hell?!" Maggie demanded. She was out of her chair so fast, it flew back, phasing through Clarissa and smashing into the wall behind her. Though unharmed, Clarissa jumped in a vain attempt to dodge the chair, shrieking as she went.
"Say again, Edwards Island? Over," the young man asked, clearly confused.
A brief struggle ensued, but Anna had the height advantage. Keeping it out of Maggie's grasp, Anna shouted over Maggie's shouting, "Belay that order! Target may not be hostile! Ignore-!"
Maggie was shorter, but she made up for it in spirit. She got behind Anna, thrust her leg in between Anna's, and latched onto her torso, twisting and yanking the taller woman off balance. As she toppled over, Maggie dived for the transmitter. Snatching it up, Maggie called in, "Walter Roy, you-!"
KA-CHUNK!
Clarissa nearly tore her hair out. Maggie stopped short. She almost raised her hands out of instinct. By the time she had gotten to her feet, Anna was already on hers, and she had the M1 Garand aimed at Maggie. Clarissa could clearly see that as it had unfolded, but Maggie had been turned away in the action.
"Swap us!" Anna shouted directly at Clarissa.
Screaming, Clarissa nearly jumped out of her skin. Right behind her was Anna Shea, in the flesh. The pain in her face was just a fraction of what was leaking out of her soul. "This was your plan?! To stop her from sinking the Kanaloa?!"
"No!" Clarissa hastily explained, "I was trying to stop her from making contact with them!"
Maggie turned around to face her own, present Anna. "Corporal Shea, you will eject that clip," she ordered, tone unwavering.
Shallows Anna grabbed Clarissa by the shoulders."Don't just bloody stand there! Swap me with my past self, for God's sake!"
Clarissa pushed herself into action. Leaping forward, she reached out to take hold of Anna in 1943. Clarissa fell right through her, slamming into the ground.
Anna's grip wasn't as strong as Maggie's, who made the rifle seem light. Her aim was shaky for other reasons, too. "Unfortunately... I... I am afraid I cannot allow you to deliver that order, Mags."
"Traitors can't tell me to do a damn thing," Maggie shot back.
Shallows Anna screamed, "Get up! Get the Hell up!" as she yanked Clarissa by the collar of her shirt. She slapped her twice across the cheek for good measure. "Swap us, hurry! We don't have long! I need to stop her!" she explained, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"I'm trying!" Clarissa screamed back. Over and over, she kept phasing through Anna. "I can't! I already pulled you! I-! I just-! I don't think multiple versions of you can co-exist in the Shallows!"
"Edwards Island, say again, over?" the man radioed again.
Current Anna gestured to the radio. "You... you will tell him to deploy search and rescue teams-"
"Hostile vessels-" Maggie tried to shoot back.
Anna desperately reasoned, "They're not-!"
"The Hell they ain't!" Maggie screamed. "You wanna be a traitor t' my country, get the Hell off my island! But so help me God, I'm sinkin' those Jap bastards, y'hear me?! Every last one o' them!"
Shallows Anna resorted to throwing herself at her past self, only to phase through just as Clarissa had done numerous times already.
"Should I- should I pull Mags?!" Clarissa asked Anna, terror spewing from her tone. Shallows Anna wanted to agree, but she couldn't bring herself to tell Clarissa to do it. Instead, she heaved, multiple times, unable to fully breathe. They both realized the eternal, undying death that would entail. Clarissa, who had always advocated killing one to save a hundred, now found herself ready and able to practice what she had preached. Yet, she needed Anna's permission to pull the trigger. Anna knew she should give the order. She looked to Mags and reached out, hand trembling.
In an act that changed everyone's lives forever, Shallows Anna had to drop her hand. "I-! I can't!" she admitted as the tears poured out.
Shaking her head, Anna exclaimed, "Your vendetta is blinding you to reason! It's logistically impossible for an enemy vessel to get this far without a means of resupply! They needed Midway, and they lost their chance months ago, Mags! It can't be Japanese!"
"They said that at Pearl Harbor!" Maggie remembered, all too clearly. "I'm gonna-"
"I won't let you!" Anna shouted back, aiming the rifle at her head.
"I outrank you!" Maggie screamed.
Shallows Anna broke down, collapsing onto the ground completely. Shrieking and sobbing, she was inconsolable. Clarissa knew it was up to her. She had to walk forward, grab Maggie Adler, and pull her into the Shallows. She had to trap her in an eternal, undying Hell that probably couldn't be escaped. She had to do that to another human being, to save more lives.
"Edwards Island, be advised, we will proceed with the last received recommendation, over."
Suddenly, Clarissa remembered her original plan. She surged forward and reached for the talking piece Maggie had in her hand. Clarissa briefly phased through that too. "Drop it!" Clarissa screamed to Maggie, frantically trying to grab it out of her hand without actually touching Maggie herself.
Maggie walked right up to the end of her own rifle, firmly pressing her chest against the barrel. Raising the transmitter to her mouth, she ordered, "Walter Roy, you are clear t' search. And. Destroy. Sink every last one o' them yellow belly, buck-toothed bastards. They wanna die for a midget, who the Hell are we t' stop 'em? Over."
Chuckling, the man called back, "It's been a pleasure, Sergeant Adler. We'll save you a katana. Over and out."
Maggie dropped her transmitter and glared Anna. "Come here, now."
Lowering the rifle, Anna slowly trudged forward, defeat stricken across her face. When both stood before the radio equipment, Mags grabbed her M1 Garand.
Anna let Maggie pull it out of her hands. While Anna sat down on the floor, Maggie popped the chamber open, only to find it empty. Shock, confusion, and anger spread across her face. She stared down at Anna, who in turn stared into space.
"I pray to God I'm wrong," Anna murmured. "I mean it, Mags. I dare say we may all come to regret what unfolds before us."
Clarissa no longer had the strength to stand, and she fell to her knees.
Grunting, Maggie slammed her rifle down on the table. She didn't bother talking to Anna, instead radioing Control to report everything that happened. She took her time in describing how her partner had threatened to shoot her, ensuring that Control got every detail written down. Once she had confirmed that the MPs were on their way to arrest Corporal Shea, Sergeant Adler decided she could spare a minute to talk to her dishonorably-dischargable coworker.
"You didn't even load it," Maggie almost marveled, disgust mixed with pity. When it had mattered most, this woman had lacked the will to kill her for what she believed was right. "God as my witness, let me never see you again, Corporal Shea."
Upon hearing that, Shallows Anna had to leave. Picking herself up, she staggered out, phasing through the door and nearly tripping as she raced down the tower, tears spilling forth as she relived the terror of that night. Clarissa, seeing that her chance to change fate had passed, felt her presence was no longer needed in the tower. She sure as Hell didn't want to stay.
Cursing under her breath, Clarissa did three loops around the station, staring into the night. With just a few lights littering the wilderness of the island, she had a nearly impossible task on her hands. Instead of looking, Clarissa raced back to the ground and listened for the crying. After a few minutes, she finally found Shallows Anna wandering out in Epiphany Fields.
"Anna!" Clarissa called out, jogging after her. "Anna, wait!"
That pissed her off. Spinning around, Anna demanded, "You think you can control me?! And make me wait, of all things?! I find that rather hypocritical of you, child! Was it not you who chose to act on your own emotions, who could not be bothered to wait for me?! Perhaps you may have realized I could have provided insight into your shenanigans?!"
Catching up to her, Clarissa tried to explain, "I'm sorry! I didn't know how long you'd take! I wanted-"
"Yes, I'm quite familiar with that notion, what you want!" Anna agreed, nodding along as she tried to dry her tears. "I dare say it might even be all you consider, Katie! You want to save me, you want to go stop the Sunken, you want to kill Mags, you you you!" she screamed.
"I didn't want to kill her! And those are good things!" Clarissa screamed back. "I'm trying to save everyone!" Scowling in frustration, she vented and tried to convince herself, "I could have just pulled Ma-"
Anna was all too happy to slap Clarissa again, throwing everything she had into it. "If you ever listen, listen now. I dare say you'll become a ghost of a ghost, child. Should you ever find yourself attempting to-"
Clarissa decided that three was enough. Utilizing her anger to its fullest, she grabbed the woman by the shoulders, sending her boot flying into Anna's crotch. "Shove it, you old hag! I had no choice!" Clarissa roared as the woman went down like a pile of bricks. More than happy to get even, she reared her other leg back and swung it like a golf club, smashing into Anna's head.
Rolling across the grass, Anna tried to get distance, buying time to catch her breath. Clarissa took too long in following up, and Anna had just enough time to roll onto her back, sizing her target up.
Clarissa was almost upon her, but Anna was faster, thrusting her leg out and smashed her foot into Clarissa's ankle, knocking her off balance as she was taking the final step. Anna was on her feet as Clarissa struggled to her own, giving Anna the chance she needed. She threw a right hook into Clarissa's face, forcing her down on the ground again. Unfortunately for Clarissa, she landed on her stomach. Anna was on top of her before she could react, and Clarissa started to scream as Anna used one arm to press on her neck and the other to hold her right arm in place.
Kicking, screaming, flailing, Clarissa could do nothing except struggle more and more for a breath of air.
After what felt like an hour to Clarissa, Anna slowly let off her neck, just barely giving her enough room to breathe.
As both calmed down, Anna took a much needed breath of her own. "I do thank you. For saving my life, Katie."
Clarissa groaned. She would have rolled her eyes, but half her face was already buried in dirt. Instead, she opted to screw her eyes shut and tried to imagine a knife or a gun to help her out.
"But the unpleasant truth of the matter is that we're stuck here. Possibly forever. I don't care if it's to save them or others. You can't abuse this power, no matter how tempting it may be," she lectured, still pinning the girl down.
"You wanted to swap!" Clarissa angrily recalled, her fighting spirit revived by the hypocrisy.
Shaking her head, Anna explained, "That's my own life! You already pulled me into this; I'm okay with sacrificing myself. But we don't have the authority to eternally damn others, not to fix my mistake, not to fix yours."
"Alright, whatever," Clarissa groaned, annoyed and disgusted both by the lecturing and by all the dirt that had fallen into her mouth amidst the conversation. "Next time I see someone dying, I'll let 'em die! Happy?!"
Anna was more than ready to debate the merits of action and inaction, one life over several, and such; however, both her and "Katie" were drawn to the night sky as a red lightning bolt flashed, giving a Hellish light that bathed everything in blood.
Clarissa screamed, thrashing so intensely that Anna leapt off her. "What in the bloody Hell?!" was all she could wonder.
"They said they could find me," Clarissa remembered, panic flooding her mind. "We need to go!"
"Agreed, but I'm not going with you," Anna revealed, backing away from Clarissa. To answer the question on the girl's mind, she preemptively explained, "They're hunting you. I suspect they want nothing from me. I'll find a way to contact Mags. You need to-"
"Hell no!" Clarissa screamed as static started bubbling out of the loudspeakers that lined the wilderness. "They're coming! Oh God, they're coming!" she heaved, tearing at her hair. "I gotta go, Anna, come on! Don't leave me alone, please!"
"My blueprints, child!" Anna shouted over Clarissa's panic. "If I can build another contact device, we can open up that triangle! Katie, listen to me!" she begged, backing further away. "You need to lead them away from me and buy me time!"
"Where do I lead them?!" she wondered, realizing that she would never truly have time to calm down if they could always find her this quickly. "I can't-!"
"Anywhere! Go back to your own time! The point still stands, we need to leave now!" Anna firmly reminded her. "I'll find you when I have something! Don't find me! Be safe, Katie!"
Clarissa had too much left to say, too many questions unanswered. But Anna vanished like smoke, swept away by the chilly October winds. She wanted to cry, but she knew she didn't have time. The static crept ever closer, the Sunken drawn in by that all too familiar sensation of despair. Closing her eyes, Clarissa focused on where she needed to go, when she needed to go. Despite the chaos of the moment, she was gone, swimming downstream.