Twelve
"Fuck, where did it come from?!" Trevor demanded, trying to push the nose of the Nautilus down to avoid taking another hit from the unexpected ghostly leviathan in their path. "I thought you said the route was clear!"
"It was clear!" Anna snapped back, darting Bait around to the side to avoid the lashing tail. "I don't know where it came from, it was just suddenly here!"
She had thought for a moment that she might have seen that sub again, but now it was nowhere to be seen. Instead, this thing had come screaming out of nowhere and launched itself right at the Nautilus. Though they had patched and replace most of the hull, that didn't seem to matter much any more; is had opened a long gash in the submarine's outer skin, and she could see sparking coming from the wires underneath.
She licked her lips and griped the control panel briefly. If she actually stopped to think about this, she would freeze, so she couldn't stop to think.
"There's fire in the engine room!" Sypha announced, though her voice was softer being farther away from the mic. "If we take another hit like that, we're also going to be taking on water!"
"Damnit... Can you put it out?"
"Yes, but it won't stay out if we don't get out of here!"
The leviathan-class creature turned, and let loose with another shriek.
"Keep going," Anna said, feeling strangely calm. "You're not that far from the way into the cave, and the base will be easy to find."
"...Anna, what are you doing?"
"Something really really stupid. I'll catch up to you!"
She turned off the radio, not wanting to hear the protests, and shoved the control sticks of the seamoth forward. This was probably going to hurt, but if it made the creature back off, then it would be absolutely worth it.
She crashed into the creature's face, narrowly missing its mouth, and unloaded the charge from her energy shield into its skull. It jerked up and back, hitting the tunnel's ceiling hard enough to shatter rock and cause a small collapse; Anna managed to duck out from the worst of it, though Bait's glass cracked ominously in a spiderweb pattern.
She backed away from the leviathan, trying to see through the rocks and clouds, half-braced for it to come charging straight on through and crunch her and Bait both in its mouth.
The water cleared.
The creature was nowhere to be seen.
Anna let out a tired, relieved sigh, and turned her radio back on.
"So, uh... how much trouble am I in for that?"
"It looks pretty bad," Sypha said after a minute. "We made it in here, but we're going to need some help to make it back out."
"Can you repair any of it?" Trevor asked.
"I can repair some of it, but I think we're going to need a whole new plate of plasteel for this middle section. How are things in there?"
"The fires are out," Anna said from where she stood in the doorway. "The engine reads as okay, just a little... scorched. If we don't push it, it should be fine."
Trevor was ignoring her; he was upset about the stunt. Sypha, on the other hand made a sound of acknowledgment.
"Have you tried hailing the base yet?" she asked as she swam over the front of the sub, pointing to the lit towers that were only a few hundred meters away.
"Not yet. I wanted the damage report first. Come back inside, and I'll do that."
She nodded, and swam down, disappearing from view. Below, Anna heard the hatch open up and a telltale splash as Sypha re-entered the Nautilus, and there was a faint hiss of static as Trevor tuned the radio to a broader frequency.
"Hailing Alterra base, this is the Nautilus, can you hear us, over?"
Sypha climbed up the ladder, then perched on the edge of the opening, smiling ruefully at Anna, who only shrugged lightly. She would rather Trevor be upset and alive than injured or dead.
"How's Bait?" Sypha murmured as Trevor repeated his hail.
"Mad. I'll probably have to find a mess of quartz to repair the glass, and some titanium for the hull breeches. The power cells could use a recharge now too, though I don't think the attache moon pool is big enough for two subs."
"I can always take Sashimi out and we can let Bait recharge in here," Sypha offered.
Anna shook her head a little.
"No, better we keep Sashimi as a backup, since it's not been damaged yet. That way if someone needs to get back to Jellybase quick, they can."
"Hailing Alterra base, this is the Nautilus, can you hear us, over?"
Sypha sighed a little.
"Trevor, if they'd heard us, they probably would have responded the first time," she said a little tartly.
"They might not even be in," Anna volunteered, getting to her feet. "Bait's not so low that I can scoot closer to check..."
Trevor scowled at her, opened his mouth to say something, and was stopped by Sypha's elbow being firmly planted in his side. He glared down at his girlfriend instead, and Anna slipped down the ladder before a protest could be raised.
"Why'd you stop me?" she heard as she reached the bottom.
"Because Anna saved our lives, Trevor. It was a risk, but she did it for us. You should thank her, not yell at her," Sypha shot back. "Stop acting like the punctured your pride; she was the only one in a position to do something, and she did it."
Anna half-smiled as she slipped her breathing mask on, grateful that Sypha, at least, seemed to understand, and slipped out of the hatch back into the sea.
"Do you see anyone?" Sypha asked.
"Nnnot... at the top levels," Anna replied after a minute of careful circling. "But there's a seamoth in the moon pool, so I think someone is here."
"We could just go in through the hatch," Trevor said, still a bit surly. "Or the moon pool."
"That's rude, Trevor. We should ask first. We don't want to-wait! I see someone!"
She pulled herself out of Bait and swam hurriedly up to the window through which she'd spotted someone moving.
He looked tall, maybe about Trevor's height, and the hair in the base's lights was fair, that sort of wheat blonde that most achieved only through dye, while some cheated and had a genetic rewrite. But if the fairness of his complexion was any sort of clue, this was natural.
He was also the prettiest man she'd ever seen, and for a moment she couldn't help but stare. Then she gave herself a hard mental shake, and reached out to carefully knock on the glass.
No reaction.
She frowned slightly, and knocked again, a little harder this time. That got his attention, and he looked up from what he'd been studying, eyebrows raising a bit as he saw her. Anna flushed a little, suddenly grateful for the somewhat distorted facemask that kept her from being fully visible, then held up her data pad. He leaned forward with a bemused look, then nodded almost... politely? Before getting up and walking off.
Something about it struck her as odd. She was willing to swear that she'd seen something in those golden eyes that was almost...
She waited there for a few minutes before he came back, and tapped something out on his own pad, holding it up for her to see.
She'd asked him to turn on his radio.
The radio appears to be broken. Was the reply.
It made sense, sort of. With only the two of them down there, and only a small seamoth, why would they need a radio? Anna chewed her lip, and typed out another short message, holding it up so that he could see it.
May we come in?
The eyebrows went up again, but after a moment, the man pointed to the hatch on the lowest level, and nodded. Anna bowed a little—the only way she could thank him from the water—then turned and started back to her sub.
"I found Mr. Tepes. His radio's down, but he said we could come in using the lower hatch. I think I see a space where you could park the Nautilus, Trevor, and then we can say hello!"
The bottom level of the base held the air of long disuse, but that wasn't too surprising; the moon pool connected, and that would have been an easier way in and out, one that avoided the water and its relentless storm of pathogens.
Trevor took the lead once they were inside, and Anna let him, still chewing on the question of why something had seemed... wrong with the man she'd seen through the window. The look of something akin to weary resignation, before the politeness had fallen over his face like a mask...
"Well, he's not on this level," Trevor said after a minute.
"I guess we're going up then," Sypha said, pointing to the ladder.
The second and third levels held a similar air of disuse; dust coated cabinets and lockers, absorbed their damp footfalls, and any noise they might have made.
"...you're sure you saw someone?" Trevor asked finally, peering over his shoulder at Anna.
"I saw him," she said firmly, though unease was worming around in her stomach. "He was... acting a bit strange, but he said we could come in..."
"Strange how?" Sypha asked as Trevor started up the ladder.
"I'm... not sure," Anna said after a moment, frowning a little. "But there was something odd about his reactions."
"Hmmm..."
Sypha climbed up the ladder after Trevor, and Anna brought up the rear, still puzzling.
The fourth level, finally, looked live in. One hallway connected to the moon pool, while the other connected to the second tower of the habitat. In the middle of the room was a small alien containment aquarium, within which swam a handful of Peepers and a strange, squashed little creature that looked like a mix between an octopus and a manatee. It swam up to the glass and used its tentacles to plaster itself to the side for a better look.
"It's adorable," Sypha said pressing a hand to the glass. "What is it?"
"I don't know," Anna said, smiling shyly at the little creature which headbutted the glass. "But it really is cute. I wonder where they found it?"
"It's called a cuddlefish."
They all jumped, and Trevor spun with thermoblade in hand to stare at the slender man who stood in the doorway between the room they were in and the next one. He had a puzzled look on his face, and a mug in his hand that steamed gently.
"I've had hallucinations before, but never as many as three," he said after a minute, his cultured voice somewhat hoarse... as though he didn't use it very often. "I don't... recognize any of you..."
Sypha looked at Anna, eyes wide. Anna stared back, mouth dry. This was bad.
"...we're not hallucinations," Trevor said slowly, putting the thermoblade back on his belt. "I'm Trevor. This is Sypha, and that's Anna."
"Not hallucinations," a small, disbelieving smile appeared on Adrian's face, then vanished as he sipped whatever was in the mug. "Of course not."
Anna bit her lip uncertainly, and Sypha moved forward, away from the containment tank, offering him her hand.
"We're not hallucinations," she said firmly. "Do you prefer to be called Adrian, or Mr. Tepes?"
He blinked, and stared at her hand for a long moment.
"It's... been some time since I've heard either," he said finally, though he only stared at her hand, didn't take it. "At least, from an unfamiliar voice. I suppose... Adrian will be fine."
"Adrian then," And though she couldn't see it, Anna could hear the smile in Sypha's voice. "It's nice to meet you. We didn't expect to find any other survivors, especially not ones from a crash that's a decade old."
His eyes flicked from Sypha to her, and Anna found herself pinned by the gaze. She looked away first, turning back to the alien containment and the cuddlefish that was still lightly batting its head against the glass as though asking for attention.
"...what brings you here?" he finally asked.
"We made friends with an asshole leviathan-class creature out there, and needed a place to stop so we could start effecting some repairs," Trevor replied, his tone cautious now. "I don't suppose you have any plasteel and titanium lying around?"
"I might," Adrian said after a moment. "It'd be down in the lower levels. One of the lockers. I didn't have much use for it after... Well. You're welcome to it."
"Thank you. That'll make things a lot faster," Sypha said warmly.
She could see him faintly reflected in the glass; he wasn't looking at either Sypha or Trevor, he seemed to be staring at her. Or maybe the cuddlefish, who was dancing around in front of her now, occasionally butting itself up against the glass.
"You may stay here, if you'd like," Adrian continued. "Until you've fixed your..."
"Cyclops," Trevor supplied. "Cyclops and seamoth."
"Are you sure?" Sypha asked. "We wouldn't want to intrude, especially if you don't have the supplies for three extra people. Especially one who can be a black hole for food," and Anna saw her nudge Trevor lightly in the side. Trevor responded by huffing at her, though he half-smiled as he did so.
There was a weighted silence that finally made Anna look over again, and see puzzled confusion on Adrian's face.
"Hallucinations that eat..." He sounded so confused that it made her heart hurt. "That could... cause problems."
"We're not-" Trevor stopped and glanced back as Anna touched his back, shaking her head slightly. He sighed and rubbed his face briefly. "Look, we have our own supplies on the Nautilus, you don't need to feed us. Just... proper beds would be good."
"The... Nautilus..."
Adrian stared at them all for another long moment, then looked away.
"There's a double bed upstairs you can use if you need," he said slowly, pausing briefly to take a longer drink from his mug. "In fact, I would recommend it; you look... tired."
Trevor looked over his shoulder at Anna, who shrugged helplessly. Something Trevor had said had hit a nerve, but she didn't know what; this whole meeting was nothing like what she'd expected, and there was still no sign of...
Oh.
"...Mr. Tepes?"
He startled a little, and looked at her.
"How long have you been alone down here?"
The silence was complete and deafening.
"Shit," Trevor muttered as he went through one of the dusty cupboard. "I thought we'd find two people down here, not one who's gone just slightly crazy."
"You're not alone there," Anna replied, hugging herself uncertainly. "I'm not trained for something like this. I was supposed to be a medical doctor, not a psychiatrist!"
Sypha blew some dust off one of the cabinets before opening the door, then sneezed.
"We can't leave him here like this, though," she said, rubbing her nose. "I don't care what Alterra thinks they want, leaving him here to die alone... It's just not right."
"There's going to be a lot of trouble getting him off-world," Anna murmured with a small frown. "Putting aside the fact that we have to take care of the infection first, he's been down here, at almost five hundred meters worth of pressure, for a decade. In the dark, with only the habitat lights and the bioluminescent plants. I don't even know if the surgeonbots could do anything, and that's setting aside the fact that we don't know how the infection has altered him."
"Are you saying we're leaving him behind too?" Sypha asked, staring in disbelief.
"No... maybe... I don't know!" Anna said tossing her hands up in frustration. "For all we know, he's perfectly content to stay down here, and after living on this planet for a decade, even with it slowly killing him, would he want to leave? Would he be able to leave, Sypha? That's the question!"
Trevor had stopped searching and was staring at her with enough surprise that Anna realized her voice has raised. Flushing, she looked away.
"I'm sorry... I just don't know what to do. I look at him, and... I don't know, something about him makes my heart hurt. He's not broken, but he's so badly hurt, so lonely..."
"It doesn't hep that he seems to think we're figments of his imagination," Trevor said. "Unless we change that, I don't think anything we say or do would convince him to go very far from this place."
"So, somehow we have to change his view on what we are," Sypha said slowly, pulling over a stool to sit on. "Trevor, how long do you think we can stretch out repairs for?"
"Who said anything about stretching?" He grumbled, dusting his hands off and moving to search through another locker. "We're going to need at least three days. You," and he glanced at Anna, "may have to take Sashimi to keep looking for that research base you want."
Anna blinked at him, startled.
"You're not going to tell me I shouldn't go off on my own?"
"Well you shouldn't," he groused. "But short of tying you down, I can't exactly stop you. You've proven that."
She flushed, looking down at the dusty floor and scuffed a foot on the smooth metal.
"But you're still right about needing more information on the infection," and he sighed a little. "Maybe ask Tepes if he's found it, so you're not haring around in the dark out there."
Anna made a slight face; she wasn't sure she wanted to talk to him, not with the way he'd been looking, and especially not after she'd asked him the question that had caused him to leave, but...
"You're probably right."
She pushed off the wall with a small sigh, turning towards the ladder.
"Anna."
She paused, and half-turned back as Trevor dusted off his hands.
"Will you actually be careful this time?"
"I'll do my best, Trevor."
There were a surprising number of actual doors in this base, and some of them were locked quite tightly. She wasn't interested in prying or exploring... but to be fair, she wasn't exactly eager to meet Adrian Tepes a second time. In the end, she found herself back in the room with the alien containment tank, and smiled a little at the cuddlefish came up to say hello again.
"Now where on earth did he find you, little one?" she asked, lightly touching the glass with a fingertip. "We've never run across you out in the wild..."
The cuddlefish made a small, chirruping sound and flitted away, to circle around the hatch that was on the upper level. Almost as if it was inviting her in to play. Then it swam back and gently bomped its head against the glass.
She smiled, and touched her own forehead lightly to the exterior glass in response.
"I wish I could little one, but I wouldn't want to bring the infection to you. It must be an impressive filtration system, I don't see... any signs on any of the fish..."
"It takes a few weeks for the symptoms to show up in most of them," came that quiet, cultured voice from behind her.
Anna yipped, jumped a foot, and spun around; Adrian stepped back, seeming surprised by her surprise.
"Madre de Dios, don't you make noise?!" she demanded, to startled to be polite.
There was a slight quirk to his mouth that she suspected might have actually been laughter if he'd thought she was an actual person.
"My apologies. You... Are Anna, correct?"
She nodded, lightly pressing a hand to her chest to try and will her heart to stop jumping around quite so much.
"Yes. Anna Torres."
"You've made a study of the infection then?" he asked, leaning against the doorway.
"Well, yes. I had to. The notes you and Dr. Montblanc made helped me out more than a little..." She looked away briefly. "And so did the vaccine. Things would have gotten a lot worse if I hadn't found that file."
The cuddlefish tapped the glass, waving at Adrian, then tapped it again to make Anna look up. She half-smiled as it spun around, doing elaborate loops as if trying to impress her. After a moment, she regathered her courage and looked at Adrian again. He had an odd expression on his face, looking from her, to the cuddlefish, then back.
"Mr. Tepes..." She hesitated, then took a breath as he focused on her. "I know you probably won't believe me for a while, but we are real. We're flesh and blood, with beating hearts, working lungs, and an infection that we can't cure, I can't cure, without your help. Please-"
She moved away from the tank, and the world wobbled. Her knees buckled, and she staggered, reaching out to catch herself on the wall... and instead ended up braced against a warm chest. She looked up in surprise; if his expression was anything to go on, he seemed just as startled, and they sat on the floor together for a long moment.
"...are you all right?" he finally asked.
"I... I think so," she replied, looking down in embarrassment. "Sorry it's... it's been more of a day than we expected it would be. I guess it all just hit me."
"Yes, I... see."
His grip shifted slowly, helping her to sit up, but he seemed almost... reluctant to let go. She considering pushing away, but honestly, the world was still moving a bit, and if he was okay with holding her steady, she was mostly okay with letting him.
"...when was the last time you had a dose of the vaccine?" he asked.
The question was mild. Polite. Anna went very still.
"...When I gave the other two theirs," she said warily, glancing up at him briefly, then away.
"Did you take the entire dose?"
She pressed her lips together briefly, then tried to pull away.
"I'm fine, Mr. Tepes," she said.
"That's not an answer, Ms. Torres," he replied, tightening his grip just a little. "The doses come as they are for a reason, and if you are giving your companions the full dose, you should also be taking the full dose."
"I'm fine," she repeated, pushing against him a little more firmly.
"How much of the dose are you holding back each time, hm? Do you companions even know you're stinting yourself?"
He was starting to scare her now; she pushed harder against his arms, but he didn't seem inclined to let her go, and the look on his face was nothing short of pure disapproval. He stood up so abruptly that she yelped, and while he let her get her feet under her, the arm that supported her was still unyieldingly firm.
"I take enough of the vaccine to make sure I can keep working," she said, pulling against that grip. "They go into the water more than I do, they need it more than I do!"
"You need to take a full dose," he said flatly, and tugged at her arm firmly.
But Anna had had enough. Her free hand flashed up, and the palm of her hand connected hard with his cheek. Startled, he released her and stumbled back as she yanked away, ending up on the floor again. He stared at her for a long minute, then slowly raised a hand to his cheek. Already, it was turning red, and she looked away, immediately ashamed, even as she pushed herself upright.
"...I suppose you must be real," he said finally, quietly. "My hallucinations have done many things, but hitting me is not one of them."
"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "You scared me..."
"No... I think I am the one who should be apologizing, Ms. Torres," and when she glanced up, there was just the slightly quirk of a smile on his mouth. It faded quickly though. "I am serious, however... you should take a full dose, not... deny yourself. It won't make things easier on your companions if the infection takes you..."
She looked away. Then sighed.
"...maybe you're right," she said reluctantly. "I just... I don't know..."
Very carefully, he offered her his hand. Very slowly, she accepted it, and let him help her to her feet again.
"I'm afraid I don't have any of... Lisse's vaccine here," he said, eyes shadowed with regret. "I don't even have the materials to make it."
"It's okay. Really. I'm okay. Today's just been a bit extra on the stress." she pulled her hand back slowly. He was reluctant to let go, but he did after a moment. "...you should probably put some ice or cold water on your cheek... it'll help with the swelling."
"Ice... yes..."
She eyed him cautiously.
"I didn't hit you that hard, did I, Mr. Tepes?"
"I..." after a moment, he shook his head a little, and she was willing to be his reach out was involuntary, though he stopped short of actually touching her when she tensed. "You're real..."
She sighed a little, but half-smiled despite herself.
"Come on, Mr. Tepes. Show me your med bay, and we'll get you some ice."
Survivor's log, Anna Torres
Of all the things I'd hoped for I got... well, honestly none of it. But I don't think I'm as disappointed as maybe I ought to be...
Mr. Tepes held on to an amazing amount of his sanity, despite being left alone for eight or nine years, with an infection that's bafflingly different from what is typically presented. It's a bit weird to be stared at like I'm the answer to all his questions... hopefully Sypha and Trevor will have similar, but less... trying breakthroughs. (I can't believe I smacked him. What is wrong with me?)
Trevor thinks that even with the plasteel and titanium that were in the lower levels, it'll take at least four days to fix the Nautilus, let alone both the Nautilus and Bait. Sypha says I can borrow Sashimi if I want to... and Mr. Tepes also offered me the use of his if I need it... Richter.
It's funny. I hit him, and... and it seems to have given him a snap back to reality. He doesn't seem to mind, but I just... why did I do that? I raised my voice at Sypha, I hit Mr. Tepes... I charged the leviathan not even knowing for sure that I was going to be able to make it back off! If I hadn't had the perimeter defense module, it could have just crunched Bait in its mouth and I wouldn't have been good for anything!
Maybe Mr. Tepes is right and I should take a full dose next time...