Chapter 25
Robert growled. Stupid little thing, just do what you are supposed to do! With a ring the computer let him know that it wasn't able to run the program RO wanted him to – again. Frustrated, the young man shoved the keyboard aside and leaned back. There had to be a way to open that file. Together with the one they had from the recording of Sara's last call, he should be able to identify the sub and get a better idea of what they were looking for. But he had come to a dead end here, as much as he hated to admit that to himself. He needed help. Growling again, he pulled the keyboard back and started writing an email.
Hey there, need your help with something...
Checking his watch, he started calculating. The time was right, late afternoon, so it shouldn't take that long to get an answer. It all depends on whether or not he's got the time and about how curious he is about my mystery. About two and half an hour later, Robert got his response.
Don't know what kind of music you're listening to, but that one is really weird, even for you. Did what I could, see attachment. Wanna tell me what it is? Probably not. Have fun. T.eing a bit excited, RO opened the attachment, allowing the file to install itself. If it goes wrong, that could get me into a hell of a mess, he thought. Normally he was the one reminding his crew mates never to open an attachment or try to install something at the ship's computer system without security check. But it couldn't wait and there was no way he could tell someone where he got that attachment from. After all, he trusted the sender, well as much as you could trust somebody like him. It took some minutes to restart the system, then Robert tried the sound file again. A high pitched bing sounded through the ComCen. Gotcha! And now let's have a look at the numbers again.
Nav stood outside the door and bite her lip. Should she really do it? That was a life-changing thing to do and there was no way to tell if it was the right decision before she actually tried it. The envelope in her hands suddenly felt so heavy. It only contained one sheet of paper, but the words on it made it feel even heavier than a weighty tome. What could she be doing next? Where would she be in a month, a year? Nicki had no idea. But as she had told Kate before, at the moment everything felt better than being here at the ship. She had thought it would be a good idea. Coming back, doing what she liked, what she was trained to do. Being with her friends. But as it seemed, there were to many memories. Good ones, yes. But also the bad ones. And these were the ones that hunted her every night, every day. Every minute of her life she could see them. Lying at the beach, motionless. She felt the horror again, the cold running through her veins the very moment she discovered that one of the divers was ET. Running away never is an option, Kate had told her. Well-meaning advices – she had gotten a lot of them lately. If it where up to her, running seemed like an awful good option. As far away and as fast as she could. Maybe, if she was lucky, the dreams and pictures weren't that fast and stayed behind. They're going to dull but they will never fade away completely, the counselor she had been visiting for some time had told her. Great prospect!
She turned the envelope in her sweaty palms. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow. But before she could turn away, the door opened and a puzzled Mike Flynn looked at her, stopping dead in his way out of the cabin.
"Nav. Can I help you?"
He eyed the envelope in her hands, noticed the nervous expression on her face and stepped aside. "Come in. I think we shouldn't discuss this", he mentioned at the envelope, "here in the open."
"And how exactly did you manage to open the file?" Curious Lieutenant Smith bent over inspecting the little turtle laying on the desk. His face blank, RO managed to answer without blushing: "I'm good at what I'm doing, Sir. Not because I talk about it but because I do what I'm trained to do." No way he would tell the Lieutenant there was a hacker involved.
Brows furrowed, the tall man opened his mouth for an answer but got interrupted by Commander Marshall who approached with Lieutenant Commander Flynn in tow.
"Well Leading Seaman Dixon, good job! With your help, we know now what to look for or – more precisely – what to listen for. And there's good news. One of our Frigates picked up a signal quite familiar with the one you recorded a day ago. Actually just by accident, they were on a training mission for new hydrographic systems operators. You'll get the coordinates, I want the Hammersley out there to have a look", he finished addressing Mike now. "You leave port at first daylight tomorrow. And as for the staff decisions, we talk later."
Cute Picture, nice recording. But what is the bling noise in the background? That's not what spinners sound like.
She saw the comment under her posting and shrugged. All she could hear was a lot of high-pitched whistling, some deeper rattling and the single clicking sounds the dolphins used for orientation. There was no bling, was there? She turned round and asked the young man sitting at the table in the mess. "Would you come over here for a second, Spider?"
Billy stood up and reluctantly came over to her. He wasn't sure what to think of 2Dads and Rebecca. He had seen her dancing out of the mess the other day and when he had entered, his mate sat there with a smirk that told him more than words could ever do. And now she wanted him to have a look at the damn video, 2Dads had made for her. Man, that should have been my idea!
"Need help sorting out the inept comments?" Spider sat down and skimmed the postings. "Wow, that's a lot."
"Well, can you just close your eyes and listen? Just tell me what you hear, okay?"
"I already saw the clip twice, remember? 2Dads showed me. I can tell you..."
"Just do me a favor", Rebecca interrupted him.
Spider closed his eyes and waved with his left hand. "Go on then. Let's hear."
Burst-pulsed sounds, soft bleeping, clicks and whistles sounded through the mess accompanied by the deep humming produced by Hammersleys two engines.
"And?" The brown-haired woman looked at him eagerly. Billy shrugged.
"I don't know. There's the dolphins, our engines... . Nothing unexpected, I'd say given what you can see on the tape."
"That's not quite right." A deep sleepy sounding voice interrupted from the door. The young sailors turned and saw Charge standing in the door frame rubbing his eyes. "If you ever again choose that time of the night for your strange music sessions, close the door please."
Bomber blushed. "Sorry Charge. Didn't mean to wake you up."
"Already happened. And now let me hear that stuff again. 'Cause there is something else then dolphins and our engines." He closed his eyes to focus only on the hearing. "There!"
Bomber stopped the video. "I didn't hear it, but one of the comments too says there's something."
"Oh there is. Just barely audible but there's a bling that shouldn't be there. It's definitely not our engines and I don't think spinners can produce such sounds. But I'm fairly sure I know who does." Ignoring Bombers protests he grabbed the laptop and rushed out of the mess. "We need RO."
The sunrise was beautiful. Long golden filaments glittered in the water when the sea smooth as a glass of water reflected the first rays of dawn. A pair of Australian Magpie Larks began their piercing duet calls, "pee-wee" answered almost immediately with "tee-o-wee", up the street a small flock of Rosellas greeted the new day with "chink-chink" calls. Although early in the day the sun already warmed up the still chilly breeze of the night.
At the harbor the pier was vibrant with activity, every one followed their task neither taking notice of the beauty of the morning sun nor the birds singing. With the data from NAVCOM and the video they had been able to made a fairly good guess as to where the submarine had been heading. Now time was of the essence. And there was no need to tell anyone. They all knew what to do and it took no time the vessel was ready to be off to the sea.