Henri Court greeted Jack Ryan with a firm handshake, smiling easily. "I didn't want to complicate matters by arriving in the middle of the press circus," the Frenchman told Ryan with an eloquent shrug. "I hope you don't mind."
"No, no, of course not," replied Jack. "It's better this way, actually – my sister Joany's just arrived, and she wants to hear all about it." He turned and began to walk down the front hall of the estate, inviting Henri to come along with a gesture.
Henri fell into step beside the older man. "Your sister? I thought you wanted utmost discretion – not that I think your family cannot be discreet, but I was unaware you even had a sibling."
"Not by blood," Jack told Court. "My adoptive mother raised six of us. Five girls and me, and I'm the oldest by far. The girls are only in their twenties."
"Fascinating," marveled Court. "Dr. Tenenbaum is quite the woman; everything new I learn of her impresses me more."
Jack grinned slowly. "You don't know the half of it. Come on in." And he pushed the door to the sitting room open. Henri entered and was greeted by the sight of two women. One he had met previously, the handsome and brilliant Dr. Bridgette Tenenbaum. The other was a lovely young woman with soft brown hair and wide, blue eyes. She had a nervous but determined look to her, and Henri had a feeling she had lived her life tenaciously but quietly. Both women rose as he entered.
"Mr. Court," greeted Bridgette, moving to clasp his hand. "It is good to see you again. Please sit; we are having a casual supper here, if you will not be minding."
"It sounds perfect. I'd love a chance to relax." Henri shrugged off his coat with Jack's aid, and then inclined his head toward the young woman. "You must be Joan. It is a pleasure to meet you. I'm Henri, the diver heading your brother's expedition to Rapture."
Joan smiled faintly and nodded in return. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Court. I'm sorry if I seem a little off-kilter. I just arrived today and this whole thing has been something of a shock to me."
"Understandable. Completely understandable," Herni assured as he took a seat and the ladies reclaimed theirs. Jack hung the coat before he, too, settled into a chair. "Jack has not told me everything about the expedition yet, but I know it is a matter of great emotion and anxiety for your family."
"Which is why we've asked you to come tonight, Henri," Jack said, motioning to a trim man who entered bringing a tray of brandied coffees. "I can't let you go down there in good conscience without preparing you for what you might find. As always, I'm asking for the utmost discretion..." he waited for Henri's quick, serious nod before continuing, "...but you need to know as much as I can tell you."
Henri watched Joan out of the corner of his eye. She seemed more tense and uncomfortable than the other two. When the coffee had been served and the houseman had departed, Jack leaned back in his seat, searching for a way to begin. "I am almost certain Rapture is a dead city. There's no possible way anything could have survived, since it's been twenty years and the place was already flooding when I escaped. In fact, I'm going to bet there's been such structural collapse due to the water that the buildings will be mostly rubble."
All three of the family, Henri noticed, were still and grave of expression. Only Joany betrayed the emotion of fear and distress in her eyes. Jack took a moment to collect his thoughts before beginning again. "I can tell you, though, that you are going to find evidence of scientific advances far beyond anything the surface has ever imagined."
"But how...?" Henri began.
It was Tenenbaum that interrupted him. "Andrew Ryan's claim of a society free of all moral and social obligation was a siren song to these scientists whose genius was impeded by their colleagues' sense of right and wrong. Please, you must not misunderstand – I do not believe Ryan was right in anything he did, but it served to bring together men and women of science who, as the saying goes, were like kids in candy shop."
"A sea slug was discovered in the depths," Jack continued, "an animal that could, amazingly, secrete stem-cells that were compatible with human anatomy. At least, they believed they were compatible. The stem cell secretion was then used to create serums called 'plasmids', which gave superhuman abilities to anyone who used them. An investor funded the scientists' research, then marketed the secretion and called it ADAM."
"He sold this secretion of the sea slug? This ADAM?" Henri murmured, trying to take it all in.
"A brilliant move for someone in a city built on free-enterprise and capitalism," said Tenenbaum, a touch of bitterness in her voice. "Rapture was a city of greed. How tempting, then, to citizens of greed, if you can offer them plasmids that can make them stronger, quicker, more unique. Ah, Fontaine knew exactly what he was doing."
"Fonatine. The man who funded and marketed ADAM research and sale?" Henri blinked, shaking his head. "But if this is true, how many slugs did they have to find? That is, how much ADAM could they make from one slug?"
"Not much," admitted Tenenbaum. "Nor could we find more than two dozen sea slugs. The first discovery was complete accident. And this would not do. Not with the market being so giant, and Fontaine wanting a supply to meet demand. We were pressed to find a more controlled and viable means of harvesting ADAM."
Court frowned and straightened in his chair. "Wait, you're saying 'we'. Did you have something to do with all of this, Dr. Tenenbaum?"
Bridgette reached for a cigarette. "Yes. It was I who discovered the sea slug, and I who accepted funding from Fontaine to produce the ADAM." She lit the cigarette and took a slow, delicate pull from the filter. Henri regarded her. It wasn't that she had no guilt over this admission. Something told him the guilt had been confronted a long time ago, and that she had been able to make peace with herself.
"Go on," Henri encouraged. "There were only twenty-four slugs found. So, how did you mass-produce ADAM?"
For the first time, Court saw hesitation in Bridgette's eyes. "You understand, ADAM was delicate. We tried many methods of producing it, but all failed. At last, I discover a way..." The stately woman looked away from Henri. "Understand, I was not the same woman I am now. In Rapture, I had no sense of good and evil. I -..."
Suddenly, Joan rose. "Excuse me," she murmured and then made her way to the door, opening it and exiting without further words. Jack didn't watch her leave, his eyes still on Henri, but Bridgette did. A look of anguish passed over her features.
"If this isn't something you can talk about now..." offered Court gently, but Tenenbaum shook her head.
"No, no. It must be told." She took another slow pull from her cigarette, regaining her impassivity. "I discovered that if we provided a host for the slug, we could produce up to fifty times the amount of Adam and that it was an inexhaustible supply."
"Host?" It was a formality only. Court knew what was coming.
"Human host, yes. When implanted in the lining of a human stomach, the sea slug converted digested food to ADAM. Then, it was simply a matter of inducing regurgitation." Tenenbaum said this stiffly, and Jack looked over at her. Twenty years ago, she would have been explaining this process with such enthusiasm, rather than contrition and unease.
"All right, I think I understand," Henri murmured. "So, ADAM is mass-produced by you, doctor, and marketed to the citizens of Rapture by Fontaine. This is not a bad thing, is it? If it didn't kill or harm the hosts, and if we can bring it to the surface..."
"No!" Jack's reaction was explosive, and Henri tensed. Even at forty-seven, Jack Ryan cut an imposing figure. "No, Henri. You don't understand. Rapture wasn't destroyed by any natural disaster. It was brought down because of the ADAM."
"There were side-effects, Herr Court," Brigette informed him gravely. "Terrible, terrible side-effects. The ADAM was addictive, physically, and the growth and conversion of cells in the human body caused gross disfigurement and insanity."
Henri stared intently at Tenenbaum. "How many Rapture citizens used this ADAM?"
"Nearly everyone," she told him bitterly. "Fontaine was a master marketer and, once Andrew Ryan took over Fontaine Futuristics, he only made it worse. Machines were set up everywhere to offer plasmids, and EVE, the substance used to fuel the plasmids, were available in every corner vending machine."
"Oh, my God," Henri said, aghast. "And that's what happened, isn't it? They went crazy down there, and –"
"The ones driven mad by ADAM slaughtered those who were still sane," Jack finished. "Henri, when I arrived for the first time in Rapture, it was like a battlefield after a war. Corpses everywhere. It was a living Hell. A nightmare made real. There is no possible way we can allow ADAM to ever come to the surface."
Court nodded tightly. "I understand. And you tell me all this not only so I know to not bring any ADAM back, but so I'm prepared for what I might see down there."
Brigette nodded solemnly. "You will see the dead, and you will see just what happens when a society is governed by selfishness and greed."
"Then, if it's so terrible, why are you funding this expedition?" Henri wondered.
Jack looked steadily at the Frenchman. "There are those of us here who need closure. We need to know the past and the dead are buried – metaphorically if not literally."
"Then, there is nothing you wish me to retrieve from Rapture?" Henri sounded incredulous.
Tenenbaum and Ryan exchanged looks, briefly, then shook their heads. "No," Jack said. "Not even so much as a bolt or screw. Just bring back the news that we can finally put this behind us. That's the most precious salvage there could be."
~*~
Bridgette entered the bedroom and smiled at seeing Joan nestled under the covers. "It is good, being in your old room, darling?" she asked, moving to sit on the stool that was in front of a little, gilded vanity.
Joan nodded, smiling wanly. "I keep forgetting how much better I feel when I'm home," she admitted. "Mom, did you tell Henri Court about me?"
"No, liebchen, I did not. That is for you to tell or not tell as you wish."
Joan was quiet for a time, regarding the woman who had raised her. "Why me?"
Tenenbaum blinked, and shook her head. "I do not understand."
"Why was I one of them? There were...what? Twenty or so of us, but there had to be more little girls than that in Rapture. How did we get chosen? How did I get chosen?" Joan was grave, pressing, dauntless.
"You weren't chosen," Tenenbaum told her, matching that fearlessness with candidness. "Your mother gave you to us willingly." She saw the look of shock and pain on her daughter's face and winced, but didn't stop. "She came to Rapture after your father died. She was very young, and worked in Fort Frolic as one of Sander Cohen's chorus girls. Fontaine arranged that she should have the lead in one of Cohen's shows in exchange for you."
Joan shifted, pushing herself up to sitting. "My mother sold me for a part in a show?" There wasn't enough outrage and horror in the world to convey her words adequately.
Bridgette leaned to lay a hand on Joan's shoulder. "We told your mother that she was doing a great thing. At that time, the orphanage was not as successful as it should have been, so Fontaine was using propaganda to take girls away from their parents. We told your mother you would be the salvation of the city. I am not saying she is blameless – anyone with sense of rabbit would see there was something dirty there...but we made it easier for her to delude her own self."
"What happened to her?" Joan's voice was ridged with hurt and steely resolve.
Bridgette shrugged in that habitual, eloquent way of hers. "Who can tell? We did not keep in contact with her. I know she was splicing – using ADAM and plasmids all the time – so it is likely she went mad and eventually died."
Joan looked away from her adoptive mother. "Good," she bit. "I'm glad she's dead."
Bridgette watched the young woman and sighed, softly. "If that is what is necessary, then go and rejoice in her death. But I was no less terrible to you, my Joany, and yet you've forgiven me. The only difference between your mother and I is that I was afforded opportunity to make amends."
Bridgette rose, then leaned to press a kiss to the young woman's forehead. "Now, sleep. I love you; Jack loves you, and the past owes us nothing." Joan nodded and Tenenbaum smiled once more, reassuringly, before turning off the nightstand light and exiting the room.
~*~
In the early grey of morning, Jack stood on the docks of Chatham's Harwich Port, looking stoically out toward Henri Court's ship, the Mistral. Court had arrived well before dawn to oversee loading the equipment and supplies for which Jack had paid almost half a million dollars. Now, the pier was bustling with news crew, eager reporters spouting drivel about the historic significance of this monumental event. Jack had shoo'ed them away and now listened to the babble with more than a degree of bitterness. Those reporters, he knew, were just aching for Henri to find something that would unravel the mystery of Rapture. They thought it was a modern Atlantis. They had no idea of the death, greed and misery that sat so fat and ominous under those white-capped waves. Jack felt himself tense involuntarily, then turned to open the limousine door.
Sleek and cool, Bridgette exited and lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the glare of the rising sun. The limo's driver tendered her a pair of sunglasses, and she donned them with a smooth gesture. "Quite the circus," was her first comment. When Jack didn't reply, she looked over at him, inquiringly. "They will be wanting you to say something," she reminded, softly.
"I know. I don't know what to tell them." Jack's eyes were still on the Mistral.
"Lie," Tenenbaum replied flatly and without remorse. "Say something nice about your dead father and his city of the damned and we'll get back in the car and go home."
Jack allowed himself a small smile. "You're a cold lady, mom," he noted.
She ignored that, and instead laid a hand on his arm. "Do you want me to address them?" she asked, trying to help.
"No," Jack sighed. "Just take care of Joan."
And, as if on cue, the young woman rose out of the black car and moved immediately to take Bridgette's hand. "So many people," she murmured. "I didn't think there'd be so many."
"People flock to mystery," Tenenbaum replied. "They also believe Court is going to find hordes of treasure there in the deep." She chuckled low. "These people – Andrew Ryan would have liked their optimism, yes?"
Joan was about to answer when Henri came striding over. He was immaculately dressed in a white turtleneck and a crisp pair of khaki pants, looking very much the seasoned, sophisticated captain. "They're ready for you, Jack," he invited, "and the Mistral is ready to make way."
Jack nodded and started for the pier, where a dais had been erected and festooned with banners touting the expedition. Joan and Bridgette followed, both as grim-faced as the gentleman in front of them. With a bare pause, Jack mounted the platform and stood behind the mahogany podium laden with microphones. Only his adoptive mother and sister saw the shadows in his eyes as he addressed the crowd.
"It is with profound solemnity I bid fair voyage to Captain Henri Court and the crew of the Mistral. I am honored to have such a fine team venturing down into the world my father built. It was Andrew Ryan's intention that Rapture would be a city for the ages, and with Captain Court's brave efforts, I can give my late father the promise that his metropolis will not soon be forgotten. He gave us an opportunity to exist in a place governed by our own indomitable will, and he shared with us a dream that resonated with thousands. Today, we elevate that dream to a hallowed place in our memories. Captain Court," and he nodded toward Henri. "May you go with God, and return safely."
Thunderous applause erupted, and Jack turned his back on it, descending the dais. A flock of reporters began to move in, but the security staff hired for the occasion worked them back and away. "Thank God that's over," Jack muttered darkly.
"Henri, we do wish you the safest of journeys," Bridgette intoned. "And our prayers, they will be with you."
Henri smiled softly. "I thank you for that sentiment, madame," he said graciously. Then, slowly, he turned and faced Joan. "It's time," he said.
Joan nodded.
Jack and Bridgette both blinked and looked between the captain and the young woman. "What's going on?" Jack asked, confused.
Joan took a slow breath. "Jack, I called Henri this morning and he agreed to let me be a part of the expedition. I'm going to Rapture with them."
"What?!" It was Tenenbaum who burst out the word, not Jack. "No! No, Joany, you cannot do such a thing!"
"Joan, listen to mom," Jack urged, also clearly shaken. "You...you don't have the memories we do. You were so young that you probably don't remember Rapture as it really was. We do. We know what it's like down there."
"I remember more than you think," Joan replied evenly. "I remember enough to know that I have to go back. I have to see that place as an adult, and understand what happened and how I was a part of it all. I have to be able to work it out as a grown-up, or else...the nightmares and the questions and the fear won't ever stop."
"Oh, my darling, my liebchen, I cannot bear the thought of you down there alone," Bridgette whimpered, already in tears.
"She won't be. We're going to go with her," Jack declared firmly.
