Chapter 9: Beyond the Nautical Oil Lantern
November 2nd, 2:45 pm, Pacific Standard Time.
In the distance was a wilted column of light smoke over a devastated seaside community. A Gulfstream G650 jet descended from the cool, misty grey overcast skies onto one of the runways of Arcata/Eureka Airport, nine miles southeast of Trinidad.
Multiple vehicles pulled up to the side of the parked jet: a lime-green prius, a large white van and several US military humvees. Government officials in black suites stepped out of the prii, a squad of marines exited the humvees and men in orange suites from the white van walked to the edge of the jet's stairs, waiting for its members to exit. The door slowly opened. One by one, the team made their way down the steps holding their luggage and equipment. Two airport luggage handlers took the second set of stairs for the luggage housed in the back of the jet, the teams equipment.
"Our English is good enough to communicate with these men, right?" Akane asked, briskly going through a Japanese to English translation book.
A government official wearing a name tag saying "Dough" walked up to the assembling group. He had the appearance of a secret intelligence officer, possibly in his early forties, with black, slicked-back oily hair and an angular face.
"Good afternoon. My name is Mr. Dough, and I will be your liaison for this investigation. Where is Professor Yamane?"
"Descending the stairs right now," Yamane announced in English, Hideo holding one of his bags, almost tripping over the side railing. "I trust an investigation has been ongoing since the events yesterday Mr. Dough."
"More of a search and rescue operation, but yes, without question there has been some degree of investigation Professor Yamane. It has been at a plodding pace given the geographic location, degree of damage and contamination. We" ll be jointly working with the US military, local and state officials and several other persons I'm not at liberty to mention right now."
"Of course, completely within the agreement. Now, to what extent has the area been cleared to investigate?"
"Large parts around the exterior town, some parts near and around the tanker, and certain restricted areas in the harbor. I insist once you begin, use caution. These marines will be escorting you the whole way, but like our agreement with the high brass Professor, I can't guarantee you or your team's safety."
"What did he say?" Shinzo urgently whispered to Erika as a squad of jets flew straight above them.
"Damn it! Can't they fly in the designated airspace? I'm calling their superiors! My apologies for the language everyone...you are prepared for immediate investigations, right?"
"Absolutely. My team has prepared to begin our investigations immediately upon arrival, so we will not need rest."
Yamane motioned for the team now fully grouped together, surrounded by the marines, government officials and men in orange suits to follow them to the humvees.
"The marines will be escorting you to the site everyone," the young, slick-haired looking official repeated. "Our headquarters will be an emergency hospital set up in an open grass field behind the local market store on the edge of town called Murphy's Market."
Yamane turned to face the walking team and spoke next.
"When we get there, we will split into two teams. The first will compose of myself, Professor Sato, Professor Shiragami and Ms. Yashiro. The second team will be comprised of Professor Mafune, Mr. Ogata and Ms. Yamane. We will focus analysis towards the harbor. The second will focus on the inland parts of town. The more we can document, sample, photograph, record on video, analyze and track, the more we will have to work with once back in Tokyo."
Yamane pulled the official to the side and spoke English to him again, quietly under his breath. "I have my portion of the deal; our reports, data and findings. My colleague, Professor Ishiro Sato consented to film his interview. As we and my higher-ups agreed, Mr. Dough?" he said, handing the man a small USB drive.
"As we agreed Professor Yamane."
"Did you catch that Emiko?" Hideo quietly whispered to Emiko.
"I'm still not that good with my English, but it looked like your grandfather was making some kind of deal with that US security official."
"I kind of heard too. Something about Professor Sato and...and it looked like my grandfather handed him something," she said, disconcerted by his odd display of covert behavior.
The team split into two groups in the humvees. The whole squad of prii, humvees and the single white van traveled in one long group up north for fifteen minutes along a highway called 101. They took the 728 exit, turned left, drove under an overpass, then into the coastal town of Trinidad.
Towards the first intersection by a Chevron gas station were four badly damaged vehicles; on their right a pick-up truck flipped on its roof, while on their left a minivan and two sedans smashed into one another on a sidewalk. The squad of green and white vehicles kept on. Further up to their left by a bus stop were the shattered remains of a small boat, seemingly out of place this far inland.
The vehicles turned left. On the right side of the street was a trailer park, while on the left the Murphy's Market. In the distance the slanted oil tanker could be seen, still jetting puffs of smoke off its haul, small fires visible even at this distance.
Down the road a series of green military hospital tents came into view behind the large supermarket store. Several military vehicles were parked along the opposite street next to what looked like abandoned homes, doors still open, clothing, children's toys and canned foods strewn on the front lawn. Helicopters flew above them heading south towards the coastline.
The vehicles parked adjacent to three small trees. Around their trunks lay the wilting red, yellow and orange leaves of Fall. The group was ushered by Mr. Dough into a large green tent, the closest one to the Murphy's Market store.
As they entered the site the scene became gruesome; dozens of hospital beds with injured, maimed, grieving and traumatized residents, all organized in rows with a large walking path in-between them. Emergency personal were tending to one man who appeared to be catatonic, missing his left arm and both legs, his right arm grasping a picture of a woman and two children. Another was a small child looking straight up, breathing slowly. An old couple was holding the child's hands. Most of the victims on the right side of the tent had horrific blackish-brown scalds or burn marks. They kept still, numbed by massive doses of Anastasia.
"Good God!"Yamane said quietly.
"I was not prepared for this," Erika whimpered, tearing at the victims as she passed by. "Why did we need to see this?"
"These are the residents... the survivors from the inner quarantine area," Mr Dough said, trying to focus his field of vision directly along the path, away from the suffering victims surrounding all sides. "It's necessary for us to realize why we need this investigation. Disaster and loss do not have restricted domains people. This is the human, personal level...even if we do get desensitized to it at some point," Mr. Dough said, pausing his motion and quickly looking at several children with medical personnel swarming all around them. They had horrible oil burns on their arms and bodies. He quickly continued on.
"What are the demographic details of this disaster Mr. Dough?" Ishiro asked. "Injuries, epidemiology, that sort of thing?"
"There were about one-hundred and forty outside the quarantine zone, the main town area. Only a few suffered minor to moderate injuries, those related to car accidents, glass shards, raining debris, mostly from the panic, hysteria and resultant evacuations. They're the lucky ones."
The team continued getting glances of the bodily and psychological despair all around them.
"Immediate efforts in the inner quarantine zone beyond the oil tanker yielded severe to catastrophic injuries, most commonly fatalities. Last night this tent had forty-two residents. Fourteen have been airlifted while nine died from shock and injuries. Now it's nineteen. The death toll as of now is one-hundred and six residents, tourists and fishermen. The count is climbing as we fish bodies out of the oil in the streets, rubble and harbor waters. There are still over fifty residents in the quarantine zone unaccounted for, though we suspect most of these people were not home at the time due to Sunday football games. A few returning residents tried to get past the barriers blocking all travel into the town. Things seem to have calmed down a bit since then. You can only imagine what hell we dealt with yesterday. It's still going to get worse."
"I can sympathize with the experiences these people were forced through," Ishiro unexpectedly said. Mr. Dough just turned around and nodded, his facing implying more knowledge about Ishiro than he let on.
"Can't these people be taken to a more stable hospital?" Yamane asked.
"A lot of these people would have died if we prolonged immediate medical intervention; we set stations here as quickly as possible. We're slowly trickling the most stabilized to a FEMA hospital in Arcata Airport. However, the military officials in charge are acquiring as much information as possible, so they've isolated direct witness survivors of the event within the inner quarantine zone...I'm speaking of those all around us."
"That's atrociously callous and cold," Yamane responded back.
"Is that all they care about?" Mafune questioned. "Intel, over human life?"
"The officers have their orders Professor Yamane. I have my opinions, yet I have my orders as well."
"There are children suffering here Mr. Dough! Suffering very, very unnecessarily!" Erika said loudly. "What makes the ones in charge think they'll get any useful information from these maimed, traumatized children?"
"In short time they, along with everyone else will be located to the Arcata location. I don't agree with the morality of the situation, you don't have to either, but this is it and my hands are tied. Our top concern is the investigation you'll be performing. Nothing more."
"Do these people know what happened?" Ishiro asked.
"On an official military level yes. An oil tanker suffered a cataclysmic explosion, erupting in an enormous explosion. The forse of this explosion sent the oil tanker flying over Trinidad Head, bulldozing over the neighborhood all the way to a church midway of the town."
"Unofficially then?"
"That's why your team is here Professor Sato, to help reconstruct the unofficial story," Mr. Dough replied, ushering them through an exit. Now on the grassy field, they walked towards a small modular building with military soldiers guarding it along the periphery of a dirt road.
"And of our findings?" Ishiro asked him as they entered the building.
"You'll be obliged to share it with us, AABEA and selected officials."
"As Yamane made quite plain to us. Just rechecking."
"Everyone," Mr. Dough announced to the group. "In the next room you'll find your Platinum Level Hazmat suits. They're the most impermeable maneuverable suits ever devised yet, graded to withstand direct exposure to a vast array of extremely harmful chemical and biological agents, and have a high degree of nuclear agent protection. They can even withstand temperatures over thirteen-hundred degrees Celsius. They come equipped with their own group-network communicators and self contained breathing apparatus, so all you'll need to do is fix the clear plastic helmet around your collar. Take great care in putting them on and using them; they cost the American taxpayer quite a bit of money last year."
The team was divided into the sexes; men in one room, women in another. While changing they were assisted by members of the Armed Forces with tags on their chest saying The Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI). When they finished, they retreated back to the computer room Mr. Dough was in, sitting in a chair looking at one of the confidential reports from the Odo research team.
He paused his reading when he saw them enter the room.
"You're ready. Excellent," he said in an unexcited, monotone voice.
He looked over his shoulder and motioned a group of Marines sitting at a table with a map to walk over.
"These Marines will be escorting you. Yamane's team will be headed by Corporal Hendrix, Shinzo's team Corporal Piepenburg, along with their respective Private First Class Marines. I'm pretty sure you're already aware of this, but entry into the quarantined area poses guaranteed exposure to excessive hazardous conditions such as fires, deadly debris, noxious fumes, aerosol pollutants and crude oil, among other things."
"Did he just say 'among other things'?" Shinzo whispered to Erika.
"Of course use extreme caution when trekking the landscape. I'll keep in touch. Your departure to the field begins in fifteen minutes, after which you'll have two hours."
"You make it sound as though you're not coming with us," Yamane said.
"I may be your liaison, but I'm not dumb enough to follow you out there."
Mr. Dough waived at them with his back turned, his face now glued on several computer screens.
"Have fun."
3:21 pm.
Two military humvees carrying the teams drove south on Trinity St, passing the smoldering remains of the Eatery on their right. Farther in view was the burnt, shredded remains of the Cygnus Oil Tanker, the red metal hull still in one, albeit mangled piece. Burnt and wrecked, it still dribbled large volumes of crude oil while small puffs of burning smoke ballooned off the deck. The bow of the tanker paved into the front of the burned-down remains of the church. Only the blackened back wall of the house of worship still stood.
As they turned right onto the next street they saw the Okeanos Explorer, still on its side resting on what were once homes, now large piles of burnt rubble. Straight ahead towards the cliff one could see the lower base walls of the Trinidad Lighthouse still standing. Ishiro looked into the asphalt road next to the lighthouse; the Lighthouse light lense and red metal roofing were smashed into the pavement. As the vehicles made the right turn they saw a smashed Lexus, the same one from the two men in the online footage. It was still in place, the front end and engine pulverized inwards with parts of the destroyed boat around it. Several meters in front of the vehicle was the dark, brass-colored lantern, still lying in the road.
"Remember that from the video Akane?" Erika asked.
"Yes. Amazing how it's still in that one spot."
"I suppose," Erika continued, "beyond this point, the scene's really going to change."
"Indeed it is," Ishiro said in agreement with Akane, "Beyond that nautical oil lantern in the road."
The prelude of sparse, chaotic damage morphed into a landscape of total oblivion. Nearly everything behind the oil tanker's present location was leveled. Only a few single homes high up on the most northwestern parts of town were untouched. Compared to accrued online photos and Google Earth images, the coastal hillside looked nothing like it was once before. Only piles of debris and rubble of the bulldozed homes scattered everywhere. In small pockets were smashed emergency and local residents vehicles and twisted light and telephone poles. The ruins were coated in a film of crude oil, or burnt black from the raging fires. Several streets had large stagnant pools of crude oil. In them were glistening warped bodies, coated black and suspended motionless in the ooze.
"We passed the church where the bow of the tanker is. This aerial image indicates the stern is angled roughly forty-five degrees northwest of us, around the end of...State Park Road. Are we analyzing the hull of the ship first Professor Mafune?" Emiko asked him. Their humvee then took a right turn towards the oil tanker.
"I think that answers your question Ms. Yamane?" Shinzo said back to her with a slight smirk. "Our primary task will be to trek the tanker, digitally record radiation readings, log our track with GPS and take photographs every four meters."
A vibrating noise came from Emiko's pocket.
"My cell? Forgot to turn that off," she said annoyed, the marine in the front seat turning his head slightly to hear what she said. She scrolled over the screen.
"Probably just another notice from my landlord. What's she want any-."
Emiko started breathing heavily, trying to cool her nerves. Hideo turned to her.
"What's up Emiko?"
"I got a message...from him."
"Him?...OH, you mean him, right?"
"Who else? He wants to meet with me sometime today."
Hideo just looked at Emiko. A convoluted grin on his face formed. He began cracking up quietly.
"This isn't funny Hideo!"
"I...I know. HA HA. I needed that. Anyways, fat chance that's going to happen. Didn't you tell him you were doing research with your grandfather?"
"I told him while he was at the laboratory, and he just nodded without so much as a goodbye."
"Sucks to be him. Is he requesting more time in the lab alone again? If he keeps that lifestyle up he's probably going to fall in love with his beakers or gloves...he he."
"He wants to talk to me. He didn't say exactly what though."
"Text back that he'll have to wait till you get back. He needs to learn that he screwed up when he didn't listen to you."
"You're right Hideo...WHOA! He just sent me a bunch of texts." Emiko proceeded to read nearly seven, very long text messages.
"What's with all the excessive inundation?"
"Just a bunch of chemistry and physics jargon, although the last one he sent was kind of disconcerting?"
"How so Emiko?"
"He said his research is going to...disintegrate the world order."
Meanwhile, Yamane's team kept traveling towards the harbor through the debris. Ever so often one could see multiple white vans and numerous men in orange toxicological suits scouting the debris. Adjacent to these men were soldiers helping out in the search and rescue for any other survivors, or retrieving the deceased for later identification. Over there heads black helicopters roared circling the area, traveling up and down the coastline. Further above them the sonic boom of jets could be felt from the dense clouds above.
Minutes later the humvee parked in a section of the street with the least amount of debris and oil, just before the intersection Lighthouse Rd and Van Wycke St. Facing downhill at a slight angle, the marine driving the vehicle angled the front tires towards the sidewalk curb.
Yamane, Ishiro, Erika and Akane pulled themselves out of the back seats. They took in the sights arround them. The few standing terrace homes to their right were missing roofs and parts of the first and second floors, covered in crude oil and suffering severe fire damage. They still had observable architecture, while homes beyond that point were piles of oil-coated wood and debris.
They retrieved and assembled their equipment, then followed the marines. Three of them were Private First Class, and the one in the front, the Corporal, lead the escorted investigation. They walked towards the oil-coated lawn of a front yard, cutting in the backyard.
"Gentleman, are we not going to the harbor?" Ishiro asked.
"We are," said one of the shorter marines named Daisley, "but the oil tanker is still leaking crude oil. It pools in the rubble in town, then floods down the roads like a rapid. We don't need to take the chance of getting caught in surprise oil rapids. We went through that once, and I'd prefer to not chance it again."
Just as Private First Class Daisley finished his explanation, a small rumble came from the opposite street. A surging stream of steaming crude oil rolled down the street and grass yard, heading all the way to what looked like one large oil pond in the parking lot and sand. A partially crushed fire truck on the road's edge was moved by the surge a few meters into the oily pool, causing it to flip on its side, disturbing perched seagulls pecking at the bodies of the men still in the front seat. Some of the excess oil spilled out and surged into the surrounding slick-looking seawater.
"That's why I'd prefer to not chance it again," Daisley said, pointing at the thick street. The humvees' front end was partly coated, though not seriously damaged by the surprise surge. Down below one could see heavy sheens of oil in the high tide waters. Floating in the oleaginous mix were hundreds of fish, crabs and sea birds, all dead.
"What about the marine ecosystems here? Is there any organized effort to clean the environment up?" Erika said looking at the landscape. They passed a concrete storm shelter in the grassy backyard of a wrecked home, its door smashed off the side. Inside looked like a panic room, the door still open and a bed with ruffled bed sheets.
"We honestly don't know anything about that Professor Shiragami. We have our orders to watch your group and keep you safe." The Corporal motioned the group to follow him along a terrace trail towards the harbor parking lot.
"Between all of us," the Corporal announced to the group, "I overheard an ecological toxicologist by the name of Engel say most of the spilled oil was confined by the hill debris and burned off."
"That's good," Akane said.
"He also said that he was told by a consulting Marine Engineer that there's at least one full tank compartment of crude oil that's ready to give way at any time."
"That's not so good."
"What is your name by the way?" Ishiro asked him. "I'm struck by the fact that Mr. Dough did not tell us any details of the soldiers that were escorting and guarding us."
"I'm Corporal Hendrix. The other three marines leading the flank of your team are Private First Class' Adkinson, Daisley and Crivicchi. Your other team has Corporal Lennon and Private First Class Sampson and Shoreleave. Jesus, will you look at that," Hendrix said, pointing towards Trinidad Head. It was smothered in oil, its tall evergreen trees and natural scenery flattened and charred to black cinder. The parking lot was coated in oil as well. Judging by how visible cars in the ooze were, the crude oil was almost a meter deep in certain places. Particles of sand and dust, broken boats and cars, buildings and people floated on the top layers.
"Jesus...I hate going down here. Lord have mercy on these people's souls," Adkinson said, holding the plastic on his helmet near his nose to the heavy, fowl, repugnant stench of oil and smoke still waffling in the air.
"The lord certainly didn't have any mercy when he took them Adkinson," Daisley replied to him.
"You can't say you know the mind of our creator Daisley? This natural evil is not in his domain."
"If he's all omnipotent then he should have had no trouble in stopping whatever happened here Adkinson, or at least moving the people out of here."
"That's not how our creator works and loves us. That's just fallacious reasoning."
"Your creator, and if this is anything, it shows that your creator is either malevolent, uncaring or just a fairy tale."
"Guys, drop it and focus on the mission. Debate God later," Crivicchi said in a gravely voice to them.
Towards the end of the trail in the grass they saw a long, linear indentation traced in the ground. It went laterally a bit to their left, and all the way to their right.
"Must be an indentation from the oil tanker's momentum," Ishiro said. Yamane and Akane immediately started photographing the scene, acquiring samples of the crude oil, and trekked across the shallower parts of the oil field towards a destroyed building under Trinidad Head. Their specially designed boots allowed them to waft through the oil with greater ease than the marines could.
Ishiro made his way into the parking lot and trudged in the oil, moving in an erratic pattern. He pulled his GPS unit out and continued walking in the same pattern. Erika went out a bit farther north. She pulled out a radiological device, waving it over the oil pools, broken crab cages, flipped vehicles, damaged boats and dead bodies. It unnerved her to move her device over the bodies still in the oil. She almost threw up from the site of their faces, a look of horror permanently fixed on them.
"Are you okay Professor Shiragami?" Daisley asked her.
"Eh...I'm fine, I'm fine," she said trying to restrict her gag reflex and focus on areas less sickening.
Erika backtracked and focused on the boats and cars that were still right side up.
"What are they doing? Pulling shit in tar?" Adkinson complained to Daisley in a hushed voice as they ventured over to keep guard.
"Any video footage is going to help us immensely," Yamane said, looking at a small tan- blue building that had a large fishing boat sticking out of the roof. Corporal Hendrix and Adkinson stayed with Yamane and Akane as they headed towards the remains of the pier lying near the building.
"The Seascapes restaurant," Adkinson said. "I came here once. Glad I did before this happened. Above the restaurant is the...eh, the-," he paused looking up. His head slowly drifted downwards towards a home that looked rolled off its foundation, splintered but in one piece.
"That down below mangled on the bathrooms and several boats was the Seascape Rental Home," he said hesitantly.
"Some of these boats might have some kind of data recorder device," Akane said, looking at a flipped boat with no chance of reorienting it out of the oil. "If we can collect as many as we can, we'll probably find out exactly caused the creature to come about here of all places."
"You think the others will know?" Yamane asked.
"Professor Mafune was the one that recommend me to search for any recoverable data recorders out here. Even though we're going to the bridge after this, I thought it'd be wise to scour the debris and see if we could find out just what happened out there before this happened."
"Remind me when we get back to ask Mr. Dough if, when and where the tanker's Distress Radiobeacon went off Akane."
"EVERYONE! OVER HERE!" Ishiro cried out from a deep spot in the parking lot, the oil up to his waste. Crivicchi immediately ran as fast as they could to him, Daisley pulled his weapon and guarded Erika.
"What is it Ishiro?" Yamane asked.
"It's alright men," he said to Crivicchi and Daisley, just as Corporal Hendrix and Adkinson paced there way through the oil, followed by Yamane and Akane. "The men don't need to here this. I'm switching back to Japanese."
"Finally!" Akane cried out.
"I've been recording GPS units in a GIS file of this area. I couldn't quite tell if I was doing anything productive because the oil is covering everything, but it's deeper in some parts. The oil is deepest along this impression I've been erratically following. I've recorded and connected the points along the impression and acquired the following outline."
Ishiro set the screen to zoom in around the outlined points of the map. He then showed Yamane, Erika and Akane the screen.
"That's a... footprint?" Akane asked.
"It is," Yamane said. "It matches the dimensions of the ones found on the island."
Ishiro then chimed in,"It's from the same creature that destroyed my family and home."He quickly reverted to English again.
"Corporeal Hendrix, has there been any radioactivity found here yet?"
"None that has been reported to me, why?"
"Erika," Ishiro said, switching back in Japanese, "Have you picked up anything on your radiation sensor?"
"I have Ishiro. The concentrations are definitely abnormal compared to standard background levels. The lowest and highest values are fifty-one to one-hundred and thirty Roentgens, respectively."
Crivicchi quickly glanced at the GPS screen. He whispered to Adkinson, "Looks like a T-Rex footprint."
"You're full of it Crivicchi."
3:42 pm.
Shinzo's team started their analysis from the end of State Park Road, where the Cygnus voyager's stern was situated. They planned to meet up by the bow of the ship, the area of the destroyed Holy Trinity Church. Emiko and Hideo trekked the left and right side of the ship, respectively. Shinzo tasked himself with studying any irregular damages to the stern and bow of the ship. Each slowly analyzed their respective sides while escorted by a Private First Class Marine.
Shinzo noted the most obvious peculiarity about the stern's condition; the oil tanker's bridge was torn off, leaving only the foundation and shredded metal walls that were still attached.
"Probably was ripped off from the tremendous forces during its barrel roll into town," he noted to himself. Corporal Piepenburg, a huge hulk of a man with freckles and an orange buzzcut watched above Shinzo, making sure nothing from the still smoking deck fell on them.
"Are you sure it was a good idea to split the team like this Professor?"
"So long as your men do their job right, we should have no problems."
A bead of sweat formed at the tip of Shinzo's nose. He tried swiping it, only to let his suited hand slap right into his helmet visor.
"Oh...I forgot. Corporal Piepenburg, let's head to the bow now."
They got back in the humvee and drove through the tattered, oily debris-ridden streets to the remains of the church. Shinzo instantly began observing the wreckage, taking measurements with several radiation sensors and other tools.
"The bow's reading Roentgens of one-hundred and fifteen. Thank goodness for these suits."
Ten minutes passed since he arrived; he had not heard from either Emiko or Hideo yet over the bluetooth communicators. He fumbled with his exterior bluetooth volume and setting buttons, trying to adjust the settings.
"Professor Mafune here. Are either of you detecting any levels of radioactivity on your respective sides? Over."
"Emiko here Professor Mafune. Private First Class and I had to walk around an oil pond just past the stern. We saw...disturbing things. We're good now."
"I'm glad you're safe. Report your present location Emiko. Over."
"Halfway down the Elementary School grass field. I'm now reading millisievert levels around seventy-hundred and fifty, or seventy-five rems. Over."
"Good intel. You're still following the methodology I presume? Over."
"I am: allow the radiation sensors to continuously read and log, take photographs every four meters and GPS the trail. Do you mind if I also GPS specific locations that measure higher than seven-hundred and fifty millisieverts? Over."
"Good recommendation. Roger Emiko, just don't stay longer than one minute. Continue on and report back to the tanker bow in thirty-five minutes."
"Roger Professor Mafune."
Shinzo pressed a button on his collar to increase the volume on his bluetooth.
"Mr. Ogata, any findings on your side of the tanker? Over"
"I am detec-." Hideo was cut out. Silence followed for several moments.
"Mr. Ogata? this is Professor Mafune. Report! Over."
"Hideo here Professor Mafune. Bluetooth volume was not working well. Now, these suits we're wearing, they're engineered for high levels of radioactivity, right? Over."
"Can you elaborate Hideo? Over."
"We're adjacent to a large section of the tanker hull that's severely melted. My digital radiation sensor indicates this area has millisievert levels between fourteen-hundred to sixteen-hundred. I'm assuming these are high levels. Over."
"They are extremely high and dangerous levels Hideo. Don't stay there for too long. Just log the recordings, GPS the location quickly and photograph that area from a distance. Make sure to report back to the bow in...thirty-three minutes. Over."
"Roger Professor Mafune."
"Oh! One more thing Hideo. Over"
"Yes Professor Mafune?"
"For all the spots you record higher than seven-hundred and fifty millisieverts, specifically log, GPS and photograph those areas."
"Roger Professor."
Shinzo walked over to Corporal Piepenburg standing to his right. His weapon drawn, he watching the landscape with intense blue eyes.
"Corporal Piepenburg, why were we not informed about the high levels of radioactivity around the tanker?"
"I don't know Professor Mafune. The military's priority has been trying to recover survivors...and the has something to do with the raging fires on the tanker and throughout town all night and early morning. "
"The fires lasted that long?" Shinzo asked in horrified amazement.
"They were brought under control only an hour before you arrived in Arcata."
"So, we're the first to scientifically investigate the oil tanker with not so much as a clue to the radiological dangers?"
The Corporal twisted his waist to crack his lower back.
"If it's any consolation Professor, that other ship down the raod was already investigated."
"You mean the Okeanos Explorer research vessel. Do you know what they found in its data voyage log?"
"No clue. I just escorted the team of scientists and kept them from getting kil...wait, you see that over there?"
Corporal Piepenburg pointed towards the part of the bow with church wreckage surrounding it. Shinzo approached and looked, squinting to see anything strange.
"What am I looking for Corporal?"
"It's rough looking, charcoal-grey in color and the size of a book. It's embedded in the hull."
Shinzo followed the Corporal through the wreckage. Under a broken support beam wedged in the hull was the anomolous mass.
"Let me check it," Shinzo said, scanning the object with his radiation sensors.
"Low levels of radioactivity. What is this hunk of matter?" Shinzo said, pulling a shard piece of debris and poking at it. Corporal Piepenburg had his weapon out at the ready.
"It's wedged in there good," Shinzo gasped. The Corporal came over with a crow bar and smacked it out of its space, landing on the ground with a great thud next to the Corporal's left foot.
"Jesus! It's heavier than it looks."
Shinzo and the Corporal put a biohazard tarp on top of it. They slowly wrapped the tarp corners around the object, puching it over so it could be easily carried. They dropped it on the top of a picnic bench to the right corner of the church. Shinzo pulled several tools and instruments from the humvee and began a rough analysis of the charcoal-grey object. Silence permeated the air as he endeavored on his intense forensic testing. The Corporal retreated his eyes and thoughts upon the deathly landscape, taking only minor glimpses at Shinzo's activities.
Thirty minutes passed. Shinzo began summarizing and recalling his most important reults and observations regarding the anomalous object on an audio recorder.
"Most undisputable fact; this object is radioactive, with readings ranging from sixty to eighty millisieverts. Composition extremely durable and chemically unreactive to many highly volitle compounds, including tanker oil droplets within angular structure. Sample could not be broken down to smaller size with given field equipment...massive physical force is possibly required. Personal thoughts: the object superficially appears biological in nature. It's shaped like a jagged piece of hide or epidermal keratin. Maybe from the Sauropsida Clade?"
Emiko walked around her corner of the tanker bow with her PFC marine escort to see Shinzo talking on his audio recorder, guarded by the Corporal.
"I've finished Professor Mafune." She handed Shinzo the memory card for the radiation readings, the GPS unit and a USB with the photographs."
"Excellent work Ms. Yamane. Now we just need Hideo's data. Could you and your marine acquire me the biohazard tote from over there?"
Emiko and the marine with her grabbed the huge tote lugged it across the oily grass tot he picnic table. Shinzo and Corporal X delicatley set the object in the center, taking care to put several layers of insulation around it.
"What is that Professor Mafune?"
"Some kind of biological material. I think it's a skin sample of the creature, but I need to have Professor Shiragami perform some tests on it. Has Hideo contacted you yet Emiko?"
"He hasn't actually."
"Hideo? Hideo?" Shinzo announced in his bluetooth. "This is Professor Mafune. Report back now. Over."
Static. No response.
"Hideo. Report back, over!"
Corporal Piepenburg attempted calling his marine escorting Hideo.
"This is Corporal Peipenburg. X, reply with current location and status now, or we will send an emergency team. Over."
"What the hell is your boyfriend up to? It's entirely unacceptable for him to keep radio silence like this," Shinzo barked out.
"He's probably delayed Professor. We should go find him."
"Agreed."
"By the way Professor, he's not my boyfriend."
Shinzo smirked, replying in a sarcastic tone,"Really? Could of fooled me. I suppose young men and women hide under bed sheets together for platonic reasons, all the time." Emiko's face boiled red in embarrasment.
"Profe-M-ne...ofessor Mafune, do you c-y? Hideo here. Over."
Shinzo urgenlty fumbled with the exterior controls on his suit to get better reception."Hideo! Where are you. Are you alright? Over."
"Sorry Professor Mafune. When we finished up the data log by the melted portion of the hull part of a burnt down home collapsed on marine got me out from a support beam a few minutes ago."
"Are you injured?Why did niether of you contact us?"
"The marine's bluetooth got damaged, and mine fell off my ear into my suit. I've spent ten minutes fishing it out. Over."
"Hideo, are you and the marine wearing your suits still? Over."
"I am. I have my bluetooth back on. We're safe and uninjured. Private First Class X and I will be contacting your right about..."
A momentary pause came.
"Hideo? Hideo?"
"Now," said a voice behind Emiko, causing her to rocket in the air in fright. Hideo chuckled while Emiko punched him hard in his chest. The marine with Hideo smiled at the transpiring events.
"Don't scare us like that again jerk!"
"Easy you two," Shinzo announced. "You can be amorous later. We're going back to camp to run a more synthesized analysis of this object the Corporal and I found, along with all the data you've logged. Hideo, your measurment tools were not damaged in the wreckage, were they?"
"No Professor. Besides a couple of scratched on the GPS screen and superficial damage on the camera, the instruments have been fully funtional."
The group collected their instruments and retreated back to the humvees one by one.
"Hideo, your helmet's not locked on all they way," Emiko said in concern.
"Oh...the latch must have come undone. No problem. These are platinum-grade suits. Professor Mafune?"
"Yes Hideo?"
"Are the others heading back to camp?"
"They will be in half an hour. They're searching the ripped section of the cabin that landed on the Marine Laboratory building."
After sanitizing themselves in a series of portable crude oil cleanser showers, Yamane's team drove up Ewing St to the marine laboratory remains to investigate the Cygnus Voyager's bridge, in hopes to locate and acquire its Data Voyage Recorder. Ishiro and Akane set a temporary work station next to the parked humvee with Corporal Hendrix, staying behind to keep guard. Yamane, Erika and the three PFC marines trekked inside the derelict bridge lying on top of the ruins of the marine laboratory.
As Akane and the Corporal worked on setting the equipment, Ishiro's eyes wandered over the surroundings. On their left was a downed pine tree , charred to a crisp, its trunk splintered into numerous warped pieces, droplets of oil coating the unburnt pine leaves. A minivan and a sedan, crushed halfway down their driveways by the large tree still had their reverse lights blinking onand off. On their right was the flattened Humboldt State University Marine Laboratory.
"Professor Sato?" the Corporal asked.
"Yes Corporal Hendrix?"
"Good thing the bridge landed upwards, even at an angle" Erika said.
"I hope the recorder is not melted shut. Corporal Hendrix told me the fires on the tanker lasted for a very long time," Yamane said in worried concern as he ducked from a broken waterline jetting from the hall's walls.
"Judging but the exterior metal's condition, it looks as though the fires didn't impact the bridge, at least not as bad as the tanker and surrounding neighbourhood," Erika replied.
"You really think it's still there, still intact? After all that?"
"No doubt. These devices are designed to take enormous amounts of abuse. That data digitizes almost instantaneously. I just hope it's exterior dataports are functional and accessible to feed the opening code."
As they passed climbed through a broken window through the many stairwells and cuts in the metal hull walls to the bridge, it's weakened metal beams moaned and jostled with unsettling echoes.
"Down this hall. Watch your footing," Adkinson said, shuffling his feet over several large twisted metal beams on the floor. Under the beams were multiple warped bodies, the tanker crew. Further down the hall by the bridge entrance was the captain's body, pierced by a large metal rod sticking out of the wall. He was oriented towards the bridge window. Even in death there lay a permanent look of horror on his face.
"Christ! What a way to go," Daisley commented. His hazmat suit got stuck on one of the beams for a moment, before he cautiously pulled the suit fabric at an angle off the metal point.
"Good thing they're flexible."
The group entered the bridge one by one. Looking southwest they could see the cloudy, aerosol-chocked sky around Trinidad Harbor. Yamane and Erika began looking for the Voyage Data recorder while Daisley, Adkinson and Crivicchi stood guard.
"The bridge map says it should be right...here," Yamane said, pointing to an overturned antique roll-up mahogany desk.
"Private First Class Crivicchi, would you help us lift this?" Erika asked.
"Certainly," he responded, walking over and helping Erika and Yamane tilt the desk over to its side. It rolled over at an angle onto another crew member's body, making a horrible bone-crunching sound.
"Here it is," Erika said, her and Yamane now eyeing a small orange metal cylinder the size of a toaster, fixated to the metal floor with a combination of metal welds and bolts. Yamane tentatively inspected the exterior appearance.
"I can't believe it's still bolted down to the floor, after all that momentum. Nothing but a few surficial scratches!"
"Akane? Erika here. Are you ready? Over," Erika said over her bluetooth while connecting her laptop to a flip opening on the device's left side.
"Roger Erika. Just read the external code on the side and we'll have access to the actual digital recorder. Over."
"External code is 7, 5, M, C, V, 6, 9, 2, L, 4, B, U, R, and 3. Confirmed? Over."
"Roger. Alright, the main hatch should open up...now."
The top half of the metal cylinder flipped open, revealing a separate inner chamber surrounded by insulated foam, plastic casing and four connected wires. Erika delicatly removed the four wires, holding the device in the foam and plastic outer coating, and put it in a small case. They handed it to Private First Class Crivicchi to carry.
"We've got it Akane. Over."
"Roger Erika."
"Glad that's done with," Yamane said, breathing a sigh of relief. "For a moment I thought I heard a cable outside sna-."
A loud metallic band erupted from outside the bridge window.
"FREEZE EVERYONE!" Crivicchi shouted.
A series of metallic sounding snaps pierced the air again. Outside the bridge windows they could see several tall heavy white metal beams beginning to lean to the right.
"What the hell's going to happen next?" Adkinson said under his breath.
Several loud bangs of the metal beams and snapping cables followed. The beams began accelerating downwards towards humvee work station and the little figures around it, the Corporal, Ishiro and Akane.
"ISHIRO! Akane!" Yamane cried out.
"AKANE! GET DOWN!" Erika yelled over her bluetooth.
They saw one figure try pushing two others into a pile of debris just before the metal beams crashed down onto the humvee work station.
" NO! AKANE!" Erika screamed.
"HOLY SHIT!" Daisley mumbled loudly.
"LET'S GO, NOW!" Crivicchi barked.
They ran as fast as they could down the path they took, past the captain's hanging body, the metal beams covering the other dead crewmen, the tears in the metal wall. Accelerated footsteps and heavy breathing pieced the rickety structure.
Suddenly the hall behind them caved inwards onto the lower deck floor, almost taking Adkinson with it, losing his assault rifle in the process. The whole bridge structure began rattling, numerous bangs and snaps erupted from all sides. Beams behind them caved inwards creating electrical explosions.
Less than a minute when got to the window they came through the whole bridge structure began caving inwards on itself. The marines rocketed Erika and Yamane out before they too shot through the small opening. Daisley turned his head for a moment and saw a corner of the bridge section engulfed by a large explosion, landing on a still intact home and knocking it down to pieces. Then the entire bridge structure caved inwards in one terrifying lurch. Seconds later the horror seemed to settle for a moment.
"JESUS CHRIST THAT WAS CLOSE!" Daisley yelled out.
Erika, are you okay?" Yamane said, trying to get her attention form the scene.
"I...I...Akane, AKANE!"
Erika ran towards the metal beams smashed in the humvess work station and surrounding debris.
"AKANE! ISHIRO! WHERE ARE YOU?" Yamane yelled out, searching frantically in the tangled mess.
"Please...please..." Erika whimpered. She looked to her right, just outside one of the metal beam's impact zones. She saw Ishiro and Akane huddled on the ground, not moving.
"THERE THEY ARE!" Adkinson yelled out. They all ran to them. Erika instantly checked Akane and Ishiro. Yamane came over with Daisley to their side, prepping a medical bag salvaged from the humvee.
"They're alright. Just unconscious," Daisley said.
"WHERE THE HELL IS CORPORAL?" Adkinson shouted.
"I DON'T KNOW! LOOK AROU...oh no." Crivicchi became silent, staring down at the end of a metal beam smashed next to the humvee. "Oh shit...no, no."
"What is it Crivicchi?"
"GOD DAMN IT! Adkinson, it's Hendrix...look," Crivicchi said, pointing to the Corporal's body smashed under the beam.
"JESUS CHRIST! CORPORAL, GET UP!"
"He's dead Adkinson."
"He might still be-."
"LOOK Adkinson! HIS HEAD IS CAVED INWARDS IN THE GOD DAMN PAVEMENT! HE'S DEAD!"
Adkinson cursed loudly while Daisley and Crivicchi stood solemnly, looking at their fallen brother's corpse.
Erika and Yamane watched from their spot while attending to Ishiro and Akane.
"That man...saved them Erika."
"Ishiro, Ishiro's waking up!" Yamane cried out. He held hsi friend's body to help him breath. Ishiro opened his eyes, shock and fear still in his eyes.
"AKANE! WHERE'S AKANE!" he shouted.
"She's okay," Erika said to him, showing her Akane in her arms. "She's unconscious, but safe."
"Thank goodness. The...the Corporal, he...he pushed us out of...is he safe?"
Yamane and Erika pointed their heads towards the three Private First Class Marines. Crivicchi was calling for backup over a portable radio not damaged by the beams. Adkinson was saying a prayer for the Corporal while Daisley grabbed a loose piece of debris and smashed it agaisnt the metal beams dozens of times, rage and fury apparent in his motions. Adkinson walked over and slapped the debris out of Daisley's hand, before grasping him in a constricting yet consoling hug.
They heard Daisley break down, saying in a slurred speech, "How am I going to tell Kelly? How am I going to tell his daughter?"
"Ishiro, lay down for a moment. Recover for a second," Yamane said, trying to keep Ishiro still.
"So long as I have breath, I will honor those who've died for me," Ishiro replied back. He motioned for Yamane to come with him. He walked over to Crivicchi who was yelling for Daisley and Adkinson to get a hold of themselves and help him lift the metal beam off the Corporal. Crivicchi just stared at Ishiro and Yamane for a moment, before resuming back to his task. Adkinson and Daisley followed in suit, their bodies still shaking.
Seconds later Ishiro and Yamane wrapped around the corner of the beam and started helping pull it up. After several attempts, one single powerful adrenaline-laced pull by everyone allowed Daisley seconds to swing around and pull the Corporal out. They immediately dropped the beam, it thudding loudly on impact. Adkinson came back around with a cloth and draped it over the body, motioning one more prayer before heading to consol Daisley by the humvee remains.
Ishiro walked over to Crivicchi, who was looking in the distance towards a squad of humvees heading their way. Ishiro turned around for a moment to see Erika silently crying while holding Akane in her arms. Yamane grabbed the case holding the data recorder, looking blankly at the surroundings.
"Your Corporal...that young man, gave his life for my student and I," Ishiro said, the worlds low in his voice. "I have some connections. The least I can do is guarantee his family to never go hungry or without necessity again."
"We sometimes call it Esprit de Corps,"Crivicchi said silently. "The spirit."
"Spirit?"
"The spirit of a marine, the uncommon valor of a real marine. When we get back to camp, tell Daisley of your arrangements. Just please Professor Sato, let us be for now," Crivicchi said before walking to the circle of parked humvees.
"Tell me Ishiro," Yamane said behind him. "Is this not over? Are more good people going die because of what happened here?
"That...that appears to be the trend Yamane. The faster we get back to analyze our findings, the more we'll know about it. I for one plan on doing everything in my power to halt the coming death and destruction."
"Ishiro, do you really not know what your silhouette, this thing is?" Yamane asked.
"I don't know what it is. I don't know if it can be stopped. I fear the world is about to experience the return of a horrible nightmare Yamane...a real one."
1Plural of Prius as per Toyota Decision.
