Chapter 5: Home Sick
"I want to see my family! Hey! Is anyone listening to me?! You fucking pricks! Let me out!"
Addair's yell was filling the dark hall of cots in their military refuge. It was undoubtedly past midnight. Many of the crew were trying to sleep in their new militant surroundings. But with Addair's boisterous hollers the feat was impossible.
A soldier appeared through the dim window light outside the hall. "Quiet down."
"I want to see my wife and kids. You've had us in here for days! You've poked and prodded. You've drained every last ounce of information from each of us! Now I want out! I want to see my family now and I won't stop until I do! You hear me?!"
Innes groaned from his cot in a growing shout, "Jesus, Addair. Gies peace, already! They're not gonnae open it!"
"Aye, some of us are trying to sleep here," added Muir in a tired voice.
"Don't you all want to go see your family? You want to stay in here forever then?! That's what they want!"
The soldier banged on the window. "Hey! I said quiet down. Go back to your cot."
"What're you gonna do, eh? You gonna shoot me? I'd like to see you try, ya wanker. It's all for show, innit? Now…" Addair started to aggressively pull at the locked knob, "Let me the fuck outta 'ere!"
Deeper in the hall to the far side were a couple of cots and a few Beira crew sitting to it. Roy, Finlay, Brodie, Trots and Caz were known to take company with each other on the rig. That extended to their new living conditions. Any familiarity was comforting. Especially after the investigators told them of their families.
"I'm sorry, Trots…" Brodie said sullenly, "What was it? It was a…"
"Stroke." Trots expressed in a strained voice, "I mean, she… she would have been ninety six this next month. She lived a full life. I just… I just wish I had given her what she wanted before I…"
"You didnae exactly know we'd go through the time loop of ten years, Trots."
"No. Even then… she'd been on me about finding a wife and having kids for years before that. I… I didnae give her that fulfillment."
Roy mentioned, "Well… maybe this is your chance? A second chance, right? If we ever get out of this fucking compound, that is. Give it a day and I'll be right along with Addair going nutty." He glanced over to Caz; certain he'd get at least a scoff at the joke. Caz had his head craned down. A picture of his girls and Suze in his hands.
"You alright, mate?"
Caz didn't answer. He was completely drained of life. His own bubble of contemplation away from the people next to him. Then Roy nudged him. "Aye? What?"
"You alright?"
Caz looked up to Roy in red and strained eyes. He was slack jawed and gaunt. Caz fumbled a reply, "Aye."
"You don't look too crash hot, Caz."
"I'll be right. Just…" Caz raised his hand as he went to gaze down to the photo again. A silent decline to converse. Roy took it respectfully but kept a worry.
Brodie continued his discussion with Finlay and Trots, "My boy was dead long before any of this madness. My wife likely moved on with weens of her own. I'll reckon my folks are still kicking but they moved to America well over twenty years ago. Donnae have much to look forward to on the outside. Maybe it's a new beginning for me and all."
Finlay expressed, "My boy is still alive as they tell me. Wife, too. I guess I have some grands to meet."
"You donnae say, Evin! That's belter," said Trots in a more relieved tone. Finlay smiled in discreet excitement, which to anyone who knew her and saw it they'd say she was definitely giddy.
"What about you, Caz?" Finlay asked.
Caz was still distant in his world. Staring down to the photo with fresh eyes sparkling in tears. "Caz?"
He flinched to their eyes all gawking in concern. "Aye. They're fine. All three of 'em."
"You must be rapt, mate. Hopefully we'll get outta here soon. Go hame to them again."
She looked over the cots and faces of the crew. Some were sleeping, some awake and chatting much like their group. Then she stayed on Rennick. Alone in his cot without company, but perhaps that's what he wanted. He looked forlorn. A strange sight for the likes of Rennick. He was slouched over the bed with his hands rubbing down his face. His glasses held in his right hand.
"What do you ken a' that?" Finlay asked the others gesturing to Rennick.
Roy and Brodie looked over to Rennick. "He got a family, don't he?"
"Two boys. His wife was rootin' his best mate a few years before this. Or… what we thought was 1975. They divorced." Finlay explained quietly.
"Is he right? He's not looking too good," said Roy.
Brodie scoffed, "I wonnae lose sleep over it. He's been a cunt since the day I knew him. Look at him now. He's alone and it's his fault."
Finlay sat up from her cot and ached out, "I'll go give a check."
"Seriously, Finlay?"
"Oi. Whatever happened before this shite is a buried hatchet as far as I'm concerned. We're all together on this. I'll just see if he's right, aye?"
Finlay walked from the group to Rennick's solitary company. He didn't react right away when he heard her scuffle over in the dark. "Ey." She announced and groaned as she sat down on the cot adjacent to him, "How you holdin' up, big man?"
"Why do you care?" He said it in a defeated husk.
"Aye. Maybe I shouldn't but I think we all need a good rant. You especially. You look like shite."
Rennick grumbled, "Aye, feel like shite."
"You got any memory what did this to us? You were a lot closer to Cadal then us."
"What?" Rennick growled, "You wanna crack, too? Spent four hours in the chair just to come back and get it from you and all?"
"Nah. Forget I asked. I ken you don't know shite. Who could? This whole thing is… doin' my nut in."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
Finlay was silently pleased to see a new amicability to Rennick. A humility. Perhaps a change in his tone would be a perk from all of this? She asked him, "They tell you about your lads? They told us all about our families. They alright?"
"Callum and Jack are fine."
"Then why you look like you just got told they're both deid?"
Rennick exasperated a long, wavy sigh. Rubbing his mouth as if he was about to cry. But he wouldn't dare let one stubborn tear fall. Finlay knew and respected it. Understood the headstrong stoicism too well. Rennick finally raised his head but kept his eyes from Finlay when he admitted, "I asked about Josie."
"Cartier? Did they tell you?"
"Oh, they told me."
Finlay faded into herself and sighed sadly, "Oh, Davey. Donnae tell me she's…"
"She's alive," he said, "She's… thirty five. Living in Glasgow."
"Then what's the problem? She got a husband and weens, you missed your chance? Knowing Josie, she'll find out your alive and toss the man in the bin. She's not exactly the… pinnacle of great decisions. Especially when it came to you."
Rennick shot a brief glare before saying, "She's single. But… she has a wean. A daughter."
"Well, that's not bad, is it? She may be a mum but she's still Jo."
"The girl is ten years old, Finlay." Rennick said it firm, calling attention to it. "Ten."
Finlay took a while to register. Then even her concrete face went slack-jawed. "Fucking Christ, Davey. You're not telling me that…"
"She's mine," shamefully admitted Rennick, "Jefferson told me."
"Fucking hell. Your tadger still works and all? Men surely aren't built like women. Aye, you only two years ahead a' me. My baby making days were long behind me ten years ago. You ken… ten years before these ten years. Fuck, I need a smoke."
Rennick grievously sighed into his hands again, falling as still as a statue. Finlay gave him a moment. Certain this was no time to jest or lighten the mood. "You… you alright with it?"
"Alright?" Rennick snipped, "Naw, I'm not fucking alright with it, Evin. Ten years. I missed… ten years of her life. I donnae even know her. I donnae even know… what she looks like. What her first words were. I missed all of it. Now I'm back and I ken it'd be better I just stayed deid. I'm the last person she's gonnae wanna meet."
"Oh, that's a pile a' shite, Rennick. Naw. If my pop came back to life after ten years, you'd bet I'd be the first out of the crowd to meet 'em. Now I ken you think you didnae do well with your boys but… maybe this is your second chance. That's what we've all been sayin' in light of this. Maybe it's what we need to believe to carry on. Assimilate into whatever this world is. Sure, you're not a spring chicken no more but just think you'll be a seasoned one! I'm sure you could teach Josie a thing or two."
Rennick was a bit more hopeful in his reply, "You reckon?"
"Aye! You should be rapt. You have a wee lass. Josie's gonnae need help for those teenage years, your coming back is the perfect time."
A brief scoff and lingering smile shadowed on Rennick's face. Finlay thought to herself, Aye, a vicious prick, true. He's really just a big sook, inne?
She asked him kindly, "What's her name? Your little girl? They did tell you that, didnae they?"
Rennick's eyes leaned at the thought of it. The wrinkle between his brow easing away as he muttered it. "Noelle."
The next morning at the brink of dawn, a meeting was being conveyed in the higher quarters of the compound. The military base known as Wylen's Point. Prime Ministers, government officials, federal officers, scientists, chief commanders and investigators all conveyed into a board room. All perplexed and stern of the same issue. The Beira's reanimation.
Brantley announced to the decorated individuals, "We've done all the tests to determine the ages of the crew as best we can. There is no way to tell for sure, but… given the year gap there should be some kind of confirmation through blood tests these people are in fact the ages assumed after a decade. As far as we can tell, they're all the same ages they were in 1975. Our scientists have tried to determine why but so far, all the tests have run inconclusive."
"And you're certain they're not hiding anything?" A chief commander asked.
A scientist answered, "According to our neurology scans, there was some abnormalities in over 80 percent of the crew mates on the Beira. We… can't exactly determine what that is but at this stage we think it may be what is inflicting their memory."
Another scientist added, "I should mention, we found a foreign matter in their blood. We are running tests to see what it is. It doesn't seem to be impeding them health wise. Could be just the effects of the toxins on an oil rig or could be something more."
"Any sign of dangerous chemicals on the rig when it was seized?"
Brantley answered, "Many of the gases and liquids we found were typical for an offshore rig. However, we did manage across a laboratory in the Engineering quarter. Seemed to be closed off to Site Manager access only. David Rennick claims he never entered it. Upon a lie detector test we determined he was telling the truth. Inside the lab they had some questionable chemicals, but what caught our attention were barrels of Agent Orange."
"Agent Orange? Isn't that a… harmful herbicide?"
"Yes. As well as a few… holding containers. Human-sized. Made of tempered glass. Nothing inside but we were obviously curious on what they were planning on storing in these cells." Brantley confessed in a slight of his voice.
One of the major generals raised, "What of the crater underneath the rig? I saw a report that there may have been an earthquake or plate shift on the sea floor. Did the divers investigate that?"
"Yes… it goes down to nearly the molten crust. We pulled our men out of there quickly when their submarine was nearly taken by a pull of air."
"So, nothing concrete?"
"Not yet. We're still doing our studies. Those involved with Cadal in the 70s are being brought in for questioning, including the former CEO Carlisle Fisher. We're hoping they'll offer something we don't know already."
"Cadal's still operating?"
"Not anymore. A class-action lawsuit launched in 1977 by the families of the Beira crew threw them into bankruptcy. They had to liquidate all their assets to payout the families."
"And what of the crew? Anything they can still offer to the case?"
Brantley explained, "As of now we have all the samples we need from each survivor. Their recorded statements, their scans. We believe the crew isn't lying. All of them have the same story. That they assumed they were still in the year 1975 December 26th about to drill deep into the sea floor. It all checks out with who they were before their supposed deaths. We may have to call on one of them or more in the future as we continue to investigate but it's my opinion they should return home to their families. Try to adapt into their new mould and heal. Keeping them here without cause is creating unrest."
The major protested, "We're not sure that's a good idea."
"What?"
"The national panic that this could create if it became public could jeopardize the investigation, the peace of our communities and above all, the integrity in government. Just last night our boys had to chase a news chopper out of the sky digging for dirt over the Beira. We're diligent in keeping this secret."
"If news outlets are already suspicious then it's already a done deal, isn't it? They'll report whatever they need. If people choose to panic, they will, but our paid reporters will make sure to counter it. Chalk it up to nothing but fringe nonsense. They'll have that rig moved out of there soon, anyway."
"That would be ideal, Brantley, but if the survivors go back home to their families and communities who've assumed they've been dead for ten years, the efforts of propaganda will be in vain. There's no way to explain it. Them going home is only putting them in danger and frightening the people."
"So what?" Brantley ranted, "You suppose they spend their lives here? All of them have someone they love. All haven't asked for anything else but to see them. We keep them here, we'll have an unrest of frightened blue-collar workers in our charge without the guarantee we're keeping the identity of the rig secret, anyway. If you want them to cooperate with us we need to keep our promises. That includes the hope of them going back to their lives."
"It's just not optimal, Owen."
"What if we came up with a program? A… program of confidentiality for the crew and their families. We can get the legality teams in here and meet with the applicants, so they know what's at risk. Jail time or perhaps the risk of coming back here if they break the confidentiality agreement. Half of them have pretty basic names you see all over Scotland, there's no issue there. Basically, a witness protection program where they can return to their families if and only if they and their loved ones keep the affair of their return secret. Maybe a house arrest period for the first few months until the glare of the media looks elsewhere."
"You want to send them home to house arrest like common criminals?"
"It would surely be better than here, wouldn't it? Far better with their families. These are… just civilians, major. They're men and women who have no inkling of what happened as much as we do. They trust us to figure it out and treat them with the civil respect they deserve. That includes releasing them to their families as soon as we can."
Caz writhed in his cot. Cold sweat pooling down his brow. Soaking the neck of his shirt. He was stirring in his sleep so loudly it woke up Roy. He sat up in bed and went to check on him.
"Caz. Caz, you right? Hey."
He continued to grunt and whimper, pressing his head into the pillow as if he was in pain. Roy nudged him, "Caz!"
"Stay the fuck away from me!" Caz barked aloud as he sprang up in bed awake. Roy jolted away with his hands up.
Sunil croaked from his bed a few bunks down. "Eh, the fuck is going on over there, you right?"
Caz was strained and pallor. His breath cracking out like a rattly drum. "Roy? You… you got your insulin?"
Roy flummoxed at the question, "Yeah… had my shot a day or two ago. The doctors here been looking after me. You know that. What are you on about?"
"Ah… Addair, he…"
"He what? Caz, are you alright, lad?"
"Aye." Caz's surroundings came back in a flutter of his eyelid, "I am. I donnae know… one hell of a nightmare."
"I'll say. What happened?"
Caz fixed himself upright on his cot as Roy sat at his bedside. He started to explain lowly, "Addair was… God, he was… something I canny even describe. Fucking horrible, whatever it was. He was coming for me. I was trapped. You were there, too, but you weren't. You were held up somewhere safe but… you werenae gonna last long without insulin. I don't know… the more I try to remember it, the more I forget."
"I should say I am, but not too surprised you had a night terror of Addair. Think we all have at some point."
Caz and Roy shared husky laughter, quiet and wheezing, only loud enough they could hear. Then Caz went silent. A shiver returned up his spine and shoulders.
"He wasn't right. I had this terrible feeling that no one was. Dead or worse. So much worse. I canny help but feel like this has… all happened before. But it's so fucked it couldn't. Then I remember we jumped ten years in time. It gets me thinking… what happened in those ten years? Maybe I'm remembering. I think something bad happened, Roy. Something real bad. A living nightmare. I just… ken it as a feeling not a memory. I'm too shite scared to try and remember because God knows what I'll dig up."
"Maybe… maybe you should tell Brantley this?"
"Fuck that. I do that we're stuck here until they run even more tests on me. You heard talk of them sending us back hame. I canny be responsible for taking that away from you all."
Roy released a deep breath, silently dreading whatever Caz's dream could mean. Staying hopeful it was just a vivid night terror. He tried not to think on it and asked, "Well, you too, eh? Get back to Suze and the girls. I'd reckon they've missed you. Knowing Suze, she likely hasn't gone a day without the thought of you."
Caz closed his eyes then, falling into himself that Roy could read immediately. The thought of it was crushing him. Roy adjusted himself to get Caz's attention, "Alright. That's it. What's going on? That's the second time you've shut down at hearing of Suze and the girls. Half of these blokes are itchin' to get back home. Why not you?"
"I do want to go home to them."
"Then why you not rapt? Everyone else is. Caz, what's the problem?"
"Suze found someone." He said it deeply, "She's married. She's… not even Susan McLeary, she's Susan Kaine, now. Living in some… three-bedroom townhouse in Glasgow. He earns six figures and is even getting Cait settled for college. Bought her a car and all. They're… they're happy. They're stable. She moved on and now I'm back to fuck all of that up. I want to see them. I want them to know I'm alive, but it wonnae do any good. Not for them and not for me. All I am now… the biggest inconvenience they could ever have. I swear just a few days ago I… got her letter. A few months back I saw her. How the fuck is this happening? Why us? What did we find in the sea to do this? I lost everything I've ever cared about and it happened within a blink of an eye. When I thought I was just about to fly hame."
Roy was stunned and silent. He too digesting the absolute shock of what had happened and how their lives had seemed to change without a hint. Then he gazed up to Caz. Tears rolling down into his black beard and crease of his nostrils. Caz asked him, "What do you make of this? You're the praying man. Does God have the spite to do this? Or… something far worse?"
Roy exhaled low, a shake in his throat as he began to say, "I don't know, Caz. I think… God gives his strongest the toughest battles. His true way of speaking to us. Letting us know he's real. In these past days I've believed and prayed harder than I've ever had. I'd say we're living in a story in the bible as we speak. Look… you may have lost Suze, you may not. But if there's one thing God has taught me is that we aren't allowed to know what's going to happen. What the plan is. However, I do know for certain your girls, Cait and Maidie, they'd want to know your alive no matter who is buying them cars and sending them to college. Water isn't thicker than blood. If there was ever a reason to go back to them, it's for those girls. They need you and they always will."
"They're nearly adults, now. They donnae need me."
"You're wrong, mate. Your children will always need you. Don't give up on them now. If the Lord has a plan, it will surely play out. Keep faith and it may just go the way you want it to."
The next morning was the droll and restless wake of the Beira crew in the military base. More of the survivors circling the soldiers in outrage, demanding to be let out or contact their families. Addair was now joined by Sunil, Roper, Gibbo and Scooby. Everyone else was either staring into the walls in boredom, chatting amongst each other to speed the time, or finishing their last specks of breakfast before fighting for claim of a shower in the single use bathrooms. Innes came over to Muir and placed his hand to his shoulder, "You got ten minutes. Managed to sweet talk Trots in letting you shower first. Best get to it, lad."
Muir was catatonic to his side, lost in deep thought with a troubled glare. Innes asked him, "What's hounding you, Muir?"
"If… they actually do let us out of here. I… I have no clue what I'm supposed to do. I donnae speak to my folks. Haven't for years. Doubt any of my mates onshore are about, still. Where do I go? Just live off the streets? I know Brantley wouldnae want me going out unless I got a hame to stay in. I'll probably just… end up in jail again, aye."
"Well, maybe it's about time you contact your ma and pa, eh? No matter what happened they'll be happy to see you again, son. They'll probably just be relieved your alive. Lord knows I'm counting down the minutes to see my girl again. Jane. She's likely in her mid twenties now. She was always older than she was. Smart. At twenty-four I'd reckon she has the world around her finger, now. You're gonnae need people, Ewan. Just contact your folks. What's the worst that can happen?"
"No," said Muir in upset, "I canny. They wouldn't be happy to see me. Last time I talked to them, they made it pretty clear they never wanted to see me again. And I… donnae want to see them again. They couldn't accept me. You lads are the only ones I've ever had who see me for who I am. You're all my family. Separating now and going back to the life I tried to run away from seems… I just can't."
Innes sighed. He contemplated for a while with a solution. He didn't know how to suggest it. He said it, anyway, "Why don't you come with me? Stay with Jane and I till you can get back on your feet. Find you something to do that is absolutely not the oil industry."
They shared a quick laugh. Muir asked, "You mean it?"
"Of course, ya dobber. You're only my greatest mate on the rig. I wouldnae feel right leaving you on the streets. Much less in this fucking place. We'll take it a day at a time and see how it goes, eh?"
Muir made a closed but bright smile to Innes. They shared a side hug, before Innes warned jokingly, "Just donnae try anything with my daughter or I'll throw you out on the street, myself."
"No problem, there. Trust me."
The doors to the bunks opened with Brantley and a few other decorated officers to his sides. "Can I get your attention, please! Everyone!"
The chatter along the Beira crew quieted down and the faces all scattered by hallway to take a look at Brantley. Rennick stayed seated on his cot but was able to see Brantley through the spaces between the bed frames.
"Alright. It seems we have come to an understanding regarding getting you all home. By the end of today, we will have people sent to your families to deliver the news of your survival and have them brought here to take you back to your homes."
A reign of claps and hoots called along the hall, with even the most stoic of faces curving relieved smiles. Brantley continued, "However. There is a catch to this. Understandably these affairs must be kept secret from public knowledge. In order for yourself to be able to return home, your family will be taking you back in their custody. Which means they must sign confidentiality forms that you all had to sign when you first came here. They also must agree to have you keep residence at the home until we deem it safe and appropriate enough for you all to return to your lives as normal. If you believe the family member cannot provide this directive, I urge you to come to the front in single file to write down a name of someone you believe can uphold these terms in trust. If not, you will not be leaving the compound. These are our demands and cannot be wavered. As of now, family members listed for each of you is first of kin. If this is not accurate, please come and enquire the individual who you trust to be contacted. Thank you."
Muir exchanged a worried glare to Innes. "Don't worry, lad," said Innes firmly, "Let's go up together and tell them the plan. Brantley's alright. I'm sure he'll work with us."
Caz got in line first only to see that Suze was in fact his next of kin on the clipboard. Brantley took notice and mentioned, "She may not have your last name anymore, but she's still your wife as of your date of death. We'll contact her. Don't worry. She's listed as Roy's contact, as well."
"What if she doesnae want to come for me?"
Brantley shrugged, "Then you'll need to find someone else."
Rennick slipped in behind Caz when Addair had his back turned (who was next in line). He sighed grievously when he saw Jack listed as his contact. He took the clipboard and wrote down a name. Brantley took a gander and raised a brow suggestively. "Hopeful thinking, Rennick?"
"She's the mother of my daughter, why not?"
"You sure you don't want Jack and Callum informed? Or… Linda?"
"Fuck no. Why would I contact that boot? Just… see if she can come, right?"
Brantley stretched his lips and nodded, "I'll send some guys to Cartier's home. If she declines, do we have your permission to contact your sons?"
"Aye."
Addair caught the name in a startled gawk. He tried to give a glare to Rennick and catch his attention, but he walked past it aloofly. He said it quietly to himself before he was called forward. "Cartier? That French slag?"
