Devilfish -- Part Six

They found themselves in a laboratory very similar to those that existed in a thousand other facilities on Palm II. It was, in part, designed to produce robots, and that was normal. But what was unique about this particular place was that Biosystems equipment was also present. Veya and Mect had clearly stumbled upon a precursor to the Marine Biology Lab at Tidal.

But what was most odd of all, considering the laboratory's location and age, was that it was operational. Robots were being churned out one after another by an assembly line on the west end of the room. And on the east end were a dozen man-sized test tubes containing specimens in various stages of development. Each of the specimens was something resembling a squid, but these were not by any means the squid normally found in the Motavian seas. These squid were giants. The smallest of them, which was still fetal, was half Veya's height. And the largest specimen looked as if it could burst its tube at any time.

Veya stepped up to the capsules and peered inside. Something similar to glitter was floating in the green liquid that filled the tube. "What is this?" she asked.

Mect looked at it for a moment. "Macromechs would be my guess," he said. "Macromechs are tiny cell-sized machines once used in construction. Each of those 'glitter' specks you see must be a clump of a few million of them."

"I've never heard of such things," Veya said.

"Macromechs aren't used anymore. They were too dangerous, and we've since developed safer alternatives. The macromechs could infect organic tissue like a disease. Make it rot from the inside, and...." Mect's voice trailed off and he and Veya looked at one another.

"So that's what happened," Veya whispered. She thought of what had become of Silverton and Kaeblin.

"These are test subjects here, in these tubes" Mect said. "We used to have something similar up in Tidal, before Rolobin decided to postpone introducing the sea life. But there shouldn't be any down here in such an old place.... Our work in Tidal must have somehow revived this laboratory. Must have...sent a command that accidentally made this place start producing things again. Probably while we were working on the Drift."

Veya looked around. "But where did that robot go?" She turned around to see the robot stepping out from behind an empty tube. It was holding a rifle. Veya tapped Mect's shoulder. Mect turned, saw the robot, and backed up against the tube behind him.

The armed robot pointed to the assembly line, where several robots of an even more basic design were busy working. And then he pointed to laboratory equipment off to the right, where still other robots were toiling over vats and beakers. And then he pointed his gun right at Veya and Mect.

"I don't understand," Mect whispered.

"I think I know why he brought us here," Veya whispered back. "He thinks this is where we're supposed to be. And from the looks of it, he's not keen on the idea of us leaving."

Just then another robot came up to the pair and saluted. He handed them a printed-out report. Veya took it and read it.

"What does it say?" Mect asked.

"It's talking about how many robots and how many specimens have been produced in the last...one hundred and fifty-eight years! I guess that takes the blame off of your team, Mect. Whoever abandoned this place forgot to flick a big red switch somewhere labeled OFF."

"This activity might explain why the Drift was created!" Mect whispered. "The ecosystem here is so delicate that meddling on this level could cause all sorts of problems. But...what are we going to do now?"

"We don't have long before that bomb goes off," Veya answered. "This entire place is probably going to be destroyed."

Mect pulled on his thin hair. "Yeah, and us with it!"

"I have an idea," Veya said. "But we have to pretend we're working."

Mect clearly didn't understand, but he nodded. He faced the tube he was leaning against and pretended to press the buttons on its control panel. Veya, meanwhile, carefully stepped over to a nearby computer terminal. She pretended to take a great interest in everything around her. The armed robot seemed satisfied with the performance. After a moment it went to stand guard outside.

"Robots are so predictable," Veya said under her breath. Then she began to manipulate the computer before her for real.

A member of the Tidal team turned to Rolobin and said, "Sir, we appear to be getting a message from the bunkers below the Drift!"

"What?" Rolobin walked over to the man and said, into a speaker, "Tidal station here. Who is this?"

"This is Vice Director Carmis!" the voice answered. It was weak, and the connection was poor. But Rolobin was able to hear and understand it.

"You're alive!" the Motavian exclaimed. "Did you set the bomb?"

"Yes, but we're lost and we don't know where we are or where the bomb is or how to get out!"

"But you must get out! That bomb will be going off in ten minutes!"

Veya was quiet for a few seconds. Then she asked, "Do you have a map of the bunkers with you?"

"Yes," Rolobin said, looking at the graphical display that had shown the final blips of the communicators. "There's one right in front of me."

"We are in the Biosystems laboratory near the top of the complex," Veya said. "But we're trapped in here and we aren't sure how to get back to the path we were supposed to be on. Can you teleport us out of here?"

"Who is with you?"

"It's just myself and Dr. Lobard," Veya answered.

There was a pause. Then Veya could hear Rolobin slamming his fist hard onto the terminal top. "No, we can't do it!" he said. "You're close enough that we could teleport you out if your communicators were still working. But we shorted them out just to see if we could locate you or not, and--"

"What?" Veya exclaimed.

"No time to explain now!" Rolobin said frantically. "Listen! Two of the communicators did not show up when we shorted them. Since Mect is with you and we can't get a lock on him either, the working communicators must be the ones belonging to Agent Silverton and Constable Kaeblin. They must have been out of our range when we shorted the devices earlier. That means those two might still work! If you can find them we can teleport you to safety!"

Veya's face sank into her hands. "But Kaeblin and Silverton are both...."

A shot was fired outside. Mect and Veya both looked toward the door, which slid open again. The robot guard fell into the lab, only now there was a large hole through the center of its head. And behind the robot walked Agent Silverton. He was holding the rifle the robot had been carrying. Silverton twirled the smoldering gun in one hand and looked down at the defunct robot in disgust.

"Silverton!" Veya shouted.

Silverton kicked the robot at his feet, an action which sent the automaton's metal head flying across the laboratory. Even then, the other robots continued at their labors as if they were totally unaware of the Palmans' presence.

"Don't look so surprised," the agent said. "I told you I had a few tricks up my sleeve." Silverton noticed Mect standing nearby, and the two nodded at each other. "I am very happy to see that you and Dr. Lobard are alive, Director," Silverton said. His frown was intense, so much so that his whole face looked dark. "But I hope the two of you have a plan. Something vaguely resembling my former colleague Constable Kaeblin is on my heels, and it doesn't seem pleased."

"What is happening?" Rolobin's voice called over the speaker.

Veya faced the machine and said, "Wait a second!" Then she looked over her shoulder and shouted, "Hey, is your communicator device still working?"

Silverton tapped the little button attached to his shirt. It beeped. "It appears so," he said.

Suddenly the door of the laboratory came crashing inward as what was left of Kaeblin entered. Its gun-hands were already blazing. Several robots were struck instantly and fell. Veya, Mect, and Silverton all dropped to the ground, and although Veya could hear Rolobin asking for someone to please respond to his questions, it was impossible for her to reach the radio.

Mect was crouching down behind the tubes that contained the developing squid. He began to crawl in Veya's direction, keeping low and trying to remain out of sight. The revenant of Kaeblin, however, saw the movement of shadows through the glass. He turned his weapons on the tubes, shattering them all. Mect rolled out of the way just in time as the dormant, mutated squid fell to the floor with a splat, accompanied by tens of gallons of putrid, tar-like liquid filled with the deadly macromechs.

Silverton, meanwhile, had taken refuge behind a desk and was using it as cover as he fired off several rounds at Kaeblin. The audiobullets from the agent's sonic gun all hit their target squarely. Kaeblin's body shook and shuddered with every impact, but no blood flowed from the wounds, and the monster kept creeping closer.

Kaeblin, however, was distracted by the gunfire, and Mect took the opportunity to crawl to where Veya was hiding. "This looks bad," he said.

"If I could just tell Rolobin that Silverton has a working communicator device, we could teleport right out of here," Veya said. "But if I stand up to work the radio, I'm toast!"

A shot narrowly missed Veya's head. She squealed and put her head close to the floor, covered by her hands.

Mect took a deep breath. Then it's up to me, I guess, he thought to himself. With that he stood up and literally threw himself over several workstations, sending him flying towards the spot where Silverton was holed up. Kaeblin immediately trained one of his weapons on Mect, and the young scientist yelped in pain as several darts from his own weapon struck his right arm.

When he landed, he grabbed his forearm tightly. Thin trails of blood were already running through the white fabric of his shirt.

"Doesn't look so bad," Silverton muttered as he resumed firing.

"Sleep-inducing toxin...." Mect whispered with a weak smile. "I'll pass out in a minute."

"What the Hell did you do that for, anyway?" Silverton asked. "Are you some kind of nut?"

Mect gasped for air. Then he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small metal object resembling a hairpin.

"What is that?" asked Silverton.

"C-canceler," Mect said. "It'll short out my shot weapon. The one on his...right hand."

Silverton nodded and took the canceler from Mect's shaking fingers. The object was clearly designed to be fired from a shot. Fortunately, shots and sonic guns were largely compatible when it came to the attachments that could be used with them. So, in less than five seconds, Silverton had properly attached the canceler to the barrel of his sonic gun. Then he raised his weapon, aimed it carefully at the right hand of the quickly-approaching Kaeblin, and fired.

The zombie cried out in pain as the canceler's beam met its right hand, causing the entire hand to explode. The creature staggered backwards, still howling, and upset another tube containing the brackish green liquid. The tube shattered as it struck the floor, dumping billions of macromechs onto the surrounding area. Kaeblin then took a half step back as he tried to regain his balance, but this only caused him to slip on the liquid and fall face-first into the marcomech soup. The zombie began to scream and flail about madly, even though whatever damage was being done to him by the additional macromechs was completely invisible to Veya and the others.

Veya immediately stood and shouted into the speaker, "Rolobin! Silverton's showed up and his beacon is working! Get us out of here!"

There was a flash of white, and before anyone could know what had happened, the three Palmans were gone.

A young engineer in the Tidal control room swiveled in his chair and looked at Tiro. He nodded. The Dezorian scientist nodded in reply. "Do it," he said.

Almost instantly, millions upon millions of gallons of ocean water were redirected and pumped directly into the festering blister called the Drift. The Tidal crew watched in both awe and apprehension as the Drift grew so large that it became visible even from their vantage point more than fifty kilometers away. It was a massive bubble, gray-white in color, quickly rising high above the horizon. Even in the dim starlight it was unmistakable. And then, only seconds after it had appeared, it collapsed in open itself.

"The Drift has burst!" Rolobin said. "Enable the counteractive measures!"

All across Palm II, ocean currents changed. Tides ebbed and waves halted. The living mechanical planet's entire water body lurched and shifted, focusing itself around the Tidal station, which suddenly seemed fragile in the wake of the tsunami the Drift's fall had created.

The wave fanning out from the Drift grew by the second. By the time it had crossed half the distance to Tidal it was dozens of meters tall. By the time it reached Tidal it would be dozens of kilometers tall.

Everyone inside the station braced themselves for fatal impact. And then, as they watched, the seas converged before them. A mighty wave even larger than that which approached suddenly appeared in front of Tidal, and it reached from horizon to horizon. The wave Tidal had created hemmed the Drift tsunami in, and only seconds later, the two waves collided. As they met there was a crash like that of a terrible explosion or the rolling of a monstrous thunder cloud. Water sprayed high into the sky, and then fell back into the sea. Less than ten seconds had passed since the Drift had collapsed, and not quite seven seconds had passed since the tsunami appeared. And yet, once the vapors cleared, all could see that the ocean was already as calm as it had ever been. There was no sign of the Drift, or of disaster.

Everyone in Tidal's control room cheered. And none of them cheered more loudly than Veya Carmis, who along with her two companions had materialized suddenly and without anyone noticing.

Tiro, Betty, Rolobin, and everyone else turned to face Veya, Mect, and Silverton. Betty was the first to reach them. She saw Mect, who had fainted and was being held up in one of Silverton's arms. "You require medical attention?" the robot asked.

Veya gestured to the others. "Doctor Lobard was hit by a silentshot dart and was knocked unconscious. But Agent Silverton has come into contact with...."

"Macromechs," Silverton said. "Disgusting things."

A compartment in the side of Betty's conical body flipped open. Betty's work arm reached into the cavity and removed a syringe filled with a dark blue, smooth liquid.

"Allow me to administer this to you, Agent Silverton," Betty said. "It is the same medication my master, Doctor Tirotul Urbanich, is taking. It is designed to stop the flow of contaminants through the bloodstream. And, the mechanical composition of the macromechs makes them highly vulnerable to this substance. This treatment will probably be especially effective for you."

Silverton stooped down and Betty injected the medicine into his arm. "Thanks," the agent replied.

"That will stop the flow of the macromechs through your body," Betty said. "You will be fine until we can get you to a hospital." Then she pulled a single yellow pill out of her medical compartment. "And give this to Doctor Lobard. He should come to rapidly."

Silverton took the pill from Betty and slipped it into Mect's mouth. He then slapped Mect slightly. Mect's eyes began to slowly open, and he made a low groaning sound.

Rolobin ran over to all of them and clapped his furry hands. "I'm so glad you are all okay," he said. "But...am I correct in assuming that Constable Kaeblin was not so fortunate?"

"I'm sorry, sir," Veya said. "The macromechs got to him, too, and he wasn't as lucky as Agent Silverton."

Tiro came to stand next to Betty. He said, "Rolobin, your men just scanned the area Vice Director Carmis and the others were teleported from. They say there's not a trace of anything to be found. The old bunkers, as well as the Drift, are history."

"So it really worked!" Rolobin said. He stared down at the Whistle-type at his feet. "Your plan was a success, Betty. I'm sorry I doubted you."

"That is quite all right, Doctor Rolobin," Betty replied. "I am happy I could be of some assistance."

Five minutes later, after Veya, Mect, and Silverton had a chance to dry off, they and Tiro, Betty, Silverton, and Rolobin were standing at the helipad where Landale V's shuttle lay waiting. Silverton sat in a wheelchair Betty had brought for Tiro. The small android had also taken on the task of pushing the chair where it needed to go.

Silverton was clearly not amused. He pulled on the wool blanket draped over his knees and muttered, "I feel so...undignified."

"But you're going to be all right," Veya said, patting his shoulder. "That's the important thing."

Silverton shrugged. "It'll take weeks to get the macromechs out of my system. I'll have to have hours' worth of surgery, and then months of physical therapy. I would hardly call that "all right.""

Mect was fully awake by then. He stared out at the dark ocean and said, "You're better off than poor Kaeblin."

"We'll begin planning a memorial service immediately," said Rolobin.

Silverton shook his head. "I told him he would need more help. There is no situation stickier than the one we were in."

Nobody spoke for a moment. Then Tiro said, "Don't worry about the good agent here. Trust me -- Zelan has some of the best doctors in Algo. It won't be as bad as he thinks it will be."

Silverton shrugged again. "And not as good as I hope, either. I'm sure of that."

"I'll take Agent Silverton into the shuttle now, Tiro," Betty said. "Then I will come back to help you climb aboard."

Tiro smiled, but he looked a little sad. "I'll be waiting."

"Wait a second," Mect said, holding up a hand. "Everybody, come over here!"

"What is it?" Rolobin asked nervously. "More sea monsters?"

Mect just shook his head. "Maybe."

Veya and the others all gathered at the railing on the edge of the helipad. They were high on the Drasgow platform; most of Tidal was below them, and due to their elevation and the undisturbed darkness of the night, their view of the ocean was fantastic. Mect pointed to a spot in the water about a kilometer distant. Everyone followed the line made by his arm, and there, in the starlit sea, a spectacular sight awaited them.

It was difficult to make out detail in the darkness. Everyone could see ripples in the water, wide ripples reflecting the light of the stars. But the longer the group looked, the more distinct what they were seeing became. Below the ripples, just below the ocean surface, they could see large shapes moving; large shapes that were gliding gracefully.

Then, eight yellow-green orbs, each half the size of the Landale V shuttle, lit up brilliantly beneath the waves. Their gentle glow illuminated the sea all around them. Those eight eyes -- for that is truly what they were -- cast shadows on the top of the water. The shadows were of four sleek bodies pulling a train of long, powerful limbs behind them. Two of the bodies were large, but the others were much smaller. Babies.

Everyone watched in awed silence until after the glowing eyes and accompanying silhouettes had vanished into the distance and over the horizon.

Mect was grinning from ear to ear. "They aren't solitary," he said. "They live in familial units. It's a whole new species."

Veya couldn't help but match Mect's smile. "We'll have to keep an eye on them," she said. "They could be dangerous if not properly cared for, though the macromechs were our real problems down below. And a food supply will have to be introduced immediately, of course."

Mect nodded. "And we do still have to take care of their macromech poisoning," he said. "But it will be worth it, I think." Mect looked to his superior and said, smiling, "It looks like you've been overruled, Doctor Rolobin."

Even the old Motavian had to chuckle. He shook his fuzzy head. "I guess Mect was right. The sea is ready. We may have set the stage, but the sea decides its own fate in its own time."

Mect sighed deeply and leaned against the railing. He stared up at the sky and asked, "What do you think, Veya? Won't it be fun writing a report on this?"

Veya leaned against the railing next to him and looked into his crystal blue eyes. She mussed his thin blond hair and said, "Give me a break, Mect. That's what assistants are for."

To Be Continued...