Dead Space by Brian Evenson

Author:Brian Evenson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

37

He started broadcasting a looped SOS at 2,500 meters, but got only static. Hendricks was starting to come around. By two thousand meters, he was back to his hysterical babbling. Altman tried to ignore it. Through his earpiece, Altman caught brief bits of something that he recognized as a human voice submerged in a wash of static. By 1,700 meters, it was less static than voice, but Hendricks was shouting now, straining at his bonds.

“Michael Altman, please respond,” he finally heard the voice say. “Michael Altman, do you read?”

He turned the loop off and went live. “This is Altman,” he said.

The other voice started to answer and was suddenly interrupted. Markoff’s voice came on. “Altman?” he said. “What the fuck is going on?”

“Hendricks flipped out,” Altman said. “I’ve got him tied up. That’s him screaming in the background.”

“What happened?”

“Just a minute,” said Altman. Hendricks had started to work his way loose. He took off his shoes again, slowly crept up next to him. Altman? Markoff’s voice was saying in his ear. Are you all right, Altman? He struck Hendricks hard in the back of the head, twice, and he stopped moving.

“What was that sound?” asked Markoff.

“That sound was the sound of me trying to stay alive,” said Altman. He undid the ligature and re-hogtied Hendricks. “I’ll tell you more when I get to the surface,” he said. “Oh, and it might be a good idea to have a few guards on hand in the submarine bay.”

Markoff had started to speak again, but Altman turned the transmitter off. He began to think. It wasn’t likely that Hendricks would break free. As long as he didn’t forget about him, things would be okay. He looked out the observation porthole. The tatter of the pale pink substance was still there on the rivets, undulating slightly as the submarine rose. He knew if Markoff saw it, he’d take it away for testing by members of his inner circle and he, Altman, wouldn’t hear anything further about it. Same with the footage of the unusual fish.

He removed his holopod from his pocket and connected it to the console, then copied the vid footage of the fish onto it. He’d have to leave it in the system as well. Markoff and his minions would no doubt be able to tell if something had been erased, but maybe they wouldn’t be able to tell it had been copied. He had to try to find some answers on his own.

The pink swath was a little harder. But a plan began to form in his mind.

He checked the pulse signal monitor. The signal had fallen off again. He checked back through the history. If the pattern continued, it should start to rise again.

What he was planning to do was dangerous. No doubt Ada would tell him to leave well enough alone, that he was only likely to get himself killed. Which was why he would never tell her about it. Maybe she was right, but his desire to know was much too great.

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