The Conduit: Chapter 10

Hours passed, and Max was finally able to return the station to normal routine procedures. They were still investigating Carter’s death, and Han was going over every second of camera footage from the previous night to the morning when Carter was found. All he could do was work the case in front of him. All Max Shepherd could do was inform the group that they needed to send someone to inform Carter’s family. Of course, number one would take care of that. Max didn’t know if he believed his boss or not, and that was why he was searching for personnel files on Carter. He was going to reach out to his family and express his condolences, but he was still working on what to say.

In the military, what to tell the family of a wounded soldier was clearer. There was clarity in things that didn’t exist in the civilian world. A person could assure the family that the death of their loved ones meant something and served a greater purpose. It was rare that a soldier’s death didn’t mean something. They served their countries, always vigilant and willing to go into danger to protect others. Carter’s death notification was going to be less clear, and he knew the company line would be that it was classified. They were under a special contract, but that was it. There weren’t going to be any medals. There wouldn’t be a 21-gun salute. And there wouldn’t be anyone there to tell the grieving mother or widow that it was on behalf of a grateful nation as they handed over a flag.

He knew he couldn’t change any of what happened. But Max was committed to doing whatever he could for the young man’s family, even if it was only to take care of his funeral expenses. He had Shelly put out a notice to the rest of the station, and with any luck, people would feel the same. It was the least he could do, he thought, as he looked at the screen in front of him.

Playing the video of Carter running on the decks, Max hoped to catch something that would help. Carter went down to blow off steam. He was an avid runner and kept in shape. He was a workhorse and could outperform half of the station. There were no excuses from this kid, and even tired or sick, he kept his schedule every day. Looking at the video, Carter’s file in front of him, the kid hadn’t missed a single day of work or taken a vacation since coming aboard the Oceanic. He was as dependable as it came, and that was something he could offer to Carter’s family when he reached out to them.

There was a knock at the door that interrupted Max looking for clues. He yelled “enter” as he hit the pause icon on the screen. Looking up from his desk, Max saw Hanson standing in the doorway.

“Tell me we have something,” he demanded.

Hanson sat down, put his hands on his legs, and shook his head. They had finished the sweep of the area and found nothing outside of the immediate scene.

“Jesus, what the hell got a hold of him?” asked Max.

Max didn’t expect an answer. He could see that it was bothering Hanson and pulled a bottle of scotch out of his desk. Pouring them each a drink, he raised his glass and promised they’d find who killed Carter.

“And when we do?” asked Hanson.

Max looked at his security chief, whom he considered a good man. He knew Hanson was a righteous man with a well-dialed moral compass. The answer to his question might not be what he wanted to hear. Max had his ideas on what to do with whoever had slaughtered Carter. He landed on methods a pirate would use at sea, or becoming judge, jury, and executioner. Max was filled with a new kind of rage over the young officer's death.

“What do you want to see happen, my friend?” he asked Chief Morrow.

“I don’t know. After seeing his body at the scene, some of the guys are out for blood. We should detain whoever killed Carter and turn him over to the proper authorities, but part of me wants to do more. What do you think we should do, boss?”

Max looked at his friend, somberly putting his drink back on his desk, and reaching into his desk drawer. He pulled out a pistol and looked at Hanson, causing the security chief to get nervous. Then Max answered him.

“We’re going to find whoever did this, and we’re going to kill them,” announced Max. “You good with that?”

Hanson was stunned by the announcement. Stunned and confused. He didn’t disagree with the sentiment that Max showed, but it didn’t make it legal. Still, they were in international waters, with nobody or anything that could stand in their way. Revenge is something which one dealing it out should remember to serve two helpings, one going to themselves. In that moment, Hanson Morrow was ready to serve two plates.

“I’m good with that,” he admitted, chugging his glass of scotch before slamming the glass and announcing he was going to get back to work.

What was next caught Max’s attention. The doc was ready with the findings from her examination and had called Hanson to the infirmary. They were meeting in the surgical suite, and she wanted him to stay quiet about it until they spoke. As Hanson headed out of the office, Max yelled to “wait up.” He was going to sit in on this and save the doctor some time. If she had something sensitive, Max needed to know.

Jonas and Anu were stumped and in awe as they stood by their tents. They set them up to be able to work on their findings, and so far, they have been ecstatic that they took the job. Anu took photographs like a first-year photographer afraid of missing something. Jonas stood still, his arms crossed as he tapped his chin.

This was beyond his wildest imagination, and he had imagined a lot since being pulled out of class and offered the opportunity “of a lifetime” by the senator. How they were able to fund such an expedition was no longer one of the top questions. Now, Jonas was staring at something older than anything he’d ever studied, something possibly from before recorded history, and he had no idea where to begin.

“What exactly are we looking at?” asked Anu.

Jonas could only hear the words “the impossible” come out of his mouth as he watched the drone flying around the structure. He was convinced the castle-like formation carved into the mountain’s center was meant to keep something from getting out, unlike most of the massive buildings around the world that were meant to keep attacking armies and hordes from getting in. The science of getting it up there, particularly at the time it was built, had Jonas scratching his chin. It should have been impossible, but that was what he always said about the Great Pyramids.

“Anu, my friend, we’re staring at a mystery,” Jonas excitedly replied.

Jonas walked forward, his hands trembling not from the cold but from the exuberant experience of being the first to see such a wonder up close, and he fumbled around as he began taking readings with a sonar device. It was what he imagined, galvanized steel, cut to perfect dimensions and smooth as glass. The steel-framed doors were surrounded by large marble bricks, polished into a glassy finish, making them nearly impossible to climb. He took out a pad, his fingers shaking, and wrote notes while Anu made a recording.

“Keep your personal thoughts on paper,” he ordered. “They’re the last thing you want coming back to haunt you.”

Anu looked at him, momentarily stunned by how serious he sounded. She realized Jonas was right. The scientific facts were for their employers. Evidence and their findings were for the people writing the checks. Until they could prove their theories or beliefs, those should be kept only for themselves.

“How did they get you up here?” Jonas asked aloud.

“What do you mean, boss?” asked Anu.

The doors that kept them outside of the structure were forty to fifty feet tall and twelve feet wide. Readings indicated they were solid and at least two feet thick. Jonas estimated that their weight would have been roughly five or six thousand pounds. Considering the terrain, and if the carbon dating was accurate, there was no way to cart these up the mountain at the time the structure was built.

“So, I ask, how did they get them here?” he told her. “Today, we’d use specialized choppers capable of bringing them up one at a time, but five, maybe even ten thousand years ago, how could they have managed such a feat of engineering?”

Jonas feared they wouldn’t be getting behind the walls, at least not anytime soon. The risk of using explosives was far too great. They were going to have to use the drones to explore what was on the other side, and then they were going to have to climb over to discover what the builders meant to keep hidden from the world. First, they’d have to get the drones up and running and begin going chamber to chamber until they knew it was marginally safe.

“Start routine runs with the bots. Get them up and flying as soon as possible, using full spectrum scans and telemetry. We’re going to want to see things as they happen and send signals back to the group,” he announced to the rest of the team.

Max and Han got to the infirmary and found the doctor in the surgical suite. She was putting notes into her computer when they came up behind her. It shocked the doc, which was unusual for her. Max noticed it first, then Han asked her if she was alright.

“You try spending a couple of hours in a room by yourself with a dead person and see if you don’t get a little jumpy,” she snapped at them.

“Easy, doc. We just came down to hear the results of Carter’s autopsy,” Max calmly reminded her.

When Susan turned around, she didn’t have a promising look on her face. The autopsy was meant to help find clues that might explain what happened, and possibly who the guilty party was. Max suddenly didn’t expect that to be what they were about to hear.

“So, do you want to go over the entire mess, or do you want me to give you the cheat sheet?” she asked.

“Start from the beginning,” suggested Han.

Susan turned and activated the large screen monitors surrounding her workstation. She pointed at the one in the center, which was a DNA breakdown of what was found on the body. Susan chastised Han for not training his guys better. It was obvious to her that if they were going to process a crime scene, they needed to be taught how to keep it from being contaminated.

“How many samples did you find?”

She admitted to finding seven different samples before beginning an elimination study on the crew. She unapologetically admitted that every one of Han’s guys had been called into the med bay to give a cheek swab. What she didn’t like, and didn’t understand, was why she only eliminated six of the samples on the body.

“Wait, six?” asked Max. “Doesn’t that mean the seventh was going to be the killer?”

“Maybe, if the killer isn’t human,” she suggested.

Susan pointed to the screen, explaining to the guys how the DNA sample that she couldn’t eliminate from the bunch was different than the rest. While they thought that was normal, because everybody’s DNA was different, she went on to tell them that wasn’t the issue. The remaining sample didn’t have the same proteins as the security staff, so she had to look further into the DNA.

“That’s when I came up with this,” she announced, switching the screen in front of them.

Max looked sternly at her, accusing her of showing off. Han was more focused on the screen, trying to decipher what he was seeing with the thinly kept memories of high school biology class. Neither of them was grasping what the doctor was getting at, even when she pointed directly to the area of the screen that mattered.

“Guys, their DNA proteins are different because the seventh one is impossible,” Susan excitedly pronounced. “It shouldn’t exist. Whatever killed Carter, it wasn’t human, at least not by our understanding of human DNA.”

Max’s heart raced as he thought about what she had said. He made her assure them she was certain and then asked her to double-check her findings. She’d already double and triple checked them and was absolutely sure that the seventh DNA sample was from something other than human. She was so sure that she admitted she was going to be carrying a weapon with her if she was out on the decks late at night.

“Could it be something local, something that came out of the ocean and got him? That might explain the wounds,” suggested Han.

“I don’t know. Whatever it was, it left behind so little to work with that all I can say is it was old and shouldn’t exist. But, as they keep finding previously extinct creatures returning to the ocean, it’s possible,” she admitted.

“What do we do?” Han asked Max.

Max instructed his security chief to start posting two-man patrols, post extra patrols, and utilize overtime.

“Inform the station that nobody, and I mean nobody,” he reiterated as he looked at Susan, “is to move about by themselves or with a security escort.”

Max turned to leave the infirmary and then turned around. He looked at Susan and sternly warned her not to return to the ghost ship. Her eyes widened, and she pulled back in her chair.

“Yes, I know you’ve been making regular trips to the Starry Night. The Navy is overdue to pick her up and tow her back to civilization, but until it does, you’re confined to the station,” he instructed.

“But…”

“But nothing!” he snapped at her. “You’re the only doctor I’ve got, so you’re confined to the station. You have lost all the leeway I have given you. Do I make myself clear?”

As Max stared violently at Susan, his face sterner and more serious than she’d ever seen, all she could do was nod. Part of her respected him more now than she had ever before, and part of her was excited by the new Max. This was the commander Shepherd she’d always heard about but had yet to see.

“Han, with me. There’s something I want you and your men to look at, and you can tell me if the idea’s worth doing or not.”

“Yes, sir,” answered Han.