Episode 63

Chapter 277

Ali Alibaba

10:49 pm, November 5th, 2006

3:49 pm, November 6th, 2006 (local time)

"Praise to Allah!" cried our leader.

"Allah akbar!!" I shouted back gleefully.

"Have you acquired the craft?"

"Yes."

"Are the items placed where they should be?"

"Indeed. The infidels have no clue."

"Excellent."

"Have we all the information we need?"

"That and more."

"Allah is merciful. Our day of destiny in soon to be upon us."

Chapter 278

Ashley

11:10 pm, November 5th, 2006

4:10 pm, November 6th, 2006 (local time)

That's it. I have so had it. He is going to stop this bouncing in between depression and God knows what.

I'm doing something about this. Right now.

"Jacob. Can you do me a favor?"

"Depends. What is it?"

"Meet me aboard the Mary Celeste."

"Now?"

"Yes, now."

"Is it really that important?"

"I think so. Trust me."

"Very well. It will take me about twenty minutes to get there."

"Good enough."

Actually it was better than that. I set off at a run to find Valerie Dash.

She was sitting outside her ship reading a magazine.

"Valerie. I need your help."

"With what?"

I told her.

She questioned my sanity.

I denied any insanity.

"You sure this is a good idea?"

"About as sure as I can be."

"Okay. Let me put you into the computer."

Jacob arrived five minutes later.

I asked for and got a little help lifting him on to the bridge.

Then I followed Valerie's advice for sealing off the ship.

We were alone now.

"Now what?"

"Now Jacob, we talk."

"About what?"

"You." I told him.

"Me?" disbelief tinged his voice. "What's left to talk about?"

"Your emotions for one thing. Sure they rise and fall. But they seem to always be through a cloud of depression. That's not right. Think about this. Would your family want you to be depressed all the time? Would David want you to be sad all the time?"

"That's true. That's also all well and good except for one problem. I defy you to find me one place where I can forget who I am for any length of time."

"Oddly enough, I can do just that." I smiled. "We've been a bit busy to discuss hobbies, but now I think is a good time to discuss one of them. Oceanography."

"Oceanography. No doubt a fascinating branch of science. I've not done much research into it, though. I also fail to understand how it answers my question."

"Just trust me. It will."

"I trust you. I'm just not sure I have the free time for this."

"You do. I talked to everybody before I set this up. Everybody knew you needed a break. Most of them thought I was the person to do this."

"Planned it all out, have you? Well, I can see that I'm along for the ride."

"Good." I sat in the command chair and checked the notes Valerie gave me. "Scotty?"

"Yes?"

"Open a channel to base command, Density Force section."

"Done."

"Guys, it's a go. Mary Celeste requests clearance to launch."

"Granted. You are now on communications silence. Good luck."

I said 'thank you' to the dead channel before checking the notes. I had to get this in the correct order. "Scotty!"

"Yes."

"Activate primary and secondary density engines. Set us on a course towards Santorin."

"Done."

"Activate the cloak."

"Done."

I leaned back. "Okay. That was the easy part."

Jacob just sat quietly.

Finally we reached the Greek island.

"Arriving at Santorin."

Jacob looked at the holographic display of the islands sitting in the Aegean sea. "Nice looking. Perfectly normal. What's so special about this place?"?

"Scotty. Name and environmental description for this place only."

"Done. Thera in Modern Greek is Thíra. It is also called Santorin, or Santoríni. This island, the southernmost island of the Cyclades group, Greece, in the Aegean Sea, sometimes included in the Southern Sporades group. The island has an area of 29 square miles (76 square km) and, together with other islands, forms an eparkhía ("eparchy") of the nomós (department) of Cyclades.

Geologically, Thera is the remaining eastern half of an exploded volcano. Its bow-shaped rim and the remnant isles of Thirasía and Aspronísi form an open lagoon that measures 37 miles (60 km) in circumference. In the centre of the lagoon are two active volcanic islets, Néa Kaméni ("New Burnt Island") and Palaía Kaméni ("Old Burnt Island"). Thera proper consists largely of lava and pumice, the latter of which is the island's main export. Red-wine grapes are also grown. The lagoon is rimmed by red-, white-, and black-striped volcanic cliffs rising to almost 1,000 feet (300 m). The summit of Thera is the 1,857-foot (566-metre) limestone Mount Profítis Ilías in the southeast. The chief town, Thíra (locally called Firá), was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1956. Other settlements include Emboríon and Pírgos to the south and the port of Oía at the north entrance to the lagoon, which was destroyed by the 1956 earthquake."

"Thank you Scotty."

Jacob smirked slightly. Very slightly. "A volcano that took out an island and two lesser volcanoes still active in the hole made by the previous one. How exactly does this fit the term peaceful."

I ignored him. "Scotty? We cannot cloak the ship while maintaining shields, correct?"

"Correct."

"But the navigational shields are on all the time."

"Correct, so long as the ship is in flight."

"How about stationary?"

"As long as the density engines are drawing power from the recyclatron, the ship is considered in flight."

"Good. My next question is how deep underwater have they tested the navigational shields for safety."

"They have not done that."

I was a bit surprised at that news. I would have thought Jacob would have tested that too. "Okay. Next question. How deep can the navigational shields hold against sea pressure?"

The ship's AI paused before answering. "Fifteen thousand feet."

Jacob shook his head at that. "I don't like the fact that there are vast chunks of the ocean below that level. That figure is for standard operating parameters, correct?"

"Correct."

"And if we rerouted power from all unneeded systems?"

"The navigational shields could then operate up to eighteen thousand two hundred feet below sea level. Any more power than what is needed for that would burn out the navigational shields completely."

"Very well."

I was pretty sure the area we were in was not that deep. I decided to check. I inputted a set of coordinates into the computer. "Scotty. Is this point safe?"

"That point is well within parameters."

"Excellent."

"Ashley, if you are going to do what I think you are about to do, might I suggest finding a transition point that nobody is currently looking at?"

I nodded. "Excellent point. Scotty. Does such a point exist?"

"Searching... Found four of them."

"Go to the nearest one and submerge."

I watched the holographic projection as one of my dreams came true.