a rugged no nonsense personality, a first class tough Navy Seal Lieutenant. She’d worked hard to achieve the rank and had kept out of any relationships that would impede her career. But here she was in love with a Terrian!
Henri continued to set his charges all around the bottom of the dome. She looked over at the scientific facility. She was near the dormitories. The scientist’s living quarters looked like luxury two story townhouses, well kept with extensive landscaping. The Federation Institute of Undersea Environments (FIUE) had tried to make it as comfortable as possible for the top-notch researchers living in an under ocean atmosphere. They had lost a lot of scientists who just couldn’t hack the enclosed feeling. She couldn’t imagine not loving living in an environment surrounded by the copious ocean.
Oceanography was her life. She’d been shipped to several planets, mostly in the Pinwheel and Sol sectors. Her permanent base, however, was here at the far side of the Orion sector on the planet Cassie; the FIUE had made its headquarters here. The inhabitants of this planet were cultivating their vast oceans after over populating and developing their landmasses. The underwater agency was desperately needed here, which helped the FIUE control their local government to the agency’s advantage. She wondered why the crowded population of Cassians didn’t just move off planet to one of the new Federation engineered planets, but let the thought go as her peripheral vision caught movement inside the dome.
“Did you see that?” she asked Henri but the diver, in his bubblehead top, shook his head - no.
It bothered her so much, she did a circle of the area, taking her jet a little ways toward the top but keeping the ground within easy view. Nothing. Now I’m seeing ghosts, she thought.
It was on her way back to Henri that she saw movement again. She got off her ski and pressed herself against the Dome’s side using her suction gun to stick flat against the glass. Then she saw what she’d been looking for. Someone who looked like a small child was walking around the white slatted townhouses, the dormitories.
She pounded on the glass but knew, as she did so, that it was fruitless. The dome was too thick. She rushed over to Henri. “There is a child inside, I saw it.”
The Terrian looked confused. “Is your oxygen level too high?” he asked. “The center has been empty for several days,” he reminded her.
“NO.” Liri grabbed onto his arm, “I’m not imagining it!”
“Wait, while I set the last charge and we’ll go look.” She could tell her partner was just placating her, he didn’t believe it.
While waiting she put a call through to the Commander. When his rough coarse throaty voice answered, Liri cried, “Sir, there is a child down there, inside the dome!”
“I don’t think so, Lieutenant, check your oxygen level,” Commander Bucker gruffly told her.
Not him too! Her mind raced trying to figure out a way to convince him she wasn’t hallucinating.
Henri tapped her helmet, “Come on, show me where you saw this little person.” Even through his accent she could tell he was annoyed. He just wanted to get this job over with and get back to the subbase.
“Over there!” her voice cracked with emotion. As she was pointing, Mel arrived on his subaquatic jet. He shot an anchor cord near them and swam over.
“All set,” he announced. “Just gave the clearance to Commander Bucker.”
It was then that both Henri and Liri saw the little figure running between the houses. The little person was dressed in a hooded cape. “Oh my god,” Henri clamored, “there is someone inside!”
Mel came over, the look on his face was one of sheer horror. “No, it is not possible.”
Liri put a call into Commander Bucker, who sounded irritated, “What now Lieutenant?”
All three divers started yelling at once. Liri held her gloved hand up for them to be quiet. “We have all seen the person, Sir,” she bluntly blurted out.
“What, are you all crazy? Maybe all your compression pills were bad.” He sounded really annoyed now. “Everyone was evacuated. Grant you it was an emergency, quickly done evacuation but I can assure you, it was thorough and everyone was accounted for.”
“Not everyone, Sir,” Henri informed him. “We have a human trapped down there.”
“Let me get back to you,” their top leader said and buzzed off.
“Why the emergency evacuation, Mel?” she asked the head Navy seal diver who had been in charge of getting the Dome destroyed. She could see the light skinned man through his headgear. He was from the planet Abbis, Crab sector. Mel had left the planet to get away from the poverty that exists on that world. The Federation Navy offered him his chance. Mel’s face was pale and drawn into a pained grimace.
“They wouldn’t tell me. It is top secret, classified.” Again his mouth formed a thin line of frustration. “I don’t believe this! How incompetent can they be?”
“We need to go get the child.” Liri couldn’t see the hooded figure any longer. “I think it was trying all the apartment doors. The evacuation was five days ago, the poor thing is probably hungry.”
Henri quipped up, “Okay, let’s get the child. Tell Commander Bucker to stop the demolition.”
“Yeah, I’ve just set the explosion for 15:00. It has to be stopped from the main command Sub. I just can’t believe this.” Mel sounded angry and frustrated. “They are blowing this place to smithereens. Whatever the reason they want nothing left.”
“How do we get in?” Henri asked. “Which is the best way?”
“You’ll have to go in through the West Gate as everything else is locked down tight. If any of the entry portals are still open, that one will be it.”
“You are to stand down!” came into their helmets as Commander Bucker’s voice came in loud and clear. “You are to do nothing! Get back to the base!”
The three divers looked at each other, shock filled all three faces. Liri motioned with her finger to not say anything. Then she said, “Can’t hear you Sir. Did you say Go In? We are heading in.”
“I SAID stand down!” He yelled into her ear. “Do not go anywhere near that facility. Do you copy?”
She ignored him, jumping on her subaquatic jet heading down to the bottom of the underwater structure. Liri passed several entrance gates, huge steel doors, large enough to let small subs in. Every port had sturdy welded metal bars to keep them from being opened. To her surprise Henri passed her. She should have known he’d not let her go it alone.
They were about half way around the dome’s outside seafloor when Henri pulled over anchoring his jet. He pointed to a smaller door. Liri moored her jet next to his. On the door was a large combination lock panel. It obviously had been made for diver’s gloves. Liri stared at it. She didn’t know the code; someone had always let her in when she had visited the facility in the past. Liri looked at Henri who shrugged his shoulders.
Mel came zooming around the dome. He stopped and went over to the door punching the buttons. The door started sliding open. He gave Liri and Henri the thumbs-up and mouthed Good Luck. Commander Bucker was yelling into their helmets to return to the command submarine. She said, “Sorry, Sir, you’re coming in muffled.”
“Lieutenant Lapointe, Lieutenant Zinis, where are you? Answer me. What is Liutenant Trius doing?” The commander sounded in a panic snit. “Mel, Henri, Liri - answer me, someone?”
They entered and watched the door slide close with Mel disappearing as he waved goodbye. The door clicked and clunked shut. The water in the chamber started draining. Oxygen began flowing in from an overhead vent. The first thing Lira did was to take off her helmet so she could talk to Henri. Her partner did the same.
“Thanks for coming with me,” she went over and kissed him lightly on the lips.
“My pleasure, Cheri,” his Terrian drawl stretching the words into almost singing.
When the water had all gone another metal door slid open. This was the diver reception room; places to hang their suits, drawers filling part of the wall, plastic seats along one side.
Every diver knew that the top left hand drawer contained the decompressing pills. It was the same in all underwater facilities. Still, a loud speaker reminded them, Please feel free to remove your diving equipment and take a Bartol Pill; Welcome to New Horizon, the premier underwater research equipment facility. The Federation Institute of Underwater Environments Agency greets you. In five minutes you’ll be able to enter. Recompression has begun.
She handed one pill to Henri and took one herself. After hanging up their ocean suits but keeping their wet suits underneath, they watched their timepieces. Henri took his helmet off the wall hanger. Putting it on, he just listened.
“We have trouble,” her partner said taking his helmet off. “Mel is arguing with the Commander. They aren’t going to stop the charges. We have only two hours and we are going to be caught in the explosion.”
“What?” Liri yelled grabbing Henri’s helmet and putting the headgear on. “Commander, you must stop the destruction of the dome. We are inside!”
“So glad you can hear me, Lieutenant. Get the hell out of there. That Dome is going to blow at 15:00. I repeat, LEAVE”.
“We can’t, we just took a Bartol Pill, Sir. We can’t take a compression pill for at least an hour. Our nitrogen has to stabilize first.
“Oh for Christ sake, Liri.” The commander barked, “You and Henri are in deep trouble!”
“Sorry, Sir,” she tried to sound as contrite as