Cheesman Chronicles

Red emergency lights shone over everything with a dull hue. Yvonne squinted her eyes as they adjusted to the sudden drop in light. She heard an alarm go off somewhere. Not loud enough to be in this room, but enough for her to worry.

“What happened?” John demanded. “What happened to the lights? I was in the middle of something, here!”

“I don’t know,” Wayne answered, pulling out a communications device Yvonne didn’t recognise. “Seems like powers gone out. I’ll see what I can do to fix it.”

“Well do it quickly!”

“We’ll be fine for now,” Angela said, holding up some masks. “Oxygen will last for another thirty minutes, giving us plenty of time to–”

“I don’t care about that, Miss Davidson!” John yelled, yanking an oxygen mask from her and taking in deep breaths. He glared at her and said something, the mask muffling his exact comments. The intent, however, was very clear.

Yvonne calmly stood up and moved to Angela’s side. She held onto her shoulder and whispered in her ear, reassuring her it would be okay. Angela gave a weak smile back, handing her a mask. Yvonne took it gratefully and put it on, helping Angela with her own. Dr Davidson’s hands were shaking quite a bit now. Whether it was nerves from the sudden loss of power or Mr Baker’s reaction, she couldn’t say.

Angela offered one to Wayne, but he refused. “I’ll be fine. Power should be restored momentarily. Then you’ll all look pretty ridiculous for pulling out those things.”

Yvonne glared up at him, though didn’t say anything. For head of security, this man was very lax about basic safety.

True to his word, power returned as soon as it left. Bright white lights reactivated, the projector shone an image of a giant squid, and the distant rumbling of generators whirred to life. Air vents reactivated, and they felt the fresh wave of oxygen wash over them.

“Back up powers activated,” Wayne explained. “Most systems should be up and running within the next few hours. Repair crew is already dispatched to fix the main reactor.”

“How long should backup power last?” Yvonne asked, removing her mask.

“Long enough,” was all Wayne said.

Yvonne sighed and shook her head. This need for secrecy would be the death of this station. Was this how they usually operated? Or was it because she was here? She was inclined to go with the latter, but right now that helped no one.

John Baker, now recovering from the heavy doses of oxygen he consumed, stared at them. His wide eyes reddened and his cheeks were puffy. He took in measured and deep breaths, before returning to ‘normal’.

“Right,” he began. “I’m uh… not sure what came over me. Nerves, you see. Always play up on you in times of crisis. But anyway! I’m feeling much better now. I hope you can forgive me for acting that way then. It’s not how I usually like to be seen.”

He smiled as if the whole thing were resolved. Yvonne glared at him, though in his sudden state of relaxation he didn’t notice. Wayne shook his head and headed outside, calling down to the maintenance crew to get what updates he could.

Yvonne took her mask off and hung it up with Angela’s. John simply held his out, awaiting to be picked up by his chief scientist. Angela gave a look to Yvonne and rolled her eyes, before setting it back in its place. The masks began to fill up with oxygen, ready for the next emergency.

“Now then,” John said. “Continuing from where we were, my next presentation is about how this base was constructed. You see–”

“Hold on, Mr Baker,” Yvonne said, wiping her shirt down. “We just had a very major power event on your station. A station I am supposed to be evaluating. I think we can take a quick break from your ‘presentation’ and assess this damage.”

“Now, Miss Harding, I think that is rather presumptuous, don’t you? After all, we’re back on our feet, the crisis is over, and the show has only just begun. Why don’t you just sit down and we can – Miss Harding!”

Before he could stop her, Dr Harding left his office and began marching down the corridor. Dr Davidson followed close behind, doing her best to calm down the guest. John soon followed, doing his worst to calm down the guest.

“Miss Harding! Wait! I assure you everything is running as it should!” He yelled to her, hopping along. “You’re being too radical. It was merely a minor power outage. These things happen all the time!”

“They happen all the time?” Yvonne asked. “Well, all the more reason for me to investigate.”

John cursed and continued after her. Wayne ran right across and put a hand on Yvonne’s shoulder, holding her in place. She glared up at the large man, sending out curses to him only her brain could hear. Angela looked sadly at Yvonne, too afraid to stop any of it from happening.

Yvonne glanced back to John, who had finally caught up to them. He huffed, clearly exhausted from the brisk walking and in annoyance at her.

“Miss Harding,” he began, pulling himself up. “I understand that you may have concerns about our base. And good for you! You’re not alone in worrying about advances in science. But think of what we’re doing here. We are trying to protect all marine life! At my own rather large expense! You must see that Aqua Trident is important!”

“Mr Baker,” Yvonne said calmly, shaking of Wayne’s hand from her shoulder. “What I have seen today was a very impressive, very large underwater base. And for the design and construction of this, I commend your architects and builders. But right now, your base is doing research the world has no insight on. And I–”

Before she could finish her speech, an electrical explosion erupted from around the corner. The door to one of the labs flew open as scientists poured outside. Yvonne ran inside. One of the computer banks had fried and was sparking. She grimaced and searched for a fire extinguisher. If an electrical fire spread, it could mean bad news for this entire base.

She found a CO2 extinguisher and pointed it straight at the sparks. A flush of cool air streamed out from the nozzle, suffocating the oxygen and removing the heat. She attacked it from all sides, making sure that it remained cornered.

After about a minute of grey mist and a light head, the fire was out. Dr Harding felt her head get light. She touched it, taking in careful breaths.

Angela handed Yvonne a gas mask to recover her breath as vents reactivated. Carbon was pulled from the atmosphere and into the filters to be converted back to breathable air. Wayne and John simply stood by the doorway, shocked at how quickly she had reacted.

“Well done!” John said after a moment. “Now well done, Miss Yvonne Harding! It appears that with the recent power outage the fire system failed to activate. A temporary glitch, I can assure you. One we will aim to get fixed as soon as the base is back under order.”

Yvonne wasn’t paying attention to this mans words now. As the monitors around her blinked back to life, she noticed some schematics and designs that were utterly alien to her. A large rod with an antenna on it, an incredible power source attached. Submarine extensions that allowed this rod to be controlled. Fine tuned signals to be broadcast through the waves while being undetectable to standard systems.

She saw another monitor, listing out specific details on animal brain patterns and behaviour. Stimulus they responded to, good and bad. How they hunted and how they decided on their prey. What they would do if probed in one way or another. How they reacted to radio signals.

A third monitor mapped all the shipping freights in the world. A vast net of cargo and passenger vehicles that crossed the seven seas in a confusing yet beautiful way. Details on each of them appeared, including who designed them, what company they belonged to, and how valuable of a freight were they transporting.

All of this held under a single label: ‘Project Neptune’.

“Project Neptune?” Yvonne whispered. “The Roman god of the sea? What is this for?”

“Now, Miss Harding,” John said cautiously. “The fire has been dealt with – which I commend you for – so we can leave. In fact, I must insist on it.”

Wayne stomped to Yvonne, hands held out to catch her. He gripped her shoulders and pulled her back out of the room. She kicked and screamed, stamping on his toes. He yelled in pain and released her. Yvonne grabbed a pen on a nearby desk and held it up, threatening the two men.

“Now tell me,” she demanded. “What are you doing here? What is Project Neptune?”

“This project is highly classified, Yvonne,” John said, almost excited by her attitude. “I have asked that you stop this random violence and return to the tour. You will forget all you have seen in here, or we will be forced to use other means. Means I’d rather not use, of course, but will be ready to if you resist.”

Yvonne didn’t back down. This mans threats were empty. They must be. No way he would threaten her while inside his base.

She glanced back to Dr Davidson. She was looking down, as if she had betrayed her icon. Yvonne slowly made her way around the desks, her eyes staying fixed on the large body of Wayne.

“Dr Davidson,” Yvonne said calmly. “Angela. Please, what is Project Neptune?”

“She will not say,” Wayne said forcefully. “She is under a strict NDA to not reveal any details about–”

“Project Neptune is John Bakers plan for total shipping domination,” Angela began, still looking at the ground. “He plans to use animals for his own purposes, turning them into natural weapons to disrupt any ships that don’t belong to him. Once companies see that only his ships are safe, they will flock to him.”

The entire group froze. Vents extracting CO2 became the only noise in the entire room. Even the breaths stopped. Wayne stared at Angela, amazed that she had even bothered to speak up. Yvonne was distraught. If this was true, then the entire base was a complete violation of international law and all animal ethics.

John Baker, on the other hand, was absolutely furious.

“Miss Angela Davidson!” he shouted. “If you utter one more word I will personally throw you out the airlock! Do you understand me?”

Yvonne jumped. She wasn’t one to be intimidated easily, but she genuinely hadn’t expected this outburst of rage and fire from the man next to her. His eyes glowered at his head researcher, searing her soul with wrath and violence.

Dr Davidson, on the other hand, was clearly used to this. She nodded sadly, looking down ashamed.

“Yes, sir,” she said quietly.

Clearly, that wasn’t enough for John. He huffed and pulled down on his shirt, adjusting it. He turned to Yvonne, pointing closely.

“You will refrain from mentioning this project to anyone,” he said, his tone full of ice and barely concealed fury. “You got that? Anyone. I have spies all over this planet. My resources extend further than you could possibly imagine with your weak, academic mind. One mention of the so-called ‘Project Neptune’ and your own children won’t remember you. Nod if you understand me.”

Yvonne stared at him. Her eyes were wide and her mouth agape, her brain struggling to fully comprehend all that was happening. His tone was rehearsed. His threat common. Either he was a very good actor, or he had done this before.

She thought back to all the laws he must have broken to get this place built. Without the major press coverage of his shipping monopoly case, there had been way less public push back on it that was needed. What environmentalists who protested against this were few and far between. Yvonne, now she thought about it, realised that a few of the people she did no had silently dropped off her radar.

Was this all a coincidence? Were they simply tired from the lack of action being taken? Or had the man in front of her dealt with them like some kind of crime boss?

She wasn’t sure if she could risk it. As far as she knew, he held all the cards. She slowly nodded, letting him take control of the situation. He smiled, the rage disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.

“There,” he said, satisfied. “That’s better. Now why don’t we all leave this station and go hang out in the cafeteria? Lunch should be soon, and they are making us a special meal today. Won’t that be nice, Miss Harding?”

So he wasn’t saying ‘Miss’ because he ignored them as doctors. It was a form of control. She nodded once more.

“Very good,” he said. “Now come along. Right this… what the blazes is that alarm?”

A loud buzzing noise rang out above them. Red lights flashed above as a monitor along the wall explained the message. Wayne was the first to read it. Colour drained from his face as the realisation struck him.

“We’re under attack,” he said quietly. “We’re under attack by… by a swarm of fish.”

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To be continued…

Read previous part here

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