Down in the Underworld

Chapter 21 - Shot In The Dark

With the temporary seal in place, covering the damage to the Anhinga’s hull, and Lady’s crew safely back on board, it was time to head out. Fury had gotten to Sagan just in time, and he was now safely sedated in the medi-bay, being watched over by the Anhinga’s doctor, Charlie. Fury and his crew had now returned to their own submarine and we following just behind the Anhinga as she cruised along at a steady 10 knots. Lady was slowly increasing the speed, testing the seal and not wanting to put too much stress on it too soon. At this rate it would take them a week to get to Royale, Lady sighed to herself, though that wasn’t quite true. It just felt that way. In the meantime, Lady’s crew worked hard to put the submarine back to rights inside. Re-hanging fallen paintings, cleaning up the many science labs, and putting books back on shelves. And over the next few days, slowly the injured recovered and came back on duty, and the Anhinga returned to some kind of normality. 

On the evening of the second day, the lights of their fabled city of Royale finally came into view. A cheer erupted from Lady’s crew, and Fury’s voice crackled happily over the radio, confirming they were nearly there. For Lady it was a bitter sweet moment. On the one hand, she was looking forward to repairing her ship and taking a few days off. Having her date with Fury and getting a look at the tech they’d picked up that had caused all these problems in the first place. But on the other, she knew that seeing Cal would be awkward, and that he would take advantage of that. Especially when he found out about Fury.

As they drew closer to Royale, Lady brought up the forward facing camera’s and fed through their vision to the bridge. While from a distance the underwater city had looked as it always had, as they closed the gap, it became clear something was very wrong. For a start, in between the pockets of light thrown out by the city’s lighting towers, were spots of darkness left where businesses should have been – from the seedy clubs and bars through to the restaurants and hotels. And everything was quiet, which was completely wrong for this time of day, when the city should already have been a hive of activity and just gearing up for the mid-evening rush. Calling up Fury, Lady was doing a sanity check.

‘Hey Fury, you seeing this, over?’ she asked, the worry evident in her voice.

‘Yeah, it’s like a ghost town over there, proceed with caution?’ he asked in response.

‘Definitely the plan,’ Lady replied, ‘what you thinking?’

‘I don’t know yet, but it’s creeping me the freak out, I think the best idea is to warn the crew and then we can go investigate, but I don’t want them thinking that this is some regular shore leave situation, I don’t want them going wild.’

‘Yeah, we don’t know what’s out there,’ added Lady.

‘This whole thing stinks of our old friends. 

‘OK, meet me round at Pier 42, we can re-group on the dock.’

‘Done, over and out,’ answered Fury, as the line went dead. 

As Strychley manoeuvred the Anhinga around the left side of the city, and gently docked her near Stumpie’s Major Damage, Lady was glued to the screen in front of her, taking in every inch of the city.

‘What next Commander?’ Strychley asked quietly.

‘Take her up, but do it nice and slow, I’ll brief the crew and then we can head out.’

‘I don’t like this, it feels off,’ said Turing, who was back on the bridge.

‘Me either, but we’ve been cooped up in here for days, on edge, the crew need to get out and stretch their legs,’ Lady admitted. 

‘I’m happy to stay here,’ piped up Baker, whose broken leg was now safely nestled in a healing contraption affectionately known as a moon boot. 

‘I’m sure the rest of the crew would also be happy to wait it out until we know what the situation is out there,’ added Deadeye, no worse for wear not that his shoulder had been popped back into place.

‘Ahhh you guys and your sense talking,’ smiled Lady, ‘OK, let’s put ourselves together a little exploratory party, Deadeye you’re coming with me, I’ll grab a couple from Fury’s crew and how about we see if Cato and his team are ready to rock’n’roll yet?’

‘Aye Boss!’ Deadeye agreed, jumping to his feet and immediately almost losing his balance as the Anhinga rocked from side to side on her ascent.

‘Easy there, now go get the others.’

‘Sure thing Commander,’ answered Deadeye, taking off at a run, as Lady called up Fury again on the radio.

‘Yo Fury!’ 

‘Lady love, it’s not looking good out there,’ came the instant reply.

‘I know, and I think we should check it out with a small group first, I’m going to take Deadeye and Cato, maybe one more, wanna join us?’

‘Sure, I’ll bring Phoenix and Hera, that way we’ll have tech and medic covered while your guys do their thing.’

‘Sounds like a plan, see you on the dock in 10,’ said Lady, hanging up.

10 minutes later, as agreed, the boarding party had assembled under one of the clear domes that protected the city from the crushing weight of the water outside, and kept them dry of course.

Royale spread out, suspended above the sea floor, in a series of 5 clear domes. Made neither of glass or plastic, they were strong enough to sustain almost a nuclear blast. Underneath their pearlesque luminescence, the city spread out in 4 directions from the centre dome. North, South, East, West, following the compass points as was befitting a city built by pirates. Each dome connected to the centre by a short, clear tunnel made from the same material as the domes. Inside each dome business and dwellings sat side by side, creating little neighbourhoods and communities, referred to as the Districts – or Tricts for short. There was the Medical & Sciences Trict, housing the small hospital, dentists, laboratories and the like.  The Entertainment Trict contained theatres, a cinema where old films were often shown, and also some of the seedier side of life as you got further away from the city centre. The strangely combined Market & Weapons Trict, where you could purchase food, clothing, and other supplies including guns and other weaponry.  Any finally the Mecha Trict, where Lady and Fury had docked and hoped to fix the Anhinga. The city was a mish-mash of modern design and old world materials, as the residents and business owners who called Royale their home had built their lives here using whatever was available, traded or came to hand in some other way. It was protected by a Shimmer field, however those vessels registered to Royale were always able to find her. Lady knew the only way this could have gone down is if someone had led the massacre to the city.

As the small landing party moved through the city, though the domes’ above them showed no sign of damage, the buildings within this protective hub were not quite so lucky. Under the bright tower lights, it was clear a catastrophe had befallen the eclectic city. As the submariners walked gingerly towards the city centre, they passed body after body as the dead lay thick and fast everywhere. The buildings housing bars, hotels, and all manner of businesses were in various stages of destruction, some even disintegration. Though nothing lay burning now, it was obvious that the battle had taken place recently. The smell of gunpowder, laser burn and fear still hung in the air.

‘What do you think happened?’ asked Deadeye, looking around at the carnage, ‘something local or outsiders?’ 

‘Either way, it’s a shit show,’ pondered Lady, taking it all in herself, ‘and the timing couldn’t be worse considering the Anhinga’s circumstances.’ 

‘Where to first?’ asked Fury, as they made their way carefully through the remnants.

‘Let’s try to find Cal, judging by this mess, he might be the only survivor,’ Lady whispered.

‘How do you figure?’

‘He’s always been ready, waiting, for something like this, and he knew the city best out of any of us, after all he was the first to find the Compass of Domes and set it up as a pirate strong hold, he may have been able to save some people, we can only hope,’ answered Lady, her voice drifting off sadly. She’d known many of the faces they’d passed lying lifeless and out of time. 

‘Do you think whoever did this is still around here?’

‘It’s a possibility, keep your eyes peeled and weapons ready,’ said Lady, ‘come on, it’s this way,’ she added turning down a small side street as they exited the West Dome and headed away from the Mecha Trict, keeping to the shadows.