When the Australian Collins class submarine, HMAS Sheean, left the water at forty knots, the American Seventh Fleet were caught wrong footed. Missiles were fired, but their missiles were the wrong type – designed to attack a submarine below the surface, not above it – or so Max was told after the crew’s cheering subsided. The Sheean was already over the horizon and climbing through clouds at six thousand metres before the Americans initiated a more suitable response.
‘Zero bubble, Mr Clerk,’ said the Sheean’s much relieved captain. ‘That means level out. Please.’
Max wasn’t sure how his phone heard the request, but everyone in the control room gradually straightened their stance.
‘Shouldn’t we continue climbing?’ Max asked. Confucius had flown the delivery van to their tropical paradise at a height far above any aircraft. ‘What’s our altitude?’
‘I don’t know,’ replied the Captain. ‘The depth gauge is stuck at zero – but the temperature outside is minus fifty. Also, my ears are popping.’ She closed her mouth, held her nose and blew out her cheeks.
‘Submarines are not space ships,’ the officer named Fletcher offered by way of explanation. ‘ They’re designed to keep the water out, not the air in. We’re leaking air and the pressure is already below sixty kPa and dropping. If we can’t plug the leak, or reprogram the regulator, we’ll need to go lower before we all pass out.’ He laughed. ‘But don’t hold your breath, the regulator manual is written in German.’
‘Enough levity, Mr Fletcher,’ said the Captain. ‘Just watch your heading, Mr Clerk. Starboard two degrees, onto one nine three.’
Max resisted the urge to say “Aye aye.” They had seated him in front of a compass, but he hadn’t paid it too much attention, assuming that his phone knew which way to go.
‘Do we have anything on radar, Mr Davis?’
‘Aye, Captain. Two aircraft approaching directly astern. I estimate they’ll be in range in less than five minutes.’
‘Do we need to worry?’ Max asked.
‘That depends on what armament they carry,’ said the Captain. She didn’t seem overly concerned, but Max was gradually learning that believers in reincarnation did not make reliable indicators of impending danger.
‘They are unlikely to have a missile suitable for the occasion,’ she continued. ‘But if they have cannons, we’ll be in trouble. Would you consider returning us beneath the waves now that we’ve left the American ships behind?’
Max shook his head. ‘I need to get back to Canberra before this war escalates any further.’ And regretted again that he had been procrastinating for the previous two days.
The Captain nodded. ‘In both my former lives, I was fortunate enough to die before seeing what hell our civilian population would suffer as a result of war. I may not be so lucky this time, so I appreciate your concern.’
‘Is there something that Confu…’ Max gagged as his throat constricted. The phone evidently didn’t want to be revealed as the source of his powers just yet. Once he had recovered, he asked, ‘Is there something I can do to make us safer?’
‘Hmm. Well, the bow of our boat has thicker steel than the stern.’
Everyone lurched as the ship swung around. The compass had shifted one eighty. Several sailors crossed themselves.
‘Are you some kind a super hero?’ one asked.
‘No. Just a scientist.’
Awe changed to contempt. He should have said he was a wizard.
‘Can someone find Mr Clerk some clothes?’ the Captain asked, but no one moved to obey. ‘A cape and underpants would do,’ she grumbled then turned back to Max. ‘My crew are being ungrateful. We would be fish food by now if we hadn’t found you. Bloody lucky really. We only headed to your location because it seemed safer to be where the last big explosion went off instead of where the next one would.’
‘Lucky for me too. Why were you attacking the American fleet anyway?’ Max asked.
‘Orders, just orders,’ said the Captain and sighed. ‘Both the Lerkians and Conserves in our Government agreed on this, though naturally for different reasons. Mr Fletcher, here, might be able to explain the Conserves’ rationale. I understand that my Lerkian elders believed they could give you extra time to prepare for the new world in our next life. I had no idea you were so close or I would have printed out the scroll of requirements. It is getting ridiculously long.’ She paused for a moment. ‘What were you doing here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?’
‘Lusting after a woman.’
The Captain shook her head. ‘Why am I not surprised?’
As they waited for the aircraft to attack, Max looked around at the crew who were watching each other more than him. The sailors who held weapons showed no sign of standing down, and Barnes still flourished the smoking gun. Who was in charge? Why were the weapons being held if he was immune to lead?
‘You’re not all Lerkians then?’
A couple of men scoffed. One big guy came forward, offering his hand with a friendly grin, then slugged Max hard in the nose. There was the sound of breaking bones, but Max found no damage to his proboscis and the man had retreated, flicking his wounded paw.
‘My crew are divided, but not equally,’ said the Captain without reacting to the assault. ‘We’ve already had a difference of opinion on tactics, and my first officer, a very stubborn fellow, is dead as the result.’
‘We didn’t want to die because of him,’ shouted Barnes.
The Captain only stared at Barnes, as if daring him to shoot her too.
‘Well, have you radioed ahead that I’ve been captured?’ Max asked.
The Captain frowned. ‘I certainly hope not. That would put a very large target on our back. There are plenty of Conserves outside this ship who would be happy to test your invulnerability. Luckily, to a man, none of those here are willing to die for their cause.’
Barnes raised his gun at the Captain, but the radar operator called, ‘Ten seconds to contact.’
‘Open the long range periscope.’
A large screen on one side of the cabin lit up. The camera had trouble focusing on the clouds. The Captain touched a control to swing the view onto two small dots. She then zoomed in. ‘Bugger,’ she said. ‘Someone down there has brains. They’ve sent tank busters. Get everyone who doesn’t want to die out of the torpedo room, Mr Fletcher.’
What appeared to be flashing lights beneath the two aircraft seemed harmless until the impact of the cannon shells on the hull became deafening. The ship rang like an empty tin can. The attack seemed to last forever. When the aircraft shifted their aim to the conning tower Confucius had already damaged, Max remembered how easily his phone had dealt with the drones earlier in their adventure. Why didn’t it use the same technique now? He’d barely finished that thought when both aircraft dropped like stones.
‘Did you do that?’ the Captain asked.
‘Maybe.’
The Captain panned the view to follow the stricken aircraft down. Seeing the pilots both eject gave Max great relief. An atmosphere was returned to the wings of the abandoned planes and they resumed normal flight without their pilots.
Max felt slightly ill. He did not have the temperament for this kind of action. Hopefully, it would be the last he saw before they killed him.
‘How long until we reach Canberra?’ he asked.
‘About twenty hours, Sir,’ said the navigator before the Captain could reply. Another Lerkian, Max decided.
‘The question is,’ began Fletcher, aiming the handgun at Max’s stomach. ‘Should we kill him then, or now?’
‘And how,’ Barnes added.
‘Why don’t we let our cook feed him?’ the Captain suggested. Several men laughed, including Barnes, so some camaraderie remained. ‘Mr Fletcher? Have your friends in the crew considered what will happen after this weird adventure is over? Even in this enlightened age, the navy doesn’t take kindly to mutiny.’
Some of them crew looked at each other, their expressions sour. Now that death was less imminent, their future career prospects would be complicated.
‘Just a thought,’ the Captain added casually. Max was grateful she had distracted them from their previous topic. ‘If you’re no longer in need of my survival skills, I’m going for a lie down.’ She looked at Mr Fletcher and sighed. ‘Best you stay here and continue with the pretence of being in command. You might want to tie Mr Clerk to a comfortable chair. He may be the path to a brighter life, but you won’t want him escaping while we’re travelling ten thousand metres above the sea.’
The Sheean made good time despite dropping to five thousand metres, and was nearing Canberra by the following afternoon. After being attached by a heavy-weather harness to the safety rail, Max was allowed to join the Captain on what remained of the upper deck. They’d given him warmer clothing, and there was no wind despite their speed, but even so, it was freezing. He was surprised how quickly he must have adapted to the tropical climate they had left behind.
A three thousand ton submarine flying over the Great Dividing Range (a mountain range that wouldn’t rate the term foothill on any other continent) had not gone unnoticed. News-network choppers jockeyed for position, but Confucius gave any military aircraft that appeared on the horizon a gentle warning stall to encourage them to retreat.
Many of crew, or at least those with a head for heights, lined the top of the hull, but there were only the Captain, Barnes and himself on the upper deck now. Barnes had not let Max out of his sight the entire journey, not even to visit the head. He still had his rifle, slung over his shoulder. He may have seen Max as his prize, or maybe he was hoping for a bounty.
The man was incredibly annoying. Once they were outside, he had lit a little white stick he called a cigarette. Max had only seen this obnoxious habit in historic video, and couldn’t believe it had once been common. Barnes could have been the last practitioner. With the odour of damp smoke, the rasping cough and the occasional need to rid himself of phlegm, the man certainly knew how to ruin a good view.
The submarine had just crossed the highway near to where Miss Hess’s florist’s van had been vaporised. The continuous line of cars leaving Canberra were slowed by the temporary road repairs at that point, and had now come to a stop. Many stood outside of their cars watching the flying ship pass. Nearby was the burnt-out wreck where two of Driesk’s men had died for no particular reason. Barnes waved, but only the children waved back.
Max waved too, but only to divert the tobacco fumes from his face. He was glad he wouldn’t have to endure this much longer. ‘Is there a place you’d prefer to put down, Captain?’
‘Doesn’t really matter,’ said the Captain sadly. ‘This old girl will not taste the sea again. What about in the lake near the Military College? Do you know the spot? Quite pleasant in spring, and they might be able to use the hull for training. I wonder if they would let me live in her as caretaker?’
‘Have you been able to contact Major Driesk?’
‘Colonel Driesk. His re-promotion just went through. No one else wanted to touch you, and they can’t have a major in charge of such a sensitive operation. Don’t worry. He’ll be there when you arrive, but are you really sure this is what you want?’ The Captain moved closer and spoke discreetly. ‘You know that the Lerkian movement will help you in whatever you desire. We, at least, are not afraid to die.’
Max shook his head. ‘I don’t see any other way. While I live, the world will fear another nano-quake. It would be better for me to just get this over with.’
Max didn’t mention that the woman he loved was in a hurry to be reborn. Though, in truth, he was the one in a hurry. If history repeated itself, as she claimed, then he would see her again soon – even if he wouldn’t remember wanting to. Would they meet again?
‘Do you know how I died last time?’ he asked.
The Captain shook her head. ‘My boat was crushed in both lives – very quick. Couldn’t ask for a better end. If anyone knows your end, they’ve not told me, and I never asked. You might have died from old age, for all I care, or are you immune to that too?’
Max didn’t like that idea. If he lived forever, how would he ever see Cathy again, assuming he could? Now that his execution was nigh, he was beginning to depend on the idea of rebirth. ‘Captain. You’re absolutely sure that you lived before?’
‘Oh, definitely. I take it you don’t remember your former lives. That would seem to indicate you lived beyond the six days of renewal, as we Lerkians refer to it.’
‘And things were different each time?’
‘Some Lerkians now fast during this period. And did you know, in my first life, the UK left the European Union. I can’t believe that ever happened. Can you believe it? You can’t make that sort of thing up.’
‘Bull!’ said Barnes.
It did sound incredible, as reality often is.
‘There’s only been one life,’ Barnes exclaimed. ‘All these false memories he’s implanted in our heads… men landing on the moon and the like. It’s some con to hide the truth behind the millions that he’s murdered, like my brother. He’s done away with them like they never existed.’
‘Yes,’ said the Captain, ‘And the Earth is flat. We’ve all heard your theories, Barnes. And, sadly, they are just as valid as any of the others. But I, for one, am optimistic that Mr Clerk, here, will do the right thing.’
And Max wondered what that right thing was.
They gradually descended and were soon following the railway tracks through pine forests that skirted the capital. The clouds had become very low and the bottom of the hull brushed the occasional tree. When they emerged in a new industrial estate – one Max couldn’t remember – the phone got them lost and they only got back on course when the communications tower on Black Mountain appeared between the clouds.
Staring at the tower reminded him how it had disappeared during the nano-quake. He had felt the same nervous tension then too, and the ‘wack wack’ noise of the nearby helicopters was not unlike the little engine the scientists had been testing that day. A soothing rhythm for a troubled mind.
‘Damn.’
‘What is it Barnes?’ the Captain asked.
‘My fag has gone out.’
‘Good.’
‘And the damn lighter won’t work either.’
The Captain’s look of amusement switched to one of concern. She turned to Max. ‘Another nano-quake? Are you trying to scare us?’
Her voice sounded slurred, like a turntable record played at the wrong speed.
‘What?’ Max broke from his trance.
‘Ha.’ Barnes’ lighter came to life, and he was once again filling his lungs with tar, his smile of simple contentment was only dampened when it started to rain.