Ghost Writer(80)

Franchot came over as soon as he saw me. Evidently, he was in the loop regarding my fainting episode in the galley. He gave me the once over, decided I was okay and asked what I wanted to look at.

“I'm not sure yet.”

I gazed about, compared what I saw to the diagrams I had studied and waited. Nothing.

I tried another area. Closed my eyes. Opened them. Nothing.

“Margolo?” I whispered, covering my mike. “Help me out here.”

I felt a slight pressure at my back and let it guide me towards the ladder that led to the lower area of engineering. The part that was underwater.

“Shit.”

“Jen?” Welland sounded nervous.

“What I need to see is down there,” I told her. I took a deep breath and retrieved my flippers.

“Uh, Jen?” Franchot noticed what I was up to.

“I need to check something out. I'm not leaving the station, I just need to go down there.”

“Down where, Ms. Kirby?” asked Captain Campbell via my headset.

Franchot answered the question.

“I would rather you didn't go down there until you're ready to leave.”

I looked at Franchot.

He nodded. “I'll accompany Jen as a backup to Lieutenant Welland. If there is something down there to find, I should be there.”

A heavy sigh whooshed in my ear. “Be careful.”

Franchot fetched his gear. We donned flippers and masks. Welland went ahead. I backed into the water like a pro. Franchot followed. As soon as I was on level with the deck below, I saw it.

It was peculiar because I was aware I was floating, but what I saw was a dry and well-lit compartment. Margolo's guiding hand faded as I saw him appear next to me, feet firmly on the deck, sleeves rolled up.



Margolo is looking over Boreman's shoulder as he unscrews an access plate. One screw loose. Two.

Margolo looks up. Golanger is leaning over the rail from the upper deck. With a hand to his shoulder, Margolo halts Boreman's work. A moment passes and Commander Shore appears. He slides down the rails of the ladder, Golanger following him.

Margolo starts to talk then notices that Shore is wearing a sidearm.

I follow bits of the conversation by lip-reading, a skill I should augment if I continue to see ghosts.

Minton killed Naire. Shore wants Boreman and Golanger to go with him to arrest Minton. Margolo sends the men ahead and tries to tell Shore about what was he has discovered. Shore nods and Margolo turns away to continue unscrewing the plate. Shore draws his gun and shoots Margolo in the back.



“Holy shit!”

“What is it, Ms. Kirby?” asked Campbell.

“Nothing,” I said, remembering Gravell’s warning. “Nothing I can do anything about, in any case.”

I signalled Franchot and Welland that I was ready to go up.

“Well?” Franchot asked, when we were sitting on dry deck.

“It's all gone with the explosion. Our only chance of confirming what I found out is if the Americans took photos when they first came on board. If they did, I'd like to see them.”

He nodded. “You okay? You're looking rather pale, Jen, like you've seen a ghost.”

I decided it was best not to respond to that comment. Instead, I asked him if he'd heard about the disconnected bomb found in the torpedo room.

“I think the radio trigger was hooked up to the station's power grid. That's how it was discovered.”

“It wouldn't pull much power,” said Welland.

“True, but if you had a bunch of engineering guys trapped in a place without much to do, they might follow-up small discrepancies, don't you think?”

“Possibly.”

“Plausible,” said Franchot.

“It was found and disconnected, so something must have drawn attention to it.”

I remembered Naire's sheet of paper. “There would be data collected, wouldn't there?”

Franchot nodded. “If it was a power fluctuation, there should be a record of it in engineering.” He stood and looked around. “Sinclair! Can you get the computers running on the power available?”

He met the man halfway and they conferred. I waited long enough to see Sinclair crack his knuckles and grin.

I turned to Welland. “Let's go, I think I need to see the living quarters again.”

“Captain Campbell wants you out of here.”

“Barb.”

She shrugged.

“Fine. We'll check out the living quarters. I thought you guys went over everything there.”

“True, but that was before we had evidence of violent deaths. I have a theory that in the end there was one man left alive and I'm curious who it was and what happened to him, aren't you?”

She nodded.

Over the head set I heard a sigh, then Campbell's voice. “Go ahead. We're all curious about that.”





Chapter Thirty-Seven ~ Back to the Beginning



I walked through the living area trying to remember what it looked like before it was stripped of artifacts and flooded with water.

“Talk to us, Jenny. Tell us what you see.”

“Easier said than done, Sean.”

There was a pause. I heard a tiny gasp and looked to Welland, but she was holding her breath.