The Rising Sea

61

Kurt Austin stood on the deck of the Chinese fleet tender Giashu as a hook was lowered from a deck crane and guided toward the last of four NUMA submersibles that had been brought aboard the ship.

NUMA, the Chinese government and the JMSDF (Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force) were cooperating in the investigation of the anomalies at the bottom of the East China Sea.

A Chinese sailor guided the hook into position and ensured a solid coupling. He gave Kurt a thumbs-up. Kurt returned the gesture.

“Much has changed in just a few weeks,” a voice said from behind him.

Kurt turned to see a man in uniform standing behind him. “I thought generals spent their time on land.”

“We prefer to,” General Zhang said, “but I wanted to meet you in person. To see if you’re real. You’ve made quite an impression on us over these last two years. Now, here you are, standing on the deck of a Chinese ship as an invited guest. Something tells me the next time you’re aboard one, it will either be without permission or as a prisoner.”

The General offered a wry smile. Kurt returned it. “You’re probably right,” he said. “Then again, like you said, things can change.”

“Unfortunately, the rise in sea levels hasn’t slowed.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of it,” Kurt said, tongue firmly in cheek. “The worst of the debris has been cleared away and a new docking collar has been fitted to the surviving part of the station. Ingenious, building most of it into the rock. Our sonar scans indicate the interior environment was not compromised.”

“Walter Han’s idea,” Zhang said. “He should have plenty of time to think up new ideas in prison.”

Kurt figured a deal would be cut sooner or later, but the fact that Han was not clamoring to get back to China suggested he was better off in a Japanese prison.

Another sailor approached, carrying a satellite phone. “You have a call, Mr. Austin.”

Kurt took the phone and extended a hand toward General Zhang. “Until we meet again…”

Zhang shook Kurt’s hand firmly. “May the circumstances be as pleasant as they are today.”

As Zhang walked off, Kurt put the phone to his ear. “This is Austin.”

“I’m glad I caught you,” Superintendent Nagano said. “You were missed at the ceremony today.”

“Sorry,” Kurt said. “I prefer to avoid the limelight. How did it go?”

“Perfectly,” Nagano said. “Akiko was given the honor of presenting the Honjo Masamune to the Prime Minister and the people of Japan. In return, she was given a medal and officially accepted into the Federal Police training program.”

“Looks like she’ll have a family now.”

“We take care of our own,” Nagano said. “I must tell you, she looked resplendent.”

“I bet she did,” Kurt said. “Was Joe with her?”

“He’s hardly left her side since the surgery,” Nagano said. “They seem to talk endlessly. But from what I’ve overheard, it’s mostly about cars.”

“Figures.”

A whistle got Kurt’s attention. Gamay was waving at him from the hatch of the submersible.

“I have to go,” Kurt said. “All the best.”

“Arigato, my friend,” Superintendent Nagano replied.

Kurt handed the phone back, climbed up the ladder on the side of the submersible and dropped down into the hatch. Paul and Gamay were waiting. “Next stop, the Serpent’s Jaw.”

A ten-minute descent took them to the bottom of the canyon. Three other submersibles waited for them. Their lights illuminating the walls on either side of the chasm.

Kurt eased the submarine into position and connected with the new docking collar. With the seal confirmed, he opened the submarine’s hatch and climbed out. Paul came with him, while Gamay switched to the pilot’s seat.

“I’ll pick you boys up when you’re ready,” she said.

Kurt closed the hatch and moved to the inner door of the docking unit.

“Not sure why I have to be here,” Paul said, crouching in the tight quarters.

“I thought you’d want to see this,” Kurt said. “After all, you got us into this with your ‘Crow and Pitcher’ idea. Seems appropriate that you’re here for the final answer.”

They reached the inner door. Two Chinese technicians were already there. Deposited by one of their own submersibles. One of them had thick glasses and hair that hung in his eyes.

Kurt cocked his head. “Didn’t I see you on Hashima Island?”

The man nodded. “I was in the metallurgy lab.”

Kurt nodded. “Still haven’t found a barbershop, I see. What are you doing here?”

“They released me to help with this investigation,” the technician said. “I know more about this place than most. I helped design the systems.”

“Many of which are still functioning,” Kurt said. “You obviously do good work.”

“The power is nuclear. The reactor was untouched. When the avalanche occurred, the watertight doors sealed the interior. That’s the only reason.”

Kurt had a feeling there were other reasons. He kept it to himself. “Ready?”

“Yes.”

Opening a side panel, the engineer accessed a manual release for the inner door. Using a large wrench, he turned a spindle and released the latch.

Kurt and Paul pulled the heavy door open. They discovered a tunnel, bored out of the rock and sheathed in steel. Lights running along the top remained lit.

“We need to see the main section,” Kurt said.

“This way,” the technician said, leading them into the tunnel.

The first passageway led to a second and then to a staging area, where stacks of equipment sat undisturbed.

They crossed the staging area and arrived at a huge freight elevator — two cars could have fit in it side by side. “Do you hear something?” Paul asked. “A low hum?”

Kurt nodded. Clue number two. He climbed onto the elevator and waved for the others to join him. “Going down.”

They took the elevator down nearly a thousand feet and arrived at a different section of the mine. On the schematic, it was listed as “Lower Control Room.” It was only supposed to be four hundred square feet, a twenty-by-twenty space. But it proved to be a vast, open cavern. Dark tunnels could be seen all around them.

“It’s like Grand Central Station,” Paul said.

Kurt nodded, looking around. Power cables ran everywhere. Fresh tank tracks marked the ground like a construction site. The humming was louder.

The two engineers crossed the room to a control console. Paul and Kurt wandered in the other direction. The steel walls they’d found earlier had given way to an amber-hued mix of rock and Golden Adamant.

“None of this should be here,” the engineer said. “This is only supposed to be a drop-off connecting the control room to the deep boreholes. This entire room…”

His voice trailed off as a rumbling sound became audible. All of them turned to see a bank of lights approaching from one of the tunnels. A crawling machine lumbered into the cavern and then maneuvered to a spot by the wall. Its front end appeared to be damaged. It parked and then used a robotic arm to grab a power cable from the wall that it plugged into its battery pack.

Clue number three. “All of this is here, because the machines built it for themselves,” Kurt said.

“What?”

“They’re still digging,” Kurt said. “Following their orders. Using their artificial intelligence program to determine the best way to accomplish their goal.”

As Kurt spoke, the engineer from Hashima Island brought up a schematic of the mine on the console. It displayed hundreds of tunnels and rooms that had been drilled and excavated in the last year. They’d pushed the harmonic resonators deeper into the Earth than anyone believed possible, overcoming problems and setbacks. Using the minerals and alloys they recovered to buttress the mine in many places.

“How did you know all this?” Paul asked.

“I didn’t,” Kurt said. “But Hiram Yaeger and Priya reviewed all the data that Han’s people had recorded. They came up with this as the most likely explanation. There was no other way to explain the continued and accelerating fracturing of the transition zone down below. The machines had to be digging. Expanding the operation as fast as they could.”

As Kurt spoke, two other machines appeared. One of them went to work on the damaged hauler and began repairing its front end. The second machine crossed the cavern and entered a different tunnel, off to some new task.

“They’ve constructed other machines,” the engineer said. “Four hundred and thirty-two of them.”

“But why?” Paul asked.

“Because they needed them for new tasks,” Kurt said.

The engineer was still reading off the console. “‘Continue mining until otherwise directed,’” he said. “‘Make all efforts to maximize recovery.’ According to the database, those were the last commands given before the avalanche.”

“And followed to perfection,” Kurt said.

“They’ve created their own civilization down here,” Paul said. “It’s incredible.”

“Almost feels wrong to shut them down,” Kurt replied. “But we have no choice.”

He looked at the engineer, who nodded his agreement. The man powered up the interface. Entered a new code and gave the robots a new authorization.

“Hopefully, they’ll do as ordered,” Paul said. “Otherwise, this could be the beginning of the robot rebellion.”

“Authorization code alpha,” the engineer said.

“Authorization code accepted,” a human-sounding voice replied.

“TL-1,” the engineer said. “Cease all mining operations. All units return to staging areas.”

A brief silence followed. And Paul exchanged glances with Kurt.

“Directive confirmed,” TL-1 said. “Shutting down resonators.”

The pervasive humming waned and then ceased altogether. The cavern grew deathly quiet until rumbling noises began emanating from the tunnels. Before long, a seemingly endless line of machines began flowing back into the cavern and parking in perfect order.

“Time for us to go,” Kurt said. “Our job here is done.”

Over the next two weeks, the water blasting from the field of geysers — which numbered over a thousand — slowed and then ceased. The sea levels stopped rising at the same time, leveling off with a total increase of just over eleven inches.

Eight hundred and fifty tons of Golden Adamant was eventually recovered from the mine and remained the property of the People’s Republic of China.

Western nations gained their own source of the alloy after deciphering the notes in Masamune’s journal, which led them to a mine in a dormant volcanic region of Japan, where he’d obtained the material for his remarkable sword.