Up From The Deep by Vaughn Jackson (highly recommended books txt) 📕

“Smooth,” Kurtis said as he went to follow her.

“Get fucked,” Devonte mumbled. He sat alone, spinning in his computer chair for a little bit. Maybe she’ll decide it’s not a good idea after all. Maybe she’ll come back. After an hour he got up and made his way to the infirmary.

Raymond lay on the white cot, breathing softly. Devonte’s eyes widened. A mechanical apparatus extended from the base of his spine and wrapped around his waist, extending down his legs. The harness was a complicated mess of straps and thin metal bars. Devonte traced his hand on the frame.

The detective’s eyes fluttered open. “I see you’ve discovered my secret.”

Devonte jerked his hand away, embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s fine. There was shame at first, but in the past months I’ve accepted my new condition. One must always press on.”

“What happened?” Devonte tried his best not to stare. He locked eyes with Raymond but found that even more uncomfortable, so he stared over the man’s shoulder instead.

“A long fall, and a sudden stop. It shattered...a lot of bones.” Raymond struggled to sit up. Devonte helped as best he could.

They sat in silence for a moment.

“What’s on your mind?” Raymond asked finally.

“Huh? What makes you think something’s bothering me?” Devonte stuttered.

“I didn’t ask what’s bothering you, but now I know something is. I don’t need to be a detective to figure out something is wrong. You wear your emotions like a badge.”

“Like at the cafe?”

“Like at the cafe,” Raymond affirmed. “Now spill.”

Devonte tongued his cheek. “It’s Skylar,” he said.

“You’re crushing on her already?” Raymond grimaced as he chuckled.

“Yes. No! Maybe. Shut up.” Devonte ran a hand through his hair. “That’s not what’s on my mind right now though. It’s her and Kurtis. They’re trying to build the prototype that Tempest wanted.”

“And you’re worried they might get their hands on it?”

Devonte nodded.

“Then why aren’t you helping them?” Raymond asked.

“Did you miss the part where I don’t think it’s a good idea?”

“And you told them this?” Raymond said.

“Yes.”

“And they decided to do it anyway?”

“Uh-huh.”

“So, you can’t stop them from doing what they want to do?” Raymond cocked an eyebrow.

“That’s why we’re having this conversation, yes.”

Raymond sighed. He reached out and put a hand on Devonte’s shoulder. “Control what you can. Now, go help your friend.” He said with a wink.

“I don’t—”

“Go.”

#

Devonte took a deep breath and opened the door to the lab. Skylar looked up and her face immediately lit up. Kurtis scowled.

“I’m here to help,” Devonte said. “You guys need a tech person still, right?”

Kurtis opened his mouth, but Skylar spoke first. “Of course!” She ran over to Devonte. He thought she was going to hug him but instead she punched him in the arm.

“Ouch!”

“That’s for making me think you weren’t gonna help.” Then she hugged him.

Kurtis crossed his arms and pursed his lips.

“So, what is the device supposed to do?”

“We need be able to draw the creature away by calling it with the sounds of its natural prey,” Kurtis said. His voice was laced with venom.

“Whales,” Devonte said. “Right? But you can’t just blast whale sounds over the entire populace.”

“Why not?” Kurtis argued.

“Would you want to hear a whale cry at the volume of a jet engine in your city? Not to mention the frequency and the volume would shatter everything glass within a pretty wide radius. That’s basic physics, right?”

Kurtis’ eyes narrowed. “Of course, but this is just a prototype.”

“Well I don’t know what you do in physics,” Devonte said, looking intently at the tangle of wires and parts beginning to take shape on the workbench, “but when I design a prototype, it needs to function effectively the same as the desired outcome. Otherwise how do you know that it works?” He popped up to check how his comments went over. Kurtis did not look pleased.

“I didn’t even think about that,” Skylar said. She beamed at Devonte. The smile quickly changed to a frown. “How do we deal with that?”

“Yeah, smart guy,” Kurtis said.

“Oh, shut up. Let him think,” Skylar snapped.

Devonte couldn’t help but smile as he realized what Raymond had been trying to explain to him. “It’s actually an easy concept. You can just isolate the portion of the sound that can’t be heard by humans, but still draws the creature. There’s plenty of software out there that can do it, but to be safe...I can write us one.”

#

Devonte watched Skylar wipe her forehead, smearing a streak of grease beneath the tied-up mane of her hair. “I think it’s done,” she said. “Kurtis?”

The grey-haired man checked over the crumpled notes one last time. “Everything seems to be according to the original prototype specifications.” He stuffed them back into his pocket. “All that’s left is to see if your friend can solve our volume problem.”

“Call me Amazon Prime, because I just delivered,” Devonte said, holding up a small thumb drive. “Coded, compiled, and ready for action.”

Kurtis reached for the device, but Devonte pulled it away. “Uh-uh, this is Skylar’s device, so she gets to plug in the last piece,” he said, walking past Kurtis and placing the thumb drive in Skylar’s hand.

She beamed up at him. “Let’s do this,” she said.

At that moment a klaxon sounded, and the base was drenched in a pulsing blue light. Skylar stuffed the thumb drive in her breast pocket before giving a questioning look to the two men.

“The last time I heard a sound like that, something blew up,” Devonte said. “I doubt it’s ever a good sound.”

“What should we do?” Kurtis asked.

“You two stay here,” Devonte said. “Keep this thing hidden and safe.”

“Where are you going?” Skylar asked.

“I’ve got to check on Raymond. He just started walking again.” Devonte packed up his bag, including the gun Brannigan had left him. When questioned by the general, the captain had said it was lost in the explosion at Alcatraz. “Stay. Here.” he whispered.

#

The skeleton crew thumped through the hallways as Devonte made his way to the infirmary. Halfway to his destination, an explosion shook