voyage, but that is of no consequence. I have been for the past two weeks the victim of acute anxiety. I must ask you gentlemen to open those cases for me. I simply must!”
“Mr. Verne,” Lucas began, “we’ve been through that. We simply cannot-”
“Then you must decide what sort of drastic thing it is you want to do about me,” he said, visibly agitated. “For if I am not permitted to see what is inside those cases, I will go to Commander Farragut and tell him what I know.”
“Mr. Verne,” said Lucas softly, “we can’t allow you to do that.”
“That curious alarm device of yours,” said Verne, “has left me almost completely bereft of sleep. I am on the verge of complete nervous collapse. I must know the nature of its operation, gentlemen!”
“Mr. Verne,” said Finn, “Lucas explained to you. This is a top secret government-”
“Do you take me for a fool?” Verne almost shouted. “I wanted to believe you! I wanted for there to be some sort of sane, rational explanation, but there isn’t one. You’re lying to me. I know it beyond a question of a doubt. Even given all the resources of the American government or any other highly industrialized state, such a device could not possibly have been manufactured! It contravenes known science. It exists, yet it cannot exist. You understand, gentlemen, I am no scientist, but I keep abreast of new developments. I read voraciously; I am not an unversed layman. I do have some understanding of these things. The technology simply does not exist to manufacture such a thing! The scale of miniaturization is beyond any comprehension. There is no known power source which could be made small enough for such a device. There must be circuits, yet for someone to make circuits of such infinitesimal size, they would have to be able to dance upon the head of a pin! I must know how it was done. I must know what sort of process made those cases. I must know how those locks upon those cases operate when there are no apparent workings within them. I must know how these things were done. I must know where they were done. And I must know…”
He sat there, staring at them wildly.
“Mon Dieu, dare I say it?”
“Go on, Mr. Verne,” said Finn.
In a voice that was almost a whisper, Verne said, “I must know when.”
“Jackpot,” Finn said.
Lucas gave him a tight-lipped look.
“I am right, am I not?” said Verne, softly. “I felt certain I was going mad. Or perhaps I am already mad. Please, gentlemen, I beg you, for the sake of my sanity, you must tell me!”
“Mr. Verne, Jules,” said Lucas, “before this discussion goes any further, you must understand one thing. When I spoke of a top secret mission, I was not lying. If I tell you what you want to know, you must swear it will go no further than the confines of this room. Thousands upon thousands of lives could depend upon it.”
Verne licked his lips and took a deep breath. “And if I do not swear so?”
“Then Finn and I will have to figure out some way to make certain you cannot tell anyone. We do not wish to harm you. We do not wish to harm anyone on board this ship. Chances are no one will believe you anyway, but we can’t risk having our belongings searched. Please, Mr. Verne.”
“All right,” he said. “Conditionally, I will so swear. The condition is I cannot stand by and allow any wrongdoing. If that is what you intend, you shall have to kill me, for I will do everything within my power to stop you.”
“I can accept that,” Lucas said. “The answer, as you must already have surmised, is yes. We are not of this time.”
Verne shut his eyes. “I knew it,” he said. “I did not believe it was possible, but it was the only explanation that made any sort of sense. Both of you, and Miss Cross, as well-”
“Are from the 27th century,” said Lucas.
Verne gasped. “The 27th… but… that is over seven hundred years in the future!”
“That’s quite correct,” said Finn.
“Travel through time,” said Verne, awestruck. “I had thought about it from time to time-” he chuckled. “From time to time. Ironic choice of words, n’est-ce pas?” He stared at them both with wonder. “I had often thought of writing a story about it, but it seemed too incredible, too much of a fantasy for my sort of work. I always sought to strive for some believability and so I dismissed the notion. Yet.. there are a thousand things I wish to ask you and I do not know where to begin! Yes, yes, of course I do. The most obvious questions is, why are you here? It is something about this creature, is it not? This must be like some sort of archaeology for you-but no. You said thousands upon thousands of lives could depend upon it. Surely an aquatic mammal could not threaten-no, naturally not, if it is so important, then…”
The sound of the forecastle gun was heard and there was shouting up on deck. Andre burst into the cabin. “It’s Ned! He’s sighted it! They’ve opened fire and-” She saw Verne and brought herself up short.
“Get the ordnance!” Lucas said. “Move!”
“What is it? What’s-the creature!” Verne jumped to his feet as Finn and Andre both bolted out the door. Lucas put his palm up against Verne’s chest and shoved him hard. He fell back against the bulkhead. Lucas grabbed his equipment and moved toward the door.
“I’m sorry, Jules,” he said. “I can’t explain now and you’d just get in the way.”
He closed the door and locked it.
The torpedo struck amidships and the explosion rocked the Abraham Lincoln, blowing the steamer in two, obliterating men and metal alike as it shattered the ship’s spine, sending a great gout of flame and smoke leaping high into the air to illuminate the night sky. Finn reached the deck with Andre right behind him and the shock of the explosion flung him over the rail into the sea. He never felt it when he hit the water.
“Finn! Finn, come on, wake up! Snap out of it, I’m getting tired.”
“Andre?”
“Can you swim? Are you all right?”
Delaney began to tread water as Andre released him. He coughed as seawater sloshed into his mouth. “How long have I been out?”
“Don’t know,” said Andre. “Seemed like forever.” She gasped, gulping in air. “The ship went down. I dove in after you when you went over. I think some boats got away, but there was a lot of noise… boilers blew… I screamed myself hoarse, but no one heard me.”
“Lucas?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
“Damn.”
“We’re going to have to clock out, Finn. I can’t stay afloat much longer. Holding you exhausted me.”
Simon Hawke
The Nautilus Sanction
“You’re right,” he said. “There’s nothing else to do. We-”
“Ha-llooo!”
“Son of a bitch!” said Finn. “Someone’s out there!”
“Finn! Andre! Ha-llooo!”
“That’s Lucas! Here! Over here!”
They couldn’t see a thing. The moon was full, but a thick fog had rolled in and visibility was practically nil.
“Keep shouting so we can find you!” Lucas cried. “You sound very close!”
“God damn it, hurry up!” yelled Andre. “The water’s freezing!”
They heard Priest let out a whoop. “Hang on, Andre! We’re coming!”
They shouted back and forth for a few moments, and then the boat came drifting out of the fog with Lucas standing up in the prow, peering intently into the water. He spotted them and within seconds, they were being pulled over the side. Verne was at the oars and Devries lay in the bottom of the boat, unconscious.
“I was beginning to think you drowned,” said Lucas.
“I almost did,” said Finn, gasping for breath. “Andre kept me afloat.”
“I saw you both go over,” Lucas said. “You can thank Jules here for the boat. I think maybe one or two others
