Away: Sub-Marina

A.G. Industries Sub-Marina. Craig read the sign from his bus seat. He and everyone else wore a blue jumpsuit. They had stopped at the checkpoint and were waiting to enter the harbor. There were few boats, none of which would carry all the people on the bus. Security waved them on through. Craig's head drifted back to the day the factory closed.

He accepted Rockwell's offer before coming back to the house. Tammy screamed at him for not including her in this. What was she to do? "Next time you make such a decision without me, you'll be just that. Without me."

"I'm sorry," he said. "He was right there. Everything just made sense around him. I wish you could see it like I do."

She slammed the door behind her and smoked on the porch.

On the seat next to him, a youthful particle physicist talked about his budding career. His name was Douglas. He was a theoretical genius in black holes. "We know where black holes should exist, but none of their internal properties."

"What are you going to do here?" Craig wanted to keep the conversation going. It passed the time while security looked them over.

"I have a PhD in particle theory and my last research study was in the Large Hadron Collider. I assume the same things. They shoved enough zeros in front of me to fund ten LHC's."

"I was told I'd be doing some underwater construction."

An older blonde turned around. She spoke one brief sentence before disappearing behind her seat, "I train divers." Her name was Angel.

Craig had no real idea what he'd be doing. The conversation with Rockwell flew out of his head not wholly remembered. He wondered if his wife would be there in three months, how Julie's operation would go, if black holes actually had cream filling. He rubbed his roaring stomach. The bus drove on blowing a breeze through the open window. Rank BO made him forget about eating anything. The smell was coming off a man slouched in his seat. It was toxic. The bus stopped and they were led into the main building.

They went through metal detectors and x-ray machines. The armed men intimidated Craig. They looked over the arrivals like everyone had a bomb strapped to them. The smelly man got their attention.

The guards grabbed him. "No! I need it back. Give it back. Bastards!" the smelly man screamed as they dragged him away.

Craig was interviewed. The room was dark and a floodlight blinded him. Strapped to a cold metal seat, a small camera pointed at his left eye. He was asked silly questions about his home and what color the sky was. The camera followed his pupil through the baseline. The screen perched on his right turned on. Craig saw a series of objects. Books, keys, clothes, flowers.

When they let go his head ached, like his brain was trying to eject the images he had seen.

He was shown his cot and given his training schedule. Tomorrow, he would start diving.

Class was in a big pool. His instructor was Angel. She didn't look too bad in a one-piece. He had a gut that hung out from the waist of his swim trunks. Workout versus providing for family.

"For some of you this will be your first experience with underwater work," Angel walked over to a monster. It looked like an astronaut's suit with big bugles at joint points. The right had had a glove but the left was a claw. "By the end of this training, you'll be put into this heavy pressure suit. For such an advanced skill set, it is unlikely that all of you will be prepared by the end of term."

Craig spent the morning in scuba drills, ascending and descending with weights and staying upright. He had lunch in the cafeteria. He got the chicken fried steak. The genius from yesterday waved him over to his table. "How was your morning?" Douglas asked, just barely hiding his own excitement.

"We started scuba diving. In a few months, they're going to put us into suits with claws on them." Craig snarled and hooked his hands into claws. "What about you?"

"I really wish I could tell you. It makes the LHC look like a third-grade science project. The particles on this object behave like nothing I've ever seen. I really wish I could tell you more. Classified by the company." Douglas waved somebody else over.

Angel sat down, her tray filled with sushi and chicken ball meat. "You did well today," she said matter-of-factly. Angel reminded Craig of his aunt from Texas. He guessed Angel did yoga, read diet books, loved that song "Hot 'n' Cold", dated guys from the UK, and loved her twin boys. No way, she was way too calm for all that. But it's always the quiet ones who surprise you.

The first week at Sub-Marina went quickly. Douglas invited them to his dorm. It was a giant suite compared to Craig's. He had a fully-loaded kitchen, a flat-screen in the living room, and a king-size bed in the bedroom. They drank a lot of cheap red wine. Douglas and Angel were on the couch. Her head rested on Douglas's chest. Craig made his leave.

Craig pulled out his cell and called Tammy. The call bounced back at him. "Sorry, A.G. Industries, Sub-Marina does not recognize this device or its permissions to call out. Please contact your network technician for further service."

He slept alone on his cot.