Leviathan

They watched as the young woman walked over. She was dressed in a red shirt and blue shorts, different from the hangar deck crew who wore blue jumpsuits, not unlike the military members at the Event Group. Her brown hair was braided--coiling around both ears--and her smile was genuine. Her eyes were deep and dark blue, with a ring of soft silver around the pupils. She was an amazing-looking girl.

"This is Yeoman Felicia Alvera. She will show you to your quarters so you may rest and change clothes. We are conducting operations this afternoon, so your lunch will be served in your staterooms. The captain sends apologies."

"When you say operations, you mean attacking merchant shipping and killing more innocents?" Niles asked.

"Is there such a thing as innocence in your world, Doctor? Even in this world we have our faults, and at times, very little innocence." Tyler turned and strode quickly away.

"I must apologize for the sergeant. He has his manner; that's why we don't allow him out very much," the yeoman said, smiling. She saw her humor did not sit well with Leviathan's new guests, so she cleared her throat and gestured to her right. "If you'll follow me, please."

Niles allowed the senator and Alice to fall into place behind the woman so he could assist the former director if he needed it. Virginia, unusually quiet, stepped up and took Niles by the arm as if fearful of something or to keep Niles in check with his insults, he wasn't sure.

"After you, dear Sarah," Farbeaux said with a wave of his arm.

"Colonel, just because there are no armed guards on us does not mean we are not being watched."

"I've already spotted ten security cameras, my dear, and they are tracking us, indeed. Someone is quite interested in our little group."

Sarah just realized who it was she had given the warning to. This man had a sense about him that others could only dream of. He was a survivor beyond measure and a master predator. She decided she would keep close to Henri Farbeaux. She took his arm to steady him and they followed the others.

The group stepped into a plastic-lined, carpeted elevator that blended well with the bulkhead. The yeoman waited until all were inside and then said aloud, "Deck ten."

As the elevator doors closed silently, they all felt the movement of the car. In just about ten seconds, they felt the elevator glide to a soft stop, then another strange feeling began and that was when they realized they were moving horizontally. They followed their progress on a multicolored chart on the wall that depicted their car moving at a rapid gait along a multitiered grid. The elevator traveled another thirty seconds and then stopped. The doors slid open with only the slightest hiss.

" Deck ten."

Sarah looked at Alice and Virginia as the computerized female voice controlling the elevator announced their deck.

"Is that--?"

"If not, she has a sister," Niles said as he commented on the computer-controlled voice. They were all startled when they realized it had the same sexy and embarrassing audible print as their own Europa system at the Group.

"This woman must make a fortune doing these damn recordings," Sarah said as she followed the yeoman out of the elevator.

"If you're speaking of our computer's voiceprint, it maybe just like your system." She gave a small laugh. "It's recorded by a little old lady in Akron, Ohio." She gestured for them to step free of the elevator. "She's seventy-six years old."

"Oh," Sarah said as she waited for Lee, Alice, Niles, and Virginia to catch up with her and Farbeaux. She frowned toward Alice. "Don't ever tell Carl, Ryan, or Mendenhall. It would shatter their fantasies about Europa's voice."

As they entered a very long and curving hallway, they saw magnificent laser prints of the oceans of the world lining the wall. Each was backlit and was a depiction of a bay, a sea, or a moonlight view of the Arctic. As they walked slowly behind the yeoman, they all stared at the design of the hallway. The material was unrecognizable. It had the look of hard plastic, but as each reached out to touch the material in turn, they knew it was something beyond their own engineering knowledge. It was soft in spots and hard in other areas. Large panels met at a stringer that felt and looked like painted titanium.

"All hands, prepare to dive."A loud horn sounded throughout the boat.

The wall, about five feet up from the floor, split, and a long panel slid down as it did. A stout-looking handrail slowly slid from the abcess.

"If you'll stop and take a handhold, this will only take a minute. The initial dive profile of Leviathancan be rather steep. We call it the 'the fall from grace.'" Yeoman Alvera smiled as she took hold of the steel-and-wood handrail.

"Nice," Sarah said, but taking ahold of the rail anyway.

"Dive, dive, dive."The voice was strong and clear over the hidden loudspeakers as a soft tone sounded throughout the boat warning of the dive.