“What were they doing on a Russian submarine?” Dane asked.
“That’s a good question. A couple of years ago, Foreman made some discrete inquiries with his counterpart in Russia- a man named Kolkov- who was investigating what he called Vile Vortices- their name for the gates.
“Kolkov confirmed that when this Russian submarine sailed there were no foreigners on board. Foreman is of the opinion that these strangers came on board while the sub was in the Devil’s Sea gate.”
“Sort of the way I was transported on board the Scorpion?”
“Perhaps. Or perhaps these people were inside the gate to begin with. Even more interesting is that we were never able to identify the American, nor could the Japanese identify the other bodies. However, one of the Japanese bodies had some work done on his teeth that was indicative of the state of dentistry in Japan in the early 1900s. Yet the body was in his prime- no more than 30.”
“We know time is different on the other side of the gates,” Dane said.
“We know that now,” Sin Fen corrected. “We didn’t know it then.”
“Is it possible that the Shadow can use people?” Dane asked.
“The Ones Before used Flaherty, so it is possible the Shadow can use humans.”
Dane rubbed his hand across his forehead, feeling the onset of a headache. “Why did the submarine sink?”
“That’s another intriguing thing,” Sin Fen said. “It appears that the Russians had quite a few ships of their fleet in the area, searching for the sub. When it reappeared, rather than recover it, the Russians seem to have sunk it.”
“Why?”
“We don’t know. We couldn’t even get Kolkov to confirm that.”
“Because of the foreigners on board?” Dane wondered.
“Perhaps.”
“Or perhaps because of the nukes on board?”
“Or the nukes not on board,” Sin Fen said with a slight smile.
Dane could pick up the aura of her emotion. He could tell she knew how frustrated he was by the lack of clear-cut answers to the many mysteries surrounding the gates.
“Is that why Foreman is so worried about the Wyoming?” Dane asked. “Even though the crew took a fatal dose of radiation, he’s concerned there might be others on board.”
“Yes.”
“But the sub would still be hot, wouldn’t it?” Dane asked. “Anyone going on board would receive a fatal dose.”
“Yes, but-” Sin Fen shrugged to indicate this was another mystery beyond her. “That Trident was launched from the Wyoming, there’s no doubt about that. Whether there’s anybody alive on board is kind of moot now.”
“Why didn’t they recover the rest of the Russian submarine?” Dane asked.
“They tried to, but the weather was getting bad and the Soviets were starting to sniff around. The CIA pulled the plug.”
“So there’s nukes unaccounted for there also,” Dane summarized.
Sin Fen nodded. “It’s very highly classified, but not counting the recent loss of the Wyoming there are over two hundred nuclear weapons from submarines and aircraft that have disappeared in or around the gates unaccounted for.”
“That will help me sleep better at night,” Dane said.
“The Wyoming’s Tridents are certainly the most powerful weapons and delivery systems.”
“What’s the status of the Glomar Explorer now?”
"After Project Jennifer it was docked at Sausita, California for over a decade. When the Cold War ended in '89, we even tried to sell or lease it to the Russians to help recover their other lost subs. The Russians weren’t interested. Then it was bought by a civilian corporation and refurbished a year and a half ago."
“Let me guess-” Dane said. “Since Howard Hughes has been dead for a while I would guess Michelet Technologies?”
Sin Fen nodded. “Yes.”
“It’s headed for the site we’re going to?”
“Correct.”
“And what are we supposed to do when we get there?”
“Try to find the Shield,” Sin Fen said.
“And we need this ship in order to do that?” Dane was beginning to get a uniquely bad feeling about this mission.
“Using other resources, Mister Foreman has determined that the place we have to look is on the bottom of the ocean floor at that spot.”
“Of course,” Dane said. “Why should it be easy?”
Dane felt her mental probing and he blocked it. During the mission into Cambodia he had been able to communicate’ with her through mental images, something Dane had had all his life- he had just never encountered anyone else with the ability. He found it both intriguing and disconcerting.
“Very good,” Sin Fen commented. “You have learned much.”
“Who are you?” Dane asked abruptly.
“I work for Mister Foreman.”
“It’s not that simple,” Dane said.
“No, it is not.”
“You told me you grew up in Cambodia, near the Angkor gate,” Dane said.
“Yes.”
He probed her mentally and was easily deflected. “How did you gain this ability?”
Sin Fen shrugged. “How did you? I know as much about my past as you do about yours.”
Dane felt Chelsea stir slightly against his feet, then settle down.
“I read your classified files,” Sin Fen said. “Even if I didn’t, I have a very good idea of your background. You were an orphan. You have no idea who your biological parents are. Neither do I. You moved from place to place as a child. So did I. You joined the army at seventeen and went off to war. I became involved in black market activities in PhnomPenh when I was but a child- anything to avoid being forced into the prostitution that the other girls at the orphanage were pressed into. I was contacted by Foreman. You were recruited by Foreman when you were in Vietnam. And here we are now.”
“How did Foreman find us?” Dane asked.
“I think Foreman is able to find us because he is one of us’,” Sin Fen said. “You’ve tried to get into his mind. It is a wall, just as yours is to me now. He has some sort of connection to the gates, just as we do. Do you know about his brother?”
Dane shook his head.
“Foreman’s brother disappeared into the Devil’s gate off the coast of Japan in the last month of World War II while flying an attack mission. Foreman was in the same squadron and was the only plane that avoided disappearing.”
“He sensed it was dangerous,” Dane said.
Sin Fen nodded. “And then he got assigned to Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Station. He was supposed to be a member of Flight Nineteen.”
“The flight of TBM Avengers that disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle,” Dane said.
“Yes. He didn’t go on that flight and watched them disappear on the radar screen.”
“So he knows enough to avoid going into the gates,” Dane said, “but he’s not afraid to send others in.”
“He had dedicated his life to finding out what the gates are and who is on the other side. To do that, he has searched for others like him.”
“What are we?” Dane asked.
Sin Fen shook her head. “I don’t know. I told you before about the two hemispheres of the brain and how we might be genetic throwbacks to the days when humans had a telepathic capability. That is what Foreman believes. That the speech capability on the right side of our brain is fully developed and functional, unlike normal humans, and that is how we are able to do what we do.”
“What do you believe?” Dane asked.
“I agree with him that we are genetically different. But I think the reason is more than just a piece of the brain working. I believe we hear the voice of the gods’. Throughout history there have always been those who could hear something others couldn’t. Priests and priestesses, the Oracle at Delphi, various saints and messiahs, the world’s religions are full of such accounts. They cannot all be false. I think we are modern prophets.”