All the strangeness came after the ROV had gone missing, he noticed, but it was a minimal discrepancy, so he shifted it from his mind for the moment. Two days after the boss left on his adventure, that little discrepancy became an undeniable anomaly, but oddly he was the only one to realize that suddenly nature had a habit.
Not one to make alarm for nothing he had kept to himself that the sudden gathering of clouds was unnatural, that such a possession of the sky and surroundings had each time been followed by a severe storm. Because of his reputation for being superstitious and believing in sea gods and so on, the mechanic put off remarking on the phenomenon. However, after the second accident he was convinced that he needed to bring the subject under some scrutiny. Two men were badly injured being struck from their posts by a tidal wave that came from nowhere, after the skies darkened too rapidly and lightning whipped at the radio tower.
Tommy was off-duty this week and he stood in for him, assisting in whatever Darwin needed him for as engineer.
"Looking for a kraken?" he heard Darwin's mocking voice behind him.
"If I find the monster, I'm puttin' a leash on it and the first one whose balls I'll have it go after will be yours," Liam said dryly without looking at the engineer. "Have you noticed that we cannot predict the weather conditions lately?" he asked and coughed heavily. Darwin gave it some thought, rummaging through his weary memory, and then replied, "Yes, but it has never been an accurate science. It's always a bit off by a day or so…"
"No, Darwin, I mean minutes. Within minutes the environment changes completely. Haven't you noticed? I checked the computer. I even staked it out all night a few days ago, but there is nothin' wrong with the hardware. Still," he sighed and looked at the sea, "it changes rapidly and violently and I don't like it one bit."
Darwin detected the sincerity in his colleague's tone and for once elected to give him the benefit of the doubt. He joined Liam on the small iron steps where he stood vigil.
"I have to admit, I have noticed that the happenings here were a bit strangely timed," he jested, "but that is hardly a cause for concern. What is your theory, then?"
Liam stood pondering, his eyes floating continuously over the heaving water. He slowly shook his head from side to side.
"I don't have a theory. All I know is that 'tis not normal and it worries me, man," Liam answered. "An' I s'pose that doesn't make for a good argument, but just… just pay attention in the next few days. I'd wager me pay on it that it'll swing again to somethin' not on that monitor."
"Hmm, all right then. I'll pay attention. You have been known to have moments of uncharacteristic perspicacious vision after all. I need you to help me with the last hydraulic switch on Drill 2. You coming?" Darwin nudged him.
They walked toward the eastern point where Drill 2 was situated. No words were exchanged between them, but the subject of the recently ended conversation lingered in both their minds. It was indeed an odd occurrence for storms to rise without warning at this speed, but usually Darwin's first safe assumption was fatigue. Paranoia born from long days and nights and the surreal surroundings they found themselves in warranted a little skittishness every now and then.
"I want to get the toolbox, hang on," Darwin said and made his way toward the tubular Perspex elevator Purdue frequently utilized for his own comfort. Adjacent to it was the storeroom where the tools were kept for repairs and basic construction. Liam waited for him in the mating illumination of the dead yellow security light and the rays of the full moon hovering above them in the cloud riddled sky. Most of the crew was asleep already, well after dinner, and he could feel his eye lids growing thick and sandy from a long double shift.
He rubbed his eyes so hard that his vision was blurred when he was done. Darwin came from the dark, but he ignored Liam and headed straight for the technical office.
"Hey! Where you goin'?" he shouted. He took a good look at Darwin's silhouette, which appeared to have suddenly grown a few inches in height and girth. But soon, as his eyes adjusted to the dark, he realized that it was not Darwin after all. The figure stood still, looking in his direction, and then lifted his open hand in a wave. As the man was about to turn, Darwin emerged from the storeroom with his monkey wrench and some rope. They met face to face in the distance in front of Liam. Now he could clearly discern their differences and saw that the stranger was unusually tall with a powerful build.
"Can I help you?" Darwin asked, surprised by his own uttering, as he was familiar with most of the men on the oil rig and this was an almost absurd thing to ask. It was unlikely someone could just arrive there by speed boat or trawler, park his vehicle and walk around. This was not a factory on land; it was a place well into the wild ocean where radar and permissions dictated all arrivals, therefore rendering the presence of an unknown visitor quite precarious.
"Yes, you can direct me to the main docking bay, please. I am new here and I left my tool belt there today. Don't know the place too well yet, you see?" the man replied with an awkward rubbing of hands and a dumb smile. He was wearing a hard hat, which in itself was cause for distrust. Those were only worn during work hours, which had been over for hours.
"Sure, but I would need to see your clock card," Darwin lied, while Liam walked up to them. The stranger removed his hard hat to shake Darwin's hand.
"Johann Storhoi," he smiled.
The engineer was quite taken aback by the stranger, who boasted shorn white hair and equally fair facial hair and eyebrows. Even in the dark his sharp blue eyes were visible, piercing Darwin as the engineer introduced himself as the shift boss.
"I work out the shift rosters, Johann. How come I have not seen you before? What is your position here?" Darwin asked, his tone firm but polite. He was not really the shift boss, of course, and if the man accepted it he would know he was an intruder. Still, how could an intruder get on the platform without being noticed?
"He is a freelance subsea engineer I am using for this month, Darwin," said a voice from the shadows. Peter Hall was, among other things, a metallurgist and the real shift boss of Deep Sea One. He strode hastily toward them.
"Johann, I need you to go downstairs and check the pressure on the A24 and the cylinders. Been looking everywhere for you," Peter said abruptly while tapping Johann's arm to hurry.
"Good to meet you," Johann told Darwin and reluctantly went back to work with Peter in tail.
"Why would he need another subsea engineer? What the fuck am I?" Darwin ranted.
"I don't know. Funny that Peter didn't mention him or introduce us when he arrived," Liam replied, watching the two men disappear sublevel.
"No, Liam, something is off here. I wonder if Mr. Purdue knows about this guy. Peter doesn't have the authority to employ people, so where does this idiot come from? Wearing a fucking hard hat in the middle of the night, no less. He is as much an engineer as I am a fucking beauty queen," Darwin sneered under his breath, determined to investigate further in the morning.
Liam chuckled, "But you have such great legs. He might just be an engineer!"
"Blow me," Darwin retorted dryly, his eyes still wandering where the two men had descended the iron stairs.
Thunder roared from the thick black clouds that smothered the moon and left the oil rig lit only by the security lights. Darwin and Liam started. They looked up at the swirling grey, holding on to their jackets from the sudden violent gale that rode in on the gaining swells of furious foam. In astonishment they stared at the irrational weather above, then at each other.
"Believe me now?" Liam shouted in the whistle of the gusts.
"Come, let's get inside!" Darwin bellowed over the gaining chaos and the two ran into the radio room to check the monitors.