“Even so,” Harry said. “We still better make the overall decision, because we all have the power, and if we imagine different stories, we’ll get confusion.”
“All right,” Norman said. “Let’s agree on what happened. Why did we come here?”
“I thought it was going to be an airplane crash.”
“Me, too.”
“Okay, suppose it was an airplane crash.”
“Fine. And what happened?”
“The Navy sent some people down to investigate the crash, and a problem developed-”
“-Wait a minute, what problem?”
“The squid?”
“No. Better a technical problem.”
“Something to do with the storm?”
“Life-support systems failed during the storm?”
“Yes, good. Life-support systems failed during the storm.”
“And several people died as a result?”
“Wait a minute. Let’s not go so fast. What made the lifesupport systems fail?”
Beth said, “The habitat developed a leak, and sea water corrupted the scrubber canisters in B Cyl, releasing a toxic gas.”
“Could that have happened?” Norman said.
“Yes, easily.”
“And several people died as a result of that accident.”
“Okay.”
“But we survived.”
“Yes.”
“Why?” Norman said.
“We were in the other habitat?”
Norman shook his head. “The other habitat was destroyed, too.
“Maybe it was destroyed later, with the explosives.”
“Too complicated,” Norman said. “Let’s keep it simple. It was an accident which happened suddenly and unexpectedly. The habitat sprang a leak and the scrubbers failed, and as a result most of the people died, but we didn’t because-”
“We were in the sub?”
“Okay,” Norman said. “We were in the sub when the systems failed, so we survived and the others didn’t.”
“Why were we in the sub?”
“We were transferring the tapes according to the schedule.”
“And what about the tapes?” Harry said. “What will they show?”
“The tapes will confirm our story,” Norman said. “Everything will be consistent with the story, including the Navy people who sent us down in the first place, and including us, too-we won’t remember anything but this story.”
“And we won’t have the power any more?” Beth said, frowning.
“No,” Norman said. “Not any more.”
“Okay,” Harry said.
Beth seemed to think about it longer, biting her lip. But finally she nodded. “Okay.”
Norman took a deep breath, and looked at Beth and Harry. “Are we ready to forget the sphere, and the fact that we once had the power to make things happen by thinking them?”
They nodded.
Beth became suddenly agitated, twisting in her chair. “But how do we do it, exactly?”
“We just do it,” Norman said. “Close your eyes and tell yourself to forget it.”
Beth said, “But are you sure we should do it? Really sure?” She was still agitated, moving nervously.
“Yes, Beth. You just… give up the power.”
“Then we have to do it all together,” she said. “At the same time.”
“Okay,” Harry said. “On the count of three.”
They closed their eyes.
“One…”
With his eyes closed, Norman thought, People always forget that they have power, anyway.
“Two…”Harry said.
And then Norman focused his mind. With a sudden intensity he saw the sphere again, shining like a star, perfect and polished, and he thought: I want to forget I ever saw the sphere.
And in his mind’s eye, the sphere vanished.
“Three,” Harry said.
“Three what?” Norman said. His eyes ached and burned. He rubbed them with his thumb and forefinger, then opened them. Beth and Harry were sitting around the table in the decompression chamber with him. They all looked tired and depressed. But that was to be expected, he thought, considering what they had all been through.
“Three what?” Norman said again.
“Oh,” Harry said, “I was just thinking out loud. Only three of us left.”
Beth sighed. Norman saw tears in her eyes. She fumbled in her pocket for a Kleenex, blew her nose.
“You can’t blame yourselves,” Norman said. “It was an accident. There was nothing we could do about it.”
“I know,” Harry said. “But those people suffocating, while we were in the submarine… I keep hearing the screams… God, I wish it had never happened.”
There was a silence. Beth blew her nose again.
Norman wished it had never happened, too. But wishing wasn’t going to make a difference now.
“We can’t change what happened,” Norman said. “We can only learn to accept it.”
“I know,” Beth said.
“I’ve had a lot of experience with accident trauma,” he said. “You simply have to keep telling yourself that you have no reason to be guilty. What happened happened-some people died, and you were spared. It isn’t anybody’s fault. It’s just one of those things. It was an accident.”
“I know that,” Harry said, “but I still feel bad.”
“Keep telling yourself it’s just one of those things,” Norman said. “Keep reminding yourself of that.” He got up from the table. They ought to eat, he thought. They ought to have food. “I’m going to ask for food.”
“I’m not hungry,” Beth said.
“I know that, but we should eat anyway.”
Norman walked to the porthole. The attentive Navy crew saw him at once, pressed the radio intercom. “Do anything for you, Dr. Johnson?”
“Yes,” Norman said. “We need some food.”
“Right away, sir.”
Norman saw the sympathy on the faces of the Navy crew. These senior men understood what a shock it must be for the three survivors.
“Dr. Johnson? Are your people ready to talk to somebody now?”
“Talk?”
“Yes, sir. The intelligence experts have been reviewing the videotapes from the submarine, and they have some questions for you.”
“What about?” Norman asked, without much interest. “Well, when you were transferred to the SDC, Dr. Adams mentioned something about a squid.”
“Did he?”
“Yes, sir. Only there doesn’t seem to be any squid recorded on the tapes.”
“I don’t remember any squid,” Norman said, puzzled. He turned to Harry. “Did you say something about a squid, Harry?”
Harry frowned. “A squid? I don’t think so.”
Norman turned back to the Navy man. “What do the videotapes show, exactly?”
“Well, the tapes go right up to the time when the air in the habitat… you know, the accident…”
“Yes,” Norman said. “I remember the accident.”
“From the tapes, we think we know what happened. Apparently there was a leak in the habitat wall, and the scrubber cylinders got wet. They became inoperable, and the ambient atmosphere went bad.”
“I see.”
“It must have happened very suddenly, sir.”
“Yes,” Johnson said. “Yes, it did.”
“So, are you ready to talk to someone now?”
“I think so. Yes.”
Norman turned away from the porthole. He put his hands in the pockets of his jacket, and felt a piece of paper. He pulled out a picture and stared at it curiously.
It was a photograph of a red Corvette. Norman wondered where the picture had come from. Probably a car that belonged to someone else, who had worn the jacket before Norman. Probably one of the Navy people who had died in the underwater disaster.
Norman shivered, crumpled the picture in his fist, and tossed it into the trash. He didn’t need any mementos. He remembered that disaster only too well. He knew he would never forget it for the rest of his life.
He glanced back at Beth and Harry. They both looked tired. Beth stared into space, preoccupied with her own thoughts. But her face was serene; despite the hardships of their time underwater, Norman thought she looked almost beautiful.
“You know, Beth,” he said, “you look lovely.”
Beth did not seem to hear, but then she turned toward him slowly. “Why, thank you, Norman,” she said.
And she smiled.