Chapter 62: We Don’t Know What They Are (２)

****

The Feynman was a truly beautiful vessel.

The seasickness, however, was not so beautiful. I’d never been prone to motion sickness—even the helicopter ride had been tolerable.

It was probably nerves more than nausea.

The endless horizon, the endless irregular motion, and the mystery of the anomaly. All of it was contributing to this queasy feeling. Ugh, I think I’m going to throw up.

“Director, do you believe in aliens?”

The Mechanical Section Chief asked me. Well, I don’t see any reason to think they don’t exist.

I’ve seen things far stranger than aliens.

“Aliens… are you talking about beings from outside this world? It’d be more ridiculous if I didn’t believe in them. I’ve seen them several times.”

“You’ve seen aliens several times?”

I nodded.

“Returnees could be considered aliens in a sense. And in the Garden, I saw people who dwell outside the world. Aliens exist.”

“Ah, I mean aliens from space.”

I shook my head.

“It doesn’t make sense that alien craft with the technology to cross tens of light-years through space would get shot down by Earth-made fighter jets.”

Those probably don’t exist. When you think about the principles of spaceflight and interstellar travel.

“That doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Just that it’s not the simplest explanation.”

“Can’t be helped. Until other evidence appears, taking the simplest explanation as fact is the scientific method.”

The Mechanical Section Chief mulled it over.

“Is this really something to settle by the scientific method?”

Up until now, I’d thought the Mechanical Section Chief was a good person. He probably still is. But now that we’re actually talking, our academic views differ somewhat.

Not that that makes him a bad person.

“In the end, Director, aren’t you just calling it magic because you can’t find an answer to this unidentified flying object incident?”

I let out a small sigh.

Exchanging opinions with a fellow scientist is all well and good, but I was already tired before the work even started.

“Mechanical Section Chief. We haven’t even seen the site yet.”

“That’s true.”

The Mechanical Section Chief scratched his head sheepishly.

****

The overall commander of this operation was me, the Director of Facility 82. I was also the one who needed to receive briefings on the situation.

“Captain. Are you certain this is the right spot?”

“Ah, yes. The target’s crash location has already been confirmed via sonar.”

“Good to hear.”

“In the ocean, most sounds can be heard from thousands of kilometers away. We know exactly when the craft fell into the sea, how the ROK Navy vessels responded, and what conversations took place on deck. All of it.”

Well, enough science class. There were more important matters. I took my eyes off the sea and met the Feynman’s captain’s gaze.

“Give me the briefing.”

“Currently, the Foundation’s Feynman, along with the ROK Navy’s Cheonghaejin and Gwanggaeto the Great, are standing by near the site.”

“Yes.”

“We’re in the process of selecting a recovery method. The Foundation wants to proceed with human divers for the survey, while the ROK Navy is pushing for a submersible.”

I nodded.

“Then let’s dive. Do we have recovery equipment? Or are we just surveying and returning?”

The Feynman’s captain thought for a moment.

“Sonar confirms the target is resting on a rise on the continental shelf. It’s at roughly 150 meters depth, so human divers can reach the site. It’s emitting a regular, unusual sound underwater, but the mechanism itself doesn’t appear to be alive.”

Nothing unusual in the explanation so far.

“Understood. And the recovery plan?”

“The ROK Navy says the equipment and personnel aboard the Cheonghaejin are sufficient for a full recovery, but—”

I shook my head.

“No, that won’t do. It’s our property—why should the ROK Navy haul it up? And it’s not like the Anomalous Incident Response Agency is doing the recovery either, since the Cheonghaejin belongs to the ROK Navy.”

“Understood.”

“We recover it first, no matter what. Even if the Korean military protests, ignore them for now.”

The anomaly is ours.

****

At the stern of the Feynman, preparations to recover the target were in full swing. The target lay at 150 meters deep.

The plan was to deploy the submersible first, then lower a diving bell to send in human divers. A crowd of people had gathered at the ship’s stern.

As we approached the stern, a fair number of eyes turned toward me. Well… coming from someone who’d served in the military myself, I could understand.

If the on-site commander-in-chief, the Director, suddenly showed up where you were working, it’d be enough to startle anyone. I decided to just let it slide.

“Hello, Director. I’m the team leader of the underwater reconnaissance task force ‘Catfish.’ It’s an honor to meet you.”

A tall man… but his equipment covered his face, so I couldn’t tell who he was.

“Yes. Give me the briefing.”

“Yes, ma’am. We’ll lower two diving bells to the target point. At the same time, the submersible will transport the crane-connected net down to the deep sea. The task force will secure the net to the target, and then we’ll haul it up with the crane.”

“Is there no evacuation plan?”

“Since we have two diving bells—if one fails, we can use the other to make two trips and move the task force members.”

“Can’t the submersible be used for rescue?”

“In deep-sea conditions, it’s difficult for a person to board and descend in a submersible. Strictly speaking, they could cling to the outside of the submersible and come up slowly.”

“Understood.”

I didn’t know much about submersibles or deep-sea diving. If the experts said so, then that was that.

“Let’s proceed as quickly as possible. Begin the dive as soon as the diving bells are ready.”

“Understood.”

A moment later. The diving bell was brought up onto the deck, and the task force members boarded it.

*Creeeak.*

The massive machinery moved.

The Feynman’s crane began lowering the diving bell into the sea. The ocean swallowed it up with ease, as if the diving bell we’d sent down were nothing more than a small toy.

“…”

I only regretted that I couldn’t go to the site myself.

****

Meanwhile.

On the bridge of the Cheonghaejin, a considerable number of Korean military personnel and their associates had gathered. It wasn’t an ordinary occurrence, but then again, this wasn’t an ordinary situation either.

The bridge was noisy with the voices of the officials. The captain of the Cheonghaejin, senior Ministry of National Defense officials, the Director of the Anomalous Incident Response Agency, and so on and so forth.

Korea’s civil servants had assembled.

“What is this? Who does that person think she is, ordering Korean Navy and Air Force generals around on the high seas and telling them what to do? Are you really going to just stand by and watch this?”

A young naval officer was venting his frustration. The captain of the Cheonghaejin let out a sigh instead of answering. He’d seen this before, off Aden.

“Better not to know.”

“What even is the Foundation? It’s just a non-governmental organization, isn’t it? No matter how you look at it, can’t the government apply pressure?”

“Careful. The Foundation is listening to this too.”

“And this whole situation—they go to the trouble of calling in the Cheonghaejin, and now they’re telling us to stand aside because the Foundation’s ship will recover the target…”

The captain of the Cheonghaejin sighed again.

“Do you know when that Foundation ship set sail?”

“Why does that matter?”

“That ship has been operating nearby since 12 o’clock. Hours before the flying object was even detected. They predicted this incident. The Cheonghaejin’s participation was our request.”

“Ah…”

The naval officers mulled it over for a moment.

“So it’s the Foundation bastards’ property after all?”

“If it were, we’d have already raised the issue. They don’t know what it is either, which is why they’ve agreed to the joint investigation.”

“Understood.”

“I don’t know much either. If you want to live a long life, just keep your mouth shut and stay quiet. Don’t go running your mouth with incomplete information and making enemies for nothing.”

Another sigh.

****

The captain of the Cheonghaejin fell silent and stared at the Foundation’s ship waiting beyond the sea. The agency director gave an awkward nod as well.

“How should I put it… I’m embarrassed to say this, but it’s best not to cross the Foundation if you can help it. I hear this Director is different. Try to resolve things smoothly.”

The commissioner lowered his voice.

“The new Director?”

“Ah, this is classified, but…”

The commissioner lowered his voice another notch.

“Hmm. They say absolute power corrupts absolutely, don’t they? The Foundation is no different. The Foundation’s leadership is a bit unstable.”

“Ah…”

“It’s classified, so I shouldn’t really be telling you all this, but since you might see the Director later, I’ll just go ahead and say it.”

“Yes.”

“In the end, fascist governments—their behavior is predictable, isn’t it? Loyalty contests, meaningless infighting, power games, and so on… Because of things like that, the Foundation’s leadership is thought to be in a constant state of chaos. According to the investigations by the NIS and the Response Agency.”

I didn’t know the internal structure of the Foundation, but in a sense, it was obvious. There was no way an organization that stagnant could run normally.

“Anyway. The Korea Branch’s Director is someone they used to swap out every other day. But this Director is different. I saw it in the Yul— no. In a different operation. This Director seems to be someone who has it all—force, ability, and even the loyalty of subordinates.”

The commissioner paused.

“Dr. Geum. Are you listening, by any chance?”

****

I took off my headset.

“No, you just swore up and down that I’d be listening. What’s with the sudden formality.”