Chapter 63: We Don’t Know What They Are (３)

****

The members of Task Force “Catfish” moved with perfect coordination. The team leader examined the target once more.

Visibility was poor underwater, so it was hard to see clearly, but the shape was a classic UFO. The task force team leader attached the net to the target.

But something was off. The team leader activated his underwater jetpack and circled the target once. This craft was supposedly shot down by the ROK military and crashed into the sea.

There was no trace of damage anywhere.

Was it really shot down?

The team leader carefully ran his hand over the UFO’s surface. No openings visible, no damaged sections.

Strange. Well, they’d haul it up and analyze it—that would tell them soon enough. The team leader connected the last remaining loops of the net.

“This is Catfish-1. Target securely acquired. Please begin the lift.”

All that remained was to pull it up.

But. The Catfish team leader still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Strange deep-sea fish were still staring at the task force members from every direction.

And the strange sound kept coming.

Sound… wasn’t quite the right word. Something was ringing in the team leader’s head. It felt like a sound, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

****

There was nothing I could do. The target was at 150m depth on the seafloor. Without very specialized equipment and training, you couldn’t even get there.

I stared at the sea.

“Director.”

“What is it?”

“Come to the bridge, Director. The submersible’s video feed is connected by cable. You should be able to see the target by now.”

“Ah. On my way.”

****

It was exactly as the staff had described.

The task force members were attaching the net to the target. The downed object was a massive silver-gray disc, about 20 meters across.

“Can I talk to the members from here?”

[Gurgle— Yes. If you hold the mic and speak, gurgle— they can hear you. They can hear fine, gurgle— it’s just that us talking is a bit. Gurgle— difficult.]

The sound of bubbles, and breathing.

It didn’t seem much different from talking in a gas mask, but the sound echoed heavily. Apparently speech didn’t carry well underwater.

I looked at the screen.

Most anomalous readings were normal. But the UFO was emitting a strange low-frequency signal. Whether it was dangerous to humans, I couldn’t tell.

[We can hear you fine. Go ahead.]

“The shape is a typical UFO. Is there any way to get inside the structure? Do you see any damage anywhere on it?”

[Gurgle— No. Nothing visible.]

“What’s the progress?”

[Should be done within 10 minutes.]

“Good work.”

[Um, there is one unusual thing. Deep-sea creatures are gathering in huge numbers around us. I have no idea why…]

Deep-sea creatures were gathering?

“Is it dangerous?”

[Nothing looks dangerous yet.]

Through the submersible’s camera, I could see strange fish clustered around the target. Odd. We were still over the continental shelf—there was no reason for deep-sea creatures like those to be here.

More than that.

Did the fish have some particular reason to like the UFO? There had to be some property to it.

It was always grotesque and strange things.

No, even an anomaly could be simple sometimes. But no—every time, it was twisted two and three times over, hiding some grand secret.

Couldn’t it be simple just once?

[Recovery will be complete shortly.]

“Very well.”

The submersible’s camera illuminated the net. The target was now fully secured.

“Hmm…”

There was one thing that nagged at me.

“Team Leader. Can you find the damaged section? Specifically, where is it damaged?”

[I don’t know. I couldn’t find it.]

What. Strange indeed.

[Now that I think about it, there was some kind of trace next to it, but it seemed too strange to be a mark from being shot down.]

The submersible moved over the target, and we could see the trace in question directly on camera. It looked more like a scratch than a bullet mark—

Ah. That’s a scar.

“That mark appears to be a healed wound. It’s also possible that diving into the sea wasn’t being shot down, but rather taking temporary refuge.”

[Ah. Then what do we do?]

“We don’t know when it will fully recover, so we pull it up immediately. And since the craft might come back to life, put the anomalous weapon on standby.”

[Understood. We’re done, bringing it up now.]

I thought about it for a moment.

The low-frequency waves detected around the anomaly might be some kind of communication device. And if it’s a communication device, it might be calling something here.

Was that why the fish were swarming?

Full of unknowns, as always.

****

The deck crane started turning. A silver-gray disc-shaped object came up bound in the net. The submersible was being hauled up chasing after the net.

I walked toward the crane.

“Eheh… it needs to come up faster.”

If the UFO fully recovers from its wound, it might take off again, or do something bizarre. It’s still just speculation, though.

What do I do about this. I picked up my phone.

“Aide An.”

[What is it?]

“It’s that thing. Get the Director’s Office moving and have fighters put on launch standby. I’m sending the data now. The target is near Busan.”

[Ah, us?]

“Yes.”

[You mean launch them now?]

What do I do about this? Even if we have them ready and waiting on standby, it’ll take a while.

I hesitated for a moment.

“Yes. Then launch the fighters as soon as they’re ready, and have them escort the area around the Feynman.”

[Understood. I’m the one who has to request cooperation from the ROK Air Force too, right?]

“The Agency Director and a few Korean generals are here, so there shouldn’t be a big problem. But I’m outside right now, so it’ll be hard for me to do it myself.”

[Understood. I’ll proceed.]

I hung up.

That’s handled for now. All that’s left is for the deck crane to haul that UFO up, but how long is that going to take?

****

Clank, clank.

“50 meters to the surface!”

Uh oh. The chain being hauled up by the crane was clanking ominously. The Foundation staff on site started murmuring among themselves.

“Director! We have an emergency!”

Ah, I should’ve just stayed on the bridge.

“40 meters to the surface, no, 60 meters remain—”

I don’t even need to look to know what’s happening.

“I’m heading to the bridge right now. The anomaly is running wild underwater at the moment, correct?”

“First, get the diving bell up quickly—”

Rattle.

The crane let out a groaning sound, then began to give way as if it had lost the chain.

“70 meters to the surface! It’s going back down!”

“Hey, everyone get back! It’s dangerous!”

“If we lose it now, the task force will—”

The steel bent. As something pulled on the crane, the bolts holding it in place began snapping one by one.

CRASH!

“Get out of the way now!”

The people at the stern scrambled out of the way. The sound of twisting metal grew louder, and the crane tilted backward.

SNAP!

The chain broke.

The Feynman’s crew all grabbed their weapons and rushed onto the deck. I have no idea what they plan to do with pop guns like those.

“Clear the deck!”

The sea where the crane had fallen began to churn. Something was coming up.

“No, I said clear the deck!”

THUD, THUD, THUD.

A rumbling sound came from deep in the sea.

“Take cover now!”

CRASH!

Waves and a shockwave swept over the deck.

“Damn it.”

The silver disc shot up into the sky. I ran toward the bridge. I had to respond as fast as possible. It might already be too late.

“Heading to the bridge!”

Are the fighters here yet?

****

I rushed into the bridge.

“Status report, now!”

“The anomaly rose from the sea and flew back into the sky. We are currently tracking it with radar and the information-density tracking system. Four Foundation fighters have launched and are in pursuit.”

I took a brief breath.

1, 9, 25, 49, 81, 121, 169, 225.

Okay. I’m a bit calmer now.

“You intend to shoot it down, I take it?”

“Shoot it down.”

I let out a sigh.

“Have the other fighters stand by for launch as well. Tell the ROK Air Force fighters across the country to stand by too.”

I don’t know what those things are, but we already shot one down once. They’re something human weapons can kill. Especially Foundation weapons.

Kill them all.

“By the way. What’s the status of the task force?”

“They’re safe. But the crane is wrecked, so getting the diving bells back up right away won’t be easy.”

“Gather all task force members around the submersible. I don’t want anyone losing track of position.”

“Yes, sir.”

I scratched my head.

“The hostile aircraft is being tracked smoothly. It appears to be fleeing east at roughly Mach 2.”

Mach 2, huh… We can catch up to that easily enough.

I checked my watch for a moment. Nearly twenty minutes had passed since I called the Seoul Branch, so the Foundation’s fighters should be arriving about now.

Ah, there they are. Of course, I can’t see the Foundation’s fighters with the naked eye, but I can see the contrails and the sonic booms.

A thunderous roar that tore the sky apart began to echo.