Archipelago N.Y.: Flynn (24 page)

There was a faint
orange glow some twenty feet above him. Not far, but he knew he had to hurry.
Swimming straight up, Flynn could feel the weight of Mrs. Voinovich now and the
strain on all his muscles. They were almost there, only a few feet away from
the light, when Mrs. Voinovich started trashing on his back… Flynn knew that
the poor woman would open her mouth...  take that dreaded involuntary breath…
and fill her lungs with water… Flynn kicked his feet with all his strength, his
powerful strokes breaking the surface with seconds to spare.

There was a loud
gasp from behind him, as Mrs. Voinovich sucked in a huge gulp of air and began
to cough. That was too damn close, Flynn thought, as he filled his screaming
lungs with air. It was stale, but breathable enough. Flynn looked around and
spotted a large floating deck to his left. Two people were lying on it, soaking
wet and shivering. They were Duncan's first charges and were glad to see Flynn
swimming toward them. The two helped Mrs. Voinovich onto the platform then
hoisted Flynn up. While they tended to Mrs. Voinovich, Flynn took a little
break to get his bearings. He was in some kind of a large round shaft space,
and although he had found air pockets in submerged buildings before, they were
never as big as this. Flynn looked up and could see no ceiling. The shaft
continued up and up, until its walls turned to black. He wondered if this was
one of the four giant smokestacks of the Power Plant… Flynn studied his
surroundings more carefully. The deck was moored next to a rusty staircase,
leading up to a heavy metal door. There was an oil lamp burning above the door,
the only source of light in the shaft. Flynn looked back at Mrs. Voinovich who
now seemed fine, despite the cold.

“Thank you,” she
said and smiled weakly at Flynn. “Hope the next one down treats you better.”

“You did great,
Mrs. Voinovich,” Flynn said and slid back into the water.

“Well done
everyone!” Duncan Roth had just finished doing his final head count. No one was
missing from the Departure List. They were all huddled together on the floating
deck now. Exhausted and freezing, but alive! He stood above them on the rusty
staircase, water dripping from his tall frame, not showing even the slightest
sign of being cold or tired.

Duncan looked like
he had just come back from a leisurely swim, thought Flynn. They had all
performed numerous dives, but Duncan had done the most. Flynn was more than impressed
by his stamina and endurance.… The man had surprised him repeatedly in the past
hour, and was continuing to do so… Unlike Duncan, Flynn was on the verge of
collapsing from exhaustion… The dives had finally taken their toll… He could
barely stand on his feet. Flynn had lost count of how many people he had
ferried down. His last two trips had been to bring Tony and Madison. Now, they
were all waiting to see what Duncan had in store for them next.

“I don’t think he
brought us here just to show us this air pocket,” Madison whispered. “There
must be more to this…”

Flynn had to agree
with her.

“Please, come with
me,” said Duncan, as if he had read their minds.

He was making his
way up the flight of rusty stairs. Emotionally and physically drained,
everybody had fallen silent again. No questions were asked. One by one, they
all started up the stairs and followed Duncan through the heavy metal door at
the top of the landing. Flynn and Madison were right behind him, both eager to
find out where he was taking them.

The man led them
down a dark corridor, up more flights of stairs and then into another corridor.
The thick walls were made of solid concrete. There were cracks everywhere, and
all surfaces were streaked with rusty stains from the metal fixtures running
above their heads. Corroded pipes, broken electrical boxes and torn cables
littered the floor.

Although the Power
Plant appeared abandoned and completely derelict, there were lights along the
passageways.

“Sir...” Flynn
turned to Duncan Roth, “Where’s the electricity coming from?”

“You'll find out
in a minute ... And Flynn ...” Duncan stopped and turned, “you don't have to
call me sir! Not down here, anyway!”

Flynn exchanged a
startled look with Madison then hurried after the man. A beam of strong light
flooded the corridor as Duncan opened another metal door at its end. He held it
open, but stood blocking the entrance and waiting for everybody to gather.
Flynn stopped at the threshold and glanced at Duncan who gave him an
encouraging nod. “Go on. We’ve arrived,” he said.

Flynn cautiously
stepped through the door and onto a wide industrial walkway bridge high above a
huge cavernous space. Taking another step forward, he froze in his tracks!
Flynn was looking down at a brightly lit hall and at a gigantic vessel, the
likes of which he had never seen before… It was suspended half-way up in the
air, held by a dozen chains and hanging from a gigantic domed ceiling. Its
massive hull was made out of what Flynn immediately recognized were salvaged
materials: vehicle parts, pieces of corrugated metal and plastic, all welded
together. The vessel was positioned above a pool of murky green water,
surrounded by rafts and barges, piled high with more scavenged resources.
Smaller rafts provided support for the crude scaffolding which encircled the
sides of its hull. There were large holes in the vessel’s body, cables and
wires sticking out of its unfinished sections. It had to be some kind of a sea-faring
ship, Flynn thought. With its round tubular body, it resembled the old airplane
fuselages he had seen carried by the Industrial Scavengers. But its overall
shape reminded him more of a blue whale… a few years back, Flynn had seen one
swim past, narrowly missing the
Seeker
… He felt Madison's hand on his shoulder.
She too was staring, mouth agape.

“What the hell’s
that?” Flynn whispered, unable to take his eyes off the vessel.

But he was now
being pushed to the side, as the rest of the group gathered behind him and
Madison. The people were pressing against the railings, mesmerized by what they
were seeing. A loud collective gasp of surprise could be heard. There was a
ripple of excitement as everybody began to crane their necks to get a better look.

“What is it,
Flynn?” Tony Romero had managed to squeeze himself through the wall of bodies.

“You tell me!”
Flynn shifted sideways to make some space for his friend.

“Oh, wow!” Tony
cried. “Looks like... a whale, amigo!”

“Welcome to the
Ark
!”
Duncan Roth's voice cut above the noise, and everyone was instantly silenced. They
all turned. He stood a few feet away, leaning against the railing, studying
their faces. “That’s your future home!” the man smiled, pointing at the vessel.
“As you can see, she's not finished yet. But now… with your additional help, I
think we’ll be ready to sail in a couple of weeks!”

All eyes were
glued on Duncan Roth, and for a long, silent moment nobody dared to react to
what he had just said.

“Sail… to where?”
someone asked finally.

Flynn turned. It
was his father who had spoken up again.

“Dry Land.”

Duncan Roth's
words echoed around their heads.

Flynn couldn’t
believe he had just heard those two forbidden words… But he wasn’t the only one
who was shocked to hear them…  Madison, Tony, Clay and Pharrell were just as
stunned as he was… This was something nobody ever talked about… Dry Land was
something that didn't exist!

“Look, I’m fully
aware of what you all think of me ... and how hard it must be for you to trust
me!” said Duncan and then paused. “First, I owe you all a big apology, then ...
an explanation! It's a long story!” He started down the walkway. “But before
you hear all the details, I’d like you to meet the others… They’ve been
expecting you.”

“Others? What
others?” Flynn asked Tony and Madison as they followed the mysterious Duncan
Roth. Of course, none of them had an answer to the question. They were just as
puzzled as Flynn.

Duncan Roth led
them down through a web of walkways and onto the big floating platform moored
under the
Ark.
They were all gathered together now in the shadow of the
vessel’s massive hull, eyes wide with wonder. Who could have built such a
thing? They didn't have to wait long to find out. Duncan blow-whistled and a
moment later a hatch in the hull opened. A face, smeared in grease, peered out
of the hatch. It belonged to a very old man.

“Greetings
everyone!” cried the man, swinging his legs stiffly over the opening.

Duncan Roth rushed
to help him down on the platform. A toothless grin appeared on the man’s
blackened face. Flynn thought the voice sounded familiar… and then he saw the
three screwdrivers sticking out of the man’s pocket…

“My God! It’s
Walter… Walter Kowalski!” Alan Perry cried first and rushed forward to embrace
his old friend.

“Hello, Alan!” Mr.
Kowalski patted Flynn's father three times on the shoulder. “Glad to see you
made it safely down!”

“But ... what are
you doing here, Walter?”

“Ah, this and
that…” Mr. Kowalski shrugged. “Helping out Duncan… with his project here.”

“Walter's being
modest as usual,” said Duncan Roth, facing the group again. “I'm sure most of
you know who Walter Kowalski is… We've been working on the
Ark
for ...
how many years now, Walter?”

“Too many! I’ve
lost count.”

“Sixteen, to be
precise!” Duncan’s face was beaming now. “Walter’s been with the
Ark
project from the very first day… In fact, we conceived the idea together, and
he’s played a key part in getting us to where we’re today… From the initial
designs and blueprints… to what you see now before your eyes… I couldn't have
done it without him!”

Duncan paused to
give the group a moment to digest the information. Alan Perry's eyes blinked in
confusion, shifting between Duncan and Mr. Kowalski.

“I’d never have
guessed, Walter,” Flynn’s father said quietly, “that you and him were so
close...” There was a hint of reproach in his voice.

“It had to be that
way, Alan,” Mr. Kowalski said with a sheepish grin. “You understand how serious
... how dangerous this is? If anyone knew about us, especially about Duncan's
involvement... we had to keep everything top secret.”

“No one knows
about this project, Mr. Perry,” said Duncan earnestly. “No one, but a few
trusted friends on the outside, and they'll be coming with us when we're ready!
I hope you can forgive me for all the secrecy… But in order for our endeavor to
succeed, I had to act the way I did.”

Flynn tensed,
unsure what reaction to expect from his father. The corner of Alan Perry's
mouth twitched as he studied Duncan’s grave face.

“Well, you
certainly managed to deceive us all!” Alan Perry said. “And doing all this
right under Van Zandt's nose ... I think it’s brilliant… You'll easily be
forgiven, Mr. Roth!”

Somebody began to
clap, then one by one, the rest of the group joined in the applause. Duncan
Roth waved his hand hastily for them to stop. “Thank you, but ... it's too
early to celebrate! Let's hope that soon we’ll have a reason to do so!” He
glanced over his shoulder at the open hatch then turned to Mr. Kowalski. “Where
are the others, Walter?”

“Err...inside,
waiting!” Mr. Kowalski nodded at the
Ark.
“We thought we'd do it in
small portions, you know! Didn't want anyone here to have a heart-attack… after
everything they've been through today!”

“I think they'll
be fine now,” said Duncan.

There was another
exchange of puzzled looks among the group, as the man leaned over and knocked
on the hull of the ship.

At first, nothing
happened. Then, a tall, dark-skinned woman jumped out from the hatch and landed
on the platform… Flynn felt his blood drain from his face, his legs suddenly
unsteady. He took an involuntary step back, bumping into Madison.

“You're not going
to faint on me now, are you?” The woman walked purposefully over to Flynn.

“Ann Baxter!”
Flynn struggled to find his words. “I thought… you’re dead...”