Claws and Curls

Claws 53 - Phoenix

“Is that the Phoenix 1000 class you used to talk about,” I asked nonchalantly of Terry in an effort to cover the fact it was a total surprise to me. Apparently, I had listened when Action Man had rattled off the details of whatever tech he was involved with during an operation. It was the one thing he allowed himself to talk shop about, and he loved it. This vehicle or that aircraft. This rifle or that computer system. He never let on the operational details of the equipment he was raving about. Instead it had always sounded like a kind of Jaeger advertisement.

Terry looked at me surprised, “sure is Weirdo, and we had the moonpool designed just to dock it,” and he waved his right arm conductor like at all the gear now swinging into place around the subs tower. There was a series of mechanical sounds from the conning tower and a head popped out the top then it waved at Terry. “Captain McWyvern, good to see you,” came a female voice from the uniformed person now half protruding from the tower.

“Gidday Lilin, docking looked perfect?” “Can’t complain,” she turned and looked up and behind her to the moonpool command cabin, “hey moonpool, boarding gangway ...” “Sorry Captain,” came a voice from the cabin and a gangway began to extend from its housing at the edge of the deck and across to the subs tower. Lilin looked back to Terry, “what do you have to do to get room service around this tub?”

“Pay your bill,” quipped Terry back to her. He turned to me, "Mac this is Captain Lilin Woodruff, your guide for today's underwater adventure." Lilin waved, "good to have you aboard Macca, Terry’s been boasting about you all week!” ”What the,” and I stopped myself launching into a stream of deep and meaningful terms of brotherly love. “What’s this about? All week?” and I shrugged and held my hands out exasperatedly. “Haha, dropped you in it Cap, 30-15,” and Lilin waved as her verbal bombshell exploded, then she disappeared back into her fortress.

“I've been on a few ops from the Gaia over the last few months with all that Temple sacrifice shit, so this tub has been home. I kept dropping your name as the sort of person who would be ideal to do the background research before we went tippy toeing around the bodies at these massacre sites!” I just stood there hands on hips shaking my head. “So Harry checked up on you and was considering you for the position when you met this new chick and mum rang. My transfer to the AI program went through about the same time, then you rang Harry and well, here you are.”

My mind swirled in all the colours of the rainbow, “ah so that’s how come you know your way round here, and; all this AIME stuff then?” Terry smiled and chuckled. “AIME put in for a transfer like I had. As far as I know, per has every encyclopaedia and dictionary and thesaurus in existence in per’s database and every Jaeger operating manual as well. Per knows that per is growing up and Harry cant just let per out into the world, there has to be a growing out into it, like teens and young adults do. Per understood and like the first time a teen asks to go out without the parents, that’s what AIME wants” I nodded seeing all the strands of this soap opera coming together.

“So the new mainframe is the debut gown,” Terry cuffed me again, shit I wish he’d stop that, but little brothers who are bigger than you ... “Smart arse, debut gown, fuck bro” and he gave me this disgusted look. “Nope as far as I know, the good doctor Montrose there,” and Terry nodded towards the team moving what looked like a medium sized chest freezer toward the moonpool; “has designed an escape proof transporter mainframe for the up and coming trendy young AI, it’ll be all they’re wearing this year!” 

It looked like a scene out of some end of the world B grade scifi flick, as the doomsday device is prepared for delivery to the site of most destruction. “C’mon lets get you into some safety gear,” and Terry turned and walked me over to the nearest set of lockers.

We stood there and Terry went the locker through pulling out the various bits I would need for the descent. A ‘Sealskin’ escape suit that would keep me warm and prevent the bends if we had to escape the sub or the lab. A rebreather for an hours emergency air and a helmet. Terry went to put it back in, “... what I won’t need it?” “Ain’t that big brother, I’ve just never seen a scenario where in an emergency you've got time to get to your helmet. Best thing is to just go for the nearest one and hope it fits. Most Jaeger ones are universal for the ‘Sealskin’.”

“Ah, ok, sure,” and I watched the helmet being tossed back into the locker and the door clicked shut. Terry grabbed his then stripped where he was and changed into the artificial Sealskin. Apparently this had been invented by Harold’s son and daughter in law. He the tech wiz and she the environmental chemist. They invented it to protect workers cleaning up industrial sites inundated by sea level rise storm surges. I’d seen the putrid mess Port Kembla had become after the first storm to push the sea that far inland. Sealskin suits and their copies had become the haute nécessité for all fashion conscious labourers. 

I followed Terry’s lead and stripped bare and suited up.

“Nice arse Cap,” came Lilin’s shout from the moonpool deck as she supervised the loading of the mainframe. Terry turned and blew her a kiss then gave her the finger.

“Not big enough Cap,” she laughed and turned back to the job at hand.