“The NASA and Space Force guys are always talking about how big the wildlife is here,” DePresti said softly. “And also how docile the animals generally are.”
The Space Force captain paused, recollecting something.
“There’s a story from about five or ten years back about a Taiwanese guy who was visiting for a launch almost losing an arm,” he continued. “He was trying to take a selfie with a fourteen-foot ‘gator and got a bite taken out of his bicep. It was told to me as a true story, but I used to think it was an urban legend.
“When I was out here for my launch last year, a bunch of drunk lieutenants from some unit on the Space Force station went and did the same thing — and they got some amazing pictures. The alligator didn’t care at all that they were maybe two or three feet from them taking selfies. They got in trouble for messing with the wildlife, but no one got hurt.”
“So as long as we don’t bother them, we’re ok,” Parkowski said.
“Yup. They may be big — the area we were just in is called the ‘fishbowl’ because of the giant fish that live there — but they want nothing to do with us.”
She sighed, “What do we do now?”
DePresti didn’t have a response for her. “We failed,” he told her. “We never figured out what Bronze Knot was.”
“At least they think we’re dead,” Parkowski said quietly.
He laughed. “That’s true. It’ll be a big surprise for whoever is monitoring you at work when you show back up at Aering in a week or so.”
“You don’t think they’ll go after us again?”
“I’m not sure, but I don’t think they will,” he said. “We have nothing on them. Just bits and pieces. And, most importantly, they know what we know now — and it’s nothing, or next to nothing. We don’t have the big secret, whatever the fuck it is. We can’t prove anything, and I think we’re no longer a threat. They saw how far we could get, and then when we couldn’t pierce the Bronze Knot veil, we were no longer useful. With no evidence, no one is going to believe us.”
Parkowski’s eyes began to well up with tears.
There was something out there, a giant secret that a shadowy government agency was willing to kill over. So many people had already been impacted by it. But, thankfully, despite not coming away with a better understanding of what was behind the Bronze Knot curtain, Parkowski was happy that at the moment it looked like they were going to make it out of here alive.
She still wanted to know what it was. But, she wasn’t convinced about her boyfriend’s last statement. “They tried to kill us before. Hell, they were going to kill us just a few minutes ago,” Parkowski said as she wiped the tears away.
“I know, but they had us dead to rights,” her boyfriend retorted. “As long as we can get back to civilization, I think we’re safe. They aren’t going to try and kill us and shine more light on them when they know we know nothing.”
It made sense to her now.
“Do we have to walk all of the way back to our scuba gear?” Parkowski asked.
DePresti thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No, I know where they keep a bunch of GOVs,” he said, referring to government-owned vehicles. “There’s a small cluster of buildings maybe a mile south of here on this side of the estuary. I know for a fact that they never lock them because I used them repeatedly during my launch campaign.”
“So, we just drive back to where we left our gear, and then swim to our boat?” Parkowski asked. “We can’t just drive off base and get our boat another way?”
“No, they’re checking the exits, I saw it when we were at the gate,” he answered. “And, remember though, we have to swim back on the top of the water. Our air tanks are empty. That should be easier than coming in. Plus, I want to return all of our stuff — abandoning both the boat and scuba gear would draw a lot of unwanted attention.”
She sighed. “To the GOVs.”
In the blackness of the humid Florida night, Parkowski and DePresti walked south along the side of the river.
Any joy that she had felt in escaping the harrowing situation had evaporated.
She couldn't shake the sinking feeling in her stomach. Parkowski knew that she would never understand why things had gone so wrong in the ILIAD environment, why Dr. Pham was murdered along with all of those innocent people at the pier, why Chang was kidnapped, and what the Bronze Knot program was protecting.
Her arms and legs ached. The constant activity, since they leaped backward off the boat, had depleted her stamina. She hoped that her boyfriend was right and they could get access to a vehicle.
Parkowski wasn’t sure she could swim to the anchored boat, let alone walk miles and miles to get their gear.
After a few minutes of walking, her eyes adjusted to the almost pitch-black environment. If she squinted just right, Parkowski could make out the outlines of a half-dozen buildings in front of them; their square, artificial shapes a sharp contrast to the trees and water behind them.
