possible?”
“It was a civil ship docked at a military base in the middle of a nation fresh from war. Plus, in the fifties, commercial flights started between America and Europe. That left passenger liners like the Valkyrie with little relevance. After so much time exposed to the elements, the Valkyrie ’s hull has deteriorated substantially, making it too expensive to repair. In the sixties, some thought about using it as a floating target, but they abandoned that idea for some reason. It was easier just to leave it where it was and take care of other business.”
“So it’s just been sitting there all of these years? Hasn’t anyone gone aboard?”
“All the hatchways except a few were sealed to keep thieves from breaking in and stealing the wiring or other valuable materials. Plus, that helped keep the moisture from filtering in and ruining the remaining furnishings. Early on, they made monthly rounds through the ship. But after a while, even those stopped.”
“Why’s that? More disappearances?”
“Nothing that creepy.” Collins laughed out loud. “The guards began suffering dizziness and vomiting from nothing more than going aboard. Some even became seriously ill. A committee ruled that the condensation from the toxic gases emanating from the bilge was to blame. They decided to seal up the ship entirely.”
Just then the door opened, and a heavyset man walked in wearing a military raincoat. Grumbling, he shook off the water that was sliding down his jacket and pulled it over his head.
“Blasted weather! Stupid, shitty rain,” he sputtered from beneath a thick gray mustache, without noting Kate’s presence. “I’ve got two years till retirement, and that next day, I swear, I’m going anywhere you can’t see a single fucking cloud anywhere. I’ve had it up t o . . . Oh, dear!”
“Miss Kilroy, I’d like to introduce you to Sergeant Major Lambert.” Collins stood up as the portly sergeant blushed clear up to the edge of his receding hairline. “He’s usually a little more polite in front of a lady, but it seems today is not his day.”
“Please, forgive me. I had no idea we had a visitor,” he said in embarrassment. “Here at the Junkya—I mean the depot—we don’t get many visitors. At least we didn’t use to.”
“Don’t worry about me,” said Kate, smiling. The sergeant relaxed a bit. “I suppose that’s normal when you spend too much time in a place like this. Are there many stationed here?”
“Five guards on the perimeter, two assistants to Sergeant Major Lambert, and the two of us,” answered Collins. “More than enough to keep this place out of God’s hands.
“Miss Kilroy is a reporter from London,” Collins explained while the sergeant major poured himself a cup of coffee. “I was just telling her the story of the Big S .”
Lambert nodded before saying, “I was glad to see them get that thing out of dry dock and take it away. I waited fifteen years to see it go.”
“Who took it?” asked Kate, feeling she had begun to approach the crux of the matter. “Why? How?”
“Its new owners took it. You see, next year the Royal Navy will be terminating half of the Trafalgar-class submarine fleet,” answered Collins. “They’re monsters built in the eighties, filled with asbestos and so many other pollutants that it’s going to be a major headache to scrap them. Someone in the Admiralty realized they would need a quiet, remote place to do the dirty work. Naturally, they chose here.”
“For the first time in sixty years, we’ve been ordered to make space,” added Lambert. “It came down from London that the dry dock holding the Valkyrie along with three other old ships had to be cleared out, and those ships were put up for auction to the highest bidder.”
“In other words, after sixty years outside the public eye, the Valkyrie suddenly resurfaced from oblivion.” Kate began to grasp why Robert had thought there was something bigger to this
“It was a civil ship docked at a military base in the middle of a nation fresh from war. Plus, in the fifties, commercial flights started between America and Europe. That left passenger liners like the Valkyrie with little relevance. After so much time exposed to the elements, the Valkyrie ’s hull has deteriorated substantially, making it too expensive to repair. In the sixties, some thought about using it as a floating target, but they abandoned that idea for some reason. It was easier just to leave it where it was and take care of other business.”
“So it’s just been sitting there all of these years? Hasn’t anyone gone aboard?”
“All the hatchways except a few were sealed to keep thieves from breaking in and stealing the wiring or other valuable materials. Plus, that helped keep the moisture from filtering in and ruining the remaining furnishings. Early on, they made monthly rounds through the ship. But after a while, even those stopped.”
“Why’s that? More disappearances?”
“Nothing that creepy.” Collins laughed out loud. “The guards began suffering dizziness and vomiting from nothing more than going aboard. Some even became seriously ill. A committee ruled that the condensation from the toxic gases emanating from the bilge was to blame. They decided to seal up the ship entirely.”
Just then the door opened, and a heavyset man walked in wearing a military raincoat. Grumbling, he shook off the water that was sliding down his jacket and pulled it over his head.
“Blasted weather! Stupid, shitty rain,” he sputtered from beneath a thick gray mustache, without noting Kate’s presence. “I’ve got two years till retirement, and that next day, I swear, I’m going anywhere you can’t see a single fucking cloud anywhere. I’ve had it up t o . . . Oh, dear!”
“Miss Kilroy, I’d like to introduce you to Sergeant Major Lambert.” Collins stood up as the portly sergeant blushed clear up to the edge of his receding hairline. “He’s usually a little more polite in front of a lady, but it seems today is not his day.”
“Please, forgive me. I had no idea we had a visitor,” he said in embarrassment. “Here at the Junkya—I mean the depot—we don’t get many visitors. At least we didn’t use to.”
“Don’t worry about me,” said Kate, smiling. The sergeant relaxed a bit. “I suppose that’s normal when you spend too much time in a place like this. Are there many stationed here?”
“Five guards on the perimeter, two assistants to Sergeant Major Lambert, and the two of us,” answered Collins. “More than enough to keep this place out of God’s hands.
“Miss Kilroy is a reporter from London,” Collins explained while the sergeant major poured himself a cup of coffee. “I was just telling her the story of the Big S .”
Lambert nodded before saying, “I was glad to see them get that thing out of dry dock and take it away. I waited fifteen years to see it go.”
“Who took it?” asked Kate, feeling she had begun to approach the crux of the matter. “Why? How?”
“Its new owners took it. You see, next year the Royal Navy will be terminating half of the Trafalgar-class submarine fleet,” answered Collins. “They’re monsters built in the eighties, filled with asbestos and so many other pollutants that it’s going to be a major headache to scrap them. Someone in the Admiralty realized they would need a quiet, remote place to do the dirty work. Naturally, they chose here.”
“For the first time in sixty years, we’ve been ordered to make space,” added Lambert. “It came down from London that the dry dock holding the Valkyrie along with three other old ships had to be cleared out, and those ships were put up for auction to the highest bidder.”
“In other words, after sixty years outside the public eye, the Valkyrie suddenly resurfaced from oblivion.” Kate began to grasp why Robert had thought there was something bigger to this
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