Chapter 79: Key to the Depths

Rachel not only closed the door to the Captain’s cabin behind her but locked it with the Helm Key. It wasn’t to lock Rick up but to protect him in case an Ooze or another human being with nefarious intentions got inside. She had faith that her best friend would pull through even if there was a smudge of doubt whispering in her ears.

Since once he was back to health he would probably destroy the door with pure strength, him being on time out didn’t matter much on his side of the matter.

For a moment, she pondered what to do. On one hand, she could continue exploring the ship on her own. With a lab somewhere and the solarium probably being a breeding ground or a place favorable to further mutation for the Ooze, it was imperative to deal with both as fast as possible.

On the other hand, her foray into the ship alone had proven more than dangerous. She had almost died and would probably be a B.O.W. among others if not for Rick’s intervention and saving her life. Granted she had only been armed with her service gun when the Oozes attacked and quickly found herself out of ammunition, while now she was armed to the teeth.

Making her choice, Rachel backtracked the way she and Rick had come from. The elevator brought her down to the cabins level but instead of stopping at the lower level she stopped at the upper level where Jill and Raymond were.

The descent lasted only a few seconds but it was all she needed to do a breathing exercise to calm herself down. Between her near death experiences, the stakes, Raymond’s shady allegiance, the outbreak and Rick being incapacitated, she needed to take a deep breath or her nerves would be fried very soon.

Spencer Rain had been a nightmare of a ship but Rick had been by her side and it wasn’t yet a total mess like the Queen Zenobia was. The current mission was proving to be even worse. There was no other choice than to focus when needed and take very small breaks when possible to center herself or she wouldn’t make it out of this alive.

When the bell of the elevator rang to signal she had arrived at destination, her gun was already aimed forward before the door even opened. She had been surprised earlier by an Ooze inside the elevator, she wouldn’t get caught twice in the same situation.

When the door opened, she ended up face to face with Jill and Raymond aiming their own weapons at her. Fortunately, nobody started shooting. It would have been a stupid and pointless bloodbath.

“Where's Rick?” Jill lowered her gun but bored a frown on her face.

Rachel took a deep breath and lied as best she could. Usually it was extremely well but making the two people in front of her believe something would be very difficult when they were supposed to stay together in teams. Most of all she needed to drive them away from the bridge where the Captain’s cabin was and most importantly: Rick.

She aimed her gun at the ground too. “We had no choice but to split. He took another elevator down to the Promenade.”

“What happened?” Raymond inquired, letting Rachel get out of the elevator.

The blonde woman took the bag on her back and rummaged through it. “We found a few things. A map of the ship for one,” She pulled out a big folded paper she took from one of the walls of the Captain’s cabin.”

Jill took it to give it a look while Rachel continued talking about her findings.

“We found out that, the ship had been designed based on one George Trevor’s blueprints,”

The swear escaped Jill’s lips at a very low volume but it was visceral. “Fuck me.”

“Yeah, pretty much if what Rick told me about the mansion and the R.P.D. holds true. We found out that the Oozes need liquid to sustain themselves. Mostly blood but everything liquid works.”

Raymond’s face was drained out of blood. “This is worrying, we’re on a ship.”

“Yes.” Jill looked up from the map. “They may be even more aggressive if they’re thirsty. Zombies eat flesh because it’s a basic instinct but they don’t really need to. If Oozes need water…”

“Which brings us to our second discovery.” Rachel took back control of the conversation and delivered her next words grimly. “There is a solarium on the ship.”

“Dear Lord. We may get to see more mutated… Oozes or simply more.” Raymond realized in horror.

Jill immediately set their next plan of action. “We need to take care of this as fast as possible.”

“Rick advised to make lots of molotovs cocktails before that just in case and I agree with him. Lastly I found this.” She took the key from where she had put it, right between her breasts and showed it to the pair. They both gave her a flat look for the place she put the item from. She quickly justified herself. “I have no more space in my pockets and pouches!”

“What about your backpack?” Raymond retorted. “Which is your friend’s and so are those pouches.”

“Go waste time rummaging through the bag to find one small key. As for the gear Rick handed it to me before we separated. That makes me think.” She pulled Rick’s tactical vest and tossed it to Jill. “He wants you to have it.”

Jill, vest in hands, looked at Rachel skeptically. It sounded like Rick but he wouldn’t have left his pouches behind. Something had happened and she was sure Rachel was lying about the split. It was more than suspicious but at the same time, Rick was paranoid and didn’t trust easily. He trusted Rachel and so far she had trusted her as a result. She needed answers and decided to give the blonde a chance despite the doubts she had.

“Oh! I forgot.” Rachel plunged her hand in the bag again and pulled out a round crest the size of a face. “We found that too in the Captain’s cabin. It seems to me like something you insert somewhere for… Whatever. Did you encounter a similar shape it could fit in?”

“We did, actually.” Raymond took the object in hand to have a better look.

Jill nodded, not letting Rachel out of her view. “There was a shotgun mounted on a locked mechanism on the wall. Since George Trevor designed this ship odds are almost a hundred percent that the crest gives access to it.”

Raymond kept the crest in hand, having nowhere to put it and looked at the two women with him. “I’ll go fetch the shotgun. You should go to the solarium, I’ll join you there.”

“It’s on the way.” Jill replied with a frown.

“You’ll get there faster by taking the elevator down. It’s a straight line.” He argued and began walking away.

Rachel, a blank look on her face, watched his back disappear at a corner, while she pushed the button to the elevator. The doors opened and she backwalked inside, Jill getting on too. The latter didn’t wait to get right onto the former’s face.

“What really happened?” She demanded and there was no way she would be denied.

Rachel sighed, and bit her lips in bitterness. “His condition worsened. Badly enough he couldn’t stand on his own. He was burning hot.”

“And you left him?!” Jill almost shouted in rage.

The blonde would not take the tone lying down and answered cooly. “In the Captain’s cabin. It’s secure. No air vent, no other entrance than the door which can only be opened with this key.” She waved the helm key in front of Jill’s face. “It was his choice.” Rachel clarified. “He also lent us his gear so we would have better odds on our side. He’s not unarmed though. He still kept his .45 and his axe. With what he can do it’s more than enough.”

Jill stepped back a little. She too had a mask of bitterness on her face. “I don’t like this.”

“Me neither but it is what it is. There are more important and urgent things to worry about.”

“Right… The solarium.” The brunette nodded at the reminder.

Rachel gave her a shake of the head. “No, worse. There is a nuke button on the bridge, to completely destroy the ship and purge everything in it. That means there is a lab here.”

Jill’s eyes widened in shock. But before she could say anything, Rachel continued.

“Rick was worried that the method of infection of the T-Abyss was more virulent than the T-Virus and that it was done by being in contact with water. If the virus is released into the sea…”

“That would be catastrophic.”

“Yes. It also confirms a pharmaceuticals company having worked with Lansdale. Again in Rick’s opinion but he’s rarely wrong about those things. That means, Raymond is not totally clear of all suspicions.”

Jill considered the thought and nodded. “Rick told me about the possibility of a third party and Raymond being involved with them although he had no proof about the latter.” The door of the elevator opened and they got out of it. “Did he say anything else?”

“To not talk about the nuke button. If Raymond already knows then…”

Jill immediately understood the implication. “It’s proof he’s not just working for O’Brian.”

“One more thing.” Rachel added as they both began their trek through the area to get back to the Main Hall. “The lab is probably in the deepest and lowest part of the ship.”

“That would make sense. It’s isolated from the rest of the ship and there is plenty of space. Up there there is… the whole original design, difficult to change everything.” Jill thought about how to get there for a moment but came up with nothing. “How do you think—”

Rachel pulled another key from her diving suit but this time not from between her breasts but way, way lower. Near the end of the zipper. Unlike the helm key, this one was way smaller.

“I found this before I got chased to the Doctor Station. It’s the key to the lift we came across when we moved to the VIP Room.”

“You had it all this time?! Why didn’t you—”

“I forgot about it! I was a bit overwhelmed between my near death experience and everything else. I haven’t been able to catch a break until now.” The F.B.C. agent defended strongly. “The question is… what do we do with it? I’m not too keen on taking Raymond with us there.”

Jill stayed silent. At the moment she had no idea what to do and she needed to think. In the end it didn’t matter much, they needed to reach the solarium and dealt with it first.