I'm Working

Parts 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was the morning after the dinner. The students were all being well treated, as were Robin and Ballard but they were also all locked in their respective rooms and under guard. Arthur had promised Garth that none of them would be mistreated so long as they didn’t cause any trouble and that had information had been passed along to them. Most had easily agreed, just wanting to be released and sent home.

“You know this is ridiculous. Even if the US or some other country agrees to whatever you have in mind, anything agreed to under duress is worthless. Let the students and Dick go and you can diffuse this before it gets out of hand.”

Arthur gave Garth a mild look Garth knew was a warning he would do well to heed. “I don’t appreciate being called ‘ridiculous in my own palace.”

“Be that as it may, you know this can’t work. You can’t force this.”

“Of course I can.”

Garth sighed, Arthur could be reasonable or not, as the currents moved him and one never knew which was he drifting on any given day. With any luck at all, in the morning he’d have rethought this and reversed himself again, the students could be gotten out and life could go on. With any luck. Without luck he and the students as well as Dick, could all be executed by then. “What, exactly, is it you want from the surface nations?”

“Free trade. Open exchanges of information, knowledge, cultural exchanges.”

“Of course, but is there anything else?” The negotiations had started and were preceding well or at least as of last week, they were. Garth agreed with the need to join the other countries on the surface as a viable nation in their own right, but this was, as Roy would say, plain nuts. “I’ve had hints from Washington and London that they’re interested in the same things and our overtures to the United Nations have been well received. If we remove the guards from the student’s area and let Dick go their government will be willing to set up a dialogue. If we keep them hostage they’ll send in their navies.”

“…Which we could defeat easily.”

Of course they could, but what would be the point? It wasn’t like they were a superpower or stood to gain anything by starting a war.

“Is that your intention?”

“I believe in bargaining from a position of strength.”

“Negotiations aren’t the same as belligerence.”

Arthur gave Garth a bored look. “Saith the king of a city of pacifists. Your people are weaklings and you’re the weakest of them all.”

“We’re believer’s in non-violence who have avoided war for nine thousand years.”

“By hiding your city in an Abyss. They live in fear and that’s what you were bred to.”

“There are better ways to do this, Arthur; all the cities agree with Shayeris. You know what the vote was at the last City Summit…”

“A self-protective vote by cowards. The way to achieve is to rule through power.”

This was going nowhere and angering Arthur wouldn’t prove anything but to put the hostages in more danger than they were already in—and Atlantis, as well.

“It’s still early, Arthur. No one on the surface knows yet you plan to use the students for this. Show your strength and your confidence as a king and a leader by letting them go.”

“No.”

There was still room to work with him, if he’d agree. “A good faith gesture, then. Let one person go, send them up to the surface with a message. State what you want and give a time frame that’s reasonable. Make it clear that the others are being well treated and send pictures to prove it. You’ll be listened to, you know you will.”

Arthur watched Garth as he spoke, saw the sincerity and calmness and realized that a spokesman was a good idea which could buy them all some time. Releasing one of the surfacers would still leave him twenty to parlay with. Fine, yes, good. “I’ll write a list of demands and conditions. Ballard can deliver them.” He sat at his desk. “You’ll help me. Sit down.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robin looked around his suite. It was completely dry and designed to impress whoever was assigned to stay there. The furnishing were obviously expensive, the art on the walls and the shelves were masterpieces and the view outstanding, overlooking the city. Obviously he could assume that the room was probably bugged and that he was being watched. That was a given but it also was something he’d dealt with a hundred times. No big deal. He’d already tried the door and found it locked. Immediately after he rattled the knob it was opened and a guard politely asked if there was anything he wanted or needed. Sure, how about you getting lost? Okay, he was being held here in the proverbial gilded cage but what about the students? Where was Ballard and what was happening to Garth? The guard, pretending to not know enough English to understand him just shook his head and closed the door, leaving Robin alone again. Picking up something that looked like a phone, he got a voice on the other end speaking Atlantean—never mind, wrong number.

All right, he could get a hold of Garth with his Titans communicator since the guards either overlooked it or let it slip though, but that could be a last resort. No reason to tip his hand yet.

 For that matter, he could probably get a hold of the Bat and maybe the JLA is he had to, if the thing could transit through God knew how many miles of water. Crap.

And where was Kara? This was her party, what was going on with her just taking off? Some space monster attacking Tokyo again? Did she have yet another crush on some new cute guy who was going to turn out to be a sleaze and break her heart or use her for Christ knew what this time? Talk about being predictable. God, she was such a girl.

Finally a maid looking person came through the door, carrying some kind of tea or snack or whatever it was. She was demure, seemed to be shy, didn’t meet his eyes and didn’t speak. She did, however move the plate on the tray a scant scootch to show him the edge of a note underneath. With a nod and a slight bow she left, no having said anything a word in any language.

He tried to keep the paper hidden in his hand, assuming that the room was bugged, opening it below the table as he pretended to open his napkin on his lap. ‘I’m working on it. Stay alert.’

That’s all it said. It was from Garth, of course but it was enough. He wasn’t forgotten and Garth was on top of whatever was going on.

Good.

That meant that something was in the works and he’d be kept informed and could mentally prepare himself for…for what? For whatever was coming, whenever it came.

He was a Titan. This was all in a day’s work. He’d be okay with this. This is what they did.

Fine. He tasted the tea; it was really very good. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“But I don’t get it; why are we locked in here?”

“Face it, Blair, he’s cute but he’s not boyfriend material. Get over it, f’Chrissakes, will you?”

Blair blushed a deep red. “That’s not what I meant. I mean he seemed so nice, why would he be so two-faced?”

“Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe that king, that Arthur guy is the problem. Besides, ‘Arthur’ is Aquaman and he’s a member of the Justice League, right? He’s supposed to be a good guy and not do stuff like this. He’s supposed to be like big Boy Scout. Maybe this is his idea of some kind of a joke or something. Didn’t your read that article in Superhero Weekly last month that said they all take like this vow or something, swear an oath or something to never hurt anyone unless they’re bad guys? We’ll be okay. If he does anything to us he’d be in trouble.”

“…Yeah, sure, I bet he’s shaking in his boots just thinking about it. He’s just a big guppy.” Nerves were beginning to stretch and the four girls sharing a large room—like all the kids were sharing four to a room, were getting pretty scared. This was supposed to be fun, an adventure, something to impress the school with, guarantee them good grades and be something to tell their grandchildren about. It wasn’t supposed to be like being kidnapped or something. “Besides, You’re just all moony over him because he told you his wife or girlfriend or whatever she was got killed or died or was eaten by a shark or something. You’re just looking to fill a vacuum and you know it.”

Blair glared at Chrissy; she was a bitch of the first order and she really wished she’d been put in some other room—any other room. “Has it occurred to you that maybe he’s a little depressed and stuff because he’s still like our age and his wife died? Maybe he’s just thinking about other things, y’think? For all you know they might have even stayed right here, in this room. He probably feels sad being back here, did you think of that?” She threw herself down in a large chair. “He’s probably trying to get us home right this minute. I bet he is.”

“He sure took on a lot of mystical qualities when you saw him with his shirt off and his wetsuit riding about five inches below his belly button.”

“Shut up, Chrissy.”

And where was Supergirl? Okay, she’d said something about having to do something up on the surface for a while but she promised she’d be back. No sure, she hadn’t exactly said when she’d be back and she was probably pretty busy but still…where was she? And Robin, he was another one—where did he go? Fine, he was probably locked up somewhere just like they were, but he was a Titan f’Chrissakes. He should be able to do something to help them, shouldn’t he? Wasn’t that like his job?

In fact, for that matter, Garth, Aqualad, King whatever was a Titan, too. How come he was letting King Nutcase get away with this without lifting a finger to get them home or whatever? That’s what Titans were supposed to do, they saved people. Jeez Louise.

Okay, okay, maybe he was trying something but cripes…

“Did he really tell you his wife died? That’s so incredibly sad. And he’s a king and probably rich and everything, I bet.”

Blair nodded. He needed someone to make him feel better. If he called her on the house phone she could meet him and he could maybe bounce ideas off her and then he’d see how smart she was. Maybe she could get him to open up about the dead wife and he could let out his feelings and then he’d feel a lot better and could move on. He’d figure out a way for them to al be rescued and he’d let everyone know it was because she’d helped him clear his mind and…

This was so totally not turning out the way they thought the weekend would be going.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Dr. Ballard, is there anything I might get for you?”

“I’d like to contact my office, of you don’t mind.”

“I’m sorry, Doctor, but I believe that communications with the surface are being worked on at the moment.”

“Do you have any idea how long they’ll be down?”

“I’m sorry again, but I’m afraid not.”

“In that case, may I speak with some of you geologists or arrange some interaction with some of your biologists? I have many questions for them. Many questions.”

“I’ll see what I can do, sir. Please, if you could just be patient…”

The door closed and the sound of a lock turning could clearly be heard. He went over to his window, marveling at the panorama before him. It was a wonderland, a fantasy and the highlight of his career—hell, one of the highlights of his life, just being here. He had awards and recognition enough for ten men, but this—Atlantis. Just saying the name was enough to make your hair stand up. To actually be here, standing in a palace a mile or more underwater, to see these people, taste their food, and be able to talk with them was beyond his furthest dreams and beyond.

They were intelligent, advanced and seemed reasonable aside from that King who was clearly on the edge of some kind of a paranoid breakdown.

A few hours later he was mid discussion with two of the locals, described to him as the heads of the science departments at their best conservatory for modern thought and theory. They’d been discussing the history and philosophy of the Atlantean government while they looked through 3-D slides and films of dozens and dozens of unknown species. There were pictures and records of everything from new corals to fifty-foot long sharks, never seen on the surface. Amazing—and this was just the tip of the iceberg. They both spoke enough English to be understood and answered as much as they could but there was so much and he had so many questions—just as they did for him—that a comment would get them off on yet another twenty minute tangent time and time again. Exciting and exhilarating.

One of the assistants came in, deferential to the three men, handing Ballard a folded paper. Opening it he read:

Dr. Ballard

Please e so kind as to prepare yourself to return to the surface. You are being released within the hour.

Garth

No. This couldn’t happen, not now, not yet. There was too much to look at, too many people to talk to, too many things to see.

The other two men looked at the note. “You need to do this, Doctor. You’re welcome to come back or we would be honored to meet you at your laboratory, but you must do this.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door to Dick’s quarters opened without warning or a knock, Garth walking in with a neutral expression on his face as he looked at Dick, lying on the bed. He waited until the guard left the room and closed the door, leaving the two of them alone. He put his finger to his lips to stop any questions just yet then walked over to the small control console on the wall, turned a couple of buttons and waited a moment as music started. He turned it up then gestured Dick to come over to a corner away from any furniture. Leaning close to his friend, he spoke at a near whisper.

“Ballard is on his way back to Wood’s Hole with a list of demands from Arthur. Kara is off planet with Clark dealing with some problem in the Horsehead Nebula and most of the most of the rest of the JLA is trying to cope with that tsunami in Southeast Asia.”

“Meaning we’re on our own?”

“Titans?”

“How can they help? C’mon, we’re not exactly deep-sea divers; I mean other than you. And aren’t they helping the JLA?”

Garth shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

“You have an idea?”

“Maybe. Just sit tight, all right? None of the students have been hurt and Arthur has promised that they won’t be…”

“You believe him?”

He nodded. “He’s nuts, he isn’t stupid.”

“What is it he wants?”

Garth shook his head. “He says he wants trade and non-aggression agreements with every nation in the UN.”

Dick snorted. “Like that’s gonna happen….”

Garth put a hand on his arm. “No, he’s right; we need them but this isn’t the way to go about it. I think I can tone him down enough to possibly get what we want without upsetting the surface nations. Have you gotten ahold of Bruce? He’s about the only Leaguer still in the US.”

“I tried, can’t get a signal.”

“Okay, just wait for now. I’ll let you know what’s going on. Bob should be back home any minute and the letter to the surface will be delivered as soon as he gets there. Give them a day or so to respond and then we’ll see. ‘You need anything?”

Dick gave him a ‘you kidding?’ look.

“Okay, I’ll be back soon, ‘a couple of hours or so. Try to get some rest, you may need it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Your Majesty? Forgive me but one of the students from the surface is requesting an audience.”

Garth looked up from the secure laptop he still had with him, the e-mails flying back and forth while he lined up his ducks in a row, as Alfred would say. At least he wasn’t under house arrest, at least not yet, but he was ready for a break. “Show him in.”

The door opened wider, “Garth? I hope I’m not disturbing you or anything…” Blair walked towards the desk where he was working.

He stood up, out of ingrained habit. “May I help you?”

She smiled, “I was hoping that maybe I could help you.”

Return to Working