Chapter 20
“Because Norrington is a drunk and a pill popper,” Quinn said.
“But you didn’t hear that from me.” She shook her head.
“I don’t know where Tristan got some of these people.
Don’t get me started on Ross. That guy is high ALL the time.
Look, I’m grateful for the opportunity, and I believe in the mission, but at times I question Tristan’s methods.
” She frowned and thought about it for a moment.
“Then again, that guy’s got hundreds of billions of dollars.
I don’t. So he’s obviously doing something right. Trust the plan, right?”
"Is there anybody else we should look into?” I asked.
Quinn squirmed a little. "I don’t want to throw anybody under the bus, but… I don't know if I should say this.” After a pause, she said, “Denver confided in me that he was thinking about leaving his wife.”
I lifted a curious brow. "Why?”
Quinn shrugged. "Why do marriages fall apart? Why do people fall out of love?”
I gave her a look, waiting for more. There was something she was holding back.
Quinn just shrugged.
“Was he going to leave his wife for you?”
She scoffed. “No. I told you. There was nothing romantic between us.”
"Why agree to come on this mission together if they were having problems?”
"This mission has been in the works for quite some time.
I think they both wanted to see it through for their own personal reasons.
Perhaps it became a competition with neither one wanting to back down.
I think they were both passionate, wanting to go to space.
Who wouldn't be? It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A chance to be part of history. That's why we’re all here. It’s certainly not for the money.
Tristan doesn't pay us shit. He feels like the privilege is enough.
And he's right. None of us would have this opportunity without him.”
"Did you see anyone tamper with the breaker box?”
"No.”
"Shouldn't there have been an alert that the breaker had been tripped?”
"No. The recharge station only sends an alert if there is a malfunction.
If someone switched the breaker off when they sabotaged it, the recharge station would have been offline.
I was not at the control terminal at that time.
The fact that it was offline would have been visible, yes.
But as I'm sure you've heard, we've been having minor glitches throughout the entire system, especially with the batteries in the mini-subs.”
"That seems mission-critical," I said.
Quinn nodded. "Indeed. But diagnostics indicate they are functioning properly. The issue seems to be with the recharge station itself. We’re still trying to sort it out. And that's part of what this mission is all about—sorting out issues and managing crises on the fly.”
"What's your thought on the continuation of the mission after Weyland’s death?"
"I think you'll find that most of the people you talk to in this habitat want to proceed full steam ahead.
We've sacrificed considerable time, resources, and social capital in pursuit of this goal. None of us wants to turn back now. I know this is fun and an experience for Flynn. He came on board at the last minute, but that’s strictly for publicity purposes.
He's not invested in this process like the rest of us are. We’ve put years of our lives into this.
" She raised her hands innocently. "I'm not speaking badly about Flynn.
I like the guy. He's easy on the eyes, and who wouldn't want to be trapped in a confined space with a movie star of his caliber?
But let's just call it like it is. This is another role for him.
When this is over, he's going to move on to something else.
The rest of us will still be working on this project. I hope."
A tremor shook the deck and rattled the bulkheads. It lasted a few seconds, then faded.
“You’ve been experiencing a lot of those?”
She nodded. “That makes three since we’ve been down here.
Could be the storm. Tremors at this depth aren’t unusual.
There are numerous geologic and hydrodynamic causes.
Distant earthquakes, currents, wave cycles, thermocline shear, low level vibrations that propagate through the sea floor from surface storms. The design of the habitat can amplify the intensity of these tremors.
Weyland said it was nothing to worry about. ”
It was unsettling.
I thanked her for her cooperation and said we might have more questions.
Quinn left the compartment.
“Think she’s lying about the affair?” JD asked.
I shrugged. “Let’s talk to Mitch and see what we can get out of him.”