Kam’s hand went to his mouth, his face barely containing revulsion. When all three turned toward him, he took a deep breath, held it, and then removed his hand. “Please. Continue.”
Joliet made quick work of the rest of the major organs, describing the health and state of the lungs, liver, spleen, cloaca, and mesenteries as she removed them from the body and placed them in a bowl held by the unflinching Kam. When the stomach was revealed, her eyes went wide. “The, ahh, stomach appears to be distended. It’s at least twice the size as expected.” She poked the stomach with her index finger. “It’s quite firm.” She looked at Hawkins. “Come feel this.”
“I’ll pass,” Hawkins said, gloved hands raised.
She turned to Kam. “How about you?”
Kam quickly shook his head. The kid looked like he was a hiccup away from puking.
The door to the lab swung open. Phil Bennett stepped inside. “Hey,” he said, looking apologetic for intruding.
The lanky kid had tussled brown hair and pale skin, but enough freckles to almost make his face look tan. He looked too young to be an engineer, even a junior engineer, but then again, Kam looked even younger and he was in charge of the ship’s computers. Hawkins thought neither could be over twenty, but also knew that the older he got, the more twenty-somethings looked like teenagers to him.
“Captain Drake asked me to let you guys know the storm will be here soon. Says to wrap it up ASAP.” A flash of confusion crossed Bennett’s face when he saw Kam. “What are you doing here?”
“Just helping,” Kam said.
“He’s manning up, that’s what,” Bray said with a grin. “You want to give it a try?”
Bennett looked unsure, but walked closer. Kam stepped aside as Bennett got closer, revealing the opened turtle and its mottled organs. Bennett stopped at the sight. He winced. “That’s … gross.”
“Sure you don’t want to lend a hand?” Bray asked.
“I think I prefer engines, but it’s really not that different, I guess,” Bennett said.
“How do you figure?” Bray asked.
Bennett stepped closer, eyeing the carved, open body. “Well, for starters, the Magellan has an inner steel framework and hull—the bones and skin. The bridge is like the head.” He wandered around the table and tapped the turtle’s head with his finger. Then suddenly, as though realizing what he’d just done, he winced and wiped the finger on his oil-stained pants. “The bridge contains the high-tech computer system, which is really like a brain. It can perceive the outside world through radar, satellite data, and an array of on-board sensors that measure temperature, wind speed, and even the visual spectrum. The computers are also connected to every area of the ship. The engine, the doors, the hull, air-conditioning, the boiler, everything. It’s really a fairly complex nervous system. The ship can’t technically feel pain, but when something goes wrong, and those alarms go off, it sure sounds like a scream.”
Bennett wandered around the turtle, looking at the insides with less disgust.
Is he really looking at it like it’s just a machine now? Hawkins wondered.
“This turtle and the Magellan both need chemical fuel to operate. The fuel gets processed and turned into kinetic energy. Both need a continuous supply of oxygen. When the engines are used, they get hot and are cooled with liquid.”
He looked down at the array of organs on display. “It’s really nothing more than an open car hood.” He pointed to one organ at a time, naming them. “Gas tank. Carburetor. Air pump. Exhaust.” He pointed to the heart. “Just one piston, though.”
The look on his face had changed from repulsion to full-on interest.
“That’s kind of messed-up thinking,” Bray said, snapping Bennett’s attention back up. “Historically speaking, it’s when people start seeing each other as nonhuman, or machinelike that the worst atrocities are committed.”
“It’s a turtle,” Bennett said. “Not a person.”
Bray rolled his eyes. “Flesh and blood is flesh and blood. The same logic applies.”
“Actually,” Joliet said, “everything he said is correct and fairly insightful.”
“For a mechanic?” Bennett said, sounding a little defensive now.
“For anyone,” she said.
Bennett shrugged like it was nothing. “I’m interested in engines of all kinds.”
“All kinds,” Bray said. “All kinds.”
Hawkins knew that Bray was just messing with Bennett, but he wasn’t sure the kid knew that. Actually, he was sure of it when Bennett grew suddenly serious.
“My father died of a heart attack when he was forty,” Bennett said. “My mother and I had to move in with her parents. Heart disease is genetic. Figured I better know how my engine works so I can service it right and not join him in fifteen years.” He dipped his head toward Bray’s stomach. “You should probably start thinking about that, too.”