Infinity's Gateway, page 13
It had two moods, hungry and angry-hungry. Something new was in its territory, so it was angry-hungry. Its rival had a shell, and parts of it smelled like flesh, so those were the parts to seek out. The soft parts were all above the waterline.
Cautiously he glided through the warm water, staying close to the surface, alert to anything that could pose a threat. He could feel the odd vibrations from this new creature as they coursed through the water. The closer he got, the stronger the vibrations became. They told him that whatever had ventured into his waters was big. But that didn’t matter. He’d killed other creatures larger than himself, many, many times. Rather than feel fear about the situation, the intrusion angered him, and the anger spurred him on, increasing the speed of his approach. He could smell it now, and he was hungry.
The amazing amount of sea life moving in and out beneath the ship amazed Hatfield. The sonar monitors at his station displayed an unusually large amount of fish for the Atlantic, assuming, of course, they were still in the Atlantic. Ever since the wave of energy had passed over them, their world had completely changed.
Hatfield had pointed this out to Commander Mercer, both men in awe over the extraordinary abundance of sea life. School after school of fish, all living in tight proximity, filled the sea around them. Although Hatfield couldn’t say exactly what kind of fish they were looking at, the schools of fish produced distinct signatures on his monitor, especially by the way they moved.
What surprised him most was the number of large fish inhabiting the area. These, without a doubt, were predators. Their presence provided him with all the information he needed to decide that he wouldn’t be doing any diving off the side of the ship. A twelve-foot something had just passed under them, and for all the right reasons, had been dominating his attention since he spotted it.
His attention was now drawn to this new and much larger creature coming at them at a remarkable rate of speed. It was huge, close to forty feet in length. He first thought that a small submarine was heading right at them, but the signature kept changing in such a way that he determined that it couldn’t be any kind of sub he’d ever heard of. Further, it didn’t move like a sub. Could it be two or three large fish swimming together? Then, suddenly, its rate of approach dramatically increased. He couldn’t take any chances.
“Mr. Mercer, you need to take a look at this.”
“What have we got?” asked Mercer, standing behind him and looking at the monitors.
“I’m not sure, but it’s big and it’s headed directly towards us.”
Self-preservation finally slowed the creature down. Scars running across its back gave evidence of previous fights, fights that could have gone either way. While these injuries had not made him any less aggressive, they had taught him to size up his prey before rushing in headfirst. Raising his large head, barely breaking the water’s surface, he gazed at the large ship in front him. Of course, he had no idea what a ship was. Not moving, it appeared to be just another large rock. But there were things moving on the rock, two that he could see. Small creatures were tasty creatures.
Diving down away from the surface, his broad back briefly broke through the surface, the sun reflecting off it. Leveling off in about twenty feet of water, he moved towards the ship, a blood lust driving him forward. He’d take one more quick look before attacking, just to pinpoint his prey’s location. His attack would take these creatures utterly by surprise, ensuring his victory.
“. . . and it was then I knew that if there was to be any bit of hope, I was going to have to be the one to step in,” said Skipper, finally coming to the climactic moment in his story. “You see they hadn’t thought to . . .” Skipper stopped, his voice trailing off. As they walked along, he’d been looking out across the ocean while recalling a different day on a different body of water. But something unexpected had appeared in the water and it broke his concentration.
“Come on Skipper,” said Dempsey. “You can’t leave me hanging like this. What hadn’t they thought of?”
Skipper stopped where he was. Gripping the rail, he stared as hard as he could at the spot in the water where he’d seen the creature. He knew it hadn’t been a whale; the coloration was all wrong. Plus, whales don’t have heads, at least not like the one he’d just seen. True, he’d only gotten a glimpse of it, but it was strange enough to completely capture his attention. This thing, whatever it was, had a tapering snout and eyes that were as black as a demon’s. What in the world had he just seen?
“Hey, Skipper, what are you looking at?” asked Dempsey.
“Keep your pants on,” growled Skipper. “I thought I saw something.”
“If you’re trying to suck me in with a ‘got you,’ I’m not falling for it. Plus, keep in mind, those really piss me off. So, understand, if you go ahead and try one, I will throw you overboard.”
The surface of the water remained calm, but Skipper wasn’t ready to continue their patrol. “Shut up. I need to give this a minute.”
Dempsey smiled as he leaned against the railing, his back to the ocean. He studied Skipper’s face but couldn’t find an ounce of subterfuge in it. “Okay, we’ll take a break, but I’m on to you, Skipper. You’re not going to get me to fall for any of your nonsense.”
“Looks like it stopped,” said Mercer.
“You’re right. It’s just sitting there.”
“The length is right, but it’s not shaped anything like a sub,” said Mercer. He reached for his clipboard to see who was on patrol on the starboard deck. Dempsey and Magnor, both good men.
“Sir, it’s moving again and it’s almost on top of us.”
“Mr. Briggs, get Dempsey and Magnor on the radio, now. Sound battle stations.”
“On it, sir,” said Briggs as he reached for the receiver.
Dempsey waited as patiently as he could but knew that they had to keep moving. “Skipper, don’t you think you’re carrying this a little too . . .” It was at that moment the creature burst upwards from the calm waters. Dempsey caught sight of the huge head on the long, snakelike neck out of the corner of his eye. On instinct, he grabbed Skipper, pushing him as hard as he could to get him out of the way.
Off balance, Skipper hit the deck hard, his head striking one of the steel bolts holding the railing to the deck. The creature’s long neck slammed into the railing as Dempsey whirled around to face his attacker. With amazing speed, its jaws clamped down on Dempsey, striking with the force of a steel trap, its long, pointed teeth sinking deep into his upper torso, nearly cutting him in half.
The odor from the creature, along with the gore from Dempsey’s shredded body, was overwhelming. Looking up from the deck, Skipper tried to focus in on what was happening, but his vision was blurred due to the blood pouring from his injured head. His own blood, as well as the blood and guts that showered the deck from Dempsey’s corpse, partially blinded him. Clumsily pulling his sidearm, Skipper fired wildly, but the creature had already lifted Dempsey’s lifeless body from the deck and pulled him down beneath the waves.
At the same moment the creature attacked, the ship’s alarm split the air, signaling the crew that an attack was imminent. The horror of what he had seen, his head injury, and the loud, pulsating wail of the ship’s siren, was more than he could handle. Skipper’s pistol slipped from his hand and he slumped down onto the deck, losing consciousness.
MacKay and Colton had just left Sahir and were on their way back to the bridge when they heard the ship’s alarm followed by two shots. Colton immediately radioed Mercer, “What have we got?”
“We believe the starboard patrol has been attacked. Garrett and her men are on their way. I’ve also alerted sick bay,” said Mercer.
Turning to MacKay, Colton said, “Starboard patrol’s been hit. Let’s go.”
Due to the tight quarters, it can be hard to run on a ship, but Colton took off down the passageway with surprising speed and nearly flew up the steep stairs to the next deck. MacKay did his best to keep up with him but had no chance of matching his pace. Colton ran out onto deck, quickly spotting Garrett and two of her men back near the bow of the ship. He had no idea what had happened, but the marines were scanning the water, their M27 automatic rifles at the ready. Garrett was on her radio, a nine-millimeter Glock in her hand. Behind her he saw the body.
As he got closer, Colton could see that the deck was covered in blood, as were parts of the railing. A corpsman had just arrived and was already at work attending to the fallen sailor. “What happened?” asked Colton.
“We’re not sure,” said Garrett. “Hatfield spotted what he thought might have been a small sub heading towards us. He and Mr. Mercer studied the monitor, but were puzzled by its odd shape, as well as the way it moved. Mercer doesn’t know what attacked us, but he’s convinced that it wasn’t a sub.”
At that point MacKay, Dr. Severin, and another corpsman arrived. “Mateo, how is he?” asked Severin, addressing a young corpsman.
“Looks like he took a pretty hard hit to the head, just above his left eye. Other than that, I haven’t found any other injuries,” answered Mateo.
“Let’s get him down to sick bay,” said Severin, nodding to the corpsman holding a stretcher.
“He’s still alive?” exclaimed Colton, shocked that he’d survived what had obviously been an extremely violent attack.
“You’re surprised?” said Severin.
“Aren’t you?” said Colton. “Look at this place. I’ve seen slaughterhouses with less blood on the floor.”
“The blood’s not all his, Commander,” said Garrett. Severin followed the corpsmen as they carried the man away. “The two crewmen on starboard patrol were Magnor and Dempsey. The wounded sailor is Magnor. At this point there’s no sign of Dempsey, but we believe that whatever attacked them pulled Dempsey over the side.”
Colton studied the deck more closely. Where there wasn’t blood, there was water. It was clear to see that something had come up out of the ocean and attacked the two sailors. A nine-foot section of the iron railing had been pushed in; three of the bolts holding it to the deck stripped, ripped away from the deck. Colton couldn’t imagine the weight of the creature or the sheer brute force it must have taken to inflict this kind of damage.
The deck was nearly fifteen feet above the surface of the water. What would be big enough to do this much damage and be able to launch itself high enough to reach the men? Colton’s radio beeped. It was Mercer, but before he could say anything Colton asked, “Do you have any idea at all what attacked these two men?”
“No, but stay alert. It may strike again. We’re still tracking it. At the moment it appears to be resting right below us, around three hundred feet down,” replied Mercer. “The blood in the water is attracting other predators to us. Looking at the monitor I’d say there’s a feeding frenzy going on down there.”
Colton looked at Garrett and MacKay and said, “Whatever that thing is, it’s still here. Mercer tells me they’re tracking it and it’s right below us.” Talking back into the radio he said, “I can’t think of too many fish that can breach this far out of the water. Are you able to tell if it’s some kind of shark?”
“Colton, I don’t know what that thing is, but I can tell you this, it’s no shark. That thing is nearly forty feet long. Maybe a giant squid. At this point I can’t even give you an educated guess as to what we are dealing with.”
“There was no sign of Dempsey?” asked MacKay.
“No sir,” said Garrett. “We just happened to be close by. We heard shots and by the time we got here we found one sailor on the deck, blood everywhere, and there was still a fair amount of blood in the water when we looked down. Most of it has since dissipated.”
“Mercer says the thing they’re tracking is forty feet long,” said Colton. “Other than a whale, I have no idea what this could be.”
“A whale didn’t do this,” muttered MacKay, staring at the water.
Colton and Garrett’s radios beeped loudly. Garrett quickly pressed the “receive” button. Go ahead.” Garrett listened as Mercer was shouting into the radio. Colton couldn’t understand what he was saying, but the urgency was audible, and it clearly had an impact on Garrett.
Garrett yelled out, “Everyone, get back from this railing. That thing is coming back, and we are obviously vulnerable here.”
Rather than run inside, Colton pulled out his Glock and positioned himself at the railing. The two marines quickly grabbed MacKay, pulling him back inside the ship. As they went by, Garrett grabbed one of her men by the arm. “Marine, give me that grenade.”
The marine didn’t hesitate and handed the grenade to Garrett. “Get back, Commander. Do you really think you’re going to stop something that big with a pistol?”
They both stood at the railing, looking down into the water, waiting for the creature to reappear. The water was reasonably clear, giving them fair visibility down to about fifteen or twenty feet. Whatever was about to happen, it would be on them almost before they could react.
Garrett spotted the enormous bulk charging straight up at them. Colton saw it too but couldn’t believe his own eyes. Pulling the pin, Garrett dropped the grenade into the water. As she turned to get away, she grabbed on to Colton and pushed him into the wall of the ship. They both went down, bouncing across the deck. Two seconds later the blast erupted from the sea behind them. Colton and Garrett quickly got up and moved back to the railing, but there wasn’t anything there. The creature was nowhere in sight.
Garrett was already back on the radio with Mercer. As she clicked off she moved up to the railing and stood next to Colton. “We don’t know if the grenade hurt it, or just scared the hell out of it, but Mercer said that whatever it is it’s now moving away from us.” They both continued to stare at the water, the broken bodies of other fish killed in the explosion floated to the surface. It wasn’t long before the other fish in the area began to feast on their bodies.
“This is insane,” said Colton. “Do you have any idea what that could have been?” The two of them stood there, holding on to the railing, their adrenaline-filled bodies just starting to calm down. Colton looked over at her. Obviously cool under fire, it was clear that Garrett was made of very tough stuff. “Captain, you handled that very well. All I could think of was that I wanted a piece of that thing. Guess I didn’t think things through too clearly.”
Garrett looked at Colton, smiled, and shrugged her shoulders. “I’m a marine. It’s what we do. Besides, with you being a high profile ‘spook squid’ officer and all, there was no way I could leave you alone. If you’d so much as gotten your hair messed up, I’d be the one getting the blame. I’d also get a grilling for letting you run off and do something that stupid in the first place.”
Colton smiled at her. “It is so comforting to know how much you care about my safety, Captain. Who knew? It just may be worthwhile having some marines on board after all.”
CHAPTER 10
MacKay was just hanging up the phone in the conference room, located behind the bridge, when Colton joined him. Nearly three hours had passed since the two sailors had been attacked, and once again the ship was a beehive of activity. The creature had not returned, which most of the crew took as good news. Despite their efforts, they’d not been able to find any trace of Dempsey. “How’s Skipper doing?” asked MacKay.
“Hard to tell. Severin says he’s got a serious concussion, but at this point he expects him to recover. Unfortunately, he’s so out of it we haven’t been able to question him to see if he can shed any light on what he might have seen,” said Colton.
“With a head injury that serious, we may never get anything useful out of him.”
“That’s pretty much what Severin is thinking,” said Colton. “Between the concussion and the shock of the whole incident, there’s a good chance he won’t be able to remember a thing.”
“It’s the not knowing that really eats away at you,” said MacKay. “I know that this will start to make me sound like the Skipper, with all his tales of sea monsters, but I’m beginning to wonder if there might actually be some truth to some of his wild stories.”
Colton grinned at MacKay. “Are we afraid of sea serpents now? If you’d like to borrow it, I’ve got a small flashlight in my cabin you can use for a night-light.”
“I would, but then what would you use? Look, after all we’ve been through during the last twenty-four hours, I’m not ruling anything out.”
“On a more proactive note, Mercer is getting the submersibles ready to launch. They’ll not only give us a better look at what’s down there, but will also be taking water samples. Hopefully, once we analyze those samples, they’ll also help to give us a better idea as to where we are,” said Colton. “Who’s got the bridge?”
“Lieutenant Gallo,” said MacKay. “He’s been with me for a couple of years. Good officer.”
“He and I have really only talked in passing,” said Colton. “I need to spend some more time with him. Any updates from Sahir?”
“That was Sahir I was just talking to. He’s not sure, but we may have just experienced our second attack.”
“What happened?” asked Colton.
“Of the three drones we sent out, only two made it back. There’s a thick shroud of fog that hugs the ground over there, so much so that it makes visibility almost impossible. Maybe some of it will burn off later in the day, but so far, it’s not showing any signs of doing that. Anyway, the sailor piloting the missing drone came across places where the fog reached as high as two hundred feet into the sky. The drone had already passed through some similar patches of fog and hadn’t experienced any problems. Then, it entered another patch, and suddenly went off-line. He has no idea what happened to it,” explained MacKay.
