Kraken Rising: Alex Hunter 6 (39 page)

Aimee felt the beat of her heart in her throat, racing faster and faster. She willed every ounce of her strength to the engines, so they could stay in front of the pursuing monster. They were so close now, almost free. She just wanted to see Joshua, the sunlight, the surface, just one more time.

“Oh, for chrissake.” Blake’s brow furrowed and he looked about to leap out of his chair. He spun. “Now we got another signature – coming right at us.”

“What, you sure that isn’t some sort of sonar echo?” Alex yelled.

Blake shook his head. “Nope, big mama is still right on our tail, but something else coming in at twelve degrees starboard – fast.”

Aimee cursed and hung on to a railing, her legs braced as the deck tilted downwards. She grabbed Cate, who began to slide past.

Cate nodded her thanks. “Might be another cephalopod? After all, the creature didn’t fertilize those eggs by itself.”

“Jesus Christ, we can’t even fight one of them down here.” Alex rubbed a hand up through sweat-slicked hair. “Blake, how long till bottom?”

Blake read numbers from the screen. “Four hundred feet until we hit the deck, and whatever is down there better be big enough for us to pass through, or we’re a paint smudge on the rocks.” He looked at another screen and grimaced. “We’re not gonna win the race.”

Over the external speakers there rose a noise above the background clicks and squeaks of the underground sea. This one a deep rumbling that sounded more like a low moaning.

“What the hell …?” Casey sat back, staring into space. “That doesn’t sound like it did before.”

The sound came again, louder, as whatever it was drew nearer.

“No.” Cate’s face had drained of color. “I’ve heard that before. When Alex and I were first in the water.” She looked across to Alex. “Just before the pliosaur attacked.”

“Well, Doc, if that’s what it is, there’s two of them this time.” Blake stared at the screen, eyes wide. “The new bogey coming in from starboard has now broken into two distinct signatures, one about seventy feet long, and the other about fifty.”

Cate nodded. “Makes sense, probably male and female. I’m betting they’re territorial … and we just wandered into the front yard.”

“Two more of them?
Ha!
” Casey rocked in her seat. “Well, if they want to eat us, they’re going to have to wait their turn.”

The
Sea Shadow
momentarily shuddered, and then totally stopped. Everyone was either thrown forward or swung on the struts and handholds they had gripped.

Aimee flew forward. Alex shot out a single arm to catch her as she went to fly past. “Oh no,”  was all she could think to say. Frustration welled up inside her – so close. Perhaps they were never meant to escape.

The next noise made even Alex’s face pale. It was the sound of the submarine’s metal skin groaning around them.

“It’s got us,” Blake said.

*

The
Sea Shadow
was twisted one way, then the next. Blake was whipped forward, smashing the bridge of his nose on the wheel, and Casey’s forearms bulged from the effort of keeping herself in her chair.

Alex felt the cold hatred enveloping them just as surely as the train-tunnel thick tentacles of the giant cephalopod. He looked up, hearing the steel complain at the tightening of the rubbery, striated muscle.

“Blake, get us the hell out of here.” Alex knew they couldn’t just wait for it to rip them open, but also knew there was little they could realistically do. The Kraken was far larger, and far stronger than they were, and at home in this environment. They were just sardines in a can, waiting to be peeled open.

The strengthened steel hull groaned once again as monstrous pressure was applied to its surface. The control panels popped, lights began to go out, and one of their screens went dark.

“We’re fucked; not going anywhere,” Casey yelled.

Behind them, one of the walls started to compress, and then one of the reinforcing elliptical-frames began to lower from above them. Alex was underneath it faster than anyone could follow, and he reached up to hold the curved beam. He felt it then –
so close
. He and the creature were separated by a thin skin of strengthened steel.

He glimpsed its alien mind. It wanted them, not just as food, or as playthings, but it wanted them for revenge. It wanted to torture them, rip them to pieces slowly, and then devour the bits. It knew human beings, and knew what made them scream the loudest.

Alex gritted his teeth, as the steel started to come down hard. He focused all of his strength, and locked his arms. The steel bending stopped momentarily, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold it for long. He turned slowly, and could only let the words hiss from between his teeth.

“
Blake – get us – out – of here – NOW!
”

“Trying.” Blake wiped blood from his nose as his hands flew over the console. “Already at full power. Trying something …” His hands flew again. “… reversing.” After a few seconds, he swore, smacking his fist down hard on the console. “Nothing; we’re stuck.”

There came an abrupt boom of steel from somewhere back in the metal corridors. Soong screamed, and Shenjung covered her head with his arms and then together they sank down in a corner. Alex turned to where Aimee stood. She was silent and ghost like, clutching a wall strut. She just stared at him. There was resignation in her expression.

He heard her:
Joshua
, her mind repeated, over and over.

Alex turned back to the hull, screaming his defiance, releasing every demon from his id, and throwing them into war with the thing on the ship. He felt his bones start to bend, and tendons popped. But with all his great strength, inexorably, the steel beam still came down.

He turned back to Aimee. “
Sorry
,” he whispered.

“Fuck it.” Casey was on her feet, and punched one hand down on the torpedo room comm. link. “Rhino, fire all …”

“
Belay that order
,” Alex screamed through his pain. “You’ll blow us wide open.”

“We’re opening up now,” Casey yelled back. Her fists were balled. “We’re dead if we don’t.”

Alex was torn; the roof continued its slow drop. He was a flea holding back an elephant. “Not here, not now.” He prayed.

Blake hunched forward, one hand to his ear phone. “Something out there – mechanical.”  He switched it to external. Over the speakers there was a tiny rotational whine. “What is that?”

Suddenly there was an impact explosion. He spun. “Was that us?”

“No.” Alex immediately felt the weight on the
Sea Shadow
’s surface vanish. They lurched free.

Blake clapped once, grabbing the controls. “Hey, we’re free,
we’re free
 … it let us go.”

“Something just happened out there,” Cate said.

“Don’t care. We’ve been given a chance. Blake, take her down, soldier.” Alex dropped his arms, and immediately felt the pain of torn muscles and cracked bones. He nodded to Casey. “Now you can get Rhino.”

Casey grinned and pressed the comm. “Hey, big fella, still there?”

“Yo, shaken, but not stirred,” came the reply.

Alex smiled. “Ready on all tubes.”

The deep voice came back immediately. “Standing by, just say the word.”

*

The orthocone squid was an old female, the largest in its territory, and it had known more centuries than it could remember. It knew joy, boredom, curiosity, excitement, it knew love for its offspring, and it knew rage and hate. When it battled its own kind for territory or for food, or when the rocks fell from above to try and crush its limbs or its home, it had raged.

But these times were nothing compared to the hate it felt now for the destroyers of its brood. The small playthings that were warm and sweet to eat had managed to attack it from within the hard-shelled sea swimmer.

Excitement surged through it as it planned to drag them to the surface, tear the hard shell open, and take its time, stripping the tiny things of their limbs, watching their small faces twist in agony, before it finally consumed them.

As it pressed down on the shell of the hard thing, it sensed the humans inside. It could feel them scurrying about, and also feel their fear. Bands of color pulsed along its limbs and it flexed its muscles.

But frustration surged as it sensed the two massive leviathan creatures closing in on it. It immediately knew them, had fought them before. It would attack them if it ever found a small one alone, or weak, or old, but always avoided the strong ones, especially when they hunted in groups. The huge marine reptiles were fearsome predators, not as smart as it was, but they were fast and had a fearsome arsenal of teeth that could severely damage it … perhaps even kill it.

It held onto its hard prize, and hung in the water, indecision now tearing at it – should it flee, or stay and fight? The two huge creatures circled it, wary of its size and danger.

The decision was made – the giant swimmers attacked. The first impact was hard, and one of its limbs was grabbed and shredded. Then another, as the second reptilian predator came in from another angle, grasping and tearing at a second limb. Again, it lost flesh. It grasped one then, coiling around its flanks and holding it tight. It squeezed, applying colossal pressure until it began to feel the reptile’s mighty bones break beneath its skin. After another few seconds, it released the body, and briefly watched it sink into the dark void.

The other leviathan’s huge mouth closed on it, the tusk-like teeth each more than a foot long were sharp blades that sunk in deep and then ripped away a car-sized mound of flesh. It wrapped massive limbs around this one too – it had it now, and the sea reptile’s teeth were of no use if it couldn’t bring them to bear. It squeezed harder, feeling the satisfying sensation of crushing flesh and bones.

Just then, there came a tiny metallic whine.

*

“Do it.” Sam’s voice boomed.

“Hey, but …”  Bentley went to object, but then blanched as the huge form of Sam leaned over him. The bearded scientist waved a hand and just shook his head. “Okay, okay, do it.”

Sam knew he was taking a chance – if it was Alex in the submarine, he might, just
might
, give them a fighting chance. If it was the Chinese in control, then … he knew he probably should be ramming
Orca
into the sub, or leaving it to its fate.

“Rigging to detonate its fuel core on impact,” Sulley said mechanically. “So long, fella. Thanks for everything.”

The mottled hide of the cephalopod filled the screen, and then a large slitted eye became
Orca
’s entire world.

Schmidt’s arms dropped to his sides. “Good luck and god speed, Cate.”

Sam turned away. There was no way he could determine who was piloting the submarine, so there was no more he could do here. He walked heavily to the door, and opened it onto a freezing landscape.

If things went bad, he needed to prepare for war. He pressed his collar stud and the full head shield telescoped up over his face as he walked out into the snow.

*

The Kraken swiveled one giant eye and saw something tiny coming at it. The small, whining creature had a single luminous eye at one end, and it increased speed to fly fast at the cephalopod’s bulbous head. The tiny thing struck and then suddenly erupted in an explosion of red hot pain.

The cephalopod freed the fleeing hard shell and the last reptile, and squirted its camouflage ink into the water, rolled, knotted, and coiled on itself, and then jetted away.

The Kraken propelled itself towards the dark sea bottom, to spread out flat, changing color and blending in perfectly with the rocky depths. It was hurt, in agony, but it was alive, and it still had one thing left … its boiling hate.

“We got a vent, dead ahead.” Blake hit keys and pulled back on a small joystick as he read numbers scrolling up multiple screens. “Another big cavern in there, but we have strong water movement. That’s the good news.” He eased back on the stick. “The bad news is, that opening isn’t wide enough for us. We’re going to tear ourselves apart on its edges.” He turned. “Or get wedged.”

The proximity alarm sounded.

Alex leaned forward. “Full speed ahead. This is going to be close.” He hit the comm. button. “Rhino, fire tubes two and three.”

They all felt a slight judder, as the torpedoes sped away from the submarine.

“Two and three away.”  Rhino replied.

On the view screen they saw the trails of bubbles zooming away from them, heading down into an impenetrable blackness.

“Okay everyone,
hang on!
” Alex yelled as the submarine careened towards the sea bottom, caught now in the whirlpool that accelerated its descent. He looked quickly to Aimee. Her eyes were round, watching him. A nervous smile just flickered across her lips.

The two torpedoes struck the cavern edges, detonating and sending shock waves ballooning outwards into the water. The submarine bucked and shuddered as it passed through the blast compression wave, but still surged on.

Viewing screen visibility was obliterated, and they relied on the
Sea Shadow
’s electronic eyes and ears.

“We’re alive,” Casey said. “Blake I could kiss you, if you weren’t so ugly.”

Blake grinned. “We passed through, and we’re in the pipe.” He navigated the tunnel that led them many miles from the warm underground sea towards the freezing world waiting for them. The temperature began to drop against the hull so quickly that the sound of the metal contracting drowned out conversation.

“It’s a natural barrier,” Cate said. “No sea creature can pass between tropical water, and crushing icy water. It’d kill them.”

“Except one,” said Aimee. “One that has been doing it for perhaps too many centuries to count.”

“I hope it’s fucking dead,” Casey said. “We should blow the hole closed when we get out. Seal that motherfucker in forever.”

“Not a bad idea,” said Alex.

“We’re moving fast, real fast, riding a strong current,” Blake said. “Still on a slight incline, but getting heavy down here now, 450 psi water pressure. Much more and we’re gonna be in a world of pain.”

Jennifer snorted. “And where we just came from wasn’t?”

“Boss, got a wall coming up,” Blake yelled.

Alex leaned over him. “Is the current still moving? If it is, then we got another vent, hopefully going up. Follow it.”

Blake started to pull up on the U-shaped wheel. Shenjung and Soong stepped closer to look at his screen and then braced themselves on his chair.

“Slow it down. Don’t want to end up a skid mark against the wall,” said Alex, hanging on now.

“You got it,” Blake said. The deck started to tilt as they lifted and headed up the huge natural tunnel. The
Sea Shadow
bucked and then slowed down to just a few knots.

“Not that much,” Alex said.

Blake shook his head. “It’s not me. The current just changed direction. It’s rushing back at us now. We have got one mother of a headwind. Going to punch it.” He pushed the lever forward again; the submarine only slightly increased its speed.

“Sonar says we’ve got another small opening coming up, gonna need to blow it to fit through.”

“Rhino, fire tube four.” Alex gripped the table edge. “Lucky last, people. Let’s hope it also shuts the door behind us.”

“Last fish away,” Rhino said over the speaker. “Cupboards now empty.”

This time the explosion was felt and heard through the skin of the vessel, followed by rocks bouncing against the hull. The screens whited out.

*

Eric Carmack, commander of the Seawolf class submarine, USS
Texas
, and leading the American fleet in the Southern Ocean, was in the conning tower, watching his rivals jockey into place. He paused and turned as his officer handed him the microphone.

“Carmack, go ahead.”

“Commander, we have a sea shelf detonation. Medium-sized torpex impact at 210 fathoms. The blast signature was consistent with a heavy sea-borne torpedo strike.” The seaman paused, and Carmack knew he was reading new data as it came in. “Got something coming up, sir. Depth now 810 feet, and speed at 25 knots – metallic signature.” His voice took on a sense of urgency. “Computer can’t identify it from our libraries, but it’s got to be a medium sized submarine.”

“What the hell are they playing at now?” Carmack swung to his chief of boat, Alan Hensen. “Signal the fleet and sound battle stations.” He was handed a life jacket which he waved away. “Not yet. But I want batteries ready to engage, and all torpedo tubes locked and loaded.”

Hensen relayed orders, and then held the microphone away from his mouth. “We dive, sir?”

“No, but full astern. Let’s give ’em some room.” He lifted his glasses and scanned the semi-circle of Chinese ships. Combined with his own vessels, the ring of steel over the clear patch of ocean water was like an iron coliseum, the ships were the seating stands and the half mile wide patch of water, the battle arena.

“Too many … on both sides.” He lowered his glasses.
They’re too close
,
and so are we
, he thought. At this proximity, there would be no winners.

“Okay, let’s see what we’ve got.” He turned. “Soundings.” He waited.

Hensen relayed the information as it came in. “200 fathoms, and still coming fast. 150, 100, 80, 45 – breach imminent – relative bearing 310 degrees port bow.” He pointed.

The entire crew watched and waited. Then, like a salmon jumping from a pond, two thirds of the submarine’s steel body lifted from the water. It fell back, creating a massive wave, and was carried back beneath the surface for a moment, before then powering up to sit silently at all stop.

“
Jesus Christ, the
Sea Shadow.” Carmack grinned through his whispered words. “Put it on hailing frequency.” He lifted his field glasses again, training them on the hatch. “Come on.” He knew what the stakes were now. If the first voice that came from the speakers was Chinese, then they would know they had lost control of the submarine.

“Alan, get the admiralty on the line, ASAP.” Carmack blew air through puffed cheeks. The stakes had just gone up. In seconds they would know which way the chips had fallen. And as his missiles, heavy guns, torpedoes, and circling planes all had their targeting systems locked in on Chinese strategic targets, everything would hinge on the call from HQ, and the one from inside that damned vessel. He looked at his floating opponents; he had no doubt the Chinese had their weapons primed and pointed right down his throat as well.

Carmack could feel the heart beating in his chest. He was once again handed a life jacket, which this time, he donned over his uniform, and then put on a helmet. He knew that the waters in this part of the world were down around zero degrees. Five minutes in the drink, and you didn’t need to worry about going home anymore.

He lifted the glasses again, watching, waiting, and praying.

*

Jack Hammerson sat in the darkened office of James Carter, the secretary of defense. Spread around Carter’s desk were five-star General Marcus Chilton, Jim Harker, his staff sergeant, and various assembled generals and other senior military brass. They all stared hard at a huge screen and watched the events unfold real-time from one of their Southern Hemisphere satellites.

On Carter’s desk there were two speakers arranged; one was a direct line through to the Commander in Chief, President Paul Banning. On the other was Fleet Commander Eric Carmack.

Chilton’s eyes went from Carter back to the screen, where circling planes, multiple boats, and submarines formed a one mile halo of clear water. At its center was a single vessel – the
Sea Shadow
.

“Damned crowded down there, Eric.” Chilton looked relaxed, but Hammerson bet inside the big man was as on edge as the rest of them.

“That it is, Marcus. Like a goldfish bowl. Problem is, we’re all in the same bowl.” Carmack still sounded good humored.

Chilton half smiled, but then sat forward. “Eric, could you share with us your assessment of first round, send and receive?”

Hammerson knew what Chilton was asking. If the firing started in the first few seconds, how many would he sink and how many would he lose.

“Marcus, we’re all too close. At this proximity, it will not be a tactical fight; more a metal storm. We estimate a one hundred percent sinkage on their side, and perhaps seventy-five percent on ours. Of the twenty-five percent still afloat, there will be significant structural damage to all. Remaining aerial assets would have to land at McMurdo … if that base somehow avoided being caught up in the firefight. Personnel losses and injuries in the high hundreds – lot of sick people in the water.”

Chilton’s lips momentarily compressed, but then he slowly nodded. “Expected.” He glanced at Carter. “Acceptable.”

Carter swiveled in his chair, turning side-on to the room. He steepled his fingers. “Other option progress, gentlemen?”

Chilton’s eyes slid to Hammerson. His brows went up, but Hammerson knew he had nothing concrete to give his superior. He shook his head. Chilton tilted his head back slightly, and then faced the secretary of defense.

“No known progress, sir.” He turned back to the screen and the lonely looking submarine ringed by the wall of aggressive steel. He then leaned in towards the president’s comm. link. “Mr. President, if that hatch opens, and our people
do not
emerge, then we need to be ready for what that means.”

John Carter turned back to face the room and the president’s speaker. “Further instructions, sir?”

The president’s voice sounded tired. “Nothing has changed. Bottom line is, that vessel cannot fall into foreign power hands. Are we in agreement?”

Chilton nodded. “I agree, sir.” The room all voiced their agreement.

The president softly grunted his acknowledgment. “Then do what you have to, General Chilton.”

Chilton drew in a deep breath, his jaw set. “Commander Carmack, that vessel is the sovereign property of the United States of America. We take it home, or we blow it to atoms. Anyone or anything that interferes with your order, or fires upon an American vessel or individual, will be taken to be committing a hostile act against our country. Full use of force is therefore authorized.” He sat back, but his gaze was now hawk-like.

“Yes sir, understood, sir. God bless America.” Carmack’s voice was clipped.

“Good luck. And God’s strength to you and your forces, Eric.”

Hammerson gritted his teeth. This was what was called the sharp edge. Everyone in the room knew just what they had committed their country to; in fact, what they had just committed the entire world to. For some reason, the only thing Hammerson could think of was how he was going to tell Joshua his mother wasn’t coming home.

He straightened his jacket. Maybe that wouldn’t matter, maybe nothing would matter, in the next few minutes.