by Michael Cole
The thunder rumbled above the Catcher, and occasionally a bolt of lightning would streak across the night sky. Down on the main deck, Napier continued slowly releasing slack on the winch. While he could see the lit screen of Red’s monitor, it was too small and he was standing too far away to see any detail. His shirt and jeans were drenched in water and sweat at this point, but his concern was still focused on his family and friends. He hoped this mission would prove successful, as he would not dare risk an escape with the possibility of that monster lurking in the depths around them. He certainly did not envy the mercenaries, who fearlessly dove in to challenge it.
“I hope those guys will manage to make it out of the cave in time to hook themselves to the cable,” Napier said.
“They’re good swimmers,” Red simply said, only half listening to the fisherman.
“I don’t doubt that,” Napier said. “However, I question the ability to outswim a sixty-foot predator that actually lives in the water, with tentacles that extend further than its own body length.”
“Didn’t I warn you earlier about talking?” Red commented back with a brief glare. “I’d suggest you stop. Because otherwise, I could call my men back to collect some bait to entice it out of the cave. And who wouldn’t be enticed by young Jane?”
“You son of a--” Napier stopped himself, both from cursing out and making a rush at the sadistic trained killer. His inner voice spoke to him, helping to keep his adrenaline from stirring him crazy. Just keep your cool and cooperate…for now. He took a few deep breaths through his nose, and exhaling through his mouth.
********
It took several minutes for the divers to reach the mouth of the cave, particularly because dragging that heavy cable was no easy task for Goliath. Once they had reached the destination, he removed a bolt gun from the back of his duty belt and aimed it towards the bottom floor. The bolt gun was like those used by rock climbers. At point blank range, he pulled the trigger, firing a bolt into the rocky sea floor. An explosion of bubbles erupted from the gun toward the surface, seemingly unveiling the bolt which was now posted firmly. Goliath clipped the cable to it, allowing the three hookups to dangle freely.
“Proceed inside,” the voice of Red instructed the mercenaries through the radio. Without the weight of the cable, Goliath felt light as a bird. He holstered the bolt gun and then unstrapped the loaded harpoon from around his back. The other two mercs waited for him, and once he was set they entered the huge circular mouth of the cave. The night vision made the dark tunnel as clear as day. Every speck was made visible. Every grain of sand, every stray piece of seaweed, each spike-shaped rock formation that pointed from the roof of the cave. Each of them kept their harpoon guns aimed into the deep throat of the tunnel, aware that a giant surprise could turn up at any moment.
********
“How fast should that tranquilizer take effect on the thing?” Thompson asked, while admiring the view of the tunnel through the video monitor.
“Once the harpoons are drilled in, and the liquid is injected, the desired effect should begin to take place within a few seconds,” the doctor explained, never taking his eyes off the screen.
“And what if the shell is too thick?” Thompson asked. “Perhaps the harpoons may not dig in far enough.”
“The shell is very thick,” Wallack explained. “But there are blood vessels that run within the shell. Those are shallow enough for the harpoons to inject the tranquilizer. Perhaps the men can hit it in one of the softer tentacles, where the liquid will have easier access. Either way, it will work.”
He continued watching the screen very intently, waiting for Architeuthis Brachyura to emerge from the darkness. He had not seen his fully matured creation out of captivity on its own, and was very curious to see any behavior patterns that it may have developed. In addition, he was very anxious for the operation to be successful, and hopefully have his prize back in time before the military had officially shut down his laboratory for good.
“What if they put the creature to sleep while it’s still in the cave?” Thompson asked. “How will we get it out, since the cable’s not long enough?”
“You’re just full of questions today,” Dr. Wallack remarked. Thompson scoffed.
“Well, I figured it wouldn’t be much of an inconvenience since you did kidnap us,” she remarked back at him. Dr. Wallack smiled, still not taking his eyes off the screen.
“I suppose you have a point,” he said. “In response to your question, I’m hoping it’ll chase the men out of the cave before the canisters take effect. If not, we’ll have to move the boat closer to the cave in order to get the cable and net strung up to it, and winch it in.”
“You’d sink the boat! There’s no way we can get close enough!”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” the doctor said. He finally took his eyes off the screen and looked at her. “You’re a Coast Guard lieutenant. I saw your record, which is actually quite impressive, minus the recent portion of getting a diver killed and reporting a sea monster to the world, ruining your reputation, and possible discharge from the military.”
“Actually, it’s your monster, meaning YOU got Denning killed,” she corrected him. “And I’m not too worried about my reputation, especially when the truth comes out.”
“Well I was hoping you’d accept a job working for me,” he said, leaning back in his seat. “There are many open positions in my lab. I need divers, particularly people with experience. If you’d just let things be, and accept the discharge from the military, as well as help me keep this ‘monster story’ under wraps from the public, I assure you the money will be well worth it.”
“That’s an insult to me, the people you’ve hurt, and my country,” she said. Dr. Wallack smiled again.
“I take that as a ‘no’.”
“Damn right.”
Wallack redirected his eyes to the screen. The view, while incredible, was more of the same. Rocky formations; muck; darkness, illuminated by the night vision. The men were over a hundred feet in. He watched and waited. One meter after another, the men proceeded inside. After several more yards, the bottom of the cave began to change. There were more rocks built up in multiple weird formations. Wallack examined the screen closely. He had a radio, which was on the same frequency as the divers.
“Halt,” he instructed. “Get a closer view of the cave floor.”
Down on the main deck, Napier could hear Red’s radio. Wallack’s voice sounded intrigued, enough to make Napier interested. He knew that they had not yet located the creature, meaning there was something else that interested the scientist. Shamelessly, Napier marched to Red’s monitor, not caring if the mercenary would threaten him for the tenth time. Surprisingly, he didn’t seem to care. Napier looked at the green lit screen, observing the multiple rocky formations. The funny thing was that these rocks did not appear to be connected to the cave floor. These were smaller rocks, broken into pieces and laid out throughout this particular area of the cave.
“What the hell are those,” Red said, talking more to himself than Napier. He wasn’t referring to the rocks, but other objects mixed into the mess. Napier leaned in closer, getting as good of a look through the small screen as he could. These other objects were flatter, and came in more miscellaneous forms and sizes. They didn’t appear to be rock, rather…wood. Goliath had gotten closer into the mess, improving the view, which in turn confirmed what Napier was thinking. There were shredded pieces of debris spread throughout this vast area of the cave, mixed with small broken up pieces of rocks. The debris consisted mostly of wood, with bits of pipe and other metal pieces mixed in.
“Holy shit,” Napier exclaimed. “That’s Steve Hogan’s vessel. What’s left of it, that is.” He turned, marched toward the ladder, and begun climbing.
“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?” Red called after him. Napier ignored him. He stepped onto the upper deck and swung the cabin door open, quickly gathering Wallack’s attention.
/> “Aren’t you supposed to be at the winch?” The doctor said to him.
“You know what that is, don’t you?” Napier spoke up, with accusation in his voice. “There’s something here you haven’t told us.”
“I’ve informed you that Architeuthis Brachyura had made this cave his habitat,” the doctor said. Napier shook his head, barely managing to contain himself.
“There’s something you left out. What you’re looking at down there are pieces of Steve Hogan’s fishing vessel. Arguably the first victim from your experiment. When the police and I attempted to investigate the area, there was no sign of his vessel, minus some floating chunks of wood, which only amounted barely enough for a nice campfire. When Lisa,” he pointed to Thompson, “and her team of divers investigated the area that night, they also found no trace of the vessel. Instead, they met your big friend out there.”
“What are you saying, Rick?” Thompson asked.
“What we’re looking at on the screen: that’s a nest,” Napier said. There were several moments of silence, during which he examined Wallack’s body language. “Now I’m going to ask you this once. Is that creature capable of reproducing?” Wallack remained silent for a few moments before making eye contact with Napier.
“You really should finish that doctorate degree of yours,” he remarked. “Then you wouldn’t be pegged as a dumb fisherman so much. Yes, Architeuthis Brachyura is capable of spawning several fertilized eggs on its own. Long story short, the process of hybridization somehow rendered the specimen asexual, meaning it can reproduce without mating with another of its species.”
“I know what it means,” Napier said. “Like you said, I’m not just a dumb fisherman. Now tell me…do you believe that thing has reproduced already?”
“No,” Wallack said. “That’s why I had the men investigate the…‘nest’. But there are no eggs as of yet. They’d be easy to spot. They’d be shaped like a normal egg, with a few scabby surface features, and they’d be around four feet high. Difficult to miss, even down there. So no, Mr. Napier, we can confirm that the specimen has not reproduced.”
“Then we need to stop it before it does,” Napier said.
“Stop it? You mean kill it?” Wallack dissected the fisherman’s words. “Not a chance! This creature is a biological goldmine! It took several millions of dollars to successfully complete the hybridization process! Years of research and development!” He stood up from his seat. “We’re continuing with the original plan. Tranquilize the specimen, net it, and take it to the facility, where we will provide a ‘nursery’ for it.”
“You couldn’t contain just one of those things! How can you expect to control several of them?!” Thompson cut in.
“I have more power and more technology and resources than you little people even knew existed!” The doctor raised his voice. He turned to Thompson. “You claimed you loved your country! The development of these creatures means wiping out our enemies! Can you imagine unleashing these things on the Iranian coasts? Or setting them loose near North Korea! The country that you love so much will have total dominance over the planet!” Now more than ever, he sounded like a true mad scientist.
“I believe in having an upper hand over our enemies,” Thompson stated, “but these things are a bigger danger to us and countless other innocents than they are to the nation’s enemies. You’re in over your head. This one alone killed dozens of people in only a couple of days.”
“Collateral damage,” Wallack coldly stated. Napier and Thompson stood silent, looking at each other as if silently communicating their thoughts. They both knew that the beast must be killed, and that the doctor could not get away with his actions. And God only knew how many other experiments he had in store that could cause countless death and carnage to innocent populations.
********
The mercenaries felt weightless in the water. They remained in place, scanning the darkness with their advanced night vision goggles. They had not received any orders from Dr. Wallack or Red about moving in. Each of them was wishing they could speak on a radio to their commander regarding what to do. They were growing impatient from remaining stationary in their current position.
Goliath considered the thought of proceeding without instructions, but ultimately decided against it. He was practically standing on the bottom of the cave amongst the shipwreck remains, while Morgan and Roketto appeared to hover a few meters above him by flapping their flippers steadily. The brute was growing weary of being this deep in the cave. He knew if they were to find the creature the team would be forced to immediately retreat. And he knew there was not much hope of outrunning the beast. His nerves began to tingle. The water in the cave had been perfectly still, like a lake on a sunny day. But just now, he felt something different: a slight current. And it was as brief as it was slight, which caused the enormous mercenary to focus on the belly of the cave, where that ‘current’ had come from.
********
Due to the tremendous energy that had been spent from recent activity, Architeuthis Brachyura had fallen into another slumber. Having just fed on several smaller life forms, its body did not currently desire the ingestion of more nutrients. However, the electrical impulses raging through its sensory receptors drove the beast from its sleep. There was a new presence in its claimed territory. Multiple presences, each tiny in comparison to the creature. But regardless of size, they were intruders, and instinct dictated to the beast that it must defend its habitat. It was not hungry, but it was certainly bloodthirsty.
********
Another brief fluctuation occurred in the still water, drawing the attention of all three mercenaries. Goliath turned to the other teammates and motioned for them with his hand to move back. The three men backpedaled toward the mouth of the cave, keeping their eyes on the deep dark tunnel. There were other fluctuations occurring within the current, each one making the divers move a little bit faster. And finally, their night vision began to catch images in the dark tunnel. Tentacles rippled from coiled positions out towards both sides of the cave, originating from one enormous body. Even under the stress of trying to stay out of the creature’s reach, the mercenaries maintained eye contact of their enormous target. To their advantage, the creature was too large to move very fluidly in the cave. Its gigantic shelled body dragged across the cave floor, pulled forward by the two razor sharp pincers that clawed at the floor. The mercenaries knew that this did not buy them too much time, as the walls widened closer to the mouth of the cave. These warriors had seen much action during their lives, and had encountered more than their fair share of experiences that seemed ‘impossible’. But the sight of this monster nearly made their blood run cold. Suddenly, the radio in all three of their earpieces buzzed with static for a moment.
“What the hell are you idiots waiting for? Fire the damn harpoons and haul ass!” Red’s voice commanded. The urgency of his voice snapped the mercs back to reality. While continuing to backpedal, all three of the men took aim with their high-powered harpoon guns. Goliath fired first, then Roketto, followed closely by Morgan. One harpoon impacted the shell just above the beast’s left shoulder. Another struck its left arm near the elbow joint. The third harpoon did not hit anything, as it was swiped away from a writhing tentacle. The two successful harpoons immediately began drilling their way deeper into the shell, sending small bits of grit into the water around them. The mercenaries didn’t pay close enough attention to see whether the harpoons struck or not. After firing, they turned toward the mouth of the cave and swam as if the devil was after them. In their minds, they believed it was something worse.
********
“Napier! Where the hell are you?!” Red called from his position. He kept his eye on the monitor, waiting for his men to clip themselves to the cable. He heard Napier and Thompson climbing down the ladder. He glanced to the former, who quickly took his position at the winch. “I’ll let you know when to reel them in!”
“I’ll be waiting,” Napier said. Like Red, they weren�
�t able to get a good look at the beast through the monitor, despite the high definition and advanced night vision. They had watched the mercenaries fire their harpoons at the beast, but there were no confirmed hits, although a target that size would be nearly impossible to miss. Thompson stood near Napier, watching the waters intently.
“Who would’ve thought it would take a sea monster to get us reacquainted,” she remarked. Napier didn’t say anything, but did crack a small smile.
********
The beast was feeling a strange sensation throughout its body, which its instincts did not recognize. While it was still moving forward with tremendous force, it felt a strange sudden lack of energy in its muscles. It did not have the intelligence to connect this event with the attack its intruders had just unleashed on it. The tunnel was steadily widening, allowing it more space to move toward the escaping enemies. They were out of reach for its eight tentacles, which helped to pull the creature through its tight habitat. It was too dark for its bulb-like eyes to see them, but it could still detect them due to the electrical impulses they created. Despite feeling suddenly weaker, Architeuthis Brachyura’s instincts demanded it slaughter its challengers.
********
“Okay, they’re at the mouth of the cave!” Red said, watching the monitor. Morgan had been instructed to motion to Goliath’s camera with a thumbs up when all three men were clipped to the cable, an action the commanding merc was waiting for. Doctor Wallack stood outside the cabin, eagerly waiting to see if the creature would emerge after the divers. He certainly hoped for the hired guns to make it out alive. Otherwise, hooking up the net would certainly be difficult.
