Tentacles

by Roland Smith

  “Before I see if I can hook them, how are you doing, Lepod?”

  “I’m all right. I mean, it’s a little disgusting to have your head stuck in a bowl of regurgitation, and my eyes are stinging a bit from the gastric acid, but I’ve had worse things on my face.”

  What could possibly be worse? Marty wondered.

  Ted laughed. “You’re a good sport, Lepod. I guess I’ll have to work on a way of expelling vomit from the helmets like water from the Orb. I’ll put it on the list. One good thing: You probably got rid of everything in your stomach during that last maneuver.”

  “I hope so,” Lepod said. “Because there really isn’t much room inside here for more. If I might make a suggestion …”

  “Go ahead,” Ted said.

  “Your best technique will be to tease them to the surface, like you are jigging for them with bait. I would stay just in front of them. If they fall behind, slow the Orb down so they can catch up. If you think it’s safe, you might even allow them to touch the Orb with the tips of their tentacles from time to time. You have to keep their hopes up. I think the quick maneuver you made scared them off. Common squid are very smart. Giant squid may be even more intelligent. They’ll eliminate their energy expenditure the moment they think they can’t catch their prey. I would never let them get in front of you, though. Their tentacles and arms, as you’ve just seen, are like lightning bolts.”

  “Good safety tip,” Ted said. He looked at the digital clock on the control panel. “We’d better cut bait. Tighten your seat belts. We have eight minutes.”

  * * *

  Butch knew that Grace was in Lab Nine. He also knew that Laurel, Ana, and Bertha were in there with her. What he didn’t know was how he was going to get her or the dinosaurs out.

  Three of Blackwood’s men were already aboard. Pepper was down at the Moon Pool coordinating the placement of C-4 plastic explosives. (But it would be Blackwood pushing the plunger on the remote detonator. He wanted to take out Travis Wolfe personally.) Butch had radioed one of the men to Lepod’s lab to bring him a little chunk of C-4. As a last resort he was going to blast his way into Lab Nine and hope that Grace or the dinosaurs weren’t anywhere near the door when he blew it off. If any of them were injured, he might as well swallow the C-4 and detonate himself. Because that’s what Blackwood would do to Butch, or to anyone else who harmed them.

  Butch was pretty confident that he could shape the charge around the door’s locking mechanism, which would minimize the damage on the inside. But on the other side he still had a big problem named Bertha Bishop. And she just might be more formidable than the door.

  As he considered all the pros and cons, he heard a loud shrieking noise outside Lepod’s lab. He stuck his head out the door and came face-to-face with a parrot — the same parrot he’d thrown against a tree at Lake Télé. Apparently, the parrot hadn’t forgotten. It landed on his shoulder and latched onto his earlobe with its sharp black beak. It was Butch’s turn to shriek now. He tried to shake off the bird, but it hung on like a parrot earring. Then he felt something tugging at his pant leg. He looked down and saw Wolfe’s tiny poodle latched onto his cuff. He reached for the parrot to rip it off his ear, but it dodged him, jumped on his head, grabbed onto his wig, and flew down the hallway with it clutched in its sharp little talons.

  Butch tore his lab coat off in a rage. His earlobe throbbed, and blood dripped onto his tattooed forearm. He heard something rushing up behind him, and this time it wasn’t a poodle or a parrot. Butch turned around and Bo, running at full speed, jumped and planted both feet into his stomach, knocking him against the wall and taking every ounce of oxygen from his lungs. As he gasped for breath, she tore his glasses off his face, pummeled him with her hands, bit him twice on each leg, dislocated two fingers on his left hand, then continued down the hall. He reached for his gun with his right hand and took a shot at her, but missed by a mile. Butch was left-handed.

  Yvonne came running around the corner and stopped in shock upon seeing the injured Butch McCall.

  * * *

  Luther watched the pirate battle on the Gizmo from the comfort of Wolfe’s cot. Within a matter of minutes the sonic cannons had taken out six of the pirates’ speedboats, or at least the pirates piloting them. The boats were running in crazy circles without anyone steering them. The cannon operators centered their lasers on the driver of each boat, pushed a button, and a second later the pilot released the wheel, grasping his ears with both hands and reeling over backward. If another pirate took control of the boat, he, too, got the laser and sonic blast with the same disastrous effect.

  The three remaining boats — all Zodiacs — seemed impervious to the cannons. There were two men in each boat, and they didn’t look like the other pirates. They were dressed in black combat gear. As one steered, the other systematically shot out the dishes of the sonic cannons.

  Who are these guys? Luther thought. And why don’t the blasts hurt their ears?

  * * *

  “Blackwood’s guys,” Al said to Wolfe. “Paramilitary. Professionals. They’re wearing sonic earplugs. Somehow they knew about the cannons. What do you want to do?”

  “Shoot them,” Wolfe said flatly. “Head shots.”

  “Joe!” Al shouted. “Get your sniper rifle. Take ’em out. Pilots first.”

  “Wolfe!” Yvonne’s breathless voice crackled on the radio.

  “Did you find Bo?”

  “No, but I found your stowaway and he’s after me!”

  “Where are you?”

  “On the lab deck.”

  “Go to Lab Nine,” Wolfe said. “Bertha?”

  “Got it,” Bertha said. “I’m in the outer room waiting for her. She’s here. Talk to you later.”

  Bertha was looking through the peephole at a panicked Yvonne pounding on the door. She jacked a shell into her shotgun and opened the door. Yvonne nearly ran her over pushing through the doorway.

  Bertha slammed the door shut behind her. “How far away is he?”

  “He’s at the end of the hall,” Yvonne answered, gasping for breath. “He’s carrying a pistol.”

  “What does he look like?”

  “Big and bald. He’s bleeding from his ear. It looks like he’s been in a terrible fight.”

  Bertha turned back toward the door and looked out the peephole. “It sounds like Butch McCall,” she said into her throat mic. “Yvonne says that he’s in rough shape and has a pistol. Want me to deal with him as he runs by?”

  “Negative,” Wolfe said. “As soon as we take care of the situation up here I’ll come down and we’ll see what we can do about running him to ground.”

  Bertha felt a stinging sensation in the back of her leg. As she turned around, Yvonne hit her in the head with Butch’s telescoping baton and yanked open the door to Lab Nine.

  The battered Butch stepped into the doorway and looked down at the crumpled Bertha. She had a tranquilizer dart sticking out of her leg and was bleeding from the head.

  “Nice work, partner,” Butch whispered. “But I’m ticked about the chimp you drugged.” He had popped the two dislocated fingers back into place, but his left hand still ached.

  “You told me to create chaos,” Yvonne said. “I didn’t know she would attack —”

  “Forget it,” Butch cut her off. “Go into the other room and dart Ana. Leave Laurel and Grace to me.”

  Yvonne slipped another dart into the tranquilizer gun and walked into the other room with the gun behind her back.

  Grace and Laurel were standing on the other side of the dinosaur pen. Ana was in front of the stainless steel food prep table.

  Yvonne could not believe her eyes. Butch and Blackwood hadn’t said anything about baby dinosaurs!

  “Are those what I think they are?” Yvonne said.

  “Yes,” Grace said. “Mokélé-mbembé.”

  “I had no idea,” Yvonne said. “How could that —”

  “You didn’t take a shower before you came in here,” Ana said, raising
an eyebrow. “And you’re not wearing scrubs.”

  “Bertha just told me to come in,” Yvonne said. “She didn’t say anything about —”

  She whipped out the tranquilizer gun from behind her back and fired a dart into Ana’s thigh. Ana ignored the dart and made a lunge for her. Yvonne sidestepped her and snapped out the baton, but it was Butch who put an end to it. He stepped into the room and hit Ana in the forehead with the butt of Bertha’s shotgun. In his other hand he held Bertha’s radio.

  “Good to see you again, Grace,” Butch said. He looked at the two dinosaurs. “Wow, they’re bigger than I thought they’d be.” He threw two cloth laundry bags to Grace, who let them fall to the floor without even trying to catch them. “Bag ’em.”

  “No,” Grace said.

  He pointed Bertha’s shotgun at Laurel. “If you don’t bag them, then I bag your friend Dr. Lee.”

  Grace picked up the bags.

  Bertha’s radio went off.

  “Bertha?”

  It was Wolfe.

  Butch handed his pistol to Yvonne. “This is a little more permanent than the dart gun. All the tranquilizer is going to do is to give them strange dreams and a terrible headache when they wake up. If Dr. Lee moves a quarter of an inch, shoot her.”

  Yvonne took the pistol and nodded.

  “Bertha, are you there?” Wolfe asked.

  “I can’t believe that you work for Noah Blackwood,” Grace said to Yvonne.

  Yvonne laughed. “I’ve worked for Dr. Blackwood since I was a girl. He’s gotten me every animal-training job I’ve ever had. And now it looks like I get to train a couple of dinosaurs. If he’d told me about them, I would have done this job for free.”

  “Bertha?”

  Butch held the radio to Grace’s mouth. “You’d better make this good. Because if Wolfe comes down here, I will personally kill Laurel, Ana, and Bertha. I’m going to key the mic. Ready?”

  Grace took a deep breath and nodded.

  “It’s Grace,” she said.

  “Where’s Bertha?” Wolfe asked.

  “She and Yvonne are in the shower. Sorry I didn’t answer sooner, but I was in the nursery and didn’t hear Bertha’s radio at first.”

  “How’s Yvonne?”

  “She’s scared, but fine,” Grace answered.

  There was a moment’s hesitation on Wolfe’s end. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes,” Grace said. “We’re fine. Bertha said that Butch ran right past the lab and didn’t even look at the door.”

  “Good,” Wolfe said. “Have Bertha give me a shout when she gets out of the shower.”

  “I will. How’s everything going on deck? I mean, with the pirates and all.”

  “It’s under control,” Wolfe said. “All we have to do is find Butch and we’ll all be safe.”

  Butch took his finger off the SEND button. “That’s what you think,” he said, smiling, then looked at Grace. “End the transmission.” He pushed the button.

  “I guess I’d better get back to feeding the dinosaurs.”

  “Good,” Wolfe said. “I’ll see you soon.”

  “Impressive,” Butch said. “You’re a chip off the old block. By that I mean your grandfather, not Wolfe. Convincing lying must be genetic. Now, bag the dinosaurs. We have a flight to catch.”

  “Why don’t you just take the dinosaurs and let her go?” Laurel pleaded.

  “Why don’t you just shut up before I shoot you in the head?” Butch answered.

  * * *

  The two squid took the bait, but it wasn’t nearly as easy to stay away from them as Ted had anticipated. He tried to hover just out of their reach, but it was difficult to judge how long their reach was. Twice one of them got ahold of the Orb, and both times Ted was about ready to punch the electrical field button but Lepod stopped him.

  “Don’t!” Lepod yelled. “If you shock them, they’ll disappear into the deep.”

  Instead, Ted made a quick maneuver and was able to roll the Orb out of their grasp.

  Lepod puked again, and so did Marty, but only a little. Then things got complicated.

  “Whales,” Lepod gurgled. “Just one. She’s after the squid.”

  But the squid only had eyes — very big eyes — for the Orb, and appeared completely unaware that they were being pursued.

  “What do we do?” Ted asked.

  “We’ll know if we have them hooked in a minute,” Lepod said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The light,” Lepod answered.

  Marty and Ted looked up. Just above them the sunlight was beginning to penetrate the water.

  “If you get to the light and they’re still in hot pursuit, not slowing down, they’ll follow you all the way into the Moon Pool.”

  Marty looked behind. The whale was gaining on the two squid. “We’d better pick up the pace or they’re going to be calamari.”

  “Continue to play with them,” Lepod said. “They’ve already seen the light. They’re leery of it, but they’re more concerned about not catching you. When you get to the light, you can speed up. Not as fast as you did in the deep, but enough to keep them ahead of the whale.”

  They reached the light and the squid did not slow down.

  “We have them,” Lepod said. “Speed up.”

  Ted did. So did the squid … and the whale.

  The hull of the Coelacanth came into view and, seconds later, the open entrance to the Moon Pool. The squid were about thirty feet behind the Orb. The whale was about fifteen feet behind the squid.

  * * *

  Joe had managed to take out two of the men in Zodiacs, but not before they had taken out every sonic cannon. When they blew out the last cannon, they turned and sped back to Blackwood’s ships.

  There were still a couple of pirate boats with no one at the helm, looping around and around in circles.

  Wolfe watched the Zodiacs through binoculars until they pulled behind Blackwood’s ships.

  “What do you think that means?” he asked Al.

  “I don’t know,” Al said. “But I don’t think this is over. In fact, it might not have even started yet. Blackwood knew we had the sonic cannons, but he sent the pirates out without ear protectors. Sacrificial lambs. He’s not stupid. He’s up to something.”

  Wolfe keyed his radio. “Bertha?”

  No answer.

  “Grace?”

  No answer.

  “Anyone in Lab Nine, pick up.”

  Silence.

  “Blackwood’s chopper is lifting off,” Al said. “He’s headed this way.”

  Wolfe tried reaching Bertha — anyone — in Lab Nine again. He got a response, but it wasn’t the one he wanted.

  “Hey, Wolfe,” Butch said into Wolfe’s earpiece. “I’m coming out on deck, but you need to tell your guys to stand down. I have Grace, two dinosaurs, and your sweetheart, Laurel Lee. You know I’m not going to hurt Grace or the dinosaurs, so that leaves Laurel. When I get on deck, if I see anyone with a weapon in their hand, I’ll shoot your girlfriend right in front of you. Can I make that any clearer?”

  “No,” Wolfe said.

  “Oh, and I’m not alone. I got a couple of guys with me and another girl you know. They’re not nice people.”

  “The Moon Pool,” Wolfe said.

  “Bingo. Thanks for opening the door for them.”

  Wolfe took his finger off the SEND key, then turned to Al and Joe.

  “What do you want to do?” Al asked.

  “Put your weapons down,” Wolfe said.

  “We can take them,” Al insisted.

  Wolfe shook his head. “No. Stand down. Everybody.”

  Reluctantly, Al, Joe, and everyone else on deck complied.

  Butch came out first, holding a bound Laurel Lee by her forearm, with a pistol pointed to her head. Yvonne emerged next, holding on to Grace. Two other men dressed in black wet suits followed. Each held a laundry bag slung over his shoulder with something struggling inside.

  Blackwood�
�s helicopter landed on the helipad.

  “You took out our helicopter to make room for his,” Phil said.

  “I sure did,” Butch said.

  “Where’s Bertha?”

  “Asleep, along with that annoying journalist, but they’re both fine, which is more than they deserve,” Butch answered.

  Blackwood stepped out of the helicopter before the rotors stopped.

  “How’s it going, Travis?” he shouted over the din of the blades.

  Wolfe didn’t answer.

  Butch looked at his men. “Take the bags up to the chopper! And where’s Pepper?”

  “Last time I talked to him he was still down at the Moon Pool,” one of the men answered.

  “Tell him to get up on deck,” Butch said. “We’re out of here.”

  The man spoke into his radio. “We got all the cargo. Come on up.”

  “Be there in a minute,” Pepper answered back.

  The two men climbed to the helipad, put the bags inside the helicopter, then covered the group with their assault rifles.

  Wolfe looked at Yvonne with complete disgust.

  “Save it, Wolfe,” Yvonne said. “I didn’t need your job. I already have one.”

  * * *

  Ted brought the Orb into the Moon Pool so fast it went airborne.

  Pepper, who was putting his gear into his satchel, was so startled when he saw it that he nearly wet himself. The gold ball was followed into the pool by something huge and red. A second later, something hit the ship so hard Pepper was thrown to the ground.

  * * *

  “What was that?” Ted shouted.

  “The whale snagged the second squid and slammed into the hull!” Marty answered.

  * * *

  The ship rocked.

  In the confusion, Grace yanked herself out of Yvonne’s grasp and ran over to Wolfe.

  Al dove for his gun and came up shooting. He hit Butch in the shoulder. Butch managed to hold on to Laurel Lee in spite of the wound.