Monsters In Our Wake

by J. H. Moncrieff

  “I have no fear of the brig, as you well know. I’ve done my time, and if I have to do a little more, so be it. Are you delusional enough to think any of us are going to survive that long? We’re being picked off one by one, and you know it.”

  “Anderssen is going to get us out of here. He has a plan—unless you killed him.”

  Thor, dead? Flora pressed her hands to her lips to keep from crying out. It couldn’t be true.

  “And what does it matter if I did? Every one of us is going to be killed, sooner or later, and my vote is sooner. You’re lucky to die by my hand instead of waiting for that creature to take you. Unless you’d rather be eaten alive from the inside out, like Archie.”

  “Tomkins is fine, Hearne. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Oh, don’t I? Get him to show you his ankle, Captain. Although I imagine it’s reached his leg by now—maybe even his hip. God knows Lashay didn’t have long to wait.”

  Flora thought again of Archie, and how quiet the man had been lately. But the creature hadn’t touched him.

  “Enough chitchat, Captain. Either I shoot you now, or I can throw you overboard. You were fond of that idea when you were considering what to do with me, so it’s only fair to offer you the same.”

  “I’ll take my chances with the ocean,” Apostolos said, and he was calm again, as if he were announcing what he’d like for lunch. “It’s a fitting way for an old sailor to die. More honorable than being gunned down by the likes of you.”

  Flora heard a click. She bit her lip to keep from screaming.

  “Watch it, Captain. I don’t need much provoking. Before we send you off to Davy Jones, I need to know one thing—where’s the cunt?”

  Apostolos sputtered. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Sure you do. There’s only one cunt with legs on this ship. So where is she? Where are you hiding her?”

  “If you’re referring to Duchovney, I haven’t seen her since lunch time. Maybe she’s on deck.”

  “I thought no one was allowed on deck.”

  “I can’t control what the crew does, and you’re a perfect example of that. Wherever Duchovney is, she didn’t check in with me, but she can’t be far.”

  She didn’t release the breath she was holding until she heard the men leave the mess, heading for the steps that would lead them to the deck—and Apostolos’s death.

  Her mind swam with so many questions she felt dizzy. For a minute, Flora forgot how cold she was. Where had Frank gotten a gun? She hadn’t been aware of any weapons on board, except the harpoon. And how had he gotten loose? She prayed he hadn’t killed Thor.

  Most importantly, what should she do? She couldn’t let Frank murder Apostolos, but she’d already been treated to an example of the man’s strength, and knew she couldn’t overpower him by herself. If she provided a distraction, perhaps Apostolos could take him down. The Greek was more than strong enough.

  Grabbing hold of a shelf, she pulled herself to a standing position, wincing at the stiffness in her joints. Every part of her felt creaky and burned with cold. She scanned the cooler for a weapon. There were giant jars of pickles and industrial-sized cans of tuna, but she wasn’t confident she could throw either of them with accuracy. Settling for the wooden handle of the push broom, she leaned against the cooler door, using her body weight to ease it open.

  Except it didn’t open.

  Dropping the broom, Flora used both hands to push against the door.

  It didn’t budge.

  The handle was broken. She was going to freeze to death among the last of the crew’s provisions.

  Trapped in the airtight cooler, Flora had only one weapon available to her, and she wasn’t at all sure it would work.

  But she had to try.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Please help. He’s going to kill the captain.

  I was enjoying a nice light meal of blue algae with my wife when the scientist’s voice blasted through my brain. Grimacing, I shook my head. I preferred my limited interactions with humans to be one way, but my link to the geologist was proving to be much stronger than I’d thought. In spite of my better instincts, my mind reached out and found her. She was still in trouble, but even worse this time. If she didn’t get warmth and air soon, she’d expire.

  I shook my head again, this time in weariness. Even when I tried to help them, humans invariably self-destructed.

  “What is it, dear? What’s troubling you?” Draugen’s tone was sweet enough, but her eyes narrowed. Ever since her attack on the ship, I’d been spending the majority of my time with her and The Boy in an effort to placate them. My strategy appeared to be working. My son hardly ever whined about wanting the ship anymore, but my wife’s expression showed she hadn’t forgotten a thing. She was merely biding her time, as I was. Why hadn’t these miserable creatures fixed their damn boat yet? I could only hold Draugen off for so long. Every day that ship remained in our territory, the angrier she got.

  “It’s the humans, isn’t it? You’re still obsessed with them.”

  “The humans? No, no, not at all. It’s those giant clams we had earlier. They’re not sitting right with me.” I belched for effect, which wasn’t difficult after such a huge meal.

  My wife wrinkled her snout. “They were probably poisoned. Those horrible humans are poisoning everything these days.”

  She turned away, giving me an opportunity to answer the scientist when a sharp pain stabbed through my brain. Quickly I imagined a wall of coral slamming down. It snapped the probing lance in two with not a moment to spare.

  “You are hiding something from me, Nøkken. What is it? I thought we’d agreed to have no more secrets from each other.” My wife’s upper lip curled, exposing fangs that were three times longer than my own.

  “Reading my mind is a cheap trick, dearheart. You know I don’t care for it, and beyond that, it’s painful. What reason have I ever given you not to trust me?”

  Help. We’re running out of time. The captain will die. Frank is going to throw him overboard.

  The new message shrilled across my brain, but this time I was ready for it and managed to keep my expression neutral as I shot off a reply.

  Who are you to ask for my help? What is it to me if another one of you dies? You are no more than vermin to me. We were living in temples and palaces when you were still amoebae crawling around, spreading your disease.

  I’d had more faith in the scientist than I should have—my wife was right. This woman was only another human, same as the rest. Even after I’d warned her, all she wanted was more of my help. Take, take, take. That’s what they did.

  I’m really sorry, but I don’t know who else to turn to. I’m trapped in the cooler, and the captain is the only one who can run the ship. I know you want us to leave, and without him, we’ll be stuck here.

  That gave me pause.

  If your captain enters the ocean, he won’t die by my hand. We will let him be. Surely one of you can figure out a way to get him on the ship.

  My son yanked me by the tail hard enough to draw blood. Ouch. Impertinent little bugger.

  “Dad, let’s do something. This is boring.”

  “Your father is busy with the humans again. Aren’t you, Nøkken? There’s no use lying to us. I can hear that female’s screaming from here.”

  It hadn’t occurred to me that Flora was powerful enough to transmit her thoughts to Draugen as well. Against my better nature, I issued a warning to her while I contemplated biting my son’s head off.

  You need to calm down. My wife can hear you, and believe me, you don’t want to deal with her.

  The reply blasted back immediately, and this time we both winced. Only our son was unaffected.

  If he goes in the water, he’ll drown. Or get eaten by sharks. He’ll die for sure. We’re running out of time. You’re our last hope. PLEASEHELPPLEASEHELPPLEASEHELP.

  “She’s a mouthy little thing, isn’t she? You should tell her to ke
ep her voice down if you don’t want me to hear.”

  “This is the first time she’s done this, Draugen, I swear.”

  “And I wonder how she knew she could. You’ve been teaching her, I suppose?” My wife circled me while my son followed, smirking. He clearly thought this was a game. Or perhaps he knew his father wasn’t long for this world and was thrilled that my wife’s attention would soon be focused solely on him.

  “Not at all. You think I want the inane chatter of humans in my ears?”

  HELP.

  “That’s it.” My wife snarled. “I’m getting rid of that boat.”

  “Yay!” My son spun in circles, snapping at passing fish.

  “Wait a minute.” I realized I could relieve my wife’s rage and aid the geologist at the same time. “We have to be strategic about this.”

  Draugen rolled her eyes. “Really, Nøkken—I’m growing weary of your games. These are humans like any other. They don’t deserve special consideration.”

  “Oh? Have you ever had one communicate with you before?”

  My wife didn’t have to answer. For whatever reason, the scientist was an anomaly. Maybe she would turn out to be as bad as the rest of her kin, but maybe not. It was worth giving her a chance.

  “Her communication leaves a lot to be desired. I’d be just as happy never to hear from her again.”

  “She’s panicking,” I said, scarcely able to believe I was defending her. “The one man who can steer the ship and get them out of our territory is in danger.”

  “I can get every single one of them out of our territory in about five seconds,” Draugen said with a grin that would have made my blood run cold—if I wasn’t already cold-blooded.

  “We need the humans to get their boat to shore so they can warn the others, remember? If they disappear, the rest of their tribe will come searching for them.” There was nothing people loved more than an unsolved mystery. It was one of the main reasons we’d had to leave our beloved Bermuda Triangle.

  “What are you asking of me? Surely you don’t expect me to float my days away, snacking on algae, while they clutter our territory and our minds.”

  “No—on the contrary, I think you should go. But we need to have a plan.”

  As fast as I could, I described the one they called “Frank Hearne” to my wife—dirty, nasty man that he was.

  That little bastard was about to get a lesson in karma. Too bad it wouldn’t last very long.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Thor woke in darkness. Fetid, foul-smelling darkness.

  He blinked, not sure his eyes were open, and then was sorry he had. The pain ricocheted across his forehead before settling behind his eyes with a nasty throb.

  Extending his arm, he searched for whatever it was that had knocked him out. He was pretty sure he’d heard it hit the floor a moment before he had. It wasn’t long before his hands closed around a wooden handle. His fingers worked their way along until they came to the business end.

  Thor moaned when he realized what it was. A sledgehammer. They’d left a fucking sledgehammer in a room with a mad, captive sailor. There was no limit to their idiocy. Of course, they hadn’t expected Frank to escape, but in hindsight, that was pretty damn stupid too.

  Frank. Even though it felt like his head would shatter into a million pieces, Thor staggered to his feet. Thankfully the sailor hadn’t taken the time to restrain him, but Thor wasn’t sure whether or not he should be offended by that.

  God knows how long Frank had been out there and what havoc he’d wreaked during that time. His stint in the hold must have driven him mad. If he got his hands on Flora again, he’d probably kill her.

  * * *

  Thor shuffled to the upper decks, the sledgehammer held in front of him like an absurd dowsing rod. Without the engine running, the ship was eerily silent. Soon he realized he couldn’t hear the hum of the generator, either. Fuck. Couldn’t they keep anything going without me? Of course, they probably had other things on their minds.

  When Thor reached the messdeck, he looked for Flora, almost expecting to see her sitting at the table where he’d left her. But the ship’s kitchen was empty. There were no signs of a struggle, or blood on the floor. He tried to take comfort in that.

  “You’re dooming everyone on the ship.”

  It was Apostolos, yelling from the upper deck.

  Thor tightened his grip on the sledgehammer.

  Showtime.

  * * *

  “Get over yourself. If a moron like you can manage her, I’m sure I can figure it out.”

  “You don’t understand. This ship is different. It takes special training—”

  Apostolos spotted Thor as he crept onto the deck. His eyes flicked to him for only a second—half a second—but it was enough. Frank spun around, his eyes crazed. He was holding a gun.

  “Ha, beautiful. Boy Wonder’s come to save the day. You didn’t put up much of a fight down below, though, did ya?”

  “It doesn’t take much skill to hit someone with a sledgehammer when they can’t see you coming.”

  Thor knew he wouldn’t have been a match for Frank, even if the men had fought hand to hand in bright daylight, but there was no way he’d admit that. Thankfully, Apostolos hadn’t lost any of his wits. While Frank was distracted, the big Greek seized the gun.

  Frank held fast, and soon both men were engaged in a frantic tug-of-war. Archie leaned against the bow nearby, looking worse than ever. There was no point appealing to him for help. Continuing his painful progress across the deck, Thor hoped he’d be able to get in a good shot at Frank. The Greek’s arm muscles bulged and strained with the effort of holding on to the weapon, but he wasn’t about to let go. The men appeared to be evenly matched.

  Thor raised the sledgehammer with both hands and waited for an opening, arms trembling. For now, the adrenaline pumping through his veins kept the pain at bay, but he knew he’d pay for this later. The collar of his shirt was crusted with dried blood that crackled whenever he moved his head. Frank hadn’t given him a love tap, but thankfully he hadn’t put his arm into it either.

  The Greek fell to the deck with Frank underneath him, but the captain didn’t have the chance to land a single punch before the grizzled sailor shifted positions. Apostolos tore the gun from Frank’s hands during the struggle, and Thor managed to kick it out of reach. He had to hop to the side to keep from being mowed down by the rolling duo. Still clutching the sledgehammer, but lower now, he watched for an opportunity. If he missed and hit Apostolos, it would be worse than doing nothing.

  Distracted as Thor was, he didn’t notice the ocean was unusually calm, as if the world were holding its breath.

  The creature burst out of the water behind the struggling men. Thor stumbled backward, unable to take his eyes off it. It resembled a brontosaurus with a much longer neck, but its teeth were more like a T-rex’s. Its small eyes were yellow and filled with hate—yes, hate. There was no doubt in Thor’s mind that this was a sentient creature. The sledgehammer tumbled from his hands and he fell, landing hard on his butt, the agony blasting through his skull enough to make him scream. He could barely hear himself over Frank and Apostolos, who were both yelling.

  Frank rolled off the Greek and ran for the stairs, but the creature was too fast. With one twitch of its neck, it had the sailor in its jaws. Thor pressed his face to the deck, but he could hear the horrible crunching as the creature tore into Frank. The sailor’s screams stopped as quickly as they’d begun.

  There was stillness, and then a dull thump. No one moved. Thor felt a sensation, almost like a warm breeze, pass over his body, and before he knew what was happening, his bladder let go. He fully expected to die, but after a minute had passed, he risked a look.

  Apostolos was lying on the deck as if pinned, staring in terror at the creature, who was glaring back at him.

  THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING. FIX YOUR BOAT AND LEAVE OUR TERRITORY. DO NOT RETURN. TELL OTHERS OF YOUR KIND THEY ARE NOT WELCOME HERE. IF WE
SEE ANOTHER HUMAN, WE WILL NOT BE SO MERCIFUL.

  The words exploded in Thor’s brain as if he’d turned his iPod past the highest setting. Clapping his hands to his ears, he groaned, nauseous with pain, but Apostolos just nodded, stricken, his eyes locked on the creature.

  Then it was gone, as silently as it had arrived.

  Apostolos got to his feet. “Anderssen, are you all right?”

  Thor was, until he saw Frank. Or what was left of him. The sailor’s head had been separated from his body, tumbling across the deck until it was a few feet away. The man’s eyes were dazed, as if he wasn’t sure what hit had him.

  Thor heard someone screaming. It was a while before he realized the sound was coming from his own throat.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The sound of metal scratching against the door snapped Flora out of her daze. She pushed aside the sack of grain, almost crying with relief.

  But then she froze.

  What if Frank had won?

  When the door swung wide, blinding her with the warm light from the messdeck, she collapsed into Apostolos’s arms, unable to hold back her tears.

  At first the big man seemed startled, but then he returned her embrace. “I’m sorry, Duchovney. I didn’t expect to take this long. You must be half-frozen.”

  She laughed, wiping away her tears. “No half about it. I’m a Popsicle. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

  He helped her to a chair and wrapped the tablecloth around her shivering body. “Aye, I’m fine. I can’t say the same for Hearne, though.”

  “Is he in the hold?” The thought of Frank made her tremble even harder.

  “No, he’s in the ocean.”

  Apostolos collapsed into the nearest chair, clutching several bottles of beer. He offered one to her, but she shook her head. “You’ll forgive me if I get roaring drunk. It’s either that or go crazy.”

  Flora closed her eyes in relief. Her plan must have worked—the creature must have heard her and decided to help. Why, she had no idea, but she figured it had its own reasons.