Kraken Rising: Alex Hunter 6

by Greig Beck

  “Well,” Hensen said. “I’m betting that episode might go a long way to adding some credibility to our story.”

  “But a terrible price for finding out the truth.” Carmack turned away. “Bring the Sea Shadow in close, and get Hunter and his crew onboard. Time to go home.”

  CHAPTER 65

  “Show him in, Margie.” Colonel Jack Hammerson got to his feet, and came around from behind his desk.

  Alex Hunter pushed open the door, grinned, and held his arms wide. “The world still stands.”

  Hammerson smiled and held out his hand. “Only just … and no small thanks to you.”

  They shook hands and Hammerson led Alex to a couple of leather arm chairs, with coffee waiting. He’d read the flash report Alex had put together – he and his team had been through hell. That they managed to succeed in their mission, let alone survive for more than an hour down under the ice, was a miracle and a testament to their skill and fortitude.

  He patted his soldier on the shoulder. “Great work … great work. General Chilton read your report, and wants to meet you personally.”

  Alex raised his eyebrows. “And the president?”

  “I’m sure he would as well, if he knew about you.” Hammerson poured Alex a coffee. “Plausible deniability; you know how it works.”

  Alex shrugged. “I wouldn’t know what to say, anyway.” He eased down into the chair, and Hammerson saw that he let his body relax. “We got the Sea Shadow back, so now what happens?”

  Hammerson bobbed his head as he poured himself a coffee. “We scrap it. The design was superseded years back. It’s just that the vessel is decades more advanced than anything anyone else has, so if they want top tech, they can damn well work for it themselves.”

  Alex snorted softly. “Of course.” He turned to Hammerson. “The Chinese were really going to go to the mat on this one. The PLA Special Forces went there to fight for it … and kill for it. There was never going to be a negotiated outcome.”

  “Had to try.” Hammerson put his mug down. “At least now they know why that area of the Antarctic is off limits.” He smiled and raised his eyebrows. “Sometimes trust has to be proven.”

  Alex didn’t return the smile. “That PLA captain, Wu Yang. It was him that tried to abduct Joshua. Did you know?”

  Hammerson steeled himself. “We suspected it was Chinese operatives. Didn’t know Yang was involved; you have my word on that.”

  “But Jack, they knew about Joshua. Knew that he was … different. That’s why they wanted him.” He turned his laser like eyes on Hammerson. The mirth of just moments ago was gone. Alex sat forward. “They have their own advanced soldier program. Their soldier, Mungoi, was a giant. But he was flawed. That’s why they wanted Joshua, to perfect their program.” He sprang to his feet and crossed to the large windows overlooking the grounds. “The Arcadian program’s secret is out, and so is his.” He laughed softly. “The Israelis, the Chinese, the Russians … it’s not a matter of who knows now, but who doesn’t know?” He continued to stare down at the grounds.

  Hammerson rose to his feet and joined him at the window. He could see what had Alex’s attention. Below Aimee Weir and Joshua chased each other on grass so green, it looked like stadium turf.

  “Without me, he is vulnerable.” Alex sighed and watched his son run faster and faster, leaving Aimee long behind. He turned to Hammerson. “Only I can protect him.”

  Jack Hammerson watched Alex for a moment. “Have you spoken to him yet?”

  “No. I wanted to give Aimee some time alone with him first. But soon.” He smiled as he watched the pair. “For the first time in years, I feel … nervous.”

  Hammerson sipped his coffee. “I can’t order you to do anything here. I can advise, but that’s all. And I want you to know that any advice I give is from a friend, not as your superior officer.”

  Alex turned to scrutinize him for a moment and Hammerson felt the gaze reach deeply inside him, and knew Alex was reading him. He nodded and turned away.

  Hammerson sipped and then lowered his mug. “And for what it’s worth, my initial advice would be to keep his abilities secret. Not everyone knows about him. Sure, they may know of him, but not who he really is.” He placed an arm on Alex’s shoulder. “This is a big decision. You need to take some time out, spend it with them … see what happens.”

  Hammerson crossed back to his desk. “I won’t lie to you, I hope you decide to stay with us. I’m selfish like that.” He watched as Alex stared down onto the field, a smile still on his brutally handsome features.

  “See if family life suits you for a while.” Hammerson continued to watch him. “Just one thing … you said they’re vulnerable without you. Remember, they will be getting more than just Alex Hunter.”

  Alex turned, his face stony. “The Other one.”

  Hammerson nodded.

  Alex continued to stare at Hammerson, his eyes unblinking. “I can control him … it.”

  “Can you really?” Hammerson returned the gaze for a moment longer. “Only you can really know the answer to that. But my view, I think these … missions, let some pressure out. A good thing … for everyone.”

  Alex turned back to the window. “I can control it,” he repeated.

  *

  Alex came around the corner of the building and paused, watching Aimee and Joshua. They played for a moment longer, but then his son stopped running, and turned to face him.

  Alex could feel the force of the boy’s gaze. Joshua studied him, his face relaxed, but the familiar eyes penetrated him to the core. The boy held up a hand and waved. Aimee turned then, and seeing Alex, stiffened.

  Alex felt a sudden jolt of disillusionment, as she stepped forward to pull Joshua in close to herself. There came a soft voice into Alex’s head: this is your reward; she doesn’t trust you.

  Not me … you, Alex thought.

  A soft laugh. You are me, and I am you.

  Joshua lifted Aimee’s hand from him, and continued his scrutiny. Alex tried to relax, and waved. He smiled and first went to Aimee. “Ah, I saw you two playing, and I wanted to say hello.”

  “It’s good to see you,” Aimee said. “It’s …”

  “It’s about time,” Joshua cut in, reaching up to take his hand. “You were always there, but not there … and now you’re finally, here.” He cocked his head. “I know who you are. You’re my father. Not Peter.”

  Alex went down on one knee, and Aimee stood behind Joshua, resting her hands lightly on his shoulders. “Yes, Joshua. I’m your father. I’ve been away, but I’ve been wanting to see you for many years.” He held out his hand. “I’m back now.”

  Joshua took it and smiled. “Good.”

  You’ll hurt him – maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but you will. The voice didn’t carry its usual sneering tone, but instead was simply matter of fact.

  Joshua gripped Alex’s hand a little harder, a frown creasing his small brow. “I don’t believe that,” he said.

  “Huh?” Alex froze. “Don’t believe what, Joshua?”

  “I don’t believe you’ll hurt me.” Joshua lifted his head, confident.

  “What?” Aimee leaned forward.

  “No, I would never …” Alex began.

  “But the Other one might.” The boy tilted his head, eyes narrowed slightly.

  Aimee frowned, and knelt beside her son. “You okay, honey?” Joshua looked briefly at her, and nodded.

  Alex felt a stab of pain deep in his head. And you’ll hurt her too. You have before, and next time, you’ll kill her. Alex’s jaws worked as his teeth ground into his cheeks. He tried to push the disturbing thoughts away.

  Suddenly he felt another pain, this one from his hand. He looked down to see Joshua’s hand on his, the fingers now closing hard, harder than was possible for a normal five year old.

  “Don’t worry, you won’t hurt me, or Mommy.” He smiled. “I’ll make sure.” He leaned in close to Alex’s ear. “I can help.”

  Alex felt t
he pain in the center of his head relax. And after another moment, it felt like a door was slamming shut in his mind, the tormenting presence locked behind it, and silenced.

  Alex exhaled. “Yes, I think we’ll be fine, Joshua. Let’s see how things go.”

  “As a family.” Joshua held Alex’s eyes.

  “Yes, as a family.” Alex smiled. “Hey, can I call you Josh?

  The boy’s face lit up. “Yes, I like that. You can call me Josh … Josh Hunter.” He let go of Alex’s hand. “And one more thing; I want a dog … a big one.”

  EPILOGUE

  The massive creature sunk to the sea shelf, tried to hang on, but the damage to its body was too great. It gave up and let itself slide off the edge of the underwater cliff and sink into the cold, dark pressure of the abyss. It took an hour for it hit bottom and spread over the rocky surface of the abyssal plain like a gigantic mottled carpet. Beside it, the broken ship floated down to lay like the broken skeleton of some long dead beast.

  Many miles away from the Kraken’s graveyard, in a cavern hidden away beneath the dark ice and rocky shell of an underground world, several bulbous six-foot eggs bounced along warm shallows of the shoreline. Their coiled contents wriggled, shook, and the rubbery shells burst open in an explosion of writhing tentacled horror.

  The creatures immediately changed color, and blended to their environment. Their large disc eyes with slitted pupils examined their new world, and they tasted the warm water, which was thick with the signals of life, movement, and food. They propelled themselves into deeper water, already hungry.

  AUTHOR’S NOTES

  Many readers ask me about the underlying details in my novels – is the science real or fiction? Where do the situations, equipment, characters, or their expertise come from, and just how much of any legend has a basis in fact?

  As in my previous novels, there is always the germ of a story, or legend, or … something. And in the case of the Kraken there are numerous seafaring tales dating back many centuries.

  The Kraken is a legendary sea creature that was first said to dwell off the coasts of Norway and Greenland. The legend dates back as far as the late 13th century. An old Icelandic saga, Örvar-Oddr, tells of a journey to Helluland (Baffin Island), where a sailor sees the massive sea beast called Hafgufa. This is believed to be the first ever reference to the Kraken.

  It wasn’t until 1735, that the Swedish botanist, Carolus Linnaeus, first classified the Kraken as a cephalopod in the first edition of his Systema Naturae, a taxonomic classification of all living things. From then on, its sightings continue to this day.

  Was it – is it – real? Perhaps. After all, the deepest trenches in the ocean are thousands of miles long and seven crushing miles deep – sunless, pitiless voids where impossible pressures make it an unexplored and alien place. Who knows what treasures, and horrors, they really contain!

  Was The Kraken Real?

  Below the thunders of the upper deep;

  Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea;

  His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep

  The Kraken sleepeth

  Alfred Lord Tennyson, “The Kraken”

  Wherever there is deep or dark, the unknown and unexplored, then also come the legends. Tales of a monstrous, many armed sea creature exists from ancient times. Like the Greek legend of the Scylla, a monster with six long necks, each with its own frightening head and a body with twelve tentacle-like legs. And later, in 1555, Olaus Magnus wrote of a giant sea creature that was like a mighty tree up by the roots.

  The term Kraken appeared in 1735 in the Systema Naturae, where stories about this monster dated back to twelfth century Norway. These tales often refer to a creature so big that it is mistaken for an island. Even as late as 1752, when the Bishop of Bergen, Erik Ludvigsen Pontoppidan, wrote his The Natural History of Norway he described the Kraken as “incontestably the largest Sea monster in the world” with a width of one and a half miles.

  Disappearing islands – fanciful? Well, as recently as 2012, scientists found that an island (Sandy Island) that had been on ocean charts and even shown on Google Earth since the year 2000 … wasn’t there anymore. In fact, navigation charts showed a water depth of over 4,000 feet – nothing there but deep, black ocean depths. Was it something from the fathomless void simply basking on the surface temporarily?

  The myth of the Kraken has been colored by reality over the years, like in 1896, when the rotting carcass of great sized creature beached itself on the coast of St. Augustine, Florida. It was first seen by Mr. Herbert Coles and Dunham Coretter on a bicycle trip. When the young men saw the carcass, it had sunk into the sand because of its immense weight. The next day, Dr. DeWitt Webb, founder of the St. Augustine Historical Society and Institute of Science, arrived on the scene. The creature’s skin was of an extremely light pink color with a silvery tint to it. They concluded it weighed roughly five tons and the visible portions were twenty-three feet in length, four feet high, and eighteen feet across the widest part of the back. Webb decided that it was not a whale but instead some kind of cephalopod.

  Myth and reality collide again and again. For example, in Japan, there is a legend of an enormous sea creature called the Akkorokamui. Its home is Volcano Bay, which is located in the southwestern island of Hokkaido. The Akkorokamui is said to be a giant squid-like creature, 300 hundred feet long, a brilliant red color, with giant staring eyes and a noxious odor. It was greatly feared by the local fishermen, as it was said to swamp boats, taking any fallen fishermen down to the depths, never to be seen again.

  Just recently, for the first time, a giant squid was photographed live in the Sea of Japan. Brought to the surface, the smallish creature (around twenty feet) gave off a smell of ammonia (a substance in great quantity in their flesh that allows them to manage the huge pressure of the depths and also attain negative buoyancy required to float and hunt in mid water).

  An ancient Japanese legend tells of a creature with massive trunk-like tentacles, noxious smell, giant eyes, and striking red color. And then one brought to the surface exactly like that described all those centuries ago – how could the legend have been so accurate, when this describes the giant squid, Architeuthis, so clearly? We know that these giants live down there … perhaps they aren’t miles long, and can’t be mistaken for islands that can be mapped, but did they once exist? Well, the Kraken is said to be the monstrous cousin to this giant Architeuthis squid. And though scientists have come across many strange things in the world’s seas, they have yet to find trace of the legendary Kraken … or maybe, until now …

  In a presentation made at a meeting of the Geological Society of America in Minneapolis, Mark McMenamin, a study researcher and paleontologist at Mount Holyoke College, presented evidence for the Kraken. His theory derived from some deep scoring found on the bones and remains of nine forty-five-foot ichthyosaurs from the Triassic period (248 million to 206 million years ago). Perhaps the fingerprints of the legendary Kraken?

  How these particular huge ichthyosaurs died has long been a mystery. In the 1950s Charles Lewis Camp hypothesized that the ichthyosaurs had fallen victim to a toxic plankton bloom or became stranded in shallow water. But recent work on the rocks surrounding the fossils seem to suggest that many of the creatures died in deep water … very deep water.

  Obsessed with solving the puzzle of how these beasts were killed, McMenamin looked hard at the fossil evidence. By arranging the vertebrae of some ichthyosaur remains, he noticed something odd in the patterning. Something that resembled the gigantic sucker marks like those from a giant cephalopod’s tentacle. According to McMenamin, this “Kraken” would have been nearly a hundred feet long and most likely caught the ichthyosaurs and dragged their massive corpses back to its underwater lair.

  Comparing this hypothesized behavior to that of the modern octopus, McMenamin said, “It is known that the modern octopus will pile the remains of its prey in a midden and play with and manipulate those pieces.” So, the Kraken may have been mo
nstrously large prehistoric cephalopods that fed on some of the Triassic ocean’s largest predators, and stored their bodies in a larder for later consumption.

  We know more every day. We already know that the giant squid can grow to enormous sizes, making it one of the largest animals on the planet, that they are intelligent, and fantastically strong. But what we don’t really know is just how big they can get, or how long they can live, or how often (and why) they come to the surface.

  (Taken from my blog post in ThrillerCentral – “Fingerprints of the Kraken”.)

  The Southern Seas Devil’s Triangle

  Bass Strait is a channel connecting the Tasman Sea on the east with the Indian Ocean on the west, and separating Tasmania on the south from the Australian mainland on the north. The first recorded disappearances in the area go back to 1797 when the ship, Sydney Cove, was wrecked. One of the vessels engaged in the salvage operations, Eliza, mysteriously vanished on her way back to Sydney. From 1838–1840, seven vessels were lost in the area but only wreckage from three has ever been found. The remaining four remain a mystery to this day. Over the following century dozens of other ships have mysteriously vanished after entering the Southern Sea’s triangle, never to be seen again.

  In 1858 a British warship, Sappho, vanished into thin air, along with over a hundred crew. The Sappho had been seen by the crew of the schooner Yarrow, off Cape Bridgewater, Victoria, at the western entrance to Bass Strait on 18 February. But she never reached her destination of Sydney. Numerous ships took part in a search, but all failed to find any trace of the missing ship.

  With the introduction of aircraft in the beginning of the 20th century, the Southern Sea’s “triangle” continued to make headlines with mysterious vanishings. The first aircraft to vanish was a military Airco DH 9A. It was being used to search for a missing ship, the Amelia J, in 1920. No trace of the plane has ever been found.