Kraken

by Eric S. Brown

  “Not even if you had warning that they were coming?”

  Lex grunted. “Maybe then. I don’t know. You’re the military officer. I am just a writer. What do I know about defending a ship in real life?”

  “You being a writer is exactly why I am talking with you again, Mr. Iver,” Spraker told him. “Your sort has a tendency to think outside the box and come up with some crazy crap us normal folks would never remotely think of.”

  “I’m not sure if that was a compliment or an insult,” Lex chuckled.

  “Take it as the latter in this case, Mr. Iver.”

  “Please stop calling me that. My name is Lex.”

  “Whatever you say, Lex.” Spraker gave him a mock bow and then turned serious again. “I need to know if you have any idea where those things came from. How many of them you think there might be out there?”

  “Again, I am just a writer not a marine biologist. Like I said, there were perhaps a thousand or more them when they hit the Pleasure Bound. I have no means to know if they were part of a larger group or the only group of those things out there in the water.”

  “Assume that the group that hit the Pleasure Bound wasn’t the only one,” Spraker pressed him.

  “Even so, they couldn’t be a normal occurrence out here or somebody would have stumbled onto them before now. If they’ve been hitting ships for a while, someone would have had to manage to escape at some point and told the world about their existence. I think it’s best to assume they’re new to these waters.”

  “Great,” Spraker said his voice dripping with sarcasm. “That still doesn’t tell us where they came from or how many there are.”

  Lex stopped his pacing and looked the commander square in the eye. “I have a theory but you’re not going to like it.”

  Spraker glared at him waiting for Lex to continue.

  “These things just woke up,” Lex said. “That’s my theory.”

  “Woke up?” Spraker asked as if he still thought Lex was crazy.

  “Yes, woke up. Their species was dormant on the ocean floor and something, whether manmade or natural, happened that brought them out of their slumber.”

  “Is that really possible?”

  “Oh yes. I’ve read about many species like that,” Lex lied knowing the commander didn’t have a clue either. “The real question is, are they adults?”

  “What?” Spraker spat. “What’s that even supposed to mean?”

  “Exactly what it sounds like, Commander,” Lex kept his eyes locked on Spraker’s. “The squids we’ve seen so far are acting as if they’re immature. At least that’s my take on them. I’d wager somewhere out there in the water is a mother or father, perhaps both, that we haven’t seen yet. Perhaps it was the mother that woke up and when she did so, she released her young to feed.”

  “Are you really suggesting that these monsters that appear to have wiped out a fleet of state of the art American destroyers are just children?”

  Lex nodded. Spraker stared at him for a long moment.

  “And if these things are children?” Spraker asked.

  “Then you can imagine how large the parents must be, Commander,” Lex said, his voice dark and cold.

  ****

  Cordova’s frigate, the Rogue, was the first to arrive at the Peart’s position. Mills and his ship, the Drake, arrived half an hour later. By the time his two fellow commanders had come aboard the Peart, Spraker was almost driven mad by his own impatience. Time was not anyone’s friend right now except maybe the squids. Every minute that ticked by was another that the squids might locate the three frigates in and none of them could afford for that to happen yet. There was still no word from any one of ships in the DESRON’s main fleet that might have survived their encounter with the squids, nor was there any word from the other three frigates that had been out on patrol like the ones gathered around the Peart. The only safe thing for Spraker to do was to write them off and assume that they were destroyed in action as well.

  Despite being the first to arrive, Cordova somehow managed to be the last of the commanders to show up for the joint planning session. Spraker and Mills were waiting on in the Peart’s briefing room for him when he did finally show. Spraker had daydreams of cutting Cordova’s heart out with a spoon while he had been waiting but upon seeing Cordova, those dark thoughts took flight. All he could manage were the words, “You’re late, Commander.”

  “Good to see you too, Spraker,” Cordova grinned at him. “I hear the crap has really hit the fan on this one.”

  “That’s an understatement if there ever was one,” Mills snapped. “We don’t have time for your usually crap, Cordova. It’s time you grew up and started acting like the officer you are.”

  “Hey now!” Cordova started but Spraker cut him off.

  “Take a seat, Cordova,” Spraker ordered him. “We’ve got a lot to work out.”

  “How does it feel to be in charge for once?” Cordova asked Spraker as he took his seat at the table.

  “Like the whole world is resting is on my shoulders,” Spraker sighed. “That’s not why we’re all here though. Those things out there have apparently engaged and destroyed all the other ships of DESRON 22. If we want to make it out of these waters alive, gentlemen, we need to get our act together and come up with a plan of how we’re going to do that. Between us, we have three frigates. There were four destroyers in the DESRON’s main fleet. I’d say that tells us pretty plainly that the odds are not in our favor.”

  “I read the report you had sent over on these squids,” Cordova leaned forward. “They seem to feed and move on. What makes you so sure that they’re still even in this area?”

  “Because we are,” Spraker said. “They’re not going to let an easy meal get away from them, Cordova, and that’s exactly what we are, an easy meal.”

  “Agreed,” Mills chimed in. “I’ve had my crew implement the same precautions you’ve taken here on the Peart, Spraker. Everyone is armed and we’ve welded almost all the exterior entrances closed. I’ve got my sonar tech constantly sweeping the ocean for signs of the squids as well.”

  “But it doesn’t seem enough, does it?” Spraker nodded. “I know. We need to do something more. We know based on what Mr. Iver has told us that the squids can be taken out by small arm’s fire and rather easily too if one is using something with the blast power of a shotgun. Their bodies are soft, so even a MP9 is going to hurt them. I think the trick is going to be not letting them overrun us. Maybe we could set up some .50 cal emplacements along the decks?”

  “What we need to do is hightail it out of these waters at maximum military power until either these things are so far behind us they’re just a bad memory or our engines burnout from trying,” Cordova told them.

  “I’m not sure just running like that is in our best interest,” Mills argued. “Most predators see running as a sign of weakness and it just urges them on like a ringing dinner bell. I, for one, think we look weak enough already.”

  “Agreed,” Spraker nodded. “That said, we do need to plot a course out of here and get moving, just not so fast as to draw more attention to our ships than is needed.”

  “Let them come,” Cordova said. “My boys on the Rogue are ready for them. Who ever heard of running from a shoal of squids anyway? We’re navy officers, man. We should be prepping to engage those bastards not running from them.”

  Mills ignored Cordova, focusing his attention on Spraker. “The sooner we get underway, the better. We do need a plan to engage them too, though. As we’ve already established, it’s unlikely those monsters are just going to let us leave without making a move against us.”

  “I hear you have a horror writer onboard,” Cordova cut in rudely, his laughter echoing off the room’s walls, before Spraker could reply to Mills. “What’s he think of all this? From I hear, he managed to see them face to face and live through it.”

  “Mr. Iver is a civilian and his opinion has no bearing in this meeting,” Mills protested at once.


  “Holy crap!” Cordova laughed again. “The horror writer you have is Lex Iver? The guy that wrote that terrible movie Terror in the Woods or whatever it was called?”

  “I have questioned Mr. Iver extensively about his time trapped aboard the Pleasure Bound. I can assure you that if he were part of this meeting, he would be urging us to run as well,” Spraker said, fed up with Cordova’s attitude but managing to stay calm. He didn’t remember Cordova being such a jerk before but then up until now, he hadn’t been the man’s commanding officer either. Maybe Captain Marcus had a point about Cordova’s competence as an officer after all.

  “What else did Mr. Iver have to say about these monsters?” Cordova asked. “Does he know where they all came from?”

  “Mr. Iver has a theory regarding that, yes,” Spraker said, “But we’re not here to debate the origin of the squids, we’re here to figure out a means to get out of this mess alive. Don’t make me remind you again, Commander Cordova.” The warning in his voice was clear or at least Spraker hoped it was. Cordova could be very dense sometimes, though. He prayed this wasn’t one of them. The two of them had been friends for a long time and Spraker had no desire to toss Cordova in the brig, though he would if it came down to that. Appointing a new acting CO to the Rogue would be problematic, yes, but it was well within his power to do so given the nature of the current circumstances and his own role as acting surface community captain.

  “Boy, the power sure went to your head fast, old buddy,” Cordova smirked and then immediately drew himself into a more respectful posture. “Whatever you say though, sir.”

  “Good,” Spraker said though he wasn’t convinced that Cordova really meant to behave himself. “I want the Rogue to take the same precautions that the Peart and the Drake already have. They may not seem like much, but they could make the difference of life and death if those squids show up.”

  “Yes, sir,” Cordova said, “Consider it done. I’ll radio my crew as soon as this meeting is done. They can get things started before I even make it back.”

  “Anyone got any other ideas?” Spraker pleaded.

  Both Cordova and Mills were silent.

  “Okay then,” Spraker said, getting up. “We’ll set course out of here and proceed slowly. In the meantime, I want the sonar tech on each of our ships pumped full of caffeine, if need be, and as alert as possible. Any warning we have of the squids’ approach is better than none.”

  Spraker remained in the briefing room after the other two commanders had left to head back to their own ships. Arron joined him there, a cup of hot coffee and a doughnut in hand.

  “Here,” Arron said, shoving the coffee and doughnut at Spraker. “I can’t remember the last time you stopped for something to eat. You’re going to need all the energy you can get.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” Spraker shot Arron a wry look as he took the coffee and bit into the doughnut.

  “Frankly, sir,” Arron said in all seriousness, “you’re the best hope any of us has right now making it home alive and it’s my job to make sure you can do yours properly.”

  “Have I said I miss my wife recently?” Spraker mumbled around his mouthful of doughnut.

  “Not in the last few minutes, sir, but I understand how you feel.”

  Spraker swallowed and took a sip of his coffee. “I want the Peart’s CIWS programmed to open fire on the squids as soon as they’re detected. Our best bet is going to be keeping them off this ship entirely. Even with the precautions we’re all taking, if they get onto the decks, I don’t know that we’ll be able to stop them.”

  “Already done so, sir,” Arron said, grinning.

  “And make sure we keep trying to contact the other ships of the DESRON. I know it’s unlikely, but I am holding out hope that three frigates here aren’t the only survivors. I’ll be in my quarters if you need me.”

  ****

  It had taken half an hour to get back onboard the Rogue. Cordova didn’t mind the time. The navy was very much about the concept of hurry up and wait. What he did mind was how Spraker had treated him. They had known each for a long time and all of a sudden Spraker was acting like he was suddenly so superior. He wouldn’t have guessed that rank, certainly not a mere acting one, would go to Spraker’s head so quickly. Cordova knew Spraker well enough to know from how he had acted, Spraker had come close to relieving him of command, maybe even having thrown into the brig. Well, Spraker could go frag himself. His plan was crap. And all that junk about the squids was crap too. There was no way on God’s blue Earth that a shoal of squids, mutated or not, was the level of threat Spraker was acting like it was. If something had happened to the main body of DESRON 22, it was because Surface Community Captain Marcus was an idiot. How the man had ever gotten his rank was beyond Cordova’s understanding. He knew Spraker felt the same about him and Cordova couldn’t blame him for it. Marcus was a pencil pusher and a desk jockey at best. He didn’t understand what real service was like. The fact that he was a coward in Cordova’s opinion only added to the level of damage someone like Marcus could do with the rank he held.

  Cordova passed on Spraker’s orders to his crew and they set about welding the exterior doors closed and all that other rubbish. Whether it would help or not if the squids got onboard the Rogue, Cordova didn’t care. He had no intentions of the letting the shoal anywhere near his ship. That wasn’t how the navy was supposed to fight. The Rogue had torpedoes and deck guns for a reason and he planned to use them against the squids as soon as the creatures gave him the chance.

  Spraker could talk a good game, sure. He knew, too, that Spraker wasn’t a coward even if he was acting like one now. Cordova shook his head and wondered had happened to the Spraker he knew. This new one sucked hardcore. He half expected Spraker to come aboard the Rogue to make sure the orders he had given had been carried out.

  “That bad, huh?” Selena asked as she entered Cordova’s office and saw not only the expression he wore but the open bottle of Rum on his desk.

  “That bad,” he confirmed. “Spraker’s a jerk now like the rest of the brass.”

  “I thought the two of you were close,” Selena said as she moved to take a seat on the edge of Cordova’s desk. Any other CO would’ve busted her for such behavior but not him. The two of them had shared more than a few inappropriately intimate meetings. Cordova wondered if her knees had healed up from the last one but decided now wasn’t the time to check up on them with Spraker breathing down his neck.

  “So did I,” Cordova laughed, it was a cold and dark laugh full of sadness and resignation to a bitter truth.

  “The stories about the killer squids are true then?”

  “Apparently,” Cordova sighed. “I’ll believe it when see them, though.”

  He noticed Selena was staring at him and added, “I mean, there’s something out there for sure. Don’t get me wrong, I just don’t think whatever it is, squids or not, is as bad as Spraker is letting that it is.”

  “Does he have a plan for getting us all out of here alive beyond the stuff you have the rest of the crew working on?”

  “No,” Cordova admitted. “He didn’t. If we’re going to make it through this, we’re going to have make it on our own in spite of Spraker.”

  “I can hear in your voice, Cordova,” Selena purred. “You have a plan of your own, don’t you?”

  Cordova smiled. “Don’t I always?”

  “And just how illegal is it?” Selena laughed.

  “Spraker’s not going to like it.” Cordova joined in her laughter. “He’s not going to like it all.”

  ****

  Lex stopped the crewman who was rushing passed him in the corridor. The crewman shook loose of his grasp but paused long enough to see what Lex needed him for.

  “Where’s Commander Spraker?” Lex demanded to know.

  “He’s on the bridge, Mr. Iver, getting the Peart and the other two frigates accompanying us underway.”

  The crewman raced away, leaving Lex standing alone in the corridor
. He watched the man go. Lex wasn’t even sure what he was doing in trying to find Commander Spraker. He’d told him already about his theory on the squids. He wasn’t so sure that Spraker had really understood him, though. If what Les was thinking was right, he needed Spraker to understand it clearly or they might all pay the price for it.

  Lex headed for the Peart’s bridge. It was two decks up from where he currently was and he took the long way around to reach it hoping that the walk would give him time to get his own thoughts in order. Lex knew that Spraker wasn’t going to want to listen. Though Spraker no longer wrote him off as utterly insane and had even humbled himself to the point of coming back for a second visit with him to get advice on the monsters, Lex was sure that Spraker didn’t like him. Where that dislike originated from, who knew? And did even matter? They didn’t have to like each other in order to work together to get everyone out of this mess, but Lex was just a civilian. He couldn’t really do anything. He could only influence, he hoped, those who could.

  As Lex reached the bridge, he found its entrance blocked by two armed guards. He recognized both of them. They had been part of the boarding parties that stormed the Pleasure Bound and saved his life. If he remembered correctly, the little guy was named Fox and the woman, Diana.

  “Can I help you, Mr. Iver?” Diana asked.

  “I need to see Commander Spraker,” Lex told her, trying his best to edge by her. Diana moved to block his path.

  “Sorry, man,” Fox said. “The commander has a lot going on right now.”

  “It’s urgent,” Lex pleaded.

  Diana and Fox exchanged a look but neither of them moved aside.