by James Axler
“Here he comes!” Rubon tensed, trying to judge where the fish would leap so he could strike with the greatest accuracy. The water erupted a few yards off the starboard side as the huge fish launched itself into the air again. His arm cocked, the fisherman hurled the harpoon into the animal, the triple barbs sinking deep into its body just behind the head.
“Got him!” Rubon ran back to the winch mechanism and grasped it, his hands over Ryan’s. “Crank hard and fast!”
The two men put their backs into it, turning the winch as fast and hard as they dared. The rope grew taut again, then even tighter, making them use all their strength to move it. The thick rod was bent in a large curve, but it showed no signs of breaking.
“We must have him right next to the boat!” Rubon said. “Come on, let’s have a look!”
Grabbing a gaff hook, he ran to the side and leaned over. “Yup, got him. C’mere, Ryan, you’ll wanna see this.”
Ryan made sure the winch was secure before going to the side of the barge. Rubon was leaning over, reaching down with his hook to apparently snag the giant fish. Ryan was only a step away when the water exploded over the side, drenching him. He had just enough time to duck away as another fish, easily as large as the one they had just caught, reared out of the water. Its mouth agape, it heaved its upper body over the railing and caught Rubon squarely in the needle-sharp teeth of its open jaws.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The poor man didn’t even have time to scream as the mutant muskie’s stilettolike teeth sank into his chest. The momentum of the fish’s body sent it back into the water, and Rubon was dragged off his feet and into the lake. One moment he was there, the next he was gone, even before the water drops thrown off by the giant fish had finished falling to the deck.
“Fireblast!” The moment he’d sensed the danger, Ryan had hit the deck, blaster in hand. “Man overboard!”
The rest of the boat was still distracted by the battle for the second hooked fish, but Saire, still at the helm glanced over at Ryan. “What?”
“Said man fucking overboard!” Ryan rolled to the rail and peeked over, scanning for the killer fish. The body of the caught muskie was floating parallel to the Lament, and he saw no sign of the one that had gotten away—and taken Rubon with it. No blood, no body parts, no froth; it was like the man had simply vanished. “Another big bastard fish came up while we were securing the first and grabbed him! That ever happen before?”
“Blind NORAD, no!” Saire crossed himself rapidly, then grabbed the wheel as the entire boat shook from a large impact on its hull. “What the hell—they’re ramming us!”
“Who is?”
“The goddamn fish, that’s who!” Saire lashed the wheel in place and grabbed a gaff hook, walking toward Ryan as he did so. “I’ll be damned if I let them sink my ship! Look out!”
Feeling a shadow fall over him, Ryan ducked and rolled forward, away from the rail, just as he heard a thunk behind him. Twisting as he came to his feet, the one-eyed man rose and came face-to-face with the enemy.
The lizard-creature was short—perhaps five feet tall—but broad and very muscular. Covered in scales so dark a green they seemed almost black, it had the standard two legs, two arms and a head, with a short, thick tail lashing the air behind it. Its face was a distinct blend of human and lizard, with a segmented fin atop its hairless head, no ears to speak of, just a small hole on either side of its skull, wide, black eyes, a vestigial nose that was little more than two tiny holes, and a lipless mouth opened wide in a hiss that revealed double rows of small, serrated teeth. A biowep?
A short, rusty harpoon was clutched in its clawed, webbed hands, which it thrust at Ryan with amazing speed as he tried to line up his blaster on its chest. Back-pedaling to avoid the barbed tip, Ryan stumbled on a coil of rope and lost his balance, throwing out his free hand to avoid falling on his back. The mutie pressed its advantage, jabbing the spear at him, then drawing back just as fast, the edge slicing into his blaster hand. Ryan tried to keep his grip on the weapon, but his fingers popped open, and it slid from his grasp. Grabbing the slick shaft of the spear, the one-eyed man wrenched it to one side as his other hand went for his panga, knowing it was probably too late, and expecting his enemy to lean in and impale him at any moment. But he wasn’t going to make it easy for the lizardman.
A roar from behind him startled both Ryan and the mutant, who looked up in time to see a gaff hook swing at its head. The thick pole cracked into the creature’s skull, making it stagger to one side. Saire followed up his attack by reversing his weapon and coming at the humanoid again, leading with the butt end. At the same time, Ryan used the distraction to shove the spearhead into the deck and scramble to his feet, drawing his panga in one smooth action as he did. Unfortunately, as he rose he realized that Saire and he were facing off against not one of the aquatic attackers, but three.
“Shit!” Ryan quickly glanced behind to make sure no more of the scaled bastards were trying to sneak up on them. On the other side of the boat he heard grunts, a brief shout, and an agonized scream that didn’t sound human before being cut off by the thunderclap of a large-caliber blaster. Over the side, he heard splashes as either more of the giant fish or the next wave of lizardmen approached the boat. But at the moment, he only had eyes for the three monsters in front of him, and every fiber of his being was attuned to making sure he survived the next few minutes.
He stood at a slight angle to the boat captain, Ryan facing left, Saire facing right, forming a two-person wedge. The captain kept the two on his side at bay with tight jabs at their faces. Besides the spear, one had a rusty hatchet lashed to a pole, making a crude halberd, the other carried a pair of foot-long knives, one up and one down, and moved like he had some idea how to use them. Ryan marked him as the most dangerous at the moment, since he could defend and attack at the same time.
The three paused for a moment, as if taking stock of the situation, then rushed the two men. The halberd-wielding one blocked Saire’s gaff hook, trapping it with the bottom of the hatchet blade and forcing it to the deck. His partner with the twin knives came in over the tangled weapons, one blade flashing in the sunlight as it came down at Saire’s head.
The captain dropped his weapon, leaving the first lizardman to try to untangle the two shafts. Engaging the immediate threat, his hand snaked behind his back to draw a slender blade and stab at the lizardman’s throat while blocking the blade coming at his face. Both moves succeeded, but he unfortunately left himself open to the second blade, which slashed deeply into his chest, making him grunt in pain. Impaled on the blade, the mutie thrashed and bucked, its sudden, limp weight driving Saire to the deck.
Ryan had his own problems, as his attacker was using the spear’s longer reach to try to get around his guard while avoiding the panga’s heavy, slashing blade. The lizardman bobbed and weaved, trying to catch Ryan’s arm or face. Hearing Saire’s grunt, Ryan moved to end his duel fast. The next time his opponent jabbed at his head, he grabbed the shaft, making sure his fingers were well behind the head. As he’d suspected, it was metal, affixed to a wooden handle.
Caught by surprise, the lizardman tried to jerk the spear out of his hand, but Ryan moved forward with the weapon, shoving it up into the air. As soon as it was high enough, he reached underneath and swung his panga out in a broad arc—not at the lizardman, but at the weapon’s handle. The thick blade chopped into the wood, splintering it and separating the spearhead from the wooden haft. Still pulling, the lizardman stumbled backward, clutching the broken piece in his hand.
Pivoting, Ryan reversed the spearhead so the point faced down and drove it between the shoulder blades of the halberd-holding mutie, who had just gotten his weapon untangled from the gaff hook. With an agonized croak, he shuddered once and slipped to the deck, black blood spurting onto the wood.
Ryan checked on Saire, who was shoving the lifeless body of the third lizardman off him. Bright blood stained his shirt, but he waved Ryan off. “Get that other
bastard.”
Needing no more encouragement, Ryan stalked forward toward the third mutant, who had gripped the haft like a club in front of him, and was making a low, clicking noise in its throat. Ryan stopped just out of reach of the club, balanced on the balls of his feet, waiting for the creature to come to him. Glaring at him, the lizardman sprang, but not directly at him. Instead, it leaped to the edge of the cabin, gripping the roof with its clawed toes and pushing off in an all-or-nothing attack, the club raised high to brain his target.
It was almost too easy. Sidestepping the falling mutie, Ryan lashed out, his panga sinking deep into the lizardman’s knee. The blade hacked through muscle and sinew, destroying the joint and sending the creature smashing hard onto the deck, squealing in agony. The club skittered from its fingers. Ryan brought the panga down on its head, cleaving through the skull and into the brain. A rush of vile-smelling fluid spurted over his hand as the mutant spasmed and died.
“Ryan!” The shout whipped his head around to see Saire trying to fend off another pair by bracing his gaff hook over his prone body. One lizardman was about to break through his defense, while another was already charging at Ryan.
Ryan brought his blade down on the mutie’s back, but it was already on top of him, and slammed into his midsection even as the panga bit into its flesh. The impact drove Ryan back against the side of the cabin, making the breath whoosh from his lungs. He raised the short machete again even as his opponent reared up, trying to slam the top of his head into Ryan’s jaw. Twisting his head, Ryan got an eyeful of the mutie’s hissing face up close, one of the most disgusting sights he could remember. Rotting scraps of fish were stuck in its mouth, and its fetid breath almost made him vomit. It lunged forward, its needlelike teeth snapping at his nose, and Ryan jerked his head back just in time.
The lizardman got his hands around Ryan’s throat, claws digging in to tear out skin and flesh. Realizing he had only one chance, Ryan snaked the panga’s blade under the lizardman’s chin and drew it across his throat in one quick slash. The keen metal opened a second mouth in the mutie’s scaled skin, and another gush of cool, foul-smelling blood poured over him. Its mouth opening and closing in a vain attempt to suck in air, the mutie released him, its hand clutching at its throat in a vain attempt to stem the black tide flowing out between its fingers. Ryan lifted his foot and shoved the dying creature back toward the side of the ship, grinning as the backs of its legs hit the wooden rail, and it fell overboard.
Even as it disappeared from sight, he was already moving toward the second mutie, who had just torn Saire’s broken gaff hook out of his hands, and was about to brain him with the jagged hook end. In one giant step, Ryan moved right behind him and swung the panga with all his strength. The heavy blade hacked into the creature’s shoulder joint, pulverizing the entire ball-and-socket in a crunch of shattered bone and spraying blood. The lizardman wailed in agony, the hook slipping from its hand as it turned to swipe at Ryan with its good arm. Evading the clumsy claw, Ryan wrenched the panga blade out of the rubbery hide and swung at its free arm, severing the hand at the wrist. The creature screamed again, a strange, burbling sound that grated on Ryan’s ears. Shoving the end of the panga blade at the mutie’s open mouth, he herded it back toward the railing, and with one final push, sent it over the side into the churning sea.
After confirming there were no more lizardmen attacking, a second quick glance told him that both Krysty and Jak were all right on the other side of the boat. Only then did Ryan go to Saire’s side. “How you doing?”
“It’ll take more than that to put me in the dark deep for good.” The captain had torn his shirt into strips and created a makeshift bandage to stem the blood flow. “Who’s at the wheel?”
Ryan poked his head up to see the lashed ship’s wheel with no one behind it. “No one.”
“Well, get me up and over there. I’m not letting these overgrown minnows tear my ship apart!”
Slinging Saire’s good arm over his shoulder, Ryan hoisted him to his feet and helped him over to the wheel. Spying Jak at the railing, looking over at the teeming mass of fish below, Ryan was about to warn him to step away when a gust of wind made the barge heel over to the port, tipping the deck precariously.
At the exact same time, a thunderous crash reverberated through the entire hull, shaking the deck and mast. Jak had just kept his balance when the boat had leaned over, but the impact knocked him off his feet and over the side. Twisting in midair, he clamped a hand on the railing, hanging on as his lower legs hit the water.
“Jak!” Krysty was already reaching for him, and Ryan pitched Saire toward the wheel and leaped onto the roof of the cabin. He needed only a few seconds to get to the teen and pull him back up.
Ryan hit the deck with a crash and lunged forward, but just as he reached the railing, a slim shape burst from the water. Mouth gaping wide, the muskie hit Jak around the midsection, its teeth sinking into the albino as the force of its jump knocked his grip loose, taking him with it into the roiling lake.
Chapter Thirty
There was no time to think, only react. Even as his feet touched the rail, Ryan dropped the panga, drew his knife with his free hand and shoved off over the side, burying his blade up to the hilt in the side of the huge fish. He held on with all his strength, knowing if the mutie threw him off, his chances of survival were as slim as a minnow’s at feeding time.
The giant muskie kept going, and the sideways jerk as it landed in the water nearly yanked Ryan’s arm out of its socket. His hand a clutching claw on the knife’s hilt, Ryan used it to thrust himself forward, aiming his free hand toward the muskie’s huge gills.
He had just enough time to close his mouth before the water enveloped him, chilling him to the bone. His clothes were instantly soaked, and his boots, while not filling with water, turned into weights on his feet. Ryan tried opening his eye, but immediately squeezed it shut again when he realized all he could see was the rush of bubbles and roiling water caused by the fish’s movement.
Wedging his hand into the fish’s gills, Ryan made sure his grip was secure on the knife handle before pulling it out and bringing it in front of him. It was dark now, and he figured the fish was most likely diving, so the sooner he freed Jak and got him back to the surface, the better. Forcing the blade into the fish’s gills, Ryan hacked with all his strength, not sure what he was hitting, but simply trying to damage the gigantic animal as much as possible. His lungs started to ache with the effort of holding his breath, and Ryan flailed even harder with the knife, feeling resistance as the blade met the fish’s innards, then nothing as it cut through them. The muskie bucked and thrashed, its wild movements slowing as the internal damage caught up with it. With a final spasm, it arched one last time, then stilled as death took it.
Ryan pulled his knife out and was able to look around for the first time since hitting the water. With the fish’s giant body still, he let a brief burst of bubbles out from his mouth to find out which way was up. Orienting himself, he realized they were sinking, the weight of the muskie dragging them toward the bottom. Clenching his knife between his teeth, Ryan reached up toward the fish’s head with his free hand, searching for its mouth. His lungs were aching now, and he saw small dots of light bursting behind his eyes.
With a final stretch, his exploring fingers sank into the corner of the mutie’s mouth—and immediately felt something blocking the opening. Grabbing the corner of the jaw with one hand, Ryan took the knife from his mouth and shoved it between Jak’s body and the roof of the fish’s mouth. Shoving up with all his remaining strength, he levered the mouth open, but the teen’s body didn’t float free.
Gritting his teeth, Ryan felt along the bottom of the fish’s jaw, finding several places where its teeth had entangled in sodden clothes and pulling them free, aware his fingers were getting cut and slashed from the sharp teeth. At last, however, he loosed Jak from the mutie’s mouth, and shoved him up with every last bit of muscle he possessed. The albino yo
uth slowly rose in the water, his white hair haloed around his head, his limbs limp and motionless, his eyes open and rolled back.
Ryan kicked for the surface as hard as he could, aware of his lungs fairly bursting for oxygen. He could now see the lighter surface water, but it seemed very far away, not to mention the strong possibility of one or both of them being attacked by either more of the lizardmen or another of the giant bastard mutant fish at any moment.
His vision growing gray and tunnellike, Ryan felt himself growing light-headed. The surface of the water now seemed to be receding from him, no matter how hard he kicked and swam for it. Jak’s motionless form drifted next to him, and Ryan wasn’t about to let either of them die without fighting for every last second of life. He scooped at the water above him with his hands, flailing to get to the surface, aware that his starved lungs were about to give in any moment now, and force his mouth to open, letting the brackish lake water pour down his throat…
Before he realized what was happening, his head broke the surface just as his mouth opened to suck in as much air as he could get. A spray of water still hit his mouth, however, making him gasp and cough as he shook the liquid from his face. Jak’s body was next to him, although it was starting to sink beneath the waves, and Ryan grabbed him and turned his face up so it was out of the water. Jak’s bone-pale features were even whiter than usual, his lips tinged with blue.
Kicking with all his strength, Ryan looked around wildly for the barge, and spotted it coming around to his right. “Hey!” he shouted, forcing his upper body out of the water and waving his free arm to get their attention.
“Stay where you are, we’re coming back!” Krysty shouted. Ryan concentrated on keeping Jak’s head above water, and keeping himself afloat. He had just reached a perilous equilibrium when he felt something large pass by his back. Twisting his head, Ryan saw the wake of a large fish dissipate as it swam past. He tried to keep it in sight as it moved around, but lost it in the dark water. The waves were getting higher now, and he couldn’t help noticing the line of dark storm clouds coming in from what he assumed was the northwest, since they were about to block out the sun.
