Philadelphia
The line to enter to World Café in the heart of Philadelphia’s University section was long and only the most attractive and best dressed patrons were being allowed to enter the club by the door man. The band Vinyl Crush was performing and they always packed the building when they were on the bill. Allison and Aiden walked past the long line and right up to the door man. Typically this type behavior would have been met with anger from the crowd lined up at the door, but the young men and woman were all enthralled by the pair as they walked passed them.
Allison smiled at the door man who quickly opened the door to the club without saying a word to them. They entered the club and took a moment to listen to the band playing on the stage. Aiden turned to Allison, “Thousands of years have passed and still not one musician exists that even comes close to Orpheus.”
Allison smiled, “Dear brother, you really must open your musical horizons some. Surely you enjoy the music of Elvis?”
Aiden nodded, “He is not without his charm but still I long for the poet musicians of old.” He sighed, “Anyway, back to the task at hand. How many more breeders do the gods require?”
Allison smiled, “At least a dozen more males and females.” She scanned the crowd for a moment, “I see my target, have you identified yours yet?” Aiden looked over the crowd, “I see a couple of candidates. Perhaps I shall mingle a little prior to choosing which one shall have the pleasure of accompanying me today.”
Allison slid her coat off of her shoulders revealing her perfect frame. The subtle move caught the attention of every young man in her vicinity. She waved at her brother and then she began walking toward a young man standing the bar. He had not yet noticed her when she slid up next to him and ever so slightly touched his arm. He turned around and he was immediately entranced by her. He smiled and offered to buy her a drink to which she grinned and ordered a vodka on the rocks. The young man introduced himself as Tyrone and several minutes later he and Allison were leaving the club together.
Aiden walked up to an athletic looking young woman who was the favorite of all of the young men in the club. Aiden made his way onto the dance floor and began dancing with the young woman. As the music blared on, Aiden leaned in close to her, “What’s your name, love?” She giggled and answered that her name was Ann. Aiden put his arm around her waist and whispered to her if she would like to leave this place and head somewhere else. She was lost in his voice and agreed to go wherever he wanted. They walked out of the back of the club in time to see Allison and Tyrone kissing and then in a flash they vanished. Ann went to scream but Aiden placed his lips on hers and began kissing her and then they also were gone in a flash of light.
Chapter 15
Luke was sleeping in his cabin when his alarm suddenly woke him up. After Chimera had slain the Charybdis causing the blue vortex to dissipate, the Argos had been able to pull close to shore. Luke then directed Chimera to swim into his holding cell where he found a generous serving of food ready for him. A small ship was sent out to the beach where it picked up Luke. When he arrived back on deck, Luke was given twelve hours to shower the combined blood of Waller and the Scylla off of himself and rest prior to meeting with the team in the briefing room. After a very long shower, Luke found the adrenaline rush that had coursed through his body on the island had worn off and as a result, he was exhausted. He laid down for a short nap but from his perspective it seemed that he had no sooner closed his eyes than his alarm was telling him that it was time to head to the briefing room. Luke quickly threw on some jeans and T-shirt. He pulled a flannel shirt on over his T-shirt, slapped on his sneakers and then jogged down the briefing room. Everyone else would be in formal attire but given what he had already been through that day, he figured that he had earned the right to dress comfortably.
Luke entered the briefing room to find Diana, Toombs, and Parsons all there waiting for him. The president’s face was also filling the screen that linked him from the White House to the Argos. Parsons looked at Luke and the way he was dressed and frowned. Luke sat down next to Diana and then the president addressed him, “That was fine work you and the monster did today son! Very fine work indeed!”
Luke nodded, “Thank you, Mr. President.”
Parsons cleared his throat, “Yes, excellent job, Mr. Davis. Now to bring everyone up to speed. The blue vortex that was coming from the Charybdis has totally vanished. Chimera has been fed and is resting. Dr. Toombs has examined him and has found only minimal superficial puncture wounds. It seems that Ms. Cain’s suggestion that the Scylla would be protecting the Charybdis was accurate. The Scylla in fact attacked Chimera and, from what Mr. Davis tells us and the corpse of the Scylla confirms, is that Chimera was more than up to the challenge of battling the beast.”
Luke whisper to Diana, “Damn right he was up to the challenge.”
She smiled in reply as Parsons continued his update, “With the pending threat of the Charybdis eliminated, and the images of Chimera that were taken during his journey to the Argos, the public has been made aware of both Chimera and the threat facing the world. This was done primarily to keep local police and military from attacking Chimera as he approaches new targets.” Parsons hit a key on his laptop and the screen changed. “This brings us to our next mission. With the primary threat the Olympians were posing addressed, we are going to attack Olympus itself. It is imperative that we take this action now before the Olympians can regroup and form a new plan of attack or the other sects who have declared war on the human race begin to act. We are currently two hours from making landfall in Greece and then proceeding to Mount Olympus itself.” Parson’s turned toward Diana, “The SEAL team that was first sent to scale Olympus met two mythological kaiju that ended their mission at base of the mountain. I will now turn this briefing over to Ms. Cain to explain the threat we are currently facing.”
Diana stood up and straightened her blouse. She then hit her laptop and brought the visages of two horrifying creatures onto the screen, “From the reports we received from the missing SEAL team, I feel that the two monsters which are guarding Mount Olympus are Echidna and Cerberus. In terms of mythology, these two creatures are real heavy hitters when compared to the Scylla. Echidna is the half woman, half serpent on the left side of your screen. In mythology, she is referred to as the mother of all monsters. She is believed to be the mother of most monsters in Greek mythology, including her fellow guardian of Mount Olympus, Cerberus.” Diana did her customary pause and check to make sure that everyone was following her presentation. Confident that everyone was with her she continued, “Cerberus is the dog of the death god Hades and the guardian of the underworld. It is his responsibility to ensure that the deceased remain in the underworld. In addition to his size and power, in some myths he is reported to have the ability to spit fire.”
Diana hit her laptop and another image filled the screen, “It should also be noted that the ship which brought the SEAL team to Greece was attacked and destroyed by a kaiju matching the description of this creature." She gestured to image of a large creature with the front half of a bull ending in a fish like tail, “This creature is known as the Ophiotaurus. Honestly, other than a description of the beast, there is little other mention of it in mythology.”
Diana had just finished her thought when a high-pitched sound was heard throughout the Argos. A second later, the lights in the briefing room shattered and the screens went blank sending the briefing room into darkness. Parsons pulled out his cigarette lighter and flicked it on. When everyone was looking at his face silhouetted by the thin flame, he spoke to them, “The emergency power should have kicked in by now. We have been hit by an EMP. It seems that the Olympians know that we are coming for them.”
There was silence for moment and then a loud crash which shook the briefing room from side to side. No one said a word until a moment later when a second crash shook the ship again. Toombs voice cracked as he spoke, “This ship is the largest vessel in the world. It would take Tsunami
to rock the ship like that.”
Diana spoke without thinking, “Jaws! It’s just like the boat scene in Jaws!” The others were lost but Toombs knew exactly what she was talking about. He shouted, “She’s right!”
Parsons moved his lighter in Diana’s direction as a third crash rocked the ship again and sent everyone falling out of their chairs. Diana stood up and shouted, “We need to get on deck now!”
Parsons held his lighter in front of him to light the way and then he began to lead the group through the dark passageways. A minute later, they were on deck and standing in the sunlight next to hundreds of sailors who were all looking out at the sea and pointing.
Diana followed their gaze out to sea and watched as two large horns broke the surface of the water to reveal a bull like face that was the size of a two story house. She looked toward Parsons, “The Ophiotaurus! It’s trying to sink the ship!”
Parsons handed his lighter to Luke and then he grabbed Toombs, “Davis, get that speaking horn of yours out of your cabin and head to Chimera’s holding bay! Toombs, get a team of sailors to the holding bay. We are going to have open Chimera’s door manually!” The boat was rocked as the Ophiotaurus struck the ship again. Parsons regained his balance and then he finished giving his orders “I want Chimera in the water and engaging that beast ASAP before it sinks the ship!”
Luke and Toombs sprang into action. Luke was racing down the dark hallway to his cabin as Toombs was grabbing sailors from the deck and leading them to the holding bay.
Chapter 16
The light from the cigarette lighter danced in front of Luke as he sprinted through the pitch black corridors of the ship. He was going down a flight of stairs when the entire ship shook beneath him and caused him to tumble down the stairs. The flame of the lighter burned his hand but he made sure that he held onto it. He knew that if he dropped the lighter that he would be lost in the never ending darkness inside the ship. He took another second to get his bearings and then he continued to run toward his cabin.
On the deck, Toombs ran from sailor to sailor directing them to follow him to the cargo hold. The hold had access from the deck so it was easy for the gathered sailors to get to the giant wheel crank that they had to use to open Chimera’s hold. Toombs and the gathered sailors grabbed a hold of the crank and slowly their combined strength forced the wheel to turn a few times. Toombs yelled out to the men, “Only open the cargo bay halfway! We want to have it as open as possible when Luke gets here but we don’t want Chimera to enter the water until Luke gives him a command! We don’t know how Chimera will react without directions!”
The sailors grunted in response and continued the back breaking task of manually opening a door designed to hold a kaiju. Diana and Parsons were watching from the center of the deck as the Ophiotaurus circled the Argos and prepared to ram it again. Until now, the Ophiotaurus had directed its attacks at the base of the ship, but this time Diana watched as the creature lifted its entire bull like front of its body out of the water. Its forepaws bucked in the air as it reared back its head and then drove its horns into the center of the ship. The impact of the blow sent everyone who was standing on the deck sprawling to the floor.
Luke had almost reached his cabin when the wall to his left exploded and a gigantic horn the size of a city bus filled the hallway in front of him. The horn shook twice and then freed itself from the ship’s hull. Luke quickly peeked through massive newly-formed hole to see the Ophiotaurus shake its head and then dive back into the ocean. Luke’s heart was beating a mile a minute as he realized that he came close to dying for the second time in the past twenty four hours. To Luke’s advantage, the newly-formed hole let in enough sunlight to illuminate the entire hallway and his cabin. He quickly darted into his room, grabbed his speaking horn, and then he sprinted for Chimera’s holding bay.
Luke entered the observation deck above Chimera as the Ophiotaurus rocked the ship with another attack. He placed the speaking horn to his lips and called out to Toombs, “Toombs, I am in place, open the gate!”
Toombs heard the request and he directed the sailors to finish cranking the hold bay door open. The door slowly opened and ocean water began to spill in over the floor. Chimera looked at the slowly opening door with eager eyes and he saw the form of the Ophiotaurus glide by the ship. Luke yelled through the speaking horn, “Chimera, attack!” Chimera roared, ran forward and then dove out of the cargo hold and into the ocean as Luke ran up on deck with the others.
Chimera splashed down into the water and started to right himself when the Ophiotaurus slammed into his side. The Ophiotaurus’s horns dug into Chimera’s flesh. While the horns dug into the thick whale blubber that surrounded Chimera’s body, they were unable to reach any of his vital organs. The Ophiotaurus attempted to further gore Chimera, but when it sensed that he was only managing to push Chimera through the water, he broke off his attack and circled around to charge again. When he had entered the water, the sperm whale instincts in Chimera’s brain took over. Following his instincts, he spun around in the water and charged directly at the Ophiotaurus. The two monsters crashed into each other in a head on collision with the force of two nuclear submarines going at full speed. Chimera had positioned his maw to slide between the Ophiotaurus’s horns so that he connected with the beast’s skull instead of impaling his face on its horns. While the bull-like skull of the Ophiotaurus was thick, Chimera’s sperm whale head had a sack filled with spermaceti which allowed it act as a battering ram. Chimera plowed through the Ophiotaurus and sent him tumbling through the water.
The Ophiotaurus shook his head to clear away the effects of the collision and then he once more swam toward Chimera. Chimera attempted to meet the bull-like creature in a second head on collision but at the last second the Ophiotaurus veered to the side and used his horn to rake Chimera along the left side of his body. Blood streamed from Chimera’s side but once more the attack failed to reach his internal organs.
The Ophiotaurus was charging Chimera again; however, Chimera was prepared for its method of attack. Instead of trying to meet the beast head on, Chimera waited until the Ophiotaurus was within reach and then he used his powerful arm to backhand the creature across the face. The blow shot the Ophiotaurus up toward the surface. Seeing his chance to finish off his opponent, Chimera swam deeper into the water and then he turned to face the Ophiotaurus. Chimera quickly unleashed a narrowly-focused sonar blast at the Ophiotaurus. The sonar impact rocked the mythological monster’s body causing blood to seep out of its eyes, ears, nose and mouth. The Ophiotaurus was stunned and helpless in the water. Chimera shot his body up toward the Ophiotaurus and when he reached it, he sank his canines into the cow-like throat and used his claw to slice open the monster’s stomach. The force of Chimera’s attack carried the two kaiju to the surface. Luke, Diana, Parsons and the hundreds of sailors on deck watched as Chimera breached the surface with the wailing Ophiotaurus trapped in its jaws. Blood gushed into the air and the water. The monsters arched through the air and then they crashed back into the water. Chimera continued to force the Ophiotaurus deeper into the water as he tore at its throat and ripped out its intestines. The Ophiotaurus struggled for a few agonizing minutes before its heart finally gave out.
Sensing that he had slain its opponent, Chimera released the beast and let its body float slowly to the surface. As the blood from Ophiotaurus spread, sharks and fish off all manners attacked the carcass in a feeding frenzy. When Chimera returned to surface of the water, he heard Luke shout, “Good work, Chimera! Return to the ship for your reward!” As Chimera swam back to the cargo hold, Luke quickly ran over to it and dumped several of Chimera’s food bars into the hold.
Diana ran over next to him and looked down into the hold as Chimera climbed aboard and enjoyed his meal. She whispered to Luke, “Eat up, boy. You certainly earned it.”
Chapter 17
As Chimera settled down to enjoy his meal, Luke and Diana walked over toward Parsons and Toombs. They had made it halfway acr
oss the deck when the majestic sails of the Argos unfurled over their heads. Both Luke and Diana stood still for a moment and enjoyed the grandeur of the spectacle before them. Luke turned toward his friend, “With all of the horror we have seen the past two days, it is nice to take a minute and enjoy something beautiful like this.”
Diana gave him a playful punch in the shoulder, “Who would have thought that underneath the tough exterior of kaiju trainer that there was such a softy.”
He laughed, “I am man of mystery.”
She smiled at him and they both looked up as the sails caught the wind and the Argos started moving forward. Diana placed her hand on Luke’s shoulder to gain his attention and then she gestured to the clearly impatient Parsons. Luke whispered, “Let’s start walking away from him and see what he does. He looks like he could use a laugh.”
Diana grimaced, “Normally, I would be all for it but I am not sure anything in the world can make that man laugh.” She grabbed his hand, “Come on.”
She jogged over to Parsons and he followed her. As he ran after her, the thought crossed Luke’s mind exactly how close he and Diana were becoming. Melissa was the only woman in the world for him, but he could see that he and Diana were kindred spirits.
Parsons didn’t waste time with small talk, “The EMP and the monster did significant damage to the Argos. The EMP fried every circuit on the ship and the kaiju caused serious damage to the hull. We took on some water that the sailors are now pumping out by hand. Once the water is out of the hull, we can start repairing it. In the meantime, we are at the mercy of the wind.” He held his hand out to Luke, “If you are done with my lighter, I would like it back.” Luke handed him the lighter. Parsons removed a cigar from his pocket, snapped the end of it off, lit it and placed in his mouth. He turned toward Toombs, “Doctor, as soon as Chimera is rested, I want you to examine his wounds. As long as he is not seriously injured, we are still making our move on Olympus.”
Chimera: Scourge of the Gods: A Kaiju Thriller Page 7
