“I…” Emma has no idea how to respond to this. She clears her throat. “It must be some sort of mutation.” She’s banking on all the mutations popping up lately.
Guether frowns. “That’s a hell of a mutation, though.”
“You are of Norse descent,” Geri says, straightening in her seat. “No?”
Guether blinks. “Well, yeah, but—”
“Were you not told the stories of your culture?”
“My parents were Methodists.”
Geri chuckles. “No, not religion. Culture. The Norse, or more modernly called Scandinavian, know of the myths. I am sure your parents knew too, though chose not to teach you. Such is the way of most parents who long to change who they are and where they are from.”
“Well, Dad talked about Odin sometimes…”
“Ah-ha!” Geri straightens more, obviously excited. “You see! Culture never dies. What did your father say about Odin?”
Guether shrugs. “Mostly about how his grandad told him stories of the Vikings and how our family were once Vikings. Something like that. He only talked about it when he was drunk.”
“Vikings…” Geri muses. “A brutal, yet beautiful people. I too am a descendant of Vikings.”
Jakob nudges Guether. “Look at you two. When should we expect the wedding invite?”
“Shut up,” Guether grumbles. “Anyway, Dad never got much into the mythology.”
And so, Geri told the same story she shared with Emma. All about Jörmungandr and Fenrir and their mischievous father, Loki. Though she went a little deeper for Guether than with Emma. For Emma, it had been the bare bones of mythology. With Guether, there are a few more details that add to the Mid-Gard Serpent’s power and adaptability. About how, after killing her brother Fenrir, Jörmungandr actually swam into the deepest trench of the Atlantic Ocean to hibernate and mourn her brother, whom she hadn’t meant to kill but merely injure. Digging in deep, Jörmungandr fell into a dormant state, kind of like a coma. Yet, somewhere along the line, she got sucked through a passageway as she slept.
When she finally woke, centuries later, she found herself in the Pacific Ocean. A place so alien to her, she momentarily went mad.
Before long, however, Jörmungandr adapted to her new surroundings and embraced them. She fed well, since the Pacific teemed with larger and more abundant prey than the Atlantic. She fed and grew stronger.
Once Geri is finished telling the little story, she leans forward and pats Guether’s knee. “I have many stories, if you are interested.”
But Guether shakes his head. ‘Nope. The Old Country wasn’t my thing.”
“He’s so damned polite, ain’t he?” Jakob grins at the big man.
The big man sighs. “Why are you such an idiot all the time?”
“The better to make fun of you with, my dear,” Jakob says, laughing.
Guether sighs and shakes his head.
Emma can’t help but smile a bit. The two are like some odd, mediocre, comedy duo.
“Nothing to be ashamed of,” Geri persists. “Your culture is also mine. True, our ancestors were brutal bastards most of the time, but what culture is not from time to time?”
Guether nods, though says nothing. Still, Emma can see the big man mulling Geri’s words over.
Meanwhile, Sylvi ignores everyone, reading her old romance novel. Which is probably just as well. The woman is brash and a complete ass, which makes Emma wonder why. What happened to her that made her the way she is? Bad past? All the shit her and this team has been through over the years before Miles left? Of all of them, Sylvi is the hardest to read. Then again, Miles mentioned she’s an assassin. Assassins aren’t supposed to be read very well. They hide under one mask or another, or several all at once.
Like most people Emma has known personally. Even her own mother hid behind masks. No one saw her true face until the end of things. Until she was caught having an affair and later shot Emma’s dad when he threatened a divorce. Shot him, then bit down on the barrel and blew a softball sized hole out the back of her head. Emma walked into the kitchen the moment she pulled the trigger on herself.
One doesn’t know pain until one sees their own mother die in front of them.
Ah, but that’s an old pain. One she’s buried and rarely thinks about these days. Thankfully she had had good grandparents to take her in and teach her what love was and what morals were. How hard work pays off more often than not.
The point is, Sylvi reminds Emma of her mother a little. The masks…
Beside Emma, Ma is tapping away at some thin gadget. When she notices Emma looking, she shrugs. “I just solved world hunger and a way to filter salt water into fresh water and refill the aquafers.”
“Really?”
“Yes. But even so, the Government won’t listen to me. They won’t even look at my evidence and solutions. I’m cast away like a leper.”
Emma frowns. “Why?”
Again, Ma shrugs. “I don’t know. Maybe because there are no women in senate anymore.”
Emma nods. That might be the sole reason why they won’t give her the time of day. No sisterhood in the House. “Sorry. That’s messed up.”
“It is, indeed.” Ma sighs. “But I keep revamping my ideas and solutions in hope they might reconsider.” Again, she sighs. “All in vain, perhaps.”
Emma places a hand on Ma’s shoulder. “Don’t think that. I’m sure they’ll come around eventually.”
“It’s been six years since I stood before them.”
Emma opens her mouth, then closes it again.
Ma nods. “Exactly.”
And the shitty thing is, Ma would need Government funding and backing. She’d need all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed. Everything would have to be perfect. And the sad thing is, even if she has a solution to save people and return water back into the aquafers, which would solve the draught problem that’s been happening for far too long, the Government needs to pass it. Which is an impossible task.
Finally, Emma says, “Good sense takes time.” A line her grandma used often, and Emma still finds accurate.
Ma shoots her a bewildered glance, though eventually nods. “Time can change anything.”
Emma smiles. “Yes. And—”
The entire vessel vibrates. The lights flicker off, switching to light blue. A sudden sense of motion fills Emma. Mild vertigo. Sylvi drops her book and mutters a string of colorful curse words.
“Whoa,” Jakob says. “What the—”
Miles opens the door and presses a finger to his lips. Everyone hushes. Emma almost asks what’s wrong, but Guether, apparently noticing she’s about to say something, shakes his head at her, frowning.
The forward surge slows so suddenly Emma leans into Geri a bit. The old woman places a hand on her arm, thumb soothingly rubbing. So grandmotherly this action is, it leaves Emma missing her own grandma.
Miles gives her nod she assumes says, “You’re doing well. Just stay quiet,” then ducks back into the cockpit.
The submersible vibrates again. Steel quietly groans. Then…silence.
Despite Geri’s soothing touch, Emma’s heart crashes in her chest.
This is it, she thinks. This is it…
CHAPTER 11
Over the years, the military has grown lax on enemy threats in the Pacific, Miles knows. The Great Reckoning War made America the supreme superpower as it defeated all who stood in their way. A war that lasted six years, resulting in more deaths than anyone could count. Then came the Civil War II. But that’s an entirely different animal.
America got cocky afterward, resulting in what Miles and Jenna are dealing with now.
It’s not a sub. At least not a traditional one.
It’s something much faster. Something…almost organic by the movements.
And yet, the STAV didn’t pick up on any large organic matter nearby. Smaller matter, but nothing large enough to sideswipe the STAV. There are a few pings, showing a relatively large mass messing with the STAV. But if
it’s a creature, there would be signatures indicating this.
Miles’ best guess is an enemy sub of some kind. Something very advanced and moves without sound in the water. Something large and threatening he cannot place, nor explain. Jenna is gaping at him, as though she expects him to tell her what it is.
But all he can do is shrug.
The STAV is shoved drastically again, this time so hard the force rocks him in his seat and a red light on the panel blinks.
“Whatever it is,” Jenna says, “it’s messing with the thruster stability.”
“Well, that’s not good.”
“Thanks, Captain Obvious.”
“I thought you were the Captain.” He gives her a big grin.
Jenna rolls her eyes and presses the red, blinking button until it stops, then she turns fully to him. “It’s moving too fast. Our sensors can’t track it.”
“Ma said she upgraded the thrusters…”
Jenna opens her mouth, frowns. It slowly closes. After a moment, she says, “How come she never told me about that?”
“Eh, because you’re not the real Captain?”
She smacks his arm. Not hard, but enough to sting. “Stop being an ass. How do I engage these upgraded thrusters?”
“We really shouldn’t be talking if that’s an enemy sub…”
“Miles.”
“Okay. Damn.” He stands, opens the door and motions for Ma to join him and Jenna in the cockpit.
Ma blinks, but hurries over. “What is it?”
He steps aside, letting her inside the cockpit. She does, although a bit reluctantly.
Once inside, he gives Emma a smile and shuts the door. When he turns, Ma is in his seat, facing Jenna.
“So, um…what’s going on?”
Jenna points at the monitor closest to her. “Why didn’t you tell me about the thruster upgrades?”
“Ohh, that’s what this is about? I thought you’d let me know why the STAV is rocking.”
“No idea what that thing is,” Miles says.
“Sensors won’t lock onto it. It’s too fast.”
Ma leans over the panel, taps something on the monitor and faces Jenna. “Because you didn’t reset the sensors. Now it should—”
A bunch of lights flicker along the panel. A slight, yet frantic beeping sounds.
A moment later, the thing slams into them hard enough to send the STAV reeling a bit. Miles’ stomach drops at the extreme sense of vertigo.
The lights flicker again, though this time an image pops onto the monitor with a distance of fifty feet and closing.
“It’s…organic,” Jenna mutters.
“Probably better attack or hit the thrusters,” Ma says.
Jenna grunts, spins the STAV to face the creature and all at once the curved window is full of giant teeth.
“Holy shit,” Miles says, bracing himself for impact.
Ma leans back in the seat.
Jenna, tone even, says, “Later gator.” She presses the yellow buttons on the handles of the throttles/wheel. Bluish streams cut through teeth, pummel into the gaping mouth.
Miles catches a swirling of blood in the water before the creature snaps its mouth shut and jets out of sight in a flurry of bubbles.
“Damn,” he manages.
“So, you think that was the thing that—”
Miles cuts Ma off. “No. That particular monster wasn’t big enough.”
“Oh,” Ma says. “Well, that makes me feel better.” Brimming with sarcasm. She glances at Jenna. “Hit the thrusters when I get back to my seat.” She stands and walks swiftly out of the cockpit, closing the door behind her.
Miles settles into his seat and buckles in as Jenna snaps her harness on.
“Well, warp drive, Captain?”
Jenna sighs. “I forgot how much of a jackass you are.”
Miles laughs as she sets the thrusters to something called High Velocity and looks around a bit.
“What?” he asks.
“Uh, I have no idea right now how to engage the upgraded thrusters.”
“I thought you figured this thing out.”
“I did. Just not the crazy upgrade Ma installed.”
He leans forward, inspecting the panel. “Well, there’s gotta be something around here…” An orange button near the monitor catches his eye. He’s never seen an orange button on a panel before. “Maybe this?”
He presses the orange button.
The entire STAV trembles. A shrill whine pierces his ears. Then…
Miles is pressed back into his seat as the STAV blasts forward with so much speed every bubble is like a passing star. Long, trailing, disappearing. The STAV’s lights do little at this speed and all is darkness in front of them.
They’re at two hundred feet, so no real worry about hitting something, but…
He reaches and presses the orange button again. The STAV slows, returning to its normal, steady speed.
“Shit,” he manages through breaths.
“Right,” Jenna says. “Ma is an asshole.”
“She’s a genius,” he says.
“Geniuses are technically insane,” Jenna says.
“Well, she’s an insane genius then because…damn.”
Jenna chuckles. “That was crazy. How’d she get the thrusters to boost so fast?”
Miles shakes his head. “Shit, I don’t know.”
Jenna sets the speed to a reasonable one hundred knots and leans back a bit. “We’re still on course and should be at our destination in a few hours.”
“Use the thrusters,” Miles says. “The more time we waste—”
“If I use the thrusters too much, it will deplete the power too quickly.”
“The STAV has a nuclear core, so it shouldn’t—”
She snaps a glare at him. “Look, I want to find Mike as much as you do right now but we’ll be dead in the water for a couple hours while the core recharges. No weapons. Nothing. Anything could come along and crush us.”
He wants to hit her, but he also wants to hug her. Because she’s right. Sure, they’d make up a lot of time using the high-power thrusters, but, like Jenna said, doing so would leave them drifting two to three hundred feet under the surface unarmed and immobile. Might as well ring the dinner bell.
Jenna stares straight ahead. Not saying anything.
“Okay. Sorry. I just want to make sure he’s okay.”
“I know. So do I.”
“Yeah.” He leans back, nudges her arm. “You got this, Captain.”
Shaking her head, Jenna looks at him. She’s smiling. “Still as corny as ever too, I see.”
He winks.
She laughs and pushes the STAV to one-eighty knots.
He’s just about to finally lean back and relax when something slams into them. Before he has time to suck in a breath, the world is spinning like an infinite top. As though he’s trapped in an antigravity pod. Round and round and…
Jenna, crying out, slams some lever forward on the other side of her wheel. The STAV quickly stabilizes, sending Miles’ stomach into a maelstrom. He leans to the side as his equilibrium tries to right itself, about to vomit. Hot salvia fills his mouth, the world is still spinning. Searing bile crawls up his esophagus.
Then, thankfully, everything stills and his stomach eases. The bile creeps back down and he swallows, forcing it the rest of the way. A loud gurgling bubbles in his stomach.
“You alright over there?” Jenna asks.
“Uh…yeah.” He kind of wishes she’d be quiet a moment so his mind can catch up to his body.
Still, she laughs. “Guess you should’ve finished that pod training, huh?”
All over, the STAV is beeping and lights are blinking.
“I didn’t need—shush, fix the STAV, Captain.”
After a few seconds, the beeping stops, and the lights go dark.
“Whatever hit us is already long gone,” Jenna says. “Nothing on the sensors. Might’ve just been a whale.”
Miles nods a
s everything within him synchronizes finally. “Probably.” He clears his throat. “Is there a way to, um, scan a few hundred feet out to make sure that doesn’t happen again, because—”
The door slams open and Emma wobbles in, face pale and waxy. “Wh-What the hell?”
“Whale,” Miles says.
Behind Emma, Ma leans in, wiping what appears to be yellowish liquid from her chin. Clearly vomit. “Forgot to mention…there’s a feature to detect movement one thousand yards out in all directions.”
Miles swallows down more bile. “Hey, thanks for the update.”
Ma grabs Emma and pulls her out of the cockpit, then shuts the door.
Miles rights himself in the seat and looks at Jenna. She looks at him.
“Any idea how to engage Ma’s feature?” he asks.
Shrugging, Jenna says, “I’ll figure it out.”
“Hope so. Because that was ridonculous.”
Jenna leans forward, inspecting the panel and monitor, not saying anything. And, after a couple minutes, she smiles and taps the monitor. “Found it.”
“Well, that’s fabulous,” Miles says.
“I don’t know why she likes to hide things,” Jenna says.
Miles shrugs. “She’s a genius?”
Jenna gives a firm nod, touches the monitor and his own monitor not only shows the depth, but a complete thousand-yard scan around them. There’s nothing within this that’s large enough to mess with the STAV. A couple Great Whites, but that’s about it.
There’s something he remembers Emma saying once but decides to drop it. About whales typically traveling in pods, or something like that. A bunch of them, not just one. So, if they were struck by a whale, wouldn’t there be a pod? Or at least a couple others? He dismisses the thought. Maybe they were on the run from something…larger. Something that gave up on them for easier prey, perhaps, since the scans aren’t picking up anything larger than the Great Whites.
“At one-eighty knots again. I’ll let you sleep for an hour.” Jenna sighs. “You probably haven’t relaxed for a long time.”
The prospect in his mind now, Miles slaps the arm of his seat. “I haven’t. Unless you count the drug induced shenanigans you all forced on me.”
Dark Waters Page 8
