Kraken Rising

CHAPTER 34

They pushed into a larger, open chamber, and Casey held up a hand, slowing out at front and moving her light around.

“Give me a perimeter, and check for movement.” The words came out through clamped teeth.

Big Ben Jackson looked in shock, and John Dawkins slid down a wall to sit with his hands over his face. But the HAWCs went to work, spreading out, jogging from one cave opening to the next, stopping and checking even the minutest fissures in the cavern walls. They each pointed barrel-lights in first, followed by sensors, checking the data, and then quickly moving on to the next.

Their professionalism impressed Aimee, and she relaxed a fraction, turning to Casey. The tough female HAWC leaned back against a wall, sucking in air, her face still furious. She was staring at the ground, mouthing silent obscenities. Aimee grimaced as she watched Casey suddenly bring a fist up to bang it hard against her forehead.

“Godfuckingdammitalltohell.” She bounced off the cave wall and turned her face to Aimee. “That was it, wasn’t it?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t see it.” Aimee’s mind raced. “But probably.”

“Don’t bullshit me, Dr. Weir. I saw the look on your face.” Casey grabbed at Aimee’s chest with a gloved hand. “I read the report. Hagel was right; it said it was dead. But it’s still here and it fucking found us real quick.”

“Found me.” Aimee pushed her back. “We saw the original creature attacked, and then buried. But it’s here, it’s always been here, waiting for me… all these years.” Aimee felt her own sanity slipping from the sheer terror. She giggled. “It’s Moby Dick, and I’m Ahab.”

“Oh, pull yourself together.” Casey’s eyes burned.

“Well, Mrs. Ahab, news flash — it ain’t dead, but Parcellis sure is.” Hagel loomed in close, his face red. “Hunter said he saw it die. The big hero fucks up, and now we’re all gonna get it in the neck.”

Casey spun at him, obviously preferring Hagel as the target of her aggression. “Hey, she’s right. The report said they saw it attacked, not die, so get out of the lady’s face, meathead.” Casey’s lower jaw jutted as she spoke.

“Tell that to Parcellis. We came down here expecting to kick some Chinese commando butt, and within hours we’re down two good soldiers — and one of ’em fucking got pulled into a hole the size of a letterbox. I tell you something, I sure ain’t fucking checking out like that.”

“Back off, mister.” Casey’s voice carried a clear threat.

Hagel bared his teeth. “Bad Intel kills… boss.” He spun away.

Casey watched him for another moment before turning back to Aimee, sighing. “He’s right, dammit.” She half smiled. “Hey, I’d sure like to read that report again. Didn’t pay much attention first time round.”

“Sorry,” Aimee said, but she wasn’t sure why she was apologizing.

“Ah, it is what it is. We’re here now, and whining ain’t going to make it any better.” Casey shrugged. “So, what are we missing?”

“You can’t fight it in here. It’s an ambush predator, adapted for hunting in the caves.” Aimee tried to remember what she knew. “This is its home turf.”

“I never understood that bit. I thought this thing was like a sea creature. We’re still miles from any water,” Casey said.

“It still is, sort of. Like a cephalopod, but this thing is not the same as the cephalopods we know. Evolutionary biologists have been hypothesizing for years about the inevitability of these creatures being able to colonize land.” She shrugged. “This thing is probably semi-aquatic, or might only ever need to get back to water to lay its eggs.”

“Great.” Casey exhaled through her teeth. “But it can dry out, right?”

Aimee shrugged. “I don’t know. Did you smell that stink? It’s covered in an ammonia gel that acts like a water-retaining lubricant. They exude it.” She smiled weakly. “The good news is, we’ll probably smell it long before we see it.”

“That’s something. What else?” Casey waited, and the others began to crowd around. She lifted her head to the big soldiers. “Rhino, Jackson, watch the tunnels.” She turned back to Aimee. “Go on, Doc.”

“Well, it tracks movement — our vibrations, and has excellent vision. This thing is the apex predator down here… as far as we know.”

“As far as we know? Are you telling me, there could be something sitting higher in the food chain?”

Hagel snorted, his face red. “Where do we fit in this food chain?”

“In these caves, we’re the mice in a maze,” Aimee said.

“More like rats in a trap.” Hagel was breathing hard. “This is bullshit, man. Further into that crack you couldn’t fit a fucking hamster — it was goddamn only a few inches wide. I read the report, that thing that attacked you last time was the size of a freaking battleship. No way it could fit in there.”

Hagel spun, his eyes wide. “I didn’t see it, did you?” He stepped closer to Blake. “Did you, Blake? Did you see it?”

Blake shrugged and then started to fiddle with his gun.

“Hagel, this thing is boneless, and can squeeze in anywhere.” Aimee turned to the jabbering man. “It’s also immensely powerful, and if it wants to get in somewhere, and can’t squeeze in, it could probably tear its way in.”

Hagel shook his head. “Maybe it was something else.” He turned to Casey. “Did you see it? I didn’t, neither did Blake. Rhino, did you…”

“I fucking well saw something,” Casey yelled into his face. “Parcellis could bench press three hundred pounds, and he didn’t drag himself in there, so just bite it off and swallow it down, soldier.”

“We need to get moving… downwards,” Aimee said.

“Oh no, no, no — not down. If it was that thing, it came from down there. We’ll be walking right into its fucking living room.” Hagel’s face looked hot and wet as he lunged forward. “We need to find another way up.” He held a hand out to Aimee, and then gripped her sleeve. “You know a way out, you got out before. You said in your…”

Casey sprung forward and pushed him in the chest, causing the bigger man to stagger back. She stood side on, hands bunched, and Hagel stared, his eyes blazing with murderous intent. He took a step towards her.

Casey waited. Her face was in its permanent sneer, but her eyes were cold. “Any time.”

Seconds stretched.

“Back off, Hagel,” Rinofsky said, his deep voice barely above a whisper.

Hagel’s teeth ground for a moment longer, and then he violently punched one fist into his other open hand, holding them up and twisting as if the pain was a pressure valve releasing excess aggression. He turned away, cursing loudly into the dark.

“Hey!” Casey’s voice boomed. “I ain’t finished with you yet. Listen up, mister. You fall in under my command, or you find your own way home.” Her eyes held an implacable determination, and the scar-smile made her stare all the more ominous.

All the HAWCs seemed up on their toes. Casey’s hands were on her hips, but the fingers of one rested lightly on the hilt of a blade.

“You — fucking — fall in,” she roared.

In the glare of the flashlights, Hagel’s face went the color of boiled beet. There was a fire behind his eyes and his teeth were bared. His eyes bulged momentarily before his words hissed from behind clamped teeth.

“Sir, yes, sir.” He came to attention.

“Louder!” Casey yelled back, pressing her authority.

“Shut up,” Jennifer screamed. “Just shut up.” Her voice became small. “It’ll hear us.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Casey turned away from Hagel and reached out to Jennifer, putting an arm around her shoulders, and then pulling her closer. “I’m here with you,” she whispered.

“Actually, it won’t hear us,” Aimee said. “They don’t have any hearing ability at all.”

“Good. How can we use that?” Rhino asked, now reading from his scanner.

Aimee shook her head. “I don’t know. It can’t hear us, but it can feel us and see us and smell us. We learned much later that it has outstanding vision, plus a rudimentary visual organ on the tip of each tentacle like a starfish. It has numerous other sensory organs, and can even taste us with those suckers.”

“It touches you and it tastes you. Oh, for fuck’s sake. Someone wake me up from this bad-ass nightmare,” Hagel said from out in the dark.

“I don’t know if this is the same thing we encountered, or another one of them. But I do know it was a very accomplished ambush hunter. It didn’t need to squeeze all of itself into the cracks and fissures, it only needed to get the tips of its feeding clubs in there. There are hooks on them. Big, sharp, used to impale flash.”

“That’s enough,” Jennifer said quietly, gently pulling out Casey’s embrace.

Casey exhaled. “Give me something, Rhino.”

Rhino had moved to a large cave exit, and held up the small device. “Got a path, boss. No blockage.”

“Please, not down,” Jennifer breathed.

Aimee exhaled. “Listen up. It knows we’re here. It’s fed now, but will be wanting more. We can’t stay.” She looked along the faces, seeing some determination, but mostly anxiety and downright fear. “It will be relentless until it has taken all of us.” She looked to Casey. “We must keep going. Keep ahead of it.”

“Down,” Hagel said and laughed, mirthlessly.

Casey bristled again, but Aimee stepped in towards him.

“Yes, down. Where it probably lives. But it’s already up here now, so what’s the difference?” she said evenly. “I survived, and now you guys have better weapons and know what it is we’re dealing with.”

Rhino’s words were slow. “But you had something we don’t.” His eyes looked dead. “You had the Arcadian.”

Aimee stared at the big man, wanting to object, to reassure him. But in the end, she knew he was right.

“Well then,” Aimee said. “Let’s go find him.”