Primordial

Chapter 24

Aston gazed intently at the screen as the VUE made its way through murky depths with Joaquin at the controls. It was a fine piece of equipment, no denying it. The image was sharp and as clear as could be expected considering the water quality. Lake Kaarme was hardly the peat-choked miasma that was Loch Ness, but this close to the shore, the natural ebb and flow of the water stirred up its share of silt.

The air inside the cabin seemed to crackle with nervous energy. Anticipation had them all on edge. Holloway was a fidgety mess, cracking his knuckles, asking unnecessary questions to fill the silence, shifting from foot to foot whenever he wasn’t pacing. Aston was relieved when, after several minutes, Slater finally spoke up.

“Mister Holloway, do I need to remind you that the cameras are rolling? At this rate, you’re going to come across to our television audience like a hyperactive ten year old who forgot to take his Ritalin.”

A nervous chuckle rippled through the group. Holloway tensed and pursed his lips, but just as quickly his countenance eased and he grinned.

“I’m just excited at the prospect of discovery.” He cleared his throat, stood a little straighter, and turned toward the camera. “I’m very proud of the work this crew has done and I have a strong feeling their efforts are about to bear fruit.”

Aston resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Quiet descended on the cabin as they turned their attention back to the screen. The water quality gradually cleared as the remote unit moved into the channel, revealing rocky walls. They couldn’t be called smooth, exactly, but the flow of water had softened the rough edges.

“I swear someone could dive that with no problem,” Holloway said.

“All in good time,” Aston said. “We need to see what we’re up against first. Underwater dives in fresh water caves have claimed far too many lives.”

“Buddy, I was born in northern Florida. We’ve got giant springs that suck divers in like a fat kid eating candy.” Holloway mimed eating from both hands. “You don’t have to warn me about the hazards.”

Aston smirked. He hadn’t done any diving in those springs, but he knew them by reputation. The truth was, a diver who knew what he was about and exercised proper caution should be fine, but he wasn’t about to tell Holloway so. The man needed reining in, at least to the extent that anyone could expect to stymie someone accustomed to getting anything and everything he wanted. And they had to consider the possibility of being eaten, which was something genuinely new in an inland lake.

On screen, the channel bent sharply to the right and, as the VUE made the turn, a strong flow of water sent it veering off course. The image wobbled and then righted itself.

“Whoa!” Joaquin said. “That’s a strong current.”

“This is the channel that leads to the sea. It has to be!” Holloway said. “I know,” he added, forestalling Aston’s reply, “it’s a premature conclusion and we need evidence. But I feel it in my gut.”

Aston nodded but kept watching as the walls of the dark channel slid past. Here and there he spotted side passages, most little more than narrow cracks in the bedrock. Nothing a person could slip through let alone a monster, but no doubt extending this main channel into a large network of passages of varying size. Who could say which was the conduit through which the salt water flowed? Testing them all, or even focusing on the largest ones, would be a mountain of a task.

“The signal’s degrading,” Joaquin said. “We’re at ninety-one per cent. I’ve got control for the moment, but I can’t say for how much longer that’ll be the case.”

“Take it slow,” Aston instructed. “If the passageway takes another sharp turn and puts too much stone between us and the VUE, we could lose her pretty quickly.”

“Shouldn’t it be a ‘he’?” Slater asked. “I mean, its first name is Victor.”

“Fair enough. I’m slowing him down.” Joaquin’s hands moved deftly on the controls.

“The channel runs straight for as far as we can see,” Laine said. The cryptozoologist had been so quiet Aston had forgotten all about him. “Hopefully we can keep the signal for a while longer. I’m eager to see what’s back there.”

“Ninety per cent and holding steady.”

The passageway gradually rose at a slight angle and the way became regular. Aston found himself lulled by the uniformity of it all. Joaquin continued to count down the signal strength, and by the time he reached fifty per cent, Aston was growing discouraged. They’d continued to spot smaller side channels, but none large enough to be worth exploring.

“I think we might have to call it soon,” Aston said. “This could very well be a way to the sea, but there’s nothing here that proves it. Besides, you don’t want to lose your expensive toy.”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Holloway’s shoulders sag. “I suppose you’re right. Let’s turn it around when we’re at forty per cent.”

“It’s not all bad news,” Aston said. “I see no reason we couldn’t dive it if we take sufficient air. The current will slow us down, though.” And assuming we ignore the possibility of monsters.

“Not if you have diver propulsion vehicles,” Holloway said, adding a wink for good measure.

“You have DPVs on board?” Aston didn’t know why he was bothering to ask.

“Top of the line!” Holloway said. “Nothing but the best for my crew.” He clapped a hand on Aston’s shoulder.

“Forty-six per cent, boss.” Disappointment rang hollow in Joaquin’s voice.

“Wait! What’s that?” Aston slipped away from Holloway and jabbed at the monitor. “Slow down and zoom in on that object.”

Slater leaned in over his shoulder for a closer look as Joaquin focused the VUE’s camera on the spot. Aston was keenly aware of her breath on his ear, the soft brush of her hair against the back of his neck, and the fresh smell of perfumed soap. Get her out of your head, you wanker. You’ve got a job to do.

Forgetting her wasn’t difficult once he realized what they were looking at. A small, light-colored, round object loomed large on the screen.

“That’s a human skull.” A shiver ran up his spine. “How in the hell did it get all the way back here?”

“Maybe, just hazarding a guess here, the monster dragged a body back and ate it?” Slater said.

“Let’s keep our professionalism about us,” Aston said. “There could be other explanations.” Though he was inclined to agree with her, he was reluctant to admit as much.

“Such as?” she challenged. “I doubt it’s a diver. I don’t see any equipment lying around.”

“According to what we’ve learned about the history of this place, the natives regularly practiced human sacrifice in the lake. Maybe something, I don’t know, fresh water crabs, dragged it back here.” He was inventing wildly and a glance at Slater showed she knew exactly what he was doing. Besides, it would take some hellacious crabs to haul a body this far against the current.

“Did a fresh water crab bite through that femur right there?” She tapped a spot on the screen just above the skull.

Aston felt his throat constrict as he saw what he had missed earlier. Two parts of a human leg bone lay wedged against a rock. And, though he couldn’t say for certain it had been bitten, something had severed it clean in two.

“Isn’t that the strongest bone in the human body?” Joaquin turned a wide-eyed gaze toward Aston.

“Well, the heel bone is the hardest,” Aston said, fighting the chill rising up inside him. “But that one is the biggest.”

“Oh my God!” Slater grabbed him by the shoulder and squeezed. “What if it’s Dave?”

The others exchanged confused glances.

“I’m sure he didn’t just up and leave us. What if the monster got him and took his body back here to…” She couldn’t finish the question.

“It’s not Dave,” Aston said, absently slipping an arm around her waist and pulling her in close.

“Are you sure?” Holloway asked. “Not that I want it to be him, mind you, but there isn’t much to go on.”

Aston nodded. “Joaquin, zoom in just to the right of the femur.” The image grew larger and a dark object swam into focus.

“That’s a knife!” Holloway breathed.

“And not just any knife.” As the VUE moved in, the details became clearer, though Aston already knew what they would see: a black and silver hilt, a red, diamond-shaped emblem, and a black swastika. The knife was remarkably well preserved, all the details clear.

“I think there’s something written on the blade, but I can’t make it out,” Slater said.

Aston didn’t need to see the writing to know what was inscribed there. “Blut und Ehre. Blood and honor. Whoever owned this knife was once a member of the Hitler youth.” He turned to Slater. “I think we’ve found someone from our lost German unit.”