by Michael Cole
“Architeuthis Brachyura?” Napier exclaimed.
“What in the hell is that?” Thompson asked.
“Well… nothing like it has ever been documented,” Napier said. “But judging by the name, it’s a… well… Architeuthis is the name for a giant squid, and Brachyura is the common scientific word for… a crab.”
“Hey Doc!” Red called out. “Sounds like you have yourself a new buddy! Since he actually understands your lingo, unlike the rest of civilization.” He stepped out of the living room into the kitchen area, pointing his rifle to the floor.
“Well, it makes sense, since our helper has an advanced degree in Oceanography,” Wallack said.
“You plan on using my boat to capture that thing?!” Napier refrained from yelling. “Are you even aware that that thing is almost bigger than my boat?! And that’s not even including those damn tentacles.”
“We’re aware, but we have a plan,” the scientist said. “I’ll explain it better when we’re boarded. But your vessel is the best we’ve got, and besides, you’ve got something good out of this. We replaced your air winch for you. Well, mainly for our own benefit, because the plan involves netting Architeuthis Brachyura. But we’ll let you keep the upgrades we made to the Catcher.”
“And don’t waste our time,” Red cut in. “This is supposed to be a quick job. Basically, if you want your baby girl and her boyfriend in one piece… and able to continue going out boating together, you will cooperate.” He pulled out his knife and placed the straight double edged blade to Jane’s throat. She closed her eyes and began whimpering. Napier felt his blood boil in his body, and all he wanted was to take that knife and castrate that mercenary with it. But unfortunately, he was at a major disadvantage and knew that the only way to keep his daughter alive was to cooperate.
“When do we leave?” he said. His tone was expressionless.
“Now,” Red answered. He withdrew the blade and sheathed it. It had left a thin red mark on his daughter’s neck, infuriating her father further. He looked at Red directly in the eyes, and in the darkest depths of his mind, he hoped that the enormous beast out there would claim itself at least one more victim before it was eventually stopped.
“Fine,” Napier said, nearly spitting on the mercenary. The veins in his head were bulging, and his face was growing more and more tense with anger. “Whatever you want, ‘Red’.” The merc smiled, and leaned in closer to his captive.
“Blood Red.”
CHAPTER
14
It was only several minutes later when the crew had begun boarding the Catcher. Napier, Thompson, Bondy, and the kids stood at the deck, guarded by the big brute mercenary properly nicknamed Goliath, while the other guns-for-hire aided Dr. Wallack in loading the equipment on the vessel. Chief Bondy still had his hands tied behind his back, as did the teenagers and Thompson. The only one left not bound in any way was Napier, due to the fact that his ‘job’ was to operate the vessel. The five hostages stood in the dark, watching their captors load all sorts of special equipment, most of which was packed in large black bags. Dr. Wallack barked orders like a drill instructor at the contractors, which visibly irritated their leader, Red.
Watching his vessel being overtaken was unbelievably difficult for Napier to stomach. It brought forth a terrible feeling of violation. But what infuriated him even more was seeing his daughter tied down. Her face was still red from crying earlier, and her shaky expressions demonstrated the intense fear she was experiencing. Standing beside her was a very ill-looking Greg. Napier was certain that the young man had probably vomited at some point earlier in the day. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered why Jane never told him about having a relationship with Greg, although he actually knew the answer: he wouldn’t have approved. When teaching at the high school, he did not care for the spoiled teenager who was very uncooperative and disruptive in class. And Greg was without a doubt the first person to express his joy when Napier was laid off from the school. However, these were just lingering thoughts at the back of his mind, and right now he was smart enough to focus on the much more serious matter at hand. The daughter dating situation could wait for another day, as long as they came out of this scenario alive…
…Which prompted Napier to think on his main concern. The body alone on that creature out there was at least equal to the size of the Catcher, if not larger. And then there was the added length provided by the pincer arms and the eight huge tentacles. While the Catcher was a bigger, more durable vessel than most in the local area, it was still clear that the beast could easily tear it to shreds. What was worse was the fact that the doctor’s objective was to capture it, and he didn’t provide a plan. Killing it would be hard enough, but Napier couldn’t fathom a method possible for securing an animal of that size and strength. The sound of metal clanging on the main deck snapped him back to reality, and he watched the two subordinate mercenaries, Morgan and Roketto fumbling to load the supplies.
“Hey! Careful with that! That’s expensive equipment that you're screwing up!” Wallack yelled from the upper deck. Roketto mimicked a half-assed salute, basically sending the message ‘fuck you, boss’. Red climbed the ladder to the upper deck, and supervised along with his employer. From down on the dock, Napier could hear the conversation.
“We’ve got most of the gear stocked down below,” he briefed. “That’s where I plan on storing the kids, the woman, and the cop during this trip as well. I know you want the fisherman to drive the boat.”
“That’s fine,” Wallack said. “As a matter of fact, bring them aboard now. We’re almost set to go anyway.” Red looked over the port side of the deck at Goliath, who stood at the back of the single-file line of hostages. He looked up at his boss, who simply signaled him with a high-pitch whistle and a nod of his head. The brute understood the message.
“Get on board!” he spoke in a deep, emotionless voice. Led by Napier, the group climbed aboard the main deck of the vessel, now accompanied by the other two mercenaries. There were several black duffle bags near the front end of the deck, and a huge black net properly rolled. Even in its condensed condition, the net was still considerably large, almost resembling a thick black tree trunk. Napier looked up to Wallack, who stood almost proud at the upper deck, looking back down at him.
“I’m still quite confused over several things,” he said.
“And you can stay confused,” Red spoke down to him. “You can just drive the damn boat, and as long as you do that, Mr. Biology Teacher, you won’t have to grade my men’s attempt at a dissection on your daughter.” Once again, Napier felt his body tense and his blood pressure increase. He wanted nothing more than to feed this evil excuse of a man to that monster out there.
“Let’s not be too hasty,” Dr. Wallack said. “After all, this is Rick Napier’s vessel, and we are quite grateful to be using it, despite his inconvenience.” After giving the doctor a glare, Red stepped back. “What is it that you would like explained?”
“Well, there are many things,” Napier said. “First, how the hell do you plan on capturing that thing? I see the net, but I don’t know how you plan on actually getting your pet entangled in it.”
“We’re putting your storage containers to good use,” Wallack explained. “We’re using bait to lure Architeuthis Brachyura out of its claimed habitat over in Mako’s Edge. Particularly dead shark.”
“I’m not sure you’re going to need bait to tempt that thing,” Thompson cut into the conversation. Her voice expressed her disdain for the mad kidnapping scientist. “Judging by the events earlier, if that thing detects this boat, it’ll be more than happy to come after it.”
“We’re not just intending for it to lure it out, but drug it,” the doctor explained. “We’re loading the dead shark carcasses with a tranquilizer, enough to bring down a creature twice its size.”
“Oh really?” Thompson scoffed. “You know this from experience? You tranq a lot of sixty-foot mutations?” Dr. Wallack ignored her remarks.
>
“We also have another delivery system for the tranquilizer. Mr…. Goliath?” The brute looked up in acknowledgement. “Please show them the harpoons.” In compliance, the enormous mercenary reached into one of the thick duffle bags, pulling out a large steel three-foot-long harpoon. The four-inch arrow at the end of the rod was not barbed, rather it was more of a cone shape, and a few inches behind it was a large cylinder tube.
“What’s the idea?” Napier asked.
“The harpoon has a drill on the tip, to help penetrate the specimen’s shell,” Dr. Wallack said. “We launch them from a high powered gun, which will be enough to get the tip in at least one or two inches, upon which the harpoon will automatically start drilling and embed itself even deeper. Once the harpoon has drilled for several seconds, it begins to inject the tranquilizer.”
“You don’t think that thing won’t shake it off before it finishes the injection?” Napier responded.
“Our canisters inject the fluid at a very fast rate. In addition, we have several harpoons loaded with tranquilizer. Once the specimen is sedated, these men here,” Wallack points his finger to the mercenaries, “will dive into the water and hook up the net, which will be hooked up to the vessel. Afterwards, we will drag Architeuthis Brachyura out of Mako’s Edge, to a new destination.”
“Whoa, wait,” Napier interrupted. “What the hell are we doing?!”
“Your engine has enough power to carry the creature’s weight,” Wallack assured him.
“No,” Napier continued. “I mean, where the hell are we going after that?”
“Not your concern at this moment,” Red snarled. “Just know we brought plenty of fuel for the ride.”
“It’s a secondary facility,” Wallack said. “I’ll let you know where when we’ve secured the specimen.” He paused for a few moments. “Any other questions?”
“I have one,” Bondy spoke up.
“Ah, the Sheriff speaks,” Red remarks. Bondy ignored the sarcastic hired killer.
“Do you have a tracking device on that thing out there?”
“It escaped before we could successfully install one,” Wallack answered. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m curious as to how you were able to figure out the creature was here,” Bondy clarified. “The reports of today’s sightings haven’t been released yet, due to a strange failure in communications on the island. How did you know your ‘baby’ was over here?”
“I’ll answer that, and I’ll answer something else,” Wallack said. “You mentioned the failure in communications. We’re responsible for that.”
“How the hell did you manage that? And why?” Thompson almost yelled. “We need more medical assistance in Mako’s Center, thanks to the carnage that thing out there is responsible for.”
“Because I didn’t want the world knowing about the existence of my creation until I had recaptured it. At least then, once I’ve secured the creature and have it once again hidden, the story of the attack on the beach will be discredited as an unexplained disaster, and any remarks of a ‘sea monster’ will be disregarded as conspiracy theories. These men I have working for me, well, they have access to special advanced equipment. Some of which are designed to block signals on a wide scale, including those originating from phones and radios.”
“Explains why we couldn’t call out,” Bondy said, more to Napier than anyone else.
“And that leads me to your main question: how I knew the creature was here. Well, of course there was the story of the diver that you got killed,” he said, pointing to Thompson, “and how the Coast Guard wasn’t so pleased of the story of a sea monster. But it wasn’t just the sea monster part that intrigued me, rather it was the location. Mako’s Edge.”
“What the hell is so special about Mako’s Edge? Other than the fact that you believe the damn thing is making a home there right now?” Napier asked.
“Because, years ago, that was our original base of operations,” Wallack admitted, much to the shock of his captives.
“You were based in Mako’s Edge?” Bondy exclaimed.
“I’m sure you’re aware of the recent discovery of the cave. The initial discovery wasn’t so recent. That tunnel travels throughout the island, which allowed us to house a laboratory inside. The creature was bred there, and I believe it has a natural instinct that led it back there. Back home, where we believe it remains when it’s not feeding. Hiding in the cave is likely why the Coast Guard was unable to locate it during their radar operation.” He said with a sinister smile. “Of course there was further evidence that came to me that convinced me further. Such as, since my investigators are so good at their jobs, they were able to hack police records in Mako’s Center with their advanced electronic equipment. Those records indicated the finding of a piece of metal, which just so happened to be discovered by you, Mr. Napier.”
“What significance does that have?”
“That metal came from the laboratory that Architeuthis Brachyura escaped from. Probably got snagged on a splinter in its shell or something. Does the word Warren sound familiar?”
“The word engraved on that piece of metal,” Napier answered.
“Good memory,” Wallack said.
“So you think you’re going to be able to contain that beast again?” Thompson asked, though it sounded more like an accusation to the doctor.
“I’m positive,” Wallack said. He then clapped his hands together and turned to Red. “Now, I think I’ve done enough explaining. I want Napier up here at the helm, and I want the rest of them down below.”
“You’re not thinking of putting me down there!” Thompson barked. Roketto and Morgan began to approach, and they did not appear to have good intentions.
“Lisa, don’t,” Bondy whispered. “They’re just looking for a reason to…” he looked into the eyes of the mercenaries, letting his voice trail off. While he knew what he was telling her was true, accusing these men would probably not lead to good things for him. Or her. Thompson knew what he was implying, and agreed to shut up.
“Fine,” Wallack said. “The lieutenant can keep the oceanographer company. The rest go below! Now let's get moving please!” His voice was getting more aggravated and impatient. Goliath untied the bounds on Thompson’s hands, and she then followed Napier up the ladder. She looked down and watched the mercenaries open up a lid in the front right corner of the deck, which led to the storage area below. One by one, the teenagers and Chief were herded like cattle into the dark abyss of the vessel. Napier stepped up onto the upper deck and stood eye to eye with Wallack.
“I’m sure you wish you finished your doctorate degree now,” Wallack smirked. “You’d probably be doing better things than fishing.”
Napier, keeping his cool, simply returned a smirk of his own. “At least I can afford my own boat.” Wallack, rather than taking offense, simply laughed.
CHAPTER
15
Napier stood at the wheel, silent as the night as he carefully maneuvered the Catcher around the minefield of rocks surrounding the island of Mako’s Edge. Standing to his right was Lisa Thompson, who was equally silent. She kept a hand on his shoulder, which was the best she could do to offer support for a father concerned for the safety of his daughter. The Catcher had been trailing off the coast of the rocky island exterior for over two hours, with the mercenaries Roketto and Morgan shoving the shark corpses, loaded with tranquilizer, into the water. Spotlights installed on the bow illuminated the pathway for Napier to steer the sixty-foot vessel. However, there was no sign of the creature. The sharks had been injected with oil, in addition to being hooked to a buoy, allowing them to float so they could be monitored by the crew. Not one shark had been touched. Standing outside the cabin on the upper deck was Dr. Wallack, and the lead mercenary Red. Napier and Thompson listened to their conversation, which was all they really could do. Red had already demanded they not speak to each other, going as far as to threaten to put his boot so far up their asses, he’d need to put polish down their t
hroats to shine it.
“You do realize you’re asking my men to actually get in the water with that thing?” Red said to the doctor.
“I don’t realize, because I’m not ‘asking’!” the doctor chastised. “I won’t say it again; I want your men to suit up and locate that thing.”
“Forgive me, but I’m not so keen on telling my boys to play marco-polo with a freaking oversized piece of calamari!” Red shot back. As dark as his ugly soul was, there was still the loyalty to his comrades, whom he had undoubtedly served many missions with. “I thought you said you were an expert on this thing! You said it would take the bait; that it was used to being fed!” Dr. Wallack remained silent for a moment to process a thought while looking in to the rocky water. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was beginning to experience legitimate concern over the possibility for success in this plan.
“Perhaps the specimen is not in the area,” he said. He tried not to make it sound like a guess. Red wasn’t fooled.
“Hold on, doc!” he was beginning to lose his normally short temper. “You said this thing made a habitat of this place. You said it actually remembers living here.”
“That’s not true,” Wallack corrected him. “It doesn’t remember things, like you and I can, for instance. Us, we’re able to actually think back, play recordings of thoughts and events in our minds. Architeuthis Brachyura does not do that. It has instincts however. Instincts serve as memory. It doesn’t actually look at this place and think ‘ahhh, home sweet home!’ It’s more automatic. It knows it is supposed to be here. And it works that way with everything else concerning it, such as feeding.”
“So why isn’t it here?” Red asked again.
“I don’t think that’s the question,” Wallack said. “I think the better question is: why isn’t it taking the bait?”