The Lord of the Plains

by Sarah Chapman

Chapter 35

  It was decided the fish people would lead the submariners to Molk.

  The fish people led the Leili to get a look at Molk and confirm what they had learned on Arling Island. No one else had seen Molk except Vann after all.

  Vann had wanted to go but the Commander vetoed that decision to Vann’s dismay and indignation. He was a submariner. He was supposed to be on a sub. The Commander reminded him he hadn’t had his one week off yet and he was the only one who had talked to the fish people. Right now, he was more important as a go-between than a submariner.

  Vann sat gracelessly on the side beach, glowering darkly at anything and everything.

  Zap Zap, uncertainly, asked if this was a challenge.

  ‘What?’ Vann asked, snapping out of his gloom.

  ‘Vann look scary. Is that how humans give challenge? When we look scary, we give challenge.’ Its tail was making little splashes in the water.

  ‘N-no! Of course not!’

  A relieved smile spread across Zap Zap’s green, slimy face. ‘Good! Zap Zap not want to fight Vann. Vann friend.’ it said this last a little uncertainly.

  ‘Friend.’ Vann agreed.

  Zap Zap beamed.

  ‘Do you often fight each other?’ Vann asked curiously.

  ‘Mm… sometimes. Want same female. Challenge each other so she can choose best. Mostly not. Sometimes.’

  ‘Have you been challenged before?’ Vann asked.

  ‘N-no. Zap Zap too small. Not best hunter. Only average. Females don’t like him. Spends too much time talking. But no challenges. Zap Zap doesn’t want a challenge.’

  Vann wasn’t entirely sure how to respond. He had great success with human females, though he wasn’t sure if that would carry over to fish people females. ‘Well at least there’s that.’ he said. He was interested to note, however, that Zap Zap was male. He wondered what the difference between male and female fish people was. Aside from some having seaweed hair and others not, they all looked the same to him.

  Zap Zap nodded. ‘But Zap Zap and Zap Zap friends help Vann fight Molk.’

  ‘You are. You’re leading us to it.’

  ‘No, we fight. Friends do all fighting for fish people. Fish people help. Not good friends otherwise. Zap Zap told them, he convinced them.’

  Vann’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘Well, I’ll tell the Commander.’

  Zap Zap nodded, pleased.

  ‘Zap Zap, you might get hurt.’

  ‘We help. Friends. We help.’ He replied, a determined set to his face that told Vann he wasn’t going to be talked out of this. ‘Tell Commander. Then tell Zap Zap what we need to do. We help. We can put exploders in Molk for friends, distract him, we do it.’

  ‘Exploders?’ Vann asked slowly.

  ‘Vann asked about splitters. Zap Zap finds out. Vann puts exploders in splitters mouths and then they explode and they’re dead. No splitting. We do for Molk.’

  To be most effective, the delay bombs had to be swallowed by the splitters. In reality, that was very difficult to accomplish. Mostly the submariners attached them to a harpoon and inserted them near the head of the beast. The string of bombs would then travel down the length of the beast. At intervals one bomb would detach from the string, staying where it was inside the beast. Then after enough time had passed for the bombs to be strung out along the length of the creature they exploded, blowing it into little tiny pieces. They couldn’t split when you did that to them. If you only managed to halve or quarter them (or anything bigger than a pinky finger) they managed to form into new monsters very, very quickly. Before the delay bombs were invented the submariners had dealt with the splitters by just blowing them into smaller and smaller monsters. Or a whole flotilla of submarines would drop bombs on the fast moving splitters and hoped they turned into fish food.

  The delay bombs were far more effective.

  ‘That would be… Zap Zap whoever did that would likely get eaten.’

  Zap Zap nodded. ‘Molk eats us anyway. Need to kill. Council talked about what we could do. Decided.’

  Vann did not have enough authority to say anything to that, so instead he said. ‘I’ll tell the Commander.’

  ‘No, I don’t think so.’ The Commander said sternly.

  Vann hid his relief and said, ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘Do you agree?’

  ‘I do. I think it’s best to keep their involvement to a minimum.’

  ‘Agreed. They seem nice enough but there’s no way I’m going to hand them a delay bomb. However… I think we can take them up on their offer of being a distraction.’

  ‘Yes, sir. I’ll tell them.’

  That same afternoon the submariners were gathered for the announcement.

  Crews were assembled and the mission plan was laid out. The submariners would lead the attack. On the surface the supply ships would be waiting in case anyone needed rescuing.

  They’d be leaving to destroy Molk in the morning two days hence.

  The bayside area was closed off. Restaurants were shut up. The ships and subs that weren’t going out were tightly secured or beached.

  And Coastside waited.

  It was dim inside the submarine.

  Outside the windows the underwater world was still. The other subs were hard to see, but they knew they were there. And they showed up on the sonar.

  They expected to meet Molk in forty five minutes. The atmosphere was not yet tense inside the submarine. They’d done this before.

  Vann turned to his captain, Captain Garis Endis. He was older than Vann, though still young by shore standards. He was, as always, standing in the centre of the command room. His feet apart, hands on his hips as he surveyed his domain with a hawk like gaze.

  ‘Captain, I have something for you.’

  ‘Hm? What is it?’

  Vann grinned as he handed the object to the Captain.

  ‘A helmet?’ The Captain sounded surprised.

  ‘Yes, sir, I had it made.’ There were no sharp edges inside the sub. The crew members with positions that didn’t require moving were belted to their chairs or attached near their post. The belts and ropes could be detached quickly and easily should the need arise. If the fastenings failed to open the submariners also carried knives. There were also a lot of submariners not attached to anything- the Captain and Second were just two of those. Vann knew from experience how difficult it was to hold onto one of the many hand holds when a long tail decided to play ball with your sub. Yet the Square had decided against helmets as it didn’t fit with the submariners’ image.

  ‘Well, why don’t you take it?’ The Captain asked.

  ‘Because if anything happened to you I’d be in charge.’

  ‘Well,’ he donned the helmet, ‘alright.’

  There were some laughs from the crew at the sight of their captain in a padded leather helmet.

  The minutes drifted by. Every now and then they’d see a fish person but other than that the ocean was surprisingly free of monsters.

  Vann noticed it. The crew noticed it. They didn’t mention it.

  As they got closer to the forty five minute mark more fish people swam by them. They stopped, pointed in the direction of Molk and swam on.

  Molk came into view slowly. Vann recognized it first as he knew what to look for. To the others, something that big couldn’t be a gemeng. It had to be something else. A cliff face. A coral outcropping. A trick of the light.

  Weapons Officer Davi had to stop himself from firing all weapons as that thing came into view. His hands were trembling on his controls. His heart beat frantically. Sweat was sliding down his forehead.

  They couldn’t fight it, they couldn’t fight it, they couldn’t fight it-

  Someone’s hand was on his shoulder. ‘Hmm, I thought it would be bigger.’

  Davi couldn’t help laughing at the absurdity of that. He looked up at Second Hilyard.

  He was gazing out the porthole window, the picture of unruffled calm.

  Vann was always c
alm. If the sub was leaking and you were surrounded by hungry splitters and out of delay bombs, Vann was calm.

  Davi’s breathing eased. He looked back out the window. ‘Really, sir?’

  ‘I’m afraid we’ll have to exaggerate now when we’re telling this story.’

  ‘It doesn’t have many claws either, sir. We should probably add some.’

  In fact, it looked like nothing so much as a really, really big snake. The thought calmed Davi.

  ‘Are you ready to kill this thing, Officer Davi?’

  ‘Yes, sir, ready to go.’ Davi felt his confidence leaking back in.

  Vann’s hand disappeared.

  Davi turned all his attention back to Molk. He was ready. It wasn’t even that big.

  ‘Are the others in position?’ Davi heard Captain Endis ask.

  ‘Yes, sir.’ That was the communications officer. ‘We’re ready to move in.’

  ‘Ok, now somebody please tell me which way this thing’s head is.’

  Orders were flying. They didn’t involve Davi, not yet.

  They got closer. Davi couldn’t make out the other subs, even now. But he knew they would be there, and closer than they were. He considered the possibility one of the others would get this thing before they could.

  Molk was undulating. Davi didn’t know if that was how it moved or not. It was so big Davi couldn’t actually tell if it was going anywhere.

  ‘Sir, sir, the Deathtrap! It’s gone into a roll. The Widowmaker now too, and the Last Breath!’ The comm officer was crying, panic leaking into his voice.

  ’What happened, Officer? They weren’t hit. They’re still too far away!’ the Captain demanded.

  ‘It’s its size, Captain.’ That was Vann. Vann’s voice seemed to cut through the rising tension and defuse it. ‘It’s so big it’s making waves just by moving. It doesn’t need to hit us.’

  ‘You may be right, Second. Helmsman, try to keep us out of its wake.’

  ‘Yes, sir!’

  ‘We need to get closer. We’re going to have a rough ride. Comm, alert the crew.’

  Davi knew that speakers throughout the sub would be alerting the rest of the crew to the situation.

  ‘Do the subs need assistance?’ The Captain asked the communications officer after the message to the crew was delivered.

  It took a moment for him to respond. ‘Deathtrap sprung a leak. It’s heading back but they don’t need assistance. Widowmaker and Last Breath are reapproaching Molk now sir.’

  ‘Must be a big bloody leak to head back.’ Somebody muttered.

  ‘Perhaps Captain Belig lost his nerve.’ Somebody else added.

  ‘Deathtrap’s the new sub.’ The Captain was saying conversationally, ‘and I heard nothing but praise for it after its last outing.’

  ‘It was out for repairs.’ Vann replied. ‘I didn’t think it would come on this mission.’

  ‘It can hold twice as many bombs as the older models.’ Davi piped up.

  ‘Yes but Masann can’t hit anything.’ Another man added, referring to the weapons officer on board the Deathtrap. ‘That’s why they need all those bombs.’

  There was some laughter at that.

  They were getting closer. The sub shook and rumbled, but it didn’t roll. Davi didn’t wonder how close the Widowmaker had been when it rolled.

  Molk was so big, it was hard to tell how far they were.

  Then Molk’s movements changed. Suddenly a coil jerked towards them.

  Captain Endis was yelling at the helm to move! Davi couldn’t see what was happening. Then the whole world started shaking. His stomach was upside down. He couldn’t make sense of what he was seeing, everything was chaos.

  It took him a moment to realize what was happening. And he had a moment. He had quite a few of them as the sub rolled, tumbling through the ocean like a feather in a tornado.

  He could see the Second and the Captain clinging to the handholds. They were getting bashed around as the sub turned, but it would be worse, so much worse if they let go!

  ‘Steady us, helm, STEADY US!’ the Captain was screaming at the helmsman.

  It seemed to go on and on. And then it slowed…stopped.

  It took Davi a moment to realise they’d stopped rolling. But he’d felt that before. He was a submariner. He gathered himself and looked down at his control panel. It took him a few seconds to realize what it all meant.

  ‘Comm, how’s the rest of the crew?’ Vann was asking.

  ‘J-just getting reports now sir. So far nothing except bruises.’

  ‘Everyone all right here?’ Captain Endis asked.

  There was a chorus of ‘yes sir!’

  ‘I want to know what just happened. And find out about the other subs.’

  ‘A wave sir,’ the helmsman said. ‘I’m sorry sir, it changed direction.’

  ‘Alright. Keep heading towards the head. Keep your distance.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘Sir,’ the comm said, his voice trembling, ‘Death Wish got hit.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘B-broke sir.’

  ‘It broke?’

  ‘Split near all the way round.’ There was buzzing from his station. ‘Last Breath is leaking badly. It’s heading back, Widowmaker is giving assistance. And… I think everyone got rolled.’

  ’How far is Death Wish?’

  ‘On the other side of Molk, sir.’

  Too far to help. They knew that. They all knew the positions the subs were to take.

  ‘Very well.’

  Broke.

  ‘Get us to its mouth, helmsman.’

  But subs went down all the time.

  It was time to focus.

  Minutes ticked by. Every now and then the sub would shake. The comm was silent.

  Minutes ticked by.

  And then the expanse that was Molk began rounding. It took Davi a moment to realize they’d come to the head.

  ‘Ready the delay bombs.’ The Captain said.

  ‘Ready, sir.’ Davi’s hands were steady and sure as they moved across the control panel. Inside he was trembling with excitement.

  The expanse began turning faster and faster. Davi was ready, he was ready, when the sub shook and jerked.

  ‘Hold it!’

  ‘I can’t sir, it’s moving!’

  Its head was looking at them. It didn’t have claws but in that mouth were enough teeth to make up for it. They were like jagged rocks hanging from a cave mouth.

  ‘Fire! Then move us away!’

  It was coming closer. Davi fired. He did.

  But it was so fast. The teeth were gone. There was a horrible tearing sound from somewhere within the sub. Davi was pushed back against his chair so hard he blacked out.

  When he awoke it was only a few seconds later though it seemed like an eternity. The world had gone mad.

  Lights were flashing, alarms were screaming.

  He saw the Captain. He was clinging to the command room door. How had he got all the way back there?

  Davi couldn’t control his movements. He was at the mercy at whatever was spinning them so badly. He saw Vann, clinging to the railing near the Captain’s usual post.

  He felt a moment of surprise even as he was flung sideways. Vann was moving up the railing hand over hand, towards the helmsman.

  What was the helmsman doing? He wondered. Flung sideways again.

  The helmsman and the comm were lolling in their seats like lifeless dolls. What had happened there?

  Flung another way.

  Someone was screaming at him.

  ‘Davi!’

  How could he hear him above all this horrible noise?

  ‘Davi, are you ready?!’

  Flung another way.

  What was Vann doing in the helmsman’s seat? How had he gotten all the way over there?

  The sub jerked. For a moment it felt like the sub steadied a bit.

  Then Davi was flung forward. He saw Molk. Teeth. Mouth.

  ‘DAVI!’


  FIRE!

  He didn’t know how, but he did it. Everything gone, all at once, into that mouth.

  The sub jerked sideways.

  Those TEETH! Filling all the windows. Bigger, BIGGER!

  He realized he was screaming at the helm!

  He saw Vann, he was crumpled up to the side. What was he doing there? Who was at the helm?!

  Another horrifying, stomach turning, jerk.

  Those teeth were yanked away from the window.

  Davi saw, the helmsman was moving again. The com was still out cold.

  When the sub finally stopped jerking Davi almost didn’t realise.

  They were ascending at such a speed the whole world seemed to be on an angle.

  ‘Helm, get us…out of here…’

  That was the Captain, the Captain!

  It was a struggle for Davi to turn towards the back. Everything ached.

  The Captain was standing, supporting himself with the door.

  He grabbed the railing and started pulling himself towards his post.

  Davi turned again to watch. He spotted Vann again. He was wedged between the helmsman’s chair and the railing.

  The captain reached him, shook him.

  Davi couldn’t say how relieved he was to see Vann get groggily to his feet.

  Blood stood out starkly in his ash blonde hair. His grey eyes were very wide.

  ‘Did you get it?’ Vann asked. His voice was surprisingly steady.

  ‘Could hardly have missed now could I, it was right there.’ He hadn’t seen. Couldn’t have. But he couldn’t have missed either.

  ‘What about the first volley?’

  ‘Not sure, sir.’

  ’How long til they go off?’ Vann asked.

  ‘Four hours.’ The Captain groaned. ‘We need to be outta here by then or that will seem like just a little bump. Helm, where are we?’

  ‘Ah… not sure, Captain.’ the little man reported. ‘I was just getting us away.’

  ‘How’s your head?’

  ‘Not as bad as yours, I’d wager.’

  Captain Endis pushed the com officer aside and began speaking into the com.

  Alarms were still blaring, Davi had tuned them out a while ago.

  ‘What happened to them?’ he asked.

  It was Vann who answered. ‘Heads banged into each other. They were both out like a light.’

  ‘I think we’re leaking, sir.’

  Vann glanced up at the lights and alarms. ‘Ah, just like every other mission then.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  Despite everything the Captain managed to gaze blackly at the head mechanic when she said they’d need to be towed back to shore.

  ‘You sure, Officer?’

  ‘I’m afraid so, sir.’ The tech said in a way that made it seem like the worst thing that had happened that day.

  ‘We couldn’t just land somewhere and repair ourselves?’

  ‘The way we’re going, sir, we’ll be lucky to make it to the surface.’

  ‘Very well. I’ve contacted the supply ships. There’ll be one waiting for us as soon as we surface. I don’t feel like swimming today, Officer, do you?’

  ‘No, sir. We’ll get the Bad Luck to the surface, sir.’

  Vann leant against the supply ship’s railing, looking out over the ocean. The sky was blue above him.

  ‘Who did we lose, Second?’ Garis asked as he joined him.

  The crew that had made it off the Bad Luck were busy being seen to by the supply ship’s medical team. Vann and the Captain had yet to be seen. Vann’s whole body ached. He ignored it.

  ‘Six members unaccounted for, sir. Officer Andann’s body was brought aboard.’

  The Captain waited.

  ‘When Molk hit us the lower levels flooded. Andann was thrown about during the roll. He cracked his head open.’

  Neither of them looked towards the Bad Luck, which was being towed behind the supply ship. Somewhere in flooded, locked and sealed chambers six bodies were floating.

  When they reached Coastside the supply ship and its cargo were secured.

  Garis and Vann waited with those left behind.

  Vann wondered if any of the other subs had landed a hit. He wondered if it would be enough.

  An hour and a half after reaching land the ocean exploded.

  Vann watched in silent awe as water exploded from the ocean surface in a giant geyser. Watching so far away from where the explosion had to be, spray rained down on them.

  ‘Your friends saved a lot of lives.’

  Vann turned from the sickening view of the Bad Luck to the Commander.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘The fish people began bringing bodies to shore. I don’t know if they just don’t like our people crowding up their ocean or if they can’t tell if a human is dead or alive, but they rescued a lot of people, and brought back a lot of bodies.’

  Confirmations had been coming in for hours, from the fish people, from the back up subs.

  Molk was gone. The ocean was very, very dirty where he had been

  ‘I’m afraid none from the Bad Luck.’

  Vann wasn’t surprised. Looking at the ragged, torn, missing underbelly of his sub, he thought his crew members had been eaten, not drowned.

  Molk had not so much rammed them as taken a chunk out of their sub.

  ‘You’re off til your injuries heal.’

  Mostly Vann was just bruised. Everywhere. Though somehow he’d managed to break his arm.

  Strange, it didn’t feel any worse than the rest of him.