How many of us had he enslaved for his treasure hunts? Were they really treasure hunts? Or was it a singular hunt for the stone?
I kept climbing to the interior level the anchor was stored in. The large room was empty. The chain was massive and stretched across the floor a good fifty feet more. Blue paint covered the floor, the walls white.
I assumed Montgomery would be in the command room on the superstructure of the ship. I had a few decks to climb still, but I readied my knife. I would try to stay quiet for as long as possible. Two voices echoed off the walls of the anchor room. I tried to move without making too much noise, although I dripped a lot of water, so my trail would be easy to find even on the blue floor. I ran on my toes and positioned my back against the wall next to the hall opening.
“Will he ever stop this madness?”
“He won’t until he finds what he is looking for. Trust me. I been with him a while now. Stubborn and determined, he is.”
“I don’t know how much more of this waitin’ around doin’ nothin’ I can take.”
The voices projected as if they were in the room already due to the echo effect.
I held the grip of the dagger tight.
They entered the room and passed me.
I fully expected them to notice my watery footsteps.
One redshirt stopped two meters away and examined the wet steps with his back to me.
I held my breath.
The other man had kept walking, but if he turned to look at what his mate was doing, I would have to act with extreme prejudice.
“Someone fall in?” the examiner said.
I decided to flee instead of fight. They were average-sized humans and easily handled, but if I could avoid them, that would be best. Inevitable confrontation would occur the closer I got to Montgomery. I gingerly ran down the hall. I couldn’t look back. I gritted my teeth and kept running to a set of interior stairs.
I was clear for the time being.
I decided that up would be the best option. The island on the deck was where he would most likely be, the massive multi-floored operations center of the carrier that sat to the side of the carrier’s runway. I began my ascent and lifted the strap of the rifle. The semiautomatic rifle seemed more fitting a weapon for the long range of the carrier’s deck.
I held the rifle shoulder high and was ready to fire at a moment’s notice. The light from the top deck breached the stairs. There had to be more redshirts on the top deck. I couldn’t imagine Monty ran a skeleton crew unless most of the men were out on the dive supervising the sirens.
I ran across the runway uninterrupted. The island was four stories tall decorated with antennae and bulbs and satellite dishes aplenty. This was definitely a more modern version of a carrier. I had four floors to search and clear.
I took a deep breath and entered the island. There were consoles and seats in the operations room but no redshirts. I wondered if I was walking right into a damn trap. I would not be shoved into one of those glass boxes again. I shook my head and ascended the stairs to the second floor. Nothing. Another big, empty room with equipment that should have been monitored.
On the corrugated steel stairs between the second and third floor, footsteps of at least two to three people sounded, then some chatter I couldn’t quite understand. Some sort of code talk.
I walked up the steps and set my rifle into firing position, then turned to observe the floor. There he was. Montgomery with his red jacket in all his pompous glory. He pointed to a screen with many small circles lit up. I remembered the shock implant in my neck. This was his tracking tech. He stood over a redshirt who manned the console, and a larger redshirt hovered behind Montgomery. They hadn’t noticed me.
I fired and hit the head of the man sitting in front of the console, so the spray of blood would hit Montgomery’s face. It did. It was glorious.
“AH!” Monty screamed. He spit out blood and wiped his eyes.
My delight in watching him suffer was a mistake.
The big, burly redshirt pulled out a handgun and started firing my way.
I retreated back down the steel steps.
The bullets ricocheted and made a considerable amount of high-pitched noise.
“You idiot, don’t fire your weapon unless you can hit him. This whole place is made of metal. A stray bullet is a threat to our lives. Make sense?” Montgomery said.
“I have the stone you want, Monty. It’s why I requested an audience with you. Or did you not hear me or see on the crew of that sloop you destroyed?”
“Oh dear, James. James! Is that you? My favorite Irish siren servant.”
“Do you want the bloody stone or not?” I walked up the stairs with my hands in the air.
Montgomery used a handkerchief to rub the rest of the crewmember’s blood off his forehead. “What reason do I have to trust you, James?”
“If you don’t want the stone, then just kill me.” I waved my hands, indicating my vulnerability.
Monty’s bodyguard kept his gun pointed.
“Drop the rest of your weapons, then we can converse,” Monty said.
I removed the rifle then the handgun. I didn’t want to lose my dagger too, but I did. “All the weapons are on the floor. Let’s talk. I can lead you to the stone. Only you have to give me something in return. Surely, a gentleman like yourself could strike an accord. Or a gentleman’s agreement as you humans call it.”
“I must say that I am very impressed with you, James. I thought you died in McBain’s sacking of my destroyer. Here you are. I must say certain occurrences did give me pause. Like the incident on the cruise ship. Thank you for the promotion. My superior officer is murdered, then my favorite whore goes missing all in the same evening.”
I ran towards him. I just couldn’t take his taunts. His bodyguard summarily tackled me. Then punched me hard in the face. Once, then twice. The big, burly man charged his fist for another blow.
“Dietrich. Enough. James, I must say that temper fails you on too many occasions. What exactly is your proposal? I am so impressed you survived this long. I take it you murdered Doyle, my man aboard McBain’s ship. You are quite the feisty little Irish fish, aren’t you?”
I sat on the floor of the operations room, rubbed my face, and took a deep breath. “My daughter. I want my daughter in exchange for the stone.”
Montgomery, face stained with blood, was silent. He knelt down in front of me. “Your daughter. The one with the orange hair. Oh, James. She’s dead.”
My brain couldn’t quite process what he’d just said. I was in shock, then sharp pains hit my chest in incessant waves.
“Oh wait, wait, sorry. No, no, she is not. Sorry, my mistake. That girl had blonde hair. The one we lost last week, right Dietrich? Blonde hair?”
The big man nodded then laughed.
The tears made my eyes glisten in the light. “You bastard, enough with the games! You want the stone or not?”
“James, we are old friends. I was just having a bit of fun. Where is your sense of humor? Dietrich, go ahead and alert the scuba team to bring the children up. That is enough scouring the catacombs for trinkets. How noble of you, James. Take Dietrich with you to the stone’s location, and I will have my scuba team bring the girl up to you. I will need confirmation you have the stone.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
The anticipation of seeing Maggie warmed my heart. Still, an uneasiness overshadowed my excitement. I couldn’t trust Montgomery. Dietrich and I headed out on a motorized boat in the direction I told him. He held a radio in his hand.
Monty’s voice burst from the receiver. “Dietrich, radio me when you have the stone. Beware of his whore.”
“Of course. Out.” Dietrich released the talk button.
The sun was at its peak. It was warm, and the cursed sea below us was choppy. In the distance, the top of the Eiffel Tower, which was the location of the stone, burst from the surface. The tip top of the human-engineered icon still lived in the air of its former world.
Perhaps it acted as a glimmer of hope for a bygone era. It had survived much suffering in the past, yet it still stood tall.
The Eiffel Tower’s viewing area’s fencing had deteriorated, and the stone lay in a box on the floor.
“Slow it down. Turn the motor off. I will get off here and show you the stone. Then I need to see my daughter. Understand?”
Dietrich turned the motor off and nodded. The boat bobbed up and down.
I jumped off and climbed into the viewing area. The box was on the floor near the entrance to the interior office of Gustave Eiffel. I took a deep breath and grabbed the box.
“I want to see my daughter.” I walked over and opened the box.
Dietrich grabbed the radio. “He has it.”
From the water, next to the motorboat, bubbles tickled the surface. A human scuba diver’s head popped up from the water. Then she emerged in the diver’s arms, her orange hair matted to her head. Dietrich helped her out of the water. My little girl, my Maggie, was alive. I wanted to hold, hug, and kiss her.
“Da! Da!” Maggie yelled.
“Give the stone to the diver, then you can have the girl.” Dietrich held her arm.
“No, give me my daughter first.”
Dietrich released her, much to my surprise. She jumped into the water and swam over to the viewing area. I helped her up to the floor. Her hair was draped over her face, and she didn’t look at me.
She grabbed for the box and pulled out the stone. The emerald shined in the sunlight, and she threw it into the water where it disappeared. Her eyes glowed a piercing, horrifying red. Maggie had transformed in front of my eyes. What was happening to my little girl?
She grew taller, and her face morphed into a face all too familiar. Montgomery stood in front of me. He was a mage, just like Imogen.
“You dumb Irish fool. Did you really think I would let you trick me? Where’s the actual legacy stone?” Montgomery grabbed my neck and pushed me back against the wall.
I pulled at his hand and gasped for air. Mayhem broke out behind him. Imogen jumped out from the water and onto the motorboat. She kicked Dietrich into the water. The big German hit the water, and blood blanketed the surface. Then dorsal fins emerged from the water.
She’d brought sharks with her.
Montgomery’s eyes began to glow red once more. He let go of me and turned around.
“Oh, there she is. My favorite whore.” He jumped on the boat, grabbed Imogen’s hair, kneed her in the face, then threw her into the water.
I jumped after him. He waved his hand, and it was if I leapt into a stone wall. I fell back into the water right in front of the viewing area, then pulled myself out and back onto the Eiffel Tower.
A great white shark burst forth from the water. Imogen held onto its dorsal fin. It chomped through the motor boat, and it cracked in half.
Montgomery jumped up then began to hover in the air in a red bubble. I couldn’t believe my eyes. He may be a mage, but he was still human, and he couldn’t breathe in the water like we could.
“We have to drown the bastard, love.”
Montgomery hovered, laughing.
“James! Go get out of here and find Maggie!” Imogen pulled the stone from her pocket. How could Monty be a worthy opponent for her?
I didn’t hesitate. I dove into the water and headed back to the carrier as fast as I could along the surface. I looked back, because I couldn’t help but worry for Imogen. Montgomery was a trickster, a scalawag, in the worst way.
A green energy formed around Imogen, then, from the water, white ghosts emerged. Banshees. They screamed at Monty. He dodged their sonic blasts by hovering and taking cover behind the antennae on the top of the tower. Somehow my wife had control over Irish supernatural legends. We had much to discuss.
“Kick his ass, love.” I swam harder and dove under the water to move faster.
Chapter Thirty-Six
I cut through the water like an eagle cuts through the air on a dive for prey. I still didn’t know if Maggie was alive. I would soon. Must have faith.
“Daddy’s on his way.” I pushed harder through the water.
In the depths below, Submerged Paris looked ruinous, desolate, abandoned. The uniformed, gray buildings were full of moss and probably filled with unimaginable horrors.
“Oh shit.”
Horrors indeed. A large black figure smashed its way through the buildings below. Rather humongous. I swam faster, or at least I thought I did. Then I noticed a red glow on one side of the black beastie. The beast’s eye glowed the same red as Monty’s. He had to be controlling it. The blackened monster gained on me and was heading toward the carrier.
It raised to my depth.
“Monstro. I thought I killed you! We killed you!”
The whale was damaged from the explosives. Huge scars and burns flaked away at its blubber, and smaller plankton, fish, and other creatures fed on the scar tissue and festering wounds.
The giant sperm whale opened its mouth and continued his pursuit.
I could see the anchor chain of the carrier. If I could make it there, I may be able to escape.
“BWAHHHHHH!” Monstro screamed and closed the gap.
I didn’t want to look back. Up ahead, next to the anchor chain. Something big darted through the water straight towards Monstro and me.
“What the hell is that?” I yelled.
Monstro’s jaw snapped. She’d just tried to end me. The anchor chain was close.
The beast ahead of us glowed green. Was Imogen controlling this thing, whatever the hell it was?
Monstro diverted away from me. I grabbed the anchor chain and could finally see the green beastie. It was a giant squid, a kraken. The Kraken. Imogen had brought in the big guns. The Kraken spread its tentacles and collided with Monstro.
The concussive blast almost threw me off the chain. The entire chain rattled and vibrated in the water. The Kraken covered Monstro’s bulbous, blunt head and spun her away from the carrier.
“Thank you, Imogen!” I swam upward along the anchor chain until I hit the surface.
Gunshots and shouts sounded in the carrier through the rusty hawsepipe. I climbed as fast I could. I don’t even remember breathing during this time, but I must have, obviously.
The gunshots became louder.
I climbed to the spot I kicked through earlier. The area with the glass prisons for sirens. I peered in, and the sirens were back in their prisons. Almost two hundred, and mostly children. For the time being, they appeared to be safe.
The gunshots were coming from the upper decks. It was quite the firefight.
I continued my climb to the anchor room and peered out from the hawsepipe. Bullets whizzed over my head. I could see the light of the tracers. I looked to the right. Dressed in dark green wetsuits were members of the Siren Special Forces. They lay down on the ground and used the chain as cover, firing their sub-machine guns. They were essentially pinned down.
To my left, the redshirts, with half-adorned scuba gear. A considerable contingency of Monty’s men must have monitored the siren children’s dives in scuba gear. They were holed up in the hallway I had used earlier and fired into the room.
At least twelve men exchanged fire in the anchor room, six on six. Soon to be six on seven.
“Pierce! Pierce!” I yelled, hoping my friend was there.
There was a lull in the fighting. A handgun fell towards me and hit me on the top of the head. I managed to grab it without losing my grip on the chain.
“Get up here, Irish!” Pierce’s usually smooth English accent was raspy and strained.
I smiled. So happy he and the Siren Special Forces came through with his part of the plan, to liberate all the children from Monty’s maniacal machinations. Even if Monty hadn’t come through with his side of the bargain.
The chain provided me a foothold to push up and pop off a few shots, while keeping low enough to make their target small and difficult to hit. The target being my head. My vantage point and
subsequent firing line was more conducive to hit the redshirts in the hall. I pushed up and fired three shots. I hit one man in the hall twice, and another redshirt once. The rest of the redshirts scattered and ran to the stairs.
“Move! Now!” Pierce yelled.
I looked to the right, and the sirens rose to their knees, firing as they did. They hit the final four redshirts with all headshots. The hallway’s walls and floors bled the color of their shirts.
Pierce walked over and extended his hand. I obliged and started to feel the exhaustion of my intense swim and climb.
“There’s a hole in the pipe below. I saw where the children are imprisoned below us,” I said.
“Danvers and Willis, get down there and secure the hold,” Pierce ordered.
The two sirens obliged and headed to the stairwell in the hallway of death.
“I have to go with them. I can show them where to go. If Maggie’s on this ship, she would be down there.”
“Go. We will clear the rest of the decks. Bravo team is already on the top deck clearing the island and runway. Our plan is to meet in the middle decks.” Pierce signaled for the rest of his Alpha team to move to the stairs.
“Thank you for this, Pierce.”
He headed up with three of his men. “This is what friends are for.”
I nodded and led Danvers and Willis to the cargo deck, or better yet, the dungeon.
We descended deeper into the carrier. The dungeon was at least four decks below us. The door lay open to the hallway. The children were Monty’s precious cargo, though, and he wouldn’t leave them unguarded. Danvers or Willis brandished a mirror from a pocket in his wetsuit. He angled it to see down the hall. He opened his hand, five fingers for each of the redshirts.
The Viking Throne: The Cursed Seas Collection Page 11