Monsters In Our Wake

by J. H. Moncrieff

  “I knew it. I knew you were lying to me.”

  I lashed my tail, using it and my legs to propel me through the water, but it was futile. I’d never been any match for Draugen. She intercepted me before I’d gone a league.

  “What is this, a game? You weren’t seriously trying to outswim me, Nøkken.” She scowled, and I wondered if our years of marriage were going to end rather suddenly, with my poor body torn to pieces.

  “Of course not. Why would I try to outswim you? You are my superior in every way, my darling.”

  “No need to state the obvious. What exactly did you intend to do out here?”

  “Nothing, my love. Only out for a wander, checking the territory.”

  Her nostrils flared. “You lie. I caught you, remember? You were watching the humans again. I’ll never understand your obsession with them.”

  Obsessed, me? The very idea was absurd. “I don’t know what you’re referring to. Are you forgetting that a human-made contraption almost destroyed our home two days ago? I felt it wise to monitor them.”

  My wife let loose with one of the ultrasonic shrieks she’s famous for. My ears popped, and I moved just in time. Her teeth snapped at the exact spot where my tail had been a second before. “I thought you said you chased them away. You were going to take care of them.”

  “I did, only…in my haste to encourage their leaving, I appear to have damaged their little craft.”

  Draugen’s eyes gleamed in a manner I didn’t care for. “You mean they’re stranded? Here, in our territory?”

  “They’re going to fix the boat tomorrow, and as soon as it’s repaired, they’ll be underway. I can assure you, dearheart—they are as good as gone. They certainly won’t be coming here again.”

  “For once you’re right, dear husband. They won’t be coming here, but it has nothing to do with their ridiculous plans. I’m going to take care of this right now.”

  “Wait.” I dove in front of Draugen before she could leave. I knew all too well how my wife took care of things. When she was finished, there wouldn’t be enough of that ship left for our son to play with. She would tear the tanker into pieces and kill everyone on board, crunching their skulls between her teeth and leaving a few choice chunks behind for the fish.

  “You have one last chance to be honest with me, Nøkken. If you dare lie to me again, the humans die.”

  “No lies, I promise.” I couldn’t believe I’d had the temerity to risk my wife’s wrath. I hadn’t lied to her since before our marriage.

  “Why are you so fascinated with this particular group of humans? If it was revenge for wrecking our home, I could understand. But revenge against these creatures is easily exacted. So it must be something else. Tell me what it is that lures you here.”

  As usual, her questions put me in a perilous position. If I told her the truth about the strange telepathic link I seemed to have with the scientist, my wife would kill me. But if I lied to her, she would kill me anyway. I decided to risk a partial truth.

  “This isn’t your average tanker, my love. It’s a prototype—as small and portable as a drillship, but with minimal crew. They can store oil, but not nearly as much as a tanker. And there are scientists on board.”

  “Since when are you such an expert?”

  Good question. Problem was, I didn’t have a very good answer. I had no idea how to describe the link I shared with the scientist, or why my telepathic abilities—usually confined to our own species—had suddenly extended enough to allow me to communicate with a homo sapien.

  Draugen rolled her eyes in what I’d come to realize was a typically human gesture. If only she knew.

  “Never mind—it doesn’t matter. Their level of education doesn’t interest me. They’re still dumb as sea cucumbers.”

  “One of the scientists is trying to figure out a means to undo the wrong that’s been done by others of her kind. If you destroy her, she won’t have the chance to save our home. Or Uisge’s home. There will be more humans encroaching on our territory, but they won’t be as intelligent or as reasonable, because they’ll have heard of the tragedy and will swarm us in an attempt to understand the mystery. Remember poor Uisge.”

  Draugen sighed, which was always a good sign. “You’re right. I forgot what morons they are.”

  I had stumbled upon the very thing to keep Draugen from slaughtering everyone aboard the ship. If there’s anything my wife liked less than humans it was even more humans.

  She bared her teeth at me, and it took every ounce of self-control I had not to flee. “What else is going on? I don’t think your interest in the humans is confined to their unrealistic ideals. So what is it?”

  I should have known I’d never be able to get anything past her. “It’s an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon, I suppose, getting involved in their little dramas. You should have seen them today. They nearly…”

  “And I suppose your own family isn’t entertaining enough for you?”

  Uh oh. I scrambled to save face. “It’s not that, love. It’s only—my cruel streak, you know. I wouldn’t want to expose that side of myself to our son.”

  My wife rolled her eyes again in that endearing, human-like gesture. “Oh Nøkken,” she said. “How many times do I have to tell you not to play with your food?”

  Chapter Twelve

  “What was that?”

  The sound of Liam’s voice made Flora jump. She whacked her head on one of the bedposts and winced. For a moment, she couldn’t remember where she was, and then it came back to her—the creature, Liam’s lucky survival, the cuts on his leg, the blood.

  She couldn’t remember falling asleep, but there was no other explanation for her groggy, confused state. Flora stifled a yawn with her hand. “What was what?”

  “Didn’t you feel it? I thought the entire ship was going to break.” Liam’s face glowed a feverish bright pink. She touched his forehead. He was hot, but not unnaturally so.

  “It was probably nothing. You were dreaming, most likely.”

  “That is such bullshit.” She’d never heard Liam’s voice sound that harsh before. “I know what I felt; I know what I heard, and it certainly wasn’t a dream. Wait!” He grabbed her wrist and squeezed. “It’s getting closer. Do you know what that means?”

  She tried her best to follow, but her brain was fuzzy with sleep. “Please try to relax, Liam. Getting excited like this isn’t good for any part of your body, and especially not your leg.”

  “My leg doesn’t matter. Nothing matters.” She saw with a shock that he had aged overnight. The happy, carefree Liam she’d grown accustomed to was gone. “Don’t you understand? That creature hates us. I could feel it. It’s going to kill us.” He spoke with the weariness of a man three times his age. “We’re all going to die, Flora. So it doesn’t matter if I lose my leg or not.”

  Before she could protest, she heard the sound of quick footsteps on the stairs. Her prayers were answered when Thor stuck his tousled head into the cabin.

  “How are things going in here? How’s our patient?”

  Flora made a face she hoped conveyed just how well things were not going. “Liam is getting fatalistic on us.”

  “What? We can’t have that. Shove over, dude—seriously.”

  Groaning, Liam shuffled over on the bed, using his hands to lift and move his injured leg so there was enough room for Thor to sit beside him. For a moment, Flora was horrified and almost yelled at Thor to be careful, but she realized his casual approach was best for Liam, who already looked better than he had a second before. If she were injured, she’d want people to act like nothing had happened too. None of that fawning, sad-faced pity business.

  “Your leg’s gonna be fine, partner. Frank told me he sewed you together so tight that nothing’s getting in there, not even a speck of bacteria. You’re all set.”

  Flora tried to signal him, but it was too late. Liam’s face went pale with shock. “Frank? I thought Flora was the one who stitched me.”

  T
hor glanced at her in surprise, and she rushed to explain.

  “I’m a mess with a needle, remember? I’ve never been good at that stuff. Frank did a beautiful job. Trust me, you were lucky it was him and not me.”

  Liam slumped on his pillow, his eyes at half-mast. He shrugged. “Oh well. Guess it doesn’t matter what my leg looks like now, anyway.”

  “It looks great. She’s telling you the truth, my friend. He did an awesome job. You probably won’t even have much of a scar.”

  Whatever levity Thor’s presence had brought to the little room was gone. Liam turned away from them. “Who cares?” he muttered.

  Thor raised an eyebrow at her, and it was her turn to shrug. “Well, I guess I care, as much as I can about another fellow’s thigh, and Flora cares, and Frank cares. He put a lot of effort into fixing you, you know. The next time you see him, you should thank him.”

  “I wish he hadn’t bothered. He should have let me bleed to death. I’d have preferred that.”

  Thor’s mouth dropped open. It would have been comical if the mood hadn’t been so dire. “Preferable to what? What’s wrong with you, man? You’re lucky to be alive, but I’m not hearing much gratitude from you.”

  “Liam has decided that we’re all going to die,” Flora explained.

  “Well, that’s obvious. We’re dying from the day we’re born. This is news?”

  “He thinks our deaths are more…imminent than some. He’s convinced the creature is going to return and kill everyone in short order.”

  “I know you’re both laughing at me, but that’s only because you weren’t there. You haven’t seen what I saw, or felt what I felt.” Liam pulled the blankets more tightly around his shoulders, as if he longed to bury his head in them. “That creature is determined to kill us, and there’s nothing any of us can do to stop it.”

  “Well, maybe we haven’t seen what you have, but as of tomorrow, that should change. That’s what I’m hoping, at least,” Thor said.

  His words were enough to make Liam acknowledge them again. He started to speak, but Flora beat him to it.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Whatever is wrong with the ship can’t be fixed from the inside.” Thor grinned. “I’ve volunteered to fix it.”

  “Are you crazy? You’ve seen what happened to Liam. How can you put yourself at risk that way?” Flora longed to smack that silly smirk off his face. She’d warned them—she’d told them not to let Liam go in the water. And now, after everything that had happened, Thor was going to make the same mistake? Men. There was no limit to their idiocy.

  “Don’t do it, man. It’ll kill you.” Liam’s face was ashen again, and Flora’s heart sank. She could have kicked Thor. She still might.

  “Nah. We’ll be prepared for it this time.”

  “Prepared? How can you be prepared for this? We don’t even know what it is yet,” Flora pointed out. Forget kicking. She might start with strangling. What an arrogant man. And here she’d thought Thor was one of the intelligent ones. Perhaps his name gave him delusions of grandeur. She was grateful she hadn’t named her own son after a mythological god. Too much to live up to.

  “Well, we’ll be armed, for one thing.”

  Liam snorted, and then winced as the movement jostled his injured leg. “With what, rocket launchers?”

  “That would be ideal, but unfortunately, we’re not a warship. However, we do have harpoon guns.” Thor smiled at them. “I’ll be armed, and so will the rest of the crew.”

  “Everyone’s going into the water? Have you lost your minds?” Flora could feel the blood drain from her face. She wished Thor would move over so she could sit down too. Her legs were feeling a little weak.

  “Not that I know of, no. Relax, Flora. I’m going in the water to fix the engine, and the rest of the guys are going to keep watch on deck.”

  “By the time you see it, it’ll be too late. That thing is faster than anything I’ve ever seen,” Liam said.

  “It wasn’t that fast. We got you out alive, didn’t we?”

  “Only because it wanted you to. It was playing with me, like…like a cat plays with a bird before tearing it apart. Thank God it wasn’t in a bad mood, because a lot more than my leg would have been ripped to pieces.”

  “Oh, come on, man. You can’t possibly know that. What are you telling me, that you have some kind of telepathic link with this creature?” Thor rolled his eyes.

  “I don’t know how I know what it was thinking. I just do. And you’re an idiot if you think harpoons are going to stop it. You might as well flick a toothpick at it.”

  “Harpoon guns kill whales, mate. They’ve taken down the biggest things in the ocean.”

  “You know that toothpick? That’s what a whale would look like next to this thing.”

  As much as she believed Liam was making a hell of a lot more sense than Thor, Flora had difficulty wrapping her mind around the idea of a creature that large. If it existed, how had it remained hidden for so long? “Wouldn’t the sonar have picked up something so huge?”

  “Apostolos says it isn’t working. I don’t know how long it’s been down,” Thor said.

  “Whatever it did to the ship is part of its plan, don’t you see? If it wanted to destroy it, it would have ripped it in half by now. It’s playing with us. It wants someone to try to fix it.” Liam’s face clouded over. “And the next person who gets in that water isn’t coming out.”

  Thor laughed, giving his friend a gentle punch on the shoulder. Flora noticed he was careful not to bump the man’s leg. “Are you hearing yourself? You sound like someone from a horror movie, man. Next thing you’ll be telling me we shouldn’t separate.”

  “Not in this case. Best that only one of you has to die before you’ll listen to me. Sad it has to be you, though. You were one of the good ones.”

  The smile left Thor’s face, and Flora knew why. There was something about the certainty in Liam’s voice. He had no doubt Thor was going to die the next day, and he was beginning to convince her. She shivered.

  Thor grimaced. “I don’t know about you two, but I’d rather take my chances with some sea monster, which may or may not even be around tomorrow—”

  “It’ll be there. This is like a sport for it,” Liam interrupted.

  “—than with starvation, which is a sure thing. We can’t drift about on the ocean forever, boys and girls. Sooner or later, we’re going to need supplies. We need to get this baby fixed, and only three people can do that. One of them is lying in this bed.”

  “Can’t another ship tow us in?” Flora asked. “There has to be an alternative.”

  Thor shook his head. “Apostolos says the radio hasn’t been working since the engine got pooched. There’s a chance our first distress call went through, but he doesn’t want to wait around and see. And I agree with him.” A beseeching expression came over his face. “This is something I can do to help. Frank did a great job with Liam’s leg—I’m not saying he didn’t—but Liam still needs professional care. We need to get him to a hospital, and the sooner the better.”

  Finally something she couldn’t argue with. She hadn’t liked the look of Liam’s wounds, and she didn’t like the way he was acting now. She wasn’t a doctor—what if he did have a fever? What if it was broiling his brain?

  “Don’t risk your life on my account,” Liam said. “I don’t want anyone’s blood on my hands.”

  “No one’s life is being risked. I’ll be armed tomorrow, and the second I see something I don’t like, I’ll shoot the hell out of it.”

  “I’m going to sleep now. I’m tired of talking. But if you’re going to keep being idiotic, you should at least see what you’re dealing with. Check out those photos I shot this afternoon and then tell me how effective you think your little harpoon gun is going to be.”

  Flora felt like she’d been struck, and she could tell from the expression on Thor’s face that he felt the same.

  The camera.

  They’d forgo
tten all about it.

  Chapter Thirteen

  It took him forever to find the damn thing, and in searching for it, he almost destroyed it. Thor lifted his boot just in time.

  “Flora.” He whispered her name into the darkness, not wanting to alert the other guys, but he needn’t have worried. From what he could hear from the messdeck, the party had really started after he’d left. Perhaps Liam was right. Thor didn’t feel comfortable leaving his safety in the hands of a bunch of drunken morons. Or hungover ones, for that matter.

  Flora’s flashlight turned toward him. He winced, holding out a hand to block the beam.

  “Did you find it?”

  “Yeah, I’ve got it. Nearly stepped on it.”

  “Great. Let’s get out of here. This place gives me the creeps.” She hurried to his side, which surprised him. She wasn’t a damsel-in-distress type.

  He was tempted to point out that ‘this place’ was the deck of the ship, and that there was nothing creepy about fresh air and a sky full of stars. If she wanted creepy, she’d already had her fill with Liam, whose injury had apparently turned him into Rod Serling and Nostradamus rolled into one.

  It was if she’d read his mind. “What? What did I say?”

  “Nothing. It’s only…we’re outside on the deck. What’s creepy about it?”

  “I don’t know.” Flora stared at the sky, tilting her head until her dark curls tumbled over her shoulders. “Maybe it’s how dark it is. I’m not used to it being so dark.”

  “You like your stars with a little light pollution?” He bumped her shoulder so she’d know he wasn’t laughing at her. “That’s actually one of the things I love about being at sea—you can really see the stars out here. Sometimes I sleep on the deck.”

  She shivered. “You couldn’t pay me enough to sleep out here.”

  “What’s going on, Flora? What’s bugging you? Is it Liam? I realize he’s acting strange, but that’s to be expected after what he’s been through.”

  Rubbing her arms, she stared at the ocean, which was a flat, wide expanse of black. Once more it was eerily calm. Not a whitecap to be seen. The ship rarely moved under their feet; it was so steady it could have been docked. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s only Liam’s influence, but for a few days, I’ve felt different whenever I’m out here. I hate to use the word evil, because that’s a tad dramatic, but whatever I’m feeling isn’t good. Whenever I’m on deck, I feel like I’m not alone, and not in a good way. Something is listening to me. Something is watching. Don’t you feel it?”