by Knyte,Peter
‘Well, you’ve effectively pre-empted my next question, which was going to be, how do we go about hunting it once we know where it is,’ the Captain explained while retrieving his brandy decanter and glasses from the corner of his desk. ‘How confident are you that this plan will work as you hope?’
‘If all else remains equal, then we’ve got the lensing gear and enough people who know how to use it to be able to be fairly confident,’ I explained. ‘But there are clearly factors we don’t understand, and others we might be completely unaware of.’
‘And when you talk about factors we don’t understand, what do you mean by that?’ He asked, while offering and then pouring us both a glass.
‘Well for one thing, I can’t for the life of me understand why it attacked the ship, and why it seemed so intent upon Ariel,’ I began. ‘I mean, if it was just hunting people then it could’ve picked far easier targets without coming anywhere near this vessel. And then there’s the fixation upon Ariel.
‘It attacked and killed those two men of Bradbury’s in engineering in exactly the same way as every other Lamphrey attack we’ve known before now, but when it got to the bridge and surprised the larger group, it simply downed everyone, but made no attempt to eviscerate or dismember them, clearly because its real quarry was getting away.’
‘Yes, I see your point, by all rights those of us on the bridge should’ve gone the same way as those two poor souls in engineering,’ the Captain replied. ‘And you’ve no idea why it might have been so eager to attack you Ariel?’
‘No, none at all unfortunately,’ she responded. ‘Unless it’s in some way related to my ability to sense it, but that’s hardly presented a significant threat to it in the past.’
‘Why it attacked aside,’ I interjected. ‘There was also something odd about it in general. I couldn’t quite place it at the time, but it seemed swollen and bloated in some way, which might be as a result of it obviously having shed its skin, but it seemed fragile as well, I certainly don’t think I would’ve been able to stand up to it in the way I did if it had been a normal Lamphrey.’
‘Yes,’ the Captain conceded. ‘We could speculate about these things, but we simply don’t know enough to allow them to affect our plans.
‘I have a meeting with Platt and the rest of the city officials in the morning, I’ll put your proposal to them then, and see what they say, but I’m confident they’ll go for it, so please start to make any preparations you can until you hear otherwise.
‘Now,’ he continued, more matter-of-factly. ‘What are we going to do about our attempted mutineers? Have either of you had time to consider the situation.’
I admitted I’d had a few thoughts based upon what I would do if I’d found myself similarly stranded in the Expanse with the supplies that were missing.
‘I know it sounds insane,’ I began. ‘But surely the best way to get out of the Expanse and back into the real world would be to hitch a ride.’
‘You don’t mean . . .’ Ariel asked incredulously.
‘Yes, I mean, on a Kraken or other large creature, in exactly the same way that we’ve seen the smaller Lamphrey and Basilisk type creatures do.’
‘But, surely it would just tear them to shreds?’ Ariel asked.
‘If they went in firing their weapons,’ I conceded. ‘But suppose they hung back from the corpse of the Kraken that the Captain killed when he engaged the force generators to bring us through into this world?
‘Sooner or later something else big would find its way to the carcass to feed. If they approached stealthily while it was engaged in feeding they could practically pitch a tent on the thing without it noticing.
‘We’ve often suspected that these creatures pick up on our unusual energy signatures, but a suit would probably mask much of that, and as long as they didn’t do anything to attract too much attention, they could probably just sit there like fleas on a dog.’
‘And what about the Lamphrey and the Basilisks, or the even smaller creatures, the Joculous and Salamanders, aren’t they going to have something to say once they’ve finished feeding?’ Ariel asked.
‘Probably,’ I conceded. ‘But there’s probably the occasional bit of in-fighting amongst these creatures anyway, so as long as they stuck to using the quiet and non-energetic weapons, all they’d have to do is fight to keep their corner and after a while the crowd would probably settle down.’
‘That’s a big risk for them to take, nobody has ever tried anything even remotely similar before.’ Ariel countered.
‘It is, but there are probably ways in which they could mitigate some of the risk . . .’ I speculated, while I fished for ideas.
‘If it were me,’ the Captain added thoughtfully. ‘I’d plant mines while the creatures feasted, in the same way we’ve tagged these creatures with tracking devices before now, and then if the neighbours caused too much of a fuss, just blow the lot, and retreat to a safe distance again until the next bus came along and try again.
‘Or better yet . . .’ he continued. ‘I’d just attach a good long tow rope to the thing, maybe fashion a sled of some sort and just follow the crowd at a safe distance. Kraken are big enough not to notice the extra drag.’
‘Yes of course,’ I responded, ‘And then the next time the creatures invade a world they pull a contingent of marine suited mutineers along with them. They could even plant the mines as well as attaching a tow rope, then follow the creatures through into the world they’re invading, detonate the mines and scoop up the glory and thanks of whatever world they end up on.’
‘Yes,’ replied the Captain. ‘But as far as they’re aware there is only one world!’
Whether the traitors would think of any of these things was another matter, but we’d at least come up with one way in which they could credibly survive long enough to make landfall again, and then live there to be a problem we’d have to try and deal with another day.
We continued to talk and to speculate for another hour or so, coming up with other options. From simply trying to maintain their position in order to try and board the ship as it re-emerged into the Expanse, to actually trying to cut their own hole through from the Expanse using the Arc Cannons they’d taken from the armoury along with the marine suits.
It was all food for thought, but as it approached midnight the long day caught up to me, and despite the brandy I’d had the muscles in my back and legs started to threaten to cramp up if I didn’t get up to stretch them out.
I tried standing for a minute or two, but what I really needed was to walk it off, and they both realised it, so after exchanging the usual pleasantries the Captain ordered Ariel to walk me back to my cabin and we called it a night.
Despite the Captain’s orders as it was me that was in need of stretching my legs, I escorted Ariel back to her cabin first, before taking another stroll around the decks to loosen up my muscles before going to bed. It had been a very pleasant evening that felt almost like a normal life again, and I was loathe to allow it to end by heading off to bed, but as always there was important work to be done in the morning, so after a few more minutes I headed in to rest.
CHAPTER 41 – CLOSING IN
I awoke early the next morning feeling more rested and less full of aches than I had done in what seemed an age, which once again made me think of Doctor Crow’s advice back at the hospital about my body recovering more quickly the more I used it.
The weather had once again set to being fair and dry and on an impulse I decided to leave the ship before having breakfast in order to go and get a little gentle exercise to start the day properly. I’d been thinking of just a brisk walk around the myriad of naturalistic pathways called the Rambles to the north of the lake, but when I got down onto the lakeside I noticed one of the boathouse staff just getting out of a small row boat, and on an impulse I asked if there was a similar small boat I could borrow for half an hour just to help stretch out my muscles.
He looked a little undecided at first, but then noticing I
was wearing the uniform of the airship crew, he offered to let me use his own boat, 0which he’d just tied up, if I’d give him a tour of the ship once the repairs were complete.
It seemed more than fair, and I was sure the Captain wouldn’t mind, so we shook on it and after he handed me the oars and explained where to return everything when I was done, he even gave me a push off.
It had been a while since I’d done any kind of rowing, but the boat was a stable little thing so after a couple of minutes of finding my pace I sank into a slow but easy rhythm.
While the day promised to be warm it was still quite cool out on the water, so I gradually increased my pace over the next few minutes in order to get warmed up before relaxing back into a more leisurely stroke once I’d passed beneath the Bow Bridge and into the slighter larger main lake.
I was unsure at first whether my muscles were still too weak for any kind of serious exercise, but as I sculled gently across the lake I discovered my back and shoulders seemed to really loosen up and relax after a few minutes.
I knew there were a dozen and one things I could and possibly should have been doing instead, but it felt really good to be out there on the water drifting through the odd small patch of mist which still lingered over the surface whilst at the same time watching the morning haze shrouding the park gradually whispering itself away to reveal a fine and bright day.
For a moment as I looked out over the brightening park which framed the tall buildings to the south and the elegant apartment blocks to the east, I just couldn’t believe this wasn’t the same New York and Central Park I’d visited on my own world.
How the place could be so similar to the world I knew I just couldn’t imagine. How many other worlds were out there hiding the one we wanted to find, worlds possibly just like this one again, or perhaps disconcertingly different I didn’t want to think about.
After a glorious half hour or so of rowing back and forth across the lake, gliding between the many and various ducks and other water fowl, I reluctantly turned the prow of my little boat back to the bridge that separated the larger lake from the smaller, and then over to the little mooring where the owner had asked me to tie up his boat when I was finished.
As instructed I returned everything to its proper place, but as I did so my mind wandered back to our plan to entrap the creature. I still couldn’t think of any obvious drawbacks or problems with it, barring the fiendish amount of organising required.
Before our trap could be sprung we still had to get the lensing rigs to the newly trained volunteers, then pair those volunteers up with the police search teams that had been hunting the creature. The final piece of the plan was then to ask Platt for the use of the radio cars again, to act as the relay back to the command and control centre either aboard ship or in the boathouse.
The morning exercise had really invigorated me and my mind was racing with all the things we needed to do in preparation, so on the way to get some breakfast I stopped off first at my cabin to pick up a pen and notebook, and then without thinking about the time I strolled jauntily round to Ariel’s cabin and briskly wrapped on her door before it occurred to me to look at the time.
It was still rather early, in fact considering we’d been well wined and dined the previous evening until gone midnight, six thirty in the morning was probably squarely in what some people might consider the ‘inconsiderately early’ bracket.
For a moment I thought I might’ve gotten away with it, and she’d slept through the knocking, but before I could tiptoe away from her door, I heard the unmistakable sound of shuffling coming from within, and a moment later a rather tired and dishevelled looking Ariel opened the door to me.
‘What’s up, is there an emergency, is it the creature again?’ She asked looking concerned.
To say the situation felt a little awkward would be an understatement, but there was still a small part of me that hoped she might’ve been thinking of getting up anyway.
‘No everything’s fine,’ I began, an edge of guilt creeping into my voice. ‘I’ve just been out on the lake, and it’s given me a few ideas about some of the preparations we could make to trap the creature, so I thought I’d call in on my way to breakfast and. . . see if you’d like to join me.’
‘You’ve been out for a row already?’ She asked, blearily. ‘And you thought you’d call on your way to breakfast to see if I’d like to join you? At six thirty in the morning?’
‘Yes, sorry. I didn’t realise it was quite so early until I’d knocked.’ I confessed.
‘No Ashton, no, I’m good for breakfast just now,’ she carefully replied. ‘Perhaps a bit later on.’
At which point she quietly closed the door in my face and presumably went back to bed.
I’m not normally much of a morning person, so I felt like a real ass as I made my way over to Bradbury’s refectory for breakfast.
The place was still quite quiet, but the cooks had clearly been at their preparations for a while, and there were already small piles of bacon and sausages sizzling away by the time I arrived. Slightly more surprising was that the Captain was also one of the early morning patrons, reading one of the morning papers having clearly already finished his breakfast.
After disturbing Ariel a few minutes earlier I’d realised I must’ve just woken up so early because it was a bright and clear day and my cabin was on the right side of the ship to catch the morning sun. But while it was unusual for me to wake so early, the Captain of late seemed to work late, rise early and to be looking fitter and healthier than he had in years.
Pondering what his secret could be, I wandered over to bid him good morning and to ask if he’d like some company, which he was gracious enough to accept.
‘I was wondering whether I’d see you in here after your stretch on the lake,’ he commented. ‘It looked like a lovely morning for it.’
I admitted it had been exactly what I needed, and confessed to the guided tour of the ship I’d offered to the boat owner in return. But within a few minutes with the pleasantries out of the way we once more plunged into discussing our proposed trap for the creature.
‘Have you had any more thoughts about how we might go about it,’ he asked simply.
‘Yes, as chance would have it sir I have,’ I began. ‘I was wondering if it might be possible to use the Police radio cars again. If we could sort out the radio relay with the ship, we could fly up high as we discussed to pinpoint the creature’s location, then use the cars to get our search teams into position in double quick time. Each car could carry an entire search team, including sharp shooters, and maybe some heavier calibre weapons from those military men who attended the demonstration.
‘The creature will be able to see what Ariel can see, but won’t be able to understand what she’s saying or what anyone says to her, so I was thinking we could have some kind of map set up to show it where we want it to think our forces are, and where it is.
‘There will have to be a bit of a conflab to begin with, when we first work out where the thing is, so we’ll need everyone either on the ship around the map table, or linked in via a radio, so we can quickly hatch our plan before we put it into effect.’
‘Good points all round,’ the Captain replied. ‘I’ll raise them at this morning’s meeting. In the meantime, if you can proceed with as many of the other arrangements as you’re able, until we get the green light.’
We’d talked most of the way through my breakfast before the Captain excused himself to attend his other duties, so I decided to make a few notes for the day ahead while I finished eating, but it was only then that I noticed I’d brought the journal which Hughes had given to me instead of my normal notepad. Nicely bound as it was I was reluctant to just add a load of hurried scribbles to it, so I grabbed a couple of clean paper napkins instead, and then while I had a second cup of tea I opened up my journal to fill in the gaps since my last entry.
It was odd reading back through my first entry, when even then I’d begun to be concerned ab
out the anger that I’d felt swelling inside me. Even just reading my notes about it brought it all clear and fresh back into my mind, but a lot had happened since then, and as I noted down all the details I couldn’t help but wonder how I might feel in just another few days’ time should I come back to read this entry again.
I’d finished my tea, and probably could’ve gotten through another one by the time I finished my journal entry. Becoming much more involved in it than I’d intended, the clock had slipped round to seven thirty when a shift change amongst Bradbury’s men brought a sudden influx of people, included a much more refreshed and awake looking Ariel.
‘Sorry for disturbing you earlier on,’ I apologised. ‘I honestly hadn’t noticed it was so frightfully early.’
‘You will be Mr Hall,’ she replied with mock anger. ‘I don’t know where or when, but I shall find a way to suitably repay you for that rude awakening.’
‘I will thoroughly deserve whatever you come up,’ I conceded with a smile. Hoping it was mostly bluff and bluster on her part.
It was busy in the refectory, but the room was intended to seat far more people than those involved in the ship’s repairs, so with only a few minutes delay Ariel was able to get a bite of breakfast, and we could then get down to our more detailed plotting of the day’s activities.
It was a non-stop morning and afternoon as we co-ordinated and then organised first the volunteers from the police and fire services with their new lensing equipment, then the weaponry that each team would need, then a slightly peculiar visit to a local model shop to sort out all the bits we’d need for our mini war room table, including large maps of the city, model cars and soldiers, and a bizarre looking model beetle that would have to do for the creature.