Crustaceans

by Meikle, William

  Porter laughed.

  “Why should it eat any better than the rest of us? It’s none the worse for it. It’s three times the size it was just two weeks ago.”

  “And you’ve never seen another like it?”

  Years of playing poker with the Watts brothers allowed Porter to lie with a straight face.

  “There ain’t no other like it Doctor. What you have here is a one off. A freak of nature."

  Newman leaned closed to the tank. The crab rapped hard on the glass and Newman stepped back, fast, almost tripping over his feet in his haste to retreat.

  Rattled you, didn’t he?

  Newman made a play of cleaning his spectacles with a handkerchief to hide his discomfort.

  Porter pressed his advantage.

  “So what do you think? He must be worth something to you.”

  At the mention of money Newman quickly regained his composure.

  “It’s hardly unique,” the man said. “I remember the stories from England, even if you don’t. And supposedly they were much bigger than this one.”

  “Ah. But them’s foreign parts,” Porter said. “And this is Manhattan. Ain’t never been one here.”

  Newman nodded. He seemed almost hypnotised by the crab. Likewise it sat and stared straight back at him.

  “Maybe this is all you say it is. Time will tell. We’ll keep it here under observation until we are sure of what we have.”

  Porter lowered his voice.

  “What about our monetary arrangement?”

  Newman still couldn’t take his eyes off the crab.

  “We shall see,” Newman said. “Come back next week. If it has grown as you say it will, then we can make an agreement then.”

  Porter knew better than to push. That was something else he’d learned from the Watts brothers.

  Softly, softly, catchee monkey.

  7

  Another ten days passed before the research team got a break.

  Shona had actually began to relax, thinking that maybe it had all been a storm in a teacup, an aberrant resurgence of just a very small number of the crabs that had since retreated to some deep cold place in the ocean.

  Dad, of course, was having none of it.

  “Stay vigilant,” he insisted, hectoring even over the internet link. “Don’t let them give up searching. Not yet. It’s too soon.”

  She had been surprised to find Stark in agreement.

  “Losing the Seals has the brass spooked,” he explained.” We’re not going anywhere until they get some answers.”

  So she kept sifting the clues, looking for something that would tell her where to look. She’d come up with nothing, and the frustration grew by the day. She was near bursting point on the tenth day when Stark strode into the tent.

  Shona looked up from a specimen tray.

  Stark looked happier than he had for days.

  He’s like a kid with a new toy. The promise of action has woken him up.

  “Get your gear. We’ve got a lead,” he said. “We have a report of a large pod of whales in distress off Long Island.”

  “How large?”

  “Large,” he said, and smiled. “Now are you coming, or should I just go on my own?”

  “Just try to stop me,” she said.

  She grabbed her kit and followed Stark outside, just as the rotor of the waiting chopper started up. She almost laughed when she saw it. It was long, low and jet-black with no noticeable insignia.

  He looked at her, an eyebrow raised.

  “Is there a problem?”

  She pointed at the chopper.

  “Aren’t black helicopters a bit of a cliché in your business?”

  Stark did laugh.

  “We’ve got an image to maintain. It adds to our mystique,” he said. “Besides, we like cool toys. Mind your head.”

  They ducked below the rotors and headed for the chopper. Lieutenant Wilkes helped her on board. He shouted something at her but she couldn’t make it out… the noise inside was almost deafening. Even when Stark handed her ear-mufflers and a communication headset it still sounded like she was inside a washing machine on a heavy load.

  “You’ll get used to it,” Stark said over the headset. He sat opposite and tapped at his ear-muffler. “And at least with these you won’t go deaf.”

  When the chopper started to rise she felt like she’d left her stomach behind. The vehicle lurched and suddenly Shona was afraid that she was going to throw up her breakfast. She sat quietly, as still as she could, until the feeling passed.

  In the meantime she watched as Stark applied camouflage paint to his cheeks then stripped and reassembled a sub-machine pistol. On either side of him Matthews and Wilkes did the same. Wilkes slammed a magazine into place.

  Stark saw her looking.

  “The Sergeant told me about your experiment with the pieces of shell,” he said. “I ordered armour-piercing rounds. I thought we might need them.”

  I hope you don’t.

  “What can we expect?” Wilkes asked. “I mean, if this is what you think it is?”

  Shona didn’t reply.

  “Just be ready for anything,” Stark said. “We’re in an unknown situation, against an enemy we’ve never fought before. We need to stay sharp on this one.”

  The journey took over an hour, during which Shona had plenty of time to worry about what might wait at the other end. Her dreams had been troubled for days… full of clacking carnage, mayhem and the smell of blood. And she always came back to the two young girls in the water.

  She had woken up screaming three nights in a row. Before the past few weeks she’d never really understood her father’s obsession. All she knew was that it had driven a wedge between him and her mother. It was only now, many years on that her parents would even talk to each other. Dad had always been rushing all over the world to investigate the latest scare, most of which turned out to be false alarms. And all Shona knew was that her father would rather be chasing crabs than being with his daughter.

  She’d taken up her area of research in a vain attempt to try to understand him.

  Well girl, I would say you’ve finally got there.

  And now his warnings echoed in her ears.

  Don’t underestimate them. Never underestimate them.

  She was so far gone in her reverie that she jumped in her seat when Stark touched her shoulder.

  “We’re there.”

  She realised that the chopper had started to hover. There was sudden tension in the air. Wilkes and Matthews both gripped their weapons. The light above them turned from green to red, casting dark shadows on their faces, making their eyes into dark black pools. Shona had a premonition of doom, so strong that she felt like screaming.

  But a Scotswoman’s fancies won’t cut the mustard with these guys.

  She saw Stark listen to a voice in his ear-piece and watched as he went to the chopper door. He beckoned Shona forward as he opened it. She made her way gingerly across the aisle and looked out, aware that Stark had grabbed her tightly around the waist to keep her from tumbling out. It suddenly became more difficult to concentrate. But when she leaned out further all extraneous thoughts dissipated fast.

  The chopper hovered above a long sandy spit. Ten large Sperm whales wallowed in the shallow water less than thirty yards offshore and ten yards below them. That alone made Shona suspicious. Sperm whales are rarely seen in groups, and certainly never more than two or three at a time.

  And never, ever in water this shallow. It looks like they’re trying to beach!

  That wasn’t the worst of it though. The whales were bloated, the thick skin of their stomachs stretched tight and ready to burst. Huge tails struck weakly at the water and the whale blow, usually metres high, was the merest puff of fish-smelling vapour.

  A family, two adults and two young children, stood on the sand bar, pointing excitedly at the spectacle, the father holding a video camera. Once more Shona had a flashback to the scene on the video.

 
The water turns red. The splashing gets frantic, spray rising high, obscuring the view of what is happening. One of the girls screams, but the noise is quickly silenced. The camera drops to the sand, showing only a man running to where a red slick lies on the water.

  Even as she remembered, the man below her started walking closer to the whales.

  No. Not again.

  “We need to go down,” Shona shouted. “Take us down. There are kids down there.”

  Stark talked to the pilot, but Shona couldn’t take her eyes from the people below. The chopper whipped up waves as it descended and the family backed away from the machine.

  No. Not that way! They’re moving closer to the whales.

  She called out.

  “Get away. Get back!”

  But her voice was whipped away, lost beneath the sound of the rotors.

  “They won’t hear you,” Stark said in her ear. “Just hold on. We’ll be there in seconds.”

  The belly of the nearest whale ripped. A large bloody claw, larger even than the one she had back at the lab, poked from the wound and started to snip.

  We don’t have seconds.

  “Get us down!” she shouted at Stark. “Faster. Time’s up.”

  Stark pulled her back from the doorway. She saw his eyes go wide with surprise. But it didn’t slow him down. He had his gun up and aimed in less than a second.

  He leaned out and started firing. The noise reverberated and rang through the chopper and even through the mufflers Shona feared she might have gone deaf.

  “We have a go,” he shouted. Wilkes and Matthews moved to stand behind him and Shona had to step aside to give them room. The chopper banked suddenly, forcing her to sit down heavily in a seat to avoid falling. Stark never even broke from firing.

  He was still shooting as he jumped out of the door. The other two men left straight after him. Shona wondered whether she should join them, but before she could get off the chair and move back to the door the chopper rose again.

  She heard gunfire from outside. Swaying alarmingly due to the motion, she pulled her way back to the doorway.

  I should have asked for a gun.

  Stark and the other officers stood between the whales and the family, ankle deep in the water at the shore. Thirty yards away the whales bulged and contorted. Gore flew in the air as crabs, tens of them, slashed and hacked their way out of the stomach and chest cavities. Some of the crabs were as big as cows. They were red legged, with deep-purple shells and long pincers, cream-coloured, like aged ivory. Claws rose in the air and clacked.

  They tore savagely at the whale meat and pulled themselves, dripping, out of the gore. They seemed to be acting in concert, forming a defensive line in front of the whales while more cut their way out behind them. Bullets flew, but it didn’t seem to slow them.

  A large group of the beasts headed away, moving further along the coast. That still left Stark and his men facing a score or more.

  The crabs raised their claws in the air as if in salute, then, as one, attacked. The three men pumped round after round into the beasts. Bullets bounced off shells and claws. Some punctured the soft tissue at eyes and joints in legs and mandibles, but the wave of crabs barely slowed, bearing down fast on the three men.

  They’re using armour-piercing rounds. And they hardly leave a scratch!

  Stark shouted an order that she couldn’t hear above the din.

  Wilkes and Matthews turned and ran, grabbing the children and hustling the parents, trying to get them out of the crab’s path. Stark stood his ground.

  The crabs were barely ten yards from him, and still he stood alone, strafing the advancing beasts with long bursts. Shona saw him take something from his belt and throw it in the water, then he too turned and ran.

  Seconds later there was a blinding flash and a whump as a grenade went off. The chopper was buffeted from side to side in the shock wave, throwing Shona heavily to the floor. When she recovered and dragged her way back to the door she saw pieces of claw and shell scattered over a wide area of the sea and shore.

  But Stark had only slowed the beasts, not stopped them. A dozen or more of the crabs still waded in the shallows, intent on getting to the small group of fleeing people.

  “Get us down,” she screamed. “We need to rescue them. Now!”

  She wasn’t sure if she’d been heard, but the pilot obviously got the idea as he banked the chopper over the top of the crabs and positioned himself further away down the shore. They hovered, eight feet off the ground. Beneath them sand was whipped up into spinning vortices.

  Shona leaned as far out of the door as she dared.

  “Run!” she shouted.

  Stark was the closest to the chopper. He tried to aim and fire his pistol while running full pelt through soft sand. Behind him Wilkes carried a child while Matthews, already carrying the other child, attempted to help the mother, half-carrying her in a limping run. The father lagged behind, struggling to make his way through the sand, already red faced and breathing hard. The crabs scuttled, mere yards behind him, pincers already reaching for his legs, clacking in frustration, just inches away from snagging him.

  Hurry! For God’s sake, hurry!

  Stark reached the chopper first. He took the kid from Wilkes and tossed it up to Shona. She placed him in a seat. The boy was shaking with fear, and tears ran down dust-smeared cheeks. Shona went back to the door and reached out a hand to Stark, but he had already turned back.

  Wilkes had doubled back to take the second kid from Stark. He was already near the chopper but Matthews and the others were still twenty yards away. Stark set up a covering fire, strafing the crabs behind the father, but the machine pistol didn’t have enough stopping power. Shona realised there was no space to use another grenade -- not without killing the lagging man.

  Wilkes reached the door and boosted the second kid up. The boy clambered aboard. Shona helped him into a seat next to his brother. When she turned back Stark was already in the chopper, hauling their mother aboard. Wilkes jumped up beside her. Stark and Wilkes leaned out of the door, firing smoking pistols down into the throng of crabs.

  The noise of clacking claws was audible even above the roar of the chopper.

  The father was next. He tried to leap up to the doorway. Stark caught his hand and the man yelled as he swung wildly to one side.

  “Boost him up Sergeant. Quickly.” Stark yelled. Shona couldn’t see down beyond the sill of the door, but she guessed that the last soldier was down there beneath the man. The father’s round red face showed in the doorway. He heaved and pulled but he just didn’t have the strength to pull himself up. Stark had to lay down his pistol and grab the man with both hands.

  Suddenly a burst of gunfire came from below. It was quickly followed by a piercing scream.

  Stark’s eyes took on a terrible, dead, look. Shona realised what that meant.

  We just lost Matthews.

  Stark grabbed at the father’s arm higher up towards the shoulder and started heaving.

  “Hey. Be careful,” the big man shouted, pain showing on his face. “That’s…”

  Snick.

  It sounded like a pair of scissors being closed.

  The big man’s face contorted in a mixture of new pain and shocked surprise. He jerked his head from side to side, then again more frantically. Blood burst from his mouth. His lips moved, but no sound came out.

  Stark gave his arm one more heave. It was easier than before. Head and shoulders flopped into the chopper… but that was just about all that was left of him. Below chest level the body was gone. Viscera hung in ropy strands, a coil of intestine lying like a wet sausage on the floor.

  One of the kids screamed.

  Stark wiped the back of his hand across his lips. He looked at Shona, then at the kids. He let go of what was left of their father and kicked out at the lolling head. The remains tumbled away out of sight leaving a bloody smear in the doorway.

  “Take us up,” Stark shouted in his mouthpiece. �
�Get us out of here.”

  The chopper started to rise. There was a screech of metal as something scraped across the bottom, then they were up and away. Wilkes gave the OK symbol with his thumb and first finger.

  We made it.

  Shona checked on the mother. She was uninjured, but her eyes had gone wide, pupils zoomed down into pinpoints.

  She’s in shock. And so are the kids.

  Stark leant out the door as the chopper ascended. He kept firing until his pistol ran empty. Even then he kept pulling the trigger of the smoking gun until Shona put a hand on his arm.

  “We’re free. We made it,” she said, aloud this time.

  He looked at her, not seeing.

  The family are not the only ones in shock.

  Finally his eyes cleared.

  “Matthews didn’t make it. He’s only been married a year,” he said. “His wife is pregnant. How do I tell her? What do I tell her?”

  Shona had no answer for him. She went back to check on the kids, swapping places with Wilkes as he went to stand at the door beside Stark. The Lieutenant looked out.

  “The other crabs are on shore,” he said. “They’re swarming around the remains of a cabin.”

  Shona knew she should join him and check on the beasts’ behaviour. But she couldn’t take her gaze away from the wide-eyed stares on the faces of the children.

  Now I know really how Dad feels.

  8

  Porter sat in the bar and fumed.

  Fucking Zoo.

  He downed a shot of straight rum and banged the glass on the counter repeatedly until the barman brought him another. The barman looked like he was just about pissed off enough to say something, but one look from Porter put paid to that.

  Don’t fuck with me. Not if you want to have any teeth left.

  The two seats on either side of him were empty, and had been since he snarled at a suit who had tried to make conversation. Some days bars were for jawing, other days, for drinking.