Behemoth 2

by Michael Cole

  “So, it’s true,” Forster said. She raised her voice to speak directly to Salkil. “All of this…the hybrids…this is your doing?!”

  “Not in the slightest,” Salkil said. “I’m the one trying to stop these things.”

  “And cover it up,” Forster retorted. Salkil stared at her silently for a moment, visibly irritated. He had rescued these people from their sinking vessel, putting his elaborate plan at risk. Plus, there was the added exposure, as he was officially nowhere near Pariso Marino. Yet, these people hardly seemed grateful.

  “Call it what you want,” he said, “but if I wanted a complete cover-up, it would’ve been much simpler to fry your asses along with the sharks. We could’ve done that, but I decided not to. And now, we’ve got to find them all over again.” He walked past Rick, deliberately bumping him in the shoulder as a show of dominance. Salkil walked to Forster, and squared up with her. “And begging your pardon,” he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, “but I’ve been the only one concerned with killing these things. I’m disobeying orders right now. I was instructed NOT to do anything. The government wanted to chalk up the arrival of the creature as a new species. They of course didn’t know it could replicate, but I took the time to read Wallack’s notes before they were burned. I addressed the problem, but they didn’t want to hear it. Unfortunately, I did too good of a job back at Mako’s Center, with the help of Mr. Napier, of course.” Rick took a step forward, but stopped himself. Salkil glanced back at him. Rick knew he was no match; Salkil didn’t get to his position by pushing pencils. He grinned and began walking around the group like a college professor giving a lecture.

  “Since everyone believes what happened was a hoax, they didn’t think anyone would make the connection,” he continued. “But I know the truth. I know what’ll happen if these things continue to live. So, I took it upon myself to eliminate the problem.”

  “So, you hired mercenaries,” Lisa said.

  “Don’t worry, it’s a dedicated group,” Salkil said. He pointed to the one-armed mercenary. “This is Lieutenant Hendricks. He was a distinguished member of the United States Navy. He lost an arm in our pursuit of the hybrid three years ago, thus his military career. But the blood of a soldier runs deep. He wasn’t ready to quit, so he formed a little business, for lack of a better word.” He slowly waved his hand to the crowd of mercenaries. “With a little help from me, of course. The point is, this mission’s personal for him and me.”

  “So, if you’re operating outside the government…how exactly do you plan on keeping this one quiet?” Forster asked. Salkil’s grin disappeared. He started walking off, intending not to answer. Rick stepped behind him, raising his voice.

  “It was one of your men who caused the explosion at the oil rig, wasn’t it?!” Salkil didn’t need to answer. A couple of widening gazes from the mercenaries confirmed his suspicion. Salkil stopped, paused, then turned again to face Napier. There was no point in denying it.

  “You seriously think that when the eyes of the world are on something, that something else isn’t taking place behind the scenes? The Ebola Virus craze? Every national tragedy? Sometimes it’s real, sometimes it’s not, but there’s one common link. It’s all a smokescreen.”

  Nelson perked his head. Holy shit, the bastard was right. He felt foolish for thinking Rick Napier to be a conspiracy theorist a day prior. Being a cop for several years, seeing what happens in the shadows, in both government and the private sector, he thought he understood it all. But this was bigger than anything he could have imagined.

  “You son of a bitch,” he said. “You may have killed God-knows-how many…”

  “Nobody died in that,” Salkil said, exasperated. “We at least took those measures. I’m not a monster, nor am I the mad scientist who created these things. I’m the one risking his retirement, and worse, to see these things gone.”

  Lisa gazed again at the ship they were on. Though small and decommissioned, it was a warship, and that raised more questions. Something about the Colonel’s story wasn’t adding up.

  “Even with everyone fixated on the crisis down south, how exactly did you expect to sneak something this big in and out, unseen?”

  “I have it under control,” Salkil said.

  “Do you?” Lisa questioned. “You do realize the Navy has probably detected the presence of this thing, right?”

  “Yes…I do,” Salkil retorted. He checked his watch. “On that note, we are pressed for time.” He turned and walked into the hangar, disappearing through an open doorway. Rick helped Forster guide Nelson inside.

  “Is the infirmary operational?” he asked one of the mercenaries.

  “There’s some supplies left over,” he said. They started heading in. Rick looked back. Lisa stood on the landing pad, hair blowing in the wind. She gazed at the water, the chopper, and at the ship.

  “You coming?” Rick asked. Lisa followed them inside.

  “Something’s not right,” she said.

  “Yeah, I know,” Rick said. “Not much we can do about it right now.” As they moved through a hallway, the ship began to move. The twin diesel engines rumbled, and the water jet propulsors gave speed to the warship. Rick looked at Forster and Nelson. “He wants to keep this under wraps? How the hell is he going to do this with a friggin’ ship this size?”

  “Hell, everyone on the island had to have seen it,” Forster said. She thought for a moment. “Could that be part of the play, somehow?”

  “You’re asking if he wanted the ship to be seen?” Nelson asked.

  “I mean, it’s got to be possible,” Forster said. “The explosion at the rig, the hunt for terrorism…a foreign vessel entering U.S. waters. I don’t think this ship is just being used as a weapon to kill the hybrids; it’s part of the cover-up.”

  “Yesterday, I would’ve brushed it off as just a conspiracy theory,” Nelson said. “But today…agh!” A surge of pain swept through his leg, which caused Forster and Rick to quicken the pace to the infirmary. Lisa took the lead, having an idea where it would be located. Hopefully they would locate some painkillers. No mercenaries escorted them. At first, they found this odd, but given the limited hands to man the ship, everyone was probably busy with their tasks.

  “Only, this is purely the Colonel’s cover-up,” Rick said. “He’s playing everybody.”

  They made their way past the empty crew galley, which led to another corridor. Lisa couldn’t read any of the Arabic labels on the walls, which forced her to guestimate the position of the infirmary. She led them down the corridor and stopped when she came to a large set of double doors.

  “This might be it,” she said. By now, Nelson’s teeth were tightly clenched. The pain in his leg had increased drastically. Lisa tugged on the metal doors, which opened with a hiss. Cold air turned to steam as it entered the warm hallway. Lisa looked inside and cupped her mouth.

  “Oh, Jesus,” she said. Rick moved from Nelson and rushed to his wife in a protective manner.

  “What? What is it?” he said.

  “No, I’m okay,” she said. Rick looked inside, and nearly jumped in place upon seeing the cold dead corpse seemingly staring at him from the metal table. “It’s the morgue,” Lisa said.

  “Yeah, no shit,” Rick said. As he turned away to leave, he noticed something within the dark of the room. “Hang on a sec.” Why is there a body in the morgue of a decommissioned ship? He switched the light on. The illumination of the interior revealed multiple corpses, resulting in a reactionary gasp from the couple. Forster helped Nelson over to peek inside.

  “Oh shit!” After the initial shock came the noticing of strange details. Every one of the dead bodies were Middle Eastern males. Each of them was dressed in guerilla-style tactical gear. Automatic weapons and handguns were stacked in the corner of the room. Rick counted at least a dozen of the bodies.

  “What the hell? Are these ISIS guys? What is this?” Rick said.

  “I think we just found another link in the conspiracy,” N
elson said. Lisa stepped toward the munitions. The first thing she noticed was that none of the weapons contained magazines. The mercenaries likely stored them elsewhere. But the presence of the guns, as well as the gear on the bodies, made it clear to Lisa that the plan was to somehow frame this deceased group. She put it down and exited the room, being sure to switch off the light and close the door.

  “The infirmary should be nearby,” she said. Forster chuckled nervously.

  “Are we not gonna talk about this?” she said. “There are dead bodies in there!”

  “Shhh!” Lisa said, and looked down the hallway for any mercenaries. “I don’t think they want us to know about this.” She went down the hallway, passing a stairway. Rick stopped and pointed.

  “Could it be here?”

  “I think that leads to the pilothouse,” Lisa said, and kept walking. She found another door and opened it. “Oh finally!” she held the door open, allowing Forster and Nelson to enter the infirmary. They helped Nelson sit up on a table and began to check his leg. The bandage was blood soaked.

  “This’ll need stitches,” Rick said.

  “I’ll do it,” Forster said.

  “I’ll see if there’s any disinfectant,” Lisa said. She went through some of the cabinets, many of which were empty. She opened a doorway that led into a storage room. “Ah-ha!” she said.

  Rick and Forster found some rubber gloves and removed the bandage from Nelson’s leg. The gash was about three inches across his calf and bleeding rapidly. Forster laid out a needle and tied up a thread. She began to stitch while Rick handed her gauze to help wipe away the blood. Each prick aggravated the pain, but Nelson held still. Forster closed the wound up. Blood seeped through the stitches, but at a much slower rate than before. She would wait until Lisa found some disinfectant before wrapping it in fresh bandages. She kept some gauze pressed to it.

  “Hopefully she’ll find some painkillers,” she said.

  “I’ll be fine,” Nelson said. Forster looked him in the eyes and smiled. There were many things she wanted to say, but all she could manage was, “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “Oh please! For saving my life! You almost got killed!” Forster said. Nelson grinned casually, attempting to shrug off the heroic act. He tried to come up with a witty one-liner, but only stuttered.

  “Well, uh, heh…you know…” he felt as if he was about to blush. The truth was, he couldn’t live with himself if she died on his watch. He didn’t know how to say it.

  In the storage room, Lisa located painkillers and vials of disinfectant. She hurried back into the infirmary.

  “Alright, I found the goods,” she said. Her eyes went to her husband, who was staring out into the hallway. He was looking out toward the stairwell. She recognized the intent in his eyes. “Rick…don’t!”

  “You all stay here,” he said, and proceeded out the door.

  “Rick, leave it alone!” Lisa called after him.

  “No!” he said. “We need to know what’s going on. I’ll be fine.” He disappeared out the door. Lisa started after him, then stopped, uncertain whether to stay and help with the medical care or go after her husband.

  “Just go,” Forster said. “I can manage.” Lisa placed the items on the table and rushed into the hallway. She heard Rick stepping up the stairway on his way to the bridge.

  CHAPTER

  39

  “We’ve marked their location,” Salkil spoke into the radio. He stood near the captain’s chair, watching through the large glass window pane at the front of the bridge. The bow of the ship was pointing directly toward the atoll. A mercenary stood at the radar screen, giving a thumbs up to Salkil after confirming the readings. Two green dots blipped on the screen. More than likely, they were the hybrids. The area was close to the last confirmed location. Above the atoll, the two helicopters passed by, dropping bait into the water just outside the barrier of rocks.

  “We’re delivering the package,” Hendricks’ voice replied through the comm.

  “We see it,” Salkil said. “Raven Two? You gonna get to it today?”

  “Doing it now, Colonel,” Raven Two’s pilot said. The radar tech turned toward the Colonel.

  “Sir, I’m picking up two Air Force BARCAP jets on our screen,” he said. On the other side of the room, a mercenary standing at the communications unit removed one of his headphones.

  “Colonel,” he said. “The Air Force is attempting to make communication.”

  “Give no response,” Salkil said. “We’ll be out of this shortly. Let’s keep our eye on the prize.” The mercenary replaced his headphones, monitoring the communications.

  “They’re warning us that the USS Donovan is en route,” he called out. Salkil nodded his head. The Donovan was a Naval Destroyer which was patrolling the northeast coast. The mercenary spoke again. “There’ll be another ship that’ll intercept us first.”

  “The USS Carnahan,” Salkil said. Just as he expected.

  ********

  “Listen, Rick, can’t we just wait?” Lisa tried not to be too loud as she followed Rick through the narrow hallway.

  “No,” he said. He stopped briefly to face her. “Something’s going down. I need to know if we need to get off this ship.” He continued walking until he reached the end of the small hallway.

  They stepped through an open doorway into a room full of brightly lit electronics. The room was large enough to fit over a dozen people. In the center was a stationary captain’s chair which was linked to what appeared to be its own computer screen. Standing next to it was the Colonel. Only five other mercenaries were on the bridge with him, one at the helm, another at the navigation device, and others at the comm unit and radar. A couple of them glanced at the Napiers, but seemed to have no interest in them. Rick was slightly surprised. He almost expected to have guns drawn on him, but then again what kind of a threat was he? He was only a loose end to them; a hinderance brought on by their leader, whom they couldn’t object to. Rick stepped beside Salkil. The Colonel could sense his presence, but kept his eyes fixed on the choppers.

  “So how exactly did you get this ship into U.S. Territory?” Salkil looked at him, then turned his eyes back to the window pane. The choppers passed by each other in the distance, like two vultures circling a carcass.

  “I have resources,” he said. “A bit of manipulating and diverting here and there. Though I’m Army, I have connections within the Navy and Coast Guard.”

  “But they’re closing in on this ship, aren’t they?” Rick said, more of a statement than a question.

  “A littoral combat ship is on approach,” Salkil said.

  “You’re cutting it awfully close, aren’t ya?” Lisa said. Salkil didn’t answer, which in a way was an answer in itself. He did seem worried, but not about the Navy. He stood silent and kept watching the operation. Rick was losing his patience.

  “It was nice of you to have one of your guys lead us to the infirmary,” he sarcastically remarked.

  “We have limited manpower,” Salkil said, uninterested.

  “Yeah, too bad. We found it though. Had to check a couple of places first. One of which was the morgue.” Salkil turned and looked at him. Still standing at the door, Lisa could see the eyes of every mercenary turn toward Rick. Each expression was serious. Rick kept his eyes on the Colonel. “Yeah, we saw the bodies.” Salkil’s concerned look quickly dissipated. He figured they would discover the truth one way or another. He continued watching the choppers.

  “Who are they?” Rick asked.

  “Nobody the world can do without,” Salkil said.

  “Terrorists?” Lisa asked. She hoped that was the truth. Salkil nodded. He walked toward the radar tech.

  “Keep me informed of any updates. I’ll have my radio on,” he said. He turned and looked at Napier. “Why don’t we get some fresh air?”

  Salkil, Rick, and Lisa stepped topside. The upper deck gave an astonishing view of the bow deck. Rick gazed at the large Melara 76mm
gun stationed at the bow. The barrel pointed toward the atoll.

  “You guys have munitions for the armaments on this thing?” he asked.

  “For some of them. Enough to get the job done,” Salkil said. “Dr. Napier, if I may ask, why are you here?”

  “Well, let’s see, your men picked us up in a chopper and…”

  “I urge you not to continue being a wise-ass,” Salkil interrupted. It was a threat, and Rick knew it. “Shouldn’t you be at home, enjoying your life free of a mortgage, or debt?”

  “Or friends,” Rick added, staring out into the water. He briefly thought about the resentment he felt from everyone he knew. People had lost loved ones, buried friends and family, and looked to him to make the truth known. Not only did he fail, he became rich off of the lie. He didn’t get much of a choice in the matter, but it didn’t matter. “Dr. Forster called me. She captured the hybrid and connected it to the incident in Mako’s Center. I guess she didn’t believe the cover-up.”

  “And you felt sorry enough to help her. How sweet,” Salkil said. “I’m actually impressed. You guys actually went out to try to kill the hybrids.”

  “Hey man,” Rick said, “we killed two of those things. How many have you killed?” Salkil ignored the question. Rick stared at him incessantly. “There’s another thing; what are you going to do about the one in Felt’s Paradise?” The Colonel looked at him silently, then turned his eyes toward the Melara. Rick followed his gaze, then backed away from the edge of the deck. “You’re not serious?! You’re not actually going to use that on a public area!”

  “I’ll see to it that everyone is evacuated,” Salkil said. A few warning shots would likely do the trick. “You need to understand; these things CANNOT exist. And unfortunately, the world can’t know they exist. The scrutiny you went through, I’ve been through it a hundred times fold. There are other people, other countries out there…BAD ONES…that if they knew these things could be created, they would not hesitate to create them. You want evidence? Look at history; the Nazi experiments, for example. Read about the U.S.S.R., at the breeding experiments Stalin was funding to create super-soldiers. Look at the world today! You think nobody will try to create hybrids of their own once they realize it’s possible?” Rick didn’t answer. Despite his natural resentment toward Salkil, he allowed the words to sink in. It put him in a difficult spot, morally. There did seem to be some truth to what the Colonel was saying. After all, it didn’t take long for other countries to develop the atomic bomb after its initial use. On the other hand, covering up the matter seemed like allowing a free pass for officials who were responsible for a project that resulted in the deaths of many.