Gargantua

by K. Robert Andreassi

  Ah, what the hell, Jack thought. He took the preferred fruit and rolled it to Casey.

  Casey got up on his hind legs and stopped the coconut’s roll with his arms. Then he rolled the coconut to Brandon.

  Jack couldn’t help it. He laughed. The laughter felt good.

  It was also infectious, as Brandon started to laugh, too, as he rolled the coconut back to Casey.

  Casey, now even more perked up, rolled the coconut back to Jack.

  They kept the game up for some time.

  “It looked at me. Looked me in the eye. Right when my missile hit, it knew who was killing it.”

  T.J. sighed as Jace muttered. They had drawn guard duty on the Mother of All Lizard’s remains for the night shift. Ever since they came on at midnight, Jace had been going on and on about the actual kill. The looking-into-the-eye bit was just the latest embellishment. Sure, T.J. had had the impression at the time that Mother was heading straight for him, but that was because of all the adrenaline pumping. Now that he had distance, he knew better, knew that he was just a cog in a wheel that brought the thing down.

  Jace, though—he made it more personal with each retelling. In another minute, it would have been only Jace’s missile, not both his and T.J.’s, that killed the creature.

  All in all, T.J. was starting to get nostalgic for the rant about the choice the judge gave him.

  “Will you please just shut up about it, man? You got yourself a damn fine trophy.”

  “I guess,” Jace said.

  And then he was actually quiet for a minute. T.J. almost cheered.

  But it couldn’t last. “Hey,” Jace said, “will you take a picture of me next to it?”

  I don’t believe this. But before T.J. could say anything, he heard a sound.

  A familiar sound.

  It was like the churning and rumbling that preceded Mother’s arrival on the beach earlier that night—only a helluva lot louder.

  “Did you hear that?” Jace asked.

  “Yeah. What was it?”

  “Dunno,” Jace said.

  T.J. unhooked both the flashlight and the PRC from his belt and moved closer to the surf. Next to him, Jace did likewise.

  Then the ground started to shake.

  This actually put T.J. at ease. They have tremors here all the time. No biggie. They’ve been having more of them lately, too, so it’s really no biggie. Nothing to worry about at all.

  He believed that right up until the water started to churn.

  Oh my Lord Jesus Christ, it’s happening again.

  Something broke through the water. Something considerably larger than the Mother of All Lizards.

  Our father, T.J. thought, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

  This time, he didn’t get to finish the prayer.

  ELEVEN

  For the second time in two days, one of the giant lizards had gone missing. Jack Ellway found it pretty difficult to credit this second disappearance. After all, the last time, all that had to be done was get a cage open, and the nine-footer could take it from there. Corpses, though, needed to be moved by something, and very few somethings could move a forty-foot-long reptile.

  In fact, there was only one serious possibility.

  He was once again on the beach, flanked by Paul and Doctor Hale, discussing that very possibility. A flattened area of sand was all there was to indicate that a huge creature once died on this beach. A wide swath of flattened sand led from that indentation into the sea. Jack presently crouched by the edge of the area where the mother had lain.

  “So this just became a rerun of ‘Father Lizard Knows Best,’ or what?” Paul said.

  “Something like that,” Jack replied. “Look at the impressions in the sand.” He pointed to the swath. “I can’t imagine what else could drag the mother out into the ocean like that.”

  “Not under the noses of two now-missing Marines,” Hale said.

  “No.” He stood up straight and sighed. “We’re gonna need to find this thing.” He turned to Hale. “The Topex Satellite—they use that to track whales, right?”

  “Yeah, among other things.” The light bulb went off over Hale’s head. “Not a bad idea, Jack.”

  Jack looked up to see Colonel Wayne and Chief Movita talking to each other, Wayne also speaking into his walkie-talkie. Beyond them, President Moki was approaching. “C’mon,” he said, “let’s go fill the brass in.”

  Upon seeing the trio’s approach, Wayne lowered his radio.

  “Talk to me, Ellway,” Wayne said, and Jack was grateful that the colonel was still seeking his input.

  “Jack, tell him what you’re thinking,” Hale prompted—unnecessarily, Jack thought at first, but then he noticed the fact that everyone seemed to be paying more attention after Hale spoke. Although no more a local than Jack, Hale did have a reputation behind him, and his support meant Jack would be taken more seriously.

  “I speculated before that this was a family situation. I think Dad may have come to claim Mom’s body.”

  Moki shook his head. “And so it continues.”

  Wayne nodded, as if he’d already thought this—and maybe he had, Jack thought—and started talking fast. “All right, we’ll resume the evac plan. I want all civilians safely off island by nightfall.”

  However, Jack still had concerns. “And if there is another giant creature, what then? Shoot on sight?”

  Wayne let out a loud breath through his nostrils that made him sound like a horse. Tersely, he said, “Give me a plan, Ellway.”

  “Okay,” Jack said, and turned to Hale.

  Taking the cue, Hale said, “We can use the Topex Satellite to locate whatever’s out there. It’s frequently used to track whales, so it’d be pretty easy to recalibrate it. I can have my boys at the Institute handle it.”

  Wayne considered this, then, “Fine, I’ll arrange for an AWAC to do the same.”

  This took Jack aback. He had expected agreement at best, outright denial and censure at worst. Cooperation hadn’t even been considered. “Good,” he said, “great! Wonderful.”

  “Well, don’t just stand there, Ellway, get to work,” Wayne said, then turned his back on Jack and Hale.

  Did I imagine it, or was the colonel hiding a smile?

  Dismissing the thought, he and Hale started walking toward his bungalow to make the call to his institute.

  “The question before us now,” Hale said, “is what we do when we find the beast?”

  Jack had actually been giving that matter some thought for several days. “What about luring the creature back to its home?” he asked. “We could use different sounds to attract it and to divert it.”

  Hale frowned. “Well, high-frequency sounds could keep it at bay, but what would attract it?”

  Jack rubbed his chin. “Amphibians communicate with each other by sound. We could record the voice of the baby creature and amplify it. We’d bring the baby with us on a boat with Dad following behind, guided by speakers in the water.”

  Hale said, “You make it sound easy.”

  “Really?” Jack replied with a smile. “I think it sounds insane.”

  Laughing, Hale said, “Fine, once we’ve got the creatures home, how do we make certain they stay there?”

  “Good question.” Sadly, he had no idea. He looked up at the geologist. “Got an answer?”

  “Not at the moment,” Hale said, but he said it in a faraway voice.

  Jack grinned. The geologist would probably have an idea by the time they got to his bungalow.

  After they had themselves a fortifying breakfast on the trawler, Derek had sent Kikko off to find the nine-footer. A good night’s sleep and breakfast must have returned Kikko’s enthusiasm, because he seemed like his old self again—and was quite eager to track the creature down. Derek had given him a pair of binoculars, one of his harpoon guns, and a rope and sent him on his way.

  Derek himself had been all set to do likewise, but first he wanted to get another look at the huge corpse.
>
  He was rather surprised to find that the thing had gone missing. And this time, Derek himself had nothing to do with it. He wasn’t worried about being suspected for it. In fact, he’d made an effort to strike up a brief conversation with the chief, during which Derek ascertained that Movita didn’t consider Derek a suspect in that particular theft. “Probably some environmentalist nut who wants to keep all creatures in their natural habitat or something,” the chief had said. Derek had made affirmative noises, then excused himself.

  The big, dead lizard, though—that disappearance was cause for concern. Unless they evacuated it in the middle of the night? But if that’s so, why is Ellway standin’ around with Hale and the others?

  “Excuse me, sir,” said yet another bloody Marine, “I’m going to have to ask you to move along to the airfield.”

  “I beg your pardon?” he said.

  “The airfield, sir. Colonel Wayne has ordered the evacuation of all civilians from Malau.”

  “Fine, of course,” Derek said with all the amiability of someone who had no intention of listening. “Uh, if you don’t mind my askin’, what happened to the corpse?”

  The Marine tensed up at that. “It was taken by person or persons unknown, sir. That’s why the island’s being evacuated. Now please move along, sir.”

  Bloody bastard, he thought, but smiled at the man and moved along.

  But not without another glance at Ellway and the others. Noticeably absent was Ellway’s kid—and the little bite-sized lizard. Ellway probably sent the little bloke back to the hotel.

  Sniffing opportunity in the wind, he headed for the Hotel Ritz.

  He arrived to see Ellway’s kid sitting on the lawn behind the tiny hotel, playing with the little creature. A boy and his bleedin’ lizard. Real cute.

  Trying to look casual, and making sure there wasn’t anybody else around, Derek sauntered up to the boy.

  “Cute little monkey, innhe?”

  Brandon glanced up at him, shrugged, and continued playing with the little monster.

  “Have you given him a name? Gotta give a pet a name.”

  “Casey,” Brandon said. “I had a dog named Casey. He got lost.”

  Sentimental little brat, Derek thought, but said, “Good, solid name, Casey.” He crouched down, raised his hand as if to pet it, then looked at Brandon. “May I?”

  Another shrug. “Whatever.”

  Derek petted the little thing, and it seemed to like that. At the creature’s seeming happiness, Brandon actually smiled.

  All right, mi’lad, time to throw the pitch. “It’s a shame, what’s gonna end up happening to little Casey.”

  Brandon’s smile fell into a frown. “What do you mean?”

  “It’s only a matter of time before they come and take him away.”

  “Who?” The kid sounded indignant.

  “The government. Your little friend is gonna end up in a lab somewhere, dissected like a frog.”

  Brandon snatched the little demon and held it to him like it was a teddy bear. “My dad wouldn’t let that happen.”

  “Your dad’s a terrific guy, kid,” Derek managed to say with a straight face, “but he’s got no power in this. When the military gets hold of Casey, it’s off to the lab.” He looked around conspiratorially, as if making sure they couldn’t be overheard, then stage-whispered, “We don’t have to let that happen, you and I. We can save your little friend—get him outta here before it’s too late. We could take him away on my boat—all the way to Kalor, all the way to safety.”

  Brandon’s lips twisted—he was obviously seriously considering it. “I gotta think about it,” he said.

  Bloody hell. “Maybe I can help you think—what’s your problem with it?”

  “Nothing, I just—”

  Move in for the kill. “Fine, it’s all settled then—right?”

  After a second: “Right.”

  “Fantastic,” Derek said, clapping his hands and standing up. “You’re a bright and courageous young man. Meet me at my boat in an hour. Don’t forget the little monkey.”

  “I won’t,” Brandon said with a smile.

  Derek smiled back, then headed back into town. Like shootin’ fish in a bleedin’ barrel. Fiji, here I come.

  Kikko had figured it out during the night. It all came clear to him, so much so that it should have been obvious from the get-go.

  It was learning that the large creature had been killed by the Marines that did it. It made everything just crystal-clear.

  All these creatures had to die.

  And so did Derek Lawson.

  First things first, though. Gotta find that thing that maimed Naru and kill it. Kill it until it’s dead.

  He had managed to avoid the Marine patrols and work his way to the comparative seclusion of Elephant Rock. Avoiding the patrols had been easy—Kikko had been avoiding people like that all his life, whether it was the hall guards at school or Joe Movita’s cops.

  Besides, he had a mission to perform. Naru had sacrificed himself to show Kikko his true purpose: he had to kill the creatures.

  The creatures were abominations. They deserved to die.

  And so did Derek Lawson for trying to keep the abominations for himself.

  And for getting Naru hurt. And almost killed.

  Yes, Derek had to die.

  But first the creatures.

  He raised the binoculars to his eyes and scanned the rocky coast. C’mon, you were hurt, you couldn’t have gotten that far. And if you wanted to stay out of sight, this place’d be perfect.

  The guess paid off. He caught sight of a very familiar-looking reptile form, lying unmoving on Elephant Rock, blood trickling from a large gash in its leg.

  “A bit under the weather, eh, big fella?” Kikko laughed a cruel laugh.

  He moved closer to the creature, clambering over rocks. It was slow going, weighed down as he was with the harpoon gun, but he wasn’t in a terrible rush, either. There was no one around. He could make this nice and slow. After all, the abomination had to suffer before it died.

  As Kikko approached, the monster raised its head and roared. Kikko just laughed, bent over, picked up a small rock, and threw it at the creature. The rock collided with the thing’s head. It roared again, then lowered its head back to the rock.

  Giggling madly, Kikko said, “Not so tough with a hole in your leg, are you?” He uncoiled the rope that he had tied around his waist. Within seconds, he’d fashioned into a noose. “The hangman cometh, big guy. And it’s all going to be over for you with the snap of a neck. Or maybe I’ll just stab you in the heart. Assuming you’ve got one, anyhow. See, I haven’t figured out what’ll make you suffer the most. Tough choice, y’know?” He grinned. “I know! Whichever way I don’t kill you is how I’ll kill Derek! Wouldn’t that be just perfect? So, let’s think. Noose or harpoon, noose or harpoon?”

  He stopped his climb and scratched his head. Then he thrust his index finger into the air. “I know! I’ll use the noose on you! Why, you may ask? Yes, a good question. Why? Well, you see, I want Derek to bleed. I want his blood to pour out all over the place like Naru’s did when you clawed him. But if I’m going to do that, it means I have to kill you with the noose—you do understand, don’t you? Of course you do. Yes indeedy.”

  Kikko climbed up behind the abomination. This is going to be fun.

  Then it got dark.

  It’s morning. It can’t get dark. And it’s not cloudy.

  Realizing he was now in something’s shadow, he turned around.

  The sky was blotted out by a ten-foot-long head with two horns on top of it.

  Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The big daddy of all abominations.

  Kikko screamed.

  The head leaned forward. Its teeth were numerous, looked to be razor-sharp, and were heading straight for Kikko.

  He expected it to hurt.

  He expected to care about this.

  Neither turned out to be so.

  The incisors ripped through fles
h and bone. His body was twisted and bent into shapes they weren’t meant to be twisted and bent into.

  But Kikko felt nothing. And he didn’t care.

  He only had one regret. Should’ve killed Derek first. That was short-sighted. I’ll know better next time.

  His last thought was, Goodbye, Naru.

  The news that Colonel Wayne had just received from Lieutenant Castro in the AWAC plane had not made him happy. They hadn’t picked anything up out on the open sea. At last report, they were heading in closer to Malau, where Wayne had been hoping they wouldn’t need to go. I do not want that thing crawling up my ass.

  The news that he received a few minutes after that from Corporal Macdonald back at MacArthur made him much happier. When Bateman had made his little announcement about Fox News, Wayne thought he was going to be up to his eyeballs in press. Bad enough that two journalists were missing and presumed dead and another injured—paparazzi, true, but still photojournalists—the last thing he needed was a bunch of microphone jockeys second-guessing him on-site.

  Thankfully, that wouldn’t happen.

  Wayne found Bateman dictating notes into a tape recorder on the beach. “Good news,” Wayne said.

  Bateman stopped the recorder and said, “Oh?”

  “Brigadier General Cox is ordering the media restricted to Kalor. I’m making you a one-man press pool. You’ll be giving them official releases from here by phone. Talk to Sergeant Morwood about getting a cell phone.”

  “Uh, okay.” Bateman looked stunned.

  Wayne slapped the reporter on the shoulder. “Welcome to the big leagues, kid,” he said, and walked off.

  As Bateman ran over to find Morwood, Ellway and Hale approached.

  “Topex has been recalibrated,” Hale said, answering Wayne’s question before he had the chance to ask it. “If they get anything, they’ll contact your Lieutenant Castro for confirmation—and he’ll also relay it to us.”

  Wayne nodded. “Good work.” He turned to Ellway. “Now what do we do when we find the thing?”

  Before Ellway could answer, Wayne’s radio squawked. “Malau, this is Lieutenant Castro.”

  Putting the radio to his lips, he said, “This is Wayne—go, Lieutenant.”