“To be fair, I’m not even sure if any of us can,” Wanda said.
“Really, folks, I need you all to step away,” Lundgren called out again. Then, when no one showed much interest in doing what he said, he grabbed a handgun from one of his subordinates, pointed it straight up in the air, and fired. Several passengers screamed or jumped, but every single one of them suddenly decided there were much more interesting places to be than at the railing. None of them went any farther than they absolutely had to, though. It was pretty obvious that they were about to get a show far more interesting than watching aging magicians sawing a capybara in half.
Quinne was about to step forward and tell him that she thought that would be a bad idea, but before she could there was more shouting from down the deck, followed by Masterson’s two companions Mickey and Gordon running up to join them. They stopped a few feet away from Lundgren, both of them taking a moment to look down at their feet as if there was some specific mark here that they were supposed to be on.
“You have to stop,” Gordon said. Quinne could have almost swear that his eyes flicked back and forth as though he were reading cue cards that only he could see. “If you attack that liopleurodon, the situation will only get worse.”
“Yeah, like, much worse,” Mickey said. “Crazy kooky worse. Rabbit in a blender worse. Peanut butter and avocado sandwiches worse.”
Quinne looked at Amani. “You think maybe he thinks he’s being funny?”
Amani nodded. “Like the designated comic relief, except written by someone who doesn’t actually know how humor works. I’m kind of surprised at how well combed his hair is.”
“Fifteen bucks says that next time we see him, his hair is all mussed up like he’s a mad scientist that just got of bed.”
“I’m not one for betting,” Amani said.
“I’ll take that bet,” Jimmy said. “What about you, Wanda? Want in on that action?”
“Nuh-uh. That’s fifteen dollars you’re going to lose, love.”
“Look, you crazy numbnuts,” Lundgren said to Mickey. “I have no idea what a leahplurpladon is supposed to be, but I do know that I’m responsible for the safety of this ship. I have the absolute authority to do whatever is needed, by the power invested in me by the Letroix Corporation.”
“I highly doubt that a company that pays people to dress up as cartoon ducks on their cruise lines has a right to say anything when it comes to the creatures of the ocean,” Mickey said.
“Quinne, we should get out of here,” Amani said. “I’ve got a feeling it’s not going to be very safe over in this area in just a few minutes.”
“I think you’re right. And also, if I continue listening to those guys, I think some of my brain cells are going to die.”
It was rather easy for the four of them to back out of the crowd, as there were more and more people arriving to see what all the fuss was about and were eager to take the place of Quinne and the others at the railing. It was also easy now to find a place on the deck near the main entrance inside that was relatively calm. Anyone that wasn’t trying to see the new arrival in the sea must be inside somewhere, likely in cabins, shops, and restaurants where they thought they would be safe until the Lucky Lady Duck either got out of danger or help arrived.
“We need to do something,” Amani said.
“There’s nothing we can do, sweetie,” Wanda said.
“But there’re sea monsters out there! Actual dinosaurs!”
“Wanda’s right, Amani,” Quinne said. “We’re not action heroes. If this were a movie, we would be the background characters no one notices. Our whole purpose would be to run around screaming so the real action stars would look all the more stoic.”
“Right,” Jimmy said. “Except I don’t see any of the four of us running around with our hands in the air doing Kermit flails, do you?”
“I guess not,” Quinne said. “That still doesn’t tell us what we should be doing.”
“Maybe we should go back in the direction of your rooms,” Amani said. “The crew has to be doing something there, trying to fix the holes or something.”
“Sure, if they didn’t get snatched,” Wanda said.
“No, we would have noticed if there were any more attacks,” Quinne said. “The whole fucking ship shook, remember? Maybe you’re right. Maybe they need volunteers.”
“Uh-uh. I’m not going back there,” Jimmy said. “Not until we’re safely docked somewhere that’s not crawling with sea serpents.”
“Maybe we can find that Masterson guy, then,” Quinne said. “Even if he is an ass, he looked like he might have had a plan.”
Several gunshots rang out from the crowd at the railing. They all jerked their heads in that direction as they heard Mickey and Gordon yelling something incoherent at Lundgren.
“Or we could just wait for the idiot security guard to do something to start up the action again,” Quinne said.
They all stood completely still, waiting for the liopleurodon to give some roar or for the entire ship to shake with an attack. After several seconds Jimmy said, “Maybe he missed.”
“Or maybe that thing’s so huge that it wouldn’t even notice a couple of gunshots,” Wanda said.
“Or maybe we should just wait for it,” Amani said.
“Wait for what?” Jimmy asked.
“She’s right,” Quinne said. “Wait for it. Waaaaait for it…”
One second of nothing. Two seconds. Three.
And then there was the explosion.
“Called it,” Quinne and Amani said at the same time. It would have been cute if the entire ship didn’t erupt once again into chaos.
Chapter Eight
While the crowd at the railing scattered, Quinne scanned all around them for some sign of what exactly had happened. The horn blew again to sound a general emergency, but that did little to explain the situation. Quinne ran back up to Lundgren, the only person still standing at the railing. At least technically. There was one other person, but she wasn’t so much standing there as hanging over the side of the railing by one hand. Even though she screamed for help, Lundgren continued to do nothing but stare at her slack-jawed, the handgun in one hand and the now-empty harpoon gun in the other.
“What are you doing?” Quinne yelled at him. “Help her!”
“I don’t even think I hit it,” Lundgren said. “It just went below the water right after the shot. I don’t know what I did…”
“Idiot!” Quinne reached and grabbed the woman’s arm with both hands, but the woman was slick with sea spray and Quinne’s hands had gone sweaty. Quinne looked down into her eyes, and every detail of the woman’s face etched itself in her mind. She looked to be in her mid to late forties, with shoulder-length curly black hair and a complexion that clearly showed she had come out the other side of a bad patch of acne when she was younger. Her clothes were modest, middle to lower class. Quinne caught the glint of a wedding ring on the hand that wasn’t holding the railing, also modest, the kind that said she and her husband didn’t need to prove anything to the world. Where is he right now? Quinne wondered. Why isn’t he the one trying to hold her back from plunging into the deep? So many different possible answers, none of which she could get with what meager information she currently had. Quinne did see a Star of David hanging from a simple chain that dangled just outside the woman’s coat, and down the woman’s neckline Quinne could see what might have been a small tattoo on her chest, although she couldn’t make out any details.
All these things she would always remember, but none so much as the look of absolute, unbridled terror in the woman’s eyes. This woman had a pretty good idea what was about to happen, and she was clearly not ready for it.
“Please,” the woman said. “Bobby…”
Quinne never did find out who Bobby was. He could have been her husband, her son, her lover—hell, he could have been the janitor at her elementary school for all Quinne knew. Because whatever message she wanted Quinne to deliver to this Bobby, it was
drowned out by the enormous splash of sea water when the liopleurodon leaped up from the ocean, heading straight up for the woman dangling like bait from above.
Quinne let go and backed away.
The woman’s grip slipped from the railing, and she was already falling into the monster’s gullet long before it reached the apex of its jump. The creature’s jaw slammed shut as it continued to rise, then did a backwards flop like a whale breaching. The splash it made was enough to douse the deck and drench Quinne, and it was possible she might have slipped and fallen overboard herself if she hadn’t already put a few feet of distance between her and the railing. As the water rained down and subsided, and the liopleurodon vanished back into the deep blue, Quinne stood in place, absolutely motionless, barely even breathing.
“Quinne!” Amani yelled from behind her. A few seconds later she felt the young woman’s hand on her shoulder, but Quinne didn’t react. She couldn’t react. All she could continue doing was staring out over the railing. Her eyes refused to move, even blink, as though if she did anything at all she would have to start coming to grips with what she had just done.
And with thought, the dam holding back the flood of her thoughts broke. I let go. I had her and I let go. I could have saved her. If Lundgren had helped I would have been able to pull her up. Even when he didn’t, I still could have done something. I let go. I could have swung her to the side, out of its way. Something. Anything. I let her go. I’m alive. It didn’t get me. Twice in one day I almost died. I let her go. I’m alive. It’s a monster. I’m a monster. I let her go. I let her go. I let her go.
“Quinne? Quinne! Can you hear me?”
“Oh shit, what’s wrong with her?”
“Quinne?” A couple of finger snaps in front of her face. “Quinne, snap out of it. There’s no time for this.”
“She’s BSOD.”
“She’s what?”
“Blue screen of death. Like on a computer that’s crashed?”
“Quinne, listen to me, there’s nothing you could have done. You already did more than anyone else could have been expected to. If Lundgren had helped…”
“Wait, where the hell did he go, anyway?”
“I don’t know, somewhere in that direction? Piece of shit ran as soon as Quinne had her.”
“If only I had been faster, I could have helped.”
“I let her go,” Quinne whispered, her words barely audible even to herself.
“What? What was that you said?”
“Look, we’ve got to get her away from the edge of the deck. Something else is going on. Look over that way, don’t you see?”
“Oh fudge. What even is that?”
“Smoke, but don’t ask me from what. Let’s at least get her over into that doorway.”
Quinne blinked, suddenly realizing that her eyes had begun to sting from the salt water and keeping them open. She blinked again, such a simple motion, but in that moment it felt full of power, something she willed herself to do. First her eyelids, then she moved her feet, shuffling at first before taking real steps. She became vaguely aware of three sets of hands guiding her, moving her somewhere safe. Just like that time in the park when she had been a teenager, the people that had found her and taken her to the hospital. Just like after…
She wouldn’t think on that, and with that her brain started working properly again, like it had needed the threat of the horrible memory coming back to her as a way to reboot her mind. Slowly, awareness of her environment returned. She was on a ship. She was surrounded by friends. Okay, maybe not real friends, considering she had only just met all three of them, but they would do what they could to keep her safe. She was safe, at least for the moment. She was safe.
I let her go.
Yes, she had. She had saved herself when she could have tried saving someone else as well. But that was something she would have to deal with later. Let it haunt her at whatever future date. For now, in this moment, if she wanted to continue surviving, she needed her mind, body, and soul to get back in full working order.
“Quinne? Are going to be okay?” Amani. She stood directly in front of Quinne, her hands on Quinne’s shoulders, holding her steady. The girl Quinne had been about to sleep with. It wouldn’t have been anything more than a pleasant night followed by the two of them going their separate ways. Except now, with Amani looking into her eyes and making sure that Quinne was still all there, Quinne felt a much deeper connection quicken. This wasn’t a bond that could be formed by simple sex. This was a deep understanding of what it meant to walk through Hell.
“No,” Quinne finally managed. “At least not later. For now though, I guess I can function.”
“Good,” Amani said, clearly relieved. “Good.”
“I didn’t catch everything you guys said, but did someone mention smoke?”
“Near the back of the ship,” Wanda said. “I’m thinking it’s probably where the explosion came from.”
Wanda and Jimmy took point leading the group out of their cozy little doorway hidey-hole and to a place where they could all see the column of greasy black smoke rising up from the back of the ship. As they crossed the deck they encountered pockets of chaos. A father stumbled back and forth, calling out names through a haze of tears. If Quinne had to guess, she’d say they were his wife and children. A sudden stab of panic and horror went through Quinne’s chest as she wondered if this might be the doomed woman’s Bobby. That sickening sensation lessened only a little when a woman ran up to him and gave him a hug, before the two of them both went off together, desperately calling out the names of their children.
A young man in his early twenties came out a door, screaming hysterically that the theater area was swarming with giant killer rats. It took Quinne a few seconds to realize the infamous capybaras had probably gotten loose. The most surreal sight of all, though, was Lucky Lady Duck herself, in all her oversized fuzzy cartoon costume glory, wandering dazedly around with blood streaming down the front of her suit. Amani wanted to stop and help, or at the very least make sense of what was going on, but the performer in the Lucky Lady Duck costume finally collapsed in a chair and removed her oversized waterfowl head, revealing a frazzled blond woman underneath with blood seeping from her scalp. Whatever had happened to her, it had to have been bad if it caused that kind of wound even through the cushioning of the giant plush head.
“Anyone know anything about medicine?” Quinne said quietly, nodding her head in the direction of the woman. She looked like she was about to pass out.
“I’m a nurse,” Jimmy said. “Wanda, can you help me?” The two of them jogged off in the direction of the young woman. Quinne wanted to follow and help, but the face of the woman dangling over the water floated back into her mind, and Quinne stopped herself. She couldn’t help. She would get in the way. All that would happen if she jumped in was that someone else would get hurt. Amani, whether she realized what was going through Quinne’s head or not, at least appeared to see that Quinne needed to be distracted. “Look,” Amani said, pointing at the smoke. “Any idea where that’s coming from?”
“Back of the ship somewhere? Engines, maybe? I honestly don’t know enough about the design of cruise ships to say. And even if I did, that probably wouldn’t do me any good on this one.”
“But what would have caused it?”
“Well, I’m sure those rednecks that got stuck playing in the pool are going to try to say you set a bomb.”
“Please tell me you don’t really believe that.”
“Of course I don’t really believe that. Even if you haven’t been with me this entire time, I’m not some bigot who automatically assumes anyone wearing a headscarf must be a radical terrorist. Plus, also, you know. There’s the whole sea monster thing. Logic says this has something to do with that.”
“You think the plesiosaurus did something?”
Quinne shrugged. “I’m as clueless as every other damned tourist in the background here. Maybe if we really want answers, we should try to fin
d Gordon, Mickey, and Masterson again.”
“You really think they know anything?”
“Not in the slightest. But they obviously think they know things, which is at least a step up from where we are. Maybe we should try to find them.”
“And where exactly would we do that?”
Quinne gestured at the black column. “Where there’s smoke.”
Chapter Nine
Amani and Quinne briefly debated whether to go right away or wait for Jimmy and Wanda, but the argument became moot when the newlyweds slowly walked up to join them. Quinne could already guess what had happened based on the dejected way Jimmy walked and the gentle way Wanda held his hand, but she looked back in the direction they had come anyway. The young woman lay completely motionless in the chair, her head lolled to the side and her eyes closed. She made an odd tableau, with the peaceful expression on her mouth, her bloody head and face, and the oversized duck suit making her head tiny. A combination of somber, violent, and ridiculous, all in one scene. “She’d already stopped breathing by the time I got to her,” Jimmy said. “I didn’t have any equipment to help, and I couldn’t figure out how to get the stupid suit off to try to revive her.”
“I don’t suppose anyone knew her name?” Quinne asked.
Wanda shrugged. “Lucky Lady Duck? You know how the Letroix Corporation is regarding the actors they have playing their characters. They do absolutely nothing to dispel the illusion for the kids and families.”
Quinne looked away from the girl’s body. “I’m sure that anyone who comes across her now is going to have their illusion dispelled pretty fucking handily.”
“You think we should move her?” Amani asked. “So that, I don’t know, some kid doesn’t find her and get traumatized?”
“I’m pretty sure that any kids on the ship are going to see plenty more to traumatize them before the day is out,” Quinne said. “Still…” Quinne looked around her and found a coat that had been discarded on the deck at some point during the running and screaming. She picked it up and gently placed it over Lucky Lady Duck’s real face. For a few seconds she stared down at the corpse before saying, “I’m going to call her Sarah. Just until we maybe find out what her real name was. Unless anyone else has something they think is more fitting?”
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