The Shadow Beneath The Waves

by Matt Betts

  A squealing series of thumps came from the left side of the Cudgel. “Holy shit. This thing is crazy.” All the left monitors showed the rail gun unloading a large projectile every second or so. The monitors showed the bullets impacting on the Lusca, and making it twitch with pain, but it also began moving forward itself.

  “Ozzie?” Cass took a deep breath. “Give this thing the finger.”

  Groans came from her earpiece. “How long have you been wanting to use that?” Takis asked.

  Hisses, like deflating tires zipped away from the Cudgel’s right side and everyone watched the four remaining fingers impact in tiny bursts on the beast’s skin. Again, there was little visible effect.

  “Rina, get the chest missiles ready.”

  The click of a mic. “They’re flares. Can we stop pretending?” Rina mumbled.

  Willfully ignoring her, “Takis, when we get up close, you’re going in with the… spade.”

  “I don’t mind pretending. Can we call it my Star Sword instead of a shovel?”

  “No.”

  The eyes of the monster became narrower and it lowered its head as best it could with no visible neck and no hint of a spine. Its long, yellow tusks pointed toward the giant robot. The light around the Lusca faded and it charged, half-swimming, half pulling itself along like a walrus, crushing anything in its path, creating twenty-foot waves as it splashed itself down into the water.

  “Flares. Aim for the face,” Cass said. She felt the giant machine move forward. “Jakob? Let’s stay here. Let it come to us.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a good idea. That thing will crush us if it runs us over,” Jakob said.

  There was a pause before several hisses fired off in quick succession. On the monitors and out the front portal, streams of flares issued red, blue, and orange from the Cudgel’s chest. The smoke obscured the Lusca, but Cass followed the heat of the flares all the way to the creature’s face using her infrared sensors. Two of the canisters bounced off an eye, and the thing slowed, shaking its head, but still coming forward.

  “Holli? How are the drones?”

  “Hovering just behind the Cudgel. Mister Punchy is loaded with as much ANFO as we could. I just need somewhere to place it,” Holli said.

  “Great. Jakob? Forward.” Cass said. “Takis? Star Sword. Just below the eyes.”

  Takis cheered. “Hell yeah.”

  The Cudgel leaned forward far enough that everyone looked to Cass, probably fearing the same thing that Cass was; the thing was going down again. But, just as she was going to call Jakob, one of the Cudgel’s legs jutted forward and planted firmly in the shoreline, followed by the other one. The whole control room shook violently with each step, but they were lunging forward at an unexpected speed for the huge vehicle. The Lusca continued to stumble forward in a fog of colored smoke.

  They met somewhere in the middle with Takis stabbing with the shovel just below the creature’s eyes, exactly where the schematic showed the brain center would be. The tool glanced off the thick skin without even scratching the surface of the Lusca’s body.

  “Shit,” Takis said. “I thought we’d get it.”

  The impact stopped both combatants, and knocked them off balance. The Lusca, with its huge mass recovered better, as it had more contact with the ground. The Cudgel stumbled as Jakob tried to get the feet beneath them. The infra-red video was useless in such close quarters. The entire screen showed up red.

  As they finally balanced, the monster turned and slashed with the sharp tusks, knocking them off balance again. Tentacles from beneath the beast reached out and grabbed at the Cudgel’s chest and stuck to the head, partially covering the forward portal. Rina started to stand, staring in awe of the huge suckers and baleen-like hairs around them. Luckily, she was strapped in and couldn’t get up. The Cudgel braced itself in the sand, but was quickly overpowered by the limbs that wound around it. The sudden weight of the creature sent the Cudgel tumbling onto its back. The control cabins reoriented to the new position, so everyone within the Cudgel remained upright.

  “Shit,” Cass said. “Jakob, get this thing back up.”

  “We have a fucking mountain on top of us. You move the mountain and I’ll get us up.”

  “Cass?” Holli clicked in.

  An alarm blared in Cass’s headset. “Not now, Holli.” It took a few screens to figure out what was making the noise and why; the sheer size of the Lusca was crushing the Cudgel. “We have to get this thing off of us.”

  “Holy shit,” Takis said. “Hey. It fell on the spade. The blade is piercing the skin because of the bastard’s own weight.”

  Cass scrolled through the cameras, trying to confirm what he was saying. It was a bitch trying to do all of the work of a full crew without any training or experience. “Damn it. What camera is that?”

  “External four,” Takis said. “It’s right on the wrist of my arm.” He said it calmly, though excitement bubbled just below the surface.

  She switched and immediately could see the darkness that extended around the camera, as it was covered by the thick flabby skin. “I can’t see anything.”

  “Wait for it to turn and you’ll get a glimpse.”

  Another alarm went off and Cass ignored it, turning it off with a click.

  “Little Ozzie? Can you give me some leverage? Push off or something and maybe we can get the blade in deeper?” Takis said.

  “No.” Ozzie let the rib from his brother go by without comment. “These tentacles have my limb pinned,” he said. “Should I try the gun? Maybe I can shred it?”

  The mic got fuzzy. “This is Holli. The gun would be ineffective at that close range. Not enough velocity to do anything.”

  “Holli? Hey, kick in the thrusters in the ankles and waist. Maybe the heat and fire will injure it and make it drop us or loosen up,” Rina said.

  The warning about crush damage was still flashing on Cass’s console. “Great idea.”

  “Giving it whatever I can.” The Cudgel shook right after Holli’s message. “Waist engines to full and—here come the ankle boosts.” The giant machine rumbled and shook.

  Cass checked the cameras again, and the Lusca was, indeed, reacting to the thrusters. Unfortunately, the beast’s body wasn’t moving away, rather, sections of skin were retreating, moving away from the areas of the waist and ankles where the painful fire was scorching it.

  “My arm is close to the waist thruster. The tentacle is loosening some. I can push up some,” Ozzie said.

  The altitude display moved up by inches instead of feet or miles, as the right arm found leverage. In a moment, the thrusters were able to aid, lifting the giant ever so slowly.

  Cass thought ahead a step and realized that this was going to drain their energy just as fast as if the monster were sucking them dry itself. “Okay. When I say ‘now’, I want Holli to cut all of the thrusters, and Ozzie, you need to move your arm and let us fall.”

  “What?” Rina looked over from her console across the room. “We just need to keep going. We’ve almost got this.”

  “Takis? Use whatever power you have to, but keep your Star Sword right where it is. Got me?”

  “We were getting crushed before. The power of our sudden fall will…” Rina started.

  “Shove the sword in deeper, with any luck.” Takis finished.

  That was the plan, the only plan she had. “Brace yourselves.” Cass inhaled and scrolled through the camera angles until she was as sure as she could be that it was the right moment. “Now,” Cass said. Within seconds, the roar of the thrusters in her headphones disappeared and the Cudgel shifted violently as the arm below them moved away. They fell a slight distance, the Lusca with them and within a handful of seconds, stopped.

  Immediately, the beast let out a rumbling screech that shook the Cudgel. What bled through the frame of the giant machine sounded like a mix of an old jet engine taking off, and the roar of a charging elephant. Tentacles immediately released the Cudgel and began to push at the torso s
ection, attempting to distance itself and dislodge the blade from its abdomen.

  “Oh shit, it worked!” Takis said. “Hell yeah, right arm!”

  There were some cheers through the headphones, but Cass knew it was a small victory. When the shouts died down, she made them focus again. “Jakob? Get us up on our feet and stay with it. If it tries to back up, you press the bastard. We don’t want it to get it off that blade.”

  “Got it,” Jakob said.

  A new alarm began to sound and Cass started to search for whatever it was connected to on the console. There were so many flashing lights at this point that she had to look every one of them over.

  “I got it.” Rina pointed to a small readout on the far end of the control panels. “Flip over to screen two. Looks like the military are bringing in fresh weapons now that we did the hard part and knocked out the Lusca’s energy draining capabilities.”

  Screen two confirmed what Rina was saying. There were tanks gliding across the beach, setting up positions less than a mile away from the fight—rocket launchers crested the nearby hills, armed with what looked like the same sort of missiles the naval convoy used in the last fight. She glanced over at the radar and satellite images. “Some contacts from the air. Can you figure out what all of those things are? Missiles? Drone ships?”

  “On it.” Rina turned back to her station, where she could bring everything together more easily. It only took a few seconds, and Cass had turned to try to absorb as much info as she could from her own instruments. “It looks like missiles. Closing pretty quickly.”

  “What kind?”

  “I don’t know. The computers are trying to update to recognize new technology since it last saw combat. The big kind?”

  57

  The wrist camera became useless once the Lusca’s blood began spilling out all over the arm. It was a raspberry color that dripped out thick and slow like jelly. The camera still worked, it just sent back useless pictures. Takis confirmed that the blade was still stuck in the giant beast. Cass took that as a win.

  The Cudgel continued to move forward, shoving the Lusca even as the monster tried to retreat. Cass swept the control board, trying to keep up with all the flashing lights, alarms and monitors. “Those missiles?”

  Rina responded. “About twelve miles out and closing fast.”

  “Ideas on where they came from?”

  “Computer is trying to identify exactly, somewhere out to sea rather than land, though.”

  Flashes started to dot the Lusca’s skin as the old-school tanks and guns on shore began firing again. This time they were just as ineffectual as their stranded counterparts on the shoreline, but at least they were still fighting. Every few seconds the computer would warn that a stray shot glanced off the Cudgel, but Cass ignored them. “We have to end this before more people get killed. And we don’t have much time to do it,” Cass said. “Those missiles will be here in about five minutes. I don’t want us stuck to this thing when they arrive.”

  “I think we’re all in agreement there,” Takis said. “What do you want me to do here?”

  That was the problem. They’d tried everything under the sun and nothing worked until they got lucky with the blade. “Ozzie? According to the schematics, you have a welding torch on the hand somewhere. For underwater repairs and other bullshit emergencies. Do you see it?”

  There was clicking audible on the line. “Uhhh…”

  “Ozzie?”

  “Yes! Yes, there is. This program originally labeled ‘Laser Cannon’ in the training is now renamed ‘Welding’ now that we’re in reality. That. Sucks.”

  It was the only tactical option Cass could conjure as she thought about the loss of life, and the missiles approaching. “Your brother is going to rip that sword out of this bastard and I want you to go after that wound with the torch. Right now that’s our only way we’ve hurt his thing, so let’s keep at it in the same spot.”

  The whole Cudgel began to rock as the Lusca recovered and fought back. The stronger tentacles wrapped around the head, blotting out the forward windows. “I don’t think it’s going to let itself be surprised by the jet engines’ heat again,” Rina said.

  Cass was getting tired of trying to run the majority of the board to control the minor bits and pieces that it took to keep the Cudgel moving and alert. Physically, she was exhausted of having to do the quick movements from monitor to monitor, gauge to gauge. “Takis, I need you to pull that blade out as quick as you can, then we need a second to shift our body so Ozzie can get to work on that wound with the blowtorch, or whatever else he can find.”

  “We’re going to work on this thing with a blowtorch? You ever do any collection work for the mafia?” Jakob asked. “You sound like a natural born enforcer.”

  “Probably the nicest thing I’ve heard all day,” Cass said. She started shutting off everything that she didn’t understand, or didn’t think they needed on her console. It cut the flashing lights by two-thirds, and, the Cudgel didn’t shut itself off or explode. Seconds later, the whole torso shifted as Rina moved the body in support of Takis pulling.

  The Cudgel jerked as the pilots attempted to coordinate enough to yank the blade out of the monster. As it did, it left a long swath of blood and entrails that arched across the sky and splashed down into the ocean in huge clumps. The Cudgel, or rather, Jakob, fought to keep the machine’s balance, stepping back a step or two to keep from falling over. The Lusca roared and loosened its tentacles, retreating quickly into the water until its lower tentacles were covered with sea water.

  This was their first and best chance to stop the thing and they didn’t want to lose their advantage. “Ozzie, hit it with the torch.”

  “We are fighting this thing with fucking camping equipment,” Takis said. “This is nuts.”

  “Missiles getting close. We should get out now,” Rina said.

  On the monitors, Cass saw the blowtorch on Ozzie’s hand come to life. The machine moved quickly forward and the torch connected with the Lusca’s still-gushing wound. Jakob’s steps took them slightly further than expected, and the red-blue flame plunged deep into the opening.

  The Lusca squealed in pain again, lashing out with all of its limbs with enough force to send the Cudgel sprawling backwards, landing on its back.

  The crew gave a collective grunt as they were jolted upon landing. “Everyone okay?” Cass started checking the monitors for vital signs. Each of her team responded affirmative and they started the process of getting back on their feet.

  “Wait,” Rina said. “Stay down.”

  Before anyone could question her, the still-flailing Lusca was hit by one of the large missiles. The ordinance hit the slippery hard surface of the beast’s back, and was deflected skyward by the angle, soaring upward over the fracas on the beach where it exploded with a flash and rumble.

  “Shit.” Cass couldn’t tell if it was Takis or Ozzie, or both.

  The force of the missile impact turned the Lusca sideways, turning it so the flat surface of its chest was facing the next missile that came screaming in, scoring a direct hit. The following explosion dug deep into the beast’s wound and shredded the skin around it. The blast tore off a number of tentacles from under the Lusca’s head and sent flames across its body.

  The Cudgel also rattled with the explosion, the shockwave of it caused more alarms and more flashing lights.

  Everyone reported back that they were fine except for Ozzie. “I think that explosion cracked the hull or something. I think I can hear a leak somewhere, but I don’t see it.”

  “Might not be a cracked hull, could be anything. I don’t know if its coolant, or whatever. I’m checking.” The realization swept over Cass that maybe they didn’t have any sort of fluids in the machine or if they were even needed, but she didn’t want to alarm anyone. She looked over to see Rina frantically checking off alarms and gauges.

  “Okay. I’m looking around to see what I can find as well,” Ozzie said. His voice seemed fairly even to C
ass, even in the face of everything being piled upon him.

  There was so much to do to keep the machine moving and Cass could feel the situation slipping away from her.

  58

  “Look, guys. I know we have other problems, but this fucking leak in here is getting worse,” Ozzie said. “I can hear it behind me.”

  “I’ll check it out.” Cass started scrolling through the screens and looking from monitor to monitor. Finally, she found one of the alarms she’d shut off and closed was flashing a warning about a hull breach. When she clicked the screen, it gave options on how to fix it. Options that would not happen automatically. “Shit. Ozzie, hang on. I can open an access hatch from here that will drain anything out of there while I figure out how to seal the leak itself.”

  “Cool.” Ozzie sounded decidedly uncool to Cass.

  “You all right?”

  “I’m okay.”

  Scrolling through the technical manual as fast as she could, Cass tried to find a way to get the leak to stop. “How much water do you have in there?”

  “Oh, it’s not much, barely noticeable.”

  The manual and the schematics were tough to search for just one person who was unfamiliar with the machine’s capabilities. “You’re not lying, are you?”

  “Cass,” Rina shouted. She was pointing at the Lusca as it swung a group of its tentacles at the Cudgel. The impact knocked the machine backward a few steps, but it remained standing. Takis swung the left arm, but the blow barely registered with the monster. It lunged forward and knocked the Cudgel back, sending it splashing into the Pacific. The robot landed on its right side, applying enormous weight on the arm Ozzie was operating.

  Alarms began sounding anew. The first warning screamed about the hull breach in Ozzie’s compartment. It was worse, and the break had compromised the compartment’s ability to rotate, leaving Ozzie himself on his side, while everyone else stayed with their heads up.