Dark Waters

by Lucas Pederson

  “It’s big,” Jenna says. “Like, very big. Fast too. Came out of nowhere.”

  Miles, trying to get his bearings, shakes his head, “Can we get a lock on it?”

  “I’ve been trying,” Jenna says, well…shouts, tapping the monitor. “The fucking thing is too fast and we’re too close. We need to get out of here.”

  With Mike safely in the STAV, Miles says, “Gun it. Get us away from here.”

  “The high thrusters will only last an hour then we’ll be dead in the water until the STAV recharges.”

  “I know the risks. Go!”

  The STAV rocks as something strikes it hard. An eerie groaning sound filters through the metal walls.

  Jenna taps something on her monitor, then presses the blue button beside it.

  Less than a second is all it takes and they’re speeding through the water at nearly five hundred knots, shoving him into his seat. All he knows is the dark waters and silvery bubbles like passing stars in warp drive.

  It’s too much.

  A few minutes in and he loses consciousness.

  CHAPTER 16

  There had been no warning.

  One second, they were trying to care for Miles’ brother, the next they’re all thrown backward as the vessel shoots forward.

  Ma tells them all to hold onto something and wait. She says Jenna has hit the high thrusters and they all might be like this for about an hour.

  For Emma, who is the only one holding onto Miles’ brother so he doesn’t get hurt, that hour soon becomes a lifetime.

  Geri is still strapped to her seat. Still snoring away as though nothing is happening.

  After a while, Jakob helps her place Miles’ brother in a seat. It’s tough, but they manage and buckle him in. The only thing she worries about is his head. If the vessel stops suddenly, the force might snap the man’s neck. So, she struggles into the seat next to him, straps in and holds his head in her hands.

  The question that keeps bouncing around in her head is: Why the rush?

  What has Jenna and Miles speeding through the ocean so fast? Did they see the creature that destroyed that ship?

  She doesn’t know. All she knows right now is making sure Miles’ brother’s neck doesn’t snap. What’s this man’s name? Miles told her a few times but right now it escapes her.

  And after a while, she passes out holding the man’s head as best she can.

  PART 3: JORMUNGANDR

  CHAPTER 17

  He woke to brisk shakes and Jenna shouting at him.

  “Mike is awake. Wake up!”

  Miles stiffens in the seat, vision sharpening on Jenna’s face. Bright and full of excitement.

  “We did it! We found Mike!”

  He unbuckles and sits up a bit, letting vertigo come and go before he stands. His back crackles at the movement.

  “Holy shit,” Jenna says. “You are an old man now. I think I heard every vertebrae pop.”

  “Happens,” he grunts and walks toward the door. “Are we clear of that…that thing?”

  “Nothing on the scans. I think we lost her, thank the gods.”

  “Good,” he says and opens the door. “Thank you.”

  Jenna doesn’t respond to this last, but he feels her gaze on him. Almost notes the gratitude.

  He opens the door and steps into the belly of the STAV.

  What he sees stops him a moment.

  Mike stands between the rows of seats telling some kind of story. And that’s Mike. The storyteller. The guy always had the strange talent to tell a great story, be it fictional or real.

  The trouble is trying to figure out if he’s being honest or fictionalizing. Or maybe that’s just part of the fun.

  Even after his ship got torn up and sank by some supposedly mythical creature, after almost all of his crew died, Mike still stands telling stories.

  God, Miles missed him.

  “So Berky handed me the phone,” Mike says. “I said, ‘Hello? Yeah, that stripper was my idea’, and his wife screams at me something about being disgusting, but ya know…I was so drunk all I could do is laugh.” Mike snorts. “Next day, Berky and I woke up in a motel room I don’t even remember paying for with eight women and bottles of booze everywhere. Berky, he’s on the other bed, two very ugly women snuggling up to him. Naked as sin. Then he peeks over one of these women at me and says, ‘Man, I’m never getting drunk with you again. You turn me into a man-whore’.”

  The only one who laughs is Jakob. A full-on knee-slapper of a laugh.

  Miles smiles, shakes his head. “Still telling that same joke. You know, it’s been like five years since you debuted it, right?”

  Mike turns around, legs a little wobbly, a bright grin plastered all over his goofy face. “Well, big bro…legends never die.”

  Before he knows it, Miles is hugging his little brother tightly. “I thought you were dead.”

  Mike pats his back. “Takes more than a pissy sea monster to kill me, man.”

  Smiling, Miles holds Mike at arms-length, much like their grandpa used to do with them. Funny how those old things sneak their way into one’s life as time passes.

  “You’re a bit wobbly yet,” Miles says. “Sit and get some more water in you.”

  Mike nods, returning the smile. He sits in Sylvi’s seat, the smile fading. His gaze finds Miles and when it does, tears glisten in the man’s eyes. “I…I tried to save as many as I could, but…” Mike breaks off, bottom lip quivering like it has since he knew how to cry. He slams a fist on the seat next to him. “The fuckin’ pods weren’t working. Wouldn’t deploy. So, I got as many into rafts as possible before she sank on us.”

  “But,” Miles says, frowning, “if the pods wouldn’t deploy then how come you were in a pod…with two women?”

  “Two women?” Jakob shoots Mike a double-thumbs up. “Good work, dude!” When everyone looks at him, he shrugs. “It’s how I’d wanna go.”

  Guether, leaning near the cockpit doorway, arms crossed, shakes his head. “Idiot.”

  Mike wipes his cheeks free of tears and releases a shaky sigh. “No. The smaller pods were able to deploy, but they hold only three people.”

  “So…like an asshole, you got in with a couple women and let the others die in the rafts?” Sylvi spits on Mike’s boots and glares at Miles. “This has all been a waste of time. Worst mission I’ve ever been on.”

  Miles opens his mouth to tell her to calm down when Mike says, “I was in a raft. Like everyone who couldn’t get into the small pods and make it off the ship before it went down.” His gaze drifts away, as if lost in the memory. “You don’t know true horror until you’ve been drifting in the open ocean for three days and your own crew begins picking out the weakest ones on the raft to eat…”

  “Shit…” Jakob says.

  Mike shakes his head slowly. “The rafts were supplied with two gallons of water. It became more precious than oil to Murdock Jones. Before the last gallon was gone, there was a fight. They—I had to kill one of them. Gabe. Because he slit the throat of another man in the raft for drinking too much water. I can’t tell you how much I didn’t sleep when the talk of eating each other began whispering around the raft. The last straw was when I dozed off and woke up with Rick, one of the engineers, chewing on Gabe’s arm.”

  “Let me guess,” Sylvi said, glowering. “You shot him too.”

  “No. One of the small pods popped up nearby and I swam to it.”

  “Why the hell didn’t you just dump the bodies overboard, man?” Jakob shifts in his seat. “I mean, that’s kinda fucked up.”

  From the withering look Mike gives Jakob, Miles can tell his little brother is on the verge of violence. “I didn’t want to attract anything. Fair enough?”

  “Alright,” Miles says, feeling the tension building throughout the STAV. “It doesn’t matter. Any of it. We have Mike now.”

  “So…that’s it?” Guether asks. “We’re not going to search for more survivors?”

  “I think that thing ate m
ost, if any out there,” Miles says.

  “Well,” Emma says, “We could at least give it another—”

  “Everyone hold on,” Jenna shouts.

  Miles is just about to reach for something to hold on to when a loud gong noise sounds. The force of something very large throws everyone off their feet except for Mike, Jakob, and Geri. Miles lands hard on both knees. Sylvi stumbles and somersaults over him, somehow landing on her feet like a cat and slipping into the seat between Mike and Jakob.

  Somewhere behind him, Emma lets go a squeak.

  A loud groaning sound spills through the STAV, then everything falls silent.

  Heart crashing, Miles gathers himself to his feet and hurries to the cockpit. “What was that?”

  “What do you think?” Jenna points at the monitor. “That fucking serpent is pissed!”

  A thick, squiggling line, which takes up most of the monitor, slithers toward them.

  “Hit the thrusters,” Miles says.

  “We’re dead for another twenty minutes,” Jenna says. “Can’t even shoot it.”

  “Fuck.” Miles turns to the cockpit doorway. “Everyone strap in. We’re going for a wild ride!”

  He slams the door, hops into his seat and buckles in.

  “Four hundred meters until impact,” Jenna says, voice just above a whisper. “Two hundred meters.”

  “Will this thing hold up to a monster that can bite holes into battleships?”

  Jenna looks at him, eyes wide. “I…I don’t know, Miles.” She looks at the monitor. “Fifty meters. God, I hope they’re buckled in back there. This is going to be bad. I—”

  Before she can finish, the world is a spinning, flipping maelstrom. He vomits at some point, not caring where it ends up. Everything is a swirl of dark and light.

  Then, gradually, the spinning slows until finally they’re still in the water.

  Equilibrium trying to take hold, Miles sways in his chair, eyelids fluttering, mouth open. A mixture of saliva and vomit dribble from the corner of his mouth down his chin. For a moment, he doesn’t even know who he is.

  Eventually, though, everything lurches back together. He sucks in a breath, wiping the drool and vomit mix from his chin and looking at Jenna. Her head is off to the side and she’s not moving.

  “Je…” He clears his throat. “Jenna?”

  She doesn’t move.

  Miles unbuckles and stumbles to her, almost spilling himself over her until balance digs its heels in. He straightens a bit and pats the side of her face. “Jenna? Hey!”

  She still doesn’t move, mouth hanging open.

  He slaps her, hard, across the face. “Jenna.”

  She flinches, eyelids fluttering. Her mouth closes, opens, closes. “Whaa…”

  He hopes the impact hasn’t given her whiplash, or worse. Because he needs her. She’s the only one who knows how to control the STAV. He might know a little, but not enough to maneuver in defenses or attacks. Not enough to pilot.

  “Captain,” he says into her face. “Wake up.”

  Jenna visibly gags and he backs away quickly. Last thing he wants is to be puked on, then he’ll puke again and then it’s Pukeapalooza.

  But she swallows and keeps it down. Her eyes finally open and she sits up straight, sucking a sharp breath.

  “Everyone okay? You okay?” She frowns, rubbing the cheek where he slapped her. “Why does my face hurt?”

  “I’m okay,” he says. “Need to check on the others. But are you okay?”

  Jenna looks around, eyes widening slowly. “I…um…yeah. That was a hell of a hit.”

  “It was. I’ll check on the others.”

  Knowing she’s unhurt, Miles goes to the door and opens it. The moment he steps through, he notices two things.

  One: There’s a lot of vomit everywhere and, Two: Emma is lying face down on the floor.

  Miles goes to her, grabs her up and kneels. He turns her in his arms. “Emma?”

  There’s a long gash along her forehead and he wonders why she wasn’t in her seat when it all finally clicks together. Every seat is taken, if not by a person, then by crates carrying precious cargo. There had been nowhere for Emma to go before impact. Someone had quickly made sure of it too.

  In his arms, Miles gives her a gentle shake. There’s a moment of fright before she finally groans. A trickle of blood squiggles down the side of her face.

  He gives her another gentle shake. “Hey. It’s me.”

  Emma’s eyes open, shut, open once more and she’s staring at him with those lovely green eyes of hers. She stirs in his arms a bit, looks away and groans. “Wh-What happened?”

  “It hit us.” Miles glances around and sees Ma sitting up in her seat, blinking. So far, she’s the only one who appears at least a little coherent. “Is there a medic kit in this thing?”

  Ma frowns, leans forward and rubs her temples with her fingertips. “Yes. Hold on, let everything equalize.”

  He kind of missed Ma’s directness and almost robot-like monotone. Even though, at the same time it kind of drives him nuts. Humans need compassion. Otherwise they’re just like any other animal out there. Or robots…

  With a sigh, Ma unbuckles. She stands swaying for a couple seconds, then carefully walks toward the rear of the STAV.

  Around Miles and Emma, the team comes to and soon the groaning and muttering curses begin.

  Mike coughs. “Yeah, that’s the bastard that sank my ship alright. Ugh.”

  “She is very, very angry now,” Geri says, sitting ramrod straight in her seat and glowering at everyone. “She will pursue us until she destroys us.”

  “Why?” Mike spouts. “We didn’t do shit to it – her, whatever.”

  Geri pulls her black, leather back out from under her seat and plops it onto her lap. “That does not matter, foolish boy. She meant to snack on all of you. And one of you escaped. Now she will not stop until this vessel and we are all hers.”

  “But that doesn’t explain shit why it attacked the Cutter in the first place,” Mike shouts.

  Miles catches a glimpse of Geri’s glare, then Ma stoops beside Emma with a green pack.

  With a casual glance, Ma says, “She won’t need stitches.” And to Emma, “Can you sit on your own?”

  “I—I think so.”

  Miles helps her sit and moves away a little. She sways but remains sitting up. The first thing Ma pulls from the pack is a penlight. She tells Emma to look straight ahead and flashes the light over each eye, snapping it away quickly. After a few times, Ma nods. She places the penlight in the pack and brings out a couple of butterfly bandages, gauze, and some tape.

  He rubs her back gently, stands, and faces his team. “Look, it doesn’t matter why it attacked the Cutter. It did.” He points at Geri. “She’s the only one with some knowledge of this monster so I suggest you all shut up and listen. She’s been right about a lot so far, as well as Emma has been. From now on, I want everyone to listen to everyone and for fuck sake, stop the bickering. You’re like a bunch of spoiled kids that didn’t get their cookie after supper.”

  Everyone blinks at him, even Geri.

  A silence drifts over the STAV like a fine shroud. Even Ma working on the gash in Emma’s forehead is quiet.

  Then Geri sighs. “She will not stop, unless we kill her or deflect her until we reach the mainland.”

  “So,” Mike says, “how do we kill her – it, whatever the fuck it is?”

  “Fenrir’s fang.”

  Mike blinks. “Ferrari’s what?”

  Miles smacks his brother alongside the head.

  Mike scoots over his seat, almost into Jakob’s lap. “Hey, ow.”

  “She said Fenrir. Not Ferrari.”

  Rubbing the side of his head, frowning, Mike says, “Okay, whatever a Fenrir is.”

  “See, this is why I was Mom’s favorite. I studied.”

  “Mom told me I was her favorite.”

  “She...” Miles sighs, knowing a trap when he sees one. “You know what,
doesn’t matter. Fenrir is from Norse mythology, jackass. A demigod, or minor god, whatever. Point is, his fang is the only thing that can kill the serpent and it’s attached to a laser burst.”

  For the longest time, all Mike does is stare at Miles. Then he straightens, a frown deepening on his face. “Serpent?”

  “That’s what took out the Cutter,” Miles says. “It’s the, uh, Mid-Gard Serpent.”

  “Jörmungandr,” Geri says.

  Miles nods at her. “Yeah, that’s her name.”

  “And…” Mike says. “You believe this, man?”

  Miles steps closer to his little brother. “Yes. And if you don’t, you’re in trouble. I’ve seen this thing with my own eyes out there. It’s huge and we either kill it or let Geri deflect it.”

  Mike releases a long breath, too long and heavy to be a sigh. “I believe you, man. But you gotta admit, this shit is crazy.”

  “Well,” Sylvi says, “what the hell did you think sank your ship? A fuckin’ blue whale?”

  Mike snorts. “Don’t be ridiculous. Those things are extinct.”

  Sylvi rolls her eyes and walks away toward the rear of the STAV.

  Taking the crates out of the empty seats, Miles says, “And whoever did this needs to fess up now. Emma over here got hurt because no one let her into a seat.”

  Slowly, everyone’s gaze drifts to Mike.

  Miles blinks. “You?”

  Mike shrugs. “It was supposed to be a joke.”

  And here is the Mike Miles remembers the most. The arrogant prankster.

  “Are you…” Miles bites off his anger a bit, breathes, and finishes. “Alright, look, I shouldn’t have to babysit you or any of the team here. Emma is a part of the team now.” He looks at everyone in turn. “And I need you all to accept that fact.”

  Slowly, Mike begins to smile. “Ohhh, you like her!”

  “What? No. Yes. I mean, oh for fuck sake. Yes, I like her. But that’s not why she’s part of the team. She knows the oceans. She knows what to expect in every sector. Temps. Ocean floor. Everything. I want everyone to give her the respect she—”