Kraken Rising: Alex Hunter 6 (34 page)

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Franks spat. “They’re not blocks, they’re freakin’ human heads.”

“Bingo, good news,” said Rhino. “That little inlet on our three o’clock … I have Blake, Jennifer, and our PLA buddies.”

Tied to stakes at the water’s edge were the four missing members of the group. They were in the lake to their knees, and Alex could see they’d been beaten. They had blood running from multiple wounds that could have been bite marks. The blood dripped into the water.

Alex looked down at the small female humanoid, feeling a sudden rush of disgust and anger. She was already looking at him, as though seeing how he would react to the captives. She turned her unreadable eyes away from him.

Casey was on the brink of the ledge. “They’re hurt.” She spun. “What did you little freaks do?” She went to grab at the small female, and Alex pushed her back.

“Save it, Lieutenant. We’re the intruders here.” He knew exactly what Casey felt, but needed them focused for what came next. “We got bigger things to worry about.”

“I don’t understand … how?” Rhino ran a hand up over his cropped hair. “The ships, they came from outside. Are we saying this thing can get out?”

“Yes, in and out,” Aimee said. “Last time we were here we found evidence of abyssal shrimp – they’re crustaceans only found in cold and deep ocean water. Not in these tropical temp, underground seas. Somewhere, somehow, there’s a vent between here and there.”

“Best news I’ve heard all day. If
it
can get out, maybe
we
can too,” Casey said.

“First things first, we get our people.” Alex looked up and around at the cave walls. The cliffside was like a bombed building. There were far too many smaller caves, and ancient room cavities open to the air. “Damn, these little guys could be anywhere, and I’m betting our people aren’t tied there just for fun.”

“You’re right. Got to be a sacrifice,” Cate said evenly. “We wondered how these … people, learned to live in harmony with the creature. I think now we know how.”

“Doubt it. Didn’t save the Aztlantians above. They tried human sacrifice but the cephalopod just ate its way through most of their virgins, and then their slaves. Then it decided it wanted to come and get the rest itself,” Aimee said. “This thing is smart, dexterous, and has senses well beyond our own. The only reason it doesn’t compete with mankind for top spot is that it usually doesn’t live that long.” She snorted softly. “But down here that rule doesn’t apply. This thing could be centuries old, maybe more.”

“And it could be as smart as we are,” Cate added.

“Could we try and communicate with it?” Soong asked, reaching to hold Shenjung’s hand.

Yang scoffed. “Would the butcher listen to the sheep? We are food and toys, and nothing more. It is in there, the lake, waiting for us now.”

The group turned back to the ancient, black body of water, looking over its mist-covered surface, wondering what lay beneath that dark liquid veneer. Knowing there could be huge eyes on them even now.

“I can’t sense it’s in there,” Alex said, leaning out. “But I’m betting it was or will be soon. We only have two rifles, a pistol and a few grenades. Rhino, Casey, you’re the best shots; you stay at high ground and give us cover. Jackson, Yang, you come too; rescue your own people.” Alex straightened. “The rest of you stay down … and watch your six. Don’t want more of these guys sneaking up on you.”

Alex looked back down at the people tied to the stakes at the water’s edge. They were about twenty feet apart. First Blake, then Jennifer, followed by the two Chinese soldiers. They had all been stripped to the waist, and blood ran down their torsos. All were slumped forward either from fatigue or pain.

Alex pulled Jackson and Yang in closer. “This is our staging point. We move fast, cut them loose, and come straight back here. Hopefully they’ll be able to walk, but if not, we carry or drag them. Yang, do your men. Jackson, you get Jennifer and I’ll get Blake.” He looked each man in the eye. “Set?”

They nodded. Alex looked quickly back at his destination. The mist had started to thicken again, the ships now hidden behind the drifting curtain and the far end of the lake were beginning to vanish. Alex went to turn away, but paused. “And watch the water.” He thought through his next few minutes and held up a hand. “Three, two, one …”

They ran, staying low and jumping over tumbled blocks larger than cars, maneuvering in and out of pathways between even bigger boulders. Alex went past one of the piles of jawless skulls, noticing that there were larger ones, human, some brown with age, and looking perhaps thousands of years old. There were also smaller skulls, with filed teeth like the humanoid they had captured. It seemed the sacrificial candidates were also drawn from the local population.

They stopped behind a mound of rubble. A low sprawling cover of green polyps hugged its surface, making it look like a giant dead animal with matted fur. Alex counted down again, and then they charged. As he ran with the others, he watched the water, but couldn’t sense anything lurking below its surface. Also, above them, the cliff sides were empty. Still, there was a sensation of life all around them, but for now, it remained hidden.

Alex was first to Blake, and lifted his head. “Hey there, buddy.” The man had multiple wounds that could have been spear piercings or bites from the beak-like dentistry of the small beings.

“Am I … glad to … see you,” Blake said groggily.

“We’re getting you out of here. Be ready, soldier.”

Blake nodded slowly, and Alex quickly sliced through the binding around his hands, and then the straps holding him to the rusting iron rings on the ancient post. Alex noticed that the rings Blake was bound to still had remnants of dried flesh hanging from them –
well used
, he thought.

Blake fell forward into the water, and the liquid quickly revived him. He got up, staggered, and then Alex grabbed his arm.

“Can you walk?” Alex held on.

“I’ll damn well try.” Blake shook his head once, trying to throw off both water and his stupor. He began to stagger beside Alex, picking up speed.

Alex turned to see Jackson half carrying Jennifer towards them. Yang and one of his already freed soldiers were cutting the bonds of the third.

Once back at the staging point, Alex pulled Blake down with him, and gave him a sip from his canteen. “Do you remember what happened?” Alex asked.

Blake nodded. “Yeah, they beat the shit out of us. And the little fuckers bit me, bit all of us. It was as if they were tasting us.” He felt the shredded skin on his neck. “Too many of them. Tied us up and left us.”

Jackson came in with Jennifer, who looked shaken but alert. She gratefully took Jackson’s offered water. “Thank god you came. I think they were waiting for the tide to come in or something.”  

Jackson looked at Alex. “Yeah, something like that.”

Alex lifted his head to look back to the water. “What the hell is keeping …”  He bared his teeth, the words hissing from between them. “
That sonofa
 …”

Yang had untied both his men now, but instead of them making their way back to their staging place, they were moving along the bank … towards the ships.

“
Motherf
 … is he doing what I think he’s doing?” Jackson said, his mouth open in a disbelieving grin.

“He’s going for the submarine.” Alex’s eyes narrowed, a hate welling up inside him that he could only barely contain.

“And then what?” Jackson asked.

Alex continued to stare. “Then he holds his ground, and waits to die, or for us to die.”  Alex’s brows came together. “Or maybe he doesn’t have to do anything. I’m no engineer, but that powerful distress signal could possibly be adapted. He can tell anyone who’s listening that he has found the submarine and is in control of it. At a minimum it would be a propaganda coup for the Chinese government.”

“What do you need us to do?” Blake asked.

Alex got to his feet. “Yang’s orders were to take the sub, and mine were to stop him. Let’s get back, quickly.”

Alex and Jackson quickly dragged their injured team members back up through the tumbled boulders to where their group waited on the ledge.

“Fucking Yang.” Casey Franks had the gun to her shoulder.

“Save it,” Alex said. He turned to look up at the cliffs behind them, and then overhead. There were no small bodies dropping nooses, but the sensation of life was growing with every passing second.

The small being still lashed to Rhino edged to the end of her leash to reach out to him. Her small pale fingers curled on Alex’s forearm. She pointed to her mask, which Aimee still held.

Alex looked deep into her black eyes, and then nodded. “Aimee, give it to her.”

Aimee handed it over, and the pale creature immediately pulled it over her head and face.

“That’s an improvement,” Casey said.

“She knows something,” Alex said.

The group fell silent, and hunkered down, watching and waiting. Alex pulled out the walkie talkie and turned to the three men sprinting across the rocks, now becoming indistinct in the shrouds of mist.

*

Yang dashed across the moss-slicked boulders, his two men trailing just behind. He always knew he would succeed in his mission. He knew his intellect was vastly superior and more formidable than the engineered American soldier, Alex Hunter.

The two small pings at his belt confused him momentarily, until he remembered his walkie talkie. He smiled as he reached for it, looking forward to the dialogue.

“You’ll never make it,” Hunter said.

Yang grinned. “But I’m nearly there.” His grin widened. “I think it is you who will not make it. Maybe I will watch from within the
Sea Shadow
as your skull is added to the pile.”

There was silence for a few seconds, until the American’s voice returned, now low and lethal. “Don’t make me come and get you.”

Yang scoffed. There was no way the threat could ever be exercised, so he decided to have some fun. “Be patient, Hunter. When I find a way out, I’ll be sure to tie up all loose ends – one being the collection of your son.” He waited, but heard nothing but empty air. He could imagine the confusion from the man.

Yang threw out a hand to keep his balance as he negotiated a particularly slimy group of boulders. The stink was near overwhelming the closer he got to the water – decay, slick mosses, and something tangy that stung his eyes.

Yang enjoyed the distraction, and decided to continue goading the American. “Your son was lucky last time, but even now, we know where he is.
Joshua
… that is his name, yes? He is on the American base, alone, while you and his mother are down here.” He couldn’t contain his laughter, or the jubilation he felt – the submarine was so close now. His success was assured.

He sneered. “Your American military can’t protect its secrets, its technology, its people, and it certainly won’t be able to protect one small boy.” There came a sound like a growl over the walkie talkie and Yang gripped it harder. “Imagine how much more valuable he will be, if his father, the original Arcadian, is now dead?”

Yang concentrated on running for a moment, and wished he could see Hunter’s face, even just a glimpse. His breathing was becoming ragged, and he coughed, not just from exertion, but from the stink in the air around him that hurt the lining of his nose and throat. The submarine was no more than fifty feet away, half rolled towards him, and he could make out the hatch on top. He’d be inside in another few minutes.

The gunshots were loud in the cavern, and just as the twinkling blue pinpricks of light went out, he felt the hard punch to the back of his thigh. The pain was excruciating, and he stumbled forward. He cursed, holding his leg to stem the bloodflow from the bullet wound, and climbing quickly to his feet.

The lights began to come back on, and he lifted the walkie talkie once again. That was the best they could do? He shook his head; one more taunt before he was inside. He turned to look back over his shoulder.

“
Huh?
” He blinked in confusion; only one of his men was following him now. His last soldier, who had been lagging from his injuries, had vanished. There was the rocky shoreline, the dark water, and further back, the twisted mangrove-like plants. But there was no sign of his soldier, and nowhere else he could have gone.

Yang, still limping from his bullet wound, turned back towards the sub, hobbling in a restricted sort of jog, as he tried to lift his pace. The stink got worse as he got closer, and though his breath rasped loudly, he thought he heard the sound like someone had something stuck in their throat, and then came the soft splash of water. He turned briefly to his lone soldier, but saw he was now alone.

The mist wasn’t so thick that they could be hidden;
no
, they were both gone. There were no pursuing HAWCs, no ropes dropping down from above, and no bodies lying on the shoreline, shot by his enemies. They had just vanished into thin air … or water. Suddenly the stink became more recognizable, and for the first time, a surge of fear ran up the PLA captain’s spine. Ignoring the pain and his bleeding leg, Yang began to run for his life.

Yang’s vision blurred as the acrid odor was now so strong it became a stinging gas all around him. He didn’t want to turn as he could sense something behind him – cold, huge, and indomitable. Water dripped onto his head and shoulders.

He heard a small whine that could have only escaped from his own throat. As if it had a will of its own, his head began to turn. He couldn’t stop the scream escaping his lips, and he lost concentration and coordination as his fear began to short-circuit his muscle movement. He raised an arm over his head and fired his revolver several times.

The loud report of the revolver made the lights go out. In the pitch darkness, he felt the first touch of the thing – cold, like slimy rubber, and immensely strong. His mind conjured up an image of an elephant’s trunk, and then the lights came back on.

He screamed again, sanity slipping from him. The tentacle had him, circling his waist. He followed the limb to where it snaked from the water, and could see the behemoth just beneath the surface. Yang’s scream was long and loud as the thing lifted him, and then began to tighten.