Kraken Rising: Alex Hunter 6 (40 page)

Whoops and high-fives filled the bridge room. Alex grinned and turned in time to be grabbed by Cate who hugged him hard. A pair of hands levered them apart and Aimee pulled Cate out of the way to hug Alex and then kiss him even harder.

He smiled down at her. “Mission accomplished. Sunlight, and guess what? The world still seems to be here.” He kept one arm around her and leaned into the console, hitting the comm. button. “Rinofsky, get up here before the champagne gets warm.”

“I heard that,” came the response.

Alex turned to Blake. “Open a line. See if we can raise Commander Carmack on the USS
Texas
. He’s an old buddy.”

Behind him, Casey and Rhino were doing a waltz in the small space. Casey put a hand up into the big HAWC’s face and pushed when he tried to kiss her.

“When you two lovebirds are finished, perhaps someone could pop the lid.”

“Aye aye, skipper.” Casey saluted and ran down the steel corridor.

“Let’s go up, I’m dying to breathe in cold, clean air.” Aimee grabbed Alex’s hand. “And see some sunshine.” She led him away.

Casey climbed the railing ladder and spun the wheel, pushing the lid up. Fresh, freezing air burst inside, and nothing felt or smelled sweeter. Alex helped Aimee up behind Casey.

Alex and the small crew were now all jammed on the conning tower. They turned their faces to the sun, luxuriating in the fresh air.

“Smells like heaven.” Rhino opened his huge arms wide, turning his face to the sky.

“Smells like someone needs a bath,” Casey said.

Rhino looked mock-hurt, but Casey waved him away. “Forget it, you smelled like that when we went down.” She squinted in the glare after so many days in near twilight. “Holy shit, we got half the world’s navy down here.”

“And I’m betting they’re not all here on holiday. Looks like things escalated after all. We need to fix that. Get the USS
Texas
on the …” Alex paused and turned. “Belay that last order. Shenjung, you need to speak to your people first, pronto.”

Shenjung took the comm. device. “5727 kilohertz, please.”

Blake adjusted the signal frequency, and then nodded to the Chinese engineer. Shenjung spoke rapidly in Chinese, listened for a moment, grunted an acknowledgment and then waited. He lifted the receiver from his ear. “They are routing me through to the commander of the fleet, Admiral Zang Do.”

Alex watched and waited. He saw the man suddenly snap to attention as a deeper voice came on the line. Once again Shenjung spoke fast, but this time deferentially. There was a smile on his face, but the more the Chinese scientist listened, it rapidly changed to one of concern, and then of frustration.

Shenjung looked to Soong, and slowly shook his head. He licked his lips and his focus turned inwards as he spoke softly once again. Alex could see now that he wasn’t being allowed to finish his sentences. In the end he lowered his head and handed the earphone back to Blake. He turned to Alex.

“The admiral refused to countenance that an entire squad of PLA soldiers were wiped out by anything other than …
you
. He thinks that the concept of there being a world beneath the dark ice is fanciful and the product of dehydration or my delusion.” He smiled sadly. “Also, my suggestion of a creature being responsible for Yang’s death was seen as more brainwashing.”  His smile fell away. “He called me an American spy.”

Soong sighed. “We cannot go home.”

“I’m sorry.” Alex took the comm. from Shenjung. “My turn, after all.” Alex changed frequencies, and called the USS
Texas
. “Code name, Arcadian, urgent communication for Commander Eric Carmack aboard the USS
Texas
.”

Alex didn’t have to wait long before a booming voice blared out from his earphone.

“Thank the lord, and are we ever glad to hear you.” Alan Hensen sounded like he had a grin from ear to ear. “Here’s the commander, the line is secure. Go ahead, Arcadian.”

“
Hallelujah
, son,” Carmack almost shouted. “You just saved me having to deploy a lot of expensive armaments, and I and the US Navy thank you for that.” He laughed heartily, and then breathed a sigh of relief. “Please tell me you have control of the
Sea Shadow
.”

“That we do, sir. We’re all looking forward to a hot meal and then going home.” Alex turned and nodded to Aimee.

“You can tell us all about your adventure when you bring that submarine alongside. As you can see, things are still a little tense here.” Carmack lowered his voice. “Best we take our toys and head home, before someone does something they regret.”

“Works for me, sir.” Alex could feel warm sun on his neck, and for the first time in days, felt at ease. He turned to grin at Rhino and Casey, just as a blaring alarm screamed out from Carmack’s line that jolted him upright.

Aimee grabbed at his arm. “What the hell is going on?”

“Commander …” Alex began.

“Sonar warning. Were you the only guys down there?” Carmack asked quickly.

“Yes.” Alex overheard Alan Hensen talking rapidly to his sonar and communication officers before relaying information. “Another reading, sir. This one coming up from the deep, fast, and big,
really big
.”

“Attack sub?” Carmack asked.

Hensen listened some more. “Too big for that. Non-metallic signature … and silent as a ghost; it’s weird. Going to come up at the
Sea Shadow
in a few minutes – collision course.”

“
Jesus Christ
, Hunter, what in God’s name did you just drag with you? We got something coming up underneath us and traveling at about eighty knots. Signature is all wrong. Non-metallic and silent as death. Looks like it’s coming from where you just came from. What the hell is it?”

Alex shook his head, confused, but then tilted his head back and closed his eyes. “That sir, is the Kraken rising, and our worst nightmare. It’ll sink us, if it gets to us.”

Alex heard shouted orders before Carmack came back.

“Not on my watch, son. Get below decks, we’ll take it from here.”

*

General Banguuo rose to his feet, listening carefully as Admiral Zang Do gave his urgent report.

“General, deep sonar contact. Single heavy-mass signature rising from over 300 fathoms. Breach zone is estimated to be directly below the fleet, sir. Unknown object has accelerated to 80 knots.”

Banguuo’s eyebrows rose. Eighty knots? “Seems the game of bluff has ended. A new stealth submarine perhaps, Admiral?”

“Or the Americans have initiated their first strike protocol,” Admiral Zang responded quickly.

Banguuo heard the frantic orders being yelled aboard the admiral’s ship –
battle stations, tracking target, ready all batteries
– it was the familiar language of war. His free hand curled into a fist.

“The Americans are foolish to think the Chinese navy would be caught off guard so easily.”  Banguuo decided: first, they would destroy the submarine coming up at them, and then they would engage.

“Authorization to launch, Admiral. Fire at will.”

“
Jue-zhan-jing-wai
.” The admiral roared.

Banguuo grunted. It was an armed forces battle cry, and meant
decisive battle
. He gripped the phone so tight his knuckles went white. He closed his eyes, and in his mind he saw the bubble trails as the heavy Yu-4 homing torpedoes were launched and would already be speeding down to meet their doomed target.

Perhaps Minister Wanlin was right, he thought. It was inevitable – the age of the dragon was here whether he liked it or not.

*

Commander Carmack stared hard through the dielectric reflective coated binoculars. Before him, the iron-gray ocean was being whipped by a freezing wind, sending horsetails of stinging spray along its surface. There was one oasis of calm, and that lay at the center of the flotilla. The few square miles of ocean were ringed by two of the most powerful naval fleets in the world, and nothing else mattered but that large circle of freezing water, with the small, sleek submarine at its center.

Carmack, and every other captain and commander on the water, and back at their home bases, watched the
Sea Shadow
. Everyone else watched consoles, stood by weaponry, or waited impatiently for orders to either fight or stand down. Until then it was up to someone else to make a first move. Fingers were on hundreds of multi-ballistic triggers.

The closest vessel was a Chinese Jiangkai I Type 054 Ma’anshan class destroyer. It was a big warship, at 450 feet, and displacing 4,300 tons. The floating death dealer was armed with an octuple rocket launcher, anti-ship missiles, AK630 CIWS turrets, ASW torpedoes, and a variety of mines. Carmack’s communication officers had detected the launch of several of these moments before, undoubtedly convinced there was an attack coming from below – they were only partially right.

The explosions that occurred deep below the Ma’anshan class destroyer were too deep to register on the surface, and Carmack and Hensen were just lowering their glasses when there came a flurry of activity onboard the ship. Whooping alarms rolled across the water, and more mines were flung over the sides, these rigged for shallow detonation, and their plumes of spray showered the deck.

Men started running wildly about, and there came the pop of automatic rifle fire as the sailors leaned over the rails to shoot down into the water. There was something there only
they
could see, but as yet, Carmack and his fleet could not.

“What the hell is going on?” Hensen said, frowning and moving between using his field glasses, and trusting his own eyes.

“I think we now have a new player,” Carmack said slowly.

A mottled green and black tree grew from the water beside the destroyer, higher and higher, lifting above the ship’s bridge, to then topple across the metal superstructure, bending the steel like it was made of matchsticks and paper. More of the giant things rose up, and then the cold mountain began to follow its limbs.

“Oh my god.” Hensen backed up a step.

The Kraken was revealed in all its monstrous glory, clinging to the side of the battleship, tilting it as its bulk came out of the water. It bloomed open, a gigantic flower whose petals coiled and thrashed.

“What the fuck is that thing?” Hensen whispered.

Carmack lowered his glasses, his face drained of color. “The thing that all sailors dread – the sinker of ships, the monster from the abyss –
the Kraken
.”

The thing rose once more, and then seemed to swell, flowing like liquid up and over the Ma’anshan’s superstructure. Tentacles wrapped the ship from stern to bow, their tips thin as a wrist, but where they joined the bulbous body they were as thick as redwood trees.

From across the water, Carmack heard the sound of metal complaining, and the 450-foot ship tilted even more, its nearest deck now close to the icy ocean’s water line. The muscular strength of the tentacles radiated inevitability, and the coils started to compress.

“Orders, sir.” Hensen waited.

Carmack exhaled. “Hold fire. We can’t do anything. We might hit the destroyer.”

Shenyang J-15 fighter craft swarmed and fired GSh-30–1 cannons and armor piercing rockets. Mottled flesh was blasted away, but they were pinpricks to the monster. An acrid smell wafted across the expanse of iron-gray water, and Carmack watched as men were encircled in tentacles, and then crushed like flies. The Kraken seemed to be acting in a furious desire to do nothing but kill the ship and everything on it.

Admiral Zang Do, aboard the aircraft carrier
Liaoning,
maneuvered the huge ship closer. It was the only thing larger than the monster, but with hundreds of tons of slimy flesh almost fully engulfing his destroyer, he obviously hesitated to fire, knowing a missile passing through the rubbery hide would strike the vessel.

“Fire at it, goddamn you,
just, fucking, fire
,” Carmack hissed.

The hesitation lasted another few seconds, and then there came the sound of an enormous cracking, as the huge destroyer bent in the center. Both the bow and stern rose up sharply, as the combined weight of the creature and its crushing tentacles had weakened the hull structure to a point of collapse.

Only then, was Zang Do shocked into action.

Hundreds of missiles, cannon rounds, and heavy machine gun fire lanced out at the huge creature. They were fiery harpoons, striking the flesh and embedding deep. Some blew car-sized chunks of flesh into the air, and dark blood stained the sea around the stricken destroyer.

“Send it back to hell,” Carmack whispered. He half turned to Hensen. “Back the fleet up.”

The creature slid back to the sea. But it didn’t relinquish its grip, as it dragged the broken ship down with it, ensuring its kill was complete. On the surface, there was a spinning whirlpool of debris and dead bodies where the monster had once been.

“Dead,” Hensen said.

“Dead? They hit it, sure. Did they kill it? I have no idea.” Carmack stepped back. He nodded towards the Chinese boats trying to pull surviving sailors from the water. “See if they want any help.” He sighed. “But I doubt they’d take it even if they needed it.”

“Well,” Hensen said. “I’m betting that episode might go a long way to adding some credibility to our story.”

“But a terrible price for finding out the truth.” Carmack turned away. “Bring the
Sea Shadow
in close, and get Hunter and his crew onboard. Time to go home.”

“Show him in, Margie.” Colonel Jack Hammerson got to his feet, and came around from behind his desk.

Alex Hunter pushed open the door, grinned, and held his arms wide. “The world still stands.”

Hammerson smiled and held out his hand. “Only just … and no small thanks to you.”

They shook hands and Hammerson led Alex to a couple of leather arm chairs, with coffee waiting. He’d read the flash report Alex had put together – he and his team had been through hell. That they managed to succeed in their mission, let alone survive for more than an hour down under the ice, was a miracle and a testament to their skill and fortitude.

He patted his soldier on the shoulder. “Great work … great work. General Chilton read your report, and wants to meet you personally.”

Alex raised his eyebrows. “And the president?”

“I’m sure he would as well, if he knew about you.” Hammerson poured Alex a coffee. “Plausible deniability; you know how it works.”

Alex shrugged. “I wouldn’t know what to say, anyway.” He eased down into the chair, and Hammerson saw that he let his body relax. “We got the
Sea Shadow
back, so now what happens?”

Hammerson bobbed his head as he poured himself a coffee. “We scrap it. The design was superseded years back. It’s just that the vessel is decades more advanced than anything anyone else has, so if they want top tech, they can damn well work for it themselves.”

Alex snorted softly. “Of course.” He turned to Hammerson. “The Chinese were really going to go to the mat on this one. The PLA Special Forces went there to fight for it … and kill for it. There was never going to be a negotiated outcome.”

“Had to try.” Hammerson put his mug down. “At least now they know why that area of the Antarctic is off limits.” He smiled and raised his eyebrows. “Sometimes trust has to be proven.”

Alex didn’t return the smile. “That PLA captain, Wu Yang. It was him that tried to abduct Joshua. Did you know?”

Hammerson steeled himself. “We suspected it was Chinese operatives. Didn’t know Yang was involved; you have my word on that.”

“But Jack, they knew about Joshua. Knew that he was … different. That’s why they wanted him.” He turned his laser like eyes on Hammerson. The mirth of just moments ago was gone. Alex sat forward. “They have their own advanced soldier program. Their soldier, Mungoi, was a giant. But he was flawed. That’s why they wanted Joshua, to perfect their program.” He sprang to his feet and crossed to the large windows overlooking the grounds. “The Arcadian program’s secret is out, and so is his.” He laughed softly. “The Israelis, the Chinese, the Russians … it’s not a matter of who knows now, but who
doesn’t
know?” He continued to stare down at the grounds.

Hammerson rose to his feet and joined him at the window. He could see what had Alex’s attention. Below Aimee Weir and Joshua chased each other on grass so green, it looked like stadium turf.

“Without me, he is vulnerable.” Alex sighed and watched his son run faster and faster, leaving Aimee long behind. He turned to Hammerson. “Only I can protect him.”

Jack Hammerson watched Alex for a moment. “Have you spoken to him yet?”

“No. I wanted to give Aimee some time alone with him first. But soon.”  He smiled as he watched the pair. “For the first time in years, I feel … nervous.”

Hammerson sipped his coffee. “I can’t order you to do anything here. I can advise, but that’s all. And I want you to know that any advice I give is from a friend, not as your superior officer.”

Alex turned to scrutinize him for a moment and Hammerson felt the gaze reach deeply inside him, and knew Alex was reading him. He nodded and turned away.

Hammerson sipped and then lowered his mug. “And for what it’s worth, my initial advice would be to keep his abilities secret. Not everyone knows about him. Sure, they may know
of
him, but not
who
he really is.” He placed an arm on Alex’s shoulder. “This is a big decision. You need to take some time out, spend it with them … see what happens.”

Hammerson crossed back to his desk. “I won’t lie to you, I hope you decide to stay with us. I’m selfish like that.” He watched as Alex stared down onto the field, a smile still on his brutally handsome features.

“See if family life suits you for a while.” Hammerson continued to watch him. “Just one thing … you said they’re vulnerable without you. Remember, they will be getting more than just Alex Hunter.”

Alex turned, his face stony. “The Other one.”

Hammerson nodded.

Alex continued to stare at Hammerson, his eyes unblinking. “I can control him …
it
.”

“Can you really?” Hammerson returned the gaze for a moment longer. “Only you can really know the answer to that. But my view, I think these … missions, let some pressure out. A good thing … for everyone.”

Alex turned back to the window. “I can control it,” he repeated.

*

Alex came around the corner of the building and paused, watching Aimee and Joshua. They played for a moment longer, but then his son stopped running, and turned to face him.

Alex could feel the force of the boy’s gaze. Joshua studied him, his face relaxed, but the familiar eyes penetrated him to the core. The boy held up a hand and waved. Aimee turned then, and seeing Alex, stiffened.

Alex felt a sudden jolt of disillusionment, as she stepped forward to pull Joshua in close to herself. There came a soft voice into Alex’s head:
this is your reward; she doesn’t trust you
.

Not me …
you
, Alex thought.

A soft laugh.
You are me, and I am you.

Joshua lifted Aimee’s hand from him, and continued his scrutiny. Alex tried to relax, and waved. He smiled and first went to Aimee. “
Ah
, I saw you two playing, and I wanted to say hello.”

“It’s good to see you,” Aimee said. “It’s …”

“It’s about time,” Joshua cut in, reaching up to take his hand. “You were always there, but not there … and now you’re finally, here.” He cocked his head. “I know who you are. You’re my father. Not Peter.”

Alex went down on one knee, and Aimee stood behind Joshua, resting her hands lightly on his shoulders. “Yes, Joshua. I’m your father. I’ve been away, but I’ve been wanting to see you for many years.” He held out his hand. “I’m back now.”

Joshua took it and smiled. “Good.”

You’ll hurt him – maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but you will
. The voice didn’t carry its usual sneering tone, but instead was simply matter of fact.

Joshua gripped Alex’s hand a little harder, a frown creasing his small brow. “I don’t believe that,” he said.

“Huh?” Alex froze. “Don’t believe what, Joshua?”

“I don’t believe you’ll hurt me.” Joshua lifted his head, confident.

“What?” Aimee leaned forward.

“No, I would never …”  Alex began.

“But
the Other
one might.” The boy tilted his head, eyes narrowed slightly.

Aimee frowned, and knelt beside her son. “You okay, honey?” Joshua looked briefly at her, and nodded.

Alex felt a stab of pain deep in his head.
And you’ll hurt her too. You have before, and next time, you’ll kill her
. Alex’s jaws worked as his teeth ground into his cheeks. He tried to push the disturbing thoughts away.

Suddenly he felt another pain, this one from his hand. He looked down to see Joshua’s hand on his, the fingers now closing hard, harder than was possible for a normal five year old.

“Don’t worry, you won’t hurt me, or Mommy.” He smiled. “I’ll make sure.” He leaned in close to Alex’s ear. “I can help.”

Alex felt the pain in the center of his head relax. And after another moment, it felt like a door was slamming shut in his mind, the tormenting presence locked behind it, and silenced.

Alex exhaled. “Yes, I think we’ll be fine, Joshua. Let’s see how things go.”

“As a family.” Joshua held Alex’s eyes.

“Yes, as a family.” Alex smiled. “Hey, can I call you Josh?

The boy’s face lit up. “Yes, I like that. You can call me Josh … Josh Hunter.” He let go of Alex’s hand. “And one more thing; I want a dog … a big one.”