Kraken, Rookie Burwick [most motivational books txt] 📗

it. But then it went dead. The last thing it showed was the fleeing image of a long and thick tentacle. . .

"What on planet earth?!" Eright’s face was now filled with panic.

"We've lost them all, sir!" Misk replied.

"Get the boat started. Get us out of here!"

The driver hurried to the steering wheel and reached for the key . . . but then something hit the boat. They all went flying to the floor and blood came trickling from Misk's head. Then, the boat was hit again, and Eirght went flying into the side railing.

He turned back just in time to see one giant tentacle wrapping itself around the navigation compartment, and then everything went black.

 

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"Sir!" a voice called out, making Briche jump.

He turned to Silvia, who stared up at him with worry in her eyes. He didn't like that look.

"What is it now?" he asked.

"We've lost contact with Eirght!" Silvia replied.

"Really?"

"Yes! He's not responding at all!"

Briche sighed with an angry flare in his breath. He looked from her to the floor a few times, and then finally replied.

"Just wait for his reply. If he doesn't respond within the next hour. . ."

He paused, quite unsure what to do. What was there to do?

"I'll think of something," he said at last.

She nodded and looked back to her computer. He turned back to the window and gazed out with a worried expression stuck on his face. Everyone he sent out there never returned, and vanished from the radar and everything else. He couldn't just send party after party out to rescue the previous one. He needed someone left for other things, like real assaults on the US by sea. But really? Commander Ryan Eirght? His men and he himself were the toughest men around almost. What could have possibly happened?

Perhaps that Jasper fellow was right. There definitely was something weird going on. Ships were vanishing. Sailors and fisherman were disappearing. Something was afoot, and it wasn't good. It troubled Briche that he didn't what was behind it all, and it would have seemed that that Jasper fellow may have given him some good answers. It all just seemed too crazy to believe, like an atheist believing in god. But, maybe he needed to consider it.

The problem was, if it really did exist, he didn't know whether he was headed away from it or towards it. Trying to be as positive as he could, he guessed the latter option.

"Raise our speed up to thirty-eight knots."

"What's going on captain? You've never raised our speed this much."

"There's something out there. I know it."

"What in mother nature's vocabulary do you mean?"

"It's this Hutchision guy. He's got me worried."

"So he did tell you something?"

"Well, I'm not sure I believe it."

"What was it?"

"Just speed us up. No more questions."

There was silence for a moment.

"Um, sir?" Silvia's voice interrupted again.

"Yes?" he asked without turning to her.

"I was wondering if I might try and reason with that. . . Jasper guy?"

"Reason with him?" Briche turned to her now. "I've already done that. He doesn't have any more info."

"Well, can I at least try?"

"Fine."

He listened as she hurried away from her station. After she had shut the door, he whispered a quick "good luck" to her under his breath. He tried to get his focus back on the missing party. They still had not responded, and things were looking grim. But then he remembered, Silvia was gone. He needed someone to keep an ear out.

He turned to the young man with the red hair, and got his attention.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Um, Brent Wirte, sir," the man replied.

"Well, you are now in charge of things for Silvia. Keep an eye on that sonar screen, and an ear out for Eright's call."

"Yes, sir."

It was a moment after Briche turned back to the window that the silence was once again broken.

"Sir! We have a large shoal of squids following us!," Brent called out.

The word squid made him twitch a little. "What do you mean?"

"Just that, sir. According to the sonar equipment, they're riding our tail."

"How big of squid's?"

"None of them appear to be very big."

Briche let out a silent and relieved sigh and sent an up prayer of thanks. "Well, keep a very close eye on them. Don't take your eyes off the screen."

"What should I do if they come any closer?"

He took a deep breath. "You are to open fire."

         

EIGHT

The bed made an extra loud creaking noise as Jasper sat up. He was now quite refreshed from the often-on naps he had been taking, and now stared at the door. The pain in his shoulder was still lingering, and it made him wince. It would have spells of hurting and then ceasing, and then hurting again. The worst part was he couldn't control it.

His mind was foggy and he couldn't remember what he had just dreamt. He shrugged knowing it was probably something about his previous experiences. He lay back down and stared up at the wall once again. He had nothing else to do. But then his stomach rumbled. He was famished again. He sprung to his feet and hurried over to the fridge and opened it. He grabbed up the orange, sat back down onto the bed, and began peeling it. He pulled a small trash can from around the corner of the bed and went to work. He used his fingernails to dig into the tough skin, and pushed down. The peel came off easily, and it was soon ready to eat. He took the first bite, and chewed for a while. After swallowing, he took three more bites, but then stopped after that. His stomach was oddly satisfied, so he put the half-eaten orange back into the fridge.

As he sat back down onto the bed again, the creaking noise made a quick sound off before vanishing into silence. He looked down at the floor and stared. He stared at the small cracks in between the boards of the neatly polished wood floor, wondering what was beneath those cracks. The sun was now on a full course to set, and was a good thirty-four minutes from allowing the sky to go dark. The waves were silent and still now, which was standard to reason. He wasn't sure if it was just the darkness of the night falling onto the last rays of sunlight or just a blanket of black clouds, but the sky higher up was dark. Really dark. He stood up and looked out the window again, smiling at the amazing sunset. He had always enjoyed them, and this particular one seemed to be extra beautiful against a blue sea.

He watched as two seagulls passed over his window, probably headed for the top of the ship to roost or whatever else sea birds usually did. He didn't care what they did. What they looked like gliding through the sunset was amazing enough. He spun around at the sound of a knock at the door. 

"Come in," he said after a moment.

The door opened slowly and a beautiful young woman stepped inside. Her pitch black hair was put up in a neat bun, and her face was bright and slim. For some reason, she looked familiar. That fact was only added to when she smiled at him.

"Hello Jasper. It's been a long time."                              

The sound of her voice confirmed his suspicions. She was Silvia Glandmoore, the woman he had met clear back in 1989, and had dated for many years before she went off to join the Navy, and "dumped" him.

"Ye-yeah, it h-h-has . . . been a long time," he stammered.

"Don't be nervous. You know me," she said softly.

"Well, I'm not nervous, just shocked. That's all," he returned her smile.

"It's good to see you, though."

"Same to you. What are you doing here?"

"Well I came to. . ."

"No, no, no. What are you doing on this particular ship?"

"Well, this was the one they assigned me to. I've been on board ever since they left about a month ago."

"I see. Now, what are you doing in my room, just out of curiosity?"

"I came to ask you a few questions. . ."

He rolled his eyes. "You too, aye?"

"The captain didn't send me, I came on my own."

"What would you like to . . . know?"

"First of all, how'd you get out there?"

"I was on board a ship that sunk."

"A cargo ship, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because the captain said that you told him about some kind of . . . creature."

"Well, yes I did."

"What was it?"

"It looked like a . . . an overgrown squid."

She nodded slowly.

"Why do want to know?"

"Well, you see, according to our records, there was a cargo ship that departed a harbor off the coast of Florida that was carrying something The Navy wants. We think that was the same ship you were on."

"I see. And you think I've seen it or found it?"

"No, we don't think that at all. We just think this . . . creature that you saw might have something to do with it."

"I see. Well, I wouldn't know. All I know is that there's something dangerous out there, and the captain needs to be warned. I tried to myself, but he didn't buy it. This ship might be in danger, and the captain needs to know before it's too late."

"Too late?"

"Look, while I was adrift, I happened upon a sinking fishing trawler. I climbed aboard to see what it was about, and, as I was about to get off, something big hit the boat. Then these giant tentacles came up and finished the trawler off. It scared me half to death, and nearly killed me."

She nodded slowly again. "So, this thing was like some sort of . . . mutated squid?"

"That's certainly what it looked like to me."

"And it attacked this boat you found drifting?"

"Yep. It had been rammed by something, and was sinking. I was just investigating around the deck when this creature came out of nowhere and attacked."

"It had tentacles, you said?"

"Yeah, the biggest tentacles I've ever seen. Like I said, that thing nearly crushed me."

"Well, thanks for the info."

She stood up and headed for the door but then stopped at the sound of his voice.

"You know that I missed you, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I know. I did as well."

She turned back to him. "I always cared for you and worried about you," she continued.

"Would you please pass on that message to the captain?"

"Sure. Will do."

She smiled at him, and then left, shutting the door tight behind her. He smiled as he watched the last glimpse of her hair fade away as she hurried down the hall. He hoped she would be successful in delivering his message, and he knew she would be. She had always kept her word, which was one of the things that impressed him about her.

"Be safe," he said suddenly under his breath.

And he meant it. He lay back down onto the bed and stared up to the wall, waiting for anything to happen.

 

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Briche stared at the slowly dying sunset and smiled. It was the first time he had smiled in days now, and it felt good. The sunset was very beautiful and unique, and was fading fast. Before the hour was up, the sun would be gone, and the