Kraken by Rookie Burwick (novel books to read TXT) 📕

                                            *  *  *

Briche walked quickly now down the hallway and farther away from Jasper's room. He was slightly raged by the conversation he had just gone through. He just couldn't by the guy's story. At least not the latter part of it. Sure, he had probably seen a sinking fish trawler that had been rammed . . . by a shark. Not some nightmare squid out of a person's imagination.

It was obvious that the guy was crazy, seeing things, lying even. He didn't care. All he knew was that it wasn't possible. He shook his head as he opened the door and stepped into the main control base, and eyed everyone inside. They all returned the glare with a smile, and then turned back to their computers. He only shrugged them off, and then stepped up onto the platform. He walked up to the window and peered outside.

"Find out anything from that drifter?" someone behind him asked.

He took in a deep breath. "Nothing beyond what the doctor got from him."

"So, no luck, aye?"

"No, not really."

Just like most of the times that he stood at the window, his eyes were on the trainees, but his mind was elsewhere. It was on that Jasper guy, and what he'd said earlier. He tried his best to remember all of the things Jasper had told him aside from the rammed fishing trawler and the super squid. He had mentioned the fact that he was on board a sinking ship for almost two days. That was something Briche found a bit odd. Though he believed it, there was something off about it.

True, it was possible. But two days without food or water, and then three more days adrift in the open sea with the same circumstances. He seemed to be in awfully good health to have gone through all that. But, Briche had no real good reason to doubt the man's story, all except for the squid part. That was way too farfetched for his liking. There was no such thing as a "Kraken" and Briche knew it. He knew it real well. And Jasper's wild story only made it even less believable. Out of those years in the Navy, anyone would have thought that he would have either seen it or come into contact with it on the sonar screens or even the radar. But he hadn't.

Such a thing just didn't exist. Or at least it shouldn't. But as Briche stared through the glass that showed him his reflection, something down deep was saying otherwise. A tiny voice inside of him was saying maybe. Maybe there was a Kraken, or monster squid, or whatever you wanted to call it. Maybe there really was something out there in the deep, and it really had attacked that ship, once while it was in motion, and once with Jasper on board it. But he fought that voice. That can't be. Something like that existing and attacking the same boat twice? Really?

He didn't really know for sure, but there was still something that told him maybe there was. Just maybe.

"Sir," a voice interrupted his thoughts. It was Silvia.

He turned to her. "Yes?"

"What was the man's name?"

"The strander?"

"Yeah."

"I believe it was Jasper Hutchision."

Silvia's face lit up slightly.

"Why?"

"No reason."

He paused for a moment.

"What's our speed?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Um . . . twenty-eight knots, sir," the red-haired man replied.

"Speed us up."

"Might I ask why?"

"No, don't say or ask anything, just do it."

There was a pause. "What do you want me to speed up to?"

"Thirty-six knots."

"That much?"

"Yes, now do it."

The conversation ended with that. He went back to staring out the window, and thinking hard. But then, out of all the things he had to converse on, something hit him.

He turned to Silvia, who was in her usual spot.

"What about that search-and-rescue party?" he asked.

She looked at him. "Just sent them out about thirty minutes ago. Why?"

"Well, keep in contact with him."

"Yes, sir."

He turned back to the window.

"Who's in charge of the party?"

"Ryan Eirght."

"All right. Do you still have contact?"

"Yes, sir. Is everything all right?"

"For now, anyways."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say I have a bad feeling about this."

                                         *  *  *

Commander Ryan Eirght was one of the toughest men on board the Navy Combat Ship 26. His men had always been strong and tough, and hard workers all thanks to him and his way with teaching. The things the men under his command had been through were some of the toughest Navy-related incidents ever recorded in history thanks to their fighting abilities and brave spirits. But Eirght had pounded that spirit into them, and had won great praise from the captain for it. Recently, though, the numbers of missions was decreasing, and rapidly, too.

But earlier today, they had gotten lucky. They all sat in the U.S.S speedboat that rumbled over the waves and towards their destination, which was some open spot about sixteen miles from the ship. The landmark that would point them to it was the odd rock formations that everyone on board ship knew about and some of them had even seen. Eirght sat on the edge of the boat along with fourteen other men with a smirk on his face. The mission was simple; get down a good 120 feet below the surface, and enter some kind of tunnel, and then follow it straight on until they came to a fairly big cave. Then they would do a little search for three missing divers. If they found anything, they would report it right to captain Briche, and the job would be done. It wasn't as dangerous as Eirght usually liked, but it was good enough. The boys had been doing nothing but simple jobs like mopping and cleaning up. That wasn't what they were trained for. When the opportunity to go out on a mission had come up this morning, Eirght had taken it right off the spot, knowing they would all be thrilled.

Sitting near him were five Navy divers who were all set to go in their wetsuits, masks, oxygen tanks, and all the other necessary gear that divers were required to wear. Everyone else was just camera monitors and communication experts. He didn't care who was involved. All he cared about was getting his men down there and back before long. The sun was beginning to slowly set, and it would only be an hour at most before the sky would become pitch black.

"Okay men, this one’s gonna be a bit tough. You all know what to do down there, but just keep your eye out for anything suspicious. We still don't know what happened to those other guys, but it couldn't have been good," he said in his soft yet stern voice.

They all nodded in reply. "Now, Floyd, where the heck are we?"

"We're here, actually," the young navigator replied.

"Remember, this is a search mission, and we're just here to find out what really happened the other day."

 The boat slowed to a stop, and everyone hurried to their places. They booted up computers, opened up maps, and prepared the divers with one last check before sending them off. Eirght stood up and peered over toward the West, where large rock formations stood.

"This is the place," he said.                                              

"Don't worry everything will go smooth, captain," replied Floyd, their navigator.

"I'm not worried about anything."

It was six more minutes before the divers were off into the water. The cameras the held jiggled a little as they straightened out, but soon the screen became steady. Everyone on board watch the monitors closely, never taking their eye off it. Especially Misk, the boat's main camera monitor. Eirght watched just as intensely as him, hardly ever taking his eyes from the small screen.

"How deep are they now?" he asked.

"About eighteen feet," replied Misk.

"Wow, already?"

"Yes, there off to a good start."

"Let me know when they actually get to this tunnel."

"Yes sir."

Eirght walked over to the hull of the boat and scanned the water beyond it with his eyes.

"What are you going, might I ask?" Misk called out.

"Captain Briche said to watch out for sharks. They've had a couple of rammed boat reports recently."

Misk only nodded and then went right back to the computer monitor. The second camera showed them nearing the tunnel. The third and first cameras showed them entering the cave. Somebody was behind. Sight-seeing or looking for something. Misk picked up the radio and tuned in to station 2.

"Diver 2, come in. You're falling behind."

Suddenly, the image from the second camera went blurry as the diver holding it swam to catch up. Eirght turned to him.

"Don't let them get separated, Misk. I have a feeling that's what happened last time."

Misk gave him a thumbs up as he turned back towards the ocean. Now, all the computer screens showed the divers were inside the tunnel.

"Sir, they've arrived!"

Eirght hurried over and stared at the screen. "Everything's going smoothly, so far."

"I see that, Misk."

No one said a word as they watched. Now, the screen showed the gigantic stalagmites that stuck up everywhere around the edge of the tunnel's smooth, rock-plastered walls. There were small fish that jittered across the camera's lenses, and also strange speck of dust.

"Wow, what a deal," Misk said in a slight whisper.

"Yeah, it's beautiful down there," Eirght replied.

The sound of someone calling on the radio pierced the monitor watching. Eirght picked it up and answered.

"Yo, this is Commander Eight, sir."

"Anything to report?"

"Nothing yet sir."

"Be sure and report when there is."

 "Will do."

There was a click at the other end. He set the radio back down and continued to stare at the computer. Now, all five cameras showed a large cave entrance up ahead.

"They've made it. Now we shall see. . ."

"We're approaching the cave sir," a voice came in over the radio again. Eirght picked it up.

"Proceed. Report what you find."

"Right."

As they entered, the camera showed the cave interior which was illuminated by their lights. There was nothing but thick, rock walls, stalagmites and stalactites, but nothing else. Camera two panned down to the floor, but again, they saw nothing.

"Nothing yet," Eirght said.

"Isn't this supposed to be the cave that those other divers found before they disappeared?" Misk asked.

"Yep. According to the instructions, it was the first cave in the tunnel."

The camera panned up and down, and then the diver holding it entered in a little further. That's when the camera caught sight of the opposite wall, where another entrance was place. They all swam towards it, their lights causing more and more detail to be shown. Eirght scowled.

"I hope we find at least something. . ."

Camera two went dead. The screen went black in a flash, followed by number three. Number one, four, and five were still on.

"What happened to number two?" Eirght asked.

"I don't know. Try the radio."

Eirght picked it up and switched to station two.

"Come in Diver 2. I repeat, come in Diver #2."

They waited for a few minutes. That time seemed to be not minutes, but an eternity. There was no answer or reply. Nothing.

"Oh great," he switched to channel three.

"Come in Diver 3. I repeat, come in Diver 3, over."

"This is him, I read you."

"Where's Tryd? His camera just went dead!"

"Um. . . I'm not seeing him anywhere. Maybe he went on without us. Have you tried his radio?"

"Yes, there was no response!"

Just then, camera three went dead, and there was a sudden and short-lived scream on the radio. . .

"What the he. . ."

"Come in sir, come in!"

It was Diver 5. "I read you. Report."

"Something just grabbed Liam!"

"Something?"

"Yeah! It was long like a . . . a . . . tentacle or something!"

"Tentacle? What a squid?"

"Yeah, I mean. . . I don't know!"

Eirght let out a frustrated sigh. "Pull back. Get up here now!"

Camera four went dead. The fifth and last camera remaining was hurrying back through the tunnel, picking up the sound of heavy breathing coming from the person holding