Up From The Deep by Vaughn Jackson (highly recommended books txt) 📕

dragons. We’d be unstoppable.”

“And how do you propose that we remove any one of those eggs from the back of that creature?”

“A discussion for later, for now let’s celebrate!”

Kurtis rolled his eyes and raised his glass with as little enthusiasm as possible. “Sure.”

“But really, what is our plan for this immortal empire?” Jia Ming said, blowing a stream of smoke from her nose. She put the cigarette out on the arm of the chair.

Martin paused mid-drink and glared at her.

Kurtis knew he couldn’t handle another explosive argument but leaving would trigger one as well. “Wait until they hatch,” he said.

“What?” Martin said.

“Because transporting a live baby monster would be easier than transporting an egg,” Jia Ming said sarcastically.

Kurtis sighed. “I’m no biology expert—”

“And you lost ours,” Jia Ming said.

“But…most reptiles that stay alongside their eggs protect them until they hatch, but then…the children are on their own. That’s when we can snatch one up.”

“Are you going to do that yourself? Because you can count me out. Kill me first.”

“No,” Martin said, “wait. Kurt, I heard you were fiddling around with that doctor of ours and Ivan Cole. How’d that go?”

“As far as I can tell, it was a success, but—”

“Send him.”

“He hasn’t been field tested yet.”

Martin waved a hand dismissively. “Send him anyway.”

Kurtis bit his tongue. He could pull rank on Martin, but the ensuing confrontation would be quite the hassle. Besides, he thought, if this goes bad, the blame’s on him.And good riddance. “Sure,” Kurtis said. “I’ll go tell him now.” He slid his chair back, stood up, and exited the room before anyone could say anything to trap him again.

He made his way down to the hall to the doctor’s laboratory where Ivan was being monitored. As soon as he entered the room, Ivan stood from the examination table, pulling IVs and electrodes from his body without batting an eye.

“News?” the Russian giant asked.

“A mission,” Kurtis responded. “For you.”

A cruel smile curled across his face. “Good.”

Doctor Felding bolted from his chair. “Mr. Wagner, as I’ve already told you—”

Kurtis waved his hand to silence the man. “Not my decision. You want to argue, take it down to Mr. Martin.”

The doctor’s face paled. “No, that’s quite alright, I trust his judgment.”

“Makes one of us.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Nothing.”

“Mission?” Ivan Cole said.

Kurtis sighed. “Report to Mr. Martin’s office for your briefing.”

Ivan nodded and began a slow march out of the laboratory. When he exited, Kurtis slumped in the nearest chair he could find, with a deeper sigh than before.

“If I may,” the doctor started, “what is his mission?”

“Martin wants him to play Pokémon with the monster’s babies.”

Doctor Felding cocked his head to the side.

“Catch one for research,” Kurtis said.

“Ah…” The doctor looked like he was about to say something, but Kurtis cut him off.

“I don’t want to talk about it. It’s an idiotic idea and we all know it’s an idiotic idea. That’s that,” Kurtis closed his eyes and ran his hands through his hair. “How easy will it be for us to assume control if need be?”

“I managed to fully sync the nanobot frequencies to my control station, so…it should work.”

“Good.”

#

“What are we going to do about that?” Brannigan asked the silent room. Raymond, Devonte, Skylar, and General MacPherson were lost in their own thoughts. No one offered anything in response. An air of frustration filled the room like a fog.

Devonte said, “If we couldn’t take out two, what could we do against hundreds?”

“I don’t know,” Brannigan said, “but that doesn’t mean we give up.”

Skylar scratched at the curls atop her head. “Well…let’s look at what we know of the creatures.”

“They’re big and indestructible,” Devonte said. “One breathes fiery death, the other somehow generates electrical death. Did I miss anything?”

Skylar punched him in the shoulder. “Not what I meant.”

“Well one seems to be attuned more to fire, and the other to water,” Raymond offered.

“With electrical properties,” Skylar added. “Like a bio-electrical tesla coil.”

“The female of the species is larger than the male,” MacPherson said.

“She’s going to eat him,” Devonte said breathlessly.

“What?” Skylar asked, taken aback. Her eyes widened. “She’s going to eat him!”

“Pardon my what the fuck,” Brannigan said, “but what the fuck?”

Devonte gestured to Skylar to let her speak. “The sexual dimorphism.”

“Is that some fetish only giant monsters can have?” Brannigan asked.

“No,” Skylar said, rolling her eyes, “it’s the differences between the two. Remember, they’re the same species, but they have a drastically different physiology.”

“Oh, yeah, yeah…I follow.” Brannigan looked to Devonte for an explanation. The latter just pointed back to Skylar.

“And in almost every species where we see a bigger female in a sexually dimorphic pair,” Devonte added, “she eats her mate.”

“I thought that was limited to insects,” Raymond interjected, “these are…reptiles?”

“That’s what we assumed until recently,” Skylar said, “but we also have seen this behavior in Anacondas. They release pheromones to attract a mate, do the nasty, and then she eats him.”

“Oh my god,” Brannigan said, “she literally called him over for dinner.”

The general cleared her throat.

“Sorry,” Brannigan said, “but this is good for us, right? One less monster to deal with, and I’m sure she’ll be in for a nice nap after chowing down on sixty meters of monster man meat, right?”

“The nutrients taken in from eating him may trigger the birth of the offspring,” Skylar said.

“Maybe the babies aren’t as tough as their mother?” Brannigan offered.

“I suppose it’s possible that the scales may not fully harden, but—”

“Then that’s a thing we can use, right?” Brannigan interrupted.

“General, there’s activity on Alcatraz Island,” one of the communication officers shouted.

“On screen,” the general said.

Interlude III

Hunger. Gnawing, scraping, clawing. She feels it. Not just hers, but her children’s. Throbbing, scared, alive. She needs to feed. Her skin burns from the tiny creatures’ fire, but that will fade. The pain always fades. The hunger will not.

Her mate calls out to her. She regards him warily. She called him to her, but…hungry. Food. She feels herself begin to salivate. Hunger. She lets out a weak cry in response to his. He seems