Blood Cruise: A Deep Sea Thriller (4 page)

7.

“Tank is secure, sir,” a man said as he stepped onto the bridge. “No sign of the creature, though. Should we be worried?”

“Should we, Doc?” Wagner asked Dr. Glouster. “You said it was naturally shy, but you’d think we’d have a glimpse by now.” Wagner scratched at his chin. “Please tell me I didn’t kill a ship full of people over a diversion.”

“The creature is in the tank,” Dr. Glouster said. “I will be happy to show you, if you’d like.”

“By show me, you mean you’ll coax it out into the open?” Wagner laughed. “Not shove me in the tank so the thing eats me, right? Because that’s not how I plan on going out.”

“Do any of us get to plan our leaving this world?” Dr. Glouster asked.

“More than you think,” Wagner said. “Come on, Doc. Time to see proof of purchase.”

Dr. Glouster gave the man a strained smile and nodded.

It took them a long while to navigate down the decks, through the passageways, and past the crew, the majority of which were heavily armed, before they came to a door that was certainly unlike the others.

“It looks like a vault,” Dr. Glouster said.

“It is a vault,” Wagner responded. “This ship was originally designed by the US government to transport important, sensitive cargo. NCDC gave it a few upgrades and offered it to me to use if needed. I figured this was the perfect op for it.”

“NCDC?” Dr. Glouster asked.

“What? Oh, yes, my employers,” Wagner said as he keyed in a code and then spun the huge wheel in the center of the vault door. “I didn’t mention that?”

“New Century Defense Corp?” Dr. Glouster asked. “I should have known Agnes was behind this.”

“Agnes? Huh, sounds like you have history with NCDC’s CEO,” Wagner said as he pulled the door open. “Step back, Doc. This door is heavy and I’d hate for you to stub your toe.”

A ring of armed men circled the massive tank that filled the vault almost to the walls on each side. Dr. Glouster looked up and was not surprised to see a barred hatch in the ceiling where they had lowered the tank through. He studied the walls of the vault, noticing the complete and total lack of seams, vents, or any signs of how the space was put together.

“A single, solid piece of metal,” Wagner said before Dr. Glouster could ask. “Micro holes are everywhere for ventilation. Power is through surface conduction. No conduits.”

“Then how did you plug in the tank?” Dr. Glouster asked.

“Oh, I had the adapters ready for months, Doc,” Wagner said. “Getting information on the creature wasn’t easy, but finding out the schematics to the tank was. It’s why I jumped ship.” He laughed at his own pun. “OAS is sloppy. NCDC is not. The team that designed this vault stopped breathing the second they said the job was done.”

“You have no problem with murder, do you?” Dr. Glouster asked. “All of the needless death and blood? For what? Profit?”

“You’re getting boring, Doc,” Wagner said. “How about you knock off the holier than thou crap and show me the goods?”

Dr. Glouster began to respond then shook his head and stepped towards the tank. One of the guards handed him a tablet and Dr. Glouster looked surprised then swiped the screen to see a familiar interface.

“I see you had no problem recreating the software interface,” Dr. Glouster said.

“Like I said, Doc, OAS is sloppy,” Wagner said and shrugged. “I copied your tablet exactly. Except for the tracking software embedded. That I left off so OAS can’t find us. Otherwise, that tablet is basically the same as the one I made you leave behind.”

Dr. Glouster studied the tablet for a minute and made sure it was the exact interface he needed. As far as he could tell, it was a perfect duplicate of the one he had used on the old ship.

He tapped at the screen a few times and the water darkened considerably.

“That doesn’t make it easier to see, Doc,” Wagner warned. “You’re getting more boring.”

“I have made it so the inside of the tank is reflective and no longer showing us out here,” Dr. Glouster said. “I have also darkened the interior since the creature prefers to be more active in the evenings. It is a natural state for its species.”

“Good for you,” Wagner said. “So where is it?”

“Just wait,” Dr. Glouster said. “It will come out. This is the normal protocol during feeding time. It will expect to be fed and should appear any second now.”

The interior of the saltwater tank held a perfect replica of the ancient volcanic rock that made up much of the Pacific Northwest coast line. Plenty of hiding places for a sea creature that preferred to stay out of sight.

After a couple of minutes, and some low grumbling from Wagner, there was the hint of movement at the back of the tank. Dr. Glouster continued to tap at the tablet then frowned.

“The food chute?” Dr. Glouster asked. “You didn’t connect the food chute?”

“Food chute?” Wagner asked. “That wasn’t in the schematics.”

“You didn’t think that would be an issue?” Dr. Glouster snapped. “That maybe we would need to feed the creature?”

“I don’t know, Doc,” Wagner said. “I figured you opened the top and tossed in some canned tuna or something.”

“You are well aware it does not eat canned tuna,” Dr. Glouster said.

“Yeah, I’m well aware of that. I’m just messing with you,” Wagner said. “We couldn’t accommodate a food chute in this vault. You’re going to have to go all Sea World and throw its meal in from above.”

He snapped his fingers and two of the guards hurried from the vault. They returned in a couple of minutes with a cage that held a live goat. The goat bleated and complained as the guards wheeled the cage closer to the tank, its animal instinct telling it that things were not as they should be.

“I have never fed it goats before,” Dr. Glouster said. “Only pigs.”

“Yeah, I know,” Wagner said and frowned. “And this is the one detail I’ll admit I screwed up. But, unfortunately, I couldn’t supervise this detail myself and had to rely on others to get it done. Looks like some dipshit thinks a goat is the same as a pig.”

“A goat is not the same as a pig,” Dr. Glouster snapped. “Pigs blood is very similar to human blood. Goat’s blood is not. I certainly hope the creature does not get offended at the meal offered to it. I have been very, very careful to maintain the proper diet since it is crucial to the overall mission of this project.”

“I’ve got goat,” Wagner said. That was all he said no matter how much Dr. Glouster glared.

“Fine,” Dr. Glouster huffed. “Goat will have to do.”

“Good to hear it,” Wagner said. “Now, where is the thing?”

“You are looking right at it,” Dr. Glouster said.

“Yeah, I don’t see shit,” Wagner replied. “Thought I saw something in the back, but I don’t see anything but rocks right now.”

“You believe you see rocks,” Dr. Glouster said. “Which is exactly as it should be. The creature is up against the glass on the bottom left of the tank.”

“Bullshit,” Wagner said. “I’ve got good eyes, Doc. Trained eyes. Eyes that notice things a freakin’ hawk would overlook. There is nothing…there…”

As the guards hooked cables to the top of the goat cage and it was raised into the air, there was a brief shimmer and flash from the spot Dr. Glouster had indicated. Wagner stepped forward, but Dr. Glouster placed a hand on his arm. The man glared at the hand, glared at Dr. Glouster, but the hand remained in place.

“Do not present yourself as an optional target,” Dr. Glouster said, turning to the other men in the vault. “That goes for all of you, as well. Remain still as the cage is lowered into the tank.”

“Thought you said it wouldn’t see us?” Wagner asked.

“There are more senses than sight,” Dr. Glouster replied.

The cage hung over the tank then was slowly lowered until it rested on the top. Dr. Glouster took a deep breath and tapped at the tablet. The sound of something sliding open echoed in the vault and the bottom of the goat cage opened up. The goat fell screaming into the tank and was lost from sight.

“Where the hell did it go?” Wagner asked. “Where the hell is the goat?”

“The creature took it,” Dr. Glouster said as the empty cage was swung out and away, then lowered, the bottom snapping back in place as it touched down on the vault floor. “Look closely and you will catch glimpses as it feeds.”

“How the hell can it hide a goat?” Wagner asked.

“The creature’s natural ability to mimic its surroundings means that anything wrapped up in its arms will be almost impossible to detect,” Dr. Glouster said.

“That goat was four feet tall, Doc,” Wagner said. “Your creature would need to be what, twenty feet long to hide something that size?”

“The creature’s mantle is eight feet long by four feet wide with an arm span of thirty-eight feet,” Dr. Glouster said proudly. “As far as we, I mean, as far as I can estimate, it weighs close to three hundred pounds. Hiding a goat of that size is not an issue. Especially once you consider the size of the web between the arms. It could envelop you, Mr. Wagner, and no one would even know.”

There was some thrashing in the water and Wagner took a couple of steps back. Dr. Glouster tapped at his tablet then looked up in alarm.

“The hatch is not locked!” Dr. Glouster shouted. “Why won’t it lock?”

“Your tank, Doc,” Wagner said, taking another step back. “You lock it.”

“Your damn interface!” Dr. Glouster shouted as he waved the tablet at Wagner. “I never had this issue in my own lab!”

“Lock it down!” Wagner shouted as he pointed at three of the guards. “Get your asses up there and make sure that hatch is secure! Now!”

The three guards stared at the tank, none moving. Wagner withdrew a pistol from the holster on his hip, stepped up to one of the guards, and placed the muzzle against the man’s temple.

“Who do you fear most? That thing or me?” Wagner asked. “Get up there now.”

The other two guards scrambled to a ladder propped against the wall and set it up against the tank. The third guard waited until Wagner had removed the pistol before hustling over to the ladder and joining his comrades.

The first man to the top screamed and disappeared instantly.

“Oh God,” Dr. Glouster said. “The hatch is fully open.”

“Shit,” Wagner cursed. “Lock it the hell down now!”

The two other guards scrambled to the center of the tank and dove at the hatch. The first man to reach it was able to pull it halfway across before he was snatched away, lost in the murky waters of the tank. The last guard left grabbed the hatch and slammed it closed. The hatch bent upwards suddenly and the man was lifted a foot in the air. He screamed like a teenager, his voice cracking with pure fear.

“Get up there and help him!” Wagner ordered.

The remainder of the guards climbed the ladder and all put their weight on the hatch, pulling it back to keep it closed, while Dr. Glouster furiously tapped at his tablet.

“Doc? Making any progress?” Wagner asked, his pistol still out and pointed directly at the tank.

“I am trying, Mr. Wagner,” Dr. Glouster said.

A man’s face was pressed against the glass, his dead eyes bulging in their sockets. The head was pulled back into the shadows then thrust forward with enough force to shatter the skull, sending blood and brains leaking out into the tank’s water. Dark clouds floated up from the crushed head and Wagner glared.

“That was Henricksen,” Wagner said. “He was a good man.”

“I highly doubt any of your men could be described as good considering the line of work they are in,” Dr. Glouster said.

“What did I say about the holier than thou crap, Doc?” Wagner snarled. “Keep it to yourself.”

There was a loud whirring and a distinctive thunk then click. Dr. Glouster let out a long breath and lowered the tablet to his side.

“It is locked down and secure,” Dr. Glouster said. “I had to reroute two systems and override your security protocol to do it, but it is done. The creature will not be able to harm anyone else.”

“That’s good to hear,” Wagner said, letting out his own long breath. “Now, what do we do about the bodies in the tank?”

“The creature will take care of them,” Dr. Glouster said. “While it primarily drinks blood, it will also strip the bones of the flesh and eat that as well. It may even pulverize the bones if it gets bored. Their uniforms are another issue. You will need to figure out how to remove them so they do not clog the filtration system. I’ll leave it to you to come up with a solution.”

“Nope,” Wagner said, holstering his pistol and clamping a hand on Dr. Glouster’s shoulder. “You’ll figure it out. I didn’t spare your life so I end up doing the janitorial work, Doc. You can direct my men how you need, but you don’t leave this vault until all the bugs are worked out.”

Wagner walked to the door and patted the huge locking mechanism.

“This room may be nearly impenetrable, but that thing in there is not a natural part of this world,” Wagner said. “Which means there are variables. You will remove as many variables as humanly possible.” He smiled. “Then you’ll remove the rest that aren’t humanly possible. Are we understood, Doc?”