The Lord of the Plains (48 page)

That same afternoon the submariners were
gathered for the announcement.

Crews were assembled and the mission plan
was laid out. The submariners would lead the attack. On the surface
the supply ships would be waiting in case anyone needed
rescuing.

They’d be leaving to destroy Molk in the
morning two days hence.

The bayside area was closed off. Restaurants
were shut up. The ships and subs that weren’t going out were
tightly secured or beached.

And Coastside waited.

It was dim inside the submarine.

Outside the windows the underwater world was
still. The other subs were hard to see, but they knew they were
there. And they showed up on the sonar.

They expected to meet Molk in forty five
minutes. The atmosphere was not yet tense inside the submarine.
They’d done this before.

Vann turned to his captain, Captain Garis
Endis. He was older than Vann, though still young by shore
standards. He was, as always, standing in the centre of the command
room. His feet apart, hands on his hips as he surveyed his domain
with a hawk like gaze.

‘Captain, I have something for you.’

‘Hm? What is it?’

Vann grinned as he handed the object to the
Captain.

‘A helmet?’ The Captain sounded
surprised.

‘Yes, sir, I had it made.’ There were no
sharp edges inside the sub. The crew members with positions that
didn’t require moving were belted to their chairs or attached near
their post. The belts and ropes could be detached quickly and
easily should the need arise. If the fastenings failed to open the
submariners also carried knives. There were also a lot of
submariners not attached to anything- the Captain and Second were
just two of those. Vann knew from experience how difficult it was
to hold onto one of the many hand holds when a long tail decided to
play ball with your sub. Yet the Square had decided against helmets
as it didn’t fit with the submariners’ image.

‘Well, why don’t you take it?’ The Captain
asked.

‘Because if anything happened to you
I’d
be in charge.’

‘Well,’ he donned the helmet, ‘alright.’

There were some laughs from the crew at the
sight of their captain in a padded leather helmet.

The minutes drifted by. Every now and then
they’d see a fish person but other than that the ocean was
surprisingly free of monsters.

Vann noticed it. The crew noticed it. They
didn’t mention it.

As they got closer to the forty five minute
mark more fish people swam by them. They stopped, pointed in the
direction of Molk and swam on.

Molk came into view slowly. Vann recognized
it first as he knew what to look for. To the others, something that
big couldn’t be a gemeng. It had to be something else. A cliff
face. A coral outcropping. A trick of the light.

Weapons Officer Davi had to stop himself
from firing all weapons as that
thing
came into view. His
hands were trembling on his controls. His heart beat frantically.
Sweat was sliding down his forehead.

They couldn’t fight it, they couldn’t fight
it, they couldn’t fight it-

Someone’s hand was on his shoulder. ‘Hmm, I
thought it would be bigger.’

Davi couldn’t help laughing at the absurdity
of that. He looked up at Second Hilyard.

He was gazing out the porthole window, the
picture of unruffled calm.

Vann was always calm. If the sub was leaking
and you were surrounded by hungry splitters and out of delay bombs,
Vann was calm.

Davi’s breathing eased. He looked back out
the window. ‘Really, sir?’

‘I’m afraid we’ll have to exaggerate now
when we’re telling this story.’

‘It doesn’t have many claws either, sir. We
should probably add some.’

In fact, it looked like nothing so much as a
really,
really
big snake. The thought calmed Davi.

‘Are you ready to kill this thing, Officer
Davi?’

‘Yes, sir, ready to go.’ Davi felt his
confidence leaking back in.

Vann’s hand disappeared.

Davi turned all his attention back to Molk.
He was ready. It wasn’t even that big.

‘Are the others in position?’ Davi heard
Captain Endis ask.

‘Yes, sir.’ That was the communications
officer. ‘We’re ready to move in.’

‘Ok, now somebody please tell me which way
this thing’s head is.’

Orders were flying. They didn’t involve
Davi, not yet.

They got closer. Davi couldn’t make out the
other subs, even now. But he knew they would be there, and closer
than they were. He considered the possibility one of the others
would get this thing before they could.

Molk was undulating. Davi didn’t know if
that was how it moved or not. It was so big Davi couldn’t actually
tell if it was going anywhere.

‘Sir, sir, the
Deathtrap
! It’s gone
into a roll. The
Widowmaker
now too, and the
Last
Breath!’
The comm officer was crying, panic leaking into his
voice.

’What happened, Officer? They weren’t hit.
They’re still too far away!’ the Captain demanded.

‘It’s its size, Captain.’ That was Vann.
Vann’s voice seemed to cut through the rising tension and defuse
it. ‘It’s so big it’s making waves just by moving. It doesn’t need
to hit us.’

‘You may be right, Second. Helmsman, try to
keep us out of its wake.’

‘Yes, sir!’

‘We need to get closer. We’re going to have
a rough ride. Comm, alert the crew.’

Davi knew that speakers throughout the sub
would be alerting the rest of the crew to the situation.

‘Do the subs need assistance?’ The Captain
asked the communications officer after the message to the crew was
delivered.

It took a moment for him to respond.
‘
Deathtrap
sprung a leak. It’s heading back but they don’t
need assistance.
Widowmaker
and
Last Breath
are
reapproaching Molk now sir.’

‘Must be a big bloody leak to head back.’
Somebody muttered.

‘Perhaps Captain Belig lost his nerve.’
Somebody else added.

‘
Deathtrap’s
the new sub.’ The
Captain was saying conversationally, ‘and I heard nothing but
praise for it after its last outing.’

‘It was out for repairs.’ Vann replied. ‘I
didn’t think it would come on this mission.’

‘It can hold twice as many bombs as the
older models.’ Davi piped up.

‘Yes but Masann can’t hit anything.’ Another
man added, referring to the weapons officer on board the
Deathtrap
. ‘That’s why they
need
all those
bombs.’

There was some laughter at that.

They were getting closer. The sub shook and
rumbled, but it didn’t roll. Davi didn’t wonder how close the
Widowmaker
had been when it rolled.

Molk was so big, it was hard to tell how far
they were.

Then Molk’s movements changed. Suddenly a
coil jerked towards them.

Captain Endis was yelling at the helm to
move
! Davi couldn’t see what was happening. Then the whole
world started shaking. His stomach was upside down. He couldn’t
make sense of what he was seeing, everything was chaos.

It took him a moment to realize what was
happening. And he had a moment. He had quite a few of them as the
sub rolled, tumbling through the ocean like a feather in a
tornado.

He could see the Second and the Captain
clinging to the handholds. They were getting bashed around as the
sub turned, but it would be worse, so much
worse
if they let
go!

‘Steady us, helm, STEADY US!’ the Captain
was screaming at the helmsman.

It seemed to go on
and on.
And then
it slowed…stopped.

It took Davi a moment to realise they’d
stopped rolling. But he’d felt that before. He was a submariner. He
gathered himself and looked down at his control panel. It took him
a few seconds to realize what it all meant.

‘Comm, how’s the rest of the crew?’ Vann was
asking.

‘J-just getting reports now sir. So far
nothing except bruises.’

‘Everyone all right here?’ Captain Endis
asked.

There was a chorus of ‘yes sir!’

‘I want to know what just happened. And find
out about the other subs.’

‘A wave sir,’ the helmsman said. ‘I’m sorry
sir, it changed direction.’

‘Alright. Keep heading towards the head.
Keep your distance.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Sir,’ the comm said, his voice trembling,
‘
Death Wish
got hit.’

‘And?’

‘B-broke sir.’

‘It broke?’

‘Split near all the way round.’ There was
buzzing from his station. ‘
Last Breath
is leaking badly.
It’s heading back,
Widowmaker
is giving assistance. And… I
think everyone got rolled.’

’How far is
Death
Wish?’

‘On the other side of Molk, sir.’

Too far to help. They knew that. They all
knew the positions the subs were to take.

‘Very well.’

Broke.

‘Get us to its mouth, helmsman.’

But subs went down all the time.

It was time to focus.

Minutes ticked by. Every now and then the
sub would shake. The comm was silent.

Minutes ticked by.

And then the expanse that was Molk began
rounding. It took Davi a moment to realize they’d come to the
head.

‘Ready the delay bombs.’ The Captain
said.

‘Ready, sir.’ Davi’s hands were steady and
sure as they moved across the control panel. Inside he was
trembling with excitement.

The expanse began turning faster and faster.
Davi was ready, he was
ready
, when the sub shook and
jerked.

‘Hold it!’

‘I can’t sir, it’s moving!’

Its head was looking at them. It didn’t have
claws but in that mouth were enough teeth to make up for it. They
were like jagged rocks hanging from a cave mouth.

‘Fire! Then move us away!’

It was coming closer. Davi fired. He
did.

But it was so
fast
. The teeth were
gone. There was a horrible tearing sound from somewhere within the
sub. Davi was pushed back against his chair so hard he blacked
out.

When he awoke it was only a few seconds
later though it seemed like an eternity. The world had gone
mad.

Lights were flashing, alarms were
screaming.

He saw the Captain. He was clinging to the
command room door. How had he got all the way back there?

Davi couldn’t control his movements. He was
at the mercy at whatever was spinning them so
badly.
He saw
Vann, clinging to the railing near the Captain’s usual post.

He felt a moment of surprise even as he was
flung sideways. Vann was moving up the railing hand over hand,
towards the helmsman.

What was the helmsman doing? He wondered.
Flung sideways again.

The helmsman and the comm were lolling in
their seats like lifeless dolls. What had happened there?

Flung another way.

Someone was screaming at him.

‘Davi!’

How could he hear him above all this
horrible noise?

‘Davi, are you ready?!’

Flung another way.

What was Vann doing in the helmsman’s seat?
How had he gotten all the way over there?

The sub jerked. For a moment it felt like
the sub steadied a bit.

Then Davi was flung forward. He saw Molk.
Teeth. Mouth.

‘DAVI!’

FIRE!

He didn’t know how, but he did it.
Everything gone, all at once, into that mouth.

The sub jerked sideways.

Those TEETH! Filling all the windows.
Bigger, BIGGER!

He realized he was screaming at the
helm!

He saw Vann, he was crumpled up to the side.
What was he doing there? Who was at the helm?!

Another horrifying, stomach turning,
jerk.

Those teeth were yanked away from the
window.