The Reef (52 page)

‘Right,’ Jella said. ‘I can see the first of the survivors coming now.’ She pointed to a small boat that approached the shore. When it was closer, she could see there were over a dozen men crammed on board. ‘We’d better be quick about this, then we have to find that fucking giant and bait it.’

‘Jella, after seeing that thing, do you
really
think it’s going to want to eat only a couple of whales?’ Menz said. ‘Fucking hell,’ Jella said. ‘Have some fucking confidence. Look, concentrate on those people, okay?’

‘How can I?’ Menz said. ‘I can’t have faith in a plan I doubt.’

‘Look,’ Jella said. ‘If you’re not going to be any use, get back on the fucking boat. Now.’

‘Jella, we need all the help we can get,’ Lula said. She hated to see her lover like this, angry, frustrated. She knew that their plans would go wrong if they got angry.

‘No, if she wants me to go, I’ll go,’ Menz said.

‘If you’re going, I want out too,’ Yayle said.

Jella was furious at this attitude, this abandonment now. ‘Fucking bastards! Why the hell bailout? What the fuck for?’

‘I never saw it’s power before-I never knew just how big it was,’ Menz said. ‘Do you really think we can keep such a thing like that under control? No. But look, the tidal wave will cause quite some damage. That’s enough, I think. It would’ve killed enough. With that thing free in the waters, it’ll do more damage around these seas, and who knows, maybe it’ll get to Escha. But we can go back, no? Make more plans.’

‘Fuck you,’ Jella said. ‘Get on the boat. Lula and me-we’ll finish them off.’

‘Right,’ Menz said. ‘We’ll swim. You can use the boat once you’ve had enough of killing.’

Menz and Yayle crawled along the rocks then down the other side. They placed their diving gear on, crept out towards their boat.

Lula turned to Jella. ‘That wasn’t particularly wise, was it?’ Jella seemed not to react to her question. Perhaps it didn’t need an answer. Perhaps Jella knew that what she’d done was wrong.

Jella placed her musket through a gap in the rocks and aimed it at the boat. As it reached the beach, a couple of the men jumped out into the shallow water. Jella fired, a crack shattering the air, and one man fell to his knees, then forwards into the water.

Jella smiled as the men jumped out of the boat ran for cover, kicking their knees high to get out of the shallow water. Lula fired: another fell over the boat. They both fired again and two more fell over the edge of the boat as they tried to get out. Jella could hear them kicking the water to run away. She and Lula climbed down the rocks and threw one of the grenades towards the boat. She watched it explode in a plume of water, leaving no one on the boat in once piece. They knelt by the base of the rocks on the sand, fired at those who were running. There were seven men on the beach, sprinting towards the forest for cover. Jella fired and missed three times before striking another, this time in the head, and he fell backwards onto the sand in a spray of blood.

Lula held Jella back as the rumel stood up. ‘No, they have cover now. We must be careful.’

‘Come on, we can take them,’ Jella said.

A shot sparked off of the rock behind, followed by four more.

‘Fuck, get down,’ Lula said, and sprawled in the sand. She looked back towards the forest, but couldn’t see where the shots came from. Still looking at the trees, Lula said, ‘Jella, let’s get to the boat now. We still have a chance to get back and bait that Quidlo at least.’

Jella stared back at her, her eyes wide and full of pain. She was holding her stomach. Lula could see blood pouring from between her grey fingers.

‘No. No, no. Jella, are you okay?’ ‘Yes ...’ Jella said. ‘I’ll be fine. I can still shoot. You get back to the boat. I’ll hold it here.’ ‘No, I’m not going,’ Lula said. ‘I’m the better markswoman. I can get them.’

‘There’ll be more after this lot. Get to the boat.’

‘No, I’m not going,’ Lula said.

Another spark flared off of the rock. Lula knelt up, fired, but she did not aim anywhere specifically. While she reloaded, Jella sat up, her back against the rock. She brought out two pistols from within her breeches.

‘I can hold them,’ Jella said.

‘I’m not going,’ Lula said.

‘Go.’

‘No,I love you too much to just leave you here to die.’

‘Lula,just fucking go will you.’

‘Why?’ Lula stood up and fired where she saw a face in the trees.

She heard a scream then reloaded.

‘Look,’ Jella said, ‘I never liked you that much. I only wanted you for sex and because you were an easy target when I found you, and then I found out how good you were at shooting. Don’t hang around for me, because it isn’t worth it, believe me.’

Lula stared at Jella, who was loading her pistol again. Why was she saying this? Was it true? It was amazing how quickly something could be shattered. Lula felt sick, refusing to believe what was being said.

The rumel looked up. ‘You heard me.’

‘I don’t believe you,’ Lula said.

‘Your call. Don’t die because of a fuck buddy.’

The word stung aggressively, and was something she couldn’t acknowledge. They had a relationship, they had shared so much. ‘I wasn’t a fuck buddy. I was much more and you know it.’ Lula’s voice was frail.

Jella laughed. ‘Get the hell out of here, fuck buddy.’ She fired towards the forest, the shot echoing across the bay, then she screamed, ‘Come on, I’ll take you all!’ She began to laugh then stopped, and stared into the distance.

Lula was no longer able to see effectively because of the tears welling in her eyes. She would be no good at firing now. Considering the words Jella had just spoken, she walked away, all the time looking back.

Jella turned back and saw that Lula was climbing up over the rocks.

Her throat felt thick. She looked down at her wound then at her ammunition. She had a plenty of shots left, could finish the job. She reloaded, tried to remember how many there were. She thought there were two left. She reached in her pocket and brought out her last grenade, then looked towards the forest, watched the palms moving.

A face moved within the darkness and she pulled the pin and threw the grenade as hard as she could. It exploded in the forest, sending shards of wood and leaves onto the beach, but she saw the faces running either side so she fired. One of the men fell out onto the beach, then she waited for the other.

She reached for the musket on the sand beside her, loaded then crawled behind one of the lower rocks, pushed herself up over it. She had cover and the survivor would try to come for her.

There were no more boats at sea. She hoped she could kill more people, more survivors. There were pieces of wood, several barrels floating in the shallow water. She held the musket up over the rock, looked along the barrel through the sight. She scanned the forest, heard another shot, which struck the rock beside her. She saw where it came from and, on seeing a small tree moving against the wind, fired.

She watched a man fall through the leaves onto the beach.

She sighed, pushed herself to her feet, the wound causing her a stiffness inside. She stumbled towards the forest. If she was shot at then there would be more of them-that insane decision was all she had left to ascertain the situation.

There were no further shots. She checked the other bodies. She placed a pistol in the mouth of any that were still alive, and forced their eyes open as she pulled the trigger. Everyone she killed was with her city of Lucher in mind, an obscene offering to her past.

After she had counted all the dead, she fell to her knees then sat down on the beach. Out to sea, her boat was drifting away. She swallowed hard as she remembered Lula. She looked at her wound. She felt numbed to the pain. For some minutes she checked, but there were no more navy survivors.

It was the right thing to do, about Lula,
she thought.
How else was I to make her go away? She needed that kick. I saved her. Now they can go on and finish the job. They can sail with the whale overboard and drag Quidlo back to Escha. It’ll be like catnip to a pussy. It’s easy,
so
simple. Then it can destroy the coast. I did it. I got some revenge. Lucher got one back. And at least I killed some Eschans.

They’ll be safe with Allocen on board, protecting them. I’ve done my job. We’ve all done our jobs. It was worth it. Hopefully I can heal. I can somehow get back. I’ll catch fish or something, there’ll be enough to keep me alive. Then I’ll get back. It’s easy. I’ll make a boat from whatever gets washed up here.

She fell flat on the sand clutching her stomach. She tried to lift her head, but her neck was in pain so she laid on the soft sand. Shuddering, she listened to the waves repeating, lapping nearer her feet on each push. It soothed her, despite the pain, which she felt stronger than ever.

The sky was the sharpest shade of blue. Overhead, gulls circled, and she could hear the palms swaying. In the distance, a strange animal croaked, but she couldn’t recognise it.

Then, she heard something else that she didn’t recognise, except this time she wanted to lift her head. She couldn’t describe the sound. She pushed herself up onto her elbows and looked out to sea. Vision was hazy.

As Jella focussed, she did not believe what she saw.

In front of her in the shallow water, were over a dozen heads and shoulders above the surface, with pale skin and long hair. She knew they were females, but not what they were. They were spaced several feet apart and were motionless. The waves rolled past them towards her. She couldn’t explain why, but she thought they were beautiful and it was the last thing she saw before she closed her eyes and collapsed to the sand.

The sirens turned one by one to move further out to the deeper water, then dived under the sea in unison. Below the surface were dozens more of their kind, hovering in the half-light. They swam out to sea until the temperature fell quickly. More joined them until over a hundred sirens had gathered. They glided through the water in neat rows, following in each other’s jet-stream. The sirens kicked their tails hard to descend. Those at the front called out and listened, steered the group up into warmer currents to travel quickly. As they looked up they could see the light of day filtering through. They had never swum so fast in their lives and they could feel the water pushing hard against their skins.

They sliced through the sea for what seemed like an endless amount of time, their long hair stretched out behind. The females climbed as they felt a change in the water, and that was when they knew it was near. They could feel Quidlo’s drag, then quickened their pace, spread over a wider area, kicking past skates and rays.

At the front she could see the tentacle, thick, long, extending into the darkness ahead, where its body was too far away to be seen. She screamed through the water, called for columns of sirens to swim ahead, into the dark, to the other side of Quidlo. Sirens whistled past, their gills pulsating, whilst a dozen more stayed behind the squid. Then those behind prepared to sing through the water.

Several sirens lingered on each side of Quidlo, and maintained the same pace as the beast, following its drag. She could see segments of coral still attached to the thick hide, whilst more females sliced through the water up ahead. She heard the voices of her kind and they, too, called out. Ahead, sirens by the beast’s head sang, low-pitched, a frequency they had never sung for an age, and they hit the same chord.

Quidlo slowed down, its tentacles began to shudder, the ends flapping. Sirens had to swim back to avoid being struck. Muscles vibrated under its hide. The squid halted in the water, hovered in the gloom, before it slid down towards the colder water, and the same notes were maintained, an ultra-Iow chord, halting the beast, until half the sirens changed pitch, climbing scales and octaves by the fathom. Everything in the water began to shudder.

The sirens surrounded Quidlo over hundreds of feet, and dragged it down with their voices, and they could see that its muscles vibrated more, visibly shaking the water, until they struck the highest note they knew of. The creature’s eyes closed, then the squid collapsed on itself, folded in, rapidly, emitted a bass groan, then turned and fell down through the water, and the sirens kicked up, away from the drag towards the light, and looked down until the beast had descended into black and the water was calm.

The hundred sirens stopped singing, reformed in a huddle. Their heads were hung low. Some of them held each other for minutes. Tuna swam past them, but they did not look up. One by one they turned, looking down all the time, and dragged themselves through the water and back the way they came. The sea was silent and there was too much salt in the water for their tears to be noticed by anyone but themselves.

Of course, she knew it was only stunned. For how long, she didn’t know. It was sad to have to do that-they couldn’t kill this ancient beast. A new reef would have to be built. They would have to sink more ships, regain more of the surface metal. It would take forever. She had no idea how far they were from the islands. Perhaps they were nearer the mainland? How would they breed? Questions floated through her mind.

They would have to start all over again.