“Why does it do that?”
“Because it knows that humans see better in the daytime, so it feels it is better to hide its enormous bulk until the night comes, then it goes up to the surface to replenish its oxygen and hunt for food.”
“So it knows how people would react to it?”
“Of course, it is also part human, you know. Even more so since—”
The sonar readings on the console began beeping incessantly, and the monitor screen now showed what looked to be hundreds of rendered particles in chaotic swirls. Liger cursed as the seemingly endless schools of shrimp began to appear by the floodlights, further obscuring the waters around them.
Pushing up the throttle controls, Liger muttered additional curses as the Deep Dog’s thrusters sputtered. The submersible’s propellers were finding it hard to churn through the near solid masses of krill, and the entire vehicle began to shake slightly.
Liger grimaced. “Bloody hell! If this keeps up we won’t be able to move at all.”
Yamamoto couldn’t help but be mesmerized as the transparent bubble he was sitting in became engulfed in the horde of small crustaceans just beyond the transparent cockpit. “Fascinating. This behavior… is unprecedented.”
“You call this fascinating? What the hell is going on?”
Yamamoto rubbed his grizzled chin. “I… I believe this is the doing of the kaiju.”
“What?”
“Yes. It seems… this organism has found a way to… either control or shepherd much smaller versions of its kind.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“I am not. I wonder how this kaiju could even do it. The organism must use some sort of seaborne chemical or other means to attract all these shrimp. Yes, I must do more experimentation once we’ve captured it. This is an ability I never even considered.”
“Why would it be doing this?”
Yamamoto gave a slow nod. “It… it must use these shrimp as a sort of cover. These little swarms are interfering with our sonar, yes?”
“Yes, the sonar is effectively blind,” Liger admitted. “All we’ve got now is our eyes, and with the sea being this dark, our visibility is down to a few meters in front of us. With all these shrimp, I can’t get much throttle out of the Deep Dog either—we’re as slow as a turtle right now.”
“What a big, clever kaiju this is.”
“If you don’t think of something fast, we’ll be mincemeat.”
Yamamoto leaned forward and looked at the control panel. “Do we have any additional lights, like specialized ones?”
“We’ve got infrared lights, but I don’t see how that would help us.”
“Turn them on. Also, rise to the surface and tell the work barge to go to full speed.”
Liger activated the Deep Dog’s ballast tanks, and the submersible quickly rose to the surface while turning on the infrared strobes. The antenna behind the cockpit quickly extended, and they were able to establish radio communications with the work barge once more. Activating the microphone, Liger gave orders for the rig to begin moving again. In less than fifteen minutes, the swarms of shrimp began to thin out.
“Bugger me,” Liger said. “Your solutions actually work, but how?”
“Shrimp will attract and repel others of their kind using fluorescent color displays,” Yamamoto explained. “By combining the infrared lights with the normal ones, it seems we created a sort of signal to them. I’m beginning to understand how this kaiju operates. It must use the same sort of bio-communication to draw these swarms to us.”
“I’m getting optimum thruster power once more. So now what?”
Yamamoto adjusted his glasses while continuing to look below. “I think I see something. Take us lower.”
“Past the lights? Are you sure?”
“Yes. Do it!”
Gritting his teeth, Liger aimed the control stick downwards and filled the ballast tanks with seawater. The Deep Dog made a quick descent, past the illuminated under-section of the barge, and into the darkened waters.
The front of the submersible was now facing straight down as Yamamoto tried to discern something in the inky blackness ahead of them. “Do you see that?”
“I don’t see anything.”
Yamamoto’s eyes widened as he saw brief flashes of bluish bioluminescence out in the distance. He pointed towards it with his right index finger. “There, did you see that?”
“No.”
“Let’s get a little closer.”
Shaking his head slowly from side to side, Liger pushed the throttles a bit more to make the Deep Dog descend another ten meters. Tense minutes passed, and he could sense the risks multiplying, dramatically lessening his chances of staying alive.
As both men looked on, a sudden, brief surge of bluish lights erupted from something huge, just ahead of them. Liger quickly pulled up on the control stick and applied maximum throttle, in addition to emptying out the ballast tanks. The Deep Dog narrowly avoided being caught by a giant, transparent raptorial claw.
“Get back up, get back up!” Yamamoto exclaimed.
Beads of sweat ran down the top of Liger’s head as the Deep Dog struggled to get away from the creature now pursuing them. The added ascent speed due to the submersible’s positive buoyancy greatly aided them as the once distant lights coming from the floating rig loomed larger, like a beacon of life beckoning at them.
Yamamoto looked at the rear video feed from a side monitor. The creature was right behind them. He hoped that the crew on the barge above were ready, or else he had a feeling that he would never get out of the water alive.
50
SANDOR SAT INSIDE THE semi-submersible barge’s control room, staring at the flat-screen displays embedded along the wall. The live video feed showed a number of crewmen wearing hardhats and utility overalls, milling about on the maintenance walkways just below the main deck. Four 90mm harpoon cannons, built in Iceland for spearing whales, had been brought in and attached on all four sides of the perimeter, each one facing down towards the waters below.
Picking up the microphone from a nearby counter, he spoke into it, his booming voice echoing towards the men he was observing. “Stop screwing around, they could come up any minute.”
Several crewmembers looked up at the cameras in surprise before resuming their stations. Sandor hated these men, but they could at least be trusted to keep their collective mouths shut.
One of the technicians manning the sonar console a few meters away leapt out of his seat. “They’re coming, they’re coming!”
Sandor immediately thrust his mouth back towards the microphone. “They’re coming up, get ready!”
Looking up at the live video feed, Sandor held his breath as the waters in between the support struts began to churn, as if caught in a whirlpool. His hand reached for a red button by the countertop, but he didn’t push it. Wait, wait till they give the signal.
Less than a minute later, the Deep Dog’s bubble canopy broke the surface. It seemed like the submersible was attempting to fly up into the air before it leveled off and began to float on the water.
Yamamoto’s frantic voice came over the intercom circuit. “Release the cyanide! Now, now, now!”
Sandor pushed the red button.
THE DRUMS CONTAINING liquefied cyanide had been placed strategically around the open perimeter, right on each submerged pontoon below the support struts. When the small explosives inside the steel containers detonated, they sprayed a cloud of white, milky substance into the waters around the floating barge, just as the creature’s head breached the surface and attempted to grab hold of the now buoyant submersible.