Chloe continued to apply full power to the Sedna’s thrusters as both undersea vessels began a brutal spinning maneuver, with each submersible trying to keep her vulnerable side away from the struggling creature above them, while exposing the other. In the end the Sedna’s more powerful thrusters won out, and she soon had the Deep Dog directly facing the beast.
The creature’s tail lashed out and slammed into the side of the Deep Dog, yet also hit a part of the Sedna at the same time. Both submersibles tumbled sideways into the swirling deep. The force of the blow was so overwhelming that both of the Deep Dog’s mechanical arms were torn off.
Chloe scanned the systems console in front of her. A leak had sprung in the cockpit, and she could feel the dampness on the soles of her feet. The control systems still registered full operational capacity, but she knew that if more water entered the cockpit, then it would short out a number of key electrical components, and the ensuing disaster would leave them dead in the water.
Seeing the Deep Dog beginning an emergency ascent just in front of her, Chloe gritted her teeth. “The explosive pod, arm it.”
Izzy turned her head, giving the other woman a nervous glance. “Are you sure?”
“Do it!”
Just as Izzy activated the arming switch on the shaped explosives pod, the creature finally tore the third cable loose from its moorings. With only one line holding it in place, the colossal sea predator quickly turned its head and began pounding on the attached strut with its pistol claws, nearly cracking the reinforced steel column in two. In less than ten seconds, the final cable had been torn loose, and the creature began to swim past the half-submerged barge.
After pulling back the cover from a switch, Chloe activated the turbo boost. Within a second, both external thrusters activated underneath the Sedna, pushing the submersible past thirty knots. The sudden acceleration threw her back in her seat.
Chloe made minute adjustments on the control stick as she aimed the Sedna’s nose towards the Deep Dog, just as the lower part of the creature’s head came up behind the enemy vessel, blocking any avenue of escape.
The Sedna slammed nose first into the Deep Dog’s lower aft hull, the sudden impact completely disabling Liger’s submersible as both vessels then careened towards the creature, which had turned and faced them.
Chloe could see Liger giving her the finger, as he struggled to get up to the Deep Dog’s top hatch, only to be thrown back against his own canopy when the creature grabbed onto the stricken submersibles with its raptorial claws.
Izzy screamed in horror as Chloe activated the last pod, extending the shaped explosives into the Deep Dog’s torn hull. The Sedna continued to thrust the enemy submersible deeper into the waiting claws of the creature, and now they were all clumped together.
Knowing that the turbo boost was almost out of fuel, Chloe pulled back on the control stick. The Sedna suddenly pulled away, tearing out one of the creature’s smaller grasping claws as she shifted the controls to the right.
The Sedna’s nose had collapsed due to the impact, slowing her due to increased drag, but Chloe’s skills and concentration won out, successfully evading the creature’s second attempted grab by mere centimeters. Five seconds later, the Sedna was out in open water, more than a dozen meters away from both the Deep Dog and the creature trying to devour her.
“Detonate,” Chloe said softly.
Izzy flicked the switch and a muffled boom was heard.
The creature was in the midst of tearing the Deep Dog apart when the shaped explosives ruptured its mandibles, sending pieces of Liger’s submersible all the way into the back of its armored head. A jagged shard of metal and plastic ripped into the creature’s translucent flesh at blinding speed, spearing the transplanted human brain. The colossal beast shuddered for nearly a minute, before finally going limp.
After blowing the water from her ballast tanks, the Sedna rose to the surface. The half-submerged barge had still not fully sunk, and there was a small island of transparent dead flesh floating beside it.
Izzy turned around, grinning wildly. “You did it!”
Tears began to stream down Chloe’s cheeks, as all she could think about was her brother. Her voice became a near whisper, a plea for forgiveness. “I…I did it for you, Gordy.”
“He’d be proud of you, I know it,” Izzy said. “We won.”
“Yeah, we won, but the price we paid was high… much too high,” Chloe said softly. Then she buried her swollen face in her hands and sobbed.
HAVING ATTAINED NEUTRAL buoyancy, the canister gently came loose from the torn mechanical arm straddling a bed of coral and began its slow, downward journey, past the mesopelagic zone and drifting towards the abyssal plain. The current was strong and steady, and the outside pressure began to slowly work its way along the thin material, eventually crushing the outer casing until it imploded, spewing out the half dozen eggs across the vast, watery expanse.
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Further Reading: The Piranha Solution
Did you love Typhon? Then you should read The Piranha Solution by John Triptych!
In the near future, a new space race begins. Private industry is now pushing the limits of human exploration and colonization. NASA has changed its mandate into a regulatory agency to oversee all US-based corporations and individuals involved in interplanetary expansion.
Stilicho Jones always has his hands full while working as a personal troubleshooter for eccentric trillionaire Errol Flux and his numerous cutting edge space projects. When a mysterious and potentially deadly situation threatens the colonies on Mars, Stilicho must team up with a feisty NASA special agent in a race against time to avert a looming catastrophe that could end any hope of inhabiting the Red Planet.
Check out The Piranha Solution. If you were ever inspired by the NASA Space Program, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars, Robert Zubrin’s The Case for Mars, or Andy Weir’s The Martian, then have a look at this newest, edge of your seat technothriller!
Also by John Triptych
The Piranha Solution
Virago One
Wetworld
Grotto of Silence
The Opener
The Loader
Lands of Dust