Kraken - Rookie Burwick (latest ebook reader txt) 📗

the water, and latched onto the sides. One wrapped itself around the bow, and one was already wrapped around the hull. With all their strength, the tentacles pulled the boat onto its side. Jasper gripped the opposite wall, watching as more sea water cave onto the deck. He looked up at the tentacle that was wrapped around the ship's bow, and stared at it. Its dark red skin was scaly and wet with a transparent slime, and the suction cups that lined the bottom of it were the size of tennis balls.

The boat made a creaking noise, and then began the final fall into the water. Before like, its bottom side would be facing the sky, and he would be under water. In an instant, he jumped from the deck, propelling himself by pushing against the wood with his feet. He whizzed through the air, passing by the tentacles that were tearing the small vessel to shreds. He landed in the water with a large splash, and went under. He inhaled nothing but water. He struggled to get to the surface. As he rose above it, he caught a glimpse of the creature that was ravaging the boat. It looked like a squid from the brief moment that he saw it before he shot above the water, coughing and gagging on the water he'd just inhaled. He looked over at the boat, but it was gone. The only thing that he saw now was one last tentacle retreating back into the water.

 

SIX

Jasper couldn't move his arms or legs. He was too shocked to move any part of his body. The horror in his eyes only grew as the last bit of the boat sank below the surface. His mind began replaying the image over and over again, along with the horrid image of the tentacles that pulled it down into the depths. He tried to make sense of it all. He tried to find the reality in the incident. But it was just too un-real. Too un-believable. Maybe he was seeing things. Maybe the lack of food was now taking a very odd effect on him. Maybe there wasn't anything with big tentacles that had just smashed that boat.

Maybe the boat had just sunk on its own, and he had seen it as a horrid sea monster attacking it. Or maybe he wasn't seeing things. Maybe what just apparently happened really did happen. Maybe there was a gigantic, squid-like creature that had come out of nowhere. He had no idea if he was still even sane. Sure, a shark ramming a boat was believable. A boat's remains able to float in the open water was actually believable. But everything else wasn't. None of it seemed real to him. But something kept him from thinking it was all an illusion. He hadn't just seen the tentacles, but the rest of the creature's body. After he had dove into the water, he had caught a glimpse of its full body. He tried to re-imagine it in his mind; it moved like a squid does. It had the long mantle, just long a squid. It had the two fins on top of the mantle, just like a squid. The whole thing looked mostly like a squid. But much bigger and stronger.

As he stared into the water beyond him, a noise interrupted his thoughts. It was his stomach rumbling. The pains were growing worse by the second and his queasiness returned. He swallowed a few times to try and keep it down, but the feeling was just too over-baring. He couldn't hold it in any longer. His mouth flew open and his head jerked forward. He let out nothing but dry heaves. The fluid that was escaping his body was the last amount of water that he had consumed, and now it was gone. After he was done, and the front of his shirt was covered in wet slime, he began to tremble from the emptiness in his stomach. But now, the pain was gone, and he felt so relieved. But he knew that wouldn't last too long. He still needed to find food, and now water.

He glared off into the distance, his eyes blurry from the force of shutting them tight while heaving. But, through the blur, he saw something. It was a little ways off in the distance, and this time, it was moving. He rubbed his eyes to try and clear them, but when he opened them, a drop of water from his hands fell into his left eye. He did his best to dry his hands off, and then he opened his eyes once again and peered into the distance. He saw what looked to be a large Navy ship heading straight toward him. His breathing stopped. His eyes widened. He couldn't believe it. He was going to be rescued. His life would be saved. They un-doubtfully had food and water available.

As the ship drew nearer, Jasper couldn't help but allow a really wide smile spread over his face. He was wet, cold, and very hungry, and now he was going to be rescued from the hellish place. All his thoughts and memories disappeared into a joyous fog that filled his mind as he watched the ship inch closer to him.

 

                                       *  *  *

 

Briche jumped at the sound of the ship's horn sounding off. It's loud roar echoed over the water's surface and then vanished into the horizon. He kept his eyes on the deck as he stared out the large window that he had been staring out of for hours now.

Everyone in the room was silent. They had been most of that morning, which surprised him. Usually there was at least a few complaints or notices, or something. But not today. This morning had been the quietest morning they had experienced in a long time. But that all changed in an instant.

"Sir?" a young man asked from behind him. He turned to face him.

It was the same kid with red hair that seemed to always remain at his post. Briche had never gone a morning without seeing him there.

"Go on, report."

"We have a man adrift out there in the water. . ."

"Adrift?"

"Yes sir. The men have him out on deck now."

"Hmm. . ." Briche was silent for a moment as he thought. "Give him a room and have the doc check him over," he said at last.

"Yes, sir."

"He just might have some information we need."

 

 

 

SEVEN

Jasper stared down at the floor as he listened to the ship's head doctor slipped on a pair of blue, latex gloves, making a snapping sound as he did.

"How long were out there?" the doc asked straightening his grey hair. And adjusted his glasses.

"Oh, I don't know, a few days maybe," Jasper replied.

"Wow," the old man looked him over for a second.

He felt along his arms and legs. "Do have any open wounds?"

"Not that I know of."

"Good. That could have been bad."

The doc slid his hands through Jasper's hair and felt for bumps. "For as long as you were out there, you certainly are in good shape. How did you survive?"

"Well, it's a long story. . ."

"A long story?"

The doc moved his hands down to his feet and removed his soaking shoes.

"Yeah, really long actually."

"I've got time," his hands moved up onto Jasper's lower leg.

"Well, it started out with this cargo ship I was on. . ."

"Cargo ship?"

"Yeah, I had come along to do some fishing. . ."

"According to the captain, we received a distress call from a cargo ship a few nights back."

"Anyways, it hit some rocks. When it did it killed everyone on board, except for me. When I awoke from hitting my head, the whole ship was like . . . stuck on the rocks. When I made my way up onto the deck, the ship came loose and sunk completely."

"Really?" The doc now stared at him with an un-readable expression latched onto his face.

"Yeah. I managed to get off the ship's deck before it sunk, and I've been adrift out there ever since."

The doc stood up straight and smiled. "Thanks for the story. Captain Briche's XO will be by shortly to escort you to your room."

"Thanks, doc. How am I?"

"Well, you'll be just fine. From just feeling your shoulder, I can tell that some damage has been done there. But other than that, you're fine."

"Excellent. See you around, I guess."

The doc only nodded his reply and slammed the door behind him, leaving Jasper to himself. His thoughts were scattered and his mind was scattered. He just needed some more rest, but not yet. First he needed a shower. The trouble was, the XO hadn't arrived yet to escort him to his room, and he was beginning to get impatient. But at least he was safe now, and would be fed and clean before long. He could only dream of the amazing feeling of food entering his stomach, and tossing his pains away.

He began looking around the room, and taking in the surroundings. The room was empty except for the metal table that he sat on, along with a few cabinets and a counter that spread from the right side of the door to the end of the wall, then stopped. Along the counter was a big sink, an ashtray, and a few pieces of paper. Other than that, the room was empty. The cabinets were placed on the left side of the door, opposite the counter, and were made out of a very fine tan color. There was one light that hung over the table, and it lit the entire room. He looked down and ran his hand along the flat, metal surface of the table. It was cold. Really cold. He jerked his hand away and placed it back in his lap, then continued to stare at the door just seven feet in front of him.

He began to look back on the heroic moment when the ship had picked him up. The men on the deck were so kind and made sure he was all right. He'd met only them and the doc, but no one else. He didn't just want to meet the captain, but he needed to. He needed to warn the captain about the "creature" that he had seen earlier that morning. He still wasn't sure if what he had seen really happened, but he was sure enough that he felt like he needed to warn the captain.

At last, the door opened and a chubby, sweaty man