Kraken - Rookie Burwick (latest ebook reader txt) 📗

stepped inside. He turned to Jasper and smiled.

"Good day. I am Frin Bogo, the captain's XO. I'm here to escort you to your room."

"Well, I'm ready."

"Excellent. It's not too far, just a few rooms down."

Jasper stood up and followed the man out into the hallway. As they walked, he couldn't help but stare at the man's short haircut. Placed on his head was only a few inches of dark brown hair on the top, and he was bald all around the sides. It was the oddest haircut he had ever seen.

The man lead him to a door marked 365 and opened it for him.

"Thank you, sir."

"Oh, my pleasure. And by the way, you don't have to call me sir. Just call me Frin," the man's smile widened.

Jasper returned it and thanked him, then entered into his room, shutting the door behind him. He let a relieved sigh, then hurried over to the small fridge. He opened it and looked inside. There was about eight bottles of water, a few apples, an orange, and a full casserole. He quickly grabbed up a water bottle, and guzzled it down.

The feeling it gave him was beyond good or great. . . it was life changing. He smiled as he took the last gulp and took the bottle from his lips. He took in a deep breath and then let it out slow. He bent down again and grabbed an apple. He took a bite, and swallowed. Then, everything went sweet. His pain disappeared. He took bite after bite, feeling better and better with each one. After he finished it and through away the core, he hurried into the bathroom to take a shower. The bathroom was the typical scenario, with the toilet against the side wall, the shower in the very back of the room, and the sink closest to the doorway.

The water running down his face felt really good. It was warm and fresh, unlike the water he had been drifting in for so long. The steam that came from the heat produced felt good as well. He had always enjoyed that. He washed up well, and then got out. He dried off, then entered back into the room. The captain had assigned clean clothes to his room which were now neatly folded and sat on the bed. He quickly got dressed, and then lay down. The bed made a slight creaking sound, a noise that he had too much of for the past few days. But it soon ceased, and then he relaxed. He shut his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

 

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It was late afternoon before Jasper awoke. He sat up and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and groaned. He looked over at the door to find it still shut tightly. He yawned a few times, and then stretched his arm. His collarbone burst out with pain, and he quickly stopped. The pain shot through his entire body, his muscles and bones and nerves all hurt. Everything but his stomach hurt.

He looked around the room for anything in particular, but saw nothing out of order. The hard, wood floor, the small, black card table, the fridge, and of course, the air conditioner. Besides that, the room was pretty much empty. The only other thing was a small shelf that sat in the corner that was farthest away from him. He slumped his shoulders and then lay back down, and stared up at the ceiling. His eyes swept over the odd pattern that the white paint had been placed on with, making out faces and images out of the old stuff. The only sound he heard was the faint sound of someone talking in the next hallway over, and the fridge's quiet motor. But the silence was almost too much to bare after being out in the water for so long. He was used to the gentle wish of the waves, and the cry of a seagull here and there along with the soft breeze passing through.

But, on this gigantic ship, none of those sounds could be heard. Despite that, he was safe and well-fed now. And that's what mattered. He was no longer fighting hunger pains that worsened every other minute, and he was no longer dry-mouthed and thirsty. And he was thankful for that. Very thankful. He began looking back on the dreams he had while sleeping through the day. While inside his cabin, he had dreamt of the massive Navy ship taking him home. He dreamt of seeing Lora again, and holding her tight in his arms. He dreamt of never going back to see again, and finding some other job. But that bugged him. He loved fishing, and he loved the ocean. He could never quite the business.

He also dreamt of old and abandoned ships, with savage sea monsters crushing them beneath their violent tentacles, blood spilling from the deck . . . the door opened and Jasper snapped out of his deep thoughts. He stood up in an instant, ready for anyone or anything. Moments later, he found himself staring at an older man who had neatly-combed brown hair, a thin and broad face, and was probably in his late fifties. The man forced a smile and shut the door behind him.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Hutchision," he said kindly.

"Same to you . . . captain?" Jasper asked.

"Yes. I am captain Alton Briche, and I have come to ask you a few questions, if that's alright," the man said.

"Ask away," Jasper turned and walked over to the card table, and took a seat.

Briche did the same. "Now, I understand you've been out there in the water for quite some time."

"Yeah, I was. A few days at least."

"Well, I'm certainly glad that you survived."

"Thank you, captain. I am too."

"Indeed."

They eyed each other for a moment. "How did you get out there?"

"Well, it all started probably four or five days ago. I was on board a cargo ship during the night of that storm. I'm sure you encountered it."

"Yes, we did. It was a big one, too. Go on."

"Anyhow, the ship hit some rocks, real hard. It sent everyone on board flying through windows and doors, and over the deck. No one survived except me."

"I see."

"So, I was stuck in my cabin for a good day and a half, maybe two days. Finally. . ."

"Wait a minute, in your cabin? I would think that, when the ship hit those rocks, it would have sunk right then."

"Well, it somehow got impaled on the rocks and didn't fully sink."

"Hmm, that's unusual."

"Yes, but that's the way it happened. Anyways, when I finally got up onto the main deck, the ship finally gave way, and started to sink. I jumped off and fell down into the water, and that's how I became adrift out there."

Briche was silent for a moment. He processed everything he had just said, and then he spoke.

"That's a very interesting story."

Jasper gulped. Surly the captain believed him.

"Don't worry, I believe you. Stuff like that can happen." Jasper sighed with relief.

"The reason I ask all these questions, Mr. Hutchision, is a good reason. It's time you heard my side of the story."

Jasper raised an eyebrow. "Your side?"

"Yes. You see, about two or maybe three days ago, my radar tech had a ship on her screen. When she told me about it, the ship had been on her radar for a while. A little while later, the dot disappeared from the screen, indicating that it had sunk."

"Go on."

"And then, just a few minutes later after that, we experienced a small earthquake. According to our sonar equipment, that earthquake caused a crack to split open a large ground rise just 120 feet down. So, out of curiosity, I contacted a good friend of mine, Benni Luchas, to get some divers into that area, and see if they could figure out some things."

"What did they find?"

Briche paused for a moment, and stood up. He began walking slowly around the room. He stood up to the door and stared out into the hallway.

"Well, what did they find?"

"The divers never returned," Briche turned back to him.

His face lit up with confusion and worry.

"There were three of them, and neither of them returned," Briche paused and clear his throat. "And then, we lost contact with Luchas, and his boat disappeared off our radar screen, just like your cargo ship did. Something happened down there with the divers, and I'm trying to find out what."

"Well . . . what does it have to do with me?"

"The ship that sunk and started this whole thing, was the same ship you were on."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

"So, I still don't understand what all this has to do with me."

"Well, I came to ask you lots of questions, but this one is the most important. I want to know if, while you were adrift, you saw anything out of the ordinary, or just plain odd."

Jasper's face grew stern. "Actually, I did see something odd. And when I say odd, I mean it."

"What was it?"

"It was a deserted fishing trawler that had been rammed by something."

"A shark?"

"No, something much, much worse than a shark."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I climbed on board, and did a little investigating. And guess what I found, captain."

"What did you find?"

"I found, first of all, that everything was smashed and destroyed. The wires and poles and everything were completely ruined."

Briche glared at him. "I also found pools of salt water and blood."

"On the deck?"

"Yes. It was everywhere. And then, the craziest thing happened. Something hit the bottom from below the surface. Something big."

"Did you see it?"

"Yes, I certainly did."

"What was it? A shark?"

"No, captain. I told you. It was far worse than a shark."

"Just tell me what it was!"

He took a deep breath. "You've obviously seen a squid, right captain?"

"Yes, of course I've seen a squid."

"Well that's what this thing looked like. . . except much bigger. Like a mutation or something."

Briche narrowed his eyes at him and walked a few steps toward the table, then stopped.

"So you're telling me that you saw a 'mutated squid'?"

"That's right, captain."

He slumped back into his chair as Briche let out a frustrated and almost angry sigh.

"Look, Mr. Hutchision, I have six missing people on my hands. I'm not looking for a joke! I need answers!"

"What, you think I'm joking? It scared the heck out of me. . ."

"I don't care! Ever since the diving incident, I've had four missing boat reports. Boats that were rented from some near-by harbor, but then were never returned."

"Ever?"

"No, ever!"

"Well, I'm sorry sir, but that's what I saw, and I'm not changing that."

Briche took a step back and stared against the wall to his right.

"Look, Mr. Hutchision, I'm sure you were just. . . seeing things, alright?

"That's what I thought as well, sir, but. . ."

"But what? I've been in the Navy for over forty years and I've never even heard of such a thing."

"Then what about those old stories from fishermen, you know, the Kraken?"

Briche glared even harder. "That's nothing but legend and myth. None of its true."

"How do you know that?"

". . . Well, to be honest, I don't. But come on, there isn't a squid that gets big enough to ram even a smaller-sized fishing trawler."

"Sorry, but I have to disagree sir."

He could tell that Briche was clenching his teeth, so he decided not to push him any farther.

"That's all I know, sir."

Briche turned to him and nodded, then headed for the door. When he reached it, he stopped, and turned back to him one last time.

"Thank you for your information."

"No trouble."

The captain opened the door and slammed it shut. The room then became silent, and Jasper laid back down. He stared up at the wall, and his worries began to flood his mind. He had tried to warn the captain about that thing he'd seen. But he had failed. The captain seemed to hate his job, and perhaps that was why he had failed. All he knew