Kraken - Rookie Burwick (latest ebook reader txt) 📗

same outfit he had been hours earlier.

"Oh, hello Mr. Hutchision. I was calming down the janitor back there," he said in a kind voice.

"I see. Frightened by the commotion?" Jasper asked.

"Indeed he was. Any idea what happened? Something hit the ship and sent us all flying to the ground."

"Well, I've heard rumors that some kind of . . . squid attacked us."

"Squid?"

"Yeah, that's what I've heard. Not what I know."

"Ah, I get it. Just a rumor?"

"Yeah. Just our little secret though, all right?"

"Why a secret?"

"Because we can't have everyone on board in a panic."

"Oh, I see," the doc cleared his throat.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to get on deck and check out a few bodies."

Jasper smiled and nodded, then watched as the old man hurried away. Then, he proceeded toward his room. He quickly shut the door and flipped on the light, and then let out a breath of air. He was tense, and needed to calm down a bit. He thought about taking a shower, but he didn't feel like it. Then, a thought hit him.

He jolted towards the fridge, opened it, and grabbed the orange from earlier. He dug into it, chewing each bite with a smile as its juicy taste filled his mouth. Then, his mind cleared from its constant fog. He sat down onto the bed, and finished off the small fruit, then lay back down. His thoughts were still hung up on the whole situation. But it wasn't time for thinking. It was time for action.

The trouble was, he wasn't sure which was more needed. Thinking or action. The thinking process could lead to a plan, and a plan, mixed with action, could lead to destroying the problem. So, both were needed. And, right now, he was still only in the thinking process of it all. He began looking through the options. They could abandon the ship in life-rafts, but the chances of getting past the creature and surviving were really low. They could try to kill it by missiles or bombs, but that had a possibility of not working. It could just make the thing mad. Last but not least, they could simply try again and again to signal for help, or send out a distress call, but the communication wires were down, so that was out. The best option was to stay and fight the battle. Either way, they would probably die.

He let out a sigh as his eyes shut, and he slowly began to drift off. He didn't know if he would wake up alive or not, but he knew that it was a possibility that he wouldn't. If he knew that thing, it wasn't going to give up that easy. One thing was for sure. It would be back.

 

NINE

Littoral Combat Ship 27 was at least two sizes smaller than Ship 26 and had weaponry to match. Its docks were loaded with well-engineered weaponry and well trained men. That's what it was known for, training its men with pure Navy spirit. But, with the sky dark, no one was on the dock, not even a seagull.

Captain James Leverhorn stood listening to his XO, Drake's report. It was the same old stuff. New recruits now and then, the radar and sonar were working well. Everything was good. But there was nothing wrong with that in Leverhorn's mind. Not at all. He didn't need any problems right now. All he needed was good reports and his people working hard. Tonight's report had been just about the same as always. There was a trainee sick with the flu, the equipment was functional, the weather was nice, and the missiles were loaded and ready to go. Nothing was wrong, which made Leverhorn smirk. Having to command a smaller ship meant easier tasks for him. He didn't mean to brag, but Briche certainly had it a lot harder. That made his smirk grow. He was almost certain that something was out of order aboard the Combat Ship 26, or maybe not. He didn't know. But that was the joy of commanding a smaller ship. Not knowing.

"And that's it," he heard Drake say.

"Right. Get back to work," he replied. "We have a lot to do yet."

Drake hurried away, and vanished from the room. Leverhorn cleared his throat and straightened out. He was tense for some reason, but he didn't know why. Everything had gone smoothly throughout the day, and nothing was wrong, but, despite that, he was tense. He took a deep breath, and relaxed. He needed to relax. This was the part of the day that things slowed down, and grew silent.

He pulled a cigarette pack from his pocket and lit one up. His appetite was gone thanks to the nasty habit, but it was getting addictive, again. He had gone a good three months without smoking a single one, but then returned when he got stressed. After those three months, things started happening. His wife died from heart disease, which was the worst thing that happened. That was what got the smoking habit started again. As he drew in deep puffs of smoke, smiling at the feeling, he heard a beeping sound.

"Sir, we've got a small raft approaching!" someone said from behind him.

He turned around to face them. He eyed everyone in the room, but no one was looking back at him except Eric, the Commander Officer.

"What do you mean raft, like a life raft?"

"Yes sir. It's about that size."

"Have someone on deck check it out."

"Right away."

Leverhorn turned back to the window and tried to see just a glimpse of this mysterious life raft. But, unlike Ship 27, the window was too small to see out beyond a certain point.

"Done, sir."

"Good. I'm curious as to what this could be. Maybe Briche is pulling a prank or something."

"He doesn't seem like the type that would do that, sir."

"True, but you never know. Today could've been a good day, putting him in a good mood."

"I see."

Eric listened on his radio. "Sir, there's a person in the raft."

"Bring him onboard."

"Right."

The room went silent again as Leverhorn now saw the man being guided from the dock and into the deacon. The man was a thin man with dark brown hair, and had a face that almost looked like Bill Murray. And the guy looked scared, too. That got Leverhorn worried. The guy looked like a Navy officer, and also looked familiar. He guessed it almost had to be Ryan Eirght, one of Ship 27's toughest men. If that guy was scared, there was a problem. The door opened to the room and two officers stepped in with the man in between them.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Ryan Eirght, aye?" Leverhorn said.

"Y-y-y-yes s-s-sir," the man replied.

"What brings you so far from Ship 27?"

"W-w-we were . . . on an r-r-r-escue mission when. . ."

The man stopped.

"Speak up," Leverhorn shouted.

"When we were attacked!"

"Attacked? By who? Terrorists?"

"N-n-n-no! Something much w-w-worse!"

"Worse?"

"Yes, sir! Tentacles and beaks, and monsters!"

"What on earth do you mean?"

"It was a . . . a . . . a creature! It had tentacles, and a long and gigantic body, and a beak!"

"Like a squid?"

"Yes! Exactly like that but . . .  b-b-bigger!"

"Bigger?"

"Yes! You need to get out of here!"

"Why?"

"It's coming for us, I know it!"

"You're pretty shook up," Leverhorn eyed him.

"You would be too if . . . if . . . you had to see that thing tear your crew apart!"

"Hmm. Get him out of here."

The two men dragged him away, but he fought. "No! You have to listen to me! I'm trying to warn you!"

"Hold it," the men stopped. "Let him speak a little more.

"We need to get out of this area! It's coming for your ship!"

"What is?!"

"The monster squid! A . . . a . . . Kraken or something!"

"Kraken?"

 "Yes!"

"Alright, that's it. Get his nut out of here."

The man yelled out a loud "No!" as the two men dragged him towards the door. But then, something hit the ship. Everyone hit the floor, and blood trickled from Leverhorn's head.

"What the heck is going on?!" he asked.

 "It's here! The Kraken is here!"

"Oh please!" he stood up and looked out the window.

Then, he saw the dark red color that made up the scaly skin of the tentacle. It rose from the depths, and smashed itself down into the dock, then re-coiled back into the water. More tentacles rose up and began tearing the ship apart.

"Battle stations!" he cried out.

Then, he saw men hurrying out onto the deck with large guns in their hands, and they began firing away at the massive suckers.

"We need more than that! Fire the underwater missiles you moron!" he spun around and glared at Eric, who smiled back nervously.

"Well?!"

"I don't think that will stop it!" Eirght joined in.

"It has too!"

Eric hit the button, and missile went flying into the massive creature's body.

"Direct hit, sir!"

"Good. Keep firing 'til this thing disappears!"

Eric sent three more missiles into the thing's body. But it didn't seem to faze it.

"It's not working, sir!"

"What?! It's not retreating?!"

"No, sir."

He spun around and watched as a tentacle wrapped itself around a small shipping container that was placed at the edge of the dock, and heaved it into the water. Then, another tentacle dug into the strong rock that made up the dock's form and sent gigantic rocks flying into the ocean.

"Fire again!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Eric sent two more missiles sending into the creature, but, once again, it didn't budge.

"It's still not working sir. The sonar is showing that thing's full appearance. Eirght was telling the truth!"

"Yes I was! We have to leave, now!" Eirght himself called out.

"Full speed ahead!"

But then, the ship jerked back, and Leverhorn went flying against the window. He heard a soft crunch, and then he fell down onto his back. . .

"Sir, the creature's tentacles have grabbed ahold of the ship's stern!"

He jumped to his feet despite the pain he felt in his arm. "Fire more missiles!"

"No! It won't stop it!" Eirght was crazed with fear.

"Then what do you suggest I do?!"

Leverhorn faced the window, and watched with terror in his eyes as the tentacles gripped the deck, and then the ship started to turn sideways . . . everyone fell from their seats, and he slid onto his side, and fell sideways.

"Help!" he screamed.

Eirght had left the room and was now hurrying towards the outside bridge. He threw open the door and stepped outside, and then slid towards the railing. The ship was being pulled down into the water by the horrid tentacles latched onto it. Everything Eirght knew was lost in his mind. The monster below overpowered the Navy's strength by a million, and he knew there was no hope left.

He clashed against the railing and looked down in time to see a tentacle reaching up for him. He quickly jumped off the bridge, and fell down towards the water. As he fell, he smashed into the side of another slimy tentacle, and felt its suckers trying to latch onto him with their meat hooks. He hit the water with a loud splash, and held his breath as he went under. That's when he saw it. The gigantic, red body of the creature. It glared back at him with its angry eye, and then he shot up