Paul Zindel - Loch

On the skiff, Loch took over the wheel and threw the throttle open. The propellers growled, pulling the stern deeper and lifting the bow as the skiff began to plow out toward the open lake. A hundred yards away from the levee, Zaidee spotted a small, sleek, black shape darting in and out of their wake.

“Stop!” Zaidee yelled. “It’s Wee Beastie!”

Loch turned, saw the creature, and cut the throttle. He shifted into neutral and rushed to the stern.

“It’s really not a great time to be saying hello to our little plesiosaur friend, you know,” Sarah said. Loch and Zaidee hung over the rear railing as Wee Beastie scuttled through the remnants of the wake and swam right up to the boat.

“Hey, fellah,” Loch said, reaching his hand down toward the water. Wee Beastie rubbed his snout on Loch’s hand, fluttering his front fins.

“Where have you been, my little darlin’?” Zaidee leaned over, joyously stroking the creature’s head. “We’ve been looking for you!”

Clack click …

CLICK CLACK CLACK …

“Don’t tell me, I know,” Sarah said. “He wants us to stay and be lunch.”

CLACK CLICK …

“What are you trying to tell us?” Loch asked Wee Beastie.

Loch looked back at the twisted mill. A series of large waves flowed toward the rupture in the levee and out into the lake.

“They’re coming out,” Loch said.

“We’ve got to get Wee Beastie aboard,” Zaidee cried.

“Zaidee,” Loch said, “I don’t think his mom’s really going to like that. Besides, there isn’t time.”

CLICK CLACK CLICK …

Loch pointed Wee Beastie to the starboard. “Move away from the props, fellah!” he yelled as he rushed back to the wheel. Wee Beastie scooted back, still clicking away as the disturbance in the water behind them got nearer.

“Get us out of here!” Sarah shouted at Loch.

Loch opened the throttle wide, and the skiff lunged forward.

“He’s staying with us,” Zaidee yelled, watching Wee Beastie drop away from the gurgling props to dash in and out of the wake. Behind him the turbulence of the surface stalked them.

“Uh-oh,” Zaidee said.

“How many creatures are there?” Sarah asked.

Loch turned from the wheel to look back. “From what we’ve seen, I think there’s five or six big ones,” he shouted. “I think it’s just a family.”

“Enough to eat Greater Miami,” Zaidee said.

“What are they doing?” Sarah wanted to know.

“They’re not stupid,” Loch yelled over the roar of the engine. “They know the cover’s been blown on their den. There’s no place left for them to hide!” He turned the skiff west. Wee Beastie and the herd stayed with them.

“Are we the only meal around?” Sarah asked.

“No,” Loch said, “but Wee Beastie might have told them we’re their only chance. They’re not chasing us-they’re following us.”

“What can we do?” Zaidee asked.

“Try to get Dad on the ship-to-shore,” Loch said.

“I don’t know if I can,” Zaidee said, scooting to the radio. “It receives, but I don’t know if this thing can send.” She put the earphones on and grabbed the hand mike. “The helicopter took him back to the camp.”

“He’d clear out of there. Try the Volvo,” Loch said. “Let him know where we are and what’s happening.”

“Boy, are we going to be grounded or what?” Zaidee wailed, pressing the send button.

“I’ll do it,” Sarah said, reaching to take the mike.

“No way,” Zaidee said, pulling away and shouting into the microphone. “Big Z to Dad … Big Z to Dad … ”

Loch glanced over his shoulder. Wee Beastie still skimmed in the wake of the boat, leading the underwater herd.

“Tell Dad to get to the grid! Get there and open it!” Loch ordered Zaidee. “He’s got to open that grid!”

“What’s that?” Cavenger shouted, looking out over the bow of The Revelation . In the distance it had looked like a cat’s-paw of wind, but now they recognized the skiff heading for them.

“It’s one of ours,” Emilio said, checking it through binoculars.

“Who’s in it?” Cavenger demanded to know.

Emilio adjusted the focus on the binoculars. “Your daughter and Perkins’ kids.”

BLIP BLIP … BLIP BLIP …

The sonar screens of the control room leaped alive with closing, black dots. A rush of electronic sounds caused turmoil with the speakers, and the styluses on the graph machines nearly shot off the charts.

“What’s going on!” Cavenger roared, grabbing the binoculars. “What the hell do those kids think they’re doing?”

The radio receiver lit up. “Everybody’s picking up the signals,” Emilio said, confused. “It’s the boat, but it’s … beasts. There are a lot of them.”

“Tell the net boats to close!” Cavenger roared.

“Close the nets!” Emilio shouted into the radio.

“Faster,” Cavenger yelled, moving quickly across the length of the control console.

BLIP … BLIP …

There was too much data coming in for Cavenger and his men to process, too much to compute and calculate. The trawlers were pulling ahead, beginning to close their circle. Cavenger grabbed the mike out of Emilio’s hand and began bellowing into it himself. “Faster! Faster!”

“They’re doing as much as they can,” Emilio said.

BLIP …

Cavenger threw the mike back at Emilio. “They’re not going to make it!” he shouted with disgust. All his calculations had never considered the possibility of the fleet being rushed by a herd of plesiosaurs. He looked off the port side and was relieved to see the crew members of the PT boat ready with rifle butts held firmly against their shoulders. The new photographer-who hadn’t been told about Erdon-was at the video camera, following the action. Cavenger checked to see that the harpoon team was in position at the bow, then grabbed a pistol and ran out on deck. The skiff with Loch at the wheel passed swiftly between the yacht and the PT boat. Cavenger saw his daughter with Loch and Zaidee. And he saw the great undulations fast behind them.

He fired a single shot into the air to alert everyone. There was no way he was going to come out of this empty-handed. If anything, he would err on overkill.

“Slaughter the beasts!” he found himself shouting, his hand trembling as he pointed down at the huge passing shadows. “Slaughter them!”

As Sarah passed in the skiff, she saw her father out on the deck of The Revelation . She didn’t recognize him at first; his face was distorted with hate and he looked out of control. She had never seen him like that, and she flinched when she heard him fire the gun.

“What’s going to happen?” Sarah asked Loch.

“I don’t know,” Loch said. “We have to keep going.”

“What if Dad didn’t hear us on the ship-to-shore?” Zaidee asked. “What if he didn’t understand or won’t open the grid?”

Bam. Bam. Bam …

Terrible sounds of rifle fire echoed from the mountains like a cluster of firecrackers lit from a single fuse.

“Where’s Wee Beastie?” Zaidee cried out. “I don’t see him!”

“My father’s killing them,” Sarah said.

Loch looked back, reading the surface of the water. “No,” he said, “they’re running deep now. The bullets won’t get them. I’m sure Wee Beastie’s okay.”

Loch glanced to the south shore at a point where the paved road weaved for a stretch close to the lake. If only Dr. Sam had heard their radio plea, if only they would catch a glimpse of the Volvo speeding along the road toward the end of the lake and the grid.

Bam!

The shooting started again as The Revelation and the PT boat turned about quickly and took up pursuit. The rest of the fleet floundered, struggling to turn and re-form.