SL Huang - Up and Coming - Stories by the 2016 Campbell-Eligible Authors

I was just about to leave the control room when Lieutenant Markey came in, blocking my exit. Her face and uniform were still smeared with blood. Most of the officers and crew looked away. I backed myself into a corner and did my best to seem small.

"Two knots, Captain," the helmsman whispered. We had been running silent since we made contact with the monsters.

"Very well," the captain said. He turned to Markey. "Lieutenant, what are these torpedoes going to do to the kraken?"

"I’m aborting the mission, Captain," Markey said.

The captain frowned. "Come again?"

"We cannot disturb those Things," Markey said, lowering her voice. "We need to get the hell out of here."

"Oh, we’re moving," the captain said. "But we did not come all the way into the goddamn lion’s den just to have a look-see. We are going to do some fucking damage before we leave."

"Aft tubes loaded, Captain," the weapons officer said behind me.

"The intel was bad," Markey said. "Those are not kraken out there. They are Elder Things. Two of them."

"Older than what?" the XO asked.

"Elder," Markey repeated. "Not older . Elder Things ."

I didn’t recognize the name, but ‘elder’ usually refers to something supernatural that’s had centuries to develop its powers. And that’s always bad news.

"That’s not real descriptive," the XO said.

"They are unlike any other life form in Creation," Markey said. "We don’t know what to call them, except…Things."

"I don’t care what fucking kind of sea monsters they are," the captain said. "I just want to know what’s going to happen when we wake them up. The Mark 14s have a nine-thousand-yard range—"

Markey stepped closer and glared at the captain. " I don’t know what will happen if we disturb those Things, Captain. But it’s going to be at least a thousand times worse than what happened to Seaman Roseler."

"I don’t care," the captain said, "as long as it happens to the Japs and not us. Now how far away do we need to be when we shoot off these fish?"

"No," Markey said, her voice tight. "Elder Things are not just monsters. They are the worst monsters ever. They are beyond imagination. You saw—you felt what a single word in their language did to us."

I shivered at the thought of what might have happened if we hadn’t silenced Roseler. The sounds and symbols we use for magic aren’t human—they’re ancient, prehistoric—and we don’t even understand how most of them work.

"Cults have worshipped Elder Things as deities— Old Gods ," Markey continued. "Do you understand? The mere sight of one can cause madness. If these two Things wake up, it could mean the end of the world."

The XO grunted. "You just said you didn’t know what would happen. Now you’re saying it’s Arma-fucking-geddon. Which is it, Lieutenant?"

Markey replied without breaking off her staring contest with the captain. "We don’t know exactly how bad it would get. But I am not authorized to take that chance. And neither are you, Captain."

"Then you get authorization," the captain said. "Use a comm spell to contact your superiors."

"I can’t," Markey said. "We’re too deep. Too much water, too much iron." She touched a pipe above her head. Both of those substances restricted the range of any enchantment. It was tough enough for me to maintain my glamour in this steel tube; there was no way she could send a message through several hundred feet of seawater.

"Eighty-five hundred yards, Captain," the helmsman said.

"Eighty-five hundred, aye," the captain repeated. "Weapons, flood aft torpedo tubes."

"Aye, sir, flooding aft tubes," the weapons officer said.

My stomach fluttered, but it wasn’t fear. It took me a moment to understand that I was actually excited. I wanted the captain to go through with this.

"Captain," Markey said. She clenched both her hands into fists. Was she actually thinking about throwing a punch? "Listen to me, please."

"Master Chief, get our latest orders and bring them in here," the captain said.

"Aye, sir." The COB turned and maneuvered his way forward.

"Lieutenant, in seven minutes we’re out of range and we don’t get another shot at this." The captain spoke softly but firmly. "So we’re both going to look at those orders and see precisely what the fuck we’re authorized to do."

"Listen to me, Captain," Markey said with an unnatural calm. "You cannot do this. You cannot unleash those Things upon the world."

Why not? I thought. The Japs brought the war to us. The least we can do is return the favor.

"Aft tubes flooded, sir," the weapons officer reported.

"Open outer doors," the captain said.

"Opening outer doors, aye."

Yes. Hell yes. I wanted us to shoot off those fish. I wanted those monsters to wake up and destroy our enemies. So what if we got caught in the crossfire? This was war. One little submarine for untold devastation on their shores was more than a fair trade.

And if I died out here, I would never have to worry about going home. I would never again need to worry about fitting in, either with or without a disguise.

The sea would take me, and the sea didn’t care about my race, sex, or skin color.

The COB shoved his way back into the control room. "Our orders, Captain."

The captain took the folded paper. "Thank you, Master Chief."

"Eighty-eight hundred yards, Captain," the helmsman said.

"Very well." The captain unfolded the orders. His eyes scanned across the page once, twice, three times. How many times was he going to read it?

I looked at the clock above the weapons station. Less than two minutes until we were out of torpedo range. And what if the captain decided to abort?

No. I had decided. If Captain Channing was just going to stand there with his thumb up his ass, if Markey didn’t have the balls to follow through on her own goddamn orders, I would fucking do it myself.

The weapons officer on duty was Lieutenant Goldman. I didn’t know him well, but I had played a trick on him in the mess hall once, making him think he was taking the last piece of cake. In fact, he had grabbed a bowl of coleslaw, and I got that delicious cake.

I had glamoured him once, and I could do it again.

I moved toward the weapons station, wriggling between other sailors and around their control stations. I had to be close for this to work. I closed my left hand into a fist to help focus my energies. My disguise might falter for a second when I bore the new glamour, but nobody here was watching me anyway.

The captain looked up from his orders.

"Captain?" Markey said quietly.

The captain handed her the paper. "Weps, close outer doors and stand down."

That’s what he actually said. What Goldman heard, loud and clear, was: "Fire torpedoes."

I don’t know how long it took for the commotion in the control room to settle down. As soon as our fish flew out the back door, the captain ordered Goldman placed under arrest, and the COB and the XO seized him. I followed them out of the control room, hoping to slip away in the chaos, but Markey grabbed me and dragged me back to her quarters. I hadn’t expected her to be so strong.

"Why?" she asked after locking us inside. "Why did you do it, Hatcher?"

I stared her down and spoke slowly. "Do what, ma’am?"

She shook her head. "It’s my own fault. I should have been paying more attention to you instead of the captain."

There was something about the way she said that—"Jesus fuck. You! You put a glamour on the captain."

"Nice to meet you, too, kettle," Markey said.

"You disobeyed your own orders!"