William Meikle - The Creeping Kelp

The hold started to flood.

Lieutenant Mitchell didn’t hesitate.

“Follow me,” he said. “We need to find the fuel tanks in this old girl and hope she’s still carrying a load.”

Noble didn’t need to ask; he remembered the young officer’s words just after the chopper crashed.

I’m carrying enough C4 to blow a hole in the planet.

Mitchell led them along a badly rusted corridor that was slimy underfoot with rotted seaweed. Noble watched it carefully, but it showed no signs of being alive. He was still holding Suzie’s hand, but she had a far-away stare. He thought she might be in shock at what they’d witnessed, so she surprised him when she stopped suddenly and spoke in a loud stage whisper.

“We’re going the wrong way. It’s behind us now. I can feel it.”

And now that she mentioned it Noble realised that he too could sense it, a feather-like touch probing at his mind. He pushed it away and it stayed away.

We’ve weakened it.

He didn’t have time to celebrate. The old ship lurched beneath them.

“Does this thing have lifeboats?” Noble asked, more in jest than hope. Mitchell took him seriously.

“I’m hoping so… for your sake.”

That doesn’t sound good.

Mitchell didn’t stop to explain. He looked Suzie in the eye.

“I don’t care where it is,” he said. “It’s on this hulk. That’s enough. If I take out the boat, nothing’s going to survive.

That doesn’t sound good at all.

They followed Mitchell through the rotting shell of the boat. Bits of it were in bad shape, and in places the Shoggoths had obviously tried to patch the damage with plastic, giving the whole thing a strange, patchwork appearance. He saw Suzie looking. In other circumstances, she would happily have spent hours investigating, but now, when he pulled her away, she followed.

They had to move quickly to keep up with Mitchell. They were moving fast along a badly rusted corridor when the boat lurched again and settled at a definite tilt. The sound of rushing water came from somewhere deeper in the boat, getting louder, more insistent.

“Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast,” Noble said to Mitchell.

The officer looked towards the source of the sound and then seemed to come to a decision.

“There’s no time to look for the fuel tank now. Get up on deck and look for a lifeboat. I’ll stay here and take the thing down.”

To Suzie’s credit, she didn’t argue and Noble could see in the man’s eyes that to do so would be futile. She gave him a quick hug and Noble shook his hand. When they turned to leave, he had already taken off the backpack and removed several packs of plastic explosive and a small box of detonators.

“Get as far as you can,” Mitchell said. “It’s going to be one hell of a bang.”

Suzie stopped and turned back.

“We need to be sure you get it.”

Mitchell nodded.

“I know, Miss. I hope the bang is big enough.”

She shook her head.

“Hope won’t do. We have to lure it close.” She looked Noble in the eye. “We have to stay. It’ll come, if we tell it where we are.”

Noble knew what she was asking.

But I have another idea.

“We could lie,” he said and saw the dawning realization in her eyes.

She turned back to Mitchell.

“Someone still has to stay here, though,” she said.

Mitchell nodded.

“That’s my job. I’ve got my lads to revenge.”

She hugged him again and then took Noble’s hand. Noble nodded once more to Mitchell, then led Suzie away. He didn’t mention the tears in her eyes and she didn’t mention the ones in his.

They arrived on the top deck of the boat just as it took a violent lurch. The keel listed suddenly. Water lapped across the gunwales and there was a screech of tearing metal. There was just enough light to see that this whole area of the plastic city was being dragged down into the sea and the old boat was going to go along with it.

At first sight, there was no sign of any life rafts along the whole length of the boat, but a cry from Suzie alerted him to a solitary craft hanging by one chain on the starboard side. It took a matter of seconds to release it from its moorings, but by that time, the water around them was seething with a white churn and the old ship rocked and rolled.

Now or never.

He bundled Suzie into the life raft and was about to lower it into the water when he felt the tug in his mind.

Pain brought him back as Suzie raked her fingernails across the back of his hand.

“We don’t have time for this shit,” she said. “You know what we need to do.”

Indeed, he did. He lowered the life raft and Suzie started sculling frantically with an oar to maintain the small craft’s balance in the water. Noble jumped down into the water. The current tried to suck him away and he had a bad moment when he made a grab for the oar and missed, but seconds later, Suzie helped drag him into the life raft. They started to drift, slowly at first, then faster, the current taking them away from the badly listing ship. Pieces of plastic started to fall from above as the city came apart around them. Dark shapes surged and sped in the water, Shoggoths trying to repair the damage. But the sea was too strong, even for them.

Suzie touched his hand.

“Do you think Mitchell is still alive?”

Noble reached with his mind, searching for contact. It came immediately. This time he was ready for it. He sent an image, of the three of them in the corridor at Mitchell’s position, three figures standing, waiting. He sensed the creature’s eagerness, felt it speed through the hull.

Suzie took his hand.

Everything went white as the ship blew.

The aftermath was strangely anticlimactic. Their rubber life raft was tossed violently through surging waves and a large piece of thick plastic falling from above missed them by less than a foot, where it could easily have driven straight through the dinghy.

But within seconds, it was all over. They bobbed amid a sea of plastic and burnt vegetation. Interspersed with the rubble were patches of black tar. Suzie prodded one with the oar. It sank.

While Suzie checked the on-board survival box, Noble probed with his mind, but nothing replied.

It was three hours before a chopper appeared overhead and they were lifted to safety. As they banked away, Noble took one last look.

As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but a sea of plastic and a thought came to him that would never fully leave him, even years later.

William Meikle is a Scottish writer with fourteen novels published in the genre press and over 250 short story credits in thirteen countries. His work appears in many professional anthologies and his ebook THE INVASION has been as high as #2 in the Kindle SF charts. Recent work for Dark Regions Press includes SHERLOCK HOLMES: REVENANT, THE INVASION/THE VALLEY, CARNACKI: HEAVEN AND HELL. Upcoming books from Dark Regions Press: DARK MELODIES, and SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE YELLOW PERIL. He lives in a remote corner of Newfoundland with icebergs, whales and bald eagles for company. In the winters he gets warm vicariously through the lives of others in cyberspace, so please check him out at www.williammeikle.com.

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