The Creeping Kelp (16 page)

She started to walk forward.

He screamed in his mind

No!

But no sound came from his mouth. Suzie was within touching distance of the plastic skin of the creature. The thing shifted, opening a passage for her to walk in so that it could then enfold her.

Noble remembered the scrap of burnt material in the jar back in the lab and the way it had recoiled from him when he concentrated. He filled his mind with a picture of the kelp burning as the acid hit it and
threw
it towards the darker spot inside the fluid.

It flinched.

Noble reached out and found he was able to move. He grabbed Suzie by the arm and dragged her backwards, just in time as the creature surged towards her. Wings of stretched polythene opened above both Noble and Suzie.

We’re done for.

But the momentary lapse in the creature’s grip on them had allowed the marines to move. The air filled with the tang of acid and the polythene wings melted away, thick viscous fluid washing to the ground.

“Kill it,” Noble heard the Lieutenant shout. More acid sprayed, but not quickly enough. Something small and dark scuttled away into the shadows. The grip left Noble’s mind completely and he was able to move freely.

“Incoming,” a marine shouted and they turned towards the shout.

A wall of kelp writhed wildly in the hole in the keel through which they’d entered and was pushing its bulk through into the hold. One of the men carrying an acid pack ran forward to hose the kelp down, but despite the fact that pieces of it fell, charred and smoking, the bulk of the thing kept coming. It fell on the man from a height. He managed one last spray of acid before disappearing inside a mass of vegetation with a hiss and a stink of burnt meat.

The kelp came on fast.

“Get to the stairs,” the Lieutenant shouted.  He pushed Noble and Suzie away from the onrushing vegetation. Noble hadn’t even noticed there
were
stairs, but now saw a flight of rusted steps leading up into the gloom. He was considering the risk of venturing onto a structure that had been under water so long, but Suzie had no such qualms.

“Come on,” she shouted. “We have to find it. Find it and kill it before it starts to grow again.”

That didn’t sound like much of a plan to Noble, but the continued surge of Shoggoth material and kelp in the hold made it a moot point. They were forced into retreat and the stairs were their only avenue of escape.

Noble and Suzie only just got there in time.  The marines weren’t so fortunate.

They defended a line just at the foot of the steps, buying enough time for Noble and Suzie to escape. The kelp didn’t give them any respite. It came on in a tall wall, as implacable and unstoppable as a Tsunami. The Lieutenant was the closest to Noble and he was the only one to join them on the stairs. The other marines were all swallowed and swept away in a tide of writhing vegetation, with no hope of rescue. The last Noble saw was a single arm thrusting up through the fronds, a fist clenched around something round the size of an apple.

“Run,” the Lieutenant shouted.

They took the stairs two at a time and only just made it to the top when the grenade went off with a blinding flash and a blast that rocked the whole rusted keel and almost sent them tumbling back down into the kelp. When Noble’s eyes adjusted, he looked down into the hold.

The blast had left a smoking crater in the kelp, a hole some ten feet wide that was filling with seawater. The kelp was already moving pieces of plastic in to try to fill the breach, but the gush of water was too strong.

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. 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.

The print verion of this book is available in trade paperback, signed limited hardcover and collectable leather-bound Deluxe Thirteen editions from
Dark Regions Press.

The print verion of this book is available in trade paperback, signed limited hardcover and collectable leather-bound Deluxe Thirteen editions from
Dark Regions Press.