The Reef (51 page)

By the time Jella and Lula were back with Menz and Yayle, they were already wearing their diving equipment.

‘Are you ready then?’ Jella said.

‘Pretty much,’ Menz said. He turned to Yayle. ‘You set, lad?’

The young rumel nodded, his eyes wide. ‘All set.’

‘Good. Well, all the explosives and charges are here,’ Jella said, indicating the bundle on the small boat. ‘I think we should crack on.’ ‘So, Yayle and I go now. While we lay the explosives, the rest of you will ... ?’

‘We’ll prepare for that lot, out there.’ She pointed to the dark horizon. ‘We haven’t got long. Gabryl and AlIocen will stay on the boat in case anyone tries to attack it. Lula and me will stay here. We’ve enough ammunition to kill over a hundred men. When Quidlo rises, it’s likely to rock everything in the water. It’ll take out the navy no problem. Especially if they fire at it. To be honest, they won’t really stand much of a chance. But there’ll be survivors and they’ll head straight here. We’ll take them all then go.’

‘What if one of us is injured?’ Yayle said.

‘It depends. If it’s serious then we have to leave them. We can’t afford to lose anyone else. This is for the cause, not for the individual. You remember that. At least we’re going to take out a whole naval fleet.’

‘I don’t like that “at least” talk,’ Menz said.

‘Just covering the options. Right, we haven’t long. They’ll be on us by dawn. We have until then. We set?’

Menz and Yayle nodded. Menz reached down to check his knife. He drew out the blade then sheathed it again. ‘Just in case that something happens like last time.’

‘Let’s do it then,’ Jella said.

Menz and Yayle gathered sacks of explosives from the boat and hauled them over their shoulders. Jella watched the two men walk off towards the water’s edge. Their diving suits were black, and so it was difficult for her to see them as they waded in. She saw Menz pat Yayle on the back, then they readjusted their diving masks. They seemed to be talking for a while, lifting their masks as they did. Jella thought that they were talking for an unnaturally long time. Then they waded out further.

Within a couple of minutes she could no longer see them.

She turned to Lula who was unloading muskets and pistols from the boat. The rumel watched her looking up and down the barrels of the weapons, then she loaded several of them.

‘We’ve got a while yet,’ Jella said.

Lula said, ‘I want to be ready.’

, Are you okay?’

‘Fine. Yes.’

Jella stepped nearer Lula. Lula looked up but straight past her.

‘What’s wrong?’ Jella said.

, Everything.’

‘What d’you mean?’

‘Everything,’ Lula said. ‘This plan. You, me.’

‘I don’t follow,’ Jella said.

‘We’re going to end up dead, somehow. What are the chances of this thing, whatever it is, actually following us?’ ‘I’m confident it will work,’ Jella said. ‘Are you? Are you really?’ Lula placed the muskets back on the boat and looked at Jella . ‘What if it does? Then what? What happens when we get back? You haven’t even talked about it. All you live for is your planning and your anger.’

‘If you’d experienced what I’ve seen-’

‘Well I haven’t and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I haven’t had as terrible a background. This is a wild plan, Jella , and it’s all you’ve lived for. You’ve been ignoring me the last few weeks.’

‘Is that it?’ Jella put her arm around Lula. ‘Look, we’ll have plenty to do and talk when we get back. We can plan our future on the return journey, once we’ve led Quidlo into Eschan waters, we can go north and settle. Just you and me, like we’ve always said.’

Lula said, ‘Why couldn’t we just’ve kept the money we had and settled somewhere nice?’ ‘Because I can’t, and you know that. You know what this means. To all of his. You know that.’

Lula was silent. She picked up a bundle of weapons. Then, as she turned away, she said, ‘There’re some good positions behind those rocks. There’s good cover from all angles. I suggest that’s where we begin any defence.’

Jella stepped up behind her, kissed her neck. She could feel the warmth of the human. ‘I love you, you know that. We’ll have such a great time.’

‘Have you ever felt like this before?’ Lula asked. ‘About anyone?’

‘Never,’ Jella said.’ You know I can’t resist you.’

‘I don’t want to know that, I want to know you actually feel something for me.’ ‘Well I do,’ Jella said. ‘I love you more than you know.’ ‘Good,’ Lula said. Lula walked towards the rocks. Jella followed soon after, with more weapons including grenades, boxes of ammunition. They set up their positions so that they had a clear shot of the whole beach. The beach was small, and any survivors, Jella thought, would most likely come that way, especially if they saw the boat.

She wondered about Menz and Yayle. They had been gone ten minutes. The plan was simple, placing explosives along the top of the reef and down one side, fracturing it, breaking Quidlo’s bonds, which would allow it to push it away with ease. It would take them another fifteen minutes or so to reach this side of the reef, another hour to plant the explosives along a wide enough section to free Quidlo, another half an hour to return. About two hours to wait in all. She would not see the explosions. She was confident that the explosives the Qe Falta gave her would be of the highest quality. After all, they had been doing this sort of thing as long as she could remember.

She and Lula lay on blankets on the rocks, listening to the waves, and, every minute, checking on the positions of the naval fleet and for Menz and Yayle, should something go wrong. Because she was laying face down, Jella could feel her heart pounding the rocks. Through the gaps, she could see the sea and a glow on the horizon where the sun would soon be showing.

The hour passed and there was not yet any sign of Menz and Yayle.

Jella and Lula had spoken little. The horizon was brighter, but the sun hadn’t risen. She could see now the outline of the naval fleet. There were twenty grey ships and the sight made her pulse race. She thought she could hear the sound of explosions, but she wasn’t sure. The time would be right.

She nudged Lula, who was holding her musket, scanning the beach.

Lula said, ‘Was that it, d’you think?’

Jella nodded and pushed herself up so that she could look over the rocks to the sea. Nothing was happening. She thought it may have been the first explosion. She thought she could hear more.

It seemed an eternity until Menz and Yayle climbed ashore. As soon as they reached the beach, she called over the rocks, waved her arms. Then they jogged towards her.

She stepped down on to the beach. ‘All done?’

Menz raised his thumb, his chest heaving. She smiled, beckoned them up to their position on the rocks.

‘Was it as you remember?’ Jella asked.

‘Aye. Seemed even bigger. In fact it’s ridiculously large. I’m a bit worried that if we wait too long the thing will get away.’

‘It’s either that or be in the water when it surfaces, which will probably sink us,’ Jella said. ‘Fair point,’ Menz said. ‘If you say so.’ Menz and Yayle removed their diving equipment and picked up muskets. They crouched, looking over the rocks towards the sea.

‘Should be up by now,’ Menz said.

‘Give it time,’ Jella said.

‘We haven’t got time,’ Menz said.

‘Look ... Look at the water’s surface,’ Yayle said. ‘The bugger’s coming.’

The surface of the water was rising, slowly, then falling, as if a storm was developing. The sun began to rise from her right, and she could see the long, dark shadows that the high waves cast. The sea sounded louder. White tops were visible as the water collapsed on itself.

‘It’s coming,’ Jella said. They could see clearly a shape, hundreds of feet long, beginning to surface. Behind, were the masts of the naval fleet. ‘It’s fucking huge,’ Yayle said. ‘Much bigger than I thought down there.’ Then, quietly, ‘This is ridiculous.’

The others remained silent on top of the rocks, staring, wide-eyed, at the creature that was rising in the new morning sun, pushing itself up out from the surface of the water. It’s skin was dark. Crumbled segments of coral that fell as it burst through the water. A large wave about six feet high spread then banked up on the shallow waters, climbed high and missed them by inches.

Jella turned to watch the waves crashing through the forest and birds darted out from the canopy as she watched the palms bend and break under the pressure, then she looked at her ship, which had moved a little despite the anchor. Her pulse was racing. The plan was working.

Back out at sea, Quidlo was out, it’s tentacles, thick and heavy, trailing out of sight. Its cylindrical face pushed into the air, dominating the horizon. Water sprayed and crashed all around it, coral still falling in pieces. Its head tilted up and they could just see its black eye, dozens of feet across, and it seemed to gasp, exhaling air as if it breathed like a person, remembering daylight. Its body must have been over a mile in length.

‘What kind of fucking squid is this thing?’ Menz said. His mouth hung open. ‘I ain’t seen that in any book.’

‘Beyond our time,’ Jella said. ‘And for good reason. You never really believed me, even when we went to see it. Even when you actually saw it. None of you really believed me, did you? I was right.’

They watched the creature turn towards the naval fleet that was sailing through and over the rough waves forming a semi-circle. Jella could see the masts rising and falling. ‘Fire at it,’ she said. ‘Come on, provoke it. .. ‘

Within seconds, as if she had willed it herself, some of the grey naval boats began firing, as she knew they would. She could see the plumes of smoke, followed by the sound of explosions.

Quidlo turned towards the fleet. Jella watched amazed as the creature drew its tentacles out of the water hundreds of feet in the air, water spraying all around, its shadow strong in the higher sun, then in crashed them down through the boats, tossed the ships over. She thought she had heard thunder as the sound caught up, then she looked on as the next wave banked up the shallow waters of the island, came racing past and slapped into the forest behind forcing the island to vibrate. The waves were only so shallow here, but on the mainland they would have hundreds of miles of water behind them. The destruction would be phenomenal.

Manolin was looking out to sea. He had joined a group of villagers some way up the volcano. The children had been taken further up, towards the ichthyocentaurs’ village, by several adults. He had woken Myranda early, dragged her and Lewys out when he had heard explosions.

Myranda had blown a conch to wake the village and, as they saw the reef fracturing and rising, they ran up the slope, understanding what that would do to the water, to the waves. Manolin carried children in his arms. Many of the villagers took his example and carried them on their backs, in time to look down on a wall of water as it smashed through their huts and into the forest, tossing wood into the air before dragging segments of the village under the froth.

Manolin was breathless as he watched what he guessed to squid climb out of the water and dive again, before it swam towards another island further up the chain. As he was laughing with amazement, the shadow of the creature rose again, its conical shape piercing the sky. Then he saw the tentacles follow up behind and slap down, as if it were pushing itself up from the water, creating an even larger tidal wave.
That must be the size of a city ...

He was so shocked that the sight of the naval fleet on the horizon was the last thing on his min. All he could do was watch with the islanders, as the beast brought its tentacles down, flipped boats in the air. He noted the booming of the guns in the distance, which had no effect on the squid, could hear the thunderous sound as the wave arrived onshore, decimating what remained of the village, snapping back trees, displacing everything in sight. Birds shot out of the forest. You could feel the island shudder on impact.

No one said anything, but Manolin was nodding his head. That explained what he saw in the reef on
Pilar.
He wondered if Santiago had anything to do with it, but suspected that his old colleague was long gone. He wondered what the old man would think about a squid that size.

Myranda approached him, he placed an arm around her wanting to be protective.

‘Don’t worry at all,’ he said. ‘A village can be rebuilt.’

She nodded, curled up under his chin. She didn’t look sad.

They watched the creature out at sea rise and fall several times. Manolin estimated it to be over a mile if it were measured from end to end. He shook his head in amazement, at the fact that something that size could be hidden within the reef. Everything made sense now: the sirens, what he saw underwater. The enigma of what
exactly
the sirens were doing with the half-bred ichthyocentaurs was becoming clear.

They were keeping this creature down there, chained to the ocean floor. They needed the half-breeds to work, to help.

After the creature had plunged into the deeper waters in the distance, he felt a strange sense of calm. The waters took a while to return to normal. He couldn’t see anymore boats out at sea. The sun was low in the sky, but already strong. With the children still out of the way in the ichthyocentaurs’ village, several people returned to the beach, but there was no village there.