Authors: Moore-JamesA
"So what
makes him think there's a city of these things down there?"
"Because
according to a couple of accounts, the FBI attack that effectively killed
Innsmouth was done to try to destroy the city and all evidence before word of
these things could get out."
I was still
thinking about the possible ramifications of a government cover-up on that
scale when the screams started.
11
Well, it
didn't take long to figure out where the commotion was coming from.
Diana's voice carried through the yacht like
an air-raid siren.
I went back to the
bathroom that had been commandeered for holding the fish man in time to see
three students pulling her back from the shower stall, straining to keep her
away from the thing inside the net.
Her
face was furious, and her body was all coiled muscles and flailing limbs.
One of the
guys holding her was telling her to calm down and so far she was ignoring him
completely.
"You get
that sick fucking thing away from me, you hear?"
Diana's voice was hoarse and shrill.
"What the
hell is going on here?"
I made sure
my voice was as loud as hers and walked into the already crowded room.
In the shower, the creature was still wrapped
in its netting, but it looked like a few more of the cables that made up the
net had been damaged somewhere along the way.
The only good new was that it had managed to tangle itself up even more
in the efforts to get free.
It let out a
panicked croak that was loud enough to rattle my ears and I spared it a
disgusted look as I walked over to where Diana was still kicking and trying to
get free from her captors.
Another kid I
barely knew, I think his name was Roger, this one was decidedly more athletic,
and had a deep tan, shook his head.
"Sorry, Captain, but that thing licked Diana and she got a little
upset."
"Put her
down."
It wasn't a request, and
they listened very quickly.
I may not be
as big as Charlie, but I can be downright bossy when I have to.
I looked at Diana and she looked back, her
face still furious.
She did not,
however, try to get past me to get to the fish man in the corner.
"Why the hell did you get close enough
to that thing to let it lick you?"
"I was
five feet away from it!"
She moved
her hand up to wipe at the side of her face, where I could still see a faint
trail of slime.
"The sick fucker
has a tongue as long as a fishing pole!"
She shuddered with revulsion and I couldn't say I blamed her much for
it.
I could smell the thing's odor in
the air; it was permeating the room.
"Just go
and get yourself washed off.
God only
knows where that thing has been."
She looked at me like I'd just sent her to her room for misbehaving and
she wasn't thrilled with it.
I resisted
the temptation to tell her to swim her ass back to town if she didn't like it.
She tried to
stare me down and failed.
I was about
done with the insanity on my boat, and I was definitely sick of getting
attitude from my passengers.
Mostly, I was
going to be very, very glad when we got the thing in the shower stall off my
boat.
Jacob could talk all he wanted
about the thing in there being part of scientific history, but for me it was
just an oversized, smelly nightmare.
I went out of
the bathroom after Diana vacated the area and up to the main cabin.
It was time to head for shore.
At least that was the plan.
As I moved toward the captain's deck and got
ready to start the
Isabella
on the
way for the cove, Jacob and Martin Ward were waiting for me.
Jacob looked
at me like he wanted to be almost anywhere else.
"Joe, I know you'd like to head for the
docks, but is there any way we can convince you to wait until after the sun has
set?"
I looked from
him to Ward and then out at the water lapping along the edge of the reef.
From a weather perspective, it wasn't a
problem.
From a
there's-a-freaky-thing-on-my-yacht perspective, there were definite issues.
"I'm not
really comfortable with the idea, Jacob."
Ward spoke up,
his lean face pulling a lemon sucker expression on me.
"Why is that, Captain?"
I guess I was
supposed to be intimidated by the frosty voice, but it didn't work.
Jacob shot him a withering look and then
waited for me to answer.
"Because
according to what Jacob told me, that thing you caught is only one of
many.
Is that right?"
"Well,
yes, that's a possibility, but not really likely."
"Yeah?"
I
looked at him nice and hard, to make sure he was paying attention.
I didn't want to repeat myself with him.
"So suppose there are more of them.
How do you think they'd feel about having one
of their own taken away?"
"Every
indication that I've run across about these creatures says that they're
emotionally detached."
"Really?"
"Yes, of
course."
"Read up
on them a lot, have you Professor?"
"What are
you getting at, Captain?"
"If
you're wrong, if there's more than one of them hanging around, I don't' think
it would be very wise to be sitting on the water if they decide to come up and
see what happened to their buddy."
"I have
certain methods of stopping that from happening."
He was trying to sound confident, but I
wasn't falling for it.
"I have a
great method myself.
It's called not
having a fish monster hanging around on my yacht."
Jacob came
forward and put a hand on my shoulder.
"Please, Joe.
It's a
situation we can't do too much about.
You saw the way the local police acted when we were ready to leave
yesterday morning.
It can only get worse
if they catch us with a find like this."
"Why,
Jacob?
What's so horrible about finding
a new fish?"
"Because it's not new, Joe.
Not to them.
Did you look at the police officers we have around here?
Did you notice anything unusual about
them?"
"You mean
aside from the fact that they're incompetent?
No."
But I thought about
them as I answered and wondered a little about whether or not what I said was
true.
The one I dealt with was a big
bruiser, and he sort of gave me a weird feeling.
More of a sense that he wasn't someone I
wanted to trust, than a feeling I should actually be scared of the man.
"Did you
look at the features on his face?
The
rough patches of skin?
The receding hairline?
Joe, for all we know he could be a descendant of the original
townsfolk."
"And for
all we know he could have dry skin and a family history of baldness."
I shook my head.
"What happened to being an impartial
scientific observer, Jacob?"
He looked at
me like I had just slapped him in the face and looked away, a little ashamed, I
think.
"Let's
get this straight, gentlemen.
I don't
know what, exactly, that thing is, but if there are more of them out there and
they might want to come back to help it, I consider that a serious threat.
My wife is on this boat and so is yours,
Jacob.
I don't care if the thing in
there is the secret to every evolutionary question ever posed.
My first priority is for the safety of the
people on this vessel."
"The Deep
One is bound and harmless, Captain..."
"The Deep
One just licked you sidekick's face from two yards away.
Damned thing has a six-foot tongue and claws
like knives.
What else can it do that
you haven't told me?
What else should I
know before I decide to head straight back to the docks, Professor?"
"Did you
ever think there might be more danger from the police in Golden Cove than there
is from the Deep Ones in the sea?"
Ward was staring hard now, his face reddening.
He wasn't used to being challenged and it didn't
sit well with him.
"Of
course the easiest way for me to take care of the whole thing is to throw it
back into the water."
I shrugged
and stared at him some more while he made his own fish faces.
"You
wouldn't dare!"
He pushed past
Jacob, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, and leaned in close enough
that I could see the pores on his nose.
"You want
to test me?
Keep getting in my face and
we'll see how long it takes."
I
admit it.
He was starting to piss me off
again.
I didn't know what it was, but
something about him creeped me out the same way as the cops in the town did.
Frankly, I'd have already had the
Isabella
turned around and docked if it
weren't for Jacob.
Just to make
my point as clear as possible, I leaned toward him this time.
He backed off.
Jacob shook
his head and looked at me, his face resigned to accept whatever I decided.
I nodded my
head, unwilling to speak just then.
Then
I went to my room.
I didn't want to deal
with either of them anymore, and much as it was against my better judgment, I
left the damned yacht where it was.
I think Jacob
said something by way of thanking me, but I brushed it aside.
My mood was
definitely getting worse, and I didn't like that very much.
I have never liked being the heavy in any
situation.
*
*
*
*
*
I found Belle
talking with Mary Parsons.
I didn't
bother them.
They were having too much
fun getting to know each other.
Belle
has always been good at meeting people.
It's one of her many gifts.
From
what I could tell, they were talking about the fish man.
I can't say as that surprised me very much.
Davey came up
to me and stood nearby, moving from one foot to the other like a kid who had to
pee and felt he needed to ask permission.
That was Davey when it came to anything he thought was awkward.
He hated having to share bad news.
"What's
up, Davey?"
He spoke in a
very small voice.
"Joe, do you
think that thing might have done something to Tom?"
I've heard of
people reacting like they'd been slapped when they heard a comment, and I
always thought that was a little dramatic license.
I learned right then that it was a real
reaction.
I'd completely forgotten about
Tom in the last little while.
Oh, I knew
he was missing and all of that, but it was just background information.
It never once dawned on me that he might have
been hurt by the thing in the shower or another one just like it.
Davey looked
at me like I was supposed to give him all the answers.
I wished I could right then.
"I don't
know, Davey.
But I think maybe we ought
to look into it."
Without
another word, I headed back for the shower where our fishy friend was spending
his time.
Davey followed me; I could
hear his footsteps after he hesitated for a few seconds.
Roger was
still in the bathroom, looking at the fish man as it looked back at him with
narrowed eyes.
Both of them turned their
heads sharply as I walked into the room.
I didn't
bother with Roger, ignoring my own advice to get to know the kids spending time
on the
Isabella
a little better.
Instead, I walked closer to the thing wrapped
up in netting and stared hard into its unblinking eyes.
Not really unblinking, by the way.
It had translucent lids that were covering
the actual eyeballs.
I saw them flutter
up and down a few times, but mostly they stayed over the delicate tissue,
probably to keep the eyes wet enough.
"Can you
talk?"
I asked the question as
casually as I could, and in response, the thing turned its head a little, like
it was listening for something that made sense.
"It's a
fish man.
How could it talk?"
That was Roger.
I went on ignoring him.
"Pay
attention to me."
I moved closer
and the thing opened its mouth, baring teeth that I had no doubt could take off
half my face if given a chance.
I held
up one hand and continued.
"Let's
pretend you can understand me for a minute.
If your tongue comes out and touches me, I'll cut it out of your
mouth.
You understand?"