All Captain O’Brien saw of the incident from above was a giant shadow sweeping beneath them, and then a mountain of water being launched into the sky. As the water rained down, his instincts told him that the beast was there, and so he ordered the gun crew of the VS Jade 4 to fire mortar shots at that location. A few moments later there was a series of loud bangs from the deck of the ship, followed by a cloud of gun smoke that drifted with an echo over the ocean. The mortar shells whistled through the sky and then crashed around the creature’s location, sending smaller mountains of water into the air.
Captain O’Brien promptly grabbed the nearest pair of binoculars and watched for the rain to stop falling. Unfortunately, he saw no sign of the beast. When he handed the binocular to Captain Sutherland – who inspected the sight himself – he knew that the creature was still out there. “Did we hit it?” Captain Sutherland demanded.
O’Brien slowly shook his head. “Maybe,” he answered, “but I don’t think that it’s dead.” He took up the binoculars again and scanned the surface of the water. The waves were choppy around this area, and O’Brien, try as he might, was unable to locate anything. “I think we just made the devil angry.”
Captain Sutherland anxiously twirled his moustache and marched up to the bridge. “You sir,” he said to one of the men by the radio transmitter. “Any word of reinforcements? What of the fleet?”
“They’re approaching from the east, sir. About ten leagues out from our location.”
Hearing this, Captain O’Brien shook his head again. “That’s too far. I fear we won’t last that long, especially if that thing attaches itself to the ship.”
“Surely captain you are overestimating…” Captain Sutherland tried to say, but O’Brien stopped him.
“Ten minutes, sir. It took that cursed thing ten minutes and my ship was torn in two and my entire crew was dead. So I say yes, I am overestimating and I insist you do the same.” He paused for a moment to gather himself. “We should head for shallower waters.”
“I would advise against it, captain. There is a reef here that covers the entire coast. If we take the Jade any closer we could risk running aground.”
Captain O’Brien then pointed to a map of the islands. “What if we head south-east? If we can dodge the reef and avoid that monster for long enough we might be able to find shelter in a bay or, something of the sort.”
Captain Sutherland nodded. “Very well, Captain O’Brien, we shall make the maneuverers; but I am keeping the majority of my crew manned in the gun deck. If that thing shows itself I want it blown out of the sea.”
“I couldn’t agree more…”
Suddenly the man on the radio transmitter turned to them and said, “Captain, we have received several transmission from the VS Rosanne 7. They are urging us to cease all fire unless attacked directly. The man says we are only like to provoke it.”
Captain Sutherland sternly disagreed with that immediately, and Captain O’Brien at least pondered it for a moment, before shaking his head, and pointing at the officer. “Ignore their transmissions, sir, and make no reply. That thing is coming after us no matter what we do, but if we can inflict some damage with the mortars first, then at least we’ll have a tactical advantage.”
From there on, the VS Jade 4 sailed with hastened ease around the coast of the island, and the entire crew was full hands on deck. Captain O’Brien ensured that there were watchful eyes on all edges of the ship, and together they scanned every inch of the ocean around them. He could feel his heart throbbing in his chest and he was starting to feel queasy as he stormed back and forth along the deck, but he was not going to let it get the better of him this time. The entire crew fell into a state of waiting; the watchers, the navigators, the gunmen, and the captains. And then one of the men called out. “Contact sir! Portside! Portside!”
The captain’s throbbing heart almost stopped as he saw that sinister shadow speeding towards them. “Blasted devil!” he screamed. “It’s too fast for our guns!” And then he murmured under his breath. “Alright you bastard, let’s see what you can do.” He raised his arm to the gun crew. “On my signal fire half a click off the port bow.” He could hardly feel his body, as if his blood had turned to ice. If he missed they would all most likely die.
He gave the signal and another volley of explosions rattled the deck of the VS Jade. Captain O’Brien watched in dire anticipation as the smoke cleared, and he allowed himself the hope that he had won. But then he saw the shadow still speeding towards them, and he was gripped with despair. So he signalled the second gun crew. Suddenly the shadow dived beneath them. “She’s coming around the starboard side! Ready the anti-artillery cannons and be ready to fire. On my mark aim for the left side of the mantle and fire.”
Another moment passed and he almost lost his feet as something below knocked the ship. It was as though they had been struck by an earthquake. One of the men bore a worried glance. “Did we run aground, captain?”
Captain O’Brien frowned and faced the starboard bow. “No lad; that was her. Steady men!” He raised his arm again and stared with frightened eyes into the water. “Steady…” He took a deep breath, but still he didn’t see it coming. Out of the water came an explosion of tentacles and they grappled the starboard side with colossal force. Some of the men screamed but the entire gun crew held their ground. “Fire!”
The cannons erupted before the monster could tear their ship apart, and it jolted back with a shriek so otherworldly and horrible that the men were forced to block their ears. A fiery explosion consumed part of the right side of the mantle, and bolts and cogs began to rain down like bullets; and the monster’s tentacles plunged through the smoke in a wild flurry and tore down the ship’s mast before slipping back noisily into the ocean.
Captain O’Brien was knocked aside when the mast came down, but now he climbed to his feet and looked over the deck of the VS Jade. Amidst the smoke he saw at least half a dozen men who had been either crushed or impaled by the monster’s tentacles, but despite no longer having a mast, the ship was relatively fine. He stumbled to the rail and stared into the whitewash that remained after the creature plunged itself back into the sea. One of the men joined him. “Is it dead, sir?”
“I honestly don’t know. I don’t think it’ll be coming back for a while, so that’s good at least. We have to be swift. Tend to the wounded and see what we can do about the rest of the damage to the ship.” It would have been all too easy to take a lifeboat and cruise away to the safety of land, but this was a battle that he didn’t want to lose. Still, he didn’t know if this small victory had marked a blessing, or if despite having survived this attack he remained cursed. Either way, the captain looked to the horizon and saw storm clouds gathering in the west.
ns 172.70.43.63da2
