The Trench Read online

  Nato traced a short line from their current position to the nearest emergency egress shaft. It was time to put the plan into action. He walked into the room, where Michael was pulling on a shirt. “You got the pumps working?” the scientist asked.

  “Yeah, but the water is coming in from the outside; we can’t go out the way we came in.”

  “You found another way out?” Nicole swallowed the last mouthful of MRE and wiped her face.

  “The emergency evacuation shafts with ladders in them. They connect to escape points, where, if our streak of good luck continues the way it has so far, will have deep sea mini-subs that we can use to get out into the open water. From there, we can contact the submarine and get picked up.”

  “Sounds good.” Menowski fidgeted while the others gathered weapons and the limited supplies that Nato would let them take.

  “Follow me.” Nato led them to one of the labs where they moved a steel bench aside and he opened a panel marked, Emergency Access Only.

  The rubber seal around the hatch stuck for a moment and then popped open. The smell of brine and stale air wafted out of the shaft. Nato swept the dark tunnel with a flashlight and declared it safe.

  “I’ll go first, then Saint-Clair, then Armitage. Menowski, you bring up the rear.”

  “Aye,” Menowski replied.

  Nato ducked through the square hole. The ladder was firmly bolted to the wall, and he locked his arm around a rung before looking down as far as the flashlight beam could reach.

  The water twenty feet below was still and dark. The shaft would go as deep as the seventh level if the bulkheads were open, then the water would have gone all the way to the bottom.

  “Stay close,” Nato said to Michael, who was crouched at the hatch and waiting to follow him.

  The marine climbed, and Michael stepped on to the ladder and started after him. Nicole tightened the straps on the rucksack she had stuffed with three of the specimen containers and crawled through the hatch.

  With Michael’s feet climbing above her head, she started up the ladder. Menowski’s grunt echoed through the shaft as he followed them.

  Nato stopped twenty feet up the ladder at the steel bulkhead that sealed level two of the shaft. “Hold up. I’m opening the bulkhead.” Holding the ladder with one hand, Nato wound the locking handle on the hatch over his head. When the locking bolts had retracted, he pushed it up. Sea water started to pour in, and Nato heaved the hatch open until it clanged against the steel wall.

  “Keep going!” Nato yelled over the noise of the waterfall.

  The convoy resumed the climb as the flow of water eased and dripped around them. Menowski waited impatiently for the chick to start moving. The ladder vibrated, and a low moaning sound rippled up the shaft.

  “What the fuck was that?” Michael asked.

  “Nato,” Menowski called, the warning clear in his voice. “We’ve got infected coming out of the water.”

  “Are they climbing up?” Nicole asked, trying to look down past Menowski’s broad shoulders and heavy load.

  “No, they’ve grown wings and are flying up my fuckin’ ass,” he replied.

  “Move it!” Nato shouted. He started double-timing up the ladder, his light dancing wildly as he scrambled up the rungs.

  “Nicole! Climb past me!” Michael pressed himself to one side of the shaft and waited while Nicole hurried past.

  “Get moving, squint!” Menowski was coming up fast and had no time for Michael to play hero.

  “I’m at the escape hatch!” Nato yelled. He spun the handle and pushed the door open. The round tunnel sloped downwards, like a dry waterslide heading towards an unseen destination.

  Grabbing the rail over the hatch, Nato went in feet first and threw himself down the slope. Lifting his legs, he built up speed, sweeping around the curves and trying to see what was coming up.

  A few seconds later, he hit open air, then bounced into a trampoline-like net and rolled off onto the concrete floor of a small room.

  “It’s okay!” he yelled up the pipe. Nicole shot out of the tunnel, screaming as she flew into the air and then bounced on the net.

  Nato grabbed her and dragged her aside. A few seconds later, Michael came cannoning out of the slide and hit the net with a grunt.

  “Whoa!” he said, rolling off and dropping to the floor.

  Gunfire echoed down the tunnel. The three of them stood staring up into the dark pipe. Flashes of light cast eerie shadows, and Menowski seemed to be hunkered down in the shaft, firing at the infected as they crawled up the ladder.

  “Menowski!” Nato yelled up the tunnel. “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “Get out of here, Nato; I’ll be right behind you!” Menowski shouted, the steady clack of him reloading punctuating his words.

  “Do not make me come up there and beat your ass, Marine!” Nato roared.

  Michael went to the mini-sub. It was a tiny ship of thick steel with tiny portholes of armored glass. It looked like the remote craft used to explore the deepest channels of the trench, except this one had been stripped of all the scientific equipment they often carried.

  Michael opened the hatch and peered inside. Exploration submersibles were Spartan on the inside at the best of times; this one looked like an empty tin can with a single set of drive controls and a radio set bolted to the wall. There were no seats, but he saw heating coils running around the inside that would keep them from freezing to death too quickly.

  “Is it okay?” Nicole asked.

  “Yeah. We need to get in, flood this chamber, and open that door.” Michael jerked his head towards the large steel hatch in the floor.

  Nicole stepped back and looked up. The mini-sub was secured by a chain on some kind of hook. It looked like it could be released from inside the sub.

  Michael jumped down. “Get in the sub. I’ll find the hatch controls.”

  “There’s a hook on the top of the sub; it should release inside. You know, like a glider disconnecting from a tow plane?”

  “I can’t say I have ever had the chance to try gliding.”

  Nicole shook her head and climbed up into the sub. She flicked the clearly marked switches on the control console and was relieved to see the batteries showed full charge. The sub was simple to operate, as if they expected it to be piloted by someone who had no experience.

  “Menowski!” Nato yelled again. The gunfire continued and then went silent. Nato raised his rifle and covered the opening of the escape tunnel. He tensed but did not fire when Menowski’s boots appeared, quickly followed by the rest of the marine.

  “You’re late,” Nato said, extending a hand and pulling Menowski to his feet.

  “One of them was the Sarge,” Menowski said. “I put him out of his suffering.”

  “Ooh rah,” Nato said. “Get on the sub, and make sure that fucking civilian is onboard.”

  Menowski strode over to where Michael was trying to make sense of the room’s hatch and pump controls.

  “Get on the sub,” he ordered.

  “I’ve almost got it!” Michael replied.

  Menowski grabbed the smaller man by the shoulder and bodily moved him to the sub. “Get in there, or I will shoot you myself.”

  Michael scrambled into the sub, taking a seat against the wall next to Nicole. The rucksacks with the sealed specimen containers between their knees.

  “Nato! Once I set the hatch to open, this room is going to flood and the sub can drop out through the floor. We’re either on it or we set a new free-dive record for about three seconds!”

  Nato was still focused on the dark entrance to the tunnel they had slid down. “I’ll take care of it. Get on board!”

  Menowski hesitated until Nato turned and glared at him. “I said, get on board!”

  The marine scrambled up to the submarine hatch and crawled inside. With a professional confidence, he checked the systems and made the sub ready to fly as soon as they were in the water.

  Nato backed away from the tunne
l, the wet slapping sounds and gurgling groans coming down the pipe filling him with unease. He twisted the levers and pressed the emergency evacuation button on the wall panel. A klaxon sounded and lights flashed. He turned and headed for the sub. The hatch would open slowly, giving him plenty of time to get on board and secure the hatch.

  Water started pouring down the escape tunnel, and in the flow, a grey-skinned figure slid out of the pipe and clawed its way off the safety net. Nato opened fire, shooting the squirming thing until its head came apart and the body lay still. Others came down the pipe, landing with wet splats on the remains of the first infected.

  Nato kept shooting as the net filled with a deadly catch. He stepped on to the sub and fired the last of his magazine into the crawling mass of infected dropping onto the concrete floor.

  Sliding into the sub, Nato pulled the hatch closed and locked it tight.

  “Everyone okay?” he asked.

  They nodded and moved closer together to make room for Nato in the cramped space.

  “We’ll be out of here soon.”

  The metal submarine vibrated as the hatch under them opened and water roared up, flooding the room.

  Dull slapping sounds reached them as the infected banged on the shell of the sub. Nicole tried not to flinch, reminding herself that they were safe in here, and in a few minutes, they would be on their way home.

  The acoustics of the chamber changed as the room filled with freezing sea water.

  “Anytime you’re ready, Menowski,” Nato said.

  “Hold on to your asses,” Menowski replied and pulled the cable release handle above his head. Nothing happened. He pulled it again. Still nothing.

  “You can jerk off on your own time…” Nato growled.

  “Let it go, you fuckin’ sonnovabitch…” Menowski tugged on the handle a third time. The sub jerked as the cable released and they dropped into the water.

  Chapter 21

  “Fucking drive straight!” Nato said.

  Menowski’s grip on the controls was white-knuckled as the sub bounced off the rock walls of the flooded tunnel and he over-corrected.

  The flow of water was pushing them out. The flooding of the sub chamber had completed, and they were using the small propellers of the submarine to move under power.

  “I see darkness!” Nicole shouted.

  “What?” Menowski jerked his head and then went back to staring through the pilot’s porthole.

  “Darkness, that means open ocean!” Nicole explained.

  “Few more feet… Just a few more feet…” Menowski seemed to breathe again as the sub burst out into the dark water.

  Nato snatched the handset of the radio from its cradle. “Ishmael, Ishmael, this is fire-team Beta. Do you copy?”

  “Copy, Beta Team, this is Ishmael. What is your sit-rep, over?”

  “Ishmael, we have data and specimens of agent. Mission accomplished. We’re in an escape sub and require immediate evac, over.”

  “Confirmed, Beta Team. We have you on sonar. ETA your position five minutes.”

  “Copy that, Ishmael, look forward to seeing you.” Nato let his hands drop into his lap. “Sub’ll pick us up in a few minutes.”

  Michael breathed, letting the tension flow out of his shoulders and letting his thoughts settle for the first time in days. He glanced at Nicole. She was pale under her tan, staring at the cold steel floor, her knees drawn up to her chest.

  Michael hoped that they would have the opportunity to laugh about all this one day. He had a moment of hope that blessed day would include a few tropical cocktails at a resort somewhere. Maybe with a pool, instead of a beach though.

  The sub boomed, and a violent shock threw Michael across the cabin and against Nicole. Nato crashed against them both, and Menowski slammed into the curved steel wall.

  “We hit something?” Michael said, his voice muffled by Nato’s arm pressing against his face.

  The sub rolled again, the controls jerking as the rudders tilted wildly. Crawling into a more comfortable position, Nato checked on Menowski. The pilot had been knocked unconscious, a trickle of blood running across the bridge of his nose.

  “Saint-Clair, okay?” Nato asked.

  “I’m fine, but guys… you might want to see this.”

  Nicole pulled back from the porthole she had been pressed against. A pale shape slithered across the glass and then slammed into the hull with enough force to knock them sideways again.

  “It’s the infected,” Nato said.

  “No,” Nicole shook her head. “It’s Gretchen. Her metamorphosis is complete.”

  The radio crackled with the voice of the nuclear submarine comms officer. Beta Team, Beta Team. This is Ishmael, do you copy?”

  Nato grabbed the handset. “Beta Team, receiving, over.”

  “We’re getting some strange sonar readings on your position. Do you see anything, over?”

  “Affirmative, Ishmael. We’ve got a giant jellyfish trying to get in and eat our brains, over.”

  The radio was silent for a moment. “Beta Team, this is Ishmael, repeat your last, over.”

  “Advise extreme caution during docking and rescue op,” Nato said to the radio. “Hostile predator is attacking our vessel, over.”

  “Roger, Beta Team. Preparing for emergency docking and transfer of personnel.”

  The loud ping of active sonar rippled through the tiny submarine, and a moment later, the scraping sound of a steel hull brushing against theirs.

  “You two, secure Menowski. I’ll put us in position for hatch-to-hatch transfer.”

  Nicole and Michael dragged Menowski across their laps and held him steady as the tiny submarine dipped and twisted. The giant creature outside curled its translucent tentacles around the hatch-locking ring and contracted its body in one massive muscular spasm. The steel hull creaked and groaned under the strain.

  Nato pulled back on the controls, driving the sub up against the curving black underbelly of the much larger nuclear submarine. The impact ground the beast between the steel hulls, shredding the gel-like flesh and forcing it to release its grip. The thing retreated, leaving chunks of itself caught on the hatch of the smaller sub.

  On the underside of the nuclear vessel, a hatch opened, and the smaller sub rose until the two docking rings came together. Electric motors whirred and locked the two vessels together, like a remora clinging to a much larger shark.

  “Beta team, this is Ishmael. Systems show secure connection. You can open your hatch and disembark your vessel.”

  Nato didn’t bother replying. He rose up on his knees and twisted the locks open on the inside of the hatch. A little water splashed down, along with a large chunk of translucent jelly.

  “Up and out!” Nato ordered. “Saint-Clair, you go first. There’ll be people on the other side to help you. Go!”

  Nicole scrambled out of the hatch. Hands reached down and grabbed her arms, lifting her up and pulling her to one side. She saw faces in NBC containment suits. Full gasmasks, head-to-toe protection, and thick gloves.

  “We’re not infected!” she insisted.

  Menowski’s limp form was lifted up through the narrow hatchway. The biohazard-protected crew took him and immediately laid him out in a clear plastic body bag which was sealed.

  Michael came up out of the hatch and was immediately taken into secure custody.

  “That fucking thing is coming back!” he yelled. “We need to get out of here!”

  Nato reached up through the open hatch as the submarine around him shuddered, and with a shrieking of metal, the small vessel was sheared off the docking ring. High-pressure jets of water immediately burst in through the millimeter gap, slicing through Nato’s arms and neck like a high-powered laser. The spray turned crimson and the air filled with the stink of salt water and blood.

  The crew evacuated the airlock, knocking Michael down and dragging him out of the tight space that was rapidly flooding with water.

  Menowski was left behind as they seal
ed the airlock, and a moment later, the exterior hatch also closed.

  “Breach contained!” one of the crew shouted through his gasmask. “Get these people into secure quarantine!”

  Nicole struggled against their grip, screaming she wasn’t infected. Michael was shaking his head, saying something she couldn’t make out as they slid a body-length plastic shroud over his head and secured him in it. The smell of disinfectant filled her nostrils, and the same kind of heavy-duty plastic bag swept over her as well.

  Nicole struggled, trying to breathe, trying to break free. This wasn’t right. They weren’t infected! She clawed at the plastic with her fingers as the entire bag was lifted and she was carried down a narrow corridor.

  Her hands caught the light shining down from the close ceiling, and she froze. For a moment, her skin shimmered with a silver translucence, and she felt something alien start to move in her flesh…

  THE END

  Read on for a free sample of Monsters In Our Wake.

  Flora Duchovney was hiding below deck when she heard the commotion. Of course, she’d never acknowledge she was hiding, just like she’d never confess she still had a problem working for the company. It was hard enough being the only woman on board without admitting to any sensitivity. Sensitivity wasn’t popular here; she’d figured that out right away. Along with showing concern for anything but profit, it was cause for immediate derision. Even though she’d theoretically been hired for her geological expertise, she’d learned early on that her opinion wasn’t welcome. It was best to keep her mouth shut and look the other way. It was a matter of survival, really. Perhaps when she returned to the mainland, she’d call some journalists and toss them a few tidbits. Nothing that would lead to her, of course, although she was certain the men would instantly know who had betrayed them.

  She’d wait until she cashed her check. Zach came first. He always did. The ocean may have been her first love, but Zach was her deepest.