Chapter Thirty-Seven

 

 

 

WEARING BIOACTIVE NOCTURNAL goggles, Alec and his swim partner, Shaw, completed their circuit beneath the floating castle complex, sweeping the faint light of a red decilamp over its underwater framework as they hunted for any signs of mussel mine clusters and found nothing.

The giant pontoons were the most obvious targets. But a determined man‌—‌and Drummond had gone to great trouble‌—‌might also see value in destroying the giant, caged propellers that constantly turned on and off, forcing seawater downward as they spun, an essential system that helped to stabilize the complex above. The propellers kept everyone standing upright. If they stopped working, everyone aboard, from kings to kitchen boys, would land on their arses. This event was so politically charged that any number of high-ranking gentlemen might take offense at having their billiard balls rearranged or their cards scattered. And the ladies could not withstand the social trauma of having their unmentionables exposed or their finery ruined by a sudden upending of the punch bowl.

Amusement hitched up the corner of his mouth.

Alec and Shaw were joined by Rip and Rowen. There was a quick exchange of hand signals. Neither had found any sign of tampering. As planned, they’d arrived before the OctoFinn.

Nothing to do but begin another circuit.

Beneath the third pontoon, Alec tapped Shaw on the shoulder and pointed. Faint blue lights trained over a distant pontoon. A classic mistake. Blue light‌—‌though it illuminated surfaces nicely‌—‌was all too easily detected by the human eye. Following protocol, Alec and Shaw extinguished their red decilamps. Red light didn’t travel as far into the dark water, making it far more difficult for enemies to detect.

As the OctoFinn utilized a tube of bissel thread glue to attach a mussel mine to the pontoon, he and Shaw swam closer. The OctoFinn never saw them coming. A blow to the side of the head. A quick jab with the spearhead to the body of the biomech octopus, and the creature fell limp.

Shaw flipped on his lamp and swept a red decilamp overhead. Several mussel mines hung from bissel threads at regular intervals from pontoons and propellers. Quickly removing them, Alec and Shaw attached UP bags and blue locater beacons to both the OctoFinn and the bag of explosives, dragged them from beneath the castle and sent them to the surface. If Moray had done his job‌—‌eliminating one of the six OctoFinn Lady Roideach insisted would be sent‌—‌four remained.

They found a second OctoFinn easily enough and repeated the procedure, sending him and his parasite to the surface. While doing so, they passed Rip and Rowan with their own limp OctoFinn in tow.

A quick conference via hand signals told Alec that five of the presumed six OctoFinn had been dispatched. He and Shaw had snagged two, Rip and Rowan another pair. Rowan had sighted a fifth unconscious OctoFinn floating at the water’s surface, his UP bag flashing a green light.

Relief washed over him. Moray had been assigned the green beacon. That meant he and Isa had successfully intercepted the final OctoFinn to exit the megalodon. Alec hoped their entry and the rest of their tasks had met with equal success.

One sole OctoFinn remained to be captured.

A decision was reached. Rip and Rowan swam for the surface, intent on commandeering the patrol boat attached to the castle guard. Alec and Shaw headed back beneath the castle.

Long, cold minutes passed as they swam, searching for a glimmer of faint blue light.

There.

Alec tapped Shaw’s shoulder and pointed. The final OctoFinn, a sack of mussel mines suspended from the belt about his waist. Not enough explosives to collapse the structure entirely, though there would be significant damage.

Finning for all he was worth and ignoring a growing pain in his knee, he surged forward, keeping pace with his swim partner. Shaw hoisted his spear into position, jabbed the creature’s body. But this time, the cephalopod stunning chemical failed to subdue the biomech octopus.

Instead of falling limp, it began to thrash. Those four tentacles not occupied with holding onto the Finn man‌—‌who glanced over his shoulder with alarm and drew his dive knife‌—‌whipped through the water, reaching for them. A tentacle lashed Alec’s arm, striking the rubber of his suit with a force that was certain to leave a bruise. Shaw wasn’t as lucky. One of the flailing tentacles ripped the aquaspira from his mouth, snapping a return valve and flooding the breathing loop. Another tentacle wrapped about his ankle as he finned away.

Alec’s mind flashed to Davis’s death. But Shaw was conscious, even now grabbing the bailout bag breather from his chest harness and shoving the mouthpiece into place. Drawing his own dive knife, Alec sliced through the creature’s tentacle, freeing Shaw from its grip. Go! he signaled. With just enough oxygen in reserve to make the surface, Shaw kicked away.

Blue octopus blood gushed from the severed tentacle into the sea water, and Alec jabbed his own spear into the body of the octopus, hoping that a second dose might subdue‌—‌but not kill‌—‌the creature. Or exert an undue effect upon the Finn man to which it was attached. Either way, he needed to place a ring clamp about the injured octopus’s limb so that it might continue to breathe as Alec dragged its host to the surface.

The Finn man moved with startling agility, lunging at him with his serrated knife. Nor was the biomech octopus through fighting. Dodging both tentacles and the man’s blade proved impossible. The creature caught Alec by the wrist, squeezing tight, attempting to force him to drop his knife. The Finn man slashed through Alec’s rubber suit, and a deadly cold trickle of water flowed across his skin. He was on borrowed time.

He maneuvered away. But the creature lashed out, its eyes glinting in the white-blue light the Finn still held, and wrapped another tentacle around Alec’s knee. His mechanical knee. With an effortless flex of its muscles, the octopus squeezed, and Alec felt a vague pop‌—‌then excruciating pain.

One of the bolts holding the artificial knee joint in place had snapped.

Agony made every movement a struggle. Alec rammed his elbow into the man’s jaw with a bone-jarring crunch then‌—‌ignoring the cold icicles piercing his skin‌—‌punched the octopus directly in the eye.

Biting on his mouth piece, gritting against the pain, Alec forced himself to take several long, deep breaths. Hyperventilation would lead only to death. His and the OctoFinn’s, for the creature had finally fallen limp.

Quickly, Alec clipped an UP bag and an active beacon to the man. He clamped a clotting cuff around the bleeding tentacle. He reached for the sack of remaining mussel mines‌—‌

Gone.

During the fight, it must have been jarred loose. Currents would have carried the sack of explosives away. No telling if they were beneath the castle complex, lodged in the blades of a stabilizing propeller, or lost to the sea. Either way, they were irretrievable.

He grabbed the unconscious OctoFinn and began to swim. Progress was slow with only one leg fully functional and the frigid water creeping into his suit, but at last he cleared the castle complex. Punching the UP bag, he let it haul them to the surface.

Shouts rang out. An engine roared. Moments later he was dragged from the water onto the deck of the patrol boat. Alec ripped his goggles from his face and found himself staring up at Shaw. “Situation report?”

Shaw tipped his head toward the cabin. “All OctoFinn retrieved, the attached creatures cuffed with ring clamps. No deaths. All mussel mines recovered, save any this last one carried.” An eyebrow lifted.

“Gone.” Alec sat up and‌—‌with a grimace‌—‌yanked the swim fins from his feet. His knee throbbed. “There might be damage. Probably not enough to compromise the structure. I wouldn’t risk ordering an evacuation.” Particularly given the paucity of life boats and the panic such an order would create. “But I’d advise we move some distance away from the structure.”

Shaw swore. “Better to leave them in their palace.”

“Isa and Moray?” Alec asked.

“Sent up the expected OctoFinn, so contact was made. No sign yet of the megalodon.”

“I’ll speak to the captain.” Shaw started to move away, when his eyes dropped to Alec’s leg. Only the brace had saved it from total destruction. “Shit. The octopus?”

“A minor inconvenience.” It was a trick to relax his jaw enough to speak as bolts of lightning shot through his leg with the slightest movement. He waved a hand. “I just need a few minutes. Go. Move us out of range.”

The minute Shaw’s back was turned, he pulled a medic bag toward him. Fished out a syringe and rummaged through vials of medications, searching. He pulled a glass vial of a local painkiller from the supply box and filled the syringe. He jabbed the needle into his leg, shoving the plunger home. Blessed numbness overtook his knee.

Pain faded, only to be replaced by growing worry.

Who was he kidding? With each beat his heart whomped its dread against his rib cage. The woman he loved was on her insane uncle’s submersible, hundreds of feet below icy waves. Far from where he could do anything to help her.

Or Moray.

The boat began to pull away, moving a safe distance from the castle. Impossible to calculate the damage the mussel mines might cause.

“Bad plan,” Rowan said, frowning down at the syringe he still held. Caught. “If I thought for one second you intended to stay off your feet, I’d approve. But from the moon eyes you’ve been making at that woman and the way you’re staring off into the dark…‌”

“I need to be ready.” Alec lifted a hand. “Help me up.”

Rowan sighed, but helped him struggle to his feet. “Dr. Morgan is going to tie your arms and legs to a bed. Good luck convincing him to fix your knee again. Last time he was muttering about amputation.”

He leaned against the railing, shifting most of his weight to his good leg. This was it. His last mission. “I’m thinking I’d better accept that offer of promotion.”

He’d miss working as part of the BURR team, but the promotion would ensure he didn’t leave this world entirely behind. Passing on all he’d learned, strategizing with his team and its future members. With Isa at his side, they’d carve out a new and exciting life. Together. He had to convince her that they belonged together.

Light from the castle windows poured out across the rough sea. Inside nobility danced, unaware‌—‌or uncaring‌—‌of the potential threat beneath their feet. But his thoughts lay deeper, with Isa and the megalodon. Any number of things could have gone wrong. He tried not to list them in his head. And failed.

Muffled thuds‌—‌felt as a pressure wave rather than heard‌—‌reverberated beneath his feet. He closed his eyes briefly, praying that the explosion originated beneath the castle, not within the megalodon.

Feet pounded as Rip and Shaw jogged across the deck to stand beside him. Rip raised a spyglass to his eye, scanning the base of the castle complex. They’d stopped six OctoFinn, confiscating all but one twelfth of the explosives. Would it be enough?

“The structure appears intact,” Rip reported. “Wait. It’s beginning to tilt. At least one pontoon has sustained significant damage. Possibly two.”

Lights flickered in the castle window. A few blinked out. Not hard to imagine the screams and chaos within. Crowns and tiaras toppling. Silk skirts and coattails doused with punch. Steambots scattering nuts and bolts as they crashed into walls. The BURR men held their collective breath as they watched, then exhaled with relief as the structure rebounded and settled‌—‌so much as was possible on the North Sea‌—‌but with a tilt of approximately ten degrees. A definitive end to the festivities.

Still, there was no sign of the megalodon.

“Time to move in,” Shaw announced. “We need access to their infirmary. These OctoFinn need care.” He frowned at Alec. “You need a cot as well.”

Alec shook his head. “Not until‌—‌”

The megalodon breached the surface, water streaming down its nose in great rivulets as it leapt from the ocean. Its chest slammed back down onto rough waves with a great crash that reverberated across the waves.

That was not the plan. That was an emergency blow. Something had gone wrong. That Moray and Isa had managed to take control of the boat was now in serious doubt. They needed to board the vessel‌—‌weapons drawn‌—‌and assess the situation.

Rip and Rowan ran for the helm, ordering the captain to turn about. The patrol boat’s engine roared to life. As it bounced across the crests of the waves, shooting toward the submersible, Alec wrapped his hand around the nearby railing and hauled himself along the gunwale, ignoring the ominous crunching of his knee, gritting his teeth against a fresh pain uncontrolled by the numbing agent.

The great metal jaws of the megalodon opened, baring jagged iron teeth illuminated by the Lucifer lamp that hung from the roof of the submersible’s mouth.

Silence. The submersible’s engine had stopped. Moray‌—‌and he prayed‌—‌Isa had boarded the vessel and stopped the submersible’s engine, forcing it to surface. But the eerie silence wasn’t promising. Icy fear gripped his heart.

His teammates seized weapons and prepared to board. Alec grabbed hold of a nearby weapon, one likely provided to the castle’s guards‌—‌basic, but effective. A single shot was loaded. Shaw frowned at him, but said nothing. He understood.

Their boat bumped against the megalodon, and Alec’s world narrowed to a single focus: Isa.

They swarmed over the jagged teeth as one, but soon left Alec in their wake, much as he tried to scramble behind them. By the time he descended the stairs that led directly into the helm, his teammates were already rushing down a long corridor without him.

Leaving a weeping Isa behind. He growled as he limped to her side. She was tied to the captain’s chair‌—‌naked‌—‌her arms bound to her sides with rough rope. Drummond, formerly of the Royal Navy, knew his knots.

Cries and shouts echoed back to him as the BURR team took possession of the submersible. He pressed a quick kiss to her damp hair, then set his weapon down and applied his fingers to the knots. “It’s over. We saved the castle. Mostly.”

“Stop,” she said, her voice choked and panicked. “Moray is hurt. Bleeding badly. I’ve no idea where my uncle went, but he has no intention of letting the Navy confiscate his megalodon. There’s a bomb.” She tipped her head at a strange metal box bolted to the wall.

He threw open the door in its side and swore. Four dials‌—‌each designed to accept a number between zero and nine‌—‌were mounted inside; a means to activate‌—‌or deactivate‌—‌the bomb. Copper wire wove and coiled across the surface of a glass sphere. Occasional swirls of faint light flashed through its fluid-filled interior. A single wire passed through the glass surface, threading its way to a gray, metallic cube suspended within.

“A Lucifer lamp detonator.” Clipping the wire or breaking the glass would cause it to immediately explode. “There’s no feeding portal. Judging by the occasional flicker of the bioluminescent organisms, the creatures are running low on nutrients.” When the glow faded below a predetermined luminosity, it would trigger the bomb. He scanned the device. Inputting a four-digit code was the only way to save this submersible.

But without knowing the code, stumbling upon the correct combination was unlikely in the time left to them. Still, he would try.

“Shaw!” Alec bellowed. Drawing his knife, he quickly cut through the ropes that bound Isa. “We need to evacuate!”

He turned back to the bomb.