Depth Charge - illuminations

Chapter 17

The Vortex pulled them all deeper into Deans Blue Hole. Marie started to awaken as the blissful state of the alien prison was violently disturbed by the turbulent waters. Gordon strained his body, attempting to swish himself inches closer, trying to rupture the sac. Bill started to descend, desperately trying to avoid the vicious snapping fangs of the creatures as they swirled past him. The effect of the motion of the water mixed with the bioluminescent lights almost made Bill sick. He had to maintain his focus if he was going to rescue Marie. He must.

Amidst the turmoil, Gordon could make out something long, slender and bright white, ascending quickly from the dark blue water below. It made circular motions and infinity signs as it wriggled through the hapless assortment of snapping fangs, spheres and tendrils. The creature must have been about five meters long, yet its head was no thicker than a fist. The thickness of the creature smoothly decreased to the end of its tail which seemed as thin as a hair. The mouth of the creature was a pointed beak, much like a garfish, but glowing bright white. Gordon was mesmerized. He had never seen anything like it. The white creature seemed to be a mix of sea snake and garfish. Gordon tried again to get close enough to free Marie, but the tentacle that wrapped around his leg made him merely brush the membrane surface with his fingertips. The bright white garfish snake creature swiftly circled towards Gordon, getting closer to his face. In the same motion that Gordon opened his mouth to scream, the slender white creature thrust its body into Gordon's mouth and down his throat. As Gordon choked, he made one last desperate attempt to rescue Marie. Gordon focused his bulging eyes, seeing Bill approaching. With one last painful thrust, Gordon reached out his hand just enough to grab the membrane of the sac. Gordon sunk his fingers as hard as he could into it.

Bill watched, merely meters away as Gordon successfully ruptured the sac membrane. The weight of the water caused the sac to implode, pushing Marie's body forcefully upwards. Gordon's body turned lifeless as the white alien snake fish withdrew from its victorious attack.

With a dizzy sensation, Marie came to her senses from being expelled from her alien prison. Feeling something grab her around the waist, Marie opened her eyes in horror. Marie tried to will herself to kick and swim away, but years of being immobile in the alien sac had left her muscles helpless against the attack.

With one arm, Bill had firmly grabbed Marie. With his other arm, he grabbed onto the safety line that Veronica had thrown into the water. Everything around Bill seemed to move in slow motion. Having Marie in his arms made his heart calm, despite the thrashing of sea creatures surrounding him. When Veronica noticed that Bill was holding onto the line, she gave Ellen the signal to pull the boat away. The slithering bright white garfish snake creature looped its body into circles, ready to attack Bill.

Bill felt his arm pull with a great strain, almost dislocating it. His desire to save his wife made him muster up superhuman strength from within. He would not let go, he just couldn't. As they moved through the vortex of terror, Bill felt a sharp stabbing pain in his leg, causing him to almost lose his grip on Marie. Bill tipped his head down enough to view the sharp Isopod antenna pierced through his leg. Bill held on for all he could.

Within moments they had been dragged to the edge of the Hole, clearing the tremendous pull of the vortex. When Veronica had seen that Bill and Marie had cleared the Hole, she took off the belt of grenades from off her shoulder and hurled it into the middle of the vortex. A massive explosion sent water shooting skywards. The water reigned down upon the area, amidst a mix of fragmented fish bits.

Ellen slowed the boat to allow Bill and Marie on board. Veronica helped a shivering Marie onto the boat as Bill let out a cry from the pain in his leg and shoulder. Bill was breathing heavily, totally spent from his emotional and physical ordeal, but relieved to have his wife and daughter beside him. Marie shook and talked incoherently, finding it hard to adjust to the sunlight.

"It's okay Marie, I'm here now. You're safe."

Selena could hear the voices of her parents beside her. Looking over, she tried to comprehend what had happened. "Mom? Dad?"

There was going to have to be some explaining thought Bill. "It's okay Selena, we're here honey."

Ellen was hurt, but in typical Marine fashion she continued in doing what was of most importance. In this case it was getting the hell out of the Bahamas. Circling out of the islands Ellen directed the B90 back across towards Cape Canaveral.

"What do think has happened?" asked Grace.

"I'm not sure," responded Mark, "but I'll tell you one thing, I don't trust Gordon as far as I can throw him."

"I'll second that motion," said Grace. Another voice came through the comms. It was clearer than last time, and a familiar voice to Mark and Grace.

"Captain, it's Ellen. Do you copy?"

Mark spoke into the comm, relieved to hear Ellen's voice. "Ellen, what happened? We heard lots of commotion after Gordon screamed, but lost transmission not long after."

"It's a long story, but we have Selena and..."

"And what?" asked Mark.

"Well, we also found Bill's formally dead wife." Ellen could picture Mark's confusion. Continuing, she spoke, "Never mind. We are currently half way between the Bahamas and Cape Canaveral. I heard Gordon talking about it when he called you."

"Ellen," Mark's voice took a serious tone. "It's very important that you don't go any closer to Cape Canaveral. We are not far away. Send me your exact location and we'll pick you up."

"But Captain, we have people on board needing medical attention," Ellen protested.

"Ellen, it's a lot bigger than you know. If you travel any further you may be in more danger. We have medical supplies on board. Stay put, that's an order."

"Yes Captain," was Ellen's reply as she told Mark the co-ordinates.

Sam had successfully escorted Mark's wife and child to the last leg of their journey. The alien's intervention with the sea floor that had caused the quakes and Tsunamis had subsequently started to affect the Earth's weather patterns. Immense storm cells started to form across America, creating Tornadoes, lightning and hail.

Sam was glad he had chosen to head to Dallas Texas instead of Chicago for the last flight. With all that was occurring with the waterways, Sam had thought it best to stay away from Lake Michigan. It was a wise choice as reports started to come in over the airways about surrounding cities around Lake Michigan suffering attacks from unrelenting alien sea creatures.

Looking at the foreboding sky, Sam knew they had to get going. Handing the cash over to the military pilot, he told him where to go. "Cape Canaveral, and don't stop for anything!"

Colonel Hardy hurried the President along into Air Force One along with a select number of individual deemed invaluable for the Neptune operation. "I have to be perfectly frank with you Mr President."

"Well?" prompted the President.

"This is not going to be a walk in the park. If our data is correct, then we'll be going through a battle zone, trying to get to the Neptune ships."

The President pointed his finger at the Colonel. "You just make sure that I get on that escape flight in one piece Colonel. Do I make myself clear?"

Colonel Hardy cleared his throat before responding, "Crystal, Mr President Sir."