CHAPTER FIFTEEN - Ben
Military Tech
“What happened to your vacation?” said Officer Miller, watching Reeves bound through the tall grass at him.
Reeves leapt onto the trail and picked up a jog, keeping pace with Miller.
“The Caribbean is all booked up.”
“The entire Caribbean?”
“Sir, I have information about the serpent you’ll find interesting.”
Miller glanced sideways with an air of exasperation. His mustache twitched. Then he returned his attention to the trail and grunted, which Reeves took to mean he should continue.
“I did some research, sir, and the legend spans several cultures. There’s the Midgard Serpent in Norse mythology, and the leviathan from the Old Testament, of course. The indigenous peoples—” he tripped over a stone and caught himself “—of the Pacific Northwest have Sisiutl. Dharmic religions have Naga, and—”
“What’s your point, Reeves?”
“This serpent is all over human history, but given the merman’s pattern of attacks, I think we should look at one in particular.”
Miller was silent. Their footsteps drummed through the silent morning air as they continued along the dirt trail, approaching the coastline.
“The Pacific Northwest, sir. I think we should find out more about Sisiutl. Maybe they have information on how this merman king got it in the first place. If you look back at the satellite images, the earliest indication shows up near Eriana Kwai about three weeks ago—”
“Near who?”
“Eriana Kwai. That island in the Gulf.”
“Oh. Right.”
“I think we should go there. Ask them about the serpent. I think the merman was targeting them.”
The trail turned. They emerged from the meadow and continued on a low clifftop along the jagged coast. The scent of wildflowers faded on the wind, replaced by seaweed and brine.
“Reeves, I don’t think those people will be happy to see us. We haven’t exactly been helping—”
“There’s something else, sir.”
He heard the desperation in his own tone. Miller looked at him.
“The University of British Columbia has a primary document from Eriana Kwai. They must have bought it from the island ages ago. I’m not sure. But it mentions a serpent.”
“What is it, a book?”
“Parchment. It was transcribed. I think it was an oral legend.”
“So it’s a story.”
“Sir, you’ve seen the serpent with your own eyes. You know it’s not a story.”
The trail narrowed, and Reeves fell into step behind the large teardrop of sweat on the back of Miller’s shirt. They jogged in silence, following the winding clifftop. Far below, the sea glistened, peaceful and unassuming. Waves purred against the rocky beach.
“Does the legend tell anything about an attack plan?” said Miller.
“Plan? No, sir. It talks about—”
“All right, look.” He stopped and turned, forcing Reeves to an abrupt halt. “I appreciate the research you’ve done here, but save your breath. We’ve already decided we’re going to nuke it.”
“Nuke—what? No!”
“You’re choosing to believe a legend over science. You want something this big gone, use a nuke. That’s a fact.”
“We can’t blow up the ocean!”
Miller turned and resumed jogging. Reeves followed after a stunned silence.
The officer concentrated on navigating the narrow path for a moment before saying, “You seem opposed to retaliating against the mermaids—even before the whole thing with Perseus happened. Not a good quality in my number one man. Something going on with you?”
Reeves’ stomach flipped. It was lucky Miller’s back was to him, because he was sure his face betrayed him in that moment.
“No, sir. It’s just—I don’t know if nukes will work.”
“Of course they’ll work!”
“Sir, would you have believed a few weeks ago that this serpent could have existed?”
Miller said nothing.
“Me neither, sir, which is why I think we should be careful of what we assume about it.”
“We need to get rid of this thing—”
“The legend says it’s completely indestructible.”
Miller hesitated. “Well, the legend was written before we had modern technology.”
“I saw it chew up seventeen supercavitating torpedoes like a bowl of cereal!”
“Look, we’re tracking the serpent on the most high-res satellites we have access to. Every time it surfaces, we plot it. It won’t be long before we close in.”
“That’s great, but—”
“The problem is that we don’t yet know its pattern. We don’t know where it’s going to be, so we don’t know who to evacuate or where to send the helicopters. We’re at an estimated thirty thousand deaths, Reeves. That’s thirty thousand too many. So unless you know where it’s going to attack next—”
“The serpent’s power is passed by blood, sir.”
Reeves’ breath was shallow as he waited for the officer’s reaction. This was the Holy Grail, as far as he was concerned. He had shared the key to the most powerful force in the world.
If Miller would trust him, everything would be fixed. He would have his respect back from Miller, his peers. From himself. More importantly—something he would never admit aloud—he would finally be able to ease his conscience. No more innocent mermaids would be killed by his country. He might, finally, feel like he’d made up for what his team did—what he did—to the one who saved him.
If Miller decided not to act on this knowledge, Reeves wasn’t sure what else he could do.
Miller slowed his pace. After a moment during which he seemed to struggle for words, he said, “What the hell does that mean, passed by blood? We drink the serpent’s blood like vampires?”
“It means if we kill the merman, we become master of the serpent.”
Miller stopped so abruptly that Reeves ran into him.
The officer turned, heaving. “What?”
“We have to kill the merman.”
“And if we kill him—”
“We control the serpent.”
They stood panting, Miller more elevated on the narrow trail. Behind him, the tree line started, and Reeves could see mist reaching out from the dark woods in a way that reminded him of spirits.
“Jesus,” said Miller. “You sure?”
“It’s what the legend says.”
“What about the other legends? That Asgard snake or whatever.”
“None of them say anything about controlling it. Eriana legend is the only one that talks about transferring power.”
Officer Miller ran a hand over his bushy mustache, contemplating in silence. Reeves studied his face, wishing he would think aloud.
Come on, he thought. Don’t make a nuclear war out of this. We’re better than that.
“I mean, think of what this could …” Miller swore under his breath. “The tech we’ve got is one thing, but to have the power of the leviathan under the American flag?”
Reeves waited, hardly breathing.
Abruptly, Miller pushed past him and started jogging back the way they’d come.
“I’m calling the Secretary of State. See what we can do to locate the merman.”
Reeves stayed frozen. Was Miller agreeing to give it a shot? Would they actually try to target the merman instead?
He ran to catch up. “Where would you like me, sir?”
“Call UBC and get that document pulled. We don’t want knowledge of this getting out.”
Call UBC? What was he, an office assistant?
“I can, sir, but they’re under the Canadian government so we can’t really force them—”
“Ask anyway. Be polite about it. Say ‘please’ and ‘sorry’.”
“Don’t you think if we tell them to classify a document that’ll invite them to look at it more closely?”
Miller seemed to consider this for half a second. “Say you’re part of a preservation initiative for Eriana Kwai. Tell them you want to buy it from them. They can name a price. Anything.”
“I—yes, sir.”
He wasn’t trained for this kind of negotiating, but he would have to try—even if it did mean letting another nation in on the secret.
They ran back along the shore in silence. Reeves’ chest lightened with relief at having changed Miller’s mind. He looked out at the glistening sea, thinking of the gleam that had come on like a light in the man’s eyes.
Were others similarly entranced by the possibility of controlling the serpent? It was hard to believe they and the merman could be the only ones who knew about the legend.
The victory faded as quickly as it had come, shadowed by a sense of foreboding. How many would soon know about the leviathan—and how many would be racing to gain control of it?