And that’s what has hold of us.
They were brought to a halt only six feet from the thing’s perimeter—all but one of them. One of the marines kept walking, straight at the thing. It surged and enveloped him in folds of plastic. He immediately started to melt. His face took on a contorted, pained expression, but no more than it would if he’d had a toothache. Even as his flesh sloughed off he kept walking forward. It all took place in complete silence and none of the marine’s companions moved to help him. Suzie’s grip on Noble’s hand tightened, but that was the only sign of anything amiss.
They all stood watching as the young marine was assimilated, broken down into first meat and bone, then further digested, until all that remained to show he’d been there was a scrap of khaki cloth and a pink stain in the fluid matrix. His weapon seemed to hang for a while in the fluid before sinking slowly towards the ground.
The last hint of pink slowly faded. In the far distance, the now-familiar chant went up again.
Tekeli Li. Tekeli Li.
Noble felt Suzie’s grip loosen on his hand.
She started to walk forward.
He screamed in his mind
No!
But no sound came from his mouth. Suzie was within touching distance of the plastic skin of the creature. The thing shifted, opening a passage for her to walk in so that it could then enfold her.
Noble remembered the scrap of burnt material in the jar back in the lab and the way it had recoiled from him when he concentrated. He filled his mind with a picture of the kelp burning as the acid hit it and threw it towards the darker spot inside the fluid.
It flinched.
Noble reached out and found he was able to move. He grabbed Suzie by the arm and dragged her backwards, just in time as the creature surged towards her. Wings of stretched polythene opened above both Noble and Suzie.
We’re done for.
But the momentary lapse in the creature’s grip on them had allowed the marines to move. The air filled with the tang of acid and the polythene wings melted away, thick viscous fluid washing to the ground.
“Kill it,” Noble heard the Lieutenant shout. More acid sprayed, but not quickly enough. Something small and dark scuttled away into the shadows. The grip left Noble’s mind completely and he was able to move freely.
“Incoming,” a marine shouted and they turned towards the shout.
A wall of kelp writhed wildly in the hole in the keel through which they’d entered and was pushing its bulk through into the hold. One of the men carrying an acid pack ran forward to hose the kelp down, but despite the fact that pieces of it fell, charred and smoking, the bulk of the thing kept coming. It fell on the man from a height. He managed one last spray of acid before disappearing inside a mass of vegetation with a hiss and a stink of burnt meat.
The kelp came on fast.
“Get to the stairs,” the Lieutenant shouted. He pushed Noble and Suzie away from the onrushing vegetation. Noble hadn’t even noticed there were stairs, but now saw a flight of rusted steps leading up into the gloom. He was considering the risk of venturing onto a structure that had been under water so long, but Suzie had no such qualms.
“Come on,” she shouted. “We have to find it. Find it and kill it before it starts to grow again.”
That didn’t sound like much of a plan to Noble, but the continued surge of Shoggoth material and kelp in the hold made it a moot point. They were forced into retreat and the stairs were their only avenue of escape.
Noble and Suzie only just got there in time. The marines weren’t so fortunate.
They defended a line just at the foot of the steps, buying enough time for Noble and Suzie to escape. The kelp didn’t give them any respite. It came on in a tall wall, as implacable and unstoppable as a Tsunami. The Lieutenant was the closest to Noble and he was the only one to join them on the stairs. The other marines were all swallowed and swept away in a tide of writhing vegetation, with no hope of rescue. The last Noble saw was a single arm thrusting up through the fronds, a fist clenched around something round the size of an apple.
“Run,” the Lieutenant shouted.
They took the stairs two at a time and only just made it to the top when the grenade went off with a blinding flash and a blast that rocked the whole rusted keel and almost sent them tumbling back down into the kelp. When Noble’s eyes adjusted, he looked down into the hold.
The blast had left a smoking crater in the kelp, a hole some ten feet wide that was filling with seawater. The kelp was already moving pieces of plastic in to try to fill the breach, but the gush of water was too strong.
The hold started to flood.
Lieutenant Mitchell didn’t hesitate.
“Follow me,” he said. “We need to find the fuel tanks in this old girl and hope she’s still carrying a load.”
Noble didn’t need to ask; he remembered the young officer’s words just after the chopper crashed.
I’m carrying enough C4 to blow a hole in the planet.
Mitchell led them along a badly rusted corridor that was slimy underfoot with rotted seaweed. Noble watched it carefully, but it showed no signs of being alive. He was still holding Suzie’s hand, but she had a far-away stare. He thought she might be in shock at what they’d witnessed, so she surprised him when she stopped suddenly and spoke in a loud stage whisper.
“We’re going the wrong way. It’s behind us now. I can feel it.”
And now that she mentioned it Noble realised that he too could sense it, a feather-like touch probing at his mind. He pushed it away and it stayed away.
We’ve weakened it.
He didn’t have time to celebrate. The old ship lurched beneath them.
“Does this thing have lifeboats?” Noble asked, more in jest than hope. Mitchell took him seriously.
“I’m hoping so… for your sake.”
That doesn’t sound good.
Mitchell didn’t stop to explain. He looked Suzie in the eye.
“I don’t care where it is,” he said. “It’s on this hulk. That’s enough. If I take out the boat, nothing’s going to survive.
That doesn’t sound good at all.
They followed Mitchell through the rotting shell of the boat. Bits of it were in bad shape, and in places the Shoggoths had obviously tried to patch the damage with plastic, giving the whole thing a strange, patchwork appearance. He saw Suzie looking. In other circumstances, she would happily have spent hours investigating, but now, when he pulled her away, she followed.
They had to move quickly to keep up with Mitchell. They were moving fast along a badly rusted corridor when the boat lurched again and settled at a definite tilt. The sound of rushing water came from somewhere deeper in the boat, getting louder, more insistent.
“Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast,” Noble said to Mitchell.
The officer looked towards the source of the sound and then seemed to come to a decision.
“There’s no time to look for the fuel tank now. Get up on deck and look for a lifeboat. I’ll stay here and take the thing down.”
To Suzie’s credit, she didn’t argue and Noble could see in the man’s eyes that to do so would be futile. She gave him a quick hug and Noble shook his hand. When they turned to leave, he had already taken off the backpack and removed several packs of plastic explosive and a small box of detonators.