“You heard me, Mr. Malkin,” Captain Nicholson growled. “Peart, contact Captain Weaver and let him know that we’ll be buying him some time.”
Fear hung over the crew of the Hercules like the building charge of energy in a summer sky before lightning flashed through it. Captain Nicholson knew none of his crew would challenge him on what he was about to do. They were all professionals and were well aware of their duty.
“Captain Weaver for you, sir,” Peart said.
“Put him on,” Captain Nicholson said.
“Weaver, what in the devil do you think you’re doing?” Captain Weaver’s voice boomed over the bridge’s speakers.
“You know exactly what I am doing,” Captain Nicholson answered calmly.
“Turn the Hercules around right now, Nicholson. There is no need for this,” Captain Weaver roared.
“You’re wrong, Weaver,” Captain Nicholson told him. “Someone has to survive all this.”
“We have a better chance of that together,” Captain Weaver argued.
Captain Nicholson shook his head though he knew Captain Weaver couldn’t see him. The transmission was audio only. “I don’t see it that way.” Captain Nicholson leaned forward in his command chair. “That thing out there just ripped its way through DESRON 2 like it was nothing. Tell me, Weaver, do you really think that our two ships can handle it alone?”
Silence hung over the bridge of the Hercules as Captain Nicholson waited on Captain Weaver’s answer. Captain Weaver dodged the question though.
“I am ordering you to turn the Hercules around, Nicholson. I need you with us,” Captain Weaver growled.
“What you need is time to get the hell out of here and I am going to get it for you,” Captain Nicholson replied and then signaled for Keogh to kill the transmission.
“That went better than it could have,” Grant chuckled. “At least he didn’t threaten to have us all court-martialed.”
Captain Nicholson didn’t point out that it was because Captain Weaver was already writing them off as dead and the ship lost.
“So we’re really doing this then?” Grant asked.
Laughing darkly, Captain Nicholson smiled and got down to business.
“Time to intercept?” he asked Keogh.
“Two minutes, sir,” Keogh seemed to have grown even paler.
“Mr. Grant, assume control of the weapons station please,” Captain Nicholson ordered. He had known Grant for a long, long time, and the XO was the best gunner he had ever met.
“Yes, sir,” Grant said, relieving the on-duty officer to slide into the chair at the weapons station.
“Take the contact behind with guns, Mr. Grant,” Captain Nicholson ordered, “and let’s send that thing back to whatever depths of Hell it came from.”
“With pleasure, sir,” Grant replied with a grin.
The Hercules came about in the water, slowing her speed. She faced the oncoming Kraken as she brought her guns to bear on the monster. The CIWS sprang to life first, spraying the waves with a virtual wall of lead. It thundered as it spat burst after burst. Her massive Mark 7 guns fired next, followed by her secondary batteries. Bullets ripped the surface of the ocean as sixteen-inch, armor-piercing shells followed them into the depths. Great geysers of black-tinted water splashed upwards as the shells hit their target and exploded. It was as if Hell itself had opened up in waves above and around the Kraken. Still, the great beast came onward without so much as slowing its speed.
“Keep firing!” Captain Nicholson ordered Grant. “Empty everything we have into that bastard!”
The Hercules continued its barrage as the Kraken drew ever closer to her.
“The Kraken has increased its speed to forty-five knots!” Keogh shouted.
That’s ramming speed, Captain Nicholson thought but said nothing aloud. Most of his crew would surely come to the same conclusion. “Mr. Grant, target the Kraken’s main body.”
“I have been, sir,” Grant rasped.
“I think the thing is using its lesser tentacles as shields, sir,” Keogh yelled.
“Any change in course?” Captain Nicholson demanded to know.
“None, sir,” Keogh answered him. “Impact in less than one minute.”
“Evasive maneuvers!” Captain Nicholson ordered his helmsman. “Engines at full!”
“She’s almost through our kill zone, sir,” Grant told him. “Once that thing clears it, only the CIWS will be able to keep firing.”
“The Kraken has cleared the kill zone, sir,” Keogh shouted. “It’s increased speed again to forty-eight knots!”
Captain Nicholson blinked at Keogh’s report of the Kraken’s speed. Surely he had to have heard the sonar tech wrong; nothing that big could move that fast through the waves.
The Hercules’ main guns fell silent as her CIWS thundered on.
“Dear God,” Grant stammered. “How is that monster still alive?”
Captain Nicholson had no answer. The amount of damage the Kraken had to have taken was staggering and surreal. By all rights, even accounting for the thing’s size, it should be dead or at least reeling from the amount of fire Grant had poured into it.
“Impact in five seconds, sir,” Keogh shouted and started counting down. “Four…Three…”
Captain Nicholson looked about the bridge at his crew. He took pride in the fact that even with death bearing down on them, they stayed at their stations.
“Impact!” Keogh wailed as the Kraken struck the Hercules. The ship was hurled upwards out of the water even as her aft section was folded inward like the hood of a car meeting an immovable object at high speed.
Captain Nicholson was flung from his chair to the floor of the bridge. He heard Mr. Malkin grunt as the man’s ribs were shattered, his chest hurled into the helm. Malkin toppled sideways from his chair to land next to where Captain Nicholson rested on his aching hands and knees.
A power surge shot through the Hercules’ systems, blowing out just about every station on the bridge. Keogh died instantly as the sonar station blew apart in an explosion of flames and shrapnel. Grant threw himself away from the weapons station, narrowly avoiding the same fate.
The Hercules flopped back into the water, tossing her bridge officers about like ragged dolls, Captain Nicholson among them. Captain Nicholson had been trying to get back on his feet as the ship went down. Halfway up, he was hurled across the bridge to smash into the forward wall beneath the bridge window. His right shoulder took the brunt of the impact as he tried to brace himself. Captain Nicholson howled in pain as the shoulder was not only dislocated, but most of the bones inside it were crushed. Still, Captain Nicholson counted himself as lucky as he watched a crewman who was on fire rolling about on the floor of the bridge near its entrance.
“Grant!” Captain Nicholson yelled, stumbling to his feet. He clutched his shattered shoulder with his good hand, fighting not to black out from the pain.
His XO had made his way to the engineering console. “Rerouting weapon control now, sir!”
“Damage reports coming in from all over the ship, Captain,” another crewman with shouted at him. The woman was using a handheld radio to communicate with the rest to the ship. Now that was quick thinking, Captain Nicholson admitted.
The Hercules shook again as the Kraken heaved a part of itself up onto the ship’s forward deck. The giant beast’s weight dragged the bow of the ship downward. Captain Nicholson grabbed the helm to keep his footing as the floor of the bridge titled. The helmsman, Malkin, looked up at him, his lips smeared with blood. “Hang in there, son,” Captain Nicholson said, trying to comfort Malkin as he stepped over him, heading for the engineering station to join Grant there.