Arctic Gauntlet Read online

  Amani turned to the ocean. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be looking at.”

  “Over in that direction,” Quinne said, pointing. “On the water. Just wait a second…”

  It took more than a second, but they were rewarded for their patience. A whale breached and splashed back down in the water. It hadn’t come up very far, but their brief glimpse of it was beautiful. Quinne didn’t know enough to be able to guess what species it might be, other than it was definitely something other than an orca and definitely large. Sperm whale maybe? Or a humpback? She couldn’t tell the difference, nor did she really care. After a few more seconds other whales could be seen at the surface, none of them showing themselves as spectacularly as the first but all equally breathtaking. Several of them spit plumes of water high into the air from their blowholes.

  “Wow,” Amani said quietly. “I’ve heard other people saying they’ve seen whales on this trip, but this is a first for me.”

  As they watched in reverent silence, Amani moved closer to her and, for an awkward second, looked like she was considering whether or not to take Quinne’s hand. The gesture was usually a bit too twee for Quinne, but she reached out and took Amani’s hand herself. This would likely be a night the girl would remember for the rest of her life, after all. Quinne didn’t see why she shouldn’t make it nice for her.

  Amani’s hand gripped hers harder. At first Quinne thought it was some kind of cutesy gesture of affection or thanks, but when Amani pointed at the whale with her other hand, the look on her face was distinctly worried. “Um, are they supposed to be doing that?”

  Quinne squinted at the whales. They seemed to be thrashing in the water more than usual, churning up a large amount of mist that made it harder to see them. “I don’t know,” Quinne said.

  There was a flume of water, then another. Every spray after that was not water at all, but blood.

  Chapter Two

  “Dafuq?” Quinne asked.

  “Okay, that I know for sure isn’t supposed to happen,” Amani said.

  “Yeah, I think you’re right.” Quinne kept staring, thinking maybe she wasn’t seeing blood at all. It could have just been a trick of the light. With the sun rather close to the horizon, it was entirely possible that what they saw was just an illusion. But no. As the water churned faster, more and more of it was clearly tinted pink.

  “Wow,” Amani said. “Are they being attacked by, like, killer whales?”

  Quinne shrugged. Her knowledge of killer whales began and ended with the bits and pieces she’d caught of Blackfish once as it was playing in the background while she made out with some guy she’d picked up. Hardly a doctorate course in marine biology. “Would a killer whale even attack another whale?”

  “I don’t know,” Amani said.

  Quinne wanted to turn away, but she was held rapt by the blood bath. She took a quick look up and down the deck to see if anyone else was witnessing this, but the deck was quiet. It was dinner time, after all. The few random people that were out for now were engrossed in their own activities: a family of four where both parents were trying to calm down their crying toddler, an older couple walking hand in hand, a middle-aged woman facing away from the ocean with a cell phone in one ear and her finger in the other as she tried to get a signal. Quinne and Amani appeared to be the only people noticing the strange display in the distance.

  “Do you have a cell phone to record this?” Quinne asked Amani.

  “It’s back in my cabin. You?”

  “Intentionally left mine at home. The whole point of going on vacation is to get some time away from my normal world.”

  The spray of blood stopped. The water became calm for a second. Try as she might, Quinne couldn’t see any more sign of the whales. Either they had all taken evasive maneuvers against their predator, or else they were all dead.

  “That’s really weird,” Amani said. “It’s so peaceful out there all of a sudden.”

  “Nature can be a scary bitch,” Quinne said, but despite her flippant words, she was uneasy. She continued staring out at the water, looking for any sign of what had really happened. The water began to churn again, but this time the disturbance was closer by about half the distance. It looked like something moving through the water, heading directly for the Lucky Lady Duck. The closer it got, the more obvious it became that whatever it was, it was big. Bigger, possibly, than any of the whales had been.

  Then whatever it was dove and vanished completely from all sight.

  “Do you think we should tell someone about this?” Amani asked.

  “Maybe. But what are we supposed to say? Something ate a bunch of whales, then came at the ship but then changed its mind? Even if anyone believes us, they would probably say that it was exactly what we first thought. Orcas, or something else like that.”

  “Quinne, I really don’t think that was an orca.”

  “No, I don’t think so either.” Quinne paused and thought for a few seconds. “Let’s just go see if anyone would pay any attention. If not, and they don’t think it’s a big deal, then maybe it isn’t. Maybe we can just get on back to my room like we were planning. Assuming you still want that?”

  It was Amani’s turn to pause. “Yes. I still think I would.”

  Chapter Three

  The two of them ended up being both right and wrong. They were wrong that they were the only people who had noticed anything worrying. But they were right that the majority of people wouldn’t believe it.

  Inside the ship, in the main rotunda, Quinne and Amani saw a small crowd gathering near the elevators. Several of them were obviously members of the crew, given their immaculate white uniforms, and Quinne thought she vaguely recognized one man as the captain himself. Facing the crew were three men, and around the two groups there was a circle of onlookers. Quinne pushed through the crowd to get a closer look at the men, making sure that no one jostled Amani behind her. Quinne nearly took a step back when she saw them, although it was Amani who actually gave voice to her thoughts.

  “Holy cow, is someone filming an action movie here?”

  Because that was exactly what the three men looked like: the lead cast in the latest Hollywood summer blockbuster. The one who stood in front of the others, with his arms crossed in a pose that clearly said “I’m the leader and you’re going to listen to me,” had pale skin and a shock of red hair, but neither feature was as striking as his enormous muscles. He could have easily been a wrestler or a body builder. The man behind him and to his right was equally good looking, if not as insanely well-built. His skin had an indeterminate brown color, like the unthreatening “maybe ethnic or maybe just ambiguously tanned” look of so many action movie sidekicks. The third man was definitely white, the color of someone who rarely went out into the sun, and he had the stringy build and wild hair of the designated nerd of the group. But it was a Los Angeles type of geekiness, like the appearance was more of an affectation than an actual way of life for him.

  When the first guy spoke, he did so with the tone of some former athlete acting for the first time and not knowing how to properly read his lines.

  “It is true. Mickey’s readings do not lie.”

  The captain responded as though they had been having this conversation for a while now, and he was completely ready to be done with it. “Look, Mr. Masterson…”

  “It’s Doctor Masterson. I have a PhD in science.”

  Quinne raised an eyebrow but kept her mouth shut.

  “Fine. Doctor. We have plenty of equipment constantly monitoring the surrounding waters for anything large and out of the ordinary like an iceberg. If anything came close to the ship that was larger than a small boat, we would know. And I haven’t been informed of any such thing.”

  “Captain, we know what our sensors picked up,” the second man said. His tone wasn’t anywhere near as stilted at Masterson’s. He even had an air of actual competence about him. “There is something very large out there, and it came directly for the ship before div
ing. You’ve got to get the word out to someone that can help. I think every single man, woman, and child on this ship is in danger.”

  “What kind of sensors are you even talking about?” the captain asked. “Is this even something you’re supposed to have on the ship?”

  “It’s top secret,” the third guy said. The way his eyes were dilated, Quinne would almost swear that he was stoned. “Very hush-hush, need to know, James Bond-type shit.”

  “Mickey, please shut up,” Masterson said. “Look captain, Mickey, Gordon, and I are all men of science. That means we’re smart. We know what we’re talking about. You must believe us or else we will all be in danger.”

  “Wow,” Amani muttered under her breath. “Are these guys for real?”

  “Probably not,” Quinne whispered back. “What do you think? Should we speak up?”

  “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea anymore,” Amani said. “If we didn’t sound crazy before, we’re definitely going to seem off our gourd after these guys.”

  “Dr. Masterson, you will refrain from causing any more trouble aboard my ship,” the captain said. “If you persist in causing a ruckus, I shall be forced to have you and your two friends taken by security and escorted to the brig.”

  “Do cruise ships have brigs?” Quinne quietly asked Amani. Amani just shrugged.

  “This is crazy. You will all regret this!” With that, Masterson turned and stalked off, although maybe that was the wrong word for it, as he only moved about ten feet. As if this were a cue to everyone else, the crowd broke up and went back to their business. The captain stayed behind to whisper some kind of instructions to his crew. One of the women who had been watching, a busty blonde, went over to Masterson and began speaking to him, her body language obviously flirty.

  “That was surreal,” Quinne said.

  “Maybe we should go after them, tell them what we saw?” Amani asked.

  Quinne was about to take her advice, except she saw a father break away from his family of five and go over to Masterson, saying just loud enough for her to hear that he had seen something. It sounded like, from wherever he had been, he might have had a better view than even Quinne and Amani.

  “Probably won’t be able to give any better information than that guy. Besides, I don’t think that’s our story.”

  “Our story? What exactly do you think is ‘our story’?”

  “Well, since I don’t think there’s actually anything for us to worry about, our story right now revolves around whether or not you’ve changed your mind.”

  Amani took a long, deep breath. Quinne was certain she was about to say that anything between them would be a bad idea. If that’s what came out of her mouth, then Quinne would accept it with no questions and they would go their separate ways. However, Quinne didn’t think she would then go trolling any of the bars or hotspots on the ship. Suddenly, if she didn’t spend the evening with this sweet, vulnerable girl, Quinne didn’t think she would be in the mood to spend it with anyone else.

  “Maybe… I could just go back to your room with you? No promises of anything else?”

  Quinne smiled. “Sure. If that’s what you want, I could make some coffee.”

  “Is that… are you talking about real coffee, or is this that thing where coffee actually means sex?”

  “That’s one hundred percent up to you. Personally, if all you want to do is chat for a while and then head on your way, I’ll still consider it an evening well spent.”

  They made their way past several shops and small cafes, ignoring the elevators and stairs that led down to the entertainment level, where there were multiple theaters showing everything from movies to magic shows. Quinne had been surprised that one of the acts performing on the Lucky Lady Duck was Troid and Murga, the famous magic-and-wombat-act that had once been such a big hit in Vegas. Then an animal rights group had vehemently opposed their use of a rare, endangered species of wombat in the act, so they had needed to switch to using capybaras. Apparently capybaras weren’t nearly as entertaining, because the illusionists had then faded into obscurity, and now it seemed cruise ships were the only place they could perform their act.

  Amani glanced at the stairs and shrugged. “Have you ever been on a cruise ship before this?” she asked.

  “No. Why?”

  “It’s just that from day one I’ve been a bit confused about the way the Lucky Lady Duck is laid out. If I didn’t know any better, I would say it had been designed by someone who’s never actually been on a cruise ship before.”

  “Yeah. I overheard one of the other passengers say it was as though the person who put it together was basing everything on poorly remembered scenes from The Love Boat.”

  “What’s The Love Boat?”

  “I don’t know for sure, but I’m assuming it’s a TV show so old that nobody important remembers it anymore.”

  “The entire ship is a bit more, uh, mall-like than I expected.”

  Quinne nodded. “That probably has more to do with the Letroix Corporation than anyone else. This is what happens when you make most of your money off family movies and then try to expand into the cruise market. It’s basically their attempt to be Disneyland on the water.”

  “Which is why I thought it was kind of odd that you, of all people, would be here,” Amani said. “Especially alone.”

  They had reached the corridor that led down to Quinne’s rooms. On one side of the hall were a row of doors leading into the individual cabins and suites, while on the other side there was a number of portholes looking out over the ocean. The floors were some sort of immaculately polished material while the walls were decorated in faux-wood. This level was two below the main deck, making their view through the small windows much closer to the water.

  “Why would you say that?” Quinne asked.

  “You know. Family-friendly cruise line. Family-friendly ship. And here you are, uh…”

  “Not family-friendly in the slightest?”

  “Right.”

  “Ah, but that’s exactly the point,” Quinne said. “I like the fact that…”

  She trailed off.

  “What?” Amani asked. “Is something wrong?”

  “I… I don’t know,” Quinne said. That wasn’t true. Something was most definitely wrong, but she couldn’t consciously figure out what it was just yet. They both stopped in the middle of the hall, at least five doors down from Quinne’s room. “Did you just notice anything off just now?”

  “No. I don’t think so.” Still, Amani turned around and looked up and down the hall. The two of them were alone in the immediate vicinity, but behind them there was an African-American couple pulling out the card key to go into their room while a lone little boy sat outside a door much farther down, his face immersed in a book. It all looked pretty normal.

  Except for the light, Quinne realized. Something was wrong with the light. The corridor was lit with fluorescent lamps hanging above them, but they weren’t the only source of illumination. The windows still let in a half-assed twilight from the perpetually setting, but never actually set, sun.

  It was here that the anomaly showed itself. The light from outside dimmed, then grew brighter. Dimmed again, brighter again.

  “Did you notice any clouds in the sky while we were on the deck?” Quinne asked.

  “No. The sky was clear.”

  “Then where are the moving shadows outside coming from?”

  That was when the entire ship shook with an impact.

  Chapter Four

  All the people in the hall went completely quiet. The couple behind them had stopped their quiet giggling and stared up at the overhead lamps, which were swaying with the impact. The little boy had stood up, although he didn’t seem to understand what had happened any more than anyone else. The door behind him opened to reveal a woman wearing nothing but a bed sheet. “What was that?” the woman asked. “Honey, are you alright?”

  “Did we just hit something?” Amani asked Quinne. “An iceberg or somet
hing?”

  “I don’t know how we could,” Quinne said. “This isn’t the Titanic. They have equipment to monitor those things and avoid them now. At least, I think they do. Right?”

  Before Amani could agree or disagree, there was a second shuddering blow. Unlike the first’s origin, which Quinne hadn’t been able to pinpoint, this one very clearly came from the outer wall up ahead.

  She could tell this because two of the porthole windows exploded.

  They were about fifteen feet down the hall from Quinne and Amani, close enough that Quinne thought she felt a subtle sharp spray of fine glass particles but far enough away that neither of them suffered any major lacerations. The boy screamed and wrapped his arms around the woman, who Quinne assumed was his mother, as a second person, a man, came out into the hallway as he pulled his boxer shorts on.

  “Holy shit!” Quinne screamed.

  “We should run!” Amina replied. And yet they both stood still, utterly petrified and mesmerized. Before anyone at all in the hallway could move, there was a third blow. And with it, the outer wall blew apart as a huge reptilian head, the size of the entire hallway, smashed in.

  Multiple people in the corridor screeched or screamed, Quinne among them. The head pulled out before she could see anything more about it than basic details. It had greenish-gray skin and a beak-like face, along with huge black eyes the size of… well, Quinne didn’t want to say dinner plates, since that was such a cliché. The next thing that popped into her head as being comparable were some of her largest dildos. So, sure, its huge black eyes were as wide and Quinne’s biggest dildo was long.

  All of this passed through Quinne’s head in less than the second it took for the head to disappear and the corridor to go quiet again. After that brief moment of shock, though, the hall filled once again with frantic jabber.

  “Holyshitholyshitholyshitholy…”

  “What the fuck was that!?”