Chapter 14

Diane Kempe was looking through her staff lists, to see who was already engaged in important tasks. She hoped she could pull a few off less urgent duties, to help cover the coastline for sightings of the supposed reptile. Then her phone rang.

Answering it, she was soon aware that the reptile was no longer ‘supposed’. It had been spotted. The sergeant conveyed the report.

“Boss, Richard’s team have found it on the beach in a small bay fifteen miles from Metropolis. The beach is not much of a beach, as it is mostly large rocks, and at first the thing looked like one of the larger boulders until it moved. It is immense, boss: easily twenty-five feet long.

Thankfully, it was making no attempt to further inland. It looked like it was sunning itself among the rocks. The sun was out at the time, and I presume the rocks had also been absorbing the sunshine, so they would be warm as well.

The professor said that reptiles needed warmth to move around on land, so perhaps it will move more when it feels warm enough. We’ll keep an eye on it. It seems to be alone.

Do you want anything done about it, Mrs Kempe?”

“Not at the moment. I don’t wish to interfere with Richard’s tactics, but I want a protective zone established. Tell Richard that his team must stay at least fifty feet away from the beast at all times. Reptiles normally move slowly, I believe, but can make a lunge when they strike. Let’s play safe until we have more to work on. I could do with pictures – movies would be best - and a detailed description. The professor may be able to advise once we have the data to hand over to her.”

“Can do, ma’am. We all have good quality phones for the job.”

“I have just had a thought. If the creature is twenty-five feet long, then fifty feet is just two animal lengths away. Tell Richard the safe minimum distance should be one hundred feet. That’s not much more than thirty metres, sergeant. I don’t want to hear of anyone being injured, or even worse, killed. Caution is the by-word please, sergeant.”

“I am recording this, ma’am, and will play it to Richard as soon as I can catch him with a free minute or two. Bye, ma’am.”

Diane thought her husband should be made aware of the situation, and phoned him. As always, he answered at once, knowing any call from her would be important.

“Yes, Diane?”

“Bob, one of my teams has spotted the reptile on a stony beach about fifteen miles along the coast towards the next city. Its estimated size is twenty-five feet long – just under eight metres, so pretty big. Currently it appears to be sunning itself on rocks, but may move. My team will keep a safe distance from it and make sure no-one else comes near. That is the update as I have it.”

“A nasty piece of work, if it goes on the rampage, my dear. Does it have big teeth?”

“I haven’t got any detailed data or pics yet, Bob. We are operating a 100-foot perimeter at present.”

“Keep everyone well clear, Diane. We don’t want a disaster scenario on the news.”

“I have it in hand, darling. Don’t fret, my love.”

At the beach, as the sun rose higher, the creature raised its head, as if sniffing the air. Richard Lewis, the captain leading a uniformed security team, was fairly sure that sea reptiles did not have a good olfactory capability, but checked his phone for that data. He found he had it wrong: they did have a strong sense of smell and sight. It was their hearing that was defective.

He felt able to shout to his men if there was an emergency situation, but currently there was little to cause him concern.

The reptile’s snout turned towards inland, and it began to swivel its body to point in that direction. Richard wondered what had taken its attention. All that he was aware of was that a train from Metropolis was heading towards the next city, according to the schedule he had in his data file. Surely that would not interest a reptile like this one?

He sent an urgent message to the train operators for data on the train. They were admirably speedy at replying: someone must have warned them about this operation. The message sent back to him listed five passenger carriages and two goods wagons. One wagon had parcels for Rehome Deliveries; the other was loaded with fish for the next city, which as yet had no fishing capability.

Fish! The reptile was probably smelling the fish. Damn! It might attack the train, if it had half a chance. He messaged back: ‘Get the driver to speed up over the next few kilometres, URGENTLY!’

As the beast started to move in an ungainly waddle between the boulders, heading for the grassland beyond, Richard moved his observation station to see the rail track. There was still no sign of the train, but the track came out of a forested section in that direction, and he could hear the vague rumble of train wheels on the track. The engine of course produced no sound, being battery-powered. He did notice that the wind was coming from the direction of the train’s approach, so the fish aroma must be drifting towards the bay. He couldn’t smell it, himself.

He hoped the driver was able to put on a spurt and get past before the creature got anywhere near the tracks. Looking towards these tracks, he was thankful that the rail line was not too close to the shore. It was about a kilometre inland, so hopefully the creature would not accept such a long walk in search of a source of fish.

One of his men shouted at him, “Captain! Watch out!” He glanced around, to see the creature had spotted him and was moving in his direction. Almost in panic, he scrabbled to his feet, and retreated rapidly away from the reptile.

It must have noticed that he was moving away faster than it could advance, and decided not to pursue him as possible prey. It swung back towards the oncoming fish smell, which was accompanied now by a more audible rumbling tone. The train was by now thundering along its tracks, getting faster and faster as the batteries produced their highest level of electric power output. The driver was concerned about the engine possibly jumping the rails, and trusted that the fairly narrow rail gauge was accurate all the way across this stretch of the line.

Once they were clear of the currently dangerous section of line, the train would slacken off speed, and coast powerless until reduced to a more mundane rate of travel. Not too far ahead, there was a village station with its recharging unit, which would allow the batteries at least some time to recover to a safe level for getting to the subsequent station and another boost. By the time it was at the final destination, power levels would be back to normal.

The huge reptile raised its head for a better look at the long and shiny beast, seemingly fascinated by this sleek fast-moving monster flashing along in the distance. The snake-like behemoth was much larger than the reptile. In addition, it was rapidly moving from the forest and across the intervening grassland in a straight line towards another clump of forest.

As Richard dared to risk an observation from his new viewpoint, he saw the creature stop and give up any idea of pursuit. He imagined its thoughts being, “It may smell of fish, but it is too big and fast for me to challenge it.”

Having given up its pursuit of the faint fish smell, the beast swung round its immense body and slowly ambled back to the sea. As the Captain watched, it reached the shallows and pushed on for deeper waters, until it could swim freely and dive at its leisure. In moments it was only a disturbance in the water, then he could see it no more.

As soon as Diane started getting reports of the sighting, she tried to locate the professor, but Jane Kelman’s phone was in use. She was talking with Diane’s husband about universities. The response Bob had received was positive, and he wanted to discuss how they could progress the proposal.

“Professor Kelman, I have permission from my colleagues to offer you the provisional post of Vice-Chancellor of the University of Metropolis, elsewhere known as the University Principal or President. It has to be provisional, as there is no such University at present, but should we be successful in setting up a reputable University as envisaged, the post would be yours. As is the case elsewhere, the post of Chancellor will be filled by a person of note, acting as a ceremonial figurehead for the university.

Our friends The Personalia can supply us with myriad examples of university structures and modes of validation, but we would prefer you to submit proposals which you consider to be appropriate to this Colony’s requirements.

Does this approach meet with your own aspirations?”

“Governor, I thank you for your provisional appointment. I willingly accept it, on the assumption that appropriate remuneration will be forthcoming at a later date. I have to resign my present post at London, and I believe I have to give three months’ notice. However, as I am leaving to get married on another planet, in the first instance, I believe the University will be amenable to my immediate departure without pay as of my resignation letter.”

“Married? Professor, tell me more!” Bob acted as if he didn’t know what was coming. He smiled to himself, as Jane Kelman spoke.

“Sir, I have agreed to a proposal of marriage into the Pfeiffer family. Tom has the approval of Enid and Jeannette for this, and we hope the ceremony will take place soon. I shall therefore be unable to return to Earth.”

“Excellent, excellent! You will be able to start work on our project almost immediately, then?”

“That is what I anticipate, Governor. I thought you would be glad to hear this.”

“Indeed I am. Congratulations! Farewell for now, professor.”

“Farewell, Governor.”

The moment Jane put the phone down, it rang again. She picked it up and said “Yes?” For an extended moment there was silence, then another woman said, “Ah, Professor! You are clear now?”

“Sorry? Yes, I am clear.” Whatever “clear” was supposed to mean, she thought.

“This is Diane Kempe, Security Service. I had you on hold for the moment your phone was not occupied.”

“I see. That makes it clear, then.” Diane missed the pun.

“Eh? Anyway, I wanted to update you on monster sightings. My teams have been on the lookout at various beaches, and they found one of your monstrous reptiles sunning itself on one rocky beach. They have filmed it for you to see, and made their own notes about its size, movements, etc., to add to the file.”

“Very good. That will be really helpful to me, Mrs Kempe.”

“However, we have an update on that. Two more were spotted at another beach, a bit later, and another a few miles further on from that site.

I must say, professor, we have not had such sightings, EVER, in all the time we have been here. Putting aside our small numbers at the start, most of these beaches have been looked at fairly frequently, I am told, so there is something unusual going on. Perhaps you can advise on this.”

Jane responded with caution. “Please wait until I have had a chance to view this video footage, then I might be in a position to offer a view on the facts. Until then, I must reserve judgment, Mrs Kempe.”

Ending the call, Jane felt the need to talk with someone, preferably another woman. If it was Tom, she would become distracted by his presence. Phoning Jeannette, she asked if they could have a chat, in private.

Jeannette forced a trade. “Jane, I will come over and chat, if you will promise to look over some of the marine entries for the encyclopaedia. You haven’t started yet. Are you at home with Enid?”

“Yes. I need to bounce ideas around, and I find it easier with a listener who has a critical ear. You have that, in spades.”

“Cursed with faint praise, it seems. Okay, I’ll be home in fifteen minutes. I can take the time off.”

Jane spent the intervening time toying with ideas, so that she might have a decent presentation by the time Jeannette got home. She managed it in time, so that as Jeannette came through the front door, she was there to greet her.

“Right, Jeannette. Can we go to your room?”

“Sure, if you want privacy.”

“It is not privacy, Jeannette. It is more like a quiet place for a discussion.”

As they reached Jeannette’s room, Jeannette had decided to go along with this.

“Right. Here we are. Spill it, Jane.”

“Reptiles. Diane wants my opinion for an explanation of what is happening. A few of these giant reptiles have been coming ashore along the coast, apparently for the first time. I have kicked the facts around, and come up with a scenario. Tell me what you think of it.”

“Okay.”

“First point. This behaviour is new. Either they have not come ashore before, or at minimum infrequently, OR this is entirely new, and there must be a reason for this change in behaviour.

Second point. The cause could be local or distant. If local, it might be a disease, a pest, or some other irritant, but something that makes them want to get out of the ocean temporarily.

If the cause is distant, they may be being pushed to this shore to get away from something more distant. Again, it could be something in the water; but it could equally be population pressure.

Third point. They seem to be sunning themselves, so perhaps sunshine helps with the problem. Unfortunately, this is natural behaviour for reptiles, so may not be relevant.

Fourth point. Sightings seem to be single animals, or at most, two at a time. There are no reports of a family group, with youngsters present.

Fifth point. No reports of any injuries or visible damage to them, so not a problem of conflict with other creatures.