Episode 11: Depth Charge

Check in time at the Ganthorian Hilton!

Cameron Scott began to offer his assistance to newcomer Greta Winston when Elle grabbed him by the shirt. Dragging him back she moved in closer to cradle Greta by the arm.

“Diamonds are a new girl’s best friend. I’ll help you get settled in. Don’t be afraid Greta, Madigan may be a ghost but she’s, our Casper.”

“Cock blocker!” Cam mumbled. “I’ll go heat up dinner.” Elle simply flipped her tongue at the studly pilot. Elle, although sent on a mission by Jack Ramse held back knowing Greta was pale and stressed. Colonel Ruby Goddard understood and allowed the friendship clause.

“Are you blind?” Greta fidgeted at Elle Franklin’s obsidian glasses considering the dimly lit darkness around them all. Earlier Elle wasn’t wearing them and seemed normal, but the shades did freak the Kansas cowgirl out a bit.

“No. I just see better in the dark. We can talk about that later. Ask me anything you want I’ll answer with honesty.”

The two walked out past Cam and Malcolm. Cam was still grumbling, “Why do I always get cock blocked?”

“Too soon, Brother.” Malcolm pats the pilot’s shoulder. “I’m gunning up like Jack ordered. Stay out of trouble. Save me some hot wings.” Pterosaur with spice!

Ruby stepped out to follow then guide Jack aside, along with James.

“Your clone friend was awake last we visited. We discovered her in the basement swimming pool. Although she did attack Elle she did apologize and sounded sincere. When you interrogate her over that Sharknado or Sharkorpion try not to pressure her.”

Jack eyes James who sulked over blabbing when he was distinctly told not to, “I didn’t tell her. She discovered the girl in the water. Her and Elle. I had to let mom know she wasn’t something none of us knew about.”

“Stop with the secrets, Colonel Ramse. We all live here now. At any rate, she’s quite intelligent. I used the language collar to decipher what she was saying. Her name is Animahni. As I said she attacked Elle in the pool out of defense but apologized. Sort of! She mentioned that she’s been digging beneath the ship for years now. Supposedly, she can sense water and found underground caverns. If it’s true and with our Shark visitor I tend to believe her there is an ocean below us. Deep down twenty miles at best. I’m not certain I believe every detail because that doesn’t explain how one lone girl could dig that much. But again, it makes sense if Shark Boy was there to help, possibly other hybrids.”

“When we were setting up the pump system that big fin circled the pool then attacked one of our own. Understandable defensive tactics but he was a shark, so he was likely hungry. Just shows that they come and go as they please. I had Sophia down there guarding the pump considering how powerful her microscopic inmates are making her. This may have been their home before ours, but we don’t have many convenient options. This place is our best chance at survival.”

Jack shakes his head, “Alone?”

“Maddy should be down there by now if Sophia surfaces.” Ruby finished.

“Malcolm and Elle can help keep peace until I get back.”

“I was below!” Maddy drifted up through the hallway floor to float in the air toward them. She had waited until Greta was inside her new sleep chamber so as not to frighten her further.

“The fin was a humanlike shark. I studied Marine Biology before I met my husband, so I know a Mako Shark when I see one. It also had a tail like a black scorpion does, black scorpions are not normally lethal but who are we to explain genetics to the aliens who lived here prior to us. It attacked Sophia and she ate its tail. The creature panicked and escaped. Most likely in pain.”

“If she ate the evidence, how could you know so much about the species?” Ruby grew perplexed.

“Whatever occurred to make me what I am today has also given me visions of the past. I would predict that power, that insight, to only last a short time. I saw the shark in a vision with Sophia dining upon its appendage. Biology is biology!”

“Good to know!” The group stood in awe.

“Let me go chat with this Animahni. Maddie? Keep watch for Sophia.” Jack barged away, Madigan once again descending into the bowels of the Hilton. Momma Madigan felt very alone suddenly. Malcolm returning armed to the teeth with guns and flares found Ruby comforting him in his fly by.

“Be careful down there. Wait for Elle.” Ruby was turned on by Jack’s take charge attitude. James tried not to look at Maddy’s nudity before she faded below deck. It gave him the chills. Regardless, he worried for Sophia down in the depths all alone. Helpless he would observe the cattle for now to make certain his drone cage was still working. Alien tech could be unpredictable.

“Come back to me Sophia!”

Ten minutes prior, Elle Franklin led Greta Winston through the darkness with a flashlight. The woman shivered out of sheer terror at every shadow. Holding hands, the best option, Greta at least felt comfortable with her ally. Diamond hand or not. Cowgirl was tougher than at the moment she was letting on. Alien environment, strangers in a strange land, it would get the best of the bravest.

“Sorry for the inconvenience. We don’t have the power to light this place up just yet. I’d light up my arm but I’m conserving the tiniest glimmer for downstairs. James is working on the power angle. So, for now we use flashlights until the batteries go dead.”

“Fancy candles.” Greta hissed nervously.

“1873? Wow!”

Greta reclaimed her hand in order to fold her arms against the chill of her surroundings in the corridor.

“2022? Ya’ll, say?”

Elle chuckled, “Give or take! We flew out of the Philippines and got caught in a storm. Ended up crashing here. Buried our dead and now we’re just trying to survive. So far, so good.”

“Sorry to hear about your losses. I’m all alone here. I’m surely glad Jack found me.”

“Life is precious. He did good bringing you here. You’re among friends as long as you want to stay.”

“Where else would I go? I’d die out there alone.” Greta followed Elle at a steady pace.

“Here’s a vacant shelter. Keep in mind that these here quarters were designed to accommodate a race of aliens called the Ganthorians. They were lizard-like in appearance. We can show you images of them in the morning when there’s more light.”

“Aliens? From like up there?” Her eyes look at the ceiling. “Course they were! Ain’t no fancy homesteads as big as this place.”

“Appears so. I never truly believed in aliens from outer space before this last week. Since we’ve been here there’s been a lot of strange things happen.”

“Did Jack really lose his arm?”

Elle smiled with a hint of sadness, “He did. James and I found a way to attach it again. The Colonel nearly died. Lucky man! Toughest guy I know, tougher now with our help. By accident on the kid’s part but I’d consider it a blessing in disguise.”

“I reckon God was looking down on yawl.”

“You as well, or you wouldn’t be here with us Greta.” She shined the light on a pod bed.

“Funny looking bunk.” Greta examined it up close.

“As I said it was made for the aliens. It’s still soft just a tad cramped. They were smaller than us. Not by much, but still.”

“How do you see in the dark?” Greta quickly looked up at Elle beside her.

“Recall those strange things I said happened? I’m one of those. I can show you as long as you don’t panic. I’m definitely friendly.”

“Let me see.”

Elle removed her glasses carefully avoiding a direct point of the flashlights beam into her retinas but offered a good enough inspection of her diamond facet like eyes.

“Sweet Jesus!” Greta huffed yet continued to examine the eyes.

“Pretty, huh? I miss my big browns though. There’s more.”

Elle handed Greta her flashlight in order to roll up her hoodies left arm as far as it would go. Exposing her diamond flesh Elle opened and closed her hand flexibly. “Goes beyond the hand. Clear up to my shoulder here and working its way to the left side lady.” She fluffed her breast as emphasis. “I’m going to miss the ladies if I keep expanding real estate. The gems are organic, so I do feel what I hold or when I caress my arm. I suppose that’s a good sign I might still know the feel of my tatas if they join the jewelry exchange. Bling and Bling! Might lose the jiggle though.” She grinned. “Is what it is!”

Greta was mesmerized by the woman’s bravery under such disease like conditions and decided to touch the arm. Hesitation made Elle use her good hand to hold Greta’s fingers to the diamond. She could now see both hands in the light.

“I think your man over did it.” Greta sheepishly grinned. “I’d look out for outlaws.”

Elle nodded with a warm smile, “I like you. I’m going to be singing Beyoncé tonight for sure. Get some sleep. I need to hook up with Malcolm and go downstairs. We can talk more in the morning.” Elle excused herself letting Greta feel around for her bed. No blanket she covered herself with her arms.

“Beyoncé? Must be one of them fancy French Opera singers.” One long yawn she let everyone else deal with the world. Greta Winston was out like a light. Considering she had none that made it easier.

Jack Ramse reached the cloning banks by flashlight, entering with strength enough to open a well-sealed door without power to move it easily. Inside the gloomy atmosphere it was haunting, yet he braved the unknown. His first trip here with James Ian in tow was creepy enough, but ballsy Jack had seen worse in his tours. Weaving through a series of unoccupied tubes he discovered Animahni in her habitat as promised. The light’s glare forced the girl to flinch. Lowering the light between them Jack took the communication collar he swiped from Xander and placed it around his neckline. She opened her eyes however looked saddened by her deception earlier.

“So, you come and go as you please. I suppose I should have suspected that or chances are you wouldn’t still be alive. Ruby and Elle speak highly of you, I expect you to prove their confidence in your motives. How many of you are there?”

Animahni held her webbed hands up in front of her with a look of terror. With no Ruby or Elle here with him she felt stressed that he might kill her. She needed to prevent that without a fight. “Four of us. They live below where they can thrive. I live here. It is my home.”

“Four? Dangerous?”

“They can be. I am afraid of them. This is why I reside here where it is safer.”

“You don’t need to be afraid of us, Animahni. Yes, Ruby told me your name. I give you my word that you will be safe with us as long as you do the same. You should have told us about the others. One of them attacked us. A shark.”

“That is Karnog. He is ferocious. Unforgiving!”

“How did each of you survive all this time?” Jack leaned his shoulder against her tubes glass exterior as if attempting a friendly gesture, going so far as to place his palm over hers. She shifted her eyes to his approach and smiled. Even for a hybrid she remained a humanoid beauty. Obviously, her Micah Kinolan persona dominated the other additional traits. Sadly, a pair of very healthy scarlet breasts crushed against the glass. Jack was not going to palm the glass over those unavoidable 38C’s as he surmised their size. Penis twitching, he had to back away. Weaver bug enzymes in his body made his hormones constantly on edge. Only a well-trained mind could dial them back. He didn’t need another aggressive sexual account like he and Ruby dealt with. As fun as that was for both, concerns were definitely there.

“Fill me in on this ocean.”

“In the depths. There are fish. Lots of fish. We feed without worry of starving.”

“And the others? They live in the caves below?”

“No. They visit the caves but live in the water. Like me. All of these years we have remained close to our home. it is all we truly know.”

“So, you lied. The others had to have helped you dig into the depths.”

“They did! I was not even sure I was amphibious until your friends showed me the possibilities. I had never tried breathing air. I simply swam below through the ships sealed aqueducts. Our creators offered us that freedom to stretch our bodies. When the ship crashed here a section ruptured allowing us to depart into the system below. None of us dared to attempt airbreathing.”

“This Karnog did. He stepped up into dry land and attacked one of us. He bit off more than he could chew and Sophia bit back. He no longer has a stinger tail.”

“A shame, I am truly sorry that Karnog is so brash. It is the combination of his predatorial traits. He is bold. I would not have dared to surface until your friends showed me that it was possible. I am very grateful to them.”

“How could they not have risked learning to breath? I would have thought your creators would have shown you that was easy enough. Besides that it take’s time to dig down as deep as you said earlier. Nothing adds up Annie.” Animahni appeared terrified for lying. She only wanted to protect both her internal breeds and these new inhabitants. As she appeared saddened for her deceptions, she felt a disturbance beneath her. Without triggering her hatch mentally, technological upgrades added by her designer to allow freedom in her temporal lobe, Animahni reacted with an expression of horror. Jack tensed up seeing the base of her tube slide open into the floor. “What’s this about?”

Before Animahni could speak a massive tentacle slithered upward to grab the girl by her legs. Yanking her violently through the bottom of her tube she looked up at Jack with distress. He knew this was not her doing.

“Basement!” Reaction time immediate Jack departed with speed. “Move, Soldier!” Ruby loitering in the halls near the basement entry saw Jack rushing past her. With blinding speed, he entered the elevator shaft and disappeared into the darkness. All she heard from him was, “Another intruder!”

“Crap!” With James in her care outside with Cameron she chose to let Jack, Elle, and Malcolm handle things. Her job was always to keep James out of harm’s way.

In a rapid race down the congested shaft Jack met up Elle and Malcolm who were just as shocked by Jack’s sudden appearance in such a rush. Following him to the pool’s edge they hovered behind him. There was no time to explain. Reaching pool side Jack flashed his light about, “Sophia is still down there? Dammit!” Jack circled the pools shallows seeing more vividly in the dark thanks to his enhanced senses. Elle trailed along beside him pocketing her glasses for safety. Only Malcolm was as blind as a bat if not for infrared goggles. Good thinking!

Suddenly, the pool bubbled up toward the center as if a struggle. A tentacle swung about madly holding Animahni up out of the water. She gasped for air then suddenly realized she could once more catch her breath. The shock nearly made her pass out.

Both Jack and Elle stripped their shirts off and dove into the water in an attempt to swim to her side. Grabbing the tentacle Jack produced a hunting knife from his boot and began sawing at the meaty cartilage. Elle went deeper and came face to face with the Octopi like creature. From within a sunken feature emerged a humanoid face that glared at her in evident fear. The head bobbed in and out of the curling recesses. Defensive measures kicking in then came the ink cloud. Luckily, Elle’s diamond like eyes had an immunity to its texture as it tore at her vision. There was no blinding Miss Franklin like the average swimmer.

In agony of his tentacle being severed by Jack the creature bolted away into the darkness below. Jack surfaced with Elle as back up while he cradled Animahni in his arms. Laying her on the floor at the edge of the flooded arena she eventually swept away her trauma. To her amazement she was breathing air with ease and peering up at handsome Jack. Again, he was staring at her heaving scarlet hued breasts, dark nipples spiking. Amphibian or not Miss Kinolan had some gorgeous eyes. Gorgeous everything! He certainly tried to avoid glancing at her vagina. So, human in ways, if not for her webbed hands and feet and those talons that could paralyze an enemy. It was then that Jack realized that she hadn’t used those on Octoenemy. It had to have been one of her family members.

“Take it slow Animahni. You’re safe now.” Elle knelt down beside her. “See how easy it is to breath? You’re doing just fine, Baby.” Her eyes darted about their faces until she could focus. Then, she smiled. Followed by laughter.

“Learn something new every day.” Elle patted her shoulder cautiously. “Watch those nails, I don’t want to have to heal Jack.” Realization setting in the hybrid beauty sat up looking toward the pool.

“Tyrakuus! He was helping me escape you. He meant no harm. Unlike Karnog he is peaceful. Only Karnog and Oulapho are maddened. They kill without regret. Yet, Oulapho can be reasoned with.”

Jack flinched hiding his knife behind him but keeping it unsheathed just in case of further attacks. “Your friend is alive. If he’s part Squid, I’d say his tentacle should grow back.”

“He was also showing me I could breathe outside the water. I told him of our talk earlier. My fears. Karnog will discipline Tyrakuus for this. Karnog will seek revenge for his scars. For holding me captive. He knows no better.”

The water churning yet again more violently than before, Jack stood tall, knife back in defensive mode. This time the results forced everyone to dart aside as a massive head and spine flew from the water and crashed lifelessly to the floor next to Animahni. Surfacing was a glowing bright, sparkling beauty by the name of Sophia Ridge, “Sushi anyone?”

“Sophia! I thought you were taken.” Elle raced into the shallows to assist the girl. Trying not to touch her skin with her fleshly side. Her diamond aspect was not devoured by her microbial tenants.

“It’s all good. I just went deep sea fishing. Sharkskin boots for you, Daddy.” She grinned at Jack.

Animahni looked haunted by the head of Karnog at her feet. The remainder of his body nowhere to be found.

“Chased this bad boy probably a mile down before we tussled. Fed the boys.” Animahni carefully stood up and hissed toward Sophia. “Whoa! Calm down! He tried to eat me too.”

Elle stepped between them both holding her hands out, “Sophia! Did you even think that the shark there was like family to Animahni?”

“Not really.” She cringed, “Should I apologize?” Animahni twisted around Elle and offered a hurtful glance at Sophia before diving into the depths and disappearing.”

“Let her go.” Jack growled.

Malcolm cleared his throat behind them.

“WHAT?” Both Elle and Jack snapped.

“Just saying! I know it’s not pumping now but maybe we should stop pumping the water for a while. Sanitary reasons with all the blood and ink and all.”

“Agreed!” Jack concluded the logic behind it, “James needs to design a filtering system.”

Elle broke in with a depressed look seeing Karnog’s spine lying over her clothing, sharp enough to shred the material, “Ruined my best hoodie.”

Lights probed around everyone as Cameron and Ruby came down looking for them.

“Now you guys show up.” Jack shook his head. Seeing the giant shark head on the floor Cameron turned tail and headed back up.

“Seen the Meg! Nope!” A concerned stare between Ruby and Jack led them to usher everyone upstairs.