Up From The Deep Vaughn Jackson (book club suggestions TXT) 📖

I’m alright now,” Chaplin said. “But I do have a question.”

Raymond raised his eyebrows. “Yes?”

“That’s not the same creature, is it?” He glanced between their faces intently.

“No.” Raymond’s face darkened.

“Did we wake that one up too?”

“I think maybe our creature woke up that one.”

Chaplin nodded. “Okay. Do we have a plan?”

“No,” Raymond admitted.

Chaplin winced. “Great.”

“Try not to worry,” Ashleigh said. “We have some people who can hopefully help us.”

Chaplin bit his lip. “Hope they’re some miracle workers, because if one of those things could level Honolulu with a single breath...two...God, two.”

A heavy silence fell over the cockpit.

“We have to stop it.” Ashleigh slammed her fist on the arm of the chair. “It’s our responsibility.”

“That it is,” Raymond said. He smiled softly at Ashleigh and placed a hand on her shoulder. “And we will do everything we can.”

Ashleigh turned away so Raymond wouldn’t see her blush at his touch. “Of course we will. Go rest.”

“Yes, I think I will,” Raymond said. “Wake me again as we get closer.”

“We will,” Ashleigh said shortly. She waited until the door closed before she relaxed.

“You still haven’t told him?” Chaplin didn’t look at her.

Ashleigh stayed silent.

“We don’t have to talk about it.”

“He has to know, right?” she said after a minute. “He’s a detective. If he hasn’t brought it up, he knows and obviously wants nothing to do with it.”

“I wouldn’t say that, necessarily,” Chaplin laughed.

“What do you mean?”

“Well you’ve worked with him in the past, sure, but pretty much every time he’s around you, there is at least a slightly more pressing matter going on. Crime lords, giant monsters, you know?” He checked their course on the small navigation screen and adjusted the heading slightly.

Greenwood kneaded her forehead. “I know and that hasn’t exactly made it easy to tell him either.”

Chaplin rotated his seat and placed his hands on his knees. “Your time will come.”

“After we save the world?”

“Or in the post-apocalyptic waste if we fail,” he said with a goofy grin.

“Shut up.” Ashleigh punched him in the shoulder.

“Hey, don’t distract the pilot,” he said, flinching away with a laugh.

“Thanks,” she said. “Not really the time or place, but I needed that.”

Chaplin shrugged. “No worries.”

“Wait, what is that?” Ashleigh leaned over the console to look out the window. Chaplin followed her gaze. Something massive, grey, and mottled, carved through the water, slashing its tail back and forth.

“It’s so fast,” Chaplin said in a hushed tone.

“Does this plane have a weapon?” Ashleigh said, bolting to her feet. “Anything?”

“It has the one rotary cannon, but I don’t think—”

Ashleigh was out the door before he could respond. Arnett and Raymond jumped as the cabin door sealed behind her with a thud.

“What’s going on?” Arnett asked.

“Contact.”

“The creature?” Raymond sat up with some difficulty. “What are you going to do?”

“It’s heading the same way as us. I’m gonna stop it.” She crossed to the port side of the ship, to a tarp-covered object. Yanking the cover off revealed a mounted rotary cannon. Ashleigh assessed the gun, checking to make sure it could be fired properly. “Bring us around, Chaplin,” she said into her headset.

“I’m not sure this is the best idea,” he said.

“Bring. Us. Around.”

He sighed in her ears as she prepared to open the cabin door. “Strap in, if you aren’t,” she shouted.

“Is this really the best course of action?” Raymond asked.

Arnett checked his straps once, and then again, before giving a thumbs up. “I mean, really, shouldn’t we not shoot at the giant monster that isn’t attacking us?”

“Yet,” Ashleigh said.

Raymond gripped his straps tight and gave a short nod. “I suppose.”

The port side door slid open and the wind whipped and roared around their ears as the cabin depressurized. Ashleigh felt her ears fill with pressure and forced herself to yawn to relieve the discomfort. She slid into the gunner seat and checked the gun’s range of motion. “All set, Chaplin, show me the ugly bastard.”

“Bitch,” Arnett said, “most likely, that’s the female.”

“Still going to shoot it,” Ashleigh said.

Something along the lines of “get us all killed” grumbled through the headset, but the transport began to turn in a slow, wide arc. She could see the coast of California on the horizon. Too close to not make a stand.

Inkanyamba came into view. Either it hadn’t noticed them yet, or it didn’t care. It just kept pressing forward to whatever destination it had in mind. The gun whined as it spun to life. Sweat ran down Ashleigh’s neck and sent a cold chill down her spine. Thunder roared and fire rained from the gun barrel to the sea below. The first volley struck the creature’s neck, showering the water below in a spray of red. The creature reared its head and screamed at the transport overhead.

“I think it just noticed us,” Arnett said. “Hope that’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“Its eye is back,” Ashleigh said.

“Back?” Raymond questioned.

“The one Ira shot out...the right one, it’s back!”

“How is that possible?”

“I don’t know but it doesn’t exactly boost my confidence,” she said.

“Keep shooting?” Arnett suggested.

The whine pierced through the air again before being replaced with the repeating thrum of the rotary cannon. This time Inkanyamba was prepared. It plunged beneath the waves, leaving only its shell exposed. So that’s where Ashleigh aimed. She tried her best to focus on one spot, hoping to crack the exterior and break to the soft spot beneath. Chunks of the petrified crust blew off of the creature and tumbled into the sea. A crack appeared in the shell spreading out from a hole the armor piercing rounds had made. The creature’s head re-emerged from the sea, the translucent sac around its neck pulsed and its mouth hung open. A choking, clicking sound came from its throat as it tracked the transport across the sky. The air around them began to hum.

“Change our course, now!” Ashleigh shouted through the headset. She slammed the gunner door closed as fast as she could. “Don’t follow this path.”

“This thing is not made for quick adjustments,” Spencer shouted back.

The