- Fear not, van Joss. - It was the Observer's turn to reassure the human. - Sea Wolves are pulling the vessel underwater. And they've been fully advised as to their destination. Light or dark, they'll get you to the shipyards. -
Van Joss felt an eyebrow lifted. Sea Wolves were pulling the ship as well? Now that was impressive! Immediately the lean human upgraded his opinion of the big, black and white warriors yet again.
"And what will you do, Qu'en'ak? Follow us to Suudama?" he asked, not bothering to raise his voice above a murmur since he knew the invisible creature could pull his words right out of his mind. It had concerned him at first that the Cetacean First Observer could see deep into his mind, into his most secret places.
But a quick experiment with opening up that part of his mind swiftly revealed that the Cetacean could only pick up thoughts on the very surface. 'Which is good,' he mused, staring at the bow wave that was being kicked up by the vessel's rapid passage. 'I really don't want to kill Qu'en'ak for accidentally discovered what state secrets I am still privy to!'
Then his attention was being recaptured by the distant First Observer's voice in his mind.
- No. - Qu'en'ak replied. - Unfortunately my duties carry me elsewhere. Besides, the larger members of the Cetacea are not well suited to combat as the Sea Wolves inherently are. - The distant creature paused as it switched mental gears.
- Speaking of combat, van Joss, you'll be met just north of the shipyards by a sizable contingent of our forces. From there command will be turned over to you so you can coordinate the attack, . . . -
"Wait," van Joss interrupted with a frown. "You want me to coordinate the attack? How am I going to do that, First Observer, if I can't communicate with your Sea Wolf troops?" he pointed out.
- Ah. You've a good point there, van Joss. Wait a moment, please. I will consult with the Circle. -
The lean operative let a long sigh ease out through his nostrils then shrugged. There wasn't much else he could do. Wait he would. And while he did, he might as well enjoy his novel surroundings.
As the First Observer had pointed out, Humanity had long abandoned the sea, retreating from the shores of their continent to the land-locked nation of Gideon under duress from the Fisted. And so they knew little about the joys of having salt air rushing past their skin. Or the rhythmic heave of a deck beneath their feet. So van Joss, oddly enough, was enjoying the new sensations.
It had stopped hailing sometime before the dolphins had finished the sea sled, for lack of a better name for the ragged vessel they were now on. The storm's passage had left the air clean and cold. The slight tang of salt only added to the refreshing nature of it. The human glanced up as a cluster of sea birds flew buy, their raucous cries echoing in the crisp air as they swung over the smartly moving craft. A smile cracked van Joss's face. 'I think we humans need to return to the sea. If only to feel the salt air on our faces!'
It was just as they cleared the mouth of the bay that van Joss felt Qu'en'ak return into his mind. At that exact moment the sled bucked as it hit the first big waves of the open ocean. Immediately a wave of spray was sent over the bow, soaking van Joss almost to the bone. With a shout of alarm, he quickly herded Longspear and Salina into the cabin before they could suffer the same fate. There they remained relatively dry as spray came more and more regularly over the gunwales as the Sea Wolves relentlessly pulled the sled through the uneasy and growing swell.
Van Joss was ringing out his cloak when Qu'en'ak finally spoke.
- I have consulted with the Circle, van Joss and they've decided to give you a gift. - The First Observer reported, his tone almost formal.
"Oh?" Van Joss frowned as he spread out his cloak onto the floor to dry. At the same time Longspear took the opportunity to make her way to one of the cabin's slit windows to look out. Salina, turning a little green from the constant heaving, decided to stay in a corner with her knees pulled up to her chest as he fought the desire to forcibly expel her most recent meal.
- Yes. - Qu'en'ak confirmed. - This gift will allow you to speak with the Sea Wolves! -
That was enough to make van Joss stand straight in surprise.
"You're giving me the gift of Mind Speech?" he asked, his tone filled with enough astonishment that Longspear turned away from the window to look at him with an expression of curiosity.
- Yes. - Qu'en'ak repeated. - It's the only way you'll have to speak with them during battle, van Joss. Are you ready? -
"Ready?" Van Joss frowned. "Ready for what??"
It hit him almost like a physical blow, a hot sensation that burned deep into his brain. Pain immediately erupted in the sensation's wake, sudden and devastating enough to force van Joss down to his knees with his mouth open in a silent scream.Catching sight of the slender operative falling down, Longspear quickly rushed to his side. But van Joss didn’t even feel her touch on his burning skin as the hot spear of pain pushed deeper and deeper into his living flesh, consuming his every thought and sensation.
And, when he thought he could take no more, the spear exploded into a thousand fragments, each growing to a burning spear of its own to push into every part of his brain. The room slowly began to spin, picking up speed until it blurred by van Joss’s tearing eyes. At the same time a pulsing sensation began to push aside the pain, quickly followed by the sounds of thousands of voices, all screaming at once.
“I, . . I can’t, . . ,” van Joss began to groan. Then, despite his hardened consciousness, the world was torn from him by the pulsing sensation and, eyelids fluttering back into his skull, he slumped to the deck, unconscious.
The lean human returned to consciousness by first becoming aware of voices. At first all he could hear was the sound of the voices, low and powerful, filled with urgency. As he focused on them, they slowly resolved into actual words. Words that sent cold adrenaline surging through his own veins.
- Sound the alarm. We are under ATTACK! -
The human came awake with a shout. Only to find himself in Longspear’s arms.
“Thank the Maker you’re all right!” she gasped, seawater streaming down her face. Both her hair and clothing were soaked to her skin.
“What? What’s going on?” van Joss asked thickly, his mind filled with nonsensical babbling.
Abruptly the sled lurched hard to the side, the planks beneath their feet creaking from the side impact. A heartbeat later a wave of cold water pounded over the low gunwales to splash heavily against the cabin’s outer wall, the wood whining in protest against the pressure.
Longspear winced as a surge of spray slashed through gaps in the walls and into the cabin to soak them all as the boat was hammered from the other side.
“We’re under attack!” she hissed, glancing out the doorway where pale sunlight was barely visible through the mist that was being kicked up all around the small vessel. “Most of the Sea Wolves are already in the water. But they’re not having much success in holding whatever is attacking us, off. So we’ve been pulling to the northeast, trying to reach reinforcements coming from the central Alanic!”
Learning that was enough to send a jolt of adrenaline through the lean operative's body, restoring some of his strength and determination.
“We’re off course?” he rasped, gritting his teeth against the spinning in his head as he fought to stand, with Longspear’s help.
“Since late last night,” Longspear replied, fighting to keep them both standing against the wild rolling of the deck. “They hit us about two hours after you fell unconscious.”
“Then the attack on the shipyards has been foiled!” Van Joss couldn't help the feeling of disappointment that nearly overwhelmed him as he staggered forward forward to the cabin’s doorway. Then it was gone as he grimly pushed it aside. There would be time for recriminations later.
That done, he took a quick look around to see how their makeshift craft fared. It was as he did so that he spotted Salina huddling in the same corner that he had last seen her in. This time, however, her face was pale from fear, not green from motion sickness.
Without warning the massive form of a Sea Wolf loomed in front of him, its black and white form dripping with blood from a half dozen crescent-shaped wounds all over its body.
- Sandbiter, Blacksea, move to reinforce our left flank! - A vast and powerful voice boomed into van Joss’s mind, making him blink back sudden tears of pain.
“Foammauler?” he croaked, wincing at the voice’s echo as it vibrated around inside his skull.
The big head twisted almost unnaturally to stare down at him with a big eye.
- Human? You speak in my mind now? - The reply came with the same force as the original, nearly forcing van Joss to his knees, despite Longspear’s firm grip on his arm.
“Not so loud, captain. Yes, I can hear you, thanks to the Circle’s gift of the Mind Speech.”
- Good. - Foammauler replied grimly, and somewhat softer. At least van Joss wasn’t wincing in pain. - Then you can help us in the defense of the boomslang. - Boomslang? Was that the Sea Wolves' name for their makeshift vessel?
“Against?” he asked.
- Those. - Foammauler replied, pointing to something behind the rocking sled
Pushing past the massive Sea Wolf, van Joss squinted to bring the shapes that Foammauler pointed out. And he felt cold fear rush through his body as he saw they were massive triangular dorsal fins, a good two metres tall apiece. The fins were about fifty metres behind them, a knot of about six or seven, and were slowly gaining.
“Maker,” he breathed hoarsely.
- The Picei. - Foammauler named them in a rumble, anger and frustration rippling through his mental voice. - Mutant sharks that battle the Cetacea for control of the oceans. Their lead scouts are what hound the boomslang now. They seek to slow it in order for their heavy units to move in for the kill. - The big creature seemed to grimace, if any human type expression could be interpreted on the rounded face.
- Already our blood is in the water. It’s just a matter of time now! -
“Reinforcements?” van Joss husked, mentally trying to determine how big the creatures pursuing them were, if the fins were relative in size, as were the Sea Wolves’ fins. But the answer he came up was too mind boggling for him to understand. Twenty metres in length?? Was that even physically possible? If it were, it put those monsters only thirty metres behind them, not fifty!
- We sent a distress call. - Foammauler reported tightly, glancing to the right as an explosion under the surface sent a high column of dark seawater straight up five metres into the air. - But the nearest Sea Wolf unit large enough to engage their assault team is at least three days distant. We pull for them but it’s a losing struggle. The Picei already threaten our pullers and most of my unit has been destroyed. -
“Any smaller units closer?” van Joss asked as the ache in his head finally began to subside even as he turned to watch the column of water collapse under its own weight. And in doing so, it sent a surge against their flank, making the sled rock wildly. He clung to the doorjamb to prevent himself being thrown into the water.
- Aye. Three separate units will reach us within the hour. But none have experience or skill to battle the heavies. - Foammauler paused to bring his gaze back to the big fins, now only forty-five metres back. - They’ll help take out the scouts. But if we slow to engage, the heavies will cut us to bait. -
Abruptly the sled slewed heavily to the side and the fins seemed to leap towards them. Foammauler’s head jerked around towards the bow.
- Deep water take them! They’ve ripped one of the pullers! - The big creature took two steps and smoothly dove into the frothing water, his halberd at the ready.
Van Joss spun away with a grimace to look into the cabin.
“We’re in big trouble!” he snarled. Then he was abruptly sent flying as something massive plowed into the sled’s stern. The human hit the deck hard, skidding a couple of metres before coming to a halt. Instantly he twisted to look back out the doorway to see what hit them.
“Burn me,” he whispered hoarsely at what he saw there.
It was a nightmare come to life, nothing but teeth and crushing jaws that ripped through the sturdy wood planking like matchsticks. It was easily half as broad as the sled was and, from what van Joss could see, every centimetre of that was teeth. It could only be one thing: one of the heavies.
“They've caught us!” He hissed, feeling the sled dying as the creature tore its way through its stern, frothing seawater splashing all around it to spill onto the tortured deck.
Like wraiths they came, black and white shadows that spilled onto the deck with the seawater to lash forward with their silvery halberds, the sharp blades biting deep into the armored flesh around the jaws. Two immediately died, slashed into quivering chunks by the massive jaws. But the others, fighting fiercely, slowly pushed the creature off the sled’s decks, the air filled with its high-pitched screams of pain.
“Foammauler?” van Joss hissed and several heads turned to look at him in astonishment. That cost them another life before the monster was finally pushed off and back into the water. It was quickly followed by a handful of the big Sea Wolves, their manner grim as they leapt head first into the water. Mostly likely they were going to their deaths and they knew it.
- No. - One replied, stepping towards the prone human, its mannerism puzzled. - Leftenant Deathfin, Third Tactical Group. My unit was returning home from a patrol along the coast of the northern landmass when we received the captain’s distress call. Who are you? And how can you speak with the Mind Speech?? -
“The name is van Joss. And it was a gift from the Circle,” the human replied, struggling back to his feet. The Sea Wolf seemed to understand, turning to wave several of its team back into the water. Which they quickly did, disappearing to throw the surrounding ocean into even more of a fury.
- Right: the human that was to lead the assault on the Primiad shipyards. I got the report from Central Command shortly after our patrol was completed. To answer your question, Foammauler is protecting the remaining pullers so we can hopefully get your boomslang back underway and out of danger. -
Van Joss nodded as he glanced around. The seas were strangely quiet, though he could feel the battle that raged beneath them from the vibration of the decking. His mind, too, was filled with a soft chatter, like many voices speaking at the same time. If he concentrated on one, it immediately became clear as one of the Sea Wolf warriors, either relaying a command or shouting some warning. He winced as he felt one of the voices abruptly disappear. They were getting slaughtered down there.
As if sensing what van Joss was doing with his increasing skill with the Mind Speech, Leftenant Deathfin turned to him.
- How is it going down there? - He asked, his own gaze switching from side to side as he monitored the surface for any of the heavies. All of their fins had disappeared underwater, indicating that they were taking up attack positions.
“Not good," van Joss replied without looking over at the massive Sea Wolf. "Your boys are getting pasted. But they’ve managed to clear out most of the smaller ones.”
- Fah! Damn carrion eaters. - Deathfin hissed. - At least we found the raiders that have been hitting our shipping for the last three lunar cycles. Not that it matters with them having heavies. We can’t do anything about those until we get one of our own heavy assault units into place. And, according to squawk traffic, the nearest one is still three days distant. -
Van Joss nodded as he turned his Mind Speech back into the water to scan the remaining voices. And he was surprised to find other presences in the water that weren't Sea Wolves. He swiftly focused on them.
It was hard, at first, since they were much dimmer than the bright lights that marked the twisting forms of the Sea Wolves. But, as he concentrated, the dimmer lights slowly came into focus. Instantly his mind was filled with single-minded purpose. And that purpose was to destroy the sled and the Sea Wolves protecting it. ‘Damn! I’m in the mind of one of the heavies!’
As he felt the dull thoughts pound against his sensibilities like the surf on a cliff, a thought slipped back into van Joss’s own mind. What about the psychic shock he had felt when Qu’en’ak and the Circle had entered his mind to give him the gift of Mind Speech? Could he trigger a similar shock in this dull mind? Enough to slow it and make it vulnerable to the Sea Wolf counterattack?? ‘Only one way to find out!’
- Van Joss. - Deathfin began before the human held up a forestalling hand.
“Hold that thought, leftenant,” he husked. “I think I might be on to something!”
How he would do it, van Joss wasn’t sure. He would just have to try things until he found one that worked. But the first thing he would try was the mental shout that he himself had found so disabling. Focusing on the nearest dim intelligence, he gathered himself. Then, setting himself, he mentally screamed.
The massive creature, a torpedo of destruction over twenty metres from tip of the blunt nose to the whip-like tail, stopped dead in the water, its limited mind completely overwhelmed.
“Yes.” Van Joss grunted in satisfaction, his momentarily overwhelmed sensibilities dropping him to one knee even as a trickle of blood oozed from his ear. Deathfin’s head snapped around.
- What did you do, human? One of the heavies is dead in the water!! -
“Never mind.” Van Joss groaned, seeing stars dancing in his vision. “Just take the big bastard out!”
- Done. - Deathfin turned towards the water. - All forces, concentrate on the heavy that has been disabled. - The surface of the water immediately began to seethe. The big Sea Wolf turned back to the downed human.
- Can you take out another, van Joss? -
The human nodded, reaching deep into the water for another dim light. Finding it easily, he gathered himself again. And again by the end of his mental scream a monster shark was floating listlessly ten metres down. This time, however, the pain that filled his mind almost pushed him into unconsciousness. Deathfin had to quickly step forward to grab him by the arm to prevent him from slumping to the deck.
“I’m done, leftenant,” the human groaned. “The backlash has fried my brain!”
- Two from six is far better than we could have even hoped for, van Joss! - The big Sea Wolf reassured him before turning back to the sea to send a command to his invisible comrades. - We have another heavy disabled. Locate and destroy! -
It was as the Sea Wolf turned back to the ocean that van Joss felt the remaining dark sparks abruptly change course. He grimaced tightly as he realized where the surviving heavies were headed. Unfortunately he was unable to saw anything about it.
The sled almost flipped over when two of the heavies slammed into its bow.
- The Deepest Dark! - Deathfin snarled, fighting to keep his footing. - The other heavies are directly attacking the boomslang! - Then he was pitched heavily into the cabin’s outside wall when a third slammed into the already damaged stern. At the same time the sled slewed around sluggishly as the final heavy attacked the pullers.
Van Joss could feel the fighting below the water’s surface surge in tempo as the remaining Sea Wolves concentrated on the heavy that was attacking the pullers. Two were already dead, leaving only three left. Not nearly enough to get the sled moving at any sort of pace. Even as he scanned the seething battle, he felt another one of the pullers die, bitten in half by the lashing heavy.
Somehow the slender human pulled himself to his feet as Longspear pulled a staggering Salina out of the cabin.
“We’re taking on water,” the female operative reported tightly, their packs looped around her arm. Van Joss nodded in acknowledgement and staggered forward to where Deathfin had fallen. Awkward as they were on land, the Sea Wolf was struggling wildly to get back onto his legs without success.
“Give me a hand here,” the slender human commanded as he bent to slip under the big creature’s flailing right limb. Nodding, Longspear eased a cringing Salina to the deck before she rushed forward to also put her back beneath the big Sea Wolf.
Together the two humans managed to help the massive warrior back to his feet. Just in time to spin around as, with the cracking of crushing wood, a gargantuan form flung itself over the right side gunwale to snap wildly at the Sea Wolf. Deathfin staggered back, eyes wide, barely avoiding the snapping jaws.
As the sled tilted strongly towards the beast that threatened to drag it under, van Joss somehow got his hands on Deathfin’s sliding halberd before it went overboard. Hefting the massive weapon, he turned to shout.
“Deathfin. Here!”
The Sea Wolf leftenant turned as van Joss threw the halberd towards him with the last of his remaining strength. Catching it smoothly, the black and white warrior charged forward with a mental shout to slam into the monster’s head, just behind its jaws. The impact was massive, shaking the entire sled with its power.
And it was enough to jar the heavy loose. Together, Deathfin and the heavy dropped out of sight into the heaving water. Teeth grit against the searing pain in his head, van Joss staggered forward, falling to his knees at the crushed section of gunwale to look overboard.
He was in time to see the two creatures, locked in mortal combat, sink beneath the waves. The heavy had Deathfin by one of his arms, blood reddening the water. But the determined warrior fought on, hammering away at the armored head with his free hand, the halberd biting deep into the scaly shielding with each swing. As he watched, the last two blows bit deeply into the heavy's head before they actually sank beneath the waves, sending a dark spurt of blood spraying over the struggling Sea Wolf.
Then they were gone, leaving a thick trail of bubbles behind them as they sank. Van Joss grimly wagered that, despite being half in the monster’s mouth, Deathfin would get the best of the mutant shark. Especially if those last few blows had anything to do with it! And a scan of the battle below showed that the Sea Wolves had managed to disable the heavy that had been attacking the pullers as well.
But it was too late. Only one puller had survived in good enough shape to work. And there were still two fully functional heavies out there. Their numbers reduced by half, even with Deathfin’s reinforcements, the Sea Wolves didn’t stand a chance. With all the blood in the water, it was only a matter of time before Picei reinforcements arrived to finish the job.
It was as he finished his scan of the battle that van Joss felt a familiar mind. ‘Foammauler?’ He wondered, shocked that the valiant captain was still alive. As, apparently, was the Sea Wolf.
- Van Joss? I am surprised the sharks haven’t eaten you all for dinner up there! -
"As am I, captain,” the human replied with a wry chuckle. He abruptly sobered. “Looks like you still have two fully functional heavies down there, looking for you. With their electrochemical senses, they should be able to find you before you see them, with all that blood in the water.” At least that’s what van Joss remembered reading about sharks in the old records.
- Electrochemical senses, eh? But you have a point. It’s darker than a deep sea fissure down here. And with all the debris in the water, our sonar is easily confused. Two more? Can you give me an idea of where they are? -
The boat lurched at that point and van Joss could hear a heavy bite into the stern.
“I got one up here, chewing on the sled’s stern. The other is, . . .” Finding its dim mind some thirty metres down as it changed course towards the small knot of surviving Sea Wolves, he mentally sent its location to the Sea Wolf captain.
- My thanks, van Joss. We’ll be prepared for them. As for you, I would suggest you get off the boomslang before the heavy finishes ripping it apart and focuses on you. According to sonar, it has taken several large holes and is sinking. -
“We’re on our way, captain. Good luck!”
- And to you, friend human. And thanks! -
“It was the least I could do.” Van Joss replied then looked over at a grim looking Longspear as they stood in already ankle deep water. It wouldn’t be long before the sled was completely under.
“We’re going,” he rasped.
“Oh?” Longspear immediately replied. “And how are we going to do that, van Joss? Is there another boat out there somewhere that we don’t see?”
“No. We’re swimming for it.”
“What??” the female operative stammered, incredulous at the suggestion. “You aren’t serious, are you, van Joss? Because there is no way I am going in that water.” She pointed at the bloodstained fluid that now completely surrounded them. “Not with those damn things in there!” Longspear finished, jerking a thumb back at the heavy that was methodically ripping the sled to pieces from the stern.
Van Joss shrugged.
“Well, it’s either we jump and swim. Or we wait for the sled to sink and then we’re in the water anyway. It’s up to you, Longspear. As for me, I’m going right now.” Taking two steps forward, he pulled his pack out of Longspear’s hands. He then scooped up a big piece of deck and smoothly dove overboard. The buoyancy of the decking quickly pulled the slender man back to the surface where he turned and began to smoothly frog kick away from the dying boat.
Longspear grimaced then sighed.
“Damn you, van Joss,” she muttered under her breath. She then turned to Salina and waved her forward. Standing, Salina staggered to where the human operative stood near the destroyed gunwale. At the Primiad’s curious expression, Longspear pointed at the water. Salina’s reaction was immediate: she wildly shook her head ‘no’.
Longspear pursed her lips in thought. Then, with a shrug, she gave the Primiad princess a hard push. Salina was instantly propelled into the cold water with a splash. Grabbing another broken plank in her hand, Longspear jumped in as well, swimming strongly to the wildly struggling Primiad as soon as the human could before she could draw unwanted attention.
It took almost all of her strength for Longspear to get Salina to grip onto the plank and not kick wildly. And then it took all of her will not to do the same as she caught sight of the monster that was ripping the boat to pieces from the rear. As it were, she fought to keep her heart in her chest instead of her throat. Frog kicking as van Joss was doing, she pulled the two of them close to where the other operative tread water.
As Salina and Longspear reached him, van Joss pulled out a length of rope from his pack, now sitting on top of the plank as best as it could. He quickly lashed the two pieces of wood together, already feeling the drag of his soaked clothes. They needed something to hold onto, or the cold water would quickly combine with their wet clothes and their increasing tiredness to pull them under.
With the planks tied together, van Joss then used what was left of the rope to tie the three of them to their tiny raft. It would help when their strength gave out.
Whether it was his building stamina, or the cold shock of the water all around him, van Joss found the pain in his head had faded after he finished tying himself to the raft. Maybe he had enough for one more mental shout. ‘Even the odds slightly,’ he thought, reaching out with his mind.
At this distance it took a little more effort to locate the dull sparks as they floated through the cold water beneath the now sinking sled. As his physical eyes watched the cabin slip under the waves, his mental senses focused on the monster that was currently surrounded by the brighter sparks of the Sea Wolves. Sparks that were being quickly extinguished by the monster’s greater strength. 'Not for long,' he mused darkly, gathering his strength.
Longspear had to stab out with her hand to catch van Joss before he slipped beneath the water, despite his rope harness. As her fingers curled into the collar of his cloak, his body abruptly a heavy weight that sagged against the raft, Longspear could see a trickle of blood oozing out of his ear.
“Van Joss?” she screamed. But, eyes closed, he lolled limply against her. Frantically she felt for a pulse and was only slightly relieved when she found it.
“Damn you, van Joss,” she hissed, pulling him more onto the makeshift raft with the last of her rapidly dwindling strength. The cold of the water was quickly sapping it out of her body.
“What good are you unconscious, out here, in the middle of the Alanic Ocean??”