Apocrypha Sequence: Inferno Read online

  Apocrypha Sequence:

  INFERNO

  Shane Jiraiya Cummings

  Copyright © Shane Jiraiya Cummings 2011.

  ISBN: 9780987076854

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Except in the case of short-term lending, if you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  All characters in this book are fictitious.

  No reference to any living person is intended.

  * * *

  CONTENTS

  Introduction

  Beneath Southern Waves

  Phoenix and the Darkness of Wolves

  Colossus of Roads

  * * *

  Introduction

  Welcome to the Apocrypha Sequence, a collection of themed stories outside the continuity of my 'regular' collections, Shards (flash fiction) and the forthcoming The Abandonment of Grace and Everything After (short stories and novellas). The stories in the Apocrypha Sequence lie somewhere in between. There is some overlap between the Apocrypha stories and those in my collections, but this is because I have cherry-picked stories from my body of work to suit the themes present within the Sequence. For each book in the Apocrypha Sequence, I chose a story or two from my collections, a couple of previously uncollected stories, and the odd original or two. Each volume in the Sequence is a remix. You might find a story from this volume elsewhere (by itself or in one of my collections), but its inclusion in the Apocrypha Sequence gives it a more appropriate context—and in some cases, demonstrates its place in a shared world of directly-linked stories.

  Apocrypha Sequence: Inferno explores the invasion of Australia by legendary monstrosities. When wits and heroics fail, a secret cabal of guardians take drastic, devastating measures to protect everything they know and love. These three shared world stories follow heroes who face unimaginable foes and odds that are as impossible as their monstrous adversaries are large. In the aftermath, when everything has turned to ash, hope will find a way.

  Read on and enjoy this volume, and if you crave more, please seek out the other three volumes that comprise the Apocrypha Sequence. Details about the rest of the Sequence and my other e-books can be found at the end of this volume.

  — Shane Jiraiya Cummings

  * * *

  Beneath Southern Waves

  "Strange stuff's been happening in these parts for a few days now," the ranger drawled around a piece of chewing gum. She pondered the scene with exaggerated calculation before taking the gum from her mouth and stuffing it into the pocket of her khaki shorts.

  "What do you make of it, Rhonda?" Bill Markham directed his question to the side of her weather-beaten face.

  "I don't really know, Mr Markham. Dead whales aren't really my thing. I'm just holding the fort until the boffins from the aquarium get down here."

  "When will that be, then?" Markham tried to hold the impatience from his tone.

  Rhonda shrugged.

  Since Rhonda knew next to nothing, he dropped any pretence of interviewing her. Like Rhonda, he found it almost impossible not to look at the spectacle on the sliver of sand that lined Esperance's Bay of Isles. The grassy foreshore offered a clear view of the sperm whales.

  The pod had beached itself the previous day. More than twenty carcasses formed a ghastly parade of sun-blistered blubber on the beach.

  Crowds of beach-goers, mostly tourists, were held at bay by two police constables and a handful surf lifesaver volunteers. They were cordoning off the area with tape in the hope the gawkers wouldn't contaminate the site for the scientists.

  "They died so quick as if they were already exhausted when they beached themselves," Ranger Rhonda mused, loud enough that Markham caught it on his digital recorder. "It was like they were in some kinda hurry. Like they were running from something."

  "Yeah. Strange," he answered with distraction. "Do you think it had something to do with the icebergs being so far north? Some kind of polar shift throwing the whales off track?" Two iceberg caps glinted on the southern horizon, no more than a few kilometres from the West Australian coast.

  "I don't know much about icebergs, but I do know that scares the living daylights out of me." She pointed to one of the whale carcasses. The corpse she singled out had washed up not long after the others beached. Only its head and left fin remained. The beach and the lapping waves were awash with its crimson-black blood. "I don't wanna meet whatever could do that."

  "I've got to go Rhonda, but thanks for your time." He paused long enough for her reply, his eyes darting all the while, searching for a better angle on this story

  "My pleasure, Mr Markham. You sure you'll put my story on the front page?"

  "Just keep your eye out for the paper in a few days."

  With a brief wave, he headed back to the air-conditioned sanctuary of his motel room. Having been in Esperance almost a week now, he had secured a room in the Isle's Bay Motel, right on the esplanade that looked out onto the bay. With all that was happening, he was lucky for the head start on the curiosity seekers who now poured into the seaside town daily.

  He flipped his laptop open and it hummed into life. He reviewed his notes and the real reason he was here. The last week or two had been hellish. He was due to meet his brother, who was sailing into Perth on the HMAS Victoria. The last report the Defence Department gave him was that the Victoria had hit an iceberg and Luke was missing, presumed drowned.

  The news stunned him for days. He'd only recently made peace with his younger brother after their parents had died, but Luke had been in active service in the navy and based in Sydney. Luke's new posting in Fremantle offered them a chance to reconnect—a chance dashed by an iceberg.

  When icebergs appeared in the Great Australian Bight, he pestered his boss to let him check it out. When the icebergs drifted towards Esperance, near where they picked up the last transmission from Luke's ship, he took the chance to seek understanding for his brother's passing. And here he was.

  After standing in the hot spring sun interviewing eyewitnesses for most of the day, weariness had settled in. He folded up his laptop and dropped onto the over-soft bed. His head was filled with fragments of dead whales, icebergs, and Luke. His last thought before sleep took hold was of the expected marine biologists. Maybe they could supply some answers to these mysteries. He'd catch them in the morning.

  #

  Bill awoke mid-snore, certain the earth had shuddered. The clock told him it was after midnight. He buttoned his shirt, ignoring the stickiness caused by the evaporative air-conditioner, grabbed his room key, and headed for the beach.

  In the distance, the venerable Esperance jetty snaked more than a kilometre out to sea on timber legs. Three figures were on the jetty, caught in the amber glow of intermittent light poles. The fishermen carried their gear in slow procession toward shore.

  He crested the foreshore rise to find a small group of people wandering between the whales. The rest of the town slept; the esplanade stood silent.

  "Hey, there," he called to the nearest person as he descended to the beach.

  "Can I help you?" a woman answered. She pushed back the hood of her water-sealed parker to reveal thick short-cropped black hair.

  "The name's Bill Markham. I'm a journalist from the West Australian."

  "Hi, I'm Dana. You keep late hours, Mr Markham.

  "I'd say the same of you."

  "Yeah. We're down from Perth, from the Aquarium. Just arri
ved."

  "I've been waiting for your team. The locals know next to nothing about what's going on. I was hoping you'd uncover some answers."

  "Just more questions at the moment, Mr Markham, but it's early days yet. We've only been here a few hours."

  "Call me Bill." He extended a hand.

  "Bill," she smiled, and took his hand after rubbing the slime from her own. "Dana."

  "Look, I don't have my gear with me right now, but is there any chance I could interview your team tomorrow?"

  "Sure. I'll run it past Dr Matheson, but I don't see any problems."

  "Great." He caught himself smiling like a teenager. He cleared his throat for composure and pointed to the whales. "So, what do you think could have done something like this?"

  "Whales beach themselves all the time. Their motives are often a mystery. It's rare such a large pod of sperm whales would do it, though ..." She hesitated.

  "Go on."

  "Well, one of the most contentious theories is that whales are affected by strong sonar signals. The US Navy has been condemned for the experimental sonar devices in their newer submarines. They've been linked to several mass strandings around the world."

  "There were Australian navy ships in the area recently," Bill said. "The HMAS Victoria."

  "I don't think that's the answer, but it could be part of a lot of little things that drove these poor whales into this bay." She sighed. "I normally love coming to Esperance. My family have holidayed here a few times now. I love taking the cruise around the islands. It's a shame I have to come back here under such tragic circumstances."

  "Yeah."

  Together, they looked out across the bay, united in different forms of grief, marvelling at the islets that dotted the coastline, the glittering blanket of stars, and the dark expanse of ocean beneath.

  #

  "Dana!" Bill waved to her as he pushed through the throng of curious tourists. The morning sun added dimensions to her face only hinted at by the starlight.

  "Hi again, Bill. I enjoyed our talk last night."

  "Me, too." He ducked under the perimeter tape. His eyes were bloodshot from talking with her most of the night.

  "Hey, I didn't ask you last night, but do you have any idea what could cause damage like that?" He pointed to the bodiless whale.

  "That's what concerns me. At first, Dr Matheson thought it might be Orcas, you know, Killer Whales. I thought perhaps a pack of sharks, maybe even Great Whites. We were both wrong. The whale's body seems to have been taken in one bite. I really don't know what could do that to a forty tonne whale. It's kind of freaking out the team a little bit."

  "A new species, then?"

  "It would have to be. But don't quote me on that. Not just yet, anyway."

  "Okay, off the record then, but I'd be grateful for something more definite soon, for the story—even if it is 'species unknown'."

  "Sure."

  "What about the icebergs, have your guys come up with anything on them yet?"

  "Not much. Faxes came in from the Bureau of Meteorology and a few other sources. They confirm an Antarctic current is carrying the icebergs. We don't know what that means yet or why it's happening."

  "Thanks. I'll check with the Bureau and see if they know ... hey, look! The dolphins over there. Does that look right to you?"

  Half a dozen brightly coloured yachts skirted along the bay, all racing to corner an orange buoy close to the jetty. Nearby, several dolphins were leaping out of the water in a frenzy.

  "They do that, although they're normally a little more timid and playful. They look a bit stressed."

  "What's that beyond them, Dana, next to the large island on the left?"

  "Just a smaller island. Strange. I haven't noticed it before."

  "Yeah, I don't remember seeing it either. What the hell is that, where it meets the water? You see the bubbles and whitecaps?"

  "It's like something is chopping and churning the water underneath the ..."

  "Oh, shit, is that—"

  "It's moving," she whispered.

  Bill grabbed her arm and turned his back to the bay.

  "Everybody run!" he screamed. "Run!"

  The crowd looked at him in confusion as he pushed through their ranks. Even the scientists, busy studying the whales, turned at his shouting with stunned faces. Soon, others on the beach and the nearby jetty pointed and screamed. Within seconds, they all saw it.

  Moving slowly, at first, the rounded islet bobbed on the surface and then rose out of the water, with a widening split across its centre. Dull brown plating receded to reveal a colour the shade of the abyssal depths. It ascended from the water, fully the size of an island—a gargantuan eye.

  Propped up on a stalk the width of a grain silo, the huge orb soon towered over the town. Bubbles churned the water a few hundred metres away. Within moments, a second monstrous eye broke the surface and propelled upwards.

  Screams of panic echoed through the town. On the jetty, which was uncomfortably close to the first eye, dozens of people jostled one another in a stampede to escape. A handful of the crowd were bundled over the unrailed side of the jetty, where they floundered in panic in the wash near the pylons. The nearest eye was drawn to the sudden movement. Swivelling with ease on its titanic stalk, it regarded the crowd with inhuman dispassion.

  Along the esplanade, scores of cars had slowed to a crawl as they gaped at the spectacle playing out in the bay. Distracted, several cars ploughed into the tail bumpers ahead of them. Squeals of brakes and crunches of metal provided only momentary distractions for nearby drivers and joggers.

  The crowd on the beach jostled for safety. At their head, Bill and Dana crested the rise. They turned as one to the sound of splintering wood.

  "Bill, look!"

  Bill couldn't tear his eyes away even if he wanted to. "Holy shit."

  "This can't be happening," Dana muttered.

  People streamed around them as they stood rooted to the spot. Like ants dashing to safety, the jetty and beach throngs swarmed across the esplanade and scurried around crashed cars, dispersing amongst the houses and motels that lined the road. Only a few hardy souls remained to watch with Bill and Dana as a writhing mass of colossal tentacles broke the surface.

  The splintering continued as one of the creature's tentacles ripped the jetty's supports apart piece by piece. Other tentacles uprooted the pillars from their foundations, sending planks of wood crashing into the water. In the clutches of the tentacles, the robust pylons looked like match sticks. The jetty's metal rail popped free, buckling like a piece of wire. A tentacle brushed the rail aside as if it were an inconvenience, tipping it into the sea.

  "Come on!" Bill pulled Dana along as he ran toward the disintegrating jetty.

  "Why? What are you doing?" She tugged his arm. Her shout was muted by the cracking and tearing.

  "There are people still on that jetty." The last of the crowd in the water floundered onto the beach and were out of imminent danger. However, a woman in a yellow dress, cradling two children, huddled beneath a bench about a third of the way along the jetty. Dana caught Bill's eye; they nodded in agreement and sprinted down the beach.

  Out on the water, the small fleet of yachts had scattered. Some had beached themselves and their sailors had promptly fled. A few poor souls were still out on the water, vying for the dwindling breeze as more tentacles towered over them. One of the yachts was caught and hoisted high in the air. The two terrified sailors leapt from their boat and thrashed in the water for the shore.

  Another tentacle slithered out of the water and draped itself over the retaining wall that sheltered the port on the far side of the bay. It dislodged boulders before clutching at the tanker ship half loaded with containers. The tentacle pushed through the containers stacked on the ship's deck, knocking many into the water. The tanker bobbed on the water under the tentacle's weight, tugging at its anchor. Content to let the ship rock on its keel, the creature eased its tendril along the hull like a blind man re
ading Braille.

  "Faster, Dana, the squid's getting too close!"

  The pair mounted the ramp onto the jetty. The situation came down to a race to the woman and kids as the giant tentacles steadily tore through the planks on the seaward end of the jetty.

  "Lady! Get up and run! Come on!" Bill screamed. The huddling woman covered her ears and propped her elbows on the children's backs.

  "Come on!" Dana echoed.

  The jetty was fast disappearing. In the wake of the creature's rampage, a line of boards and flotsam, hundreds of metres long, floated on the water like an oil slick. Only fifteen or twenty metres of usable jetty remained before the woman and kids were pulverised.

  "This isn't real," the woman babbled as they hauled her and the children from their hiding spot.

  "Run," Bill screamed in their faces.

  The woman blinked at him but found her strength as Bill dragged her towards the shore. Her children, puffy-cheeked and on the verge of tears, fled with speed fuelled by terror. Dana stayed with them, herding them to safety. Tentacles loomed only metres away, tearing out pylons they had just passed.

  Another tendril rose from the water, darting for the section of jetty between them and freedom. It crashed into the jetty just behind Dana and the children. The impact drove shards of wood and steel high into the air. Only a sliver of the jetty remained, supported by a single, unsteady pylon. Bill and the mother were caught on the wrong side of the devastation. Dana paused but the kids didn't look back as they sprinted for land.

  The tentacle heaved itself into the air directly above Bill.

  He threw the woman across the gap in the jetty with all his strength. She bundled into Dana, who stumbled from the impact. In desperation, she carried the woman forward.

  Bill glanced up. The tentacle above him bristled with rows of barbs and tri-pronged hooks. Between them were suckers the size of cars.