Poseidon Awakens (Chapter 8)

Chapter Eight of a serialized novella
New chapters every Tuesday and Friday

Frank knew he’d messed up. Oscar was hard to get to know, and he always seemed to be uptight about everything, but following the professor’s orders, no matter what?

What’s gotten into you, man? Oscar was fish bait for that creature, and you knew it wasn’t right to put him there. Now you’ve got a chance to set things right.

It was a landscape photographer’s dream; golden rays of sunlight danced across the waves lapping at the cave’s entrance. He glanced at his watch. Sunset had officially happened ten minutes ago, and there was no sign of the Kraken. Was this Oscar’s way of getting back at him?

Doubt it...that’s not his style. He’s a “punch you in the face” kinda guy. I’ll wait ten more minutes, then I’m outta here. Maybe the Kraken got eaten by a shark or somethin...

Frank stood up. Something was stirring in the water just outside the cave. He watched as the Kraken’s black, shimmery skin slowly gave way to the form of a man. A huge beast of a man.

“Who are you?”

“I, ummm...well, I work with Oscar, and...”

“I told him to be here...I don’t know you.”

“I, well...yes, but...Oscar couldn’t come...he...well,”

“Your leader didn’t believe him.”

“Yes, exactly. Oscar’s locked up...the professor didn’t believe him when he told him what you said.”

The Kraken’s face split into a wide grin. Oscar frowned. This is insane...I’m talking to a squid. What does it want? What is so funny about what I said?

Frank folded his arms. “Uh, so then, now what?”

“I’m not surprised, if that’s what you’re thinking. In fact, I expected that would happen. But don’t worry...I’ve got a little something planned for your professor.”

“Oh, well, I know he’s made some kind of a deal with Poseidon...nobody knows what it is, but...”

“I do, and that’s all that matters.”

“Oh, okay, uh, so what do you want me to tell him?”

The kraken turned, then paused. “Tell him? Ha...no need to tell him anything...he’ll get my reply soon enough!”

And just like that, the man that had stood before him moments before slid into the water and disappeared into the cold depths.

Frank considered leaving the project. Going home and calling it good. Because the way the squid had smiled when he told him he had something planned didn’t sound good. At all.

One thing’s for sure...I don’t wanna see what happens.

No, you’re not gonna wuss out now, Frank. You’ll go back to the ship and tell everyone who will listen to get ready for something to happen.

The ship looked nearly empty by now. Frank wondered where everyone was.

“You know,” said Oscar, his eyes wide. “I can’t believe you actually came back. You had a chance to run and you didn’t. You’re crazy, you know that?”

“No more crazy than you brother...I guess I’ve seen the light, in a way. I’m sorry for what happened at the warehouse. I mean it man, we just left you to die.”

Oscar shrugged. “I have to admit I was pissed...I hadn’t done anything to you, but...guess it wasn’t my time to go.”

“No, it wasn’t. But can’t say about this time...if we die, we die I guess.”

“Yeah, but I’m not giving up without a fight, I can tell you that!”

Frank nodded. “Got any ideas?”

Oscar smiled. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, stuck in this damn room, and I think I’ve got an idea. It may not work...in fact, it could make things worse, but what else can we do?”

“I’m all ears.”

“What is the one thing that the professor wants above all others?”

“Uh, well...lots of things come to mind, but...”

“Fame,” said Oscar. “He wants it more than anything...maybe even money.”

“Okay, let’s say you’re right. How does that help us?”

“We’ll get to that, but first, what is the professor’s true motives for all of this? I mean, he says it’s about free energy that he’s going to give to the world. Do you buy that? I mean, really?”

Frank shrugged. “Nah, not really. Truth be told, I figured he’d lost his mind, but the money was good, so I didn’t ask questions. Who am I to refuse money from a madman?”

“Ditto for me. It’s kind of like he knew that we needed the money, so that’s why we got into this mess.”

“Okay, well now that we’ve established that the professor probably has other intentions,” said Frank, “how is that going to help us to stop the Kraken...and the god from destroying all of us? I don’t care what the professor says, I don’t trust Poseidon or the Kraken.”

“I agree.” Oscar frowned. “But getting back to motive...the free energy thing...which you and I both know won’t be free for the world...is cover for his true intentions.”

Frank’s left eyebrow stretched towards his balding head. “Which are what, exactly?”

“To run the world, of course.”

Frank laughed. “Yeah right. Are you kidding? That’s so, uh, what’s the word, “cliché”? Governments could steal it from him...he’s got bodyguards, but not enough.

“In fact, it’s only a matter of time before his discoveries will disappear either in the Vatican’s labyrinths or some alphabet agency’s black hole. He might get credit, maybe, but only if he plays nice.”

Oscar smiled. “You didn’t look at any of the scrolls we pulled from that temple complex did you?”

“No. Did you?”

“Yes, and I’m thinking one of those scrolls could be the solution to our problems.”

“Yeah?”

“Uh huh. Remember that first day...the day we found the archives?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I wanted to ask the professor something, but when I knocked on his door he didn’t answer me. My curiosity got the better of me, and I slipped into his room to get a look at what he was working on.

“I was only in the room for maybe 5 minutes, but it was enough time to scan the professor’s translations of one of the scrolls.”

“And?”

“It looked like a riddle at first, but I’ve given it a lot of thought and what it is, I believe, is an incantation. A spell, as it were.”

“For what?”

“Not sure. I remember the words destruction, chaos, and knowledge as well as power. Not sure what it meant, but I was afraid the prof would catch me in his room and I’d get tossed, or worse, so I left. Like I said, I was there maybe 5 minutes, max.”

“Not sure. But I know the professor has finished translating most of the scrolls. I’d like to get hold of his notebook to see if there’s anything we can use.”

“Any idea how we can accomplish that little trick?

“Isn’t he sleeping with one of his assistants?” asked Oscar.

Frank grinned. “Yes...yes he is.”