04-16-2014, 07:49 PM
Elias was content to be left alone.
The seconds stretched on. He might not have noticed had the woman remained quiet.
"Delayed," she said.
Eli shrugged and mumbled something to the effect of: "So much for the famous metro system."
Then his phone rang.
From the depths of his pocket he retrieved the device, high-tech model phone. It had been his uncle's. He certainly would never been able to afford something that sophisticated.
"Elias,"
he said. He quickly started shaking his head, disappointed. He had been expecting the call. ""He knew nothing. His mind was half gone anyway, but the bits and pieces he remembered were useless to me."
There was another pause, one that resulted in a disdainful sneer. He was fixed upon the tiles lining the platform across the tracks.
His voice flattened, "No need to remind me of the deal. I'm not going to back out. Alright, fine, have what you will of this-"
the story he told was an amusing one, and no less frightening if it were true, something Elias considered in the back of his mind despite the absurdities. "Forty-seven years ago, the team sailed toward Scott Island to investigate what was thought to be oceanic seismic activity. They found, instead, a swarm of Giant Pacific Squid,"
Elias nodded. "Right. Deep water Antarctics. This is where it gets interesting."
"Dr. Haggit was the only one to survive the expedition, and what he claimed happened is what sent him to the Guardian for the last half-century."
He paused, expecting the subsequent question that followed. "He claimed the thing that capsized their vessel was whatever was feeding on the squid."
His lips twisted with amusement, the same twist that glinted in his eye. "That's exactly right. The earthquake opened a cavern, a predator was released, and it fed on the nearby squid. There must have been a migration route. Dead specimens have been washing up on shore ever since. There's a carcass of one at the Wellington observatory. The scientists were in the wrong place at the wrong time. He's been locked up ever since."
Another pause. This one flattened the mirth of before. "Only this time, we don't have a witness; sane or otherwise."
Shortly after, he returned the phone to his pocket, and continued to stare ahead, consumed with ideas that churned despite rational thought to the contrary. Something had happened to his uncle, but not an attack from monsters of the deep. Then again, the ocean was a vast frontier.
The seconds stretched on. He might not have noticed had the woman remained quiet.
"Delayed," she said.
Eli shrugged and mumbled something to the effect of: "So much for the famous metro system."
Then his phone rang.
From the depths of his pocket he retrieved the device, high-tech model phone. It had been his uncle's. He certainly would never been able to afford something that sophisticated.
"Elias,"
he said. He quickly started shaking his head, disappointed. He had been expecting the call. ""He knew nothing. His mind was half gone anyway, but the bits and pieces he remembered were useless to me."
There was another pause, one that resulted in a disdainful sneer. He was fixed upon the tiles lining the platform across the tracks.
His voice flattened, "No need to remind me of the deal. I'm not going to back out. Alright, fine, have what you will of this-"
the story he told was an amusing one, and no less frightening if it were true, something Elias considered in the back of his mind despite the absurdities. "Forty-seven years ago, the team sailed toward Scott Island to investigate what was thought to be oceanic seismic activity. They found, instead, a swarm of Giant Pacific Squid,"
Elias nodded. "Right. Deep water Antarctics. This is where it gets interesting."
"Dr. Haggit was the only one to survive the expedition, and what he claimed happened is what sent him to the Guardian for the last half-century."
He paused, expecting the subsequent question that followed. "He claimed the thing that capsized their vessel was whatever was feeding on the squid."
His lips twisted with amusement, the same twist that glinted in his eye. "That's exactly right. The earthquake opened a cavern, a predator was released, and it fed on the nearby squid. There must have been a migration route. Dead specimens have been washing up on shore ever since. There's a carcass of one at the Wellington observatory. The scientists were in the wrong place at the wrong time. He's been locked up ever since."
Another pause. This one flattened the mirth of before. "Only this time, we don't have a witness; sane or otherwise."
Shortly after, he returned the phone to his pocket, and continued to stare ahead, consumed with ideas that churned despite rational thought to the contrary. Something had happened to his uncle, but not an attack from monsters of the deep. Then again, the ocean was a vast frontier.