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The Case of the Call of Cthulhu, ch.31


Kay finished checking his weapons were safe. He put on the webbing harness and began to fill its ammunition pouches with cartridge clips. He looked at the members around the table one by one, appraising them. His gaze came to rest on Tsuchimursu, who had a natural air of authority because he was a Mod.

“Who’s in charge here?”

“Mistress Kou.” Tsuchimursu pointed to the other table, where most of the girls were sitting. “She summoned you.”

“Oh yes. What for?”

“We need help organising an operation. None of us know tactics. However, Kou has put me in charge of this operation.”

“And I am the Good Lieutenant. Perhaps you had better explain what we’re up against, sir.”

“There is no need for military courtesy. My name is Tsuchimursu.” Tsuchi turned to Chanmi. “Please would you set up a map?”

She brought up the map of the island again, and began to explain the situation.

“This is Cay Largo, a fair sized island, you can see the scale in the bottom left. We are in the town of Tarpon B ay, here.” She zoomed in. “You see these 13 points where I’ve put a red marker?”


“Enemy positions?”

“Kind of, Mr Kay. They are houses owned by cult members.”

“What kind of cult?”

“A Cthulhu Mythos cult. Do you know what that is?”

“Oh yes. I’ve been up against those bastards before. How many of them are there?”

“12. Yancey killed one of them. I’ll make that member’s house green.” The map changed.

“What is the objective?”

Tsuchimursu explained, “We want to attack the other 12 houses and capture the cultists.”

“Are they at home? You, young lady, I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name...”

“Chanmi.”

“Ms Chanmi, you seem to be the signals intelligence officer here. What can you tell me about their activity?”

“I am monitoring power and data use, and the mobile phones of the 12 cultists. All the houses are using power but only three of them have active phones inside.”

“Do you mean they are making calls?”

“No. I am tracking the network pings that phones do regularly to check into the local cell. If a phone is shielded by water or thick rock, or maybe a Faraday cage, the signal can’t be detected. Or a phone might be just switched off”

“What do you think, Ms Chanmi?

“The 9 phones I can’t detect could be switched off, but it’s unlikely because no-one ever does. More likely they are under water or thick rock..

“Highlight the active houses, please.”

Chanmi put orange circles around them.

“Well then. Where do you think the other nine are?

“Mr, er, Kay. I believe they have gone out to sea, to an offshore island. We identified it earlier as their main base.”

“How certain are you?”

“100%. A smol girl they had kidnapped got away and swam back here. I got the location data out of her phone.”

“A remarkable young lady! How do the cultists move around?”

“At sea they use an underwater sled. I can’t track them underwater. On the land they drive around like anyone would. I can track their phones on land.”

“If there is one sled, presumably they gather together to travel in a group.”

“Yes. Though there may be two sleds, and they could have a boat we don’t know about.”

“Yes. Can you show me where they gather on Cay Largo?”

Chanmi highlighted the cult house where Janjan and Yura had found the unholy altar.

“To make sure I have this right, Ms Chanmi, that is the main cult house, but there is no-one there. However there are three members at these other houses, and they may go to the main house and then take an underwater sled out to sea.”

“Yes, or someone might come back from the island and return to that house. I can show you the records of their past movements.”

“I am sure you are correct. Please would you zoom in on it?”

Chanmi did so.

“Put a relief overlay on it.”

The display changed to show contour lines. Kay looked closely. He had “coup d’oeil”, the ability to discern the tactical advantages of the terrain at a glance.

Kay tapped the screen with the pointed nose of a rifle bullet.

“That defile should be the route they take down to the shore where they launch their sled.”

Chanmi: “Yes, sir.” She zoomed in closer and got the satellite view. “There is a footpath.”

“Right. We have to clear that house and establish two blocking positions. One is to ambush anyone approaching from the land side. The other is to block the sea side. Both ambush forces should be supported by additional forces to take the attackers in the rear. Please would you zoom in as close as you can?”

Kay took a Chinagraph pencil from his pocket. He quickly sketched the blocking positions on the big screen, laying out a formation which ensured the ambushers would be able to deploy maximum firepower without the danger of shooting each other.

Tsuchimursu said, “We want to capture the other three cultists very quickly. We do not want to wait for them to come into an ambush.”

“Is there time pressure?”

“Yes. There are hostages on the island. We need to clean up here, and carry out a rescue operation afterwards.”


“Not easy. What forces do we have at our disposal?”

“Right now we have you and the members and weapons at this table, plus 24 security bots equipped with non-lethal weapons. They are just arriving by truck. We have one security bot here already.” He pointed to the corner, where the bot stood motionless.

“What sort of kit do they carry?”

“Tasers, shock batons and net-throwers.”

“I notice a man of the cloth. Sir…”

“I am Scarlet.”

“Reverend Scarlet, do you possess an Elder Sign?”

“I do. I am aware of its powers of defence against Mythos creatures.”

“That’s handy.”

Kay turned back to Tsuchimursu.

“What about transport?”

“We have got as many cars, taxis and minibuses as you need. For sea and air transport we have a large motor cruiser and a flying boat.”

“A flying boat? What type?”

“I do not know. It has 2 engines and 8 seats, plus the two pilots.” Tsuchimursu leant close to Kay and whispered something in his ear.

“Is that so? We may find a use for it.”

Kay thought for a couple of minutes.

“As long as we can track their phones, there is no urgency to capture these three cultists. We can set up the blocks as I described, and wait for them to walk into the trap. This will also enable us to capture any cultists returning from their island. The real focus of this operation is to storm the island. That is a harder task, but not impossible. The big problem is that they can move around underwater, and we have no way to track or attack them there.”

“Mistress Kou is leading an embassy to the mermaid kingdom. Part of her purpose is to request their aid against the cultists.

“Mermaids, or mermen I suppose, would be a formidable underwater force if they have the weapons and tactics.”

“Even so, Kay, I believe we should capture the three cultists before they can do anything else.”

“Very well. How keen are you to capture them alive?”

“I will not be sad if they die in the process.”

“Do you know how to assemble these hand grenades?”

Tsuchimursu looked at the green metal boxes. They were stencilled with mark and part numbers. He understood hand grenades from basic training, though he wasn’t familiar with this specific type.

“I am not sure.”

Kay opened the boxes. He took out a fuse mechanism and an explosive core, then screwed them together.

“There. That’s an offensive grenade. Lots of blast, no shrapnel. To make it a defensive grenade you screw the metal jacket onto it. Then you get less blast and a lot of shrapnel, which flies farther than you can throw the grenade.”

“Yes. Shall I assemble them as offensive grenades?”

“Yes. With six grenades we can easily storm three houses. We’ll send a couple of security bots in, which I will follow. The cultist will either surrender, or offer resistance. If they offer resistance, I will deal with them using appropriate tactics.”

“Do you mean you will use the grenades against them?”

“If it is necessary. Hopefully I will be able to use Bessie.”

He slipped the rifle off his shoulder and ran his thumb along the edge of the long bayonet.

“To save ammunition?”

“There’s that. But I don’t like people who kidnap small girls. If I have to put them down, I will make sure they know all about it.”

He slung the rifle again.

“Let’s finish planning this capture operation.”

At this point Maddy came to ask Yancey about the cowrie shells. Kay spoke kindly to her and gave her his key card.

Chanmi got a ping from her deck.

“One of them’s moving!”

The dot representing a cultist suspect was rolling along the road. They waited a few minutes, and it joined the dot of another cultist.

“Right. Let’s go. I need four bots, the grenades and a vehicle. I’ll deal with those two chappies, then I’ll go and get the last one. Tsuchimursu, can you take Scarlet and Janjan and the rest of the bots, and set up the block positions I sketched at the main cult house?”

“Yes. I will get ready now. How about Chanmi?”

“Ms Chanmi, I believe you will be most useful if you stay here, and operate as a control and communication node. You have all our contact details, and the links for the bots?”

“Yes. I can monitor everyone and even control the bots remotely, if needed.”

“Good. Please lead us through a comms check now.”

Chanmi made sure everyone had their phone set up properly for messaging, with a general group for everyone, a group for Kay, and a group for Tsuchimursu’s team.

Maddy came back in and gave Kay his card back.

“Very well. Have the security bots arrived?”

Chanmi checked. “They are outside on Ocean Drive.”

They made their final preparations. Kay put the grenades into pouches on his webbing, and loaded his rifle. Janjan grabbed the magic anti-demon shotgun ammo, which Skyen had provided for fighting supernatural threats. Scarlet was fussing over his spiritual toolkit, trying to decide the best combination of items to counter a Cthulhu cult threat. Kay said,

“If it’s alright, Tsuchimursu, I should leave now. There is no time to waste.”

“Go. Take four bots and two taxis.”

Kay went out to the hotel forecourt. The bots were lined up in two ranks of 12. Passersby were staring. Pointing, muttering and taking pictures. He thought he had better move quickly, or this news would be all over the island’s social network and perhaps alert the targets. He pointed at the first four bots and got them into two taxis. He told the second driver to follow, climbing into the first one himself. He had to take the bayonet off his rifle to fit in. The driver gaped at him.

“Where to, sir?”

Kay gave him the address. “Stop shortly before you get there. I want to move in on foot.”

The small ad hoc force moved out. Kay pinged Chanmi.

“Ms Chanmi, there are rubberneckers snapping pics of our bots. If it gets onto the general net, our targets might be alerted. Can you shut it down?”

“I’m on it, Kay.” She started subtly to delay the local news and social media.

The taxi drivers knew the island roads well. Verdant scenery streamed past Kay, its sub-tropical lushness reminding him of the conflict in Vietnam. But no rock music. His driver’s radio was tuned to a station playing reggae.

The tiny convoy arrived at its destination. Kay and the bots got out. He spoke to both drivers.

“Wait here until I come back.”

Kay led the bots along the road to the turn off for the cult house. It was screened by shrubbery, but he could see a pickup and a car parked in front. They all crouched down in cover while he observed the target.

He put his phone in silent mode and messaged Chanmi.

“I’m here. I’ll start my assault in… three minutes.”


TO BE CONTINUED…

© 2020 Yancy 08620163 | 8J3U37
aka Starship Captain 88

The Case of the Call of Cthulhu, ch.32


Now that Kou had a plan and preparations were in hand, she began to feel calmer about the overall situation. She was sure the embassy could be made to work. It would need all her tact and diplomacy, but she knew it would be alright.

The situation regarding the cultists was more worrying, however with Tsuchimursu and… him… in charge… Kou looked up at a bustle from the military table. It seemed they were moving out. Tsuchimursu came to talk to her.

“Mistress Kou, very quickly, here is the situation. There are three cultists on Cay Largo, in two houses. Kay, who is the new Aspect of Yancey, is taking four bots to arrest them.”

“Do you think it is enough?”

“He thinks so. He has already left. He has a rifle and six hand grenades.”

“Hand grenades!?”

“Yes. From the detectives’ weapon locker.”

Kou had had no idea Yancey had been in possession of hand grenades. But perhaps they had popped inside the locker in order to summon Kay, the way the rifle and bayonet had replaced The Gun.

“What about the rest of you?”

“We are going to set up a blocking position around the main cult house. Scarlet will clear the house using his spiritual powers and his bodyguard. Janjan and I, with 16 bots, will prepare ambushes to trap cultists who return from the sea, or any who manage to escape from Kay.”

“How about Chanmi?”

“Chanmi is running all the communications from here. I have given her control codes for the bots as well, so she can direct them if necessary.”

“Good. At this table we have worked out a plan to visit the Mermaid Queen. I am waiting here with Maddy while the others have gone to get the equipment ready.”

“I must leave now. I do not know how long it will take to capture the three cultists. If I do not see you before you leave, good luck in your mission, Mistress Kou.”

“Good luck to you, Moderator Tsuchimursu.”

The big boi went out to join the rest of his force, his hunting rifle in his hands. Kou turned to Maddy.

“Shall we go and sit with Chanmi?”

***

It would be easier to monitor all the different signals in cyberspace, so I put on my VR rig. I was setting up the displays when I heard movement nearby. I took a quick look with my Sandbenders webcam. Kou and Maddy had come over to sit with me. I put a feed from one of Kay’s bots on the big screens.

The bot was crouching just behind Kay, who seemed to be observing the scene, looking for dangers, of course. The house was a bungalow. A pick-up truck and a car were parked in front. The door was closed.

Kay worked the bolt of his antique rifle to load a round. He turned to face me, the bot I mean, but in the ‘scape it was like I was there with him, because I was watching through its optic sensors. He made a series of hand signals, then jogged in a low crouch over to a position behind the pick-up. I could see he was limping a bit. The bots followed him. They all crouched down in cover.

Kay stabbed his bayonet into the truck’s rear tire, the air rushed out, and the vehicle sagged. He made some more signals to the bots. Two of them jogged around the sides of the house, obviously sent to find the back door. The one whose POV I was riding moved quickly to the front door. I heard another one behind it, then there was another hissing noise. Kay must have stabbed the car’s tire.

My bot gave the door a heavy kick and it smashed in. Those security bots are strong models, with extra power, and armored. The bot went inside. I could hear shouting, two voices, obviously the cultists. The bot went towards the noise, its shock baton held ready.

A doorway to the right, inside were two bois, one with a pistol. He shot at me, missed, shot again and hit my bot in the chest, but it ignored the impact and strode forward swinging the shock baton. The cultist hissed as the baton connected with his left arm and the electric charge surged through him, cramping his muscles. He clenched his fists, firing one wild shot into a wall.

The other boi ran out of the room, straight into another bot which must have entered through the back door. The impact knocked the bot off balance, and the boi slipped past it. More rapid footsteps, moving away from me. I heard a muffled shout, then a low bloop kind of noise, some weapon I did not recognise, and then a shotgun blast. My bot subdued the cultist it had shocked, and started to put cuffs on him. I switched my POV to the bot chasing the other boi.

It was jogging out of the back door. The cultist had a shotgun. He was trying to aim at another bot striding forwards with a shock baton raised. A capture net was draped partly over the thug’s head and shoulders, but it was a bad hit, off center and the boi was still able to move. My bot raised its net thrower to shoot him from behind, but just then Kay appeared around the corner of the bungalow, his long rifle held level at waist height. The bayonet reflected the sun, became a baneful streak of silver.

The boi was taken by surprise. He tried to swing his shotgun onto the new target but Kay took two quick steps, lunged, and suddenly the red point of his bayonet was sticking out of the boi’s back. The cultist let out a shriek and staggered backwards towards me. The point disappeared as it slid back out of his body.

I cut the video feed to the wall screens. This was not something for Maddy to watch.

The boi dropped his shotgun, and said “I surrender!” in a weak voice.

“Too late, chum.” Kay methodically stabbed the cultist twice, through the chest and the guts, then stood back with his rifle at the ready. Blood dripped from the blade.

The stricken boi sagged and folded to lie on the ground, his breathing ragged and bubbling. Blood welled out of multiple wounds, pooling in the grass. He moaned weakly, “I’m cold, I’m cold.” I felt sick. I had never witnessed such violence, not even in movies. To see a living member carved up like that… There was so much blood!

Kay muttered, “No need to be cruel,” aimed his rifle and shot the boi in the forehead, killing him instantly. He worked the bolt. A spent cartridge flew out. He took a single round from a pouch and filled up the magazine, closed the bolt again, and clicked the safety on. He leant down and closed the boi’s eyes.

“How about the other one?”

<We have a suspect in custody. He was subdued by shock baton.>

“Show me.”

The bot turned and went back into the house. In what looked like a lounge area two bots had got the suspect handcuffed behind his back, and sat on a chair. He looked angry and miserable at the same time.

“The jig’s up for you, pal.”

“You’re not going to kill me? Please don’t kill me!”

“From what I hear you deserve it, but you’re a prisoner and I’m not a murderer. You’ll be delivered to civilian justice.”

“You murdered Bobby. I heard him scream.”

“He shouldn’t have brought a gun to a knife fight.”

Kay took out his phone. I realised he was going to call me, so I just spoke through the bot I was riding.

<Kay. It’s me, Chanmi.>

He did a double-take, and stared at the bot which had spoken.

“You’re in there?

<Yes.>

“I didn’t realise you could control a bot like that. You’re inside it?”

<Kind of. I could order it to go somewhere. I haven’t tried to walk it myself. I just watched through its eyes.>

“You saw everything that happened?”

<Yeah.>

“I’m sorry. It was him or me.”

<Yes, I know. But why did you stab him again? You could have saved him.>

“First aid is no use for a wound like that. He needed major surgery and we don’t have the time.”

<But!>

“Ms Chanmi. I’m here to help save the hostages, not the bastards who kidnapped them. I’ve knocked out two of them but there are still 10 more going around doing God knows what mischief. Your job running the signals for us is vital to stopping them.”

<I’m sorry.>


“I’m sorry. You’re a young lady, a detective, not a soldier. You shouldn’t have had to see that. You’re doing a difficult job very well.”

<Thanks.>

“Here is my report to Kou. I’ve killed one cultist and captured another unhurt. I will conduct a quick search of this house, then I will send the prisoner back to the hotel with one bot to guard him, and anything I find here. I will then go to deal with the last one we know about. Will you alert me if he starts to move?”

<Yes.>

“Good. Thank you. I’ll message you after I’ve secured the position here.”

Kay wiped his bayonet clean with a tea towel. He organised the bots to search the bungalow. They found a rather disturbing statue, which Kay hid in a bag. There was frogboi gear, and two weapons he recognised as a speargun and a dart gun. He rolled them up in a blanket with the pistol and the shotgun, and the ammo which went with them. He confiscated two smartphones.

Next Kay tore down the shower curtain, went out to the back yard, and straightened out the dead boi’s body. He and a bot picked up the corpse with difficulty, and put it on the curtain. They rolled up the makeshift shroud, then brought the body in and put it in the bath.

“Chanmi?”

<Yes.>

“We’re finished here. Kou needs to get someone over here to deal with the body and secure the house. I’m leaving now for the next house.”

<Yes, Kay.> I checked the map. Allowing 5 minutes for him to load up his taxis, the prisoner should reach Tarpon Bay in 20 minutes. The next house was 10 minutes away from the first one.

I took off the VR rig and turned to Kou. She was looking rather shaken.

“How much did you and Maddy see?”

“We saw up until Kay stabbed the boi, then the video cut out.”

“I cut it because of Maddy.”

“I’m big enough to watch!”

“What happened next was really horrible, Maddy. I felt sick.”

“Well, maybe I would have felt sick too. But that bad member deserved it! He and his friends shot me and Gabrielle with darts. They shot Yancey with a spear and they tried to shoot Kay with a shotgun.”

“That member’s dead now, Maddy.”

“...”

“Kou, We have to send someone to collect the body. Kay is on his way to get the last cultist, and there’s a prisoner and some things coming here in a taxi, with a security bot.”

“I will see to it. You must continue to monitor communications. Is there time to find out how everyone else is getting on?”

“I’ll do it now.”

I put my headset back on and dived into cyberspace again.

It was easy to monitor the members who had bots with them. I could quickly jump between viewpoints and even access the video recordings each bot made while on duty. Kay was in his cab on the way to the last cult house. Tsuchmursu and Janjan had reached their objective and were setting up their ambush positions.

I don’t know much about tactics except what I learned by playing FPS games, but it was obvious Kay’s plan was a good one. I could see that no-one would be able to get to the house from either way without being pinned down under a hail of nets and if necessary, bullets.

I quickly told Tsuchimursu about Kay’s situation, then I relayed Tsuchi’s situation to Kay. He acknowledged simply with thanks.

Next I checked in with the seaplane crew. Ginger answered.

“We’re just taking off. We had to taxi a long way out of the harbour to find enough clear water.” The engines were roaring at maximum power. “And… we’re off.”

“How long before you get back?”

“Well… let’s see. It’s only a 10 minute flight. We rang ahead and they’ll have the fuel bowser ready for us. We’ll be turned around in 30 minutes. Back with you in an hour and a bit, providing we can get into the harbour.”

“Okay, thank you. I’ll ask Kou to alert the harbourmaster.” To save time I texted her.

Next I rang Nancy.

“Hi Chanmi. How’s things?”

“Kay’s captured one cultist and killed another one.”

“Killed him? Well, I don’t guess many of us will shed tears.”

“Yeah. I didn’t like seeing it, but it had to be done.”

“Were you there?”

“No, I was watching the video feed from one of the security bots.”

“Oh! Are you okay?”

“I felt sick, but I’m alright now. I kind of thought it would be like a videogame, but when you kill someone in games they just sort of fall down. They don’t cry and beg. At least it was quick. Kay is ruthless, but he isn’t cruel.”

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that. It sounds horrible. If you want to talk later, I’ll be there for you.”

“Thanks Nancy.” I liked her more every time we talked.

“Right, I expect you want to know how VioletMist and I are doing. We’ve got everything ordered and paid for. I spoke to the Captain. He needs to take the Rascal to the fuel and water station, so we’ll have everything delivered there. We should have everything loaded and be ready to go in maybe an hour.”

“Good work, Nancy!”

“Gotta go now, Chanmi. I have to help Harlesden move the boat.”

“Just to keep you in the loop, Tsuchimursu and Janjan are setting up their ambush positions at the main cult house. The fly bois are in the air flying north. They reckon they’ll be back with us in not much over an hour. Kay’s probably getting near the last cultist so I need to check in with him.”

“Thanks, Chanmi. Hang in there, you’re doing a great job!”

I rang off, and used my Sandbenders camera to look at Maddy and Kou. It would have wasted time to leave the ‘scape, so I pinged messages to their phones.

<Did you hear all that, Kou, Maddy? Just talk, I can read your lips.>

“Thank you, Chanmi. Yes, I will just play it back to make sure I have understood everything. I have requested an ambulance to attend the cult house. The Goose is in the air and expected to return within 70 minutes. The Rascal is being refuelled and equipped and will be ready in 60 minutes. Tsuchimursu’s team are in position. Kay is nearing the last cultist’s house.”

<That’s everything.>

“Now there is nothing to do but wait upon events.”


TO BE CONTINUED…

© 2020 Yancy 08620163#4336, aka Starship Captain 88.

The Case of the Call of Cthulhu, ch.33


The taxi with the captured cultist arrived at the Belair just after Kay got to the next target, so I left Kou to deal with the prisoner while I monitored Kay in action.

He used the same technique as before, parking up out of sight, then advancing under cover to a point from where he could observe the house. The door was open, and a car was parked in front. A boi was loading it with SCUBA gear, going in and out to bring more things.

Kay made some hand signals to the bots, then clicked his rifle to ‘fire’.

The bots waited until the cultist was heading back into his house for another load, then advanced in a wide reverse arrowhead formation, their net throwers at the ready. I watched from the middle of the three. I couldn’t see Kay but I could hear him coming up behind. Using the middle bot as a stalking horse, probably.

The boi came out with an armful of equipment. He did a double take when he saw the invaders. He dropped his stuff on the ground and reached into a pocket. With a triple ‘bloop’ the bots all shot nets at him, hitting with two of them. He fell to the ground, struggling with the strands of plastic netting.

“You’re my prisoner!” Kay shouted, but inside the nets the cultist was still struggling. A shot rang out. He must have got a pistol out of his pocket. There were several wild shots, hitting the car and a bot, then Kay appeared in view from the right. He had run around behind the struggling boi. He put the tip of his bayonet to the boi’s torso and yelled,

“Drop it!”

The cultist wriggled more and another shot went off. I knew what would happen next so I shut the video off but I wasn’t quick enough. I saw Kay shove the long bayonet through the boi’s guts, the tip came out of his stomach and Kay pulled the trigger with the muzzle jammed up against the boi’s back. There was a big spout of blood and the cultist screamed. The recoil helped pull the bayonet back out, an evil red streak, with more blood and smoke following it. It was sickening.

The video went black and I heard the rapid clicking of Kay reloading his rifle, and another shot.

I turned the video back on. Kay was looking at one of the bots, not mine. Blood was dripping from his bayonet. It dripped into a red pool spreading from the cultist’s body. He had been shot in the head. I didn’t want to see it. You can’t imagine what it’s like to see a member’s body which has been bayonetted and shot several times. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. I switched the feed off again.

“Are you there, Chanmi?”

I hesitated. I didn’t know if I wanted to speak to Kay after what I saw. But it was my duty.

<Yes.>

“You can report to Kou that I have killed another cultist who offered armed resistance to capture.”

<Yes... Kay.>

“These chaps have been acting pretty wild. I think they could be hopped up on something.”

<...>

“Are you alright, Chanmi? Did you see…?”

<Yes. I didn’t want to see it but I couldn’t cut the video fast enough.>

“I’m sorry. It’s combat.”

<Yes…. Actually, we have forensics from the one that Yancey killed. There were traces of various drugs in the blood, stimulants and hallucinogens.>

“That gives you Dutch Courage, but it doesn’t make for good tactical thinking. But so what? I don’t care if I have to kill them all because they won’t surrender.”

<Kay, your prisoner has arrived at the Belair Hotel and Kou is dealing with him. I have to report to Kou and Tsuchimursu now. Will you clean up here?>

“Yes. Tell Tsuchimursu he can redeploy half of the bots from the island side of his ambush to the sea side. If all of the cultists came back at the same time, we could bag the lot of them.

“I’m worried we don’t have enough real weapons though. The cultists I have fought have all been armed. Nine cultists with pistols and shotguns would have a lot of short-range firepower. Tsuchimursu and Janjan have only a shotgun and a hunting rifle apart from non-lethal weapons.

“I’m going to drive over to Tsuchimursu on my way back to base, to give him my hand grenades, and check his dispositions. Would you send me a course, please?”

I pinged it to his phone.

“Thanks, Chanmi. You should make your reports now.”

I broke the contact and I was back in the Belair’s conference room, looking through my Sandbenders’s camera. I quickly jumped to Tsuchimursu’s position and gave him Kay’s report, then I flipped back to the Belair to find that Kou was back.

This signals work was tiring. It required a lot of concentration and organisation. I was glad I had recorded everything, so I could review events if I forgot something. Was there anyone else I should talk to? Yes! The Garden Fairy. I pinged her and got the message she was at her bungalow collecting the Elder Sign and some other equipment. She would be back in 30 to 40 minutes.

My mental checklist was all ticked off, so I confirmed it by putting a status report up on all the TVs. It was just a simple spreadsheet showing the unit, current status and ETA for return to Tarpon Bay. I set up a countdown clock so the ETA times would update continuously by themselves . This done, I took off the VR rig, and sagged in my chair. Maddy came and asked if I wanted a drink.

“Yeah, thanks so much, Maddy. That’s kind of you. Please would you get me a cup of coffee and a pastry with chocolate in it?”

She came back in a minute with a pain au chocolat and the coffee. I bit off a big chunk of the sweet pastry and mumbled my thanks around the mouthful.

*****

Kou had the captured cultist confined in a small bedroom with a security bot to keep an eye on him. She returned to the conference room to find Chanmi, who looked tired and wan, gobbling a pastry with Maddy. They were both watching the countdown clock on the TVs. The information clearly displayed the following expected sequence of events:

Unit / Status / ETA
Kay / Returning to Belair with captured equipment / 29 minutes
Yura / Returning to Belair with Elder Sign / 36 minutes
Smol Rascal / Provisioning at marina fuelling station / 45 minutes
Grey Goose / Estimated return to Tarpon Bay / 63 minutes
Tsuchimursu / Ambush position at cult house / infinity

Kou looked away. She knew that such displays are liable to create a false sense of certainty, as if they control the future. But the times were only estimates. Something could easily go wrong.

“Ms Chanmi, how are you feeling? You’ve witnessed some hideous things.”

Chanmi smiled, though it was her mouth only. Her eyes were sombre.

“Kou, I’ve played a lot of videogames and seen people killed in them but to see it done like that, the real reaction of members being killed in front of me, sliced open and… the blood! I’m glad I didn’t tap into the bot’s full sensorium or I would have gotten the smell too.”

Kou’s eyes watered in sympathy. She offered Chanmi a hug. They embraced, and drew strength from each other. It’s amazing how when you give love and support, it comes back to you doubled.

She wondered if she had done the right thing in summoning Kay. She had known that Yancy was dismayed by him. Now she understood why. The willingness to kill brutally and without hesitation anyone who stood in the way of his objective. He had no interest in minimising enemy casualties. She guessed he might not worry too much about his own, if it got him the victory.

The thing was done, though. She had taken the weapon into her hands, and now she had to use it to best effect. Kay would go away once there was no more killing needed.

The minutes ticked off the countdown.

Kay arrived, his shoes crusty with sticky, half-dried blood. The taxi driver claimed compensation for a special deep clean. Kou was glad to pay to get rid of him and focus on the main task.

Weapons and some cult objects were piling up on the tables, as Kay unloaded the things he had captured from the three cultists he had dealt with. He hid the mythos statues under napkins, as they were dangerous to look at. He turned to Kou.

“Mistress Kou, here is the tactical problem. Simply put, we do not have large enough forces to maintain the blockade on Cay Largo, and to assault the cult’s island base at the same time. But we must maintain the blockade, because we cannot detect their underwater movements. The cultists might leave their island after we lift our blockade and before we can attack them there. Therefore we cannot assault the island unless we find a way to interdict their underwater movements.”

“Kay, thank you for your advice. I hope to solve that problem by requesting the assistance of the Mermaid Realm.”

“Perhaps they will be willing to blockade Cay Largo. That would free our forces to attack the island. I doubt the Mermen would be much use on land.”

Kay tried to envisage what a Merman naval force would look like. With their speed and manoeuvrability they would be like cavalry. Lances for charging, and stabbing swords. Perhaps some kind of bow shooting very long heavy arrows, which would carry through the resistance of the water. Bullets and artillery would be useless. Explosive weapons would be possible in the form of static or towed mines, torpedoes, and vertically dropped bombs. Tactics would be three dimensional, as in air or space combat. It would be fascinating to find out the ideas the Mermen had come up with.

The Garden Fairy arrived. She had assumed her fierce combat Aspect, the Fairy Imp Yura. She was diminutive and feisty, with enhanced flight powers. Her smol body was defended by tight-fitting leather armour, coloured white to protect her from overheating in the sun. Twin black tassle bags of pixie dust hung either side of her belt. She had a small pack cinched around her waist in a position where it would not interfere with her wings.

“Kou, what has happened while I was away, hora?”

“Kay has killed two cultists and captured one. We shall interrogate him for information. The wall screens are showing a countdown for our preparations to finish.”

Unit / Status / ETA
Kay / Return to Belair with captured equipment / 0 minutes
Yura / Return to Belair with Elder Sign / 0 minutes
Smol Rascal / Provisioning / 10 minutes
Grey Goose / Land at Tarpon Bay / 31 minutes
Tsuchimursu / Ambush at cult house / infinity

“Why is Tsuchimuru stuck at infinity?” Yura was very fond of the big Mod.

“Kay can explain better than me.” Kay had come over to appraise the new arrival.

“Kay, this is the Fairy Imp Yura. She is a Chuunibyo Detective. Yura, Kay is an expert on tactics and weapons. He is planning our combat operations. And conducting some of them.” Kay’s shoes were still leaving some unpleasant smears on the floor.

“How do you do?” Kay held out his hand, and she shook it. “I’m sorry, Miss Yura, that I do not understand what Chuunibyo means.”

“Oh, it means that I specialise in cases which involve magic, hora.”

“I see. That will be very useful in dealing with these cult chappies.”

“Mr Kay, please would you explain why Tsuchimursu is stuck at his ambush?”

“Of course. We have to keep him and Janjan there because the 9 remaining cult members may return from their island base. We cannot detect their underwater movements. I am hopeful that Mistress Kou will be able to get the help of the Mermen.”

“What if I cannot?”

“We will leave a small force at the blockade, as a trip wire. Tsuchimursu has disabled the vehicles he found, so the cultists would need to call taxis or walk. We should be able to track them down if they get back here, but it would be neater to capture them all on the island.”

“Yes, hora, I see.”

“Ladies, the Smol Rascal must be nearly ready to board. I suggest you gather your necessary equipment and go to the marina. Ms Chanmi can give you a course to the refuelling station. I will remain here at the command post. I wish you the best of British luck.”

They thanked him, and Kou, the Fairy Imp, and Maddy took their bags and went to begin their embassy to the Mermaid Kingdom.

TO BE CONTINUED…

© 2020 Starship Captain 88

The Case of the Call of Cthulhu, ch.34


I picked up my bag and checked that Gabrielle’s precious cowries were carefully packed with napkins to save them from damage.

I said goodbye to Chanmi. She looked tired and sad. I hoped she would be okay staying with the fierce Kay. I knew he would never hurt her. He was here to hurt our enemies, the bad members who kidnapped me and Gabrielle. And he would help get Gabrielle back safe. And rescue Ursula too.

We walked to the marina. My feet still hurt a bit, even after the Garden Fairy’s magic. The new Fairy Imp Yura looked tough in her white leather armor. But she was so smol, I was actually taller than her. Her wings were huge compared to her body, and shimmered. It was almost hard to tell they were there, in the strong sun.

Kou knew the way and I just followed her. Very soon we came to the place where the Smol Rascal was sitting. Captain Harlesden was checking stuff around the boat, like the ropes and things. Nancy was on board. I waved at her and she waved back with a cheerful smile. VioletMist was there too, helping Nancy to move boxes of stuff around on the deck.

Kou stopped when she reached the boat. She asked for permission to come on board. The Captain welcomed us and helped Kou up the gangplank. I ran up easily. Yura just flew a short hop and landed lightly on the deck. Magic sparkles followed her flight.

“Maddy,” he said, “You know the Rascal so why don’t you show Kou and Yura around?”

I took them into the main cabin and showed them the kitchen and bathroom and the smol sleeping cabins, which kind of joined right on to the main cabin.

“We had such a nice meal right here. Look, there’s a fridge and a smol freezer and cooker and a microwave. We had fried fish and fresh scallops I caught by myself -- did you know they have eyes and they can fly in the water -- and seaweed salad and microwave french fries. I had lemonade to drink. It was great!”

Nancy came in with an armful of gear. She began to sort it out on the big table. The Captain came in.

“Mistress Kou, we’re ready to cast off.”

“Thank you, Captain. Let’s go straight away. There is no time to waste.”

Harlesden said, “Nancy and Maddy, will you help me get the Rascal get under way?”

We both went up. Nancy had taught me how to coil a rope, so she undid the knots and released the line which tied the boat to the dock, then I pulled it in and coiled it up neatly. Nancy checked my work.

“Good job, Maddy. Keep it up and you’ll soon make Able Seagirl.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a rank at sea. It shows you know your duties and can perform them skillfully.”

“Oooh!”

We did the second one too. Nancy took a long pole and pushed the bow away from the dock. The engines were already going, and we began to move forward very slowly. I went up to sit next to the Captain. He smiled and winked at me.

The Captain drove us out of the marina and past the harbor walls, then he began to push the metal levers forward, to make the engines go faster. The boat began to throb with power. The noise of water got louder as we went faster and faster and the wind got strong.

The levers were pushed forwards as far as they could go. Harlesden turned to me and laughed with glee!

“Look what she can do, Maddy! We’re hydroplaning.”

“What's hydroplaning?”

“It means the boat is riding kind of on top of the sea, like it’s flying, almost.”

We were going really fast and there was lots of spray and a bright white wake behind us. I laughed at the power and freedom of the boat going like a plane, in a straight line across the ocean.

Nancy and the others came up to enjoy the ride in the fresh air.

The Captain made a gentle curve to get round a headland. I thought that’s where Mods Tsuchimursu and Scarlet, and Janjan are waiting to fight the bad members. I tried to see the house. I thought I could see it, maybe, I wasn't sure. Harlesden saw me looking, and he gave me a big pair of binoculars -- they were so heavy -- I could see the house, perched up on the cliff. I couldn’t see anyone there but they were hiding, of course. I wished them luck.

The Rascal roared on, straight across West Bay towards the next headland. After about 20 minutes the Captain began to pull the power levers back and we slowed down gradually. We were getting near the area where the mermaids live. He slowed the boat down a lot. The wake subsided and there was no wind anymore. We got past the next headland and finally came to a stop some way off-shore. It’s hard to tell distances at sea. Maybe it was a couple of miles.

The Captain and Nancy let the anchor down. Once it caught fast, they sent some flags up the smol mast, which warned other boats that there were divers in the water.

“Okay, girls. We’re here. It’s up to you now. I’ll shut myself in a cubby while you change.”

Kou said, “Thank you, Captain. It will be sufficient if you go to the bow while we prepare in the main cabin.”

He went to the front of the boat to look out at the ocean and the sky.

The grown-ups were a bit embarrassed to have to go nude to visit the mermaids. They didn’t want to change in front of the Captain. I didn’t care. I just wanted to become a mermaid and swim again. Besides, the Captain had said he was gay and didn’t care about our ‘baps’. I knew that gay meant he was the kind of boi who likes bois rather than girls.

When I looked up ‘baps’, the dictionary told me it was a kind of bread roll. There was another meaning too. Basically it means ‘boobies’. Well, I don't have boobies yet, so I just took off my swimming costume and put it in my bag with the cowries and other stuff. I put on my belt with the knife I took from the cave attached to it.

Nancy, VioletMist and Kou took off their clothes and wrapped themselves in pareos. Nancy handed out the equipment she and VioletMist had prepared earlier: a diver’s watch, a knife on a utility belt, packs of dye and shark repellent in a dive bag, and a heavy duty waterproof phone case. Nancy and VioletMist each took two bangsticks and spare bullets. Nancy didn’t give me a knife.

The Fairy Imp had nothing.

“Aren’t you coming, Ms Yura?” I asked her.

“Fairies are creatures of the element of air, not water, Maddy. It would ruin my wings to swim with you, hora. I will fly above, so that I can communicate with the Captain and inform him of your progress.”

She reached into her with both hands, waistpack and brought out a green tassel bag about six inches wide. There was something heavy in it.

“Mistress Kou, this bag contains my Elder Sign, for you to give to the Mermaid Queen.” Yura handed it to Kou, who took it in both hands as a sign of respect. She put it carefully into her dive bag.

“Now I will give you the magic pearls.”

Yura brought out her mermaid's purse and counted out the silver pearls, one for me, and two each for the grown-ups.

“Do not swallow them until you are ready to change.”

I knew that already.

“I will also give you black pearls, so that you can change back into humans if you need to.”

We put them into pockets inside our dive bags. We went out into the rear cockpit, all naked except for the Fairy Imp, but the grown-ups had wrapped themselves in pareos which they tied over their boobies.

“I’ll go first!” I said, and scampered to the stern where the ladder went down to the dive platform. I started to climb down, but Kou said,

“Wait, Maddy, it might not be safe.”

Nancy said, “I’ll have a look around.”

She got the binoculars and carefully scanned the full circle around the boat.

“Looks safe enough,” she said. “No other boats for miles, no shark fins. Look, Kou, Maddy swam maybe 40 or 50 miles by herself last night. I reckon she’s better qualified as a mermaid than the rest of us put together.”

“You are right. Please go first, Maddy,” Kou said.

I climbed down to the platform and swung the dive ladder into the water. I lay down on my back and got the pearl ready. When I looked up, four girls’ faces were staring down at me, eager to see the magic work. Lying there naked, with them all staring at me, I felt a bit bashful, so I covered my eyes with one hand. I put the pearl in my mouth and swallowed it.

When I recovered from the faint, Kou and VioletMist looked amazed to see the change. Nancy had seen it before of course, and she was smiling. Yura wore a quiet grin. She must be very interested in magic, because of her detective work.

I rolled off the platform into the welcoming ocean. It felt great. I put on my dive bag and dove immediately. I did a quiet shrill to test my mermaid sense. I sensed the boat above me and the seafloor below. My throat felt a bit sore but I thought I could use it if I was careful. I looked around. There were no big fish I could see, so I surfaced and waved to the others.

Nancy came down next, and folded up her pareo in her bag. She wasn’t bashful at all. I suppose she was used to undressing alongside other divers. She lay down, set a timer on her dive watch and swallowed the pearls. It took several minutes for her to change. She woke up, shook her head to clear it, and checked her watch. Then she rolled into the sea. I went to greet her.

“Hi Nancy, how do you feel?”

“I don’t know yet. It’s too new and strange a feeling.”

She felt all over her changed body, and looked at her hands with their webbed fingers.

“Either my hands have grown or my breasts have shrunk. Or both. My watch strap is tight. Hang on a moment, Maddy, I’m going back up.”

Nancy swam up and spoke to VioletMist, who was about to take her pearls. VioletMist loosened her watch strap. So did Kou, who was coming last, and Nancy. I hadn’t noticed mine being tight, but it was a bit loose, and now it fitted nicely. Yancey had looked bigger and musclier as a merboi than as a human. I suppose we all were, because of needing to swim with our arms.

I got bored waiting for them and decided to swim forward and say hello to the Captain. I swam to the pointy bow, and a bit further, then I dove down deep, turned, and swam as hard as I could, straight up. I burst from the water like a rocket and waved and shouted, “Captain! Captain!” He waved back, a big smile on his face.

After splashing down I swam back to the stern. VioletMist was still changing. I had to wait a bit longer, then she splashed into the water and Kou climbed down to the platform. She had already taken off her pareo to save time. She lay down and swallowed the pearls one at a time. Two gulps. She began to change. I swam round the boat twice, just enjoying the water.

When Kou had finished changing the grown-ups called me to join them. I thought all their boobies looked smoller than before. Maybe that’s why merbois aren’t interested in mermaids’ boobies.

Kou said, “Nancy, you are in command of our party while we are travelling. Maddy, I need you to listen to Nancy and do what she says. Will you do that for me?”

“Yes, Kou. I will be good.”

“Thank you. Have you got the cowry shells?”

“Yes.”

“You are going to be a very important part of this embassy, Maddy. I know you will do your best for Gabrielle.”

“I will.”

I really meant it.

Nancy said, “Maddy, do you have any advice about being a mermaid.”

“It’s easier to swim below the surface. Don’t swim too fast or you will hurt your tail. Try if you can get your mermaid sense to work. I can do it now, but my voice still hurts a bit. I didn’t know I had it until Gabrielle showed me. I’ll show you now.”

I did a shrill and listened for the echoes from the boat above and the seabed below. I also got the echoes from the mermaids grouped around me.

Everyone tried, one after the other. Nancy seemed to get something, perhaps because she had spent a lot of time underwater as a diver.

“I think we have to try and sing as a chorus,” I said, “or else take turns, or the echoes get mixed up. I wish I had learned more from Gabrielle. I suppose it is so natural to her that she never thought of mentioning it. Like I never told her anything about walking and climbing.”

“Don’t worry, Maddy,” Nancy said. “I got something and I will practice as we go. You rest your voice for now. Okay, we must swim fairly close to the surface because the Fairy Imp needs to follow us. She’ll be able to see us and every so often I’ll pop up to talk to her.”

Nancy arranged us in a formation with her in front, followed by Kou and me side by side, and VioletMist guarding the rear. We started to swim in the direction of the Mermaid Kingdom.


TO BE CONTINUED…

© 2020 Starship Captain 88

The Case of the Call of Cthulhu, ch.35

We swam in our formation shaped like a diamond. Nancy leading, then Kou and me side by side, with VioletMist guarding the rear. I suppose we didn’t really know which way to go. Nancy led us in a zig-zag course, occasionally letting out a shrill mermaid cry. I didn’t want to shrill because my throat still hurt a bit. So did my flukes, though they stung less in the salt water than when I was a girl and put my feet in the sea..

I rolled over and swam on my back for a while. The rippled ocean sparkled with sunbeams, and I could see Fairy Imp Yura flying above us, a white wobbly figure with a shimmer of wings above her. I waved at her. She waved back.

I turned onto my front again. I tried to remember the song Gabrielle had been singing when we found her. Something about the tides. I could remember the tune...

“The tides come in, the tides go out
“Twice a day returning…”

I sang it as I swam, to remember my friend.

We had been swimming for 15 or 20 minutes when Nancy held up her hand for us to stop.

“Kou, there are groups of mermembers on both sides of us.”

Now I knew where to look, I could see them, swimming at the same speed as we were, just at the edge of visibility. They stopped when we did.

Kou said, “Nancy, you are in charge. What should we do?”

“You three stay together here. Don’t touch any weapons. I will go and speak to them.”

Nancy swam off towards the mermembers on our right side. I saw her get close to them and stop. There was a wait while she spoke to them. She turned around and swam back, followed by the mermembers. As they got close I saw there were eight of them, a mixture of mermaids and merbois. They were all grown-ups, they hadn’t got any clothes but they had backpacks. They were carrying weapons.

There were five mermaids with long spears and short swords, which were made of a long round cone of wood and had a metal tip. The three merbois had great big bows, with very long thick arrows, and short swords. All of them looked fierce and scary. But they hadn’t loaded their bows or raised their spears towards us.

The mermembers from our left advanced too. They were six merbois with bows, and two mermaids with spears. We were boxed in by mermembers. I felt a bit scared, but I didn’t want to show it, so I went towards them, the first group who had come from our right. Nancy tried to stop me, but Kou put her hand out to her to let me go. I swam up to a mermaid who wore a band on her head with a starfish emblem on it. I thought she must be the leader, because the rest of them were bare-headed.

“I’m Maddy. I need your help to rescue my friend Gabrielle. Please help me!”

I started to cry. I don’t know how I cried underwater, but my face was sad and I was kind of sobbing, if that makes sense.

“I’ve got her precious shells. Please take me to her mommy Olympe, so I can give her the shells! I need to tell her about Gabrielle.”

I held out my dive bag with the cowrie shells in it.

“You’ve got to help me!!!”

The fierce, proud looking leader looked at me, then at the grown-ups.

“Who is your leader?” she asked.

I pointed to Mistress Kou. Kou pointed to me. She said,

“This smol girl, this smol mermaid, called Maddy, will speak for us. Please listen to her.”

I started to cry more, but I knew I had to be strong for Gabrielle. I braced up my courage, and the tears helped, because they were my honest emotion. Everything I said was the real truth and no-one could deny it.

“Please! Please help me! Please take me to Olympe. I have the shells from Gabrielle’s necklace. We just need your help to rescue her. We’re trying our best but we can’t do it without your help!!!”

I cried and cried.

The lead mermaid put her arms around me. She kissed my cheek.

“There, there, Maddy,” she said. “I’m Amélie. I will take you to Olympe, and to our Queen, so you can ask for help. But your warriors must give up their weapons, if they wish to enter our realm.”

Kou signed to Nancy and VioletMist to give over their bangsticks. The mermembers took them and stored them away. Amélie said,

“I will lead you to our realm. I will take you to see our Queen, and I will find Olympe for you to speak to her.”

With the real mermaids on all sides of us, we began to swim in a definite direction.

We came to a part of the ocean where there were great forests of seaweed. They were hard to find a way through, but the mermembers knew the road. They took us by a winding route, so we could not remember the way.

I wondered if the Fairy Imp was able to follow us from above.

We came to a wide open area. It was a great, broad valley under the sea, and there were sort of cottages made of coral all around the slopes. They looked like they had been grown into their shapes, I mean, they weren’t made of coral bricks.

At the far end of the valley was a town, and a kind of castle, all made of coral too. I thought it must be the Mermaid Queen’s palace. Amélie led us straight towards the coral castle. As we got closer the view became clearer. The coral was a lovely rich orange-pink colour. Dappled sunlight played over it, making highlights and shadows in a rhythmic pattern controlled by the ocean waves above. I could see a few merboi sentries swimming around, armed with bows, but although there was a gate we approached from above.

Amélie sang a short, complicated song. Her voice trilled up and down quickly. Perhaps it was a kind of code. The sentries put down their bows and allowed us to advance. We dived down and entered the castle gate. We went through a series of chambers where there were some mermaids and merbois. There were paintings on the walls and ceilings. They showed mermembers, sea-life, and some ships and human members. Calm times and dramatic storms. Eventually we came to a room where we had to wait. We floated in the water and waited for something to happen.

We waited some 20 minutes by my diver watch. I got anxious and angry. I wanted to help Gabrielle. I didn’t think it could be done by sitting around in some stupid waiting room. VioletMist felt the same, I could tell, but she tried hard to be patient. She was reading a book or something on her smartphone. Nancy looked at the decorations and took some pictures. Kou meditated for a while, then she woke up to talk to me.

“Maddy, I need a hug…” She held her arms out. I swam over and hugged her warmly, to make her feel better. I felt better too, to have her arms around me. I talked to her while still hugging her loosely round the neck.

“Kou, I’m getting angry at the wait. Why do we have to wait so long?”

“Sometimes these things are done to demonstrate hierarchy, the concept that someone is more important than you, so you must obey them. However, there is a practical reason. We have arrived unexpectedly, and asked to see Olympe. The mermembers must find her and bring her to this place. The Queen must ready herself for an audience. So we must be patient.”

She rubbed my back and hugged me again.

The doors opened and a merboi swam in.

“Honoured guests, please follow me.”

We swam after him into another chamber, then a very large chamber. He turned left and led us through a short passage into a smoller room. It was still large enough for a round table which had eight long couches set around it like the petals of a flower. Obviously we would lie on these couches.

They were different to normal couches. The head end was higher than the tail end. It was odd to me but I suppose to a mermaid it was completely normal. When I thought about it, a chair would be a very odd thing to a mermaid because your flexibility at the hips is limited, and you don’t have knees at all.

The merboi asked if we would like refreshments. I was a bit hungry, so I asked for some octopus. I’ve never had it before, but I remembered how my mouth watered when I nearly caught one with Yancey. It must be something mermaids like.

The merboi bowed with his head and opened another door to speak quietly to someone outside.

We laid on the couches. VioletMist on the left, then Kou, then me, and Nancy on my right.

The door opened again and two mermembers swam in carrying large covered bowls, which they placed on the table. They were both a medium green colour. The lid was domed and had three kind of arched holes spaced out around the rim, where you could put your fingers in to pick up something.

One of them, a mermaid, smiled at me and said, “Here is fresh octopus, and pickled kelp. Please enjoy your refreshments.” She pointed to the two bowls to show which was which.

“Thank you,” I said, smiling back. “My name is Maddy.”

“Oh Maddy! I can tell your throat is sore…” she replied. “Have you been shrilling too much? I am Claudine.”

“Yes. I did it last night. I had to swim a long way and I was scared of sharks. My flukes hurt too, because I swam too fast.”

“You poor thing!” Claudine put on an expression of sympathy. “Our youngsters are taught not to over-exert themselves that way. I will bring you medicines.”

Claudine and the merboi swam out again. I reached for the bowl of octopus, put my fingers in and took a morsel. It was a bit of tentacle with suckers on it. I popped it into my mouth and chewed. It was sweet and delicious. I took another piece, then I remembered my manners and offered the bowl to Kou. She took a piece too, and offered the bowl to Nancy.

“Love some,” she said with a smile. “We often have octopus for lunch on dives, if we can catch them. They are sneaky creatures.”

VioletMist did not want any, but she tried the marinated kelp.

“Hey, this is pretty good!” she exclaimed.

She passed the bowl to me. It was good. A tangy flavour which contrasted well with the sweet octopus. I passed the bowl to Kou.

Next, Claudine came back in with two smol bladders.

“If you will allow me,” she said, “I will treat your hurt flukes.”

“Thank you! They stung a lot when I was a human girl. But it was my feet then, of course.”

It was difficult for me to see without moving around on my couch too much, but I could feel Claudine put some sticky ointment onto my flukes. She spread it around, and it started to feel warm. Claudine wrapped a light cloth bandage around my flukes.

“Smol Maddy,” she said, “If you try to swim slowly for a day, your flukes will soon get better. The other medicine is to be sipped.”

She handed me the bladder. It was like the kind of bubble you see on some seaweeds, had a straw sticking out. I took a smol sip, squeezing the bladder gently. It tasted yucky.

“Ugh! Why is it so horrid, Claudine?”

“I’m sorry, smol Maddy, but you must try to bear it. Your throat will be healed very quickly if you can finish the whole bladder.” She smiled at me.

I decided to eat a piece of seaweed after each sip of medicine, to take the taste away.

“Thanks, Claudine. Can you teach me how to shrill properly?”

She smiled. “Perhaps you could join a class at one of our schools. You would have to be with much smoller children, though. Our smol ones learn to shrill very young.”

“That’s okay. I don’t mind having to catch up.” I thought it would be a lot of fun to see smol, cute mermember kids and maybe play with them. “Thank you, Claudine!”

She smiled again and went out. Next a middle-aged merboi came in, followed by three mermaids who looked in their 30s, as far as I could tell. The last one was obviously the Mermaid Queen, because she had a gold tiara in her long hair.

Kou “stood up”, I mean she got off her couch and placed her body vertical, with her flukes resting on the floor as if they were feet. The rest of us did the same, to show respect to the Queen. I don’t know if that was mermember manners, but we just hoped they would take it for politeness. The mermembers did a kind of bow by waving their tails up and down to rock their top halves the opposite way, then they took their places on the remaining four couches. The Queen lay opposite me, with the merboi on her left opposite VioletMist, and the two other mermaids opposite Kou and Nancy.

We lay on our couches again. When we had got comfortable, the Queen spoke.

“I am Madeleine, Queen of the Mermember Realm. This merboi is my wise counsellor, Gaspard.” She gestured to him and he nodded a greeting.

“On my right is Olympe, mother of Gabrielle, and her friend Esmée who is here to support her.”

I was surprised that the Queen had almost the same name as me, and I wriggled a bit. I looked at Olympe, whose eyes were sad and worried. I gave her a little smile, and she smiled back. I looked at Kou. She began to speak.

“Queen Madeleine, Gaspard, Olympe and Esmée, I am Kou, Mistress of The Server.”

Their eyes widened slightly to hear this. Kou gestured to her right. “This is Nancy, a sailor and diver. My other grown-up helper is VioletMist, who works in our Fire and Rescue Service. This smol mermaid on my left is Maddy the Freckle. She has important news about Gabrielle.”

The Queen looked at me intently.

“Maddy is short for Madilyn, is it not?”

I nodded.

“It seems we share a name, Maddy. I shall take that as a good omen.”

“I hope so, Queen Madeleine,” I said. “Kou wants me to explain what has happened to Gabrielle. I will try as best as I can and I’m sorry for not being polite, but I don’t know proper mermaid manners.”

“Don’t fret about that, Maddy. We can tell you are polite in a human way. Now, please tell us your story. A sage once said the proper way to tell a story is to begin at the beginning, and go on to the end, and then stop.”

Although I was excited and nervous, I knew I had to tell things properly, so I took a few deep breaths and thought about the things that happened. Then I started, trying to make it quick and clear, but not rushing.

“Yancey the Detective and his friends brought me here to become a mermaid and have an adventure. Yancey made a bargain with Ursula the Gay.”

Gaspard nodded at that name.

“He gave him magic pearls. We used the pearls to turn into mermaids. Well, Yancey was a merboi of course. We dived from Nancy’s boat, the Smol Rascal.”

I waited while Gaspard murmured into the Queen’s ear.

“Yancey and I swam in the sea, it was so wonderful! And then we found Gabrielle. She was in a forest of seaweed. She had lost her precious cowries. We all looked for the shells. Gabrielle and I found one. But then bad SCUBA divers came. They shot Gabrielle and me with darts which paralysed us. They tied us up in nets. Yancey attacked them and killed one, but they shot him with a spear and he had to run away, swim I mean.”

“They took us to an island and put us in a kind of water prison. Ursula was there too. He gave us a pair of magic pearls. I used them to turn back into a girl, and I climbed out. Then I escaped to the shore, and I swam all the way back to Tarpon Bay. That’s how I hurt my flukes.”

I looked at Olympe.

“When I left Gabrielle she was alright, and I found a knife I gave to her, and she had Ursula for company.”

Olympe started to cry. I stopped my story and opened my dive bag. I took the six precious cowries out and put them neatly on the table.

“I’m sorry, Ms Olympe. I found out later that Yancey picked up the rest of the shells, so I brought them to give to you.”

“Oh Maddy!” she wept. “Thank you so much for helping my Gabrielle.”

Esmée comforted her friend. I was feeling weepy too, but I tried to keep my face brave, to finish the story.

“So this morning Kou arrived with a lot of people to help rescue Gabrielle. But the problem is, the bad members move around underwater where we can’t see them or fight them, so we need your help. Please will you help us!?”

I started to cry too. VioletMist reached out and patted my head. Queen Madeleine spoke again.

“Maddy the Freckle, thank you very much for telling your story. It must have been frightening and distressing to have to go over it again.”

“I don’t mind as long as I can help Gabrielle!” I replied.

“That is very brave and good of you. Even so, perhaps Kou could tell us about the help she brought, and what she needs from us.”

I didn’t really know about all the bots and everything so I thought that was a good idea. I helped myself to some octopus while Kou started to speak.


TO BE CONTINUED…

© 2020 Starship Captain 88

The Case of the Call of Cthulhu, ch.36


Kou began with an apology.

“Queen Madeleine, Gaspard, Olympe and Esmée, I apologise deeply and unreservedly for the criminal actions of certain of my human members. According to the investigations of my detectives, they have been attacking mermembers for some time.”

She put her palms on the top end of her couch, lifted her body and tried to do a deep bow of apology, which didn’t work properly but everyone could see she was trying to show her regret.

“The detectives also discovered that these evil humans have formed a wicked, insane cult. We believe they are trying to raise the Deep Ones, and have had some success.”

The mermembers looked concerned. Gaspard opened his mouth.

“We know of the Deep Ones. They are our enemies, that is why we have weapons. We did not know that human members were involving themselves in these matters. We suspected they had attacked our members, because several have gone missing in recent weeks. However we thought it could be due to sharks. We retreated from the sea area you call West Bay, as we did not want to start a fight with the human members without proof. We have set scouts to follow them, and we know where their island base is, but we cannot attack them on land.”

Kou opened her dive bag and took out the cloth bag which contained the Elder Sign. She put it on the table.

“I very much regret to say that it has been proved that some of your members, apart from Gabrielle, were definitely attacked by the cultists. The witnesses are not here in this room. One of them is the Chuunibyo Detective Yura, who is flying somewhere nearby. If you sent a mermember to the surface, they could ask her about it.”

Gaspard and Madeleine conferred briefly, then Gaspard signalled for an assistant to come in. He told her to go and send Amélie and her soldiers to look for the Chuunibyo Detective and question her about the missing mermembers.

“I’m sorry for the interruption, Mistress Kou. I don’t know how long it will take them to come back. Shall we go on with the meeting?”

“Thank you,” Kou said, and continued with her explanation.

“I have brought this gift as some degree of reparation for the violence which has been done to you. While convention bids me to call it dull, I hope it will be genuinely helpful in your resistance to the Deep Ones.”

She lifted the bag to the middle of the table. The Queen accepted it with both hands.

“With your permission, Mistress Kou, I will open it now.”

She undid the cords and brought out the Elder Sign. It was a bulky, flat, roughly triangular piece of green soapstone, about six inches long on each of the three main sides, and two inches thick. Carved into one face of it was an emblem rather like a five pointed star, with some weird detail in the middle.

“Thank you, Mistress Kou, for your gift,” the Queen said. “An Elder Sign is a valuable protection against many creatures of the Mythos.” She passed the Sign to Gaspard.

Kou bowed her head, and went on.

“Queen Madeleine, there is another gift of a more cheerful nature. We could not carry it because of the weight, so we left it on our boat. If you would like it to be delivered, we can arrange for that to be done soon, otherwise it can be collected by your members at some future time.”

“I thank you, Mistress Kou. I can guess what the cheerful gift consists of. Let us put that on one side, and consider what is to be done about these cultists.”

“Well, Queen Madeleine, the resources I have now are: 25 security bots, and two Mods, one with physical strength and a rifle, and one with spiritual power. He carries another Elder Sign. I also have the Chuunibyo Detective, with her magic.”

“I know of her by reputation, though we have never met.”

“There are two hard-boiled detectives with pistols and shotguns, and finally Kay. He is an expert soldier, well-armed, and has already shown his mettle by killing two cultists and capturing a third one.”

“What else?”

“Of course there are the members here with me now, and we have the Smol Rascal, a powerful motor cruiser, whose captain is Harlesden. We also have the Grey Goose, a flying boat, with two pilots.” Kou did not know that the Goose carried a powerful heavy machine-gun. Tsuchimursu had not mentioned it to anyone.

“You have quite a force, but there is very little which can operate underwater.”

“That is exactly the problem. Right now, most of my members and bots are busy blockading the place where the cult members go into and out of the ocean to move between Cay Largo and their island base. We have killed and captured four of them, and there are nine left on the island. Kay said, if we cannot track and interdict the movement of cultists under the sea, we cannot assault the island to rescue Gabrielle and Ursula, without the chance that some of the cultists will escape back to their base in West Bay. Though he also said that may be a risk worth taking, as there is an important element of time pressure.”

“What is that?”

“Tonight is the full moon. My magical and spiritual advisors tell me that it is a time when a cult such as this will typically hold an important ceremony.”

“What sort of ceremony?”

“We cannot be sure, but we are very anxious to prevent it from taking place, since it will no doubt be an evil, mad procedure.”

The Queen leant towards Gaspard, and conferred with him quietly. Then she signalled him to speak for her.

“Mistress Kou,” he said, “You are right. You need underwater forces. We need land forces. The solution is obvious, we should co-operate. We will send some of our warriors to blockade West Bay, and some to blockade the island. Then you will be able confidently to use your land forces to assault the island. As well, some of our members have used magic pearls to transform into humans, and know how to walk and run. It may be useful to send one or two of them with you, to help with coordination of our separate units. We have some smartphones. We cannot use them underwater, of course. We can put a communication team on the surface, and relay messages underwater by the use of our mermember senses.”

“That is a very good idea. Thank you.”

Next the Queen spoke again.

“What do you wish to be done with any of these cult bandits we may capture alive?”

“They have committed crimes against the sea members, in the realm of the sea. Any we capture will be questioned, then turned over to you, for you to deal with according to your justice. In the end, they all will have to be banned from The Server. That can be done after you have punished them.”

The Mermaid Queen swam up off her couch, and declaimed.

“Very well. Mistress Kou, I will commit my sea warriors to this noble campaign. You will commit your land and air forces. Together we shall defeat the cult and rescue the hostages. You will deliver any captives to my justice. Is this our compact?”

“Yes,” Kou replied.

“Now, give me the Kiss of Peace, in earnest of our common purpose and enterprise.”

Madeleine moved to the middle of the table and held out her arms. She towered above everyone. Kou swam off her couch and got her body upright. She moved, slightly awkwardly, to meet the Queen. It might have been embarrassing for her to kiss a girl mermember, but clearly it as an important ceremony to the Queen, so Kou gave no sign of any hesitation.

They embraced in a formal pose, and touched their closed mouths together in a symbolic kiss. Everyone saw the blue spark of mana which burst out between their lips, magically sealing the bargain.

The Queen hugged Kou tight for a moment, then released her except for Kou’s right hand, which she held in her left.

“Now that we are allies, Mistress Kou, we must quickly organise our forces, and set up proper co-ordination between them.”

She turned to Gaspard.

“Make the necessary dispositions according to your judgement. Select three of your best ‘walkers’ to change themselves into humans and accompany our allies. Let them report to Mistress Kou to be assigned as she sees fit. Establish a communication team on the surface, so that we are always in contact with our new allies.”

Gaspard inclined his head.

“With your leave, my Queen, I will go now and give the necessary orders.”

The Queen nodded. Gaspard rose from his couch, made a mermember bow to Kou, and swam out of the room.


TO BE CONTINUED...