Chapter 14

The monstrous storm refused to play favorites with either starboard or port, crashing wave after wave of Atlantic fury equally on either side. Nature’s metaphorical beast had been unleashed as the beleaguered crew struggled to keep the battered vessel afloat. It was, however, Nature’s literal beast that presented the most pressing, existential crisis.

In retrospect, it was foolish to think mere chains could confine the colossal feline to her makeshift prison in the cargo hold. At 164 feet standing on her hind legs, the century-old ship stood no chance once the behemoth broke free. Dubbed Leia, the Eighth Wonder of the World,  she was primed to become modern America’s newest and most jaw dropping attraction.

Instead, she would serve as a precautionary tale of mankind’s hubris.

Angry and frightened, the creature lashed out at all who provoked her. Her massive mandible made no distinction between flesh and lumber as her razor-sharp claws shredded humans and hull without prejudice. Her island captor — a wealthy, powerful leader in the world he commanded — suffered an ignominious demise as a bland, tasteless appetizer. The ship, once the most feared vessel to navigate the infamous human-trade routes, was now nothing more than driftwood.

And so it was that, just after 21-hundred hours on the 15th day of August, 19-hundred-and-32, all forty-one souls aboard the former slave ship Audacious were swallowed remorselessly by the sea.

Forty-two including the beast.

Epilogue

In a race against the clock, the bespectacled human assertively pushed his way past staffers and dignitaries. This was not the time for simple pleasantries. To his good fortune, the human he was rushing to meet had not yet entered the briefing room.

“General, Sir!” he shouted, running full speed down the corridor. “I need you to look at these!”

“What is it now?” the military leader asked, knowing full well what was coming.

“Sir, I believe the most recent oceanic scans confirm my hypothesis. Look at these spots right here. That’s no anomaly… the creature is there. And she’s evolved.”

“Evolved? Like a monkey?”

“Well, yes and no. I believe the creature has adapted to her underwater setting. It’s part of her genetic makeup; she evolves as she hibernates. You’ve got to stop this whole thing right now, or you run the risk of waking her.”

The general was in no mood to discuss what he had earlier called “poppycock science.”

“Son,” he asserted with a full Texas drawl. “I am not going in there and telling the President to pull the plug on this simply because some addlebrained cryptozoologist thinks an 87 year old mythical cat-fish hybrid is asleep at the bottom of the ocean.”

“But, Sir…”

“No ‘but sirs’ about it! We have a Category Six hurricane headed our way. No one’s ever even heard of that! We gotta nuke that sucker outta the sky before it hits landfall!”

The general marched into the briefing room, slamming the door behind him. The exhausted, goldblumish human stood motionless, hoping desperately that he was wrong, but knowing full well he was right.

Again, nature’s literal beast was about to be unleashed.  And again, mankind’s hubris would be on full display.