Captain Nemo_ The Fantastic History of a Dark Genius - Kevin J Anderson [167]
One man, a long-haired Sardinian, plunged a long throwing knife into the round expressionless eye, ducking away from a spurt of jelly. The creature stank of sour slime and half-digested fish. Slippery, oozing gel from the smooth skin covered the riveted hull plates.
The squid lifted more tentacles, releasing the Nautilus’s propeller to turn its efforts against new opponents. One of the serpentlike arms wrapped around the Sardinian who had stabbed its eye. The long-haired man screamed in pain, poking his dagger into the rubbery flesh, with no effect. The squid raised him high. The others rallied to save their comrade, but a storm of tentacles rose -- and the crewmen had to defend themselves.
The squid dragged the poor crewman toward the clacking jaws of its parrotlike beak. Inside, a horny, tooth-filled tongue slashed from side to side.
His face a mask of fury, Captain Nemo strode into the midst of the tentacles and thrust his spear into the squid’s mouth, jamming the jagged tip past the open beak and thrusting it deep into the soft tissues. With another scimitar, a crewman lopped off a fourth tentacle.
Terrified at the mayhem above, Verne tentatively climbed the ladder, trying to see.
One man stabbed his splintered spear into the soft conical head, but struck no nerves or brain. Verne had read somewhere that a squid had three separate hearts, and he doubted a single weapon thrust could kill the beast.
Snarling like an animal himself, Nemo pushed his spear deeper into the monster’s mouth, until the squid finally let go of its captive. The long-haired Sardinian dropped to the deck, bloody and mangled. The hooks within the squid’s suckers had left long lacerations in the victim’s flesh. One of the other men grabbed the hapless Sardinian by the shoulders and dragged him toward the hatch. Verne tried to get out of the way, but the crewman snapped, “Take him, man! Can’t you see he needs help?”
Squirming and stuttering, Verne helped carry the injured Sardinian down into the sub-marine. The long-haired man bled profusely from dozens of deep wounds, and Verne’s clothes were soon soaked with scarlet. He felt ashamed that he could do nothing more to assist the man. He wasn’t a doctor, and knew little about first aid -- had never even seen such terrible wounds before in his life.
Up above, the giant squid grew more agitated. The stumps of its severed tentacles thumped against the Nautilus, while the other appendages thrashed like angry cobras. When Nemo tried to tear his spear free from the mangled mouth, the parrotlike beak snapped its shaft, leaving the captain without a weapon.
One brash crewman, a broad-shouldered Englishman, ran forward and slashed with his scimitar between the squid’s eyes. The monster reached out a huge tentacle as if to swat a fly and grabbed him. Before Nemo or the other men could react, the giant squid released a burst of black dye, spraying clouds of acrid-smelling ink. The terrible fumes stung their eyes and blinded them.
Then the squid plunged back into the ocean, still grasping the hapless Englishman as if demanding some small victory in payment for its pain. . . .
Nemo and the other survivors trembled with exhaustion. Covered with slime and blood, they stared at the black murk dissipating in the waters. Though the cold Atlantic mist made the vessel’s hull slippery and treacherous, at least the moisture rinsed away the oozing ichor.
Nemo shuddered as he looked around himself, grieving for the loss of the crewman. He looked as if he wanted to collapse and weep. After a long, uncertain moment, they staggered back down the ladder into the sub-marine.
On the deck below, a helpless Verne sat holding the bloodied man. He had fashioned makeshift bandages, but it was no use. Before Nemo could reach his man, the Sardinian also died.
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The Nautilus crew wrapped the victim’s body in a pale shroud. During a somber ceremony, the crewmen said their farewells, each