Ice Station - Matthew Reilly [96]
The seal on the screen was on the deck now. It ducked its head over Schofield’s body. It seemed to be sniffing him. It slowly made its way up his inanimate body, until finally its long whiskers brushed against his nose. Schofield didn’t move at all.
And then, slowly, very slowly, the big seal began to open its mouth.
Right in front of Schofield’s face!
Its jaws parted – a hideous, obscene yawn – revealing the animal’s enormous lower fangs. The massive seal leaned forward, and lowered its head. Its mouth began to close around Schofield’s head . . .
Schofield stared at the screen, his eyes went wide.
The seal was about to bite his head off.
It was going to eat him!
And then suddenly the giant seal spun. At first, Schofield was surprised at how quickly the big animal moved. The deck beneath it shook as it turned its hulking frame around.
It had seen something offscreen.
The seal began to bark.
There was no sound on the monitor, but Schofield could see it barking. It bared its teeth. Barked and barked. It shuffled around, agitated, adopted an aggressive stance. The muscles on its huge fore-flippers bulged as it moved.
And then suddenly, the big seal turned and dived back into the pool. The huge splash it created sent waves sloshing up over the deck, all over Schofield’s unmoving body.
‘Wait for it,’ Renshaw said. ‘Here’s my big entrance.’
At that moment, Schofield saw another man step into the frame. This man was not wearing a Marine helmet and his face was clearly visible. It was Renshaw.
On the screen, Renshaw hurried forward and grabbed Schofield’s body by the armpits and dragged him quickly out of the camera’s field of vision –
Renshaw hit the stop button on the video recorder.
‘And that’s all there is,’ he said.
At first, Schofield didn’t say anything. It was all just too overwhelming.
First, the Marine shooting him and checking his pulse – to make sure that he was dead – and then kicking him into the pool so that there would be no trace.
And then the elephant seal.
The massive creature that had lifted Schofield’s body out of the water and placed it gently on the pool-side deck, and which had then disappeared back into the murky water.
Renshaw said, ‘Now, do you understand what I was saying about you being clinically dead? That guy we just saw, I think he was pretty sure that you were dead.’
Schofield said, ‘He was ready to put a bullet in my head if he wasn’t sure.’
Schofield shook his head at the thought of what he had just seen. Death, it seemed, had just saved him from death. ‘Holy shit . . .’ he breathed.
Schofield stared blankly into space for a few moments, taking it all in. Then he blinked quickly, returning to the present.
‘Can you rewind that tape, please,’ he said to Renshaw. He had just remembered something about the image of the Marine who had shot him, something that the sight of the elephant seal had temporarily pushed from his mind.
Renshaw rewound the tape, pressed ‘PLAY’.
Schofield saw himself walk out onto the deck.
‘Fast-forward through this,’ he said.
Renshaw fast-forwarded through the tape. Schofield watched as he walked around the deck in fast motion and then suddenly fell to the ground, shot.
The Marine arrived. Checked Schofield’s pulse. He then stood up and starting rolling the body toward the pool with his foot.
‘Okay, slow down here,’ Schofield said.
The image returned to normal speed just as the Marine shoved Schofield’s body a final time and the body dropped into the water.
‘Okay, get ready to stop it,’ Schofield said, watching the screen intently.
On the screen, the Marine was standing at the water’s edge, looking down into the pool at the spot where Schofield’s body had entered the water.
Then the Marine turned and looked about himself.
‘There!’ Schofield said. ‘Stop it there!’
Renshaw quickly hit the ‘PAUSE’ button on the VCR and the image on the screen froze.
The screen showed the top portion of the Marine’s helmet. The