The Dragon's Eye by Shae Hutto

Author:Shae Hutto [Hutto, Shae]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-12-13T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN: Flies in a Fire

"Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!"

- Lt Howell Murice Forgy, USN aboard USS New Orleans December 7, 1941

Amanda coughed in the stifling atmosphere. The cabin was quiet as everyone stood looking at the door with dazed terror. Thick smoke hung in the air, making breathing difficult but mercifully overpowering the charnel house stench of blood and ruptured organs. A tang of hot metal blended itself into the mix. The cabin’s usual odor of sweat, mildew and toasted cheese was completely driven away. Slowly, the usual oceangoing sounds of men working rigging and ship’s timbers creaking worked their way through their stunned and deafened ears, bringing a modicum of normalcy to the hellish nightmare they were currently inhabiting. The captain was the first to recover some sense.

“Show some spirit, men,” he growled as he levered himself off the floor and stood swaying in the hot, smoky gloom lit primarily by a new hole to the outside torn by the killer robot’s arm laser. “Get that cannon loaded, and somebody get those men down to medical. You two, bear a hand.” The room sprang to life as everybody remembered their duty and started obeying the captain’s orders. Doctor Maturin crossed himself and muttered something in Latin, then bent to examine the marine who was still breathing but had lost consciousness. The other one was an obvious lost cause, his recently internal vital organs now being neither vital nor internal.

“There’s no rush, captain,” said Nick with resignation in his voice. “No matter how much or how little time passes here, as long as it’s less than a year, no more than 59 minutes will elapse on the other side of that door.”

Captain Aubrey squinted his one good eye at Nick, trying to discern if Nick was having him on. He decided the boy was probably telling the truth and would be in a position to know. After a moment of solemn consideration, he accepted the absurd notion and moved on to its implications.

“That beast will have an hour to anticipate our dispositions and aim at us accordingly?” he asked.

“Yessir,” answered Nick. “And it’s likely when we open that door, it will immediately obliterate the cannon and its crew before they can hit it again.”

“We have another problem,” said Amanda quietly. Fear showed on her face. Nick and Captain Aubrey turned to look at her with grim expectancy. “Connix. He’s coming here. I can feel him.”

“Connix?” asked the captain.

“What in hell do you mean ‘you feel him?’” asked Nick in a low, dangerous voice while darkness pulsed around him. Captain Aubrey took an unconscious step back from him.

“Connix?” asked the captain again.

“The Eye,” stammered Amanda as she clutched her bag to her chest and stared at nothing. “I can feel him through the Eye. He’s searching for me. For it. Us. It won’t be long. He’s coming.” She gasped and breathed hard for a couple of seconds before visibly mastering herself.

“Who the devil is Connix?” roared the captain angrily.

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