Primordial

Chapter 10

Aston rose the next morning cranky for no readily apparent reason. He’d had trouble sleeping, tossing and turning throughout the night, plagued by disquieting dreams. He walked to the boat’s prow in the soft light of dawn and leaned against the rail, cupping his hands around a steaming coffee mug. Mist drifted across the still surface of the lake, snaking around like dragons as restless as he felt. Was it perhaps the strange discoveries that had him so antsy? He was having more trouble laughing off Holloway’s enthusiasm for the beast they sought with every new thing they learned.

Low clouds striped the soft pink skies, a large vee of migrating geese traveled overhead. In the early stillness he easily heard the papery hiss of the breeze through their numerous feathers even though they were a good hundred feet above him.

Aston sighed, shook his head. There would surely be an explanation for all this that was a lot more mundane than Holloway might like to think. In this remote location, with the stories of the locals circling their minds like hungry sharks, it was easy to imagine the most outrageous explanations. The truth was always far more boring than fantasy. Local legends arose precisely from that boredom, from a need for something greater, something to set this place apart, make it not just another isolated shithole with nothing special to offer.

But if they were on the trail of something earth-shattering… If they really did discover a new or previously-considered extinct species, it could be incredible. And it could do wonders for Aston’s career, his profile, his chances of future funding. Or, of course, it could ruin him and make him a laughing stock in the scientific community. In truth, he was looking forward to an end to this whole farce.

“Morning,” a low voice greeted him.

Aston turned to see Makkonen standing by the bridge, brow creased in a frown.

“Morning,” Aston said. “Everything all right?”

The captain shook his head. “Gazsi isn’t on board.”

“What?” Aston stepped across deck to look along the side and the tin dinghy harness was empty. He looked back up to Makkonen. “Where’s he gone?”

“No idea. Deserted, I think.” Makkonen grimaced. “Wouldn’t have believed it of him.”

“You mean he’s run away? Just like that?”

Makkonen nodded. “It looks that way.”

Aston cursed, not sure whether he was annoyed or impressed with the first mate’s actions. “I noticed he didn’t look very happy yesterday.”

“He wasn’t,” Makkonen confirmed. “He’s superstitious and easily spooked, believes all the rumors and stories. When you brought that foot on board he was really upset.”

Aston took a swallow of coffee, giving himself a moment to think. “What’s his game, do you reckon? You think he’s going to report us?”

Makkonen shook his grizzled head again. “No. Your lady, Slater, asked me the same thing and I talked to Gazsi about it. He said he didn’t care for the authorities and had no intention of reporting anything, but he didn’t like what we were doing and he wasn’t sure he wanted to be a part of it, Holloway’s money be damned.”

“Why not just ask us to take him back? Why leave in the night and steal our dinghy?”

The captain laughed ruefully. “Embarrassed, I expect.” He tapped one finger to his temple. “Kids, you know, they think strange stuff.”

“So what do we do?”

“If Holloway agrees, we’ll make a trip back to town. There’s a good chance Gazsi left the boat there. If not, we have a couple of inflatables on board for emergencies.”

“Couldn’t help but overhear.” Alvar Laine appeared from the stern. “I just unpacked one of the inflatables, actually, when I saw the dinghy gone. I was planning to head back to Kaarme. Holloway wants some supplies restocked.”

“You’re up early,” Aston said.

“I don’t want to be away and miss too much here, so thought I’d leave first thing.”

“I would have thought Holloway would send Joaquin for supplies.”

Laine nodded. “He did, last night. But I wanted the excuse to visit home, check in on my wife and son, so I offered to go instead.”

“Cool. Then maybe you can look for our tinny in town, yeah?” Aston said. “Bring it back if you find it?”

“Of course.”

“Watch the shoreline all the way back.” Makkonen said. “It’s possible Gazsi only rowed to shore, then walked. He likes to walk everywhere, that boy.”

“Okay,” Laine said. “I’ll see you all in a few hours.”

“It’s a hell of a long row to town,” Aston said.

Laine grinned. “We’re lake people. We’re used to long rows. Besides, if Makkonen is right I’ll hopefully find the… what did you call it, the tinny?… along the way. Then I can use its motor and tow the rubber one.”

“All right. Good luck.”

Laine nodded and headed off to the rear of the Merenneito.

Aston leaned on the gunwale, sipped his coffee. Splashing rose up and he leaned out to see Laine rowing away from the dive platform. Driven by the man’s strong and practiced stroke, the orange and blue rubber dinghy plowed away toward town. He raised his hand in a wave and Laine nodded, grinned, not breaking stroke.

Over breakfast, Aston passed on the news that Gaszi had jumped ship. Holloway was angry about it while Slater ensured Dave filmed the news, making Aston repeat himself for the benefit of the camera.

“Does the captain know why Gazsi left?” she asked.

“Says it’s because he believes all the lake monster stories and was too scared to stick around,” Aston said. “The kid got spooked, basically.”

Makkonen entered the galley and Holloway turned to him.

“Is this going to be a problem, your first mate deserting us?” Holloway’s knuckles shone white from his clenched fists.

The captain tore off a mouthful of bread, grinned around it. “No problem for you. Just makes more work for me.”

“Are you all right with that?” Holloway sounded a touch calmer.

“What choice do I have? You want to wait while we motor back to town and I find somebody else?”

Holloway snorted. “Certainly not if you can cover for him.”

“It’s fine for now. I’ll ask for help from you lot if needed.”

“So where do we stand?” Slater asked the room in general. “What’s on today’s agenda?”

Aston finished the last of his third coffee of the morning and stood. “Well, Laine has gone into town for a supply run, and to look for the boat Gazsi took. Meanwhile, we keep mapping and searching. We’ve barely covered half of yesterday’s grid and that’s only a tiny fraction of this lake. But first!” He raised an index finger theatrically.

“Yes?” Slater prompted.

“First I have to piss. I’ve drunk too much coffee today.” He grinned at her exasperation and headed for the door.