KellHound270's Work
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Note: Big thanks to Bonnerscar on DeviantArt for helping me name my whale Titan.
Enjoy, and please R&R!
Chapter I
Command Bridge of the Gotengo, 75 miles offshore of Oregon
The last remaining members of Monarch stood aboard the Gotengo, which eased through the sea water to look for the biggest oceanic mystery since the 80's:
The 52-Hertz Whale.
"OK, just for a rundown," Stanton explained, "a bunch of animal-rights activists have been asking us to investigate this mysterious whale, since we have the best location equipment in the world. The scientific community has backed them up and requested that we find the source of the sounds. In exchange, they'll give us the honor of naming it."
"We're not doing this because we think it's a whale," Ken stated. "Blue whales sing at an all-time high of 40 hertz. This thing may have deepened it's voice to 50 hertz when it matured, but no other cetacean sings at that frequency."
"Right," Stanton replied, "the real reason we're out here is in case what we're looking at is a Titan."
"Let's not rule everything out yet, boys," Jon stated. "However small it is, there's still a chance that we're going to find a whale. So don't get your hopes up."
"Sonar's got a creature just up ahead," Mark announced. "It's kinda small."
It was, for an oceanic creature.
It was a humpback whale, swimming about without a care in the world. It was average-sized, which was a really small size for a Titan.
"You got her acoustics?" Mark asked.
"Yep," Stanton replied. "It's not our whale, and the signal just died out."
"Hold on." Mark refocused on his monitor as an alarm blared. "We've got something bigger coming our way. Much bigger."
They looked outside just as the whale was replaced by a far larger creature.
It was like a fish crossed with a lizard. It's rear half was a long, red tail that rippled like a skirt. The front half was more like the axolotl, or Texan cave salamander, with a long neck and four pairs of pink feathery gills. It's mouth was lined with hundreds of rows of sharp teeth.
Teeth that tore into the whale's body like it was a mere morsel.
"Jesus!" Stanton exclaimed. "That thing's a whopper!"
"Which one of our little horrors is this one?" Mark asked.
"I think it's Tiamat!" Jon said. "Yep, the satellite tag on it's fin says that it's Tiamat!"
The creature's hundreds of tiny eyes focused on the Gotengo, before Tiamat swam full speed for the submarine.
"Aw, shit!" Jon yelled. "Fire forward batteries!"
The maser turrets fired rapidly in a vain attempt to ward Tiamat off. Her eyes became silvery as their protective membranes slid over the red orbs.
"She's getting closer!" Stanton stated. "We also have something coming in on the port side!"
Suddenly, a black object slammed into Tiamat's side. The giant salamander screeched in anger and tried to push the newcomer away, but the intruder simply pushed harder.
The new Titan was like the humpback whale that Tiamat had just devoured, but it was far larger, and noticeably different. It had two pairs of pectoral fins, and it's tail was a squid-like mantle that ended in a paddle. If one looked closely, they could see that it had two pairs of eyes.
Tiamat backed away a short distance, bellowing in rage at the one who dared to interfere in her hunt. The cetacean Titan replied by opening it's mouth and releasing a scream that shattered all glass that wasn't bulletproof.
"Goddamn!" Stanton yelled as he covered his ears.
Tiamat was hit the worst, as her claws covered the area where her ears would be. Finally, she attempted one last attack.
The whale Titan simply tanked the attack and rammed into Tiamat's torso. Pumping it's tail furiously, the Titan finally pushed Tiamat out of the water.
The salamander Titan reappeared several yards away, swimming off angrily. The cetacean returned to the field of view of the Gotengo.
Now that the threat was gone, the giant whale was now quite tame. It looked at the submarine with a rather gentle gaze. As it gazed at the crew inside, it sang a song that could barely be heard to the ears of the humans.
"Guys, I think we found our whale," Stanton announced. "This thing's making sounds at exactly 50 hertz."
"Incredible." Jon walked up to the glass, and faced the Titan's gaze head-on.
"Wait, this doesn't make sense," Stanton said. "The scanners say that it's female, but I thought males did the singing."
"She may be looking for males," Ken proposed. "I think the hippies got it right. She is the Loneliest Whale in the World."
Jon continued to share the gaze with the whale. Her eyes denoted her loneliness, and he could sense it with every fiber of his being.
"She needs a name," he said.
Ken walked up beside him. "I have an idea. I've been brushing up on my Greek mythology."
"What name do you have?"
Ken smiled as he looked into the Titan's eyes.
"Doris, the Goddess of the Plenty of the Sea."