Cecie.
“I knew it,” Cecie exclaimed to her mother Jessica and her step-father, Carlos after watching the latest news. “The squids are intelligent and they are able to communicate with each other. They figured out how those drone torpedoes from the Whale Defender are controlled and how to cut the control wires and they’ve shared that info with other squids.”
“You may be right,” Carlos said. “But that behavior has just been seen a few times recently. We just don’t know enough yet to make any firm conclusions.”
“You’re too much the careful scientist, Carlos. The Whale Defender has not been able to kill any more squids since that whale was torpedoed by a runaway drone months ago,” Cecie said. “Every encounter since has resulted in the drones being hijacked by the squids acting together. I’d say that was a sign of intelligence. I hope the Deep Seeker will come up with more observations and information.”
“Joyce and Wilhelm thought that they could get close to the action, since if the squids are coordinating their actions, the squids would be communicating and they could record that,” said Carlos. “So far, no luck.”
“With the armed drones from the Whale Defender, and now those seagoing vigilantes, aren’t they taking a huge risk?” Jessie asked.
“Joyce is so invested in this project, he just wants to press ahead,” said Carlos.
Cam Joyce and the Deep Seeker
It had been a disappointing month for Joyce and Octavian. Despite venturing further and further away from the coast, they had seen no lights, sonar had picked up no squids.
“Perhaps we’re being too cautious,” Joyce said. “I know we wanted to avoid the combat zone, but the whales migrate closer to the coast and that’s where we’ll have better chance of finding the squids as they hunt. We’ll let the Coast Guard and the BlueSeas Coalition people know so that they’re aware of us being around.”
“How about those vigilantes that are also out there trying to protect the whales?” asked Dr. Octavian.
“I’ll ask the Coast Guard and the media to let it be widely known what our plans are. Besides, on sonar we look nothing like a Squidzilla.”
Aboard the fishing charter, Mary II
“Hey Rick, I’m picking up a pair of squids coming up on sonar.”
“Looks like they’re interested in the whale we’ve been tailing.”
“I’ll get the C4 out of the locker.”
“Tommy’s closer; this’ll be his first action. Let him drop the bomb on those f——ers.”
“Okay, Rick, you’re a good uncle.”
“Yeah, my sister will so proud of him.”
two small hard shells, signaled No. 12 to No. 25. careful for explosion. no let get above you.
understand, signaled No. 25.
Rick radioed Tommy, “The squid’s all yours. Go get ‘em.”
“Roger. And thanks unc.”
Rick watched Tommy’s boat maneuver over the smaller of the two squids on sonar and slow. He saw the mate drop the weighted charge over the side and then the boat begin to pick up speed.
hard shell too close, signaled No. 12. too late. the explosion jarred No. 12 and when the bubbles cleared, No. 25 was motionless.
“All right Tommy!” radioed Rick. “Looking good!”
No. 12 flushed an angry red and black as he saw No. 25 twitching its tentacles, but otherwise unresponsive. No. 12 was known to be as hot-blooded as any cold-blooded invertebrate could be and without hesitation jetted upwards toward the hardshell.
The huge blood-red squid burst from the surface of the water and crashed into and over Tommy’s fishing boat, arms flailing, pancaking the craft into the sea. It was over in an instant. Except for the churning water, an orange life raft that had auto-inflated and a bobbing white ice chest, there was nothing to be seen of boat, crew, or squid.
“Tommy!” screamed Rick. “Oh my God!”
No. 12 towed No. 25 deeper, its arms still quivering slightly, but body split by the explosion. squids did not waste food and while cannibalism of live Squidzillas was no longer practiced, a dead one was just protein.
The Long and The Short of It 