Chapter 5 - The Legend Begins

The squid attack frantic many around the village. They do not need a reporter to spread the news. They did a great job of circulating the buzz on their own. Just like the game of telephone, with each retelling of it, the story changes. The recent rendition reduces the pack of squids down to a single, terrifying, giant beast. It has become a real fish tale.

Karl Jensen walks around in a daze ever since the attack on the paraglider. The viciousness of the attack shook him up pretty bad. He read about this happening recently in Mexico, but never saw a squid attack before.

To calm his mind, he heads on down to the local fishing supply store. He needs to buy supplies to replenish his equipment.

There are supplies that he needs to buy to replenish his equipment. He walks along the bridge that over hangs the harbor. This lead to the local shops. Once there, he enters the Tackle and Bait store. It's more crowded than usual. Most of those in there are just milling about.

Jensen notices a few local fishermen that have boat slips in the harbor. They are in a deep discussion about something. Then Jensen approaches them. The fisherman all talk at once, so he could only make a word or two. Something about the squid attack. "What a scary bunch they are," one of them said.

Another one chimes in, "Oh, they are fine and dandy when they are on your plate as fried calamari. But coming face to face… gives me the willies."

One of the veteran fisherman said, "I had heard that their bite is nasty. My experience with them is that they try to avoid humans."

Jensen jumps in, "When I was scuba diving off of the coast a few years ago, I had one come up to me. I figured he was just curious. He even played with me."

"What did you do Karl?"

"Nothing. It didn't bother me."

All of the others speak in unison, "Come on, we don't believe 'ya."

"Aye, Jensen, they get a little aggressive if you have bait… but hunting in packs… who knew?"

Jensen reflects on what he saw. "That's what I heard. The fishermen that sold me the Scrimp Dancer told me that cephalopods hunted in packs. But, never in my darkest dreams would I have envisioned them hunting something the size of humans."

A third fishermen jumps into the conversation. "Those suckers are vicious, viscous creatures. They are cannibals and eat another squid if it crossed their path."

"That's silly," Jensen joins in. "Where did you hear that?"

Another fishermen replies. "They are nasty hunters."

"They need to be stalked down and eliminated."

One of the fishermen Louie, who has a boat called "Leagues Under the Sea", says that, "A fellow told me that the biggest and meanest one of them all is the Kraken

"Yeah," says another, "I heard that this beast has been around our shores for years."

Louie adds, "This beast has been known to eat everything in its path, small fish, crustaceans, crab… even another squid."

Jensen throws his hands up in the air. "Don't tell me you believe in that Kraken bullshit?"

"Jensen, you are naïve. It's no fairy tale. The Kraken… she exist."

"Ah, common," replies Jensen, "You don't believe that non-sense?"

Louis says, "It's not non-sense, it's the truth."

"Need I remind you," Jensen says, "That the squid attach was done by a swarm, not the work of one giant mythological beast?"

"Ahhhh," they shout at him.

"You are all fishermen, you should all realize that squids are carnivores and are predators. That's typical of how they hunt."

"So, Jensen, are saying this is normal?"

"No," Jensen said. "But what concerns me is that they are coming close to shore. Must be the weather change."

"Don't tell me you believe that non-sense?" says Louie. All of the fishermen laugh.

"More so than your Kraken bullcrap."

His fellow fishermen go, "Ooh!"

"It's true," says Louie. "Aren't you scared it's going to come out of the ocean and grab 'ya?"

"All I know is that Humboldt squid swarms will consume my crab supply." Jensen's voice raises a notch. "It's bad enough with the climate change and the supply being low, and now this."

One of the other fishermen jumps in, "Boy Jensen calm down. We have never seen you so emotional before."

"Yeah," says Louie, "What happened to that calm, cool manner Jensen?"

They all laugh. He knows they are correct. Instead of flying off of the handle like that, he must analyze the situation. "We all need to figure out a way that we can be one step ahead of Mother Nature. She can be a cruel mistress."

"You had some pretty cruel ones in your day, eh Karl?"

Jensen smiles. Then changes his expression to a more somber one. "What I am trying to say it that we need better ways to stay one step ahead of the crabs."

The salesman behind the counter interjects, "Are you washerwomen going to buy anything or are you here just adding to the bad odor?"

"Well, I for one did not come to spread rumors." Jensen walks up to the counter. "Do you have a solution?"

"What you need Jensen is a better mousetrap aye?"

"Do you have such a mousetrap?"

"Actually I do." The salesman brings out some equipment he has lying around. "I have an unbaited type of trap that uses LED lights."

"I'm not interested in some newfangled device." He grabs a few of the items that he came in for. "These should work just fine." He takes them and leaves. Jensen will just have to work harder if he wants to stay ahead of the squids.

****

A good reporter must get up from his computer occasionally and do some actual in person research. One place Adam has found to be a good source is the public library. He visits the one that is in his neighborhood.

It is an old fashion type with cardholders to look up books. Sturdy bookshelves line the walls. And magazine racks lined up. As he walks in, Adam finds it empty. No one around. So he had no problem getting someone to help him look things up. He approaches a long front desk manned by a librarian and her assistant.

The young assistant goes on the computer and searches the internet, but nothing comes up. Adam says, "I already exhausted what is on the search engines, but I get general info with not much meat. Do you have one of those old films… uh, what are they called?"

An old timer, the librarian interjects, "You mean the microfilm. I am very familiar on how use that equipment." With her help, Adam finds all that he needs in an instant.

Blown away by the plethora of info presented to him, Adam is excited. "This is it. If I wasn't already taken, I would marry 'ya," jokes Adam gathers up his papers.

"If I wasn't so old I would accept."

He enters the reading room to browse through the info the librarian looked up for him. Adam sits in one of the fabric couches in there and skims through it. There is just too many info to take in all at once.

As he exits, the librarian's assistant approaches him. "Is there anything else I can help you with Mr. Belfort?"

"Is there anywhere I can copy this stuff?"

"Certainly. Follow me."

She takes him to the photocopier machine. With the mountain of stuff to copy, Adam uses his pocket full of change to scan each item. The whir of the machine echoes throughout the empty building.

Adam copies what he needs and returns the microfilm to the librarian. As he leaves, she locks up the library as if she kept it open just for him. He feels bad because she could be out having fun on this beautiful day. Oh, God. Fun! Ashley will skin him alive if he is not back in time for them to go out to the see the concert in the park.

As he walks back to Harbor Shores, he hears sirens. At first, he thinks it's from the fire station around the corner. But as it gets closer, the blaring of the siren reverberates off of the bay. He turns around and notices Harbor Patrol speeding past. All of the times he has seen them go by, it is usually in a slow lazy fashion. Never has he seen them in a hurry like today. Harbor Patrol causes such a wave that a woman on a paddleboat can barely stay afloat.

When Adam comes home, he cannot wait to tell Ashley what he found out. As he walks in, she beats him to the punch. "Have you heard the news?"

"Umm… what news? What are you talking about?

"The squid attack. You know… the paraglider that got eaten up by a bunch of squids." Her eyes are wide open and face is red.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I interviewed the guy about the condos."

"Condos? What kind of reporter are you? Right in our own backyard was the biggest story of the year and you missed it. And you call yourself a writer."

Adam gives her a blank stare and bites his tongue. He has done it so many times, he swears he must have a big hole there. He picks up his pad and paper and heads for the door.

"Where are you going now?"

"To do interviews of course."

"It's too late, everyone with a cellphone and social media has scooped you."

By the time Adam gets to the village and mingle with the people, the story of Louis' Kraken has grown. Louis talks about how big it is as if he was there himself. From each telling the fish gets bigger and bigger until he does not have any arms left to describe it.

Adam knows he is missing out on the biggest scoop if he doesn't act fast. Every person he speaks to gives him a different version. He wants to get the story out there for his newsletter, but he wants to get his facts straight. He does not want to be like Geraldo revealing Al Capone's empty vault. And the way this story grows, if he makes a big reveal by opening up Davy's Jones locker to show a giant squid just to find it empty, it will be very embarrassing for him.

He walks around the shops of Bayview Wharf and passes by Silicon Beach Realty. Wilcox walks out and stops him. Most strange. The man practically kicked me out and now he is welcoming me with open arms?

"What are you doing Belfort?"

"Well, if you must know, I am doing a story on the Kraken."

Wilcox' eyes looks flushed, "Whoa, hold your seahorses. Kraken? That's what you're going with? One single monster plaguing the deep like Moby Dick? I am disappointed in you. I thought you were a better reporter than that."

"Right now all I have is accountants from witnesses. The story is hot now."

"What's your hurry?" Wilcox replies.

"If I don't jump on it fast, someone else will scoop me."

"But," Wilcox adds, "If you start to spread rumors, it will cause already nervous investors to pull out of the deal."

Of course, that's Wilcox' motivation for all of this. Money, money, money. Adam tells him, "It's no rumor. One person even got it on a cellphone video."

"It could have been anything. A barracuda, piranhas…

"Piranhas?"

"I'm just saying. We do not know what it was. Just calling out theories like that will only make you look silly. Now you don't want that do you? Ruin your reputation on a bunch of hearsay third party stories? And that's all they are. I bet you not one of those people you interviewed were actually there at the scene. How much do you want to bet?"

Adam doesn't move. Just a blank stare on his face.

Wilcox breaks the silence. "I thought not." He pats Adam on the back and leads him out of his office. "Now let's not hear any more about a giant sea monster," he giggles. "See even that makes me laugh and I have no sense of humor."

Once again, Adam got the bums rush.

As Wilcox goes back inside and slams the door shut, Adam just stands there as if he went twelve rounds with Mike Tyson. The mix of illusion and reality while investigating this myth drives Adam to the breaking point. Sure, he does not want to look foolish. He did that plenty during his first few years as a reporter. However, sitting on a story cost him a promotion once. And his instincts as a journalist is screaming at him right now.

Wilcox does make good points, no matter how self-serving it may be. He basically forced Adam into a corner of making a choice between doing what is best for Silicon Beach Realtor and doing his ethical duty as a writer. Adam just compromised his values because he got intimated by a slick salesman.

Adam cannot believe that with his experience as an investigated reporter that he let this huckster get one over on him. Forcing him to sit on the biggest story of a lifetime. Now he must seek other pieces to place in his newsletter.

****

The great beast must now venture on her own for the search for food. One wouldn't say what she did was really hunting per se. More like taking a piece of candy in it's wrapper and eating it. Now that she craves for more elusive prey, she must learn to know how to sneak up on them so as not to scare it off.

Venturing below twenty-five hundred feet underwater of the coast of the Pacific, the mighty predator swims the length of the sandy floor of the ocean. She maneuvers along its descending slopes. Soon, her hunger builds. Seeing a half-buried shell, she checks it out, but it's been abandoned long time ago. It must have been tasty.

She sees a nice treat swimming her way. Scrimp to wet her appetite. Yes, this will make a great palette cleanser. Kind of like a warm up. There is so many to choose from, she can just take what pleases her. As she does, a huge shoals of Humboldt squid horde in and take her bounty. While they devour the shrimp, she pushes her way through, but they will not let her join in on the feast. And when they are satisfied, they leave nothing for her.

The deep-sea giant swims away, keeping distance from them. Now ravenous, the great beast searches high and low for something to fill her belly. Using her great wings for water flight, she scavenges through caves and caverns. She by passes the coral waving in the current.

Then she comes upon a tuna worthy of her skills. Only the best for her increased appetite. The tuna is easy pickings. She can out-think the fish and know the tuna's next move before it does. It never saw it coming. As she grabs her prey and ready to rip into its flesh, a stray squid surprises her and pirates the morsel. He wanted to save his energy and not waste hunting the tuna himself. So he took it away from the Brute from Fukushima. Too lazy to hunt for himself, the stray squid took away the kill from the deep-sea giant.

This leaves the creature hungry. Angry, she watches this squid eating her prize. She approaches him, but ignores her. Even though he is much smaller than this beast, he does not fear her because of how many times she has given in to their pack. Ready for a fight, he keeps one of his eyes on her.

Then she gets closer to the smaller squid. With his food supply gone, the smaller squid resorts to cannibalism. He attacks first, but he is no match for her immense size. She grabs him with her tentacles and bites him to subdue him. But, something strange occurs. She finds that he tastes quite good. She takes a bigger bight and does not stop until she eats every bite of her foe.

Even though he put up a fight, it was not very difficult for her get the upper tentacle on him. This was just an isolated incident, and she has no plan to eat anymore of her kind. But was he really her kind. No more so than a cow is to a man. Both are mammals, but they are different as night and day. A wild cat will eat a domesticated cat if he was hungry enough. Surely, that is not really cannibalism.

The beast goes on her way looking for more food to fill her belly. What she discovers really quickly is that the Humboldt's have depleted her normal source of food. And they refuse to share with her.

This time she does not go after a stray. She goes right for a Humboldt right in front of the pack. By the speed of which she devours their own, scares them. A few surround her and peck, but it does not seem to affect her. Angry, she picks up one of the fallen squid and throws it at the pack. Then she charges. Not wanting to be the next meal, they scatter to parts unknown.

At first, she is disappointed. She rather liked eating them.With the competition gone, she notices that her food supply has increased. Along with her attention span not very long, she sees a halibut swimming her way. She is an ambush predator. She waits for her prey to come with in reach. And the halibut unfortunately does. It is no match for her improved hunting skill.

With the halibut now within easy reach, the beast uses two tentacles, lunges, and grabs the fish. She latches on with her suction cups. With her holding on fast, the halibut cannot escape. Within seconds, the small fish is now a thing of the past.

At this point, there is nothing for her to do but eat. Life is good. It does not take long for her to adapt to her new surroundings. And there is plenty things for her to consume. Every kind of grub to devour. She ingests all sorts of meat she finds in the water.

****

During their Sunday morning brunch at one of the upper deck seaside restaurant/bar, Ashley and Adam revels in the décor so clique of the culture of the harbor community. The many decretive anchors hanging on the wall, to the numerous nautical pennants hanging from above, to the over used sign, "Life's a Beach."

Ashley is amazed how well Adam dove into the plate of shellfish. He is like a real predator. What really amazes her is that he gets none of it on his nice Polo shirt. Clean as a whistle and white as snow.

With their bellies full, Adam and Ashely cannot get enough of strolling through their new neighborhood. They go practically every day to take in the fresh ocean breeze, get some exercise, and meet new people.

Pretty soon a lot of the surroundings is becoming familiar to them. They almost look forward to it as if it was part of their weekly TV programming. "It's Sunday, let's go to the Farmer's Market."

"Ah, I'm kind of full from the brunch. I'm not sure if I can move a muscle."

"Please Adam. I love the little craft shops on display."

Of course he gives in.

Briskly walking through the rows of tables and booths, Adam holds Ashley's hand. They browse the display of seasonal produce laid out so nicely. The smells of fresh herbs and flowers permeate the outdoor market. As they cruise by the many cloth awnings, they partake in the many samples that the vendors hand out for them to try. How can you say no to that?

Ashley stops to try on a pair of sunglass. "What do you think?" she says to Adam.

"I don't know… you have so many as it is."

"But, this one is so cute." She shows her teeth in an attempt to make a smile. "Please?"

"Okay, you talked me into it." He pulls out cash and pays the man. Ashley strolls down the isles with her new shades.

He motions to an author selling books, but because of the live local band playing so loud, she doesn't hear him… or at least pretends that she doesn't. "This would be a good spot to sell my paper."

"What?" she says.

"My paper… the Vast Void."

"Oh, not that again. Give it a rest honey. It's Sunday."

Leaving the Farmer's Market, they go around the bend towards the cove with the natural rock formation built up. Sure enough, on display is the usual site. The collection of sea lions. Sometimes they all collect on the rocks. Other times they all gather on the dock, putting a lot of pressure on the wooden frame structure.

It is a comical sight. You can tell those that have been lying there for a while because of their dry coats. A recent seal to join the group have coat's that are shiny and slippery. When a new one plops on the deck, it causes commotion among those that try to catch some zzzzzz. When they finally get settled in for a long mornings nap, there is always one that must adjusts his position. And every time this happens, the others bark at him as if they are yelling, "Hey, you woke me up."

This soon becomes a ritual for Adam and Ashley, always returning to watch the spectacle, always wondering the prelude to this "Theatre of the Absurd" melodrama. The actors are always in their spots when their audience comes to catch the next play.

****

The beast of Fukushima just does not feed all day long, she is also on the lookout for anyone that wants to pick a fight with her. Some have tried, but lost. Most do not put up much of a challenge before they become fodder for her.

The creature swims along the cold waters cautiously. This is not her first rodeo around these parts. Gliding among the spikey dark sea urchins and drifting through the pull of the murky current. Surveying the territory like an on duty sheriff looking for vagrants.

Her massive eye picks up a faint shadow above her. She senses that it is a predator. Sure enough, a sperm whale charges towards her without warning. Sperm whales have an insatiable craving for squid. However, never one this size.

The whale and the deep-sea giant go head to head. The whale manages to use his big head to bump her off course. After regaining her composure, she charges him. The clash amongst the world's largest predators commences. The whale gets a good bite in her. But to her immense size, it's just a scratch. Scars on the body of this sperm whale is like a badge of honor. However, one thing is certain. This whale has never been in a fight with a squid of this size.

She charges the whale and grabs it pretty hard. She uses her tentacles, wraps around the whale's head, and gets her hooks into it. She holds on for dare life. With her immense intensity, they both go crashing to the bottom of the sea. Sand goes everywhere as the two behemoths are in a death grip. The whale hits her with his tail and knocks her for a loop. However, she is ready to finish it off. With her tentacle, she slashes the sperm whale right in the eye. But, the whale wants no part of her and takes off.

Consider this fight a draw.

Now with no whale to threaten her, it is all a matter of what to choose. Almost like a Las Vegas Buffet, she has her choice and takes her time on her selection. Survival has forced her to evolve into an eating machine.