Monsters and Magicians by Robert Adams Read Free Book Online

them had ever before seen or could put any name other than that of 'sea monster* to the creatures. He says that he viewed them through some land of range-finding instrument and found them to be both huge and awesome in shape, size and appearance, but exactly what their species was, he cannot say with any degree of certainty to this day, though he got to see most of their bodies as they rolled several times while he watched.
    "He says that they were, according to the measuring device scribed onto the lens of his instrument, at least twenty meters long, their thick bodies looking a bit like slightly flattened barrels, smooth skins of a dark-gray color on top and almost white on the undersides."
    "How many legs?" asked Pedro.
    "No legs at all," she replied, "just wide flippers, four of them. They had necks as thick as tree trunks, he says, and between three and four meters long, with heads a good meter long and wide jaws well supplied with teeth, eyes quite large for their heads and no visible ears. The monsters both seemed completely oblivious of the warship and much involved in what looked much like real play.

    "But despite their lack of aggressiveness, Mr. Hara ordered two of his smaller guns manned and loaded to await his order to fire upon the distant, inoffensive creatures. When his intent was made clear to all, one of his crew, an officer who was also a Buddhist monk and, like Mr. Hara himself, scion of an old and noble family, courteously implored his captain not to harm the innocent beasts, warning that if they were harmed by his orders, great calamity was certain to ensue.
    "Mr. Hara, with great shame and infinite sadness, told then of how he callously ridiculed the well-meaning holy man, caused all of his other officers there gathered to join in the cruel mockery, then gave the guncrews the order to fire and continue firing so long as the beasts or any portions of them still were visible. Through the range-finding device he watched while his well-trained and experienced gunners blew the frolicking and all-unsuspecting animals into gobbets of bloody flesh and bone. Then, after he had personally congratulated the gunnery officer, he went below to enjoy his first meal of the new, sunny day."
    The woman paused for a sip of the sherry, puffed vainly at the now-dead pipe, refit it finally, then went on with her second-hand recountal. Pedro listened in silence, rolling an unlit cigar in his fingers.
    "Mr. Hara says that, within turn of the glass, the sun became obscured by masses of dark clouds and the wind metamorphosed suddenly from a gentle zephyr to a half gale, then a full gale, then even worse. The pond-like sea rose up in mast-high mountains of dark water to crash onto and sluice over the ship as if it had been some tiny chip of a fishing boat.

    He says that there was simply no riding out the sudden, murderous storm in the proper manner, for no sooner did he see her bow put into the monstrous waves than, by some perversion of the natural order, she would be struck from another quarter by seas no less fierce and deadly.
    "The howling winds and crashing seas swept men overboard and did immense damage to the vulnerable parts of the ship, but as he was a master-seaman and had come to know his ship well, he had, despite everything, managed to keep her at least afloat and well-out from the coast of Chosen. But then, all at once, the repaired boiler burst and, denied enough power for any meaningful sort of headway, the battered ship wallowed helplessly until a wall of water higher than any Mr. Hara had ever before seen or even imagined struck the light cruiser on her port side and capsized her. To the best of his knowledge, Mr. Hara was the sole survivor of his ship, though he was to subsequently find that there was one other.
    "He has never known just how he survived the diaster, Pedro. He was washed shore on the coast of the Chosen Peninsula, a bit of splintered wreckage having miraculously pierced his uniform coat in