Children of a Lesser God

"This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but with a whimper" - T.S. Elliot.

Moonlight cascaded down on the assuming stretch of ocean. A small stem seemed to peak it's way upwards, like a child looking at the sun for the first time. Hesitation could almost be seen by its gentle swaying as the waves rocked back and forth around it. It would almost seem comical that a bit of wood could be sticking straight up out of the water with such little movement, looking nothing more than like a piece of driftwood which could be spotted anywhere. Reality appeared stranger than expectation. In no more than a moment, the small stem expanded out and shot up towards the sky. It's growth was like watching a time elapsed video of a tree growing, only this was happening in real time. And it was not a normal size tree. It started expanding upwards and outwards, reaching hundreds of meters high and several kilometers in width. This gravity defying behemoth had a trunk the width of several football fields in diameter with lush, green leaves growing on the branches. In barely a few breaths time, the heavens reaching tree seemed to appear out of nowhere, proudly claiming its place in the world, the the night still remained strangely silent as the waves seemed to meld around the tree, as opposed to striking against it.

On a deep sea fishing boat a few kilometers away, the men had already set the baits and had begun circling back around to check the traps while running a net.

"Hey boss, doesn't it feel strange out tonight?" Henry asked, looking out over the water.

"It's captain now Henry. I didn't sell my life away for a boat just to keep working for someone else," Captain James replied while taking a drag of his cigarette. "But you are right. The waves are much more calm then you would expect this time of the season."

Both men stood side by side in the cabin while looking ahead, the harsh illumination from the flood lamps could barely light a stretch a few hundred feet ahead.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

A rapid flickering of lights on the radar screen and the sonar screen quickly lit up the dim room.

"What the hell is that Captain?" Henry shouted, while looking down.

Captain James didn't reply at first while looking down, thinking for a moment.

"It kind of looks like a big... tree...." the captain muttered while almost talking to himself.

Henry looked on in shock. "We arn't near any land mass are we boss?"

"No, unless there is some sort of undiscovered island, we are basically sitting in the middle of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, right around the Tropic of Cancer. There should be nothing out here."

The ship continued on it's course while the crew were making their way to the front of the ship, staring at the dense shadow that was growing bigger and bigger in front of them, rising up from the sea like a dragon.

"What the hell is that?"

"I don't know, some kind of cloud reflecting the moon light?"

"Looks like a giant tree to me boys."

"How the hell could a giant tree be sitting in the middle of the ocean? You must still be asleep old man, or drunk." All the crew members gathered around, discussion in loud voices while mocking each other. When things just didn't make sense, the most comforting thing was a bit of laughter.

"Hey, Captain!" One of the more seasoned seaman yelled up at the bridge.

"Where the hell did you bring us this time and what are we looking at?"

Captain James frowned while looking out ahead at the ever growing shadow as the boat approached on the eerily calm sea. Sticking his head out the window, James immediately starting barking orders..

"Pull in the nets, buckle down the deck. We are turning the hell around."

Most of the men looked at James strangely, but immediately starting running to their positions. They locked down the holds while getting to the crane to reel in the net.

"You bastards have 5 minutes before you feel what its like to be thrown around like women in a whorehouse," James yelled again out the window while staring ahead. Henry was wide-eyed shocked at the captains behavior and couldn't help but ask "What the hell is wrong Boss?"

"Henry, you see that thing that looks like a tree?" James asked, while not turning his head for a second.

"Yeah, it's weird, but so what?"

"There shouldn't be a tree here."

"I don't understand," Henry replied while still looking at the captain.

"I don't either. That's the problem." Only now did Henry look at James' hands while realizing his knuckles where pale white while gripping the wheel with all his strength.

"I've seen a lot over the years, but when you see something that shouldn't be there and you ain't been drinking, there is a problem. When everyone sees the same thing, that means it is definitely there. That ain't some shit that I need right now, so we are getting the hell away." Reaching one hand away from the wheel, James reach over to grab the receiver of the radio and depressing the button, he began to speak into the the small, palm sized mic.

"This is fishing vessel Elliot Ness, to any ships in the area, over." Listening closely, both men only heard static on the line, so James tried again.

"This is fishing vessel Elliot Ness, is anyone in range, over."

"bzzt bzzt bzzt... click click click"

Henry looked at the radio confused. The light red numbers displaying the channel number starting to flicker and then faded, looking like the radio had lost power. Every other instrument was still operating normally, making the loss of the radio seem more perplexing.

James dropped the receiver and looked at Henry while beads of sweat started to run down his weather beaten face. A loud shout came from the deck "Boss, we are set, you turning or what?"

Henry looked at James and could see the fear in his eyes. "Whats wrong captain? Why arn't you turning around?" James asked silently, almost in a whisper.

"I've been trying, since before I used the radio. The wheel won't move..."

Henry now understood why the captain's knuckles were white and why it seemed like he was getting more and more nervous.

"Boss, whats the problem?" Came the question from the deck, the men looking at each other in confusion.

James, taking a deep breath, stuck his head out the window and yelled, "Everyone, get your asses inside right now and get yourselves armed. Pete, take charge of them. Johnny, get on the horn to reach us up here. Until you hear otherwise, if anything comes in any door, you shoot it until it stops moving. Then shoot it again to make damn sure. We are locking the hell up."

James moved to the door and threw Henry towards the wheel while slamming the door and turning the deadbolt. He then lowered the steel bar in place and turned around, making his way towards the chart cabinet. Even though this age relied on instruments and technology to navigate, James always liked to have charts around just to be safe. You can trust a computer all you want, but a map can't lie. Unlocking the cabinet, James shuffled the maps aside and reaching towards the false bottom, he undid the hidden latch and pulled out two pump-action shot guns and a box of bullets. Without bothering to close the cabinet, he shoved the guns towards Henry while slamming the box on the counter. Sliding it open, he reached for one of the guns from Henry and releasing the chamber lock, he started sliding shell after shell inside. After 5 shots were loaded in, he locked the chamber again and pulled back on the grip, loading the first shell and prepping it to fire. Only then did he look at Henry and attempt to pass him the gun while sticking out his hand to grab the other one. Henry didn't even look over as he stared ahead at the ever growing shadow quickly approaching the boat.

"Henry, what the hell? Pay attention here. That tree ain't moving and we are heading right for it so I'm guessing you will see it soon enough," James barked, annoyed at Henry losing focus when they were already screwed.

"Boss," Henry said, not even reacting to what James was doing. "You see those small lights, kind of look like fireflies?" Henry asked.

"No, what the fuck are you talking about?" James yelled turning his head to look out the window.

With the harsh illumination of the flood lights covering the deck and the area in front of the boat, anything within a few hundred feet would be immediately visible to anyone paying attention. As James stared ahead, he finally saw what Henry was talking about. Green tinted spots started appearing in view, just outside the range of the light. They twinkled brightly in the darkness, flashing ever so briefly. Strangely enough, they were all in pairs.

The only noise that could be heard in the cabin was Henry gulping before a brief flash flickered the lights and everything started going dark.

"Boss... I think those things are eyes..."