"The Same Deep Waters As You"

By Brian Hodge

Originally published Weirder Shadows Over Innsmouth, 2013

Kerry is the subject of a reality show, a woman gifted with the ability to communicate with animals (ala "The Horse Whisperer").  She had been recruited by the Department of Homeland Security to help with a top secret operation.

Off the coast of Washington, on a rocky island, is a prison that houses those taken during the raids on Innsmouth in the 1920's.  These "people" do not die of natural causes, and have become more and more Deep One-ish.  They no longer communicate in human language, but are making strange noises together, all while facing in a particular direction.  The military hopes to find out what they are doing, and that Kerry can help.

Kerry meets with the oldest Innsmouther, Barnabas Marsh.  She is unable to communicate with him but picks up vague impressions regarding the sea.  Kerry persuades the keepers to allow Marsh to swim in the ocean, on a long chain, with snipers standing by.  Though phobic about the ocean, Kerry swims with him using a snorkel.  While underwater, she picks up impressions of a great structure, built of massive stones.  Marsh lets loose with a sonar call, and is shot to death by the guards.

Escovedo, the commanding officer, shows Kerry some photographs taken by submarine, of a structure like the one she envisioned.  He explains that these have been transmitted by subs, but that all the subs were lost.  She and Escovedo agree that the sound Marsh released underwater reminded them of a distress signal.

That night, an unmanned(?) ship rises out of the sea, crashing into the walls of the prison.  A huge, terrible creature (which is not really described) also rises up and finishes the job.  The Innsmouthers all escape, and most of the guards and wardens are killed.

Kerry takes her daughter and relocates to Innsmouth, where she rents an old house and watches the sea.  One day, she and her daughter take a boat and row out to a rock island nearby.  The Innsmouthers are there to welcome her.

Well, here we have pretty much another riff on the deep ones/Innsmouth theme.  In this case, a somewhat modern one.  Kerry is a well-realized character and her compassion and sympathy for the hybrid Innsmouthers, mixed with her fear of them, is a new sound for a Lovecraft-based tale.  Escovedo is your standard-issue gritted-teeth military man who's not so bad once you get know him type.  The night attack on the prison is effective, capturing the fear and confusion of a catastrophic moment. The story is very well written.  The final paragraphs are eerie and evocative in the same way Lovecraft's finale is in the original "Shadow Over Innsmouth".  This is not a great story but it is a very good one.