by Greig Beck
Jack nodded and looked across to Cate, and she narrowed her eyes, knowing what Jack was signaling – the pulse would have been agonizing for a predator that also relies on tracking vibrations for hunting. And low frequency has been known to travel for thousands of miles.
Cate forced a smile. “The Kanaloa sent out a call, and something answered, huh?”
Scott scoffed. “Oh yeah, I’ll say. The pulser, which looks like a nine-foot silver torpedo, was being dragged behind the ship. This time we had it at a depth of about 6000 feet, and then something damn well answered all right.”
Scott sipped his beer, twice, before going on. “We got snagged up on something, and managed to reel it up to about 220 feet, but it’d come no further.”
“Of course,” Jack said softly. “Because above that line is where the sunlight starts to reach down. It wanted to stay in the dark.” His jaw clenched. “So you had to go and get it?”
“Yeah, those things are worth a fortune, so it’s my job to make sure we go home with all our tech.”
“And over the side you went … solo?” Jack asked.
Scott nodded. “Yep. But soon as I hit the water, I felt something was different.”
“Different?” Cate asked.
“I dunno, just, weird. I’m not scared of deep water, dark water or night diving.” He gave her a crooked grin. “Or never used to be. I followed the cable down. It was still drum tight as though we’d snagged something, but a thing that seemed to be moving on the end of the cable. I sensed something in the water wasn’t right.” He laughed, his eyes looking haunted again. “Boy, was I ever right.”
“Tell them,” Vincent said.
Scott stared at the tabletop.
“What did you see?” Cate sat forward, her own mouth having gone dry.
“A fucking monster!” His eyes were wide and his words loud. The group of young guys at the table next to them turned to stare.
Scott blinked a few times. “The probe was jammed in its mouth. Giant white teeth bigger than both my hands, and that mouth, so big, I could have driven a car in there.” He chuckled. “It was a shark. But no shark like I’ve ever seen or heard of. A freaking monster.”
Scott drained his beer. “I’ve been diving with big sharks, great whites, tigers and hammerheads as big as draft horses. But this thing was the size of a bus, no, bigger than a bus.” He shivered. “Thank god I had my strobe lantern with me. It freaked the thing out. I shined that light right in its goddamn giant eye.” He shook his head. “It was as black and soulless as hell itself.”
“Carcharodon Megalodon,” Jack said. “Supposed to have been gone for over a million years.”
“Million and a half,” Cate added.
“I knew it; I’ve been doing research ever since.” Scott exhaled. “It snapped that high-density cable, which can withstand tens of thousands of pounds of pressure, and headed back down into the abyss. And I got the hell out of there.” He sat back. “Haven’t been back in the water since.”
There was silence at the table for several minutes as everyone sat, sipped their drink, or just stewed in their own thoughts.
“Cate?” Vince said at last. “You want to tell him?”
She barely heard him as her mind took her down to that twilight layer, imagining being alone in the water with the monster.
“Cate?” Jack touched her arm.
“Huh? Okay, sure.” She sucked in a deep breath. “In 2016 we mounted an expedition to a newly discovered subterranean body of water on the west Alaskan coast. It turned out to be enormous, the size of a sea. We thought there might have been life there.” She chuckled. “We were so naïve. What we discovered was beyond our wildest expectations.”
She looked up at the young diving engineer. “You’re right, we saw something too – an alpha predator on an unprecedented scale. A fully-grown Carcharodon Megalodon. A biological remnant of an earlier age. And we were indirectly responsible for it being released into our ocean from that sealed environment.”
“The dinosaur shark.” Scott stared as if in a trance.
“Yes, and it immediately went on a killing spree, determined to take ownership of the oceans like it had millions of years ago. So, we tracked it, and killed it.” She sighed. “Or that’s what we thought.”
“There’s another one then, or you didn’t kill it at all.” His eyes were accusing.
Regina blew air from pressed lips, and then turned to Cate. “Could that be possible? I mean, could there be another one?”
Cate turned her glass around on the table and stared into its contents for a moment. “You ever heard the saying that we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about what’s down in the abyss? Well, it’s very true.”
Jack nodded. “There was no reason for these creatures to go extinct. Most of their prey was still here, and sharks are super adaptive when it comes to light, dark, cold, warmth, salinity, you name it. In fact, the Megalodon lived in the same period as the great white shark, and they’re still here, so why aren’t the Megalodon? Remember these big guys were at the top of the ocean’s predator tree.”
“I’ve also been doing some research,” Cate said, “and undertaking a few field trips. Globally, even today, there are unconfirmed sightings, and stories of attacks by animals resembling sharks of well above average size.” She looked up into Scott’s eyes. “So, if you asked me to make a judgment call on it; I’d say it could be the same one we encountered. But, then again, the seismic blasting you were doing would have driven all the cetaceans away, which might have been its food source. That means this monster was hungry as hell, and pissed off from the seismic vibrations. You basically waved a red flag to the biggest bull in the ocean. And it came charging.” Cate gave him a crooked smile.
“I don’t think I can ever go back in the water again,” Scott said softly.
“Welcome to the club.” Cate raised her glass.
“I don’t get it.” Regina was still frowning. “Jack, you said the Megalodon we saw was mortally wounded, and headed for hell. How could it be the same one?”
“I said might be.” Jack shrugged. “We know sharks have extraordinary recuperative powers. Maybe that’s why we haven’t heard anything from it for nearly two years – it was lying low, putting itself back together.” He tilted his head. “Maybe it’s been down hunting in the abyssal plains for all that time, living off the odd whale carcass. Until the seismic blasting brought it back up.”
“So, as soon as the blasting subsides, then it’ll go back to the deep. Problem solved.” Vincent sounded more positive than he looked.
Cate nodded. “Possibly.” She turned to Scott. “When are they due to finish?”
“In that area? They already have.”
“Good,” Cate said. “It stays down there, then maybe we avoid each other again, forever.”
“Yeah, about that,” Vincent began but their food arrived and he waited while the plates were laid in front of each of them.
He continued, “There’s been inexplicable boat disappearances on calm nights, the Mexican Special Forces attack, and unconfirmed sightings, all moving further up along the edge of the Middle America Trench. I think it’s closing in on us.”
“Was closing in on us,” Cate said. “Let’s see what happens now the blasting has stopped.”
“Not that easy I’m afraid.” Vince clicked his teeth. “There’s just been another sinking down on the edge of the trench, a couple of hundred miles off the coast of Acapulco. Dozens were lost, but the bad news doesn’t end there. There’s a submersible vehicle down in 2400 feet of water; and we believe with three trapped occupants. Navy has a rescue bathyscaphe they’re lending us, but the sinking was described as suspicious, with some survivors saying the ship, the 400-foot Archimedes, was actually pulled over. Rescue ship is already on its way.”
“Four hundred feet?” Jack’s brows came together. “How the hell could …?” he trailed off.
“I’ve seen this thing, and I bet my ass it co
uld pull over that sized ship.” Scott shook his head. “Shit, those poor people on the sea bottom. They’re as good as dead.”
“They might be if we do nothing.” Vince leaned forward on his elbows. “They’ll need all the help they can get.” His eyes shifted to Cate, and then to Jack. “The rescue team will also need all the expert advice they can get. You guys need to be there.”
Cate’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. “No. Damned. Way.”
Vincent’s mouth pressed into a flat line, before he nodded. “I’m going as an advisor – being choppered out to the ship tonight. But other than telling them what to look out for, I’m not sure what good I’ll be. What they need is a shark expert and an evolutionary biologist, especially ones who have seen this type of creature before.”
Cate shook her head, feeling nauseous. “Sorry, count me out. I’d be no good to you or anyone.” She suddenly felt hot, took her napkin off her lap and threw it on the table. “In fact, I think I need some air.” She stood and headed for the door.
* * *
Jack sighed as they watched her leave. “Vince, I gotta tell you buddy, that was kind of an ambush there.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I know. But I always was crap at the politics side of things. Thought it best just to lay it out for you.” He bobbed his head. “Didn’t really think Cate’d go for it. Was hoping though.”
“And when were you going to lay it out for me?” Regina glared.
“Oops.” Jack sipped his beer.
“Sorry, Ginny, the request only just came through. Thought I could kinda kill two birds with one stone.” Vince grinned sheepishly.
“Being crap at politics is an understatement. Frankly, I wouldn’t go for it either, and neither should you.”
“It’s not my call.” He exhaled through his nose. “The Archimedes is on the bottom, and from a crew of twenty-eight, only eight made it out of the water. There’s three people still down, and if I can help bring them back up, I’m going to try.” He smiled at Regina. “Don’t worry, I won’t be going in the water this time.”
Vince sipped his beer and let his eyes travel to the door. “One more thing, Jack; one of the people down in that submersible is a scientist by the name of Samantha Britt.”
Jack leaned back in his chair. “Oh Jesus Christ.” He let his head stay back and stared up at the ceiling for a few seconds. “So now I’m supposed to tell Cate that one of her closest friends is down there. She’ll panic.”
They sat for a few moments, until Vince shrugged. “Don’t worry, everything that can be done is being done. Probably best if Cate sits this one out anyway. Not sure what I was thinking.” He held up his hands. “So, let’s drop if for tonight. Besides, I’m starving.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Jack looked down at his fish, and then across to Cate’s lobster, both rapidly cooling. “I’ll go and check on her.” He stood. “But, as you said, the subject is closed, okay?”
“No problem.” Vince held up his hands in surrender. “She gave me a pretty definitive answer.”
Jack headed outside and saw Cate leaning over the railing. He grinned and leaned over next to her. “Hi beautiful, you come here often?”
She turned around so she could rest the small of her back against the wood. “Sorry about that. Just got freaked out.”
“Don’t worry, we know you’re not thin-skinned. And besides, I think all of us are still a bit freaked out. I’m sure it probably brought back bad memories for everyone.”
“Probably?” she grinned. “In a big way. What about you?”
He nodded. “Sure did.” He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.
The fact was, Jack regretted not being able to study the monstrous animal when he had the chance, even for a minute. For him, the Megalodon was the equivalent of finding Big Foot and the Loch Ness monster all rolled into one.
He remembered the feeling when he saw it plummet down into the depths, streaming blood. He felt relief – it being alive scared the crap out of him. But the thought that it was gone for good had also filled him with regret.
He pulled Cate closer now. “Come on, that lobster of yours is not going to eat itself.”
“Oh, I’m not sure I can now.” She exhaled through pressed lips.
“Okay, well, out of respect for the crustacean, and the chef, would you mind coming back in and watching me eat it?” He widened his eyes into a look of pleading.
She laughed. “You’re my hero.” She punched him in the chest softly and together they went back in.
Jack loved her more than anything, even his own life. He hated to see her upset, and hated to think how she’d react when she found out her friend was trapped nearly 2400 feet down.
He knew he’d have to tell her. Just not tonight, he thought, and opened the restaurant door for her.
CHAPTER 14
Abyssal Plain, edge of the Middle America Trench, 2397 feet down
When the fog of silt finally settled, the trio of deep-sea submariners was left with the gruesome sight of a dark plain littered with debris from the Archimedes, and the pale bodies of the crew, which almost glowed in their lights. Nearly a dozen men and women lay stretched out, as though sunbaking on a dark beach at the center of the earth.
They sat in silence, just staring out through the glass. Sam felt perspiration run down her cheek, and got a whiff of perfumed body odor. She suddenly felt small and vulnerable in the high-tech tin can.
“So many dead,” Andy said.
“The Archimedes had a crew of twenty-eight; I only count about ten bodies out there, so we gotta believe that most made it to the rafts.” Wade spoke almost reverently.
“We went down so quickly; anyone below decks would have been trapped,” Andy responded.
Wade swung to him. “Then where are all the bodies?” His voice bounced back at them in the enclosed space.
“Maybe the thing that pulled us under got them. Or they’re still in there,” Andy fired back.
“Oh, cut that morbid bullshit.”
“Shut up, the pair of you.” Sam rounded on them, immediately silencing both men. She sighed and looked down at her screen. “There’s absolutely nothing on the sonar. The only thing down here right now is us.”
“Good.” Wade turned to Andy. “Happy?”
“And the crabs,” Andy said, nodding to the cockpit glass.
Sam followed his gaze and saw that squadrons of huge spindly crabs were already finding the ghostly white bodies of the crew. They all watched, transfixed for a few moments.
Sam squinted; she could just make out something like the head of a sightless eel poking up from the silt, and attaching itself to the neck of a body. She shuddered.
From the far range of their lights she spotted what looked like a pale tank moving along the sea bottom. It was oval-shaped, segmented and heavily armor-plated. It was only when it got close to one of the bodies that she could see it must have been over two feet long.
“What the hell is that thing?” Andy asked.
“Isopod,” Sam said. “Giant sea lice; they’re rare in the shallows, but love deep water. They usually feed on whale carcasses, but will eat anything, even live prey if they can catch it.”
“So big.” Wade’s face was screwed up in disgust.
“Yeah, they’re a perfect example of depth gigantism. I think that one there is a Bathynomus giganteus. They’re usually only a quarter inch or so in shallower water, but for some reason, instead of the pressure, darkness and lack of food shrinking things down, it actually seems to do the exact opposite for some creatures – the deeper you go, the bigger things get.”
“Yech.” Andy pulled back as they watched the giant bug-like creature tear at the corpse. It quickly managed to burrow its head into the flesh, and then settled down to feed “How big do you think they can get?”
“Who knows?” Sam responded. “They could be even bigger down in the trenches.”
“Jesus.” Andy turned away from the revolting sight
.
“Yeah, they’re very aggressive, and tough sons of bitches all right. That armor of theirs is damn thick, and solid chitin. Even the little ones have been known to shred divers’ fingers.”
Sam found the sight both repulsive and compelling. Nature always provided balance between predator and prey, and nothing was ever wasted. Down in the deep, a morsel of food was literally manna from heaven.
I should try and take some pictures, she thought. The deep-sea creature didn’t frighten her. But what came next did.
There was a low moan followed by grinding, and then the entire length of the Archimedes tilted a few degrees.
“Oh, shit, no,” Andy whispered. “We’re slipping into the trench.”
“No, no, no.” Wade grabbed the steering sticks, but they were useless now. So he froze, hands on the joysticks, just staring out at the ship they were tied to.
No one moved or even breathed as the huge length of the boat tilted, wavered, and then gently resettled back into the silt. But now a little more of its length was over the abyss. Sam felt her stomach lurch.
“I think, I think we’re okay.”
More seconds passed as another silt cloud enveloped them. This one floated away instead of falling back around them.
“That cleared quickly,” Wade said.
“That’s why.” Andy pointed to the dark edge of the cliff that led to the trench’s dark depths. “There’s a current.”
“Down here?” Wade asked. “It should be dead calm.”
“Maybe not always,” Sam said. “There are submarine rivers.”
“I know that,” Wade retorted. “They flow under the surface of the ocean and are hidden from us air breathers up top.”
“That’s right; and though we assume the bottom of trenches are the equivalent of Death Valley, for all we know they have their own tidal ebbs and flows.” Sam kept watch on the dark water.
“Jesus,” Andy said. “Then they could push or pull us off the lip. We need to get the hell out of here.”