by Greig Beck
His brows were drawn together. “Message coming in from the Kanaloa.” His eyes screwed shut for a moment before he looked up slowly. “They were attacked.”
Jack’s head snapped around. “The Megalodon?”
“Mr. Markesan believes so. Two crewmembers have been lost. They’re returning to shore.”
“Those poor men,” Cate said softly.
“We should have known,” Jack said. “We should have expected their ship would be attacked.”
“What’s done is done.” Mironov’s eyes narrowed. “The shark is the killer, Jack. Not us.”
“I should have anticipated it.” Jack turned away.
Mironov grunted. “Mr. Brenner, where exactly is the Anastasia now?”
Brenner read the data from his screens. “She’s 130 nautical miles from our surface position. If she continues at current speed, she’ll be here in six hours.”
“Good.” Mironov pulled at his chin for a moment. “Jack, the Kanaloa was fifty miles from where we are now. If the shark decided to return to us, how long do you think it would take?”
Jack stared out through the windows for a moment. “Well, its closest relative, the great white shark, can swim up to thirty-five miles per hour. Our shark is three times bigger than the largest great white, so we’ve got to assume it could at least double that. So maybe seventy miles per hour.”
He forced a smile. “That’s the bad news. The good news is they’re extremely powerful and heavily muscled. That means they can usually only maintain that speed for short bursts. I estimate, give or take, it could be here in thirty to forty minutes.”
“Oh Jesus Christ.” Cate leaned forward and grabbed each side of her head. “If that monster is on its way back, then we’d better not be here when it arrives.”
“We’ll be fine.” Jack reached out to grab her forearm and squeezed.
“You don’t know that,” she said. “The Carcharodon species have evolved the fastest cruising speed among all the sharks. Forget best case and work on worst case – Valery, assume we’ve got thirty minutes, max.”
Mironov grunted. “Then thirty it is. Should be enough time to free our friends here.” He turned in his seat. “Mr. Brenner, can you give me a countdown every five minutes.” He smiled. “A little extra motivation for speed.”
“We need more motivation?” Jack asked.
“This is not a game.” Cate almost shouted. “And that thirty minutes doesn’t include time to get to the surface.”
“One problem at a time, hmm?” Mironov reached forward to his comms. “Mr. Andrews, power up the forward laser, please.”
“Yes, sir, powering up now.” Thomas Andrews’ voice sounded laconic but professional, and within a few moments a red button atop a small joystick began to blink on Mironov’s console.
“Twenty-five minutes,” Brenner intoned.
Mironov placed his hand on the stick, and a small circle appeared superimposed on the cockpit screen in front of him. Within the circle crosshairs materialized.
“So, let us see here.” He straightened in his seat. “Jack, can you ease us in to about fifty feet horizontal to the Alvin?”
Jack looked up through the glass, and exhaled. “Not easy; look above us.”
They did – hanging over their heads, and draped all through the superstructure of the Archimedes, were hanging cables, limp sheets of canvas, and other debris. It looked like an ancient jungle full of vines.
“All we need to do is make sure we don’t end up hooking ourselves up. Or drag the whole damned lot on top of us.” Jack laughed sourly. “Or pull it all over the edge.”
“I have faith in your skills, Jack. Proceed.” Mironov’s eyes were unmoving as he lined up the sights.
Cate moved her eyes between the rigging, the small submersible and Jack’s face. His concentration was intense. He inched Nautilus forward, trying to give Mironov the best shot he could. Not only did the Russian need to slice the cable, he also needed to ensure that he didn’t strike the bubble canopy over Sam and Andy – even if they only nicked it and weakened it, the pressure would do the rest.
“Twenty minutes,” Brenner said.
Cate was beginning to hate the sound of the young man’s voice.
Jack’s shoulders relaxed a fraction. “Fifty feet; close enough?”
Mironov sighted, and his jaw clenched as his finger eased up toward the ignition trigger. After another few moments he shook his head.
“No, it’s not, I’m afraid.” He took his hand off the stick. “The Alvin is not stationary. The current from below is causing minuscule movements. The chances of me missing the cable and instead damaging their canopy are far too great.”
Jack hmmed. “Okay, let me try something – I’ll come in from another angle.”
Mironov looked up. “That will mean putting us even closer to the rigging.”
“He can do it,” Cate said quickly.
“I’m sure he can; proceed, Jack.” Mironov’s smile was cool and calm. Beside him, Brenner and Williams looked at each other and exhaled before going back to their respective screens.
“Fifteen minutes,” Brenner said.
Jack used some of the port and starboard jets to gently swing the length of the Nautilus around, and then backed it up a dozen feet. In another moment, he had them side-on. The cable was still in close to the skin of the Alvin, but at least now if they missed the cable, the laser would pass on into the dark water.
“I think we’re good to go.” He exhaled. “I can try and compensate for any current, but it’s still not going to be a totally stationary target.”
“Well then.” Mironov gripped the small stick, and the crosshairs appeared in front of him again. “This is as good as it’s going to get.” He leaned closer.
“Ten minutes,” Brenner said softly, obviously trying not to break Mironov’s concentration.
Mironov lined up a section of cable, staring hard at the crosshairs, and then pressed the button. A line of green light shot from beneath them then touched the outer edge of the cable, and continued on into the fathomless water.
He leaned back, and turned his head to look at the screen Williams had brought up magnifying the target. On the outer edge of the cable was a clear cut.
“It’s working.” Cate grinned.
“Indeed it is; a few more cuts and they should be free.” Mironov displayed a satisfied smile as he reangled the crosshairs.
Brenner’s screen started to blink. “Jesus Christ.” He turned, his face pale. “Got a big signature coming along the trench wall – fast, thirty miles per hour, and directly on our horizontal plane.”
“That’s too soon.” Jack frowned and broke concentration, causing the Nautilus to fractionally dip.
“Hold it steady, Mr. Monroe,” Mironov snapped. “Time to arrival, Mr. Brenner?”
“Four, five minutes max.”
“So much for having ten more minutes,” Williams’ lips pressed into a line.
“Hold it together, everyone.” Mironov’s voice was rock steady.
Jack stabilized the craft and looked out into the dark water. “And now we know what its cruising speed is. Its attack speed will be even quicker. This thing is strong and fast.”
“Not as fast as us,” Mironov said calmly.
“But only if we’re using cavitation, right?” Jack shot back.
“Yes.” Mironov didn’t blink.
“Uh, question.” Cate sat forward. “Could we enter cavitation while we’re hanging onto the Alvin? You know, take them with us?”
“No,” Williams said too quickly. “The deformity in our shape would initiate a pulsation effect. We’d both be shaken to bits.”
“So, if need be, we can escape, but not the Alvin?” Jack sounded weary.
“That’s a death sentence for them,” Cate said, slightly rising from her seat and trying to see over Jack’s head.
“No, it won’t be. Now, please sit down and strap in,” Mironov said. “We continue what we started. Mr. Br
enner, keep watch.” He lunged for the comm. button. “Mr. Andrews, please load torpedoes into tubes one and two.”
“You got it, sir,” Andrews said immediately.
Mironov focused on the target, and fired the laser again. He scored another hit, and the cable looked to be mostly severed. He raised a single eyebrow. “Not sure I can cut it any closer without putting their hull integrity at risk. Cate, can you please ask them to try and lift off? Maybe with our help they can simply break free.”
Cate opened the comm. system again. “Sam, can you read me?”
“Yes, yes, how’s it going?” she sounded breathless. “Andy told me that his sonar has picked up something big bearing down on us.”
“Forget that for now, Sam. We need to break you free, until that happens, nothing else matters. We’ve cut as much of the cable as we can. You need to try and launch and snap the rest. Can you do that?”
“We can certainly try. Here goes.” She signed off.
Mironov pushed back from his chair. “Dr. Williams, engage the remote arms. We’ll give them a gentle tug, and hopefully together we can snap those last few cable strands.”
“Good idea.” Williams moved along to a pair of circular slots. He slid his hands inside and then, in a few seconds, a pair or claws reached forward. He tested them, opening and closing the pincers, rotating them and moving them about, before tilting his head.
“Okay, Jack, can you get us in just a few feet closer?”
“I can try.” Jack eased the craft forward, inch by inch.
Williams extended both the arms, clutching one of the Alvin’s railings that ran around outside of the superstructure. Inside the bubble canopy, they could see the young, red-headed Andy working at his console. Beside him, Sam had turned to look back up at them. Her face was a mix of joy and longing – Cate could tell she wanted to be inside the larger, and hopefully, safer craft.
Soon, thought Cate, God willing. She sighed. Perhaps it’s not God’s will that will determine the outcome down here, but instead this demon that’s bearing down on us, and maybe even circling us right now; waiting for its opportunity to attack.
Cate kept her eyes on Sam, but half turned to Michael Brenner. “Michael, any sign of the Megalodon?”
He shook his head slowly. “Nothing. I can feel it in my bones that big bastard is out there, but it has either gone deep, or it’s over the top of the trench and masked to us.”
“Well that’s just great,” Cate whispered. She also knew it was out there somewhere. She, Jack and Valery had been stalked by one of these things before – they never gave up, they never went away. You either fled or got eaten. And in the ocean, the shark made the rules.
“Easy, easy.” Williams had both claws extended and their pincers open reaching toward the struts. “And …” He hooked them on, and closed the clasps. “… got ’em. Locking it down tight now.”
“Excellent work, Dr. Williams,” Mironov said. “Ms. Britt, on my word, I want you to use your reverse thrusters to pull back against the remaining cable strands – gently though, as when it breaks, I’d prefer you didn’t shoot into our faces, or damage our remote arms.”
“We’ll do our best. Andy says we’re ready right now, so —”
“Jesus Christ!” Brenner sat bolt upright, his eyes going from his sonar to the window. “It’s right over us.”
* * *
Jack’s mouth gaped open as, like an aircraft, the enormous shape of the Megalodon shark flew over the top of them. It continued on into the gloom, but Cate was sure that she had seen it tilt toward them to take a look before it slid past.
There was silence as all eyes, bar Brenner’s, continued to stare after it into the impossibly black water.
“It’s so much bigger than I thought,” Williams whispered.
“Speak to us, Mr. Brenner.” Mironov’s deep voice was calm as always.
“Gone again, must have dived deep or turned up over the lip of the trench again.” He held his hands up, almost surrendering.
Mironov exhaled. “Very well, continue to keep watch.” He turned back to the others, firstly nodding to Cate, and then to Williams, before speaking directly to Jack. “All right, we continue with our plan, steady as she goes. Easing back very gently on, five-four-three-two—”
“What about the Megalodon?” Williams said. “The Alvin will never make it to the surface if that thing is out there.”
“And what would you advise?” Mironov swung to him. He didn’t wait for an answer. “It may come back; it may not. But while we wait, Alvin’s air and power runs down.”
Mironov waited for a few seconds, his eyes boring into Williams. “Back to your duties, Dr. Williams.” He finally turned away. “Proceed, Jack.”
With the remote arms already locked on, Jack used the forward thrusters to gently pull back on the smaller submersible. He could see Alvin’s propellers spin as Andy began to engage its engines.
In a moment, Alvin lifted and Williams continued to angle the arms to maintain his grip and add the extra weight of the Nautilus to the remaining cable strands.
The small craft bucked against its restraints. The propellers spun harder and Jack increased reverse thrust. They could hear the sound of straining metal and popping, but the cable still refused to separate.
“A little more, people.” Mironov’s eyes narrowed, and a muscle in his jaw worked.
“Come on.” Jack eased back a little harder, and Alvin’s propellers looked to be at full rotation.
Cate grimaced. “That cable is too tough. We might need to try and cut some more.”
“Just. A minute. More … hey!” Jack ducked in his seat as something crashed down on top of them, followed by a rain of silt.
“Oh, god, no, we’re pulling the Archimedes off the shelf.” Jack’s lips pulled back from his teeth.
“Incoming!” Brenner shouted. “Coming over the trench cliff, right down on top of us.”
The huge gray–black shape of the monster shark glided down the length of the Archimedes. Framed against the 400-foot long vessel’s structure, it seemed even more powerful.
“Jesus Christ.” Cate breathed out.
Just then, there came the sound of steel girders screaming as the entire vessel tilted forward to stand on its nose. As if sensing what was about to happen, with a flick of its tail, the shark vanished.
Perhaps it was the wash from its movement that gave the Archimedes the final push it didn’t need.
Like a massive redwood tree, the ship hung vertically for several seconds. Instead of teetering forward, it looked like it couldn’t make up its mind.
“Hold, please hold.” Jack gritted his teeth.
“I should release the Alvin. Or maybe instead of pulling, we should give it a nudge to send it back,” Williams said.
“No, don’t release yet. We’re locked on tight,” Mironov said, but his eyes narrowed. “But I agree that perhaps forcing the craft back into a more stable position might be a good idea.”
As if in response, there came a cracking noise, and everyone froze. The group looked at each other, each seeking an answer when none was there.
“What … was that?” Williams whispered.
“Sounded like—” Jack began.
It came again, this time continuing a little longer.
“—ice sheets cracking,” Jack finished.
“Or rock.” Mironov sprang forward to his controls. “Dr. Williams, change of plan, release hold on the Alvin. Jack, get ready to back us up, fast.”
“What is it?” Cate asked, feeling the rising tension match the knots in her stomach.
Their comms system crackled to life. “What’s going on? Cate, can you hear me?” Samantha Britt sounded panicked. “Something is happening.”
“Sorry, my dear, but we need to disengage for a while,” Mironov said. He turned to Brenner. “Cut that feed.”
“Why? What the hell is hap—”? Cate never finished as the Archimedes dropped about five feet, tugging the Nautilus down
with it. Everyone on the craft was jerked forward with the suddenness.
“Jesus Christ, the ledge is giving way!” Jack yelled.
“Can’t … dis … engage,” Williams hissed through gritted teeth.
“Then eject the arms, man, we’re going to be dragged down.” Mironov’s usually calm and urbane tone was rising. Outside, smoke-like silt began to lift around them. The cracking had turned into a long rumble, and then the Archimedes was sliding down into the deep as the entire ledge it was balancing on gave way.
“We’re going down!” Jack yelled, his forearms bulging as he held the wheel.
“Can’t release, can’t release!” Williams’ eyes were wide and wild as he continued to work furiously to release the robotic arms.
As if in a dream, Cate looked through their cockpit window and into the Alvin cabin to watch Sam’s face. Her mouth was open and both she and Andy had their arms out bracing themselves. What made her heart sink was that her friend was staring at her, the two women’s eyes locked in fear and despair.
And then, the Archimedes was sliding, like a 400-foot long bobsled beginning its run, and taking the Alvin, the remains of the ledge, and them with it.
“Going down!” Brenner yelled.
“Strap in.” Mironov pushed back in his chair, and tightened the harness over his shoulders. “Dr. Williams now would be a good time to eject those arms.”
“Won’t let me.” He groaned as if it were his own arms trapped. “The angle must have warped their couplings to the Nautilus. We’re stuck.”
“And along for the ride,” Jack said. He turned to Brenner. “Michael, just how deep is it here?”
Brenner read off some numbers. “We’re over one of the deepest areas of the entire Middle America Trench.” He looked up, a watery smile on his lips. “It’s 21,880 feet.”
“Oh, Jesus Christ – nearly twenty-two thousand.” Jack still clung to his wheel, as they began to accelerate into the depths.
“Twenty-two – thousand – feet,” Cate breathed the words and each syllable made her feel sick.
“What did you say you tested the Nautilus to, Valery?” Jack asked.