Megalodon Riptide

by Watts, Russ

  “Ava. Are you okay?”

  Ava smiled. Her hair hung loose over her shoulders. “I will be when you give me my arm back.”

  “Sorry,” I said, releasing her. I rubbed my eyes. “Sorry, I thought… it was just a dream, right?” I felt my head but it was dry, apart from a clammy sweat. There was no sea water. I looked down at the floor but there was no water there either.

  “Go back to sleep.” Ava looked at me and in the dark cabin I felt her hand rest on my chest. “Lance used to dream too. Just forget it. Go back to sleep.”

  “Sleep?” The thought seemed impossible now. It had been so vivid, so real, that the idea of sleeping was almost laughable.

  “Well, I’m going back to bed. You should rest at least. Dawn is a few hours away yet. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  As she removed her hand from my chest I grabbed her again.

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  Ava leant over me, her face so close to mine I could feel her warm breath on my cheek. “I didn’t want you waking the others,” she whispered. “I sleep lightly. Have done, ever since Lance left. I guess it can be hard to sleep sometimes. You’ll be okay, Luke.”

  I wanted to kiss her so badly it hurt. I don’t know if it was the relief of the dream being over or something else, but she had never looked more beautiful than she had right then.

  “Good night,” she said as she let go of me and slipped out of the room.

  Ava left me and I tried to sleep. Dawn couldn’t come soon enough.

  CHAPTER 7

  The voices were muffled, penetrating my sleep like lightning piercing thunderclouds. They sank into my thoughts, clouding my dreams before I realized they were real. As I opened my eyes I noticed our room was light. Beams of daylight came through the small window and I swung my feet off the bunk, half expecting to land in water. The cabin floor was hard and dry, and I rubbed my tired head. The dream had left me sleepless for a while until I’d finally drifted off again. Pippa and Chelsea weren’t in their beds, and judging by the amount of light, I had overslept.

  Dressing quickly, I knocked on Jonah’s door. There was no answer. The galley and bunks were empty. It seemed like everyone was up on deck, so I made my way up to the wheelhouse where I found Gills and Ava. They were crouched over a cupboard by the back wall.

  “What’s going on?” I looked out of the cabin. The sun was up and there was no land in sight. We must have started heading south while I was asleep. I ran a hand through my hair wishing I could have a shower.

  Ava stood up. She turned around and pointed a pistol at me.

  “What the hell?”

  “Morning, Luke. We’ve got company.” Ava flashed me a quick smile and then left the cabin.

  “Company?” I asked. I looked through the salt-smeared windows of the cabin but could see nothing but endless ocean. “Gills?”

  He slammed the cupboard door shut, snapped the padlock shut, and shoved a key in his pocket. Then he turned to face me armed with three more guns.

  “We don’t have much but it’s all we got. Can you shoot?” He held out a pistol grimly. “Don’t know if it’ll come to it, but we gotta be prepared.”

  I shook my head. “I’ve never shot anything in my life. I’ve never even held a gun.”

  Gills looked disappointed. “Figures.”

  He swept out of the cabin without another word, so I ventured out onto deck to find Pippa and Chelsea. The air was lifeless but fresh, and it helped wake me up. The nightmare still hung around my brain like an unwelcome visitor and I needed to think about something else, to get it out of my mind. Given the activity on the boat I didn’t think I would have too much of a problem in that department. Weir and Jonah were in a heated discussion. Although they were keeping their voices down it was obvious they disagreed on something. Both of them had a gun held down at their hips. Gills and Ava had taken up positions at the bow and stern respectively, a gun in each hand pointed out at something on the ocean that I had yet to see. All of the Tukino’s crew were armed which blew away the last cobwebs of sleep roaming my head, but offered me little by way of reassurance. Manny and Pippa were on the port of the ship, a pair of binoculars between them. Chelsea was on the starboard looking distinctly sick. Her head was bowed low and she looked pale. I decided it best to leave her alone for now, so I approached Manny and Pippa.

  “What can you see?” I suspected it might be another shark, perhaps a Great White. What else would the crew need guns for? “Is there a..?”

  “A boat,” answered Manny. “There to the west. Pippa spotted it a few minutes ago.”

  Pippa looked at me. “I heard Jonah talking to Weir. He mentioned pirates. You don’t think—?” Pippa looked anxiously at Chelsea. “Are we safe, Luke?”

  “You should’ve woken me.” I took the binoculars from Manny and held them to my eyes. I had to know what it was. Jonah had told me about the pirates, but truthfully, I didn’t think we’d encounter any. I wasn’t even sure I believed in them. “You should go to see Chelsea, Pippa. She doesn’t look well.”

  “Yeah, I know, Sherlock. If you hadn’t decided to sleep in you would know she’s feeling seasick this morning.”

  With Pippa’s words burning my ears, I looked for the boat. I couldn’t afford to let her get to me, not today. After last night’s discussion I was prepared to let it go. She was worried about her daughter and if we were going to run into pirates she had every reason to be concerned.

  “A little to the left,” Manny said. “You see it?”

  I heard Pippa march away, her feet banging loudly on the deck. It was probably better that she left me with Manny. I needed to talk to him and I didn’t want Pippa listening to what I had to say.

  “Got it,” I said as the binoculars finally picked out the boat on the horizon. I changed the focus slightly and found myself struggling to make it out. “It’s hard to tell what it is. What did Jonah say?”

  “Not much,” replied Manny. “As soon as Pippa spotted it he got everyone riled up. I know Ava got their guns out. Jesus, they’re all armed now. Is that really necessary? What is this Luke?”

  I watched the black blob in the distance getting larger. Whatever it was, it was heading our way. “It could be a pirate, I don’t know. It’s too far too tell.”

  “Christ. You think it’s trouble, don’t you?”

  I sighed. “Probably. Don’t say anything to Pippa, but Jonah told me about the pirates. He said they’re dangerous and to avoid them at all costs.”

  “He what?” Manny hissed. He grabbed the binoculars from my hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  I licked my lips, thirsty and afraid. “Because I didn’t know if anything he was telling me was true. He was sketchy with the details and what do I know about pirates? He said they managed to avoid them, mostly. Besides, you know how worried Pippa is. I didn’t want to add to that with stories of pirates that might not even be relevant.”

  “Sure looks relevant now.” Manny looked at the approaching boat. “Well, I guess we’re going to find out soon enough.”

  We waited anxiously for the boat to get closer. It was only a few minutes before it became clearer. In the meantime, I heard Chelsea throwing up and saw Pippa holding her hair back. Pippa was rubbing her back and trying to soothe her. I guess the life I envisioned for us wasn’t going to be as straight forward as I hoped. I wanted to do more to help. I was stood there watching the mystery boat headed toward us and had nothing to do. I felt useless.

  “Manny, I’m going to see Jonah, see what we can do.” The boat was idle, the engine alive, but we weren’t moving. I wondered why Jonah hadn’t taken us away, out to the ocean and far away from the boat. “I need to know what the plan is.”

  “I’ll come with you. I feel like a sitting duck out here.”

  Weir and Jonah were huddled over the console and when we approached them, Weir glared at me. I sensed he would happily offer us to the pirates if it meant saving his own neck. Even after a few days onboard he ha
d hardly spoken a word to any of us. He marched out of the cabin toward Ava as I greeted Jonah, and I was pleased to see him leave.

  “Jonah, what’s the deal?” I asked nervously. “How come we’re not going in the other direction?” I tried to sound calm, but even to myself my voice sounded high and whiny. I cleared my throat. “It’s a pirate ship, right?”

  “You sound like Weir. I’ll tell you what I told him. We’re not wasting what precious little diesel we have left on trying to outrun something that could still catch us. We stay put and wait for them to come to us.”

  “Is that wise?” asked Manny. “I thought you said—”

  “You want to skipper a ship, get your own. I’m the Captain of the Tukino, and I don’t need you two questioning me. There are protocols we have to follow when we meet other vessels. They’ve kept us safe so far and nothing’s changed today.”

  I hadn’t seen this side of Jonah before. He was right though. “Sorry, we didn’t mean to doubt you. I just… look, is there anything we can do? Given how fast that boat is approaching it won’t be long before they’re here.”

  “My crew are armed. The best thing you can do is get Pippa and Chelsea below deck. If there is any trouble I want them out of the way. Pippa did well to spot it and give us a chance to prepare. But right now she and Chelsea would do well to get out of sight.”

  “Would you take them?” I asked Manny. I needed to know they were safe but didn’t think I could take hiding down below in the bunks if there was trouble coming. I wanted to be on deck where I could see, where I knew exactly what was happening.

  “Sure.” Manny handed me the binoculars and I watched him go and talk to Pippa. Within a few seconds they were all headed back to the cabin. They filed past me back to the bunks without a word. I felt relieved when Chelsea and Pippa were down below out of sight, and I raised the binoculars to my eyes. The approaching ship was clearer now and I began to make out what kind of craft it was.

  “What do you see, Luke?” asked Jonah.

  “A yacht. It’s huge, like one of those things you see millionaire’s showing off around Monaco. It’s got a blue hull and I’m trying to make out the name but it’s too far. I can see one person on deck, that’s all.”

  “Male or female?”

  “Not sure,” I replied. “They’re in shadow.”

  “Armed?”

  I hesitated. The figure held something in their hands but it could be anything. Was it a gun or something harmless? I waited a moment hoping the figure would step out of the shadows, but they remained motionless. “Possibly. Can’t say for sure.”

  “Then we wait.”

  I looked at Jonah. It was intolerable. How could he remain so patient and calm? “You’ve done this before?”

  “A few times,” he said gruffly.

  Jonah said no more, leaving me to guess what had gone down on previous occasions. He kept his eyes locked on the approaching yacht evidently uninterested in making any more conversation. I wandered out of the cabin and scoured the deck for a weapon. If we were boarded then I would do everything I could, anything possible, to protect Pippa and Chelsea. My eyes fell upon a harpoon resting in a cradle above a length of rope. It was next to the winch, held in place by a rusty bracket. I took it and when my fingers wrapped around the cold steel handle, I have to admit I thought of Ava. I would protect her too. I barely knew her and yet she had already crept under my skin.

  Gill’s voice called out from the bow. “Contact!”

  Jonah emerged from the wheelhouse with a grim face. He came and stood next to me and I prepared myself. All trace of sleep had gone now, driven out by the adrenalin surging through me. I watched the yacht approach and as it came closer I began to see more detail that I hadn’t before. There was no sail, and it ran quietly, powered by an engine far superior to ours. A grinning cat had been crudely painted on one side of the hull with black paint. Down one side of the yacht were scratches, as if something had rammed it, and the windows of the upper cabin were all smashed. It was a large boat and probably could sleep all of us comfortably. There was a dining area on one of the verandahs and space on the back for a helicopter to land. It was like one of those superyachts, although it had been through the wars. I noticed the name of the yacht as I scanned it: Bella. I strained my eyes to see if the figure in the shadows was armed. I couldn’t believe we were about to come face to face with pirates.

  “Stay there,” ordered Gills, as the boat came closer. He shouted to the shadowy figures. If they heard him, they showed no sign of it. The yacht came closer. “Pass on by,” called Gills.

  “Can’t we just radio them?” I asked Jonah.

  “No point. We tried that. They just lie. You can say anything over the radio. That’s how they sucked in Lance. I’d rather talk to someone face to face. We need to see who they really are.”

  Ava and Weir suddenly brushed past me as they made their way up to the bow. Their guns were still raised.

  “I said stop!” Gills raised his gun into the air and fired a shot.

  The resultant bang made me jump. I’d never heard a gunshot before and it suddenly made everything seem so real. This wasn’t like a TV show. This was real. It was happening. I looked at the boat expecting to see a dozen men run out of the cabin holding AK-47s, yet nothing happened. The boat slowed and came alongside us, barely ten feet away. Ava and Weir followed it, keeping themselves between us and them.

  “That was a warning shot. Next one will go into your hull,” announced Gills.

  “Please. Please wait.”

  The mysterious figure on the Bella stepped out of the shadows with their arms raised above their head. It was a short man wearing nothing but a pair of board shorts. He was as old as Jonah, yet thin and tanned, and when he spoke I detected a clipped accent.

  “We’re not looking for trouble. My wife and I just want safe passage north. If you want to trade we have nothing of much use. We have information, something that can help you stay alive.”

  As the boat slowed, the man was joined by another figure. A woman appeared out of a nearby doorway.

  “Step where we can see you, both of you. Keep your hands raised where we can see them,” ordered Gills.

  The man’s wife stepped out to stand next to him. She was thin and tanned like him, and wore a loose white cotton top. A wide-brimmed sun hat hid much of her face. I detected a red stain on the woman’s top and wondered if it was red wine or blood.

  “Waste of time,” muttered Weir. He looked at Jonah. “Let’s get moving. Leave these tourists and get on with our work. We’re supposed to rendezvous with Kath today, or have you forgotten? We need to get moving.”

  “I’ve got this, Weir. I don’t need you to remind me about Kath. We’ll make it. Let’s hear what these two have got to say first.”

  Weir shook his head and marched toward the cabin. He slammed the door behind him.

  “Kath? Who’s that?” I asked.

  “One of our trade partners,” replied Jonah. “Lives at the top of a condo near Wilmington. We’re low on diesel and she’s low on everything else.”

  I watched Ava tuck her gun into her waistband. She was wearing her jeans again and I had to admit she looked better in them than her oilskins.

  “Nothing happening here,” she said, approaching Jonah.

  “You’ve seen this before?” I asked her. “I thought they were pirates.”

  “Pirates?” Ava giggled. “I don’t think so. Jonah been telling you how everyone is out to get you? Half the time the people we come across are just looking for food or a way home. When the waters rose, a million people jumped into the nearest boat and took to the oceans without any clue how to actually live out here. My guess is these two thought they would sail the Caribbean, seeing out the end of the world on a diet of fish and cocktails. Guess they figured wrong, huh?”

  “Ava,” said Jonah, “we’ll get going to Kath’s soon, but we can spare these two a bite to eat, can’t we?”

  “You’re all hear
t, Jonah. Look at their skinny asses. I’ll go get something.”

  Jonah turned the wheel and brought the two boats closer.

  “Where have you come from?” asked Gills. He was obviously the conduit between strangers and the Tukino. “And why go north? It’s getting colder. You should stay in the south.”

  The man lowered his hands and held onto a grab rail. He shook his head. “South is bad. It’s too dangerous. We just came from there. You should head north too.”

  “Douglas, be quiet. We don’t know these people.” The man’s wife removed her hat and fanned herself with it. “I told you we should avoid them. Look at their guns. They’re probably part of it.”

  “Hold on, hold on.” Jonah turned to me. “Stay there, Luke. I need to talk to them.”

  I watched Jonah go and stand by Gills. All sense of danger had gone. The threat had passed, and Ava and Weir seemed to think it was a big joke. Although I was relieved that the boat hadn’t turned out to be pirates, I was still concerned. Their boat looked to be in bad shape and they had said something about heading north. Yet I knew we were heading south. I suspected Jonah was right to listen to them.

  “Why didn’t you avoid us if you’ve had trouble?” asked Jonah.

  Douglas looked at his wife. “Honey, my wife, told me to go the other way. I saw you heading this way and I couldn’t let you walk into a trap. I figured being a trawler it was unlikely you were with them.”

  “Them?” Jonah put his hands on his hips. “Who are you talking about?”

  “The bastards who nearly killed us and tried to sink our yacht,” said Honey. She began to sob. “The bastards who would’ve slit our throats if we hadn’t managed to escape.”

  Douglas put an arm around his wife and looked at Jonah. “Don’t go south. They’ve turned it into a war zone. They’ve taken control of everything. Follow us or go your own way. If you’ve got any sense, you’ll head north.”

  I was glad Jonah had made Manny take the others down below deck. I didn’t need Pippa and Chelsea listening to this.