Fathomless

by Greig Beck

  “So your plan is we just row like hell and hope for the best?” Olander’s voice was becoming shrill.

  “No, it isn’t. We just float… and pray. We stay down low, and quiet, and maybe it’ll think we’re just another piece of floating trash.”

  “So, if we’re quiet, it won’t hear us?” Olander’s brows rose as his eyes shifted away.

  “Hey.” Vincent spotted Milo amongst Olander’s crew. “Is the chopper back?”

  Not one met his eyes. Jack’s lips pressed tight and he turned away. Vincent’s head came up, and his eyes went wide. “Where the fuck is Regina?”

  His head snapped to Milo. Vincent’s teeth now bared, his large hands came up, the blunt fingers curling into hammer-like fists.

  The young man held up his hands. “Hey, don’t look at me. Xena wanted to do it, so…” he backed away his hands waving in front of him. He looked like he was ready to bolt.

  Vincent turned to Jack, furious, grabbing his shirt and tugging him closer. “You let her go? You fucking let her go, by herself?”

  Jack grabbed his wrist, but Cate got between them.

  “No, Vince, she did it herself. If we’d known what she planned, we would have stopped her,” she said.

  Vincent made a small sound in his throat and his shoulders slumped. Jack put a hand on his shoulder. “She gave us a chance.”

  “Stupid woman,” Vincent whispered.

  “Stupidly brave.” Jack shook him. “But we need to get everyone off now. This is all going bad here, buddy.”

  “I don’t care.” Vincent wouldn’t look up at them.

  “Yes you do,” Cate said into his face. “You’re Coast Guard, help save these people. Do your job, mister.”

  Vincent groaned.

  “If Regina was here, she’d do the same,” Cate said, softer now.

  After another moment, he nodded.

  “Okay?” Jack asked Cate.

  “No, but I’m ready,” she said, giving Vincent’s shoulder a last rub.

  Jack then looked to Mironov and Sonya who also nodded.

  The boat groaned as it settled a little lower in the water. It was flooding the deck now, one third of the Slava was more a boat ramp than a ship.

  “Time to leave,” Cate said, sharing a fragile smile. Jack noticed that in the remaining flashlight’s glow her face looked almost totally bleached of color.

  “Olander.” Jack called the captain over. “You and your crew take one of the rafts. Stay low and quiet. Let the current float you away, and hopefully the chopper can pick us up.” He pointed. “Push out that way… we’ll go the other. No use being both together, in case…”

  “I get it,” Olander said quietly.

  “Valery, your remaining team, and the three of us will take the other one.” Jack gave Cate a crooked smile. “Added bonus – we go first.”

  They all dragged the rafts to the side. Jack tossed Vincent’s facemask into the bottom then placed a flashlight in each, and also a few stick flares. He jammed one in his back pocket. Olander also gave them some clothing he’d rolled up tight.

  “Just in case, we’re out here for a while.” He shrugged.

  “Thanks,” Cate said. “And good luck to everyone.”

  Mironov joined them. “Alexi will not come.”

  “I’ll go get him.” Jack straightened.

  “Forget it. For him it is about vypolnyat – honor.” Mironov lifted his chin. “This is his ship, and he will stay with it.”

  “Is he mad?” Jack asked.

  “Probably.” Mironov’s mouth twisted into a half smile. “But maybe he thinks we are the mad ones – the Megalodon is in the water, and soon, so will we be.”

  Jack quickly got everyone to push as much floating debris out into the water. He prayed it created a lot of sensory white noise, to buy them some time. He straightened, and sucked in a huge breath. He laughed a little then, feeling his own heart hammering. He realized he couldn’t ever remember being this scared in his life.

  He was last in and he felt their eyes on him. “Let’s do it.” He heaved the raft out and stepped in, and they glided away from the sinking ship.

  They all stayed low. In the moonlight, they saw Olander do the same, but in the opposite direction. Jack could see there was only about thirty feet of the Slava still above water. At the bow, there stood Alexi, hanging onto the cannon. Jack wondered what would happen when the boat sank – either the man would go under with it, or finally be forced to swim.

  Jack lay down in the raft. Cate was cradled under his arm, and he had his ear pressed to the bottom. He had placed the facemask on his forehead, maybe expecting the worst. From below, he could hear the soft sounds of water passing underneath them, but thankfully, little else.

  He looked up at the stars, seeing a particularly bright one, and wishing it was the searchlight of the Coast Guard. A held-breath type of calm settled over them as they drifted. Then a brassy, clanging alarm shattered the silence.

  “What the fuck is that?” Vincent sat bolt upright. Everyone scrambled, looking firstly at each other, and then searching for the din. Cate snatched up the clothing bundle Olander had given them, quickly unwrapping it. The still ringing alarm clock fell to the bottom of the raft.

  Jack snatched it up, and tossed it as far from the raft as he could manage. It hit the water, but he was sure he could still hear the damned thing ringing as it sank.

  “That sonofabitch.” Cate’s eyes were wild, with fury. “He set it to go off, and then gave it to us.”

  The shark exploded up from underneath them, throwing the raft in the air and scattering bodies in every direction. They hit the water, dozens of feet apart, and when they surfaced, not all of Sonya’s men came back up.

  “Stay still,” Jack yelled. He didn’t know now if this would work, as the Megalodon would see them clearly in the low-light water, much better than they could see it. But one thing he was sure of; if they began to thrash or even swim, they’d be dead.

  Off in the darkness there was a Russian voice, yelling, and Sonya hissed something back at the man. He ignored her, continuing to curse and yell, until they heard the sound of surging water, like a wave breaking, and then the screaming was gone.

  In the distance Jack could make out the bow of the Slava, now angling at about forty degrees. The intermittent, soft red glow of a cigarette told him Alexi was still at his post. Further out on the glass-like surface, he could see another floating shape that might have been the other raft.

  Valery Mironov was off somewhere in the darkness, and Vincent bobbed up beside him. Sonya and Cate had linked up. Even though this created a bigger mass that might be sensed by the shark, he knew the need for human contact now was always going to override logic.

  Jack’s mind raced – sooner or later the Megalodon would find them. They needed more options. He tried to think, but fear shut down any good ideas that tried to enter his chaotic mind. There would be few options anyway – after all, what else was there?

  He looked up at the sky, and then to the luminous dots on his wristwatch. He knew it all came down to one thing, one magic ingredient they all desperately needed now – time.

  Jack could just make out the bobbing head of Cate. He had promised her everything would be all right. Fuck it. There was only one thing he could think to do.

  “I got a plan,” he whispered to Vincent.

  “Thank god, Jack. What can I do?” The man bobbed closer, listening.

  “One thing – take care of Cate.” He pulled Vincent’s facemask down over his eyes.

  “What?” Vincent snatched at him, but Jack had already started swimming – hard – back to the Slava.

  One chance, one chance only. Jack stopped swimming for a moment, to roll on his back, and try and calm his racing heart. He could hear Cate screaming his name, and he shut it out.

  “Hello Jack.” Mironov floated close to him.

  “Jesus!” He spluttered coming upright. “Valery, get back to the group,” Jack said as he sna
tched out the stick flare.

  “Will that make me safer?” Mironov asked.

  Jack could swear the man was smiling. “No, but it’ll stop you giving me a freaking heart attack.”

  He saw what Jack had in his hand. “A flare… yes, do it.”

  “Like you said; a bad plan… but the only one we’ve got.” Jack ripped the end off and punched it against his fist, immediately igniting it, and throwing a massive ball of red illumination around them.

  Jack waved it back and forth, and slapped an arm on the water. As if in response, a huge sail-like fin appeared a hundred feet away and then turned sharply and submerged.

  “It’ll come now,” he said, noticing his voice seemed strangled.

  “The devil rises to meet us,” Mironov said. “It’s been a pleasure knowing you, Jack.”

  “Here goes nothing.” Jack waved the flare again. “Alexi!”

  The flare was so bright; he could barely see anything beyond its glow as his night vision had been temporarily ruined. He held up the flare, and thought just maybe he could see the Slava’s silhouette in the weak glow of the moon. But as he concentrated, something rose up, fully blocking it from his view.

  “Oh god,” he whispered, and felt his balls shrivel. Jack knew what it was, and he knew the cavernous jaws would already be open, extending forward, to then slam those vicious blade-teeth down on him. The ten-inch triangles shearing him in half… if he was lucky. He shut his eyes.

  The thump, and hot concussive blast blew flesh in every direction. His eyes flew open as chunks of meat splashed heavily in the water around him. The massive shark listed sideways, and then began to slide away.

  Jack pushed the flare down below him, lighting up the ocean, and used the facemask to illuminate the beast on its way. He lifted his head to quickly gulp in a deep breath, and then dived to follow it down.

  The Megalodon shark wasn’t moving, but a thick blood trail billowed from its massive head. The angle made it impossible to make out the damage, and soon, Jack’s lungs began to rebel and pressure in his ears was becoming punishing. He stopped swimming and just let himself hang in the water.

  Jack released the flare, letting it sink after the Megalodon. They were over the edge of the trench here, so the monster would fall deep. The red of the flare made it seem like it was a hellish beast on its way back to Hades – appropriate, he thought, as he watched the tip of the massive tail vanish in the gloom.

  He turned, crawling his way back to the surface, only the easing pressure in his ears letting him know when he was going to break free. When he did, he threw his head back to suck in a huge breath. Vincent was already there to grab him by the collar to keep him afloat and Cate wrapped him in her arms.

  “You asshole!” Vincent yelled.

  “Double asshole,” Cate said through a wide grin.

  “I think we got it,” Jack gasped.

  Vincent whooped, and lay on his back then whooped again for good measure.

  Sonya swam over and rubbed his head, but then stroked out after Valery, wrapping herself around him. Mironov kissed her and then pulled himself from her attentions for a moment.

  “Now, if one of you can get me out of here, the drinks are on me.”

  Vincent swam back in close, his grin having fallen away. His cold eyes were on Olander’s raft.

  “Yeah, but I think I want to be in that raft first.”

  CHAPTER 45

  Cate leaned against one wall of the raft, eyes open and watching the stars. Jack was slumped beside her, and next along was Sonya, who had an arm behind her head, and looked to be dozing. Vincent sat forward, his hands clasped and resting on his knees. His eyes were haunted. His right fist had a cut across the knuckles.

  The only survivor of Mironov’s crew was Alexi, who had finally given up his post at the harpoon cannon and now lay dozing on the bottom of the raft. His snores sounding like a small rusty motor grinding its gears.

  Jammed at the other end of the inflatable were Olander and his youthful crew. The big man still had a hand to his face where he sported a mouth full of broken teeth and split lip, with a pattern that perfectly matched the scarring on Vincent’s fist. The environmentalist captain was lucky – Vincent had only wanted to hurt him, but Sonya looked like she wanted to kill him.

  “Hey!” Jack said, rousing Vincent. Cate jerked upright. The splashing had started a while back, and grew stronger. The light of a crescent moon wasn’t enough to illuminate much, and Olander’s last flashlight couldn’t yet pick anything up.

  They had no weapons, and all they could do was sit and stare in the direction of the churning water.

  “Ahoy, there.”

  “What the…?” Vincent got to his feet.

  “Ahoy there, the Slava.”

  Vincent threw himself over the side. Cate stood, followed by Jack.

  Sonya knelt, her gaze fixed. “What is it?”

  In a moment there was more splashing, but also laughter and cursing. Vincent swam back to the side of the raft, with another person under his arm – Regina.

  “I found a mermaid. Can I keep her?” He pushed the tired woman over the side, where she flopped down and lay panting, but grinning madly. After a moment, she lifted her head.

  “I saw the flare – I’m assuming you won?”

  Jack hugged her and Cate knelt to push the wet hair back off the woman’s face.

  “Damn right we did,” Cate said. “We killed it.” She knelt back, and thumbed over her shoulder. “Well, Alexi did.”

  The young harpooner shrugged. “My job, but Mr Monroe made it come to surface. Use himself as bait – crazy man.”

  Jack opened his arms wide. “Yeah, don’t mess with Jack Monroe.” He high-fived Alexi.

  Valery Mironov leant forward to rub the harpooner shoulder. “That job just earned you a million dollars and a new home in America if you want it.”

  Alexi turned and grinned. “Yes, I would like it, very much, Mr Mironov.”

  “Shush, listen,” Cate said.

  The group quietened, and a tiny thumping could be heard in the distance. Vincent lifted Regina into his arms. “That’s our ride. See? You’ve just brought us luck.”

  She threw an arm around his neck. “What a dream date you turned out to be.”

  Jack held out his hand to Olander. “The flashlight.” He stood, beginning to wave it back and forth. He looked down, grinning. “Am I the only one looking forward to a cold beer and some ribs on dry land?”

  “You just described my heaven, buddy.” Vincent held onto Jack’s leg as the downdraft from the huge chopper passed over them, shaking the raft. “They’ve seen us.”

  Jack eased down beside Cate as the Coast Guard helicopter did a quick circuit over the area. Cate felt her body finally begin to relax, but there was still a niggling worm of doubt crawling in her mind. She turned and tugged on Jack’s shirt, leaning close to his ear. “Did we? Did we really kill it?”

  Jack nodded. “Yeah, I think so. It was badly wounded, most likely mortally so.” He leaned back and opened his mouth as if about to say more, but then let it snap shut.

  “I hope so,” she said. “But the thing about sharks is, they are such great survivors. They’re one of the few creatures in the world to never get cancer.”

  “I know,” he said softly.

  She looked up at his face, but he continued to stare out over the water. “And there’s this other damn thing about them; they’ve evolved an almost miraculous biology for wound repair. Even if it’s a serious trauma, within two weeks the wound secretes mucus, then the epidermis regenerates and expands to close over the site. And then they’re as good as new.”

  He turned to smile at her. “Stop worrying; we got it this time.” He kissed her forehead.

  “Good,” she said. “I didn’t want to just scare it off to someplace else. I just wish we could see the carcass.” She sighed. “I should be sad, or angry, or something – such a unique creature.”

  Mironov sat forward. “Do yo
u remember, Cate? Sometimes evolution, or maybe God himself, makes mistakes. And that abomination was certainly one of them. We can live without it.”

  She nodded as the huge helicopter began to settle in the water. “Amen to that; let’s all go home.”

  EPILOGUE

  BREAKING NEWS: An Australian film and science team in southern Australia is dismayed and confused about the fate of their ten-foot Great White Shark they had been tracking for their research.

  According to the tracking data, the shark started to behave erratically, and then vanished just over the edge of the Australian continental shelf. Strangely, the electronic tag that had been implanted in its skin was found washed up on shore, several miles from where the shark disappeared.

  When scientists were able to retrieve the data from the tracking chip it led to even more confusion, as an analysis of the shark’s last movements showed that the animal turned to head closer to the shore at high speed, but then was stopped dead. Inexplicably, it then took a rapid dive down the side of the shelf to a depth of fifteen hundred feet.

  Strangely, the data indicated a large temperature change from thirty-five degrees, the ambient water temperature, to then jump to seventy-six degrees, the gut temperature of a large Carcharodon species shark, where it remained for eight days.

  The researchers refused to state their conclusions on the record, but later said there was really only one observation they could make – their Great White had been eaten by a mega-predator that had risen from the depths – at this time, type unknown.

  Channel 29 Technology News - 3:40pm June 8

  AUTHORS NOTES:

  Many readers ask me about the science in my novels – is it real or fiction? Where do I get the situations, equipment, characters or their expertise from, and just how much of any legend has a basis in fact? In the case of the Carcharodon Megalodon, it is all fact. The only disputed area is whether the creature may still exist in the deep, dark depths of our oceans.