Knightley gasped for air as he stumbled forward. The snake finally let go, only to fall to the ground and bite his foot. He could see her arching up and down, really grinding in, making sure that he got every last ounce of her venom.
Typical female.
He kept moving though. He knew the statistics. He was already dead. Even with anti-venom there was no hope of helping him now. He was a dead man, flailing around.
Knightley had a plan though. He had no idea if it would work, but he had a plan.
For once in his miserable life he was going to try to do something noble. At the end, it would, wouldn’t it? One last act of contrition to wipe away all of his sins?
“Stop running!” Dillon called out behind him.
But Knightley needed to run. He needed to get to the closest pool. Once he was at the water’s edge. He fell to his knees, no longer having the strength to go another step. He reached down and grabbed the snake by the neck. She let go of his hand, hissing angrily, her mouth wide open, her fangs flashing in the dim storm light.
Knightley held her out in front of him, no longer afraid of her. What else could she do to him?
No, he needed Susie for his plan.
Within moments a dorsal fin hurled toward him.
Come on, you bastard.
The bull shark, his old nemesis came hurling out of the water, right at Knightly. He threw the snake at the shark. It bit into the shark’s nose just as the shark bit into Knightly.
The shark dragged him under the water, his shark teeth cutting into Knightley’s belly.
Wait for it.
Then the shark convulsed. Even a great bull shark wasn’t immune to sea snake poison. Knightly was gratified as his eyes dimmed to watch the bull shark go belly up.
* * *
That was the craziest, stupidest, cruelest, kindest last act that Dillon had ever seen. Knightley had just killed that bull shark out of spite. However, Dillon had to admit it was a little comforting to have one less bull shark on the prowl.
Like he said. Crazy kind.
“Dillon,” Shalie cracked in his ear. The connection wasn’t the greatest. “Hurry… Need…”
He couldn’t make out the rest of the message. Did it matter? Something super bad was going on. Turning on his heel, Dillon rushed back to the control room.
He burst into the door to find the place flooding. The water was already up to his knees. The techs were standing as they worked now, trying to divert all the controls to their back up control room. Not that it was going to fare much better.
“The amphitheater flooding, shifted the weight in the wrong direction,” Tonaka stated. “This room won’t last the hour.”
Heck, Dillon didn’t think it was going to last the next ten minutes.
Nami ran up to him, giving him a hug. “I thought I told you not to do anything stupid.”
“Apparently I don’t have any other options today,” Dillon said, hugging her back. He turned to his father. “Dad, what’s the plan?”
“We go to higher ground,” His father said. “And hope rescue comes before the whole island goes down.”
“You mean the rescue that left Cairns before we even sent out our distress beacon?”
“Yes, that one,” Callum said. “The fishing boat responded to our first call. Maybe someone else will.”
Dillon knew that his father was clutching as straws, but their options were limited. Either give up and give in or keep fighting. With Nami under his arm he was inclined to keep fighting. You never know what could happen.
“Then let’s get out of here,” Dillon said. “There’s no real point in staying any longer is there?” he asked. “The longer we wait, the less land there will be out there to get us over to the northeast corner radio tower.”
“You’re right,” Callum said. “Abandon your posts,” his father ordered. “We are evacuating now.”
Dillon opened the door and led them out. It wasn’t far. And they had surface paths the whole way. He turned to find the final survivors of the soft opening of Salechii. There weren’t many. Six techs plus Tonaka, Nami, her father, Shalie and his dad. Less than twenty.
So sad.
He couldn’t dwell on that. Or the feeding frenzy in the amphitheater. Or the sight of Knightly going under. Or a thousand other images. There were almost too many horrific images to choose from. So instead he thought of his mother. Not when she was sick and dying in bed, but when she would run through the spring wildflowers that blanketed the hillsides in Montana. He would cling to that memory until his end. The rest could just float away. He knew what was important.
And it looked like his father finally got a clue as well as he held Shalie’s hand as they ran toward the radio shack. It had stood the test of the hurricane and proudly thrust into the air.
* * *
“Oh no,” Dillon moaned.
“What?” Nami asked then she saw it. The center part of the island had completely collapsed. Now instead of an isthmus of land that they could cross to get to the radio shack, there was a huge central pool with enough dorsal fins to choke even a whale shark.
They skid to a stop on the edge of the new lagoon. Everyone else stacked up behind them. There was no way to go around. They were going to have to swim which seemed impossible.
They wouldn’t last a few seconds in that water.
“What are we going to do?” Shalie asked.
Nami didn’t have an answer for her.
The remaining survivors all looked at the pool where their last best hope died. Quax stood next to Nami, rocking the toddler back to sleep. The only one of them not completely freaked out. Of course his belly was full of peanut butter and crackers.
“Do we have any shark prods?” Dillon said. “We could form a phalanx on the outside and let the rest pass, dad.”
Callum shook his head. “The prods are all the way on the other side of the island and even so, there’s no way we could keep that many sharks away from so many people.”
Dillon’s face fell. He so liked being the hero. It was cute really. She squeezed his hand. “We’ll figure it out.”
He gave a wan smile back. “I don’t see how.”
Then the QXs all stepped up to the edge of the lagoon. One diving in after the other.
* * *
“I thought they knew their mortality?” Callum asked.
“They do,” Shalie answered.
Quax hugged the boy to his chest. “Yet they’re going in anyway.”
Callum felt his throat choke up. The robots were willingly sacrificing themselves for the sake of the humans. And without the three laws to force them to.
“I have never been so proud,” Tonaka said.
“Please, doctor, would you do me the honor of riding on my back?” Quax asked.
“It will be my honor, Tonaka said.
Callum clutched Shalie’s hand. “You ready?”
“As long as I’m with you, yes.”
He leaned over and gave her a kiss, full well knowing it might be the last one he ever gave her. How had he been so stupid for so long? How many kisses had they missed because he was a stubborn son of a bitch?
Callum could see under the water, the robots had formed two lines, using their own internal electricity to spark their hands, keeping the sharks back.
Time to take the dive.
CHAPTER 24
Nick couldn’t believe he was about to jump into a pool filled with sharks. Even with wicked crazy monkey robots to guard them, it just seemed wrong. But jump in was exactly what he needed to do.
He glanced over to Quax who was getting the toddler ready.
“Nice big breaths,” The robot said, pretending to take in air. His eyes even bulged as if he had sucked in too much air. The toddler giggled then followed suit. “And remember, eyes tight shut,” Quax mimicked the motion for the boy who squeezed his eyelids closed.
“I would recommend the same for you Dr. Yashimoto,” Quax said.
“Already on it,” Tona
ka replied.
How Nick wished he could.
He urged Nami forward but Dillon shook his head. “We’re bringing up the rear.”
Nick didn’t want his daughter bringing up the rear, but he could see in her eyes she was staying with Dillon. And the teen was most definitely bringing up the rear. Nami wasn’t Daddy’s little girl any more. She had somehow through all of the horror blossomed into a brave young lady. Perfect timing.
“I’m not a great swimmer,” one of the techs standing next to him said.
“Me either,” another tech stated.
The man and women looked absolutely pathetic in their dripping wet clothes and pale visage. They were so far out of their comfort zone, Nick felt sorry for them.
“The key is to remember to kick from your hips, that’s where all the power comes from.”
Then he looked to the techs again. Neither was in great shape. They really didn’t seem to have any power at all.
“And hold your breath no matter what. Don’t let bubbles escape because first of all that attracts the sharks and secondly you are much more likely to reflexively gasp if you don’t have any air in your lungs. Even stale air is better than no air.”
He’d learned all of that in Tropic Nights. He played a lifeguard who also solved crimes at night. It was a lame script, but topped the box office charts for months. Having Angelina Jolie co-star hadn’t hurt either.
Nick watched as everyone else splashed into the water.
There was no more delaying. He urged the techs in before him, then jumped in.
He was already soaking wet so the ocean water was actually warmer than the storm above it. Nick pushed off the side of the enclosure giving a few more techs the room to jump in behind him, then lastly Dillon and his daughter.
Nick had already prayed so much today he was a little worried that God was getting tired of taking his calls, but pray he did.
They were really going to need the big guy’s help on his one.
* * *
Tonaka watched with a combination of horror and amazement as the robots protected the group as they crossed the lagoon. The sharks were running fast and hard at the robots, but the QXs were using their tails to great effect, striking lightning fast, zapping the sharks before they got too close. A few of the robots had lost the tips of the tails and a few hands, but so far no humans were harmed.
He had been so worried about his self-aware robots, but they were showing a bravery his heart ached for.
Two tiny baby Hammerheads sharks darted past their line of robot guardians. Quax’s hand lashed out, grabbing the baby by the tail and flinging it back out past his brethren.
The second baby tried to bite Callum, but Shalie knocked it away with a backhanded swing. Tonaka guessed that she learned that maneuver during her first altercation with the babies.
A large bull shark made a run, grabbing one of the QX’s around the waist. With his tail the robot shocked the shark over and over again. The shark arched and writhed in pain, but refused to let the robot go. He pushed through into the swimming lane.
Humans scattered as the shocked shark and robot crossed through the back line, and then into the distance.
The toddler started to squirm, his cheeks bulging, an unnatural red. He was running out of oxygen. Quax gently brought the child’s lips to his and used some of his ballast air to give to the child. They sank a few inches, but the toddler’s face was a more natural pink.
Tonaka tapped Quax. He too was feeling lightheaded. Quax brought his wrist up to Tonaka’s mouth. Of course. There was an airline there as well. He blew out and sucked in from Quax’s reserve tank. Again, they sank a bit, but it was worth it.
Once he was done, Quax turned on his jets and streaked them forward. Tonaka could make out the other shore.
* * *
Nami, in her mind thanked her father for all of those swimming lessons. She’d hated them. Hated all the practice. He wanted her to be a lifeguard though so she went. Her dad felt if they lived on the beach, she needed to be an accomplished swimmer.
There were way too many stories of celebrity children dying in stupid pool and ocean accidents. He didn’t want that to happen to her.
And boy was she using every single lesson she’d ever been taught. She was keeping up with Dillon, shoulder to shoulder.
They had lost a few robots but so far no one else.
Until a Mako shark, darted in right in front of her, snatching a tech and dragging him back out before the robots could even respond. The man was screaming, bubbles bursting from his mouth. Then another shark grabbed him by the shoulder.
Nami turned away before the inevitable happened.
With blood in the water, the sharks became agitated, striking harder and faster at the robots. The baby sharks were whipped into a frenzy, attacking the cluster of techs ahead of them.
Dillon reached out and grabbed one of the babies by the neck. Its little mouth snapped in frustration. He cocked his hand back and tossed the baby back out into the lagoon.
A tiger shark with a powerful thrust of his tail, darted in and grabbed two of the techs by the arms and dragged them out into the lagoon where a number of sharks challenged him to his prize snatch.
The techs were not the winners of that fight.
* * *
Dillon pulled Nami close. He didn’t want the same fate as the techs to befall her. Up ahead he could see that his father and Shalie climbing out of the lagoon with Quax, the toddler and Tonaka close behind.
Then there was a gap between Nick and the rest of the techs. Dillon kicked hard. There were only a few robots left. Their protection was running out. Fast.
Then the sharks scattered. Turning tail, heading off into the deeper part of the lagoon.
There was only one thing that a Mako shark would run from.
A Great White.
Sure enough Gabby, swimming swiftly slid into their portion of the lagoon. She opened her mouth, scooping up the remains of the other shark’s kills that they had wisely abandoned.
Gabby cruised past the robots, just out of range of their taser tails.
She eyed Dillon. He was her target, he could feel it.
He shoved Nami ahead. She refused to go though, forcing herself back at his side. There was brave and then there was stupid.
Nami was being stupid.
She locked arms with him as they swam forward. She tugged him closer. Whatever they faced, they were facing together.
Gabby flicked her tail and turned, grabbing the nearest QX, shaking him until he stopped stinging her. She then let go, allowing the robot to just float away. Guess she had learned they weren’t very tasty.
The great girl did the same to the next robot.
There were only two left, trying to protect Dillon and Nami. Everyone else was out of the water.
And Gabby seemed to know it. She knew this was her last chance at an easy snack.
Dillon swam as fast as he could but he knew that wouldn’t be enough. Gabby surged forward, snapping one of the two remaining robots in half just like that. The lone robot went at her, going postal on the Great White. He leapt onto her back, riding her like a bronco using one of his cutting blades to stab her over and over again.
Gabby, not used to being treating like this rolled and thrashed trying to get the robot off her back. He had made his heel into a spur though, digging into her flesh.
Dillon and Nami would never have a better opportunity. They released arms, swimming like it was the Olympics, striking for shore.
He knew the battle was over without even looking over his shoulder. The robot had lost. There was menace in the water again. Thank goodness Nami was a stronger swimmer and was ahead of him.
Then she was out of the water, someone had lifted her out by her collar. Dillon breathed a sigh of relief she was safe. Whatever happened to him, happened to him alone.
Gabby snapped just behind him, grazing his ankle with her teeth. He knew from watching her for six months that there woul
dn’t be a second miss.
Then a steel hand grabbed Dillon by the collar and yanked him from the water. How could that be? He wasn’t even close to shore.
Gabby, never one to give up easily, leapt for him.
Dillon was only inches out of the way. The Great White crashed back into the water, beaten for once. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was, but as he looked around he realized it wasn’t luck at all.
The rest of the group had lowered a beam over the water and Quax, hanging on by his tail, stretched out as far as he could to snatch Dillon right from the Great White’s teeth.
With expert grace, Quax climbed the beam with Dillon on his back, bringing them both safely to shore.
Shalie patted Quax on the back. “Like I said. Pretty brave for a scaredy cat robot.”
Dillon hugged his titanium friend. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
Quax put his hand up. Dillon gave him a high five a low five and ten on the backside. “You are the bomb!”
“Oh, so you want to blow it up?” Quax asked.
Quax put his fist out and touched it to Quax’s then made the explosion sound and he pulled his arm back.
“Can a father get a high five in edgewise?”
Dillon smiled and gave his father the highest of high fives ever. Then he hugged his father. The odd part was his dad hugged him back equally fiercely.
* * *
“Alright. Just up the ridge and to the shack,” Callum said next to her.
God, it was a great day to be alive. Shalie wasn’t quite sure how much longer she could make that claim so she was relishing it.
It was like the universe had said, you know what Shalie you are going to have the best day of your life and the worst day of your life… together.
Callum’s kiss was well… that had been a damned good kiss. Three years in the coming had made it all the sweeter. Then to see Callum connect with Dillon over something besides work was marvelous as well.
The group moved as one, especially since it was so small. Besides their more intimate group there were only two techs left. They had not fared well on the swim over.
“Oh my gosh,” Nami said as they came to what should have been dry land. Instead a shallow pool blocked their path. One of the buildings was door high underwater. The island was sinking way faster than it was previously. Without the outer archipelago, there was nothing to really hold it up.
Apex Predator Thriller Series Collection (Including the blockbuster new shark park thriller, Salechii) Page 27