by E. Coulombe
At first it was darker than deep space as their eyes slowly adjusted. Lono waited for the moonlight to give some visibility, even just a little, but still nothing. Must be a cloud in front of the moon Lono thought. Or not. He quickly turned his light back on and scanned the surface around him. Nothing. Get a grip, he reminded himself again. Maybe you need to take some lessons from the haole kid, he told himself, as the light passed over Michael’s grinning face.
Slowly, they moved further out, following the outer edge of the reef. Lono searched the ocean floor below, and vigilantly shot his beam into the deep waters ahead. Soon they began to see large fish - but they were unlike anything they’d ever seen before. Long, and narrow with paper-thin fins and bony struts visible inside, one opened it’s jaw like a snake, as if the bones were disengaged, and swallowed another fish at least two-thirds it’s own size. Lono had seen eels do that, but never a fish. Another oddity swam below, a fish with an armored head and a spear sticking out, kind of like a swordfish, but it had bony spines along the length of the spear, and unlike the swordfish where the spear comes out from the snout, this spear stuck out from below the mouth. It used the spear to stir up the sand and flip small shrimp up into its mouth. Now if that isn’t the weirdest thing, Lono thought. One of those in the catch bag would convince Grant of something, or if nothing else it would convince me that I’m not crazy.
He raised his spear in his right hand, aimed it across the light gripped in his left hand. He released the sling and the spear pierced through the fish, just behind the armored head. It held fast. Lono pulled it in with the rope, grabbed the still thrashing creature, and avoiding the sword he used his knife to slit its chest. He put it into the bag. Shining his light back on the ocean floor he caught a glimpse of another weird fish actually running along on the sandy bottom, using fleshy, paddle like fins to propel itself. But Lono had only a second to watch, when suddenly a hidden mouth appeared out of nowhere and sucked it up.
He dove down for a closer look. Another strange creature, three feet long, with a broad, flat head covered in tough plate-like shields. It’s flexing back was a mesh of smaller scales, and the fish moved forward in the sand by thrashing its tail from side to side. A slit-like sucker mouth was rasping away the flesh of the squirming sculler.
Another shape protruded from the rocks to Lono’s right. Suddenly, quick as a flash, an eel-like head lunged out from its lair, long fangs jutting from its lower jaw – but these were no ordinary eel fangs, and these were huge, so long that they curled up around its head and touched the roof of the skull. It opened it’s jaw and impaled one of the smaller fish on it’s curved fangs, then spun around, revealing a full six feet of snake-like body, before disappearing into the rocks carrying it’s helpless meal.
Lono surfaced, blew out his snorkel, and grabbed Michael’s arm. He pointed frantically to the rocks below, but Michael was looking in the opposite direction and didn’t move.
Then Lono saw it too.
Out of the dark a huge shape lunged up and in one quick motion swiped the fish from the end of Lono’s spear. At first, he thought it was a common reef shark. It had a gray, skin covered shark body with wide pectoral fins that flared out from the front, and it was powered by a deep V cut tail, sweeping from side to side, but when it turned broadside, they could see a shape on its back that looked exactly like a huge ironing-board! As it came closer he saw that the ironing board structure was covered with small bristling teeth!
Lono and Michael remained perfectly still, hoping that the shark would just swim by. But somewhere off to his left, Lono felt another presence in the water. He slowly turned his head. It was even darker there, and the blackness more opaque. What the hell? Something struck his left hand and he dropped his light. Instinctively he reached for Michael, but just then, the waves broke over them.
Getting his head up through the foam, Lono shouted for Michael. He needed to find him, both for the boy’s sake and his own – he shouldn’t be out here without a light. Oh damn, he thought, what hit me? That thing was big. He felt completely vulnerable with his legs dangling in the dark waters below. In the moonless sky he couldn’t find Michael anywhere on the surface. He yelled for George but couldn’t hear any reply above the sound of the crashing surf. They must have drifted further in than they realized, and were now caught between the break and the cliff.
Lono began to panic. “Michael!” he screamed again. Nothing. Unwilling to leave Michael alone, Lono allowed himself to drift with the current. If Michael were also drifting, Lono could catch up to him. He pulled down his mask. Wait! What’s that? He saw a light beneath him, at least thirty feet below. What the hell is he doing way down there? Oh man! If that kid is going after something, I’ll kill him myself. Lono felt both relieved and angry. Well at least Michael didn’t drop his light, he thought. Or did he? As Lono looked he realized what was wrong. The light wasn’t moving.
Lono doubled over and quickly descended towards the bottom. He saw a hand reaching out for the light through a crevice in the rocks. The light was shining up in his direction, blinding him, and he couldn’t see what was behind it until he was almost on top of it…
He stopped.
He pulled up his loaded spear.
Hovering just beneath was something black and massive. What in the hell, Lono thought as he instinctively launched his spear. A direct hit on the side of its head, it should have entered and cleanly killed it, but the spear bounced off – its massive head was covered with armored plates!
“Helllllpppp!!!” Michael screamed underwater.
The Dunkleosteus moved away.
Lono grabbed the light. Michael was trapped in a crevice under a large boulder, his foot wedged between two rocks. His mask was gone, his eyes were glazed, and his arms limp. Something had slammed him down into the rocks. Out of nowhere a massive armor plated head lunged at him. Lono leaned down into the cave and placed his lips on Michael’s, giving him all the air he had left in his lungs.
He held the light on the creature as he rocketed to the surface, gasped for air and shouted again for George. Filling his lungs with air, he went straight down again and passed air to Michael once more.
They watched in horror as the monster instinctively clamped down on one of the armor plated bottom feeders that was trying to reach the rocks for safety. They could hear a deafening screeching sound, like fingernails scraping on blackboard; only a thousand times worse, as the spiked shears in its mouth cracked open the armor. It swallowed the three-foot fish in one gulp. Then it turned.
Lono surfaced one more time, to give Michael the much needed air, and when he returned, Michael had freed his trapped foot. The monster turned towards Lono, but stopped. It shuddered and shook and suddenly spewed out shards of fish armor. A shoal of skinny, silver fish darted through the spew, eating the smaller bits.
The only thing holding the monster off was the light shining at it, which momentarily paralyzed it. Lono passed the light to Michael; he unsheathed the knife strapped to his leg, and gently pulled the boy free of the rocks.
But Michael’s arm bumped against the side of the reef, causing the light to jerk, and the spell on the monster was broken. The boys froze in terror as a four foot wide mouth cavity, filled with razor-sharp cleavers, clamped down on Michael’s foot, ripping his flesh, and crushing bone beneath.
Michael screamed and pulled away.
Lono lunged at the creature with his knife, trying to penetrate the armor plates surrounding its eye. Then he shot for the surface only a few feet above him, gulped for air, and went down again. He found only the light on the ocean floor.
Michael was gone.
Chapter Fifty Three
Walking on the exposed reef along the south side of the cove, George followed the boys’ movements. They had stayed in close at first, following the shoreline, but then, suddenly, their lights had gone off, and when they came on again, they had moved far down the coast. Not good, George thought, the waves were larger down there and they could
be swept into the cliffs.
He waited for a few minutes which seemed like an eternity, but they did not return, and he never saw their light again. Something has gone wrong, he thought, very wrong. This wasn’t part of the plan. They would not leave me wondering; they know how worried I am.
He ran back to the make-shift camp at Ko`olau iki, grabbed flares, and headed north, back across the beach of Ko`olau Kai where they had originally set up camp. He ran up to the high ridge bordering the north side of the bay, where he could see the whole of the larger bay, as well as the far side of the smaller one, and down the coast to the sea caves. He methodically scanned the waters searching for their light.
Nothing.
He saw only chop and waves breaking luminescent green in the light of the rising moon. He stood motionless. With his head turned away from the northern breeze, he cupped his ears to block out the wind, and listened.
Nothing.
Only the sound of gently breaking surf.
He set off one flare, and then another. The signal he and Andrew had worked out earlier. One flare meant an incredible find, come over, two signaled danger—get help immediately!
Leaning against the arm of the sofa, her legs curled up beneath her, Emma sat reading her book. Too peaceful to disturb, Andrew thought as he quietly entered the room. Wordlessly he walked across the worn wooden floor, and seated himself next to her on the bamboo sofa. Wrapping his arms around her shoulders, he held her tight.
“I’m going to Ko`olau in the morning. Kalani and I have one of the outriggers geared up,” he said softly, trying to mask the panic in his voice.
She looked at him quizzically. He told her there was nothing wrong, just that he’d finished his experiment, and that he and Kerri would be joining George and Michael. They talked for a moment about her favorite subject, Michael, until Kalani burst into the room. His frightened face alarmed them both.
“What is it?” Andrew asked, jumping up from the couch, and following Kalani to the door. He just made out the trail of a flare burning out in the sky behind Kahili Mountain.
“One flare?” Andrew asked.
Kalani shook his head. “Two.”
Andrew’s face strained as he tried to hold back his panic. Emma saw his muscles tighten. As she looked at him, she knew what had happened. She’d had forebodings of this ever since Lono’s accident.
“There is something wrong on this island,” she snapped at Andrew. “What’s going on? Tell me!”
“It’s okay, honey. George and I had a signal that if he found something interesting he was to let me know with flares,” he lied. “Let’s not panic.” He stepped outside to speak with Grant, and the other men, who had already gathered in the front yard.
He motioned for the men to follow him to the boat house, and told them his plan while he emptied out his dry bag on the ground. He would go part of the way up Kahili ridge with the 2-way radio. They should go on ahead in the boats, and stay in radio contact with Andrew the entire time, so that he could relay messages from George.
“Grant,” he said, looking into his brothers clear eyes, reluctant to say what he must. “You need use the sat phone and call the coast guard immediately. Get them to organize a search party tonight! Tell them not to wait until the morning, do you understand, they CANNOT WAIT!”
“What’s going on Andrew? What’s happening?” Grant yanked on Andrew’s elbow as Andrew tried to bend over the gear spread on the ground beneath them.
“I’m worried about Michael,” Andrew said, freeing his arm from his brother’s grip. His contorted face belied his words.
“Tell me, Andrew. Dammit man, don’t shut me out! What the hell is in the water?” Grant shouted at him. Andrew stuffed some gear into his day pack, slung the strap across his shoulder and sprinted across the lawn.
“I’m not calling anyone without an explanation!” Grant shouted at his brother’s retreating form.
“There’s no time, just do it!” Andrew answered as he headed towards Kahili, armed with only a flashlight and a two-way radio.
Chapter Fifty Four
Lono could only see an opaque blackness ahead but sensed it was the massive fish chasing Michael. He dove down and grabbed the light which had fallen onto the reef, then followed, heading towards the shore. In the swath cut by the light he could just make out the creature dead ahead, moving fast. Lono dove and kicked with all his might. His beam hit the monsters eye, and the creature swept its three-foot wide tail once, and disappeared left, into the darkness.
The boys headed straight for land, cliff be damned. Lono reached it first and ignoring the cuts from the jagged reef rock, he scrambled up, holding tight against the prying waves. Michael had managed to get a hand hold and wedge his left foot between two coral heads, but his injured right foot dangled over the edge. Reaching down, Lono struggled to grasp Michael, but his hand kept sliding off of the slick wet suit. He seized the extended zipper cord on the back of the wet suit, and heaved him up. They almost made it, but a massive incoming wave crashed over Michael’s head and ripped him from the wall.
Lono jumped in behind him. Flashing the light over the surface he tried to find the boy, screaming his name above the sound of the breaking waves, but he was nowhere around. Pulling his mask down over his eyes, the snorkel tube long gone, he searched the jagged underwater reef. He could see the crashing foam over his head, boulders piled up on the ocean floor below, but Michael was nowhere to be found. What in the hell happened to him? He was right here. Lono stopped. He thought he heard something.
A muffled scream.
Lifting his head above the water, he listened. Nothing. He submerged his head. The scream was coming from under the water. Swimming towards it, his light shining along the jagged reef, he heard a shout coming from inside the wall. A cave? Had Michael found a cave?
Just then he heard what sounded like an explosion. He followed the pounding sound coming from the rocks and discovered the monster bashing its armor plates against the side of the wall. Like a shark enraged by the blood scent, it was trying to get to Michael.
Lono scrambled up the slippery rocks above the crashing head. A crack had been created in the volcanic rock by the relentless pounding, a narrow two inch opening, and Lono could hear Michael’s muffled screams coming from inside. He shouted down into the hole.
“Michael! I’m here, above you. Can you hear me?”
“Lono, help, that thing is trying to get in!”
“Michael? Are you in a cave?”
But Michael didn’t answer. Another large swell came in and filled the space. Lono held his breath waiting for the wave to recede, praying Michael would still be there.
“Michael, can you hold on? Do you have air?”
The bashing sound returned as the monster slammed into the side of the cliff again. The pile of rocks under Lono started to slide.
“LONO! He’s tearing down the wall! HELP!!!!!”
“Michael, I’m gonna get the gun. Can you hold on for five minutes?”
“GO, LONO! RUN! And kill this bastard dead!”
BAM! The rocks under Lono gave way. He lost his footing and slid off the cliff into the ocean below, rocks crashed around him. A massive jagged boulder rolled onto his chest, pushing him towards the bottom of the sea.
Chapter Fifty Five
It was easier for Andrew to run without the light on, using it only briefly to make the river crossing. The river was low, thank goodness, and it took him less than a minute to boulder-hop across. On the far side he followed the trail for half a mile, but then, instead of taking the trail up Kahili, as they had done to reach Ko`olau, he turned left on a smaller trail, contouring the slope, to a point well below the summit - known as ‘The Lookout’. The land fell away beneath his feet in a broad sweep down the valley. The aspect and the elevation gave him an unobstructed view of Ko`olau, and most of the southwestern side of the island.
He had reached ‘The Lookout’ in less than thirty minutes. He radioed George and learned th
at both boys had been gone now for almost an hour.
He could see the twenty mile stretch of the western coastline, but not all the way into the floor of the hanging valleys of Ko`olau Kai and Ko`olau Aina. Still, he saw a light above the valley, from George’s campfire. Slowly and methodically, beginning on the southern end of his horizon, he scanned the shore searching every inch for a beam of light. It might be weak, the batteries could be low, and as George had warned him, but if you could see anything at all it would be from here.
Dread gripped his heart while the frightening image of the Dunkleosteus hung in his mind.
He found nothing, so next tried the night vision goggles, which the men used to patrol the shores of Nakoa at night. They illuminated the shoreline in an eerie green light and it took only a moment to relocate the northern end of the coast line. Covering every possible crevice, he scanned from the north, to straight ahead due east then turned south. He could only see a few miles down the southern shore where a promontory cut off part of his view.
But he saw something there, a flicker of light, or something just over the top of the bulkhead. He stared hard. Nothing. Could it be, god I hope so, did I really see something there? He saw it again. That’s it.
“George, George, do you hear me? Head south, a light, a mile down the coast from you, I see the light. George do you copy?”
“I read you, I’m heading out now. Keep me posted, I don’t want to miss it. Their light might burn out before I can get to it.”
“Copy.”
“And in case we lose radio contact tell me now, in detail, exactly where you saw the light.”
Andrew explained the location just the other side of the bluff.
“Do you see my light?” George asked.
“Yes, I’m following you.”