by Russ Elliott
“This story’s already broken wide,” grumbled the admiral, “and we don’t even know where the bloody thing is.” Through the large window before him, the still rotors of numerous helicopters shone tauntingly in the dark naval yard.
Tom dared to repeat his question. “But what should we tell the media?”
The admiral was deep in thought, and then snapped his fingers. “I know!” He turned to Tom. “We’ll tell them it was a hoax. The witnesses were just kids after all, so that might work. That’ll put off the media, bide us more time to get a handle on this. Now we know the general area where this creature may be. At the crack of dawn, we’ll scour every inch of it. There’s still enough time to eradicate this beast before the media pieces it all together.”
~~~
At four forty-five a.m., John Paxton stepped from the surveillance cabin and into the dark hallway. He was haunted by the fact that there hadn’t been a signal since they boarded the ship nearly six hours ago. What if the transmitter in the creature wasn’t working? he wondered. What then? He passed the room that housed the generator powering the tracking equipment. Even with the door closed, the lawnmower-like sound echoed into the hallway.
He reached the next cabin that served as a place to rest. With the ship’s communication system down, it was the only room within earshot of the surveillance cabin. Inside, he saw Kate sitting on the room’s single bed reading one of Erick’s paperbacks. The boy and his dog were curled up beside her.
Just before John stepped in the room, he heard Erick ask, “Is John your boyfriend?”
John eased back behind the doorway. He had to hear this.
“No.”
“Ever kiss him?”
“No . . . what makes you ask such a thing?”
“Guess it’s the way you look at him sometimes. It’s kinda the way my mom looks at my dad before they smooch.”
John grinned wide from behind the doorway. Erick continued, “But anyway, I didn’t think he was your boyfriend.”
“Why’s that?”
“He’s too old for you.”
John’s grin faded, and Kate burst out laughing. “Oh, is that right?” she said.
Erick said, “But ya know what? My uncle Nathan is single. He’s more your age. He does all kinds of cool stuff like…”
Kate interrupted Erick. “Enough. I think it’s time someone gets some sleep.”
John waited for a moment then approached the cabin in plain view. Once inside, he eased down onto the floor and leaned back against the side of the bed.
Kate rose from the bed. “Ah, just the man I wanted to see!” She tossed the paperback onto the table and picked up a plate of food, handing it to John. “Threw this together for you in the galley. Come now, we must keep our strength up.”
John eyed the warm tuna sandwich but didn’t take the plate. “I’m really just kinda thirsty.”
Kate shoved the plate closer.
“How about after this headache eases up . . . okay?”
With a clank, she returned the plate to the table and picked up a bottle of water. “Very well then, enjoy your supper.”
After a few long, satisfying gulps of the water, John eased his head back against the bed. He closed his eyes, listening to the generator thumping in the next room. Okay, just five minutes to ease this headache, John thought. Then I’ll go cover the monitor for Nathan.
~~~
John rolled over in his sleep and squinted. “Someone turn off that light,” he mumbled. Wait, he thought. With no electricity, how can there be any light? Opening his eyes fully, he discovered the cabin filled with daylight. Stranger still, he was lying on the bed and under the covers. Sitting up, he saw his boots beside the bed. “What is this?”
Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he stumbled through the door and into the bright hallway.
“I see someone’s back with us.” Kate stepped from the surveillance cabin, Erick and Rex trailing.
John was disoriented, “How long was I . . . what time is it?”
Kate glanced at her watch. “Two thirty-five p.m.”
“Two thirty-five!” John gasped. “What . . . that can’t be.” He looked through a porthole and saw the sun perched high in the African sky. “Why didn’t someone wake me?” he demanded. “I’ve slept away half the day!”
“You needed your sleep, so Erick and I tucked you in. And I must say you snore profusely.”
Erick gave an exaggerated nod.
“Sleep? Who needs sleep with this thing—”
Kate put both hands on his shoulders, looked him in the eye. “There hasn’t been a signal since you fell asleep. I would have woken you. Also, just an hour ago I used the radio in the chopper to contact Tom with the Shark’s Board. He and the naval squadron have been scouring the last attack since sunrise, and they haven’t seen a thing.” She grinned. “Tom said Admiral Hot Head is quite miffed about it.”
John looked through the porthole again. He still couldn’t believe he’d slept this long.
“Also, said our boys from the speedboat have become quite famous. But the admiral’s attempting to hush it by claiming it was a hoax. Other than that, Tom said nothing else has shown up on the news. So calm yourself. Other than the stale salami sandwiches we had for lunch, you’ve missed absolutely nothing.”
John nodded, but the feeling in the pit of his stomach suggested otherwise. They were definitely missing something.
~~~
Darkness fell over a lonely beach in Hermanus as a young black couple approached the crashing waves. There wasn’t another soul in sight. The woman stopped when her feet touched the wet sand. “No way, Kabir. This is as far as I go!”
“Come on, woman.” Kabir slipped his hands around her hips and tugged at the side of her string bikini bottom. “It’s our honeymoon . . . and what could be more romantic than a moonlight skinny dip?” He paused, listening to the roaring surf. “Can’t you hear the ocean calling your name? Moooriiisaaahhhh.”
Morissa pulled his hands off of her hips. “No can do. I’m not going in there—with or without my clothes!” She raised his hands above her head and twirled seductively. “How about a moonlight dance on the beach instead?”
Kabir winked and tugged the back of her bikini bottom. “Okay, but after a quick swim out to those rocks.”
Morissa looked out at the rocky mound about thirty yards from shore. “How many fools did your mama raise? You know sharks feed at night!”
“Look, woman, that feeding at night is just an old wives’ tale.” He walked backward toward the water, beckoning to her with his pointer finger. “Come on. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’ll show you!” Kabir’s feet were now in the waves. “I’ll swim out to the rocks first, and then you can swim out to meet me . . . okay?”
Suddenly, Morissa gasped and pointed behind him.
Kabir laughed aloud. “No, no, woman. You can’t fool me with your spooky face.” Another step back. “Woman, please!” When he turned around to dive, he stopped frozen, teetering on the edges of his toes. The rocky formation that he was about to swim to rose before his eyes, doubling in length as it started gliding through the sea. The jagged mound headed farther west and slowly submerged, leaving a white froth waving on the black water.
~~~
Stretching his legs after a three-hour shift in front of the monitor, John headed along a dark hallway. He paused at one of the open portholes and took a breath of crisp sea air. His gaze drifted up to the smoke-like clouds. Nine hours of sleep, and I still feel exhausted. Has to be the stress. It was ten p.m., and they still hadn’t picked up a signal. Turning away from the night sea, he continued to make his way toward the blue hue emitted from the distant doorway.
Reaching the surveillance cabin, he saw Kate and Erick snuggled up on the floor in front of the monitor. She gently stroked the boy’s hair,] as he lay curled up beside her with his head in her lap, sleeping soundly. Above the faint hum of the equipment, he could hear Kate humming a lullaby. John paused in the d
oorway. He’d never seen this warm, tender side of Kate. It seemed so natural. Losing himself, he imagined his head lying in Kate’s lap as she stroked his hair and gazed lovingly into his eyes.
She turned and caught him looking at her. “What?” she said, perplexed. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
Embarrassed, he turned his attention to the monitor. “Anything show up yet?”
“No.” Kate wrinkled her nose. “We’ve been staring at this thing for nearly a day. Nathan said it was fixed, but I question if the bloody thing’s even working!”
And just like that, the spell was broken.
“Okay,” John said, smiling to himself. “I’ll take over for a while.”
Gently waking Erick, Kate came to her feet. “I’ll put him to bed, then I’ll come back.”
~~~
A silver crescent moon carved its way into the night sky. Its pale reflection danced across the waves between the old wooden rails of a pier. Sprawled out on a lounge chair at the end of Pier 18, an elderly man struggled to stay awake. Again, the glittering waters faded as his eyes closed. Cracking an eyelid, he checked to make sure his trusty fishing rod was still leaned against the rail.
Suddenly, the bottom of the rod started to dance. His hand quickly slapped the top of the rail, but it was too late. He just missed his rod as it shot over the end of the pier.
“Aaagh! That’s the second time that’s happened this season,” he grumbled, opening his eyes fully. Slowly, his gaze rose above the top rail, and he saw what looked like the top of a gray picket fence gliding through the waves.
“Blimey!” the old timer wheezed.
Beneath the wake from the frill, the moonlight showed a massive stretch of gray, tiger-striped skin. He watched as the frill—as long as his son’s forty-foot yacht—continued to head west, slicing through the sea, the tangled fishing rod trailing behind, spraying water into the air.
~~~
Alone in the dark surveillance cabin, John and Kate sat nestled on a sleeping bag in a corner. It was a cozy arrangement, nice and close. The sole source of light was the gridded screen that bathed their faces in blue.
Kate said, “Nathan assures me the equipment’s still working on this end. Even though the ship’s electrical system fried, he said the generator is all we need.” She eased her head back, stretching her neck. “Now if we could just pick up a signal . . . get the pliosaur’s position.”
John discretely gave Kate the once-over. Her face, arms, and legs were enticing shadows in the cabin’s low blue light. Kate fidgeted when she noticed he was watching. He could feel the tension between them.
To end the awkward silence, John made an attempt at conversation. “I guess it’s obvious how you got into this business—genetics.”
“Hardly,” Kate gave a weak laugh. “I used to think my parents were nuts roaming around in all of those godforsaken places. I was always more of the girly-girl type, although I didn’t look like it. ‘Straight Kate,’ that’s what they used to call me in high school. From head to toe, straight up and down, without a curve. And as timid as they come.”
John gave her another long look, not hiding his admiration this time. “Clearly, something happened.”
“Ted is what happened. It was through his eyes that I finally saw what lured my parents to the field of archeology. It didn’t happen overnight, though. With my fear of heights, I didn’t think I would ever set foot in that rickety helicopter of his.”
“Ted,” John said. “What happened?”
Kate paused for a long moment.
“I’m sorry.” John felt like an insensitive fool, “If it’s too painful, you––”
“No, no,” Kate insisted, “it’s okay.” She gave a wink, “After all, you did spill your guts to me.” She eased her head back against the wall. “Since our wedding day, Ted constantly hounded me to join him on an expedition. On our six-month anniversary, I finally relented. Nothing heavy duty, mind you; just a little jaunt to one of the uninhabited Seychelle Islands.” She said boldly, “He promised me when I came back from that island, I’d be a new woman!”
Staring blankly at the monitor, Kate continued. “About half a mile into the thick, Ted started complaining about a pain in his right calf. He said he thought it was a cramp, and he had been trying to walk it off for the last ten minutes. When he pulled up his pant leg, his entire calf was red. In the center, two puncture marks . . . from a black mamba. No anti-venom kit. Nothing.
“By the time I got him back to the chopper, he couldn’t move his leg. No way he could work the pedals. In spite of my fear of heights, I hopped into the pilot’s seat. He coached me through it, told me exactly what to do.” She paused for a long moment. “After about twenty-five minutes, the instructions stopped coming. By the grace of God I made it back to Madagascar . . . on my own.
“Guess you never know what you’re capable of until you have to do it. But in some strange, twisted way, Ted still made good on his promise. When I came back from that island, I was a different woman.”
She lowered her gaze. “After that, I couldn’t bring myself to sell the chopper. Instead, I took lessons. Six months later, I had learned to fly it. Guess I did it out of respect for him . . . whenever I’m flying it, I feel like he’s still with me, guiding me.” Kate stared at the screen for a long moment, pursed her lips and inhaled deeply, as if gathering up her nerve. She said shyly, “You know, in some ways you remind me of him. Not just the bad jokes and the snoring, but the way you feel for people.”
She then turned to face John, who’d apparently fallen asleep. “Figures,” she whispered.
Then just a heartbeat or two later, John opened his eyes. “Why don’t you get some sleep? I’ll watch the monitor for a while.”
Kate laughed, “That’s okay, Sleeping Beauty. We’d miss the signal for sure. A minute ago, I was right in the middle of a conversation with you, and when I looked up, you were fast asleep.”
John yawned. “Just resting my eyes.”
“Sure. Right!”
He gave a coy smile, “Well, don’t keep me in suspense, Straight Kate . . . what else about me reminds you of your husband?”
Kate’s jaw dropped, mortification on her face. “You . . . you heard me!”
John shh’d her and took her hand. She bit her lip with a shy smile.
He slowly pulled her closer. As their fingers interlocked, he whispered, “If they called you Straight Kate, it must have been a school for the visually impaired.”
For once, Kate was at a loss for words. Their faces moved closer together, outlined by the glowing monitor. Then, just before their lips touched, the red dot came on between them, marking the pliosaur’s position.
“The signal’s on,” Kate whispered.
Eyes closed, John murmured, “Yes, the signal’s on.” Then his eyes sprang open.
“THE SIGNAL’S ON!”
Chapter 6
PIER SIXTEEN
Seven miles west of Hermanus, at the end of a long pier, Lewis Jones was hard at work drowning bait. At fifty-eight, he was an excellent stockbroker, but was at a total loss on the finer points of fishing. After one more click of the reel, he lowered his fishing rod and leaned it against the rail. He watched the line arc with the night’s breeze as it led down to the water.
Katherine, his fifty-seven-year-old wife, adjusted a scarf around her hair and gazed out to sea. “Look. It’s so dark out there, you can barely see the horizon. And this fog . . . it seems to have appeared out of nowhere.”
Turning around, the man looked at a small, wooden structure at mid-pier. It was a shop where patrons paid five dollars each for the privilege of gazing at a giant sea turtle in a tank before passing through a gate to the end of the pier. The attendant was lowering hinged sheets of plywood over the windows. Lewis looked at his wife. “Look at that, will ya. If I’d waited another fifteen minutes, I coulda saved ten bucks.”
Katherine turned around. “Relax, Lewis. We’re on vacation. You don’t have to c
ount every penny. Besides, you wouldn’t have gotten to see the big turtle.”
“Turtle, shmurtle. No one cares about the turtle; that’s just an excuse for them to charge you more to come out here and fish!” Lewis glanced back at the shop as the attendant walked in the opposite direction. “Too bad they closed up. I need a bottled water or Gatorade. I’m starting to get a headache. Don’t think I’m hydrated enough after all that sun today.”
“Well, I haven’t been getting much exercise since we’ve been on vacation.” Katherine looked down at her watch. “I’ll see if Jim and Kelly are still on the beach. If not, I think I saw a drink machine in front of that bait shop we stopped at earlier.”
“Thanks, hon. By the time you get back, I’ll have tomorrow’s supper already filleted.”
“You’ll be lucky if you get a bite before I get back!” Katherine said, and laughed as she walked down the pier toward shore.
~~~
Soaring over the night sea, John nodded and spoke into a walkie-talkie. “Okay Nathan, let us know if it moves again. Out.” Clicking off, he looked at Kate. “According to Nathan, the signal’s headed inland. Seems the generator he rigged up to the ship’s receiver did the trick.” John glanced down at the walkie-talkie in his hand. “I’m glad he remembered they had these on board. With the ship’s cell tower and electrical system fried, we wouldn’t have had any other means of communication.”
Kate smiled behind the mike on her headset. “Guess we’re fortunate that you decided not to hurl him back into the sea, huh?”
Still mildly embarrassed by the incident, John raised a pair of binoculars. After a few minutes of staring at the night sea, he paused. The binoculars trained on a distant boat. “Tell me I don’t see that.”
“What? Do you see the creature?”
“No,” John adjusted the binoculars. “That boat at four o’clock. Not sure, but it looks like they’re finning sharks.”