The Ocean King: A Deep Sea Thriller

by Russ Watts

  “Anyway, that was the final straw for my mother. I came home after and he didn’t. There was never even a body to bury. His grave is full of his medals, schoolbooks, photographs, and stuff like that, just personal things. They put the video online when he was killed. They didn’t need to do that. Do they really think it’s going to inspire an uprising or recruit more people to their cause? He was just a man, a regular guy. They had no right to do that. I had to watch it. I had to know how it ended. After they cut off his head, I just…

  “It took years for me to accept he was gone, and even now, I can’t really believe it. Without having him come back, it’s like he might still be out there. I know he’s dead, but to me, he’s still missing. I just want to be able to talk to my brother again and tell him I’m sorry. I still talk to him, but it’s not the same. I like to think he’s around sometimes. My mother has never accepted the way it happened. She blames me. Nothing I ever said changed her mind, and in the end, I gave up. I couldn’t deal with her anymore. Her anger was ruining his memory for me. Now Meghan’s gone too, and…the snakes in my head keep going round and round, Amanda. It’s like a whole bag full of them up there, hissing and fighting and biting, poisoning my mind. I need them out. I can’t live like this anymore. I can’t go on without him, knowing that what I did… I know it now. It will be different this time though. I have another chance, Amanda.”

  Don turned to look at Amanda. She was crying. Her blonde hair was damp and straggly, and her eyes shone despite the tears. Don knew he was keeping Amanda from Hamish. He had to let her go too. Don looked at the sleeping monster on the deck. “I’m going to finish this. The responsibility is mine now. I’m going to kill Diablo, and then I’m going to kill the Ocean King. He’s waiting for me, I can feel it. We’re close now. I’m close. He’s waiting. This is the end, Amanda. He’s out there waiting for me.”

  Amanda put her arms around Don. “Please, Don, you’re scaring me. I’m so sorry, I didn’t know. I wish you had told me. We’ve been friends for so many years, and I never knew.”

  Don held Amanda, and looked at Diablo. It needed finishing.

  “Amanda, get inside with Hamish. I’ll be there in a moment. I need to talk to all of you about how we’re going to kill the Ocean King.”

  “You’ll be okay?”

  Don nodded and watched Amanda retreat to the cabin. Once she was inside and the door was closed, he unlocked the chest they had brought onto the trawler from San Clemente. Inside was a small armoury. He saw two Colt M4 Carbines, one HK MP5 with three clips, two ASM-DT amphibious rifles, one AK47, six grenades, one detonator, and a kilo of C4.

  Good boy, Ryan, I have to say I’m impressed. Uncle Taggart was right about you. I just hope I get you out of this alive. You’ll be heading home with a Medal of Honor if this goes right.

  Don picked up the Colt M4 and checked the mag. Then he walked over to Diablo and stood by the creature’s centre. Its body was rising in a regular pattern, as if it was having a gentle nap. Its eyes were gelatinous cavities, and thick rope was wound over it so that it couldn’t escape. Don unloaded a full mag into the creature’s side, grinning as he did so. Diablo thrashed and bucked beneath the ties, but was powerless to free itself. Its jaws snapped up and down and Don heard the pathetic barking it made as he continued to rip it apart. Blood dripped out onto the deck, forming a slick trail of death. When the mag was empty, he threw the gun down and walked calmly back to the cabin.

  “What the hell’s going on?” shouted Hamish.

  “Jesus, that barking is horrible, can’t you shut it up?” asked Jay. “Why’d you have to go and do that?”

  “Relax,” said Don entering the cabin. He saw the startled faces staring back at him. “We’ve waited too long already. If mommy wants her baby back, she’s going to have to come get him. It seems to me she was having trouble finding him, so I thought she might need a bit of help.”

  “And you thought shooting Diablo was a good idea?” asked Jay. “Have you gone insane?”

  Don held his arms out. “Do you see the Ocean King anywhere? Do you notice any monsters out there? It’s about time we stopped sitting around waiting, and gave it an incentive to get out here. Let’s get this done.”

  As Diablo continued banging on the deck and barking madly, Don sat down at the table. “Now, we probably don’t have long before mommy arrives. I suggest we go over the plan of how we’re going to kill this bitch.”

  CHAPTER 15

  OCTOBER SATURDAY 18TH 12:33

  “Maybe Lady Luck will pay us a visit and the Ocean King’s gone home, just gone back to where it came from,” said Jay.

  “Doubtful,” said Amanda. “If it has lost its only child, it might want to stick around. Plus, it knows there’s a plentiful food supply. We’ll need more than luck to beat it.”

  Don shook his head in disagreement. “I don’t need to put my faith in luck or anything else. We can beat this thing, but we use our heads. We can outsmart it, outthink it.”

  “Don’s right,” said Hamish. “Look, if there’s one thing my father taught me, it’s that the ocean is a dangerous place, just as dangerous as being on land. With this Ocean King swimming around, it just got a whole lot worse. You make your own luck out here, so we’re going to do things my way. I’m the captain of this boat now, and if we all go shooting off doing our own thing, somebody’s liable to get hurt.

  “I remember, I was about twelve, Dad came home one day and said he’d caught a tuna, the biggest one he’d ever caught. This big, he said.” Hamish held his arms out as far as he could and Don smiled. “I remember Mom saying he must have had a good day, been real lucky to land it. At first, he said nothing and then he lost it. He kept saying how it wasn’t luck that had put food on the family table for the last fifteen years, that it wasn’t luck he and Mom had met, or had a healthy boy. He said life was what you made it, you worked hard, you took your opportunities, and if rabbit’s feet and horseshoes had anything to with it, then why were the Irish so fucking miserable all the time.”

  Don looked at Amanda. She was watching her boyfriend with a look of fascination and awe. There was a huge serving of love in those eyes too, and Don knew they were meant for each other.

  Hamish continued. “Anyway, then Mom told him off for swearing in front of me, and I don’t know what happened after that. That was about as close to fighting as my folks ever got.” Hamish paused and then sighed. “I sure miss him.”

  Amanda leant across the table and squeezed Hamish’s hand. They looked at each other warmly, and then let go, aware they had company and unsure of how much affection they could display.

  “You could argue it was sheer luck that we didn’t get nailed out there at the park. You could say God had an eye on us. I sure know that’s what my mother would’ve said.” Don yawned. Sleep had been hard to find last night and he felt exhausted. “Do you think it’s lucky that we’re still here when so many are dead? We do this as planned and we can come out of this. Let’s go over it, I don’t want to be caught short.” Don squeezed his right hand. It was like a tic, something he did from time to time without even knowing why. “That bitch could surface anytime and I want to be ready. I believe in what I can see. We have a monster coming for us, and we are going to be more than ready for it when it does.”

  Ryan spoke up. “I don’t know about this, Don. I wasn’t sure if I should tell you, but while you were outside, I got a call from Ravensbrook. He said the army is assembling all along the coastline and erecting barricades from Tijuana to La Jolla. They’re preparing for an attack again. They think the monster is biding its time, and that it’ll strike San Diego. Once it shows its ugly face, they are going to blast it into a million pieces.”

  “Well, I’m pleased they’re taking precautions, but they’re wrong. The Ocean King isn’t going to go back to San Diego. The only way to get to it is to lure it out, and the best place for that is well away from the major population centres. That monster is going to come after us, after her child.”<
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  “What if it does go back to the city? What if the military do capture it?” asked Jay.

  “Well, I think the first thing they’ll do is try and figure out a way of controlling it. A monster like that? Imagine if it was fighting for us, not against us,” said Ryan. “It has an incredible natural power.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” said Don, “they won’t find it, they won’t capture it, and they won’t kill it. The army is looking in the wrong place. Diablo is screaming his head off out there. The Ocean King is coming this way.”

  “How can you be so sure? They’ve got armour-plated bullets, fighter jets flying overhead loaded with ballistic missiles, and the best soldiers in the God damn world,” said Ryan.

  Don shook his head. “They won’t get it. This monster is bigger and badder than we are, true, but it’s clever. It’s not a dumb animal. It knew what it was doing when it came here. It’s not going to stay in hiding near Wild Seas or the city. It’ll go back to where it can survive, where it won’t be noticed. I wouldn’t be surprised if it had survived by hiding in one of the underwater canyons. No, when it’s ready, there’s only one thing that it wants, and we have it.”

  “And what if you’re just blinded by revenge?” asked Jay. “Have you thought this through clearly? What if you’re wrong?”

  Don looked at Jay with contempt. “If I’m wrong, then what are you doing here? I thought you wanted to make this right? If you’re so convinced everything we’re doing is wrong, why didn’t you stay in the city? You seem to believe the Ocean King is going to be a no-show. You’d be nice and safe back in San Diego, surrounded by soldiers who would die for you. Then you wouldn’t have to get your hands dirty. That’s what this is about for you isn’t it, Jay? Amanda told me what you did to Diablo last night, how you pumped it full of drugs. You knew what you were doing was wrong, but you did precisely what Zola told you to do, and look what happened. You’re a coward.”

  Jay stood up wagging his finger at Don. “You’ve no right. You don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know what’s going on in your head, Don. This is some sort of crusade you’re on and you’re going to get us all killed. Fuck this.” Jay stormed out of the cabin leaving the room in relative silence. Only the faint chattering from the radio and Diablo’s barking could be heard.

  “That went well,” said Don. “Right, well if anyone else thinks we’re barking up the wrong tree here, let’s get it out now and clear the air.”

  Nobody spoke a word. Don wondered what Jay thought he was going to achieve. There was nothing he could do out there, no way back to the mainland without all of them going. He was better off staying outside where he could sulk. Better to let him cool off than confront him now.

  “Right, assuming The Ocean King is on its way, we need to be ready.”

  “So how exactly do we kill it?” Hamish put his arm around Amanda. “Like you said, it could’ve taken down that cruise ship in seconds, and my boat is not even a quarter the size. It could smash us into oblivion before we even knew it was here.”

  “True, but they weren’t expecting it, we are. We all know why it came to Wild Seas last night. We still have what it wants. We have a hostage.”

  “I see now,” said Amanda. “The Ocean King won’t attack us as it knows we have Diablo. It wants its young back. If it destroys the boat, it destroys its child. You’re putting a lot of faith in this theory of yours, Don.”

  “As long as we have Diablo tied up out there, we have the upper hand. It’s going to be mighty pissed off, but it’ll keep its hands off until it gets Diablo back.” Don unfurled the map they had looked over earlier and pointed to La Jolla Canyon. “If it was hiding around here, then it should be here soon. Very soon.”

  “And what do we have to kill it?” asked Hamish.

  Don turned to Ryan. “Glad you asked. That’s where my cousin comes in.”

  “Thanks for picking me up by the way. I was beginning to feel a bit like Tom Hanks in that movie,” said Ryan. “Anyway, that chest I brought aboard with Don? It’s full of weapons we can use to kill it. I gathered up everything I could find, which wasn’t as much as I’d hoped, but it should be enough.”

  “It’ll be enough,” said Don. “We’ve got two Colt M4’s, an AK47, two ASM-DT’s, grenades, and some C4.”

  “I’ve also got an S37 combat knife tucked away, just in case,” said Ryan lifting his shirt to reveal a ripped torso and the hilt of a blade.

  “Hamish and Amanda, I want you two to take the amphibious rifles. If this bitch gets out of the water, or stays in it, either way, we can take her out. When we see it, we arm up and take it down. We have to wait ‘til it’s close enough, and aim for the head. Go for the eyes. If it can’t see us, it can’t get to us. It can’t touch the trawler with Diablo on board, so it’ll make a lot of noise, try to scare us, but we can’t buckle. When the time comes, unload everything you’ve got at it. When it’s weakened, I’m going to untie Diablo and let him go.”

  “Let him go? But…”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve not gone all soft on you,” said Don. “He’s going to have the C4 strapped to him, and when he snuggles up to mom, kaboom. The Ocean King will be shark food.”

  Hamish cracked open a beer and offered the others one, yet, only Don took one. Hamish took a swig. “Sounds like a plan to me. You might want to show me, Amanda, and Jay, how to use these weapons, Don, we’re not used to them like you and Ryan.”

  “And when they’re both dead, then what?” said Amanda.

  “Then we go home,” said Ryan.

  The trawler rocked gently from side to side as they drank their beer and contemplated what lay ahead. It almost sounded easy. Shoot the big guy, blow up the little guy, and be home for supper. Amanda turned up the radio, but there was no more news on the whereabouts of the Ocean King. The station had opened up to callers and they listened as a young man called to say he had seen it in the Sleep Train Amphitheatre, which had quickly been discredited as a crank call. Somebody else phoned in to say the monster was moving across the US to Washington, that it was a message from God and it was going to eat the President. “God is waiting,” they’d said before being cut off.

  Another caller believed it was the start of an alien invasion and the creature had flown down from the dark side of the moon. Don wished it was an alien, but he knew it was all too real. In times of crisis, there were always a few crackpots who came out with their theories and odd beliefs. Ultimately, it was flesh and blood, and it could be killed. He intended to make sure it died today, one way or another. He finished the beer and then asked everyone out onto the deck. He had to make sure they could all shoot when the time came. Ryan was schooled in the basics of how to use the weapons, but the others had no idea where to start.

  Don opened the cabin door, and led them all up onto the deck. Diablo’s barking was louder outside, and it was a wonder the Ocean King hadn’t attacked them already. He glanced up at the cloudy sky. The brittle wind cut and sliced through the air, snapping at Don’s flesh as if it were armed with pincers and razor blades. He drew his jacket up to his neck and stared at Jay as he approached the chest.

  “Jay, what the hell are you doing?” Don saw him standing over Diablo’s tail, sawing through one of the ropes. The tie came away and Jay stood up, triumphantly holding it above his head before throwing it into the sea.

  Most of the creature’s tail was now free, and it was whipping back and forth like an untended pressure hose. It also meant the ties around Diablo’s body had become looser, and its body was hammering onto the deck, bouncing up and down as it tried to break completely free. There was no easy way to get to Jay now, who was at the stern. Diablo’s body filled the deck, and his head was at the front, near the cabin.

  “Jay, stop!” shouted Amanda, as he leant over and began to cut through another of the tethers that held Diablo in place.

  “You’re wrong,” said Jay. “We can’t defeat the Ocean King. The only thing we can do now is let Diablo go. Let
the army deal with this. If we let Diablo go, she’ll leave us alone. We just need to give her back her child, and we can go back to land.”

  “Jay, you idiot, stop. This is my boat, and I’m telling you to stop right now!” Hamish tried to manoeuvre past Diablo’s head, but there was no room. With the ties becoming looser, it gave Diablo just enough leeway to angle his head and block any path down to the stern of the boat. Its jaws snapped from left to right. “What do we do, Don, we can’t let Diablo go, not now.”

  “Ryan, open the chest,” said Don coolly. He watched as Ryan lifted the lid. “Pass me the AK47, please.”

  Don took the weapon from Ryan and aimed it squarely at Jay. “Jay, look at me.”

  Jay glanced up from his work. His hands were sore from gripping the rough rope and knife. He saw the gun trained on him and stood up. Confusion rippled through his eyes. “Don, you know this is the only thing we can do. I have to do it.” Jay bent down slowly over Diablo.

  “Jay, listen to me, there is more at stake here than our own lives, and you know it. If we let Diablo go now, then it’s over. It wins. The Ocean King is already coming for us. And if we don’t have Diablo safely tied up on this boat, then we are all dead. You understand? So drop the knife, stand up, and nobody has to get hurt.”

  Ryan pulled out the two amphibious rifles and loaded them. He passed one each to Hamish and Amanda. “Just in case,” he whispered.

  Jay began to saw at another piece of rope. “Don, I can’t let you do this. You’re not going to shoot me.”

  Don felt the pressure in his head building. Jay wasn’t insane or angry, he was just scared. But they couldn’t let Diablo escape before they were ready, or the plan was lost, and with it any chance of killing the Ocean King. “Jay, I’m not giving you another chance. Drop the knife now.”