Depths of Paradise

by Vance Albright

  “Okay, here’s your food, and here, can you take mine over to the coffee table? I’ll bring the drinks in.” Riley laid both plates on the table. Mya walked in with two cups of coffee adorned with whipped cream and a strawberry.

  “Mya, you didn’t need to go this fancy.”

  “Fancy? All I did was throw a spoonful of whipped cream on the coffee and added a strawberry.”

  “It’s still nice you took the time to do it,” Riley said. “I’ll have to make you lunch sometime when I get back.” Riley caught a slight hint of concern form on Mya’s face. “Yes, Mya, I’m coming back and you’ll regret you didn’t join me.”

  “I don’t think I’ll be doing anything water-related anytime soon,” Mya replied.

  “Okay, let’s get back to a fun subject. Shall we?” Riley brought the coffee mug up to her face. When she brought it down, a bunch of whipped cream was on her nose. She had done that purposely to try to make Mya laugh. Mya giggled a bit, then formed a content smile.

  That’s right, Riley, drink up, she thought. The two girls continued their lunch for about twenty minutes. When they were finished eating, Mya got up to put the dishes in the sink.

  “You okay, Riley? You look really tired.”

  “It’s the turkey. Everyone knows turkey makes you sleepy. That’s why everyone takes a nap after Thanksgiving,” Riley replied.

  “You still have a good half an hour before you need to leave. Rest your eyes on the couch. It’s not like you haven’t done it before.” Lying on the couch sounded like heaven to Riley. She laid her head against the couch’s arm.

  “Mya, I need more coffee,” Riley said in a sleepy voice. Mya waited a few minutes, then walked over and saw Riley was out cold.

  “Sorry, Riley,” Mya said as she placed a box of sleeping pills on the computer table. Whatever was swimming in those waters had killed her sister. She was not going to let it kill her only friend on this island too.

  Riley slowly woke up. As her eyes opened, she noticed the clock read four seventeen.

  “Oh my gosh! No!” she cried out, bolting off the couch. Mya paused her game and spun her chair around. “Mya, please! Please tell me this is a prank!” Riley pulled her phone out to check the time, which read the same as the clock.

  “The tour sub left two hours ago.”

  “Why didn’t you..?” Riley paused when she noticed the box of sleeping pills on the computer table, which Mya had intentionally left out. She was not going to hide what she had done.

  “You bitch! You drugged my coffee, didn’t you? Didn’t you!” Now it all made sense. Mya was nervous about the trip yesterday and this morning, she suddenly became all excited about it and wanted to have a pre-trip lunch to celebrate.

  “Yeah, I did. I know what’s going to happen to that sub and I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you. Sorry, but I’d rather have you alive and hating me than dead and happy with me.” Riley’s face was turning red with fury. Mya started mentally preparing herself for the verbal beating Riley was about to unleash.

  “It took me four months to finally save enough to buy that nonrefundable ticket! Do you know how much that ticket cost me?”

  “Nine hundred,” Mya replied. She reached into her purse and pulled out a brown envelope. “It’s one thousand,” she added as she tossed it to Riley, knowing it would change nothing. Riley scoffed as she looked into the envelope. She walked right up to Mya, who stood up. The two just stared at each other for a moment. Riley gave Mya the evil eye, while Mya managed to keep a neutral expression. Riley slapped her across the face. Mya squinted at the pain.

  “Maybe your mother had a good reason to do that. You’re insane! If you want to believe sea monsters exist, that’s fine, but don’t ruin other people’s lives in the process,” Riley said bitterly. She smacked Mya on the shoulder with the envelope. “And if you think this changes anything, you’re dead wrong. Our friendship is over!” Riley started to walk out of the room. She paused, looked at the envelope, then turned to Mya with a smug smile. “You know what? I think I’ll use this to go scuba diving at Molokini Crater.” Mya managed to hide the concern she felt when she heard that. She knew if she made a fuss about it, Riley would be more likely to do it.

  “Do what you want,” Mya replied. Riley gave her one last angry look and walked out the door. Just as she was about to shut it, she reopened it.

  “Oh, Mya. Do me one last favor and delete me from your contact list.” Mya put her head down when the door slammed shut.

  “You had to do it. You had to do it,” Mya repeated, trying to hold back her tears.

  Chapter 25

  6:17 PM 04/15/2021 HST

  The submarine Alexandria approached the wreckage of the Carthaginian II. The Alexandria was a tourist submarine that could hold forty-eight passengers. The sub was painted ocean blue to reduce its effect on the local marine life. This also made marine organisms more likely to swim near it, which made the tourists happy. Two rows of twenty-four seats arranged in a back-to-back position sat in the middle of the sub. Twelve large windows covered the sides of the submarine. Two larger windows were located at the front and back of the sub. Large floodlights were under each of the windows, allowing large areas of ocean to be lit up. The sub had a crew of four: a driver, two stewards, and a tour guide. When the Carthaginian II came into view, the tour guide Chris Sullivan picked up his microphone. Chris Sullivan was a thin man of average height. He had a small beard and short brown hair.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, this will be the second to last sight on the tour. We are now approaching the wreckage of the Carthaginian II on the right.” Several children jumped out of their seats in excitement and glued their faces to the glass domes.

  “We will get a chance to see it too, won’t we?” a middle-aged man sitting in the left facing seats asked. Chris smiled at the people on the left. After seven years of doing this, he was used to people asking stupid questions.

  “Those of you sitting on the left side of the sub, don’t worry. We circle the wreckage multiple times. Everyone will have more than enough time to take pictures and see the local marine life.” Chris paused and stretched out his free arm towards the driver. “Our driver has been giving submarine rides since we opened. The great Tom Reynolds always makes sure our guests get a good show.”

  “That’s right, Chris,” Tom replied. Tom Reynolds was a slightly overweight man in his early fifties. His hair was short and a peppery color of white and gray. Chris explained the wreck’s history when the sub began its first pass.

  “The Carthaginian II rests at a depth of ninety-seven feet. The Carthaginian II was a replica whaling vessel that for twenty years was a floating museum that covered the history of whaling. In two thousand and five, the vessel was sunk to create an artificial reef.”

  “What about fish?” a child screamed, interrupting him. He was sitting on the left side, trying to see the wreckage. His mother pulled him down and scolded him for interrupting the tour. The child was seated near Chris, who smiled at him and motioned to his mother it was okay.

  “The artificial reef is home to a great number of marine life, including: orange spine unicornfish, green sea turtles, eagle rays, butterfly fish, and my personal favorite, the ornate wrasse.” The passengers stared though the glass bulbs, eager to spot the many species of colorful fish. To their disappointment, almost nothing was in the area.

  “Well, where are the fish?” an old woman asked in an annoyed voice.

  “Don’t worry; they will come out,” Chris replied. Secretly, he was wondering the same thing. Normally, the area was teeming with many different species of fish. He put the mic down and walked over to the driver. “Tom, do you have any idea what’s going on?”

  “No idea, Chris. In fifteen years, I’ve never seen the wreck this deserted.” Chris looked over at the two stewards, Sarah and Natasha, who looked just as confused as he was. Both girls were blonde and finishing their final year of college. Everyone stared out the windows, hoping to see some
form of marine life as the sub started its second circle. A man in his mid-forties was seated in the chair second to the end. He was lucky enough to be seated next to the only empty seat on the sub, so he had the window all to himself. The lack of marine life did not bother him. The main reason he had come on the voyage was to see and photograph the shipwreck.

  The photos would look better with some fish, but then again, a picture only showing the ship is unique, he thought. He placed the camera up to his eye. He aimed it at one of the two broken sail masts resting on the ship’s hull. He was about to take the picture when the lights in the sub started to flicker. The sounds of frightened people started filling the sub as the lights flickered on and off a few more times, then went off entirely.

  “What’s happening?” one passenger yelled.

  “Has this ever happened before?” another frightened person asked.

  “Everyone, please remain calm. Yes, this has happened before. It’s just a minor power outage. Please remain calm and stay in your seats,” Chris said. Of course he was lying. Nothing like this had ever happened, but he needed to keep the occupants of the sub calm. “Natasha, Sarah, can you please bring out the emergency flashlights?” Chris went over to Tom and said, “Tom, what’s going on?”

  “Chris, I have no idea, and I’m afraid to say we are in trouble.” There was a concern to his voice that Chris had never heard before, which made him feel very uneasy. “I don’t understand it. Power is off throughout the sub, the radio is not working, and neither are the ballast tanks.”

  “Chris,” Natasha whispered.

  “Yes, what is it? Do you have the flashlights?”

  “That’s what I came to talk to you about. None of the flashlights are working. We tried changing the batteries several times and nothing. Chris, what’s happening?” Natasha asked in a voice filled with pure fear.

  “I don’t know, but we have to stay calm. The last thing we need is a panic breaking out. Tom, try to get things working again. Natasha, you and Sarah provide refreshments, play games with the children on board, and try to comfort frightened passengers.” She shook her head and went on with her duties. Chris stood in the same spot he did when he spoke on the tours. The microphone was out, but he could still speak loudly enough for everyone to clearly hear him. “Okay, folks, we are having technical difficulties and may be stuck here for a while.” Several people started talking at once.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Are we in danger?”

  Chris answered in a calm, confident voice, “We don’t know what happened, but there is no need to worry. We have plenty of oxygen and the sub has a GPS locator. People know exactly where we are and will come rescue us. So, let’s remain calm and get through this together.” His speech seemed to satisfy the crowd. The man with the camera looked down at the camera, planning on reviewing the photos he had taken. To his surprise, the camera was not on. He tried to turn it on and off again. The camera came to life long enough to show a dead battery icon.

  “How can the battery be dead? It was full just a second ago,” he said in frustration. He overheard several other people complaining about their cell phones or cameras not working. His attention was drawn away from the camera when out of the corner of his eye he saw a shadow move onto the wreckage. His full attention went to the outside world. Without the floodlights from the sub, the mid-section of the ship was nothing but a dark outline. He got out of his seat and walked right up to the glass. That’s when he saw it. Standing between the two broken masts was a large creature. It was too dark to make out any details, but there was no doubt it was a living creature. It moved one of its front feet onto one of the masts, looked right at the sub, and got into a position similar to a large cat that was ready to strike.

  “There’s something out there!” he screamed as his body hit the floor. Several people started getting out of their seats. Some were trying to help the man sitting on the floor, while others wanted to know what he saw.

  “Sir, calm down. I need you to return to your seat,” Chris said. This was the last thing he needed. Everyone was frightened enough, and this was not going to help things at all.

  “No, you don’t understand; there’s something out there! It was a sea monster or something!” The man’s eyes were wide with horror and his voice was full of dread. The two stewards joined Chris in an attempt to calm the frightened man down. Chris heard a child ask his mother if there were really a sea monster outside. Chris knew he needed to handle the situation quickly. Before he could think what to do next, the sub was struck from below. The sub rocked slightly, causing several of the standing people to stumble.

  “Tom, what happened!” Chris yelled.

  “Something hit us!” he replied.

  “There’s something in here with us! I saw it!” a man screamed.

  “He’s right! I just saw something out of the corner of my eyes!” a frightened women agreed with him.

  “We have to get out of here!” the man with the camera cried. He rushed for the ladder at the front of the sub that led to the entrance hatch. In a panic, he started to climb. Chris and a few other passengers that were able to remain calm grabbed the man and pulled him down. As Chris tried to force the man back into his seat, several passengers started complaining about feeling sick. Natasha was checking on Sarah, who was throwing up.

  What is going on? Chris thought. Just then, Tom’s voice cut through the noise.

  “Good news, everyone. I managed to manually open the ballast tanks. We’ll be at the surface in three minutes. Everyone just hang in there.” Hearing that was the beacon of hope they needed. Somehow in all the chaos, Tom managed to keep calm and discover a solution. A true veteran of the sea. The feeling of hope was broken by a loud roar coming from somewhere in the darkness. Shortly after the sound, the sub was struck hard on the right side. Cracks started to form in several of the glass windows. Now everyone was screaming in panic. The creature wrapped its bottom feet around the sub’s underside and used its front limbs to force the sub to turn onto its left side, sending the sub towards the ocean floor. As the sub turned, the passenger’s screams of terror continued. People were falling or clinging on to something. The stomach of the large marine creature attacking them covered several of the windows. Tom tried to control the sub, but it was useless. The sub hit the ocean floor hard. The impact from several large rocks broke portions of the glass windows, causing water to slowly start leaking into the sub.

  Inside was a living nightmare. Many passengers were wounded or unconscious, and several elderly people had bones broken or were killed by the impact. One of the small children on board was trying to wake his unconscious mother. The few passengers that were unharmed were fighting over the two oxygen tanks on board. Joining the sounds of crying and screaming people was the sound of the creature clawing and biting at the sub’s steel body. The metallic scraping combined with the rising water had turned the once peaceful, fun-loving passengers into a mob of frightened animals. Chris lay on his back in disbelief, watching the creature’s tail and back foot through a viewing window.

  How was this possible? he thought. Somehow, he found the strength to grab on to the ship’s ladder. He pulled himself up in a daze. Blood was flowing down from a wound on his head. He looked over at Tom, who was lying motionless at the controls. A large splatter of blood covered some of the controls on the side control panel. He looked for Sara and Natasha. Natasha was lying motionless on one of the windows. The bruise on her eye suggested she had been hit by someone. Sara was huddled in a ball, crying and screaming for help. Everything seemed to stop when the creature’s head burst through the large window at the end of the sub. The horrifying sound of breaking glass filled the room. It grabbed one of the passengers and started shaking him. The other screams were soon muffled by the rising water.

  Chapter 26

  5:25 AM 04/16/2021 HST

  Ashly Cross walked over to the boat’s control panel. The night search had found no activity whatsoever. If they didn�
��t find anything within the next few hours, she was going to call it quits. She was tired, and being stuck on the boat with Samuel all night did not help things. The two managed the situation by ignoring each other. Samuel was currently sleeping in the command chair, like he had been most of the night, which was fine with Ashly. She spent the night driving the Barracuda around Maui, using coffee to stay awake and her phone for entertainment. Ashly heard Samuel wake with a loud yawn. He pulled a small cereal box from his backpack.

  After eating it, he asked, “How far does the sonar you’re using track?”

  It was nice while it lasted, she thought, then answered his question. “At this depth it can reach the ocean floor. It can also scan a radius of one mile.”

  “You mean like that spot on the screen?” Samuel asked in warning. A look of shock formed on Ashly’s face. The sonar screen showed a fifty-seven-foot-long object, twenty-four feet from them. The sonar reading also confirmed it was surfacing fast.

  “How did I not catch that?” she yelled. She had been so bored and tired, she had gotten lax checking the sonar.

  “That must be him! Ashly, what are we going to do?” Samuel yelled in a concerned voice. She was too busy trying to get the ship’s weapon systems online to answer him.

  “Get on the sonar and tell me how close the object is to the surface!” she ordered. Ashly sat in the ship’s weapons chair and activated the main weapon. She looked out the window eagerly as the hatch on the front of the boat started to open. It took less than a minute for the ship’s double heavy machine guns to appear. “Samuel, where is it? How close to the surface is it?”

  “It’s currently on the right side and only fifteen feet from the surface!” Ashly grabbed the joystick and turned the turret to the right side. “Of course, those guns will not do any good if he decides to ram us from the bottom,” Samuel added. The thought of something breaking through the ship’s hull sent a chill down Ashly’s spin. Sweat started pouring down her forehead when Samuel told her the sonar reading was only ten feet from the surface. Ashly’s index finger was tensely on the firing trigger. She was ready for the horror that was about to rise from the deep. She gasped when a large fountain of water broke the surface. The tension left her body as the massive body of a humpback whale appeared for a moment and disappeared beneath the water.