Depths of Paradise

by Vance Albright

  “It a whale,” she said softly in relief. She turned to Samuel. “It’s a whale.” Samuel did not say anything, and Ashly did not need him to. The look on his face said it all. He knew the whole time. Ashly did not say anything for a moment; she just glared at him with a look of fury. “Samuel, I could have shot that whale! Whaling is illegal in the United States! I could have been charged with poaching or…”

  “Darling, if you’re going to join me in monster hunting, you at least need to know the local wildlife. I knew right away the object on the sonar was way too large to be our monster.” Ashly was not going to give him the satisfaction of hearing her yell about it anymore. She just reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. “I’ll let you know if anything important appears on the sonar,” he said.

  An hour had passed. The sun was now halfway up. Ashly had hooked an alarm to the sonar to alert them if anything large was in the area. Aside from the whale setting off the sonar detector a few times, things had been quiet. Samuel was busy updating his website with the latest cryptid news. Ashly was listening to an audiobook, trying to pretend he was not with her. When the chapter of her book finished, she took her headphones off and was about to say, “let’s head home” when the sonar light went off.

  “Looks like our friend the whale’s back,” Samuel said casually. He glanced at the screen. His voice soon took a more serious tone. “Ashly, I’m not kidding this time. Come here,” he said. Ashly walked over to the sonar.

  “This had better not be another joke,” she thought to herself. The sonar showed a thirty-two-foot-long object had just entered sonar range.

  “Do you think that’s another whale?” Ashly asked, hoping it was.

  “I don’t know. It could be a smaller species of whale, but I recommend we check it out,” Samuel replied. For once, Ashly agreed with him. She walked out onto the bridge, pulled the tarp off her MSR-2 robot, and attached a cable to it. She then tossed it into the water, then quickly returned to the ship’s control room. She turned on a monitor that was connected to the robot’s camera system. A highly detailed image of the ocean came into view. “Samuel, I need you to guide me to the target. Tell me how far away it is and at what depth,” Ashly said as she started moving the MSR-2 in the object’s direction. Samuel fed Ashly the information she needed and for the time being, they were actually working as an effective team.

  When the robot was one fourth of a mile out, Samuel said, “Ashly, I highly recommend you turn off any light sources the robot has. The creature may see light sources as prey.”

  “That’s what I’m counting on,” she replied. She pressed a button, which released two smaller drones from the MSR-2. The drones started flashing bright beams of lights. Ashly activated the night vision and stopped the MSR-2 a few yards above them.

  “I have to admit, very clever, darling,” Samuel admitted. Ashly gave him only a slightly annoyed look but was pleased with the compliment. “Well, I think we can confirm this is our monster. The moment those lights started flashing, he increased his speed.” Samuel’s hands were becoming sweaty with anticipation as the large green dot got closer to MSR-2 location. He moved his chair over to Ashly’s screen, eager to see a cryptid. After years of research and searching, finally his moment had arrived. The next few minutes were filled with tension as a large dark object in the distance came closer and closer. Their breathing shortened when the creature finally come into view. Samuel dropped his coffee mug, which caused Ashly to flinch.

  “No, it can’t be!” Samuel said in a shocked voice. The creature’s back and face was covered in light silvery colored fur. The rest of the creature’s body had light brown fur. Some signs of scarring were noticeable across the creature’s body, leaving black streaks and patches. Four webbed feet, and a thick tail propelled it though the water. A row of scales ran down the creature’s tail. The head of the creature was its most unusual feature. It had the muscular skull and face of a large cat, and antlers protruded behind both otter-like ears. Four canine teeth showed from the front sides of the creature’s mouth.

  “Samuel, what is it? A Nothosaurus?” Ashly asked. Samuel was not listening to her. He started rambling as he stared at the screen in an almost trance-like state.

  “The most powerful underworld being, the masters of all marine creatures.”

  “Samuel, what is it!” Ashly screamed. She looked back at the monitor when she heard a crunching sound. The creature bit down on one of the light drones. It spit it out quickly and stared at it, seemingly confused by what he just ate. Finally, Samuel answered Ashly.

  “A creature feared by indigenous peoples for centuries. The water panther!” Ashly had no idea what he was talking about, but from how shaken up he was, she could tell this was a dangerous animal.

  Look at those teeth, Ashly said to herself, staring at them. She shook her head, trying to snap herself back into focus. She started taking pictures and activated the scanner. The next several minutes were full of tense amazement as the water panther destroyed the last light drone and swam off, disappearing into the dark abyss. Ashly noticed her hands slightly shaking as she uploaded the video footage and scanning data to her computer back on Niihau.

  “How much data did you get?” Samuel asked. He was trying to hide it, but she could tell he was just as shaken as she was.

  “I got video and audio footage. Plus a 3D image of the creature. That will allow us to accurately measure every part of the creature’s body.” She typed in a new command and pulled up the 3D image of the creature. Shortly after it came up, she yelled in excitement, “Oh my gosh! Samuel, look at the creature’s right leg.” One of the claws on the right leg was missing. She turned to him and smiled. “This proves this is our monster.”

  “Nice work, darling. Your skills have finally proven to be useful,” Samuel said, patting her on the shoulder. His words rubbed her the wrong way. She slammed the button on the MSR-2 control panel to reel the cable in, not noticing that she also hit the button that activated the light beacon for nighttime recovery.

  “Samuel, I contribute as much to this team as you do. Tell me who drove us here? Who activated the sonar to find the creature? Who came up with the plan we’re using to kill this creature? Who….” Ashly was cut off when the boat shook. It was not much, but enough to notice. Both their heads turned to the back door and looked at the cable spool starting to reel more cable out to sea. “Oh, no. He grabbed the MSR-2,” Ashly said. She looked at the MSR-2 camera feed, which showed nothing but static.

  “Is it just me or are we moving?” Samuel asked. Ashly noticed the feeling as well. The boat was slowly getting pulled by the cable.

  “He can’t be pulling us! No way he’s that strong!” Ashly yelled.

  “Well, it’s happening! You were just bragging about driving the boat. Start the engine and let’s go!” Samuel screamed. Ashly regained her senses from her brief state of panic and started the boat’s engine.

  “I’m pulling the cable back in,” Samuel said.

  “And bring that creature right to us!” Ashly yelled. She pushed the speed level forward. The boat started to move. The sudden movement broke the robot free from the water panther’s jaws. He roared in anger and started following his prey. “Okay, we’re moving. Hopefully he will stop chasing us,” Ashly said, crossing her fingers. “Now reel the cable in.”

  “You’re the boss,” Samuel said in a mocking voice. He clicked the button to begin reeling in the cable, but nothing happened after pressing it several times. “The cable is not responding to any commands. It must have gotten shorted out.”

  “How?” Ashly asked. “Okay, we’ll just keep going. We can fix it later.” She glanced at the sonar, which showed the water panther was still following them. Hopefully he tires out soon, she thought to herself. “Samuel, how fast can this thing swim?”

  “Who knows?” he replied. He continued slamming the cables reel-in button, convinced it would work eventually. Ashly rolled her eyes. Below, the water panther had caught up to
the MSR-2. He bit down, clamping the robot deep within his jaws. The constant pulling from the boat increased the creature’s fury. He started to swim around, yanking and clawing its prey, hoping to kill it. Ashly and Samuel were rapidly jerked forward by the boat’s sudden loss of speed. The boat was still moving forward, but barely. The two were in a stalemate. “That’s it. I’m cutting the cable!” Samuel yelled, trying to keep his balance on the rocking ship.

  “The stainless steel cutters are in the tool box next to the weapons locker,” Ashly grunted, struggling to keep the boat steady. Samuel made his way to the tool box, and started tossing the tools he didn’t need on the ground. He spotted the cable cutters and grabbed them.

  “Freedom!” he said, holding up the cable cutters. He gingerly made his way to the back deck. The ship was practically jumping though the water, gaining little ground with every thrust. He slowly and carefully walked over to the cable spool. The water jets from the boat’s wake was spraying in his face. Inside the cabin, Ashly noticed the boat engine’s overheating lights were starting to flash red.

  “Hurry up, Samuel,” she said out load. To reduce the stress on the engine, Ashly pulled the boat’s speed level back. Samuel placed the cable in the cutters’ teeth, when the boat rapidly slowed down. The sudden jerk threw Samuel over the cable. He yelled in pain, as he lay on the ground. When his senses returned, he realized the cutters were not in his hand. He frantically looked around but saw nothing. He got up and walked back into the cabin. “Did you cut the cable?” Ashly asked.

  “No, I’m going below to get the spare cable cutters.”

  “We don’t have a spare!” Ashly screamed. Her mouth was wide with surprise. “I can’t believe you dropped them in the water!” Against every instinct in her body, Ashly shut off the engine.

  “What are you doing?” Samuel demanded. “Keep going. We need to tire that creature out!”

  “If we keep fighting with that thing, our engine will overload, and then we will be sitting ducks!” Ashly screamed back. After shutting off the engine, the water panther stopped its thrashing. Satisfied his kill was dead, he started swimming with the MSR-2 still in his mouth. The boat started to move again. “Hey, if we die, at least the data has been uploaded to our teammates,” Ashly said. Samuel heard her and that was it. He was not about to be eaten by a cryptid or stranded in the middle of the ocean. He opened the emergency supplies and pulled out a flare gun. He walked outside. Pointing the gun up to the sky, he fired.

  “What are you doing?” Ashly asked.

  “Marking our location. Calling for help!” Samuel replied. Ashly smiled sarcastically, holding the radio and her cell phone.

  “Well, use them!” Samuel screamed in a panicked voice. Ashly turned on the radio and was about to speak when Samuel yelled.

  “Ashly! We’re heading right for an oil platform!” Ashly ran outside and saw the abandoned oil platform rapidly getting closer.

  “Run to the front of the ship and brace for impact!” she yelled. She put the cell phone in her pocket, grabbed Samuel by the shoulder, and ran. When they reached the front of the ship, Samuel hugged the machine gun.

  “We’re going to crash!” he cried. Ashly grabbed the ship’s guard rail, getting her body ready for the coming impact. Samuel hugged the machine gun tighter and started screaming. A few yards from the platform, the boat came to a stop. Ashly and Samuel looked at the massive structure right in front of them. They could hear the cable grumbling.

  “The cable must be caught up in the underwater structures,” Ashly said in relief. The feeling was short-lived, however.

  “Oh, crap,” Samuel said. The stern of the boat started to sink under the water. Ashly stood up.

  “Samuel, we’re going to jump for the oil rig and climb to the…” Before Ashly could finish, a loud snap filled the air. Ashly stumbled as the boat returned to a straight position.

  “The cable must have snapped,” Samuel observed. Breathing heavily, Ashly ran to the control room and slammed the speed level forward. Samuel entered the cabin as Ashly checked the sonar.

  “He’s not following us! We’re good,” Ashly said. She relaxed in her seat and sighed heavily. “I cannot believe how strong that thing was.”

  “Ashly, Samuel,” Okada’s voice came over the radio.

  “Yes, Okada, everything is fine and dandy here,” Samuel replied. Ashly looked at him in disbelief. “Well, it is.”

  “Return to base at once; we suspect that creature just sunk a sub.”

  Chapter 27

  7:18 AM 04/16/2021 HST

  The Barracuda arrived at the Niihau dock. After tying the boat down, Ashly and Samuel walked into the house.

  “Hey. You two find anything interesting?” Max asked. He and Liz were sitting at the table, eating breakfast. Okada had gotten up an hour earlier and was hard at work in his office. Samuel sat down and started piling food onto this plate.

  “You two have eaten, right?”

  “Yep, take all you want,” Liz answered. Ashly slumped down in the chair.

  “Oh, yes. A lot of interesting stuff happened,” she replied. Her body language showed she was visibly shaken. Inside, Samuel was the same way, but he managed to keep up the illusion that he was perfectly calm.

  “You okay? What happened?” Liz asked.

  “Well, we found our friend. It destroyed the MSR-2 and drug the Barracuda around for a while.”

  “What? Okada told me everything went fine?” Liz said, stunned.

  “That’s what people with big egos wanted you to believe,” Ashly said, turning towards Samuel.

  “Okay, enough, let’s not start infighting,” Max said, wanting to stop any bickering before it got started. “Ashly, the creature. What was it?”

  “Hold on. Okada will want to hear this,” Liz interrupted. While they waited, Ashly got up and put some eggs and toast on a plate. When Liz returned with Okada, Max spoke.

  “Okay, Ashly, you were saying?” He wanted to finally learn what this mystery creature was.

  “Turns out our friend is a creature known as a water panther.”

  “What is a water panther?” Okada asked.

  “If you don’t mind, Samuel can explain it to you. I’ve been up all night, and I just want to eat and catch a few hours of sleep.” She looked at Okada for approval.

  “You’re fine, Ashly. You did well.”

  “Thanks,” she replied. “Before I go to sleep, I’ll send the information we gathered to everyone’s personal computers and to the one in the research lab.” Ashly took her plate and headed for her room. She wanted to stick around and learn more about the submarine attack, but the lack of sleep won over her curiosity. Samuel was wide awake, so he remained at the table after she left. He gave them the same speech he had given Ashly on the boat concerning the water panther. Everyone was silent for a few moments, trying to process the information that had been presented. Samuel decided to break the silence.

  “Could someone please explain what happened with the submarine?”

  “At the moment all I know is the tourist submarine Alexandria’s GPS locator stopped transmitting yesterday at six twenty-three p.m. Attempts to contact the submarine’s crew proved unsuccessful. A Coast Guard rescue boat was dispatched and located the submarine near the last location transmitted by the GPS. The wreckage is being transported to the naval base at Peril Harbor,” Okada answered.

  “Wish we could get a look at it,” Samuel said.

  “We can. The Hawaiian governor is growing deeply concerned about how frequent these attacks are becoming. He has given us full access to the submarine wreckage,” Max replied.

  “We plan on conducting the investigation tomorrow,” Okada said. He opened an email on his phone and showed it to Samuel. The email was from the Hawaiian Governor David Fatu asking to set up a meeting time to be briefed on the team’s findings.

  “Very interesting. When are we meeting the big shot?”

  “After the submarine examination, we will travel to
Honolulu to report our findings. As you can imagine, Governor Fatu is more than eager to learn about what has been terrorizing the Maui waters.” Max, Liz, and Okada’s phones all went off at once.

  “Ashly just sent the information. I’m going to the lab to look it over,” Max said with a hint of eagerness in his voice.

  “We will join you,” Okada said.

  “If you don’t mind, I’ll retire for a bit. I’ve had enough excitement with the water panther for one day,” Samuel said. Max walked down to the lab and quickly turned on the computer. Liz and Okada sat next to him. He opened the folder Ashly had marked “water panther.” Upon opening it, there was a text document, a 3-D image file, and a four-minute video file. Max clicked on the video file first. They watched as the event Samuel and Ashly had experienced played out before their eyes.

  “Just look at that thing. No wonder it has been doing so much damage,” Liz said. Her voice filled with disbelief. Even though everyone knew they were hunting an unknown creature, the shock of seeing undoubtable video footage of one was nerve-racking.

  “What are the other files?” Okada asked. Max opened the 3D image, which showed an image of the water panther against a white background. On the right side of the screen, a data tab appeared, showing the measurements of the water panther’s body. Max moved the creature around, getting a good look at every side. The antlers and the lizard-like tail was practically puzzling to him.

  How could something like this go undiscovered? Matt thought to himself. He would have found it easier to believe this was a hybrid that escaped from a government lab, but the fact that legends of the water panther describing this exact animal went back centuries disproved that theory.