From the depths (THE DEPTHS TRILOGY Book 1)

by DAN MONTY

  Bo cleaned his knife of fish guts and blood in the water, preparing to use it again to properly cut the remains into generous portions. Hammer had been gone for an hour, then returned holding his bag of explosives. He joined them by the fire and watched the fish cook. “How can you guys be so calm about this? Look at us? We’re freaks!” he said angrily. Picasso tried to lighten the mood after such a grim comment. “We’re not freaks, mate. You ask me, I look better than I did before all this,” he said and finally there was laughter. “What did you do before?” Bo asked the manturtle, and there was silence while they waited to hear his story.

  “I was a junkie, man. A no-good bloody junkie. Started out in comics, but I stopped drawing. I shot up heroin, snorted coke, smoked anything that’d go up in flames. All I cared about, was getting that next hit. The last one, it was always going to be the last. But then came the next, and the next... and the one after that. I lost all sense of self-respect and fucking dignity, yeah? So I came here. To dry out. I’m a cook... well I was. Not exactly Gordon fucking Ramsey, who’s fucking bollocks by the way, but I did alright. So I came here. I told the old codger my story and he seemed sympathetic. He gave me morphine to get off the gear and showed me this fucking fantasy land. Told me the island was special and unique and that I’d never have to worry about that shite again! He was right. I forgot about it. I mean all of it. Then he asked if I wanted to be special, so I said yes. He put me to sleep and I heard this song by Groove Armada I remembered from my clubbing days. It’s called At the river I think. Fucking tripped me out man! I mean he just plays it over and over like a madman, you know? Anyway, I woke up in that cocoon. You nice people got me out. I never got a chance to say thank you. I mean, you’re a scary looking bunch of nutters, but cheers!” he said and Abby bowed her head. Abby turned to Orca and he looked up at her. “Yeah, I was a janitor here. I told Hans to go fuck himself. Woke up in that place with you guys. I heard the song you spoke of, Picasso. He’s obsessed with it! They play it in every lab in the building. I don’t know why but it drove me nuts!” he said.

  Tiger spoke up next, “Yeah I was a diver. I worked with the tiger sharks, so you could say this is all kind of ironic, I guess. One day I just got jumped by a guy. Woke up on the table. My body felt like it was on fire. Passed out and woke up when you nasty motherfuckers let me out of that thing. This is all some sick, twisted shit, man. That’s a damn fact!”

  Squishy was next, speaking out of his little mouth And dribbling black ink. “Yeah, I was a hacker. Worked for the department of defence. A girl brought me here for a holiday. She was cute. Worst damn holiday I ever had. Chandice was taken first. I was so much of a coward, I couldn’t even find her. One day I did. She was given a kind of serum, but her body rejected it. I watched her die and... yeah.” Abby covered her mouth and looked away.

  Bo was staring at her, and she held up a finger urging him not to say anything. Chandice had come to see Abby. She wasn’t alive though, she had been a ghost coming to warn her. If it had been an hallucination, it was a terrifying one. Squishy drooled, losing interest in talk and fixating back on the rotating shark meat. “What about you, Crusto?” Bo asked. Crusto shrugged. “Wrong place, wrong time," he said, refusing to say any more. “...Okay," Picasso said, “and you two?” he asked, looking at Bo and Abby. “Hang on a tick, you’re Bo fucking Landers, aren’t you? Yeah you are! I used to watch your show when I was stoned out of my mind! You’re a legend, mate! You caught that shark that killed that fat geezer! Fucking bull shark! I remember from the telly!” Picasso said admiringly. Bo smiled and shook his head laughing. “My glory days. You watch too much TV Picasso, but it sure is nice to have a fan," he added.

  Abigale looked around at the group, all eyes on her. She sighed and smiled shyly, “I’m Abigale Channing. I was a photographer from Melbourne, Australia. I thought I could use the money for a job like this, so I took it. Bloody wish I never came... but I think I did for a reason. I’ve never been a spiritual person, but if there is a God... I think he brought us all together for a reason. That’s why I’m going to see this through. I’m going to end this place and stop this bastard. Now I know some of you don’t want to be here, but we are all in this together. Hans can’t be allowed to continue his work, he just can’t. It’s not right and he deserves to suffer as we all have. Well he will. Until his last breath!”

  That night in the cave, the eight friends bonded, as they ate shark meat and laughed like they hadn’t in a long time. They slept by the fire and Abby dreamed of Connor and Jerry. She dreamed of Jordan and Bo. She dreamed of Hans. She dreamed of revenge.

  The next morning they awoke, eating leftovers and preparing themselves. The job was simple enough, assuming nothing went horribly wrong.

  Bo would serve as a distraction, while Abby, Tiger and Hammer planted explosives, and awaited a signal from Bo. Hans would never see it coming as long as Bo was successful in being sufficiently annoying. Bo would also attempt to find Connor and Terry, but no one was having any unrealistic expectations about that. Bo put his pistol in his pants, and wished everyone luck, leaving the cave and walking out into the jungle.

  There was a storm coming, the wet season finally setting in, and a torrential rainstorm was making it a bit more difficult to navigate the terrain. The skies were grey, the rain pelting down in buckets. Bo ran through a clearing, making his way to the facility. He ran down the staircase and into the building through the white door. As he passed through the megladon mouth of the tunnel, he double-checked the chamber of his pistol. It was full of bullets. Bo sighed, walking through to the undersea room beyond.

  Hans was sitting at the table eating as usual, not overly surprised to see Bo stepping through his doors again. “Ah!” he said, “The cowboy returns! Please, Bo have a seat,” he said, motioning towards the chair. Bo slid out the seat and sat in it. Hans wiped his face with a napkin from his lap, placing it on his plate, and folding his arms in front of him, looking rather happy for a guy who was about to die; that nasty grin on his face making Bo want to throw up. He was always in white, Bo noted, as he glared at the German psychopath through angry eyes. “Oh come on, don’t be such a sour puss, Bo. You’re not enjoying my island? Have I not been a respectful host?” Hans asked, grinning like an idiot. “Just shut up,” Bo said, just wanting the man to stop flapping his lips. “You said I was a predator, Hans. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I have killed a lot of sharks and maybe I even liked it, but do you know what I realised? Just now, right here when I walked on this room?” he asked and Hans held up his hands. “I give up! Tell me what it is you have realised?” Hans asked. Bo pulled out his pistol, aiming it right at Hans. “I realised, that there’s always a bigger shark," he said.

  It was not the first time Hans had seen a gun, or had one pointed at him for that matter. “So dramatic, cowboy! I like that. That’s what I like about you. You’ve got a rare fire in your belly. A spark in your eye. I’d love to own a shark as fierce as you! The tabloids would love you! The great big star from Shark Hunters International, that poor girl that died when you were filming with tiger sharks? You got bitten on the leg, yes of course, but she? She was taken. You saved your skin, got back on the boat and the tabloids labelled you as a hero. The shark got the blame, when it was actually your fault she was there in the first place. Do you remember her name, Bo? Honestly?” he asked, and Bo nodded. “I do. It was Grace Star" he said. Hans shook his head, “No. That was just a stage name, but I thought that would have been obvious even to you. Her name was Grace Katherine Strucker. She was my daughter,” he said.

  Bo lowered the gun, beads of sweat forming around his head. “Jesus,” he said, falling back into his chair. Hans sipped his wine, glaring at him. “Nothing to say, Bo? Hmm? I’m not so surprised. After all, you didn’t even bother to send condolences to her mother. She killed herself, by the way. Do you know what it’s like to bury your daughter and your wife in the same week, Bo? Of course not! The sea is your life, isn’t that what you say?” he asked. Bo s
hook his head. “Look this is between you and me. These people have nothing to do with this... “ he started saying, but Hans shook a finger at him. “These people are all scum. Whores and leeches, the very fabric of a broken society! Drug addicts, gamblers, hackers, and thieves! They all deserve to die. My daughter? She did not. You took her from me! You took everything from me! You hunt these sharks like they are murderers, but it was never the sharks Bo. It was always you. That is why we are not so different you and I. We both would rather swim with sharks than people.”

  Bo was stunned that all of this, at least in retrospect, was in connection with him. He remembered her. He remembered everything.

  12

  She had called herself Grace Star, and she was beautiful. Pale skin, dark hair, and ruthlessly rebellious. They had been filming Shark Hunters International and Bo had been his typical roguish self that day. High as a kite and loving the cameras. He sat on a boat with the cameraman, Grace, and a tanned skinned Puerto Rican guy named Jonah, who had been his best friend.

  Bo loved the water, and had never been afraid of sharks, his friend Jonah calling him Aquaman as a joke quite often. Jonah was 34 and would often serve as boom operator, while also helping him out at different times in the water. Bo danced for the cameras with Grace, the two of them high and giggly as the boat bounced on the ocean waves. Bo looked at the cameraman, speaking in his cowboy Southern accent and looking pretty wild. “Are we rollin’ or what?” he asked; Steve the cameraman giving him the thumbs up. “Alright, people! My name is Bo Landers and on todays show, we’re gonna do some extreme diving with tiger sharks! Tiger sharks are macropredators, capable of reaching lengths of five metres, that’s 16 feet 5 inches. These sharks are often found in tropical waters, especially around the Pacific. Now the best way to identify one is the dark lines on its body, which is why we call her a tiger’. These boys are garbage eaters, meaning they don’t just chow down on squid, crustaceans, turtles, birds, and sea snakes; it means they’ll eat anything, including man-made stuff that is dropped or washes into the ocean. They are apex predators, and often will swim close to shore at night, but during the day... you gotta venture out into deeper waters. Now Grace and I are gonna get in the water with some special shoulder mount cameras to get y'all up close an’ personal with these beautiful, but deadly creatures," he said smiling. Grace and Bo got into their diving gear, their special masks allowing them to communicate under the water. They mounted small cameras onto the shoulder straps of their oxygen tanks, dropping backwards off the boat and into the reef below.

  The water was a perfect blue and teeming with tropical fish as Grace and Bo dove down, their cameras capturing every beautiful moment. Grace pointed to some tiger sharks and Bo gave her the thumbs up, swimming towards them. “They’re so beautiful!” Grace said. One of the tigers pushing past her as she reached out and stroked it.

  Bo cuddled up to one of them, patting it like a dog. The sharks were everywhere, and Bo pulled out a pocket knife, opening it and moving over to Grace using her camera to film himself. “Now, as I said these are apex predators – they will eat anything. A question I am asked all the time, is how much blood needs to be in the water for sharks to smell it? I’d like to advise to you that the stunt I’m about to do is extremely dangerous. Do not attempt to try this in the water.

  Bo pricked his finger with the blade and held it out into the water. His blood streamed into the water, instantly capturing the attention of the sharks. One began to circle - and Bo looked at Grace. “Okay, so usually it takes a few minutes, but as you can see we are already getting some attention. Now, believe it or not... these sharks are much more likely to attack a human... and do it fast... than most other sharks. Do not dive with tiger shark unless you are a professional!” he said to the camera, not taking his eye off the circling shark. Bo sighed, lowering his knife, and scratching himself on the leg by accident. “Ow shit!” he said, looking down, as one of the tiger sharks grabbed Grace, dragging her deeper into the water. She cried out in terror, gurgling blood and spitting it in her mask as she was dragged deeper and deeper out of Bo’s depth. “GRACE!” he screamed in disbelief, realising at the speed she was being dragged down, she could already be dead. “NOOOOO!” he screamed, tears in his eyes, as a smaller second shark got a hold of his leg.

  Bo punched it hard, pulling out his knife, and stabbing it. The shark let go, its wound attracting other sharks as Bo swam for the surface. He reached the boat, Jonah pulling him up and helping him onto the boat. “Where’s Grace?” Jonah asked, and Bo ripped off his mask, blood oozing from his leg. He stared at the ocean in silence for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. A diver’s mask popped out of the water, and Bo seized it from the sea. “She’s gone," he said. He threw the mask to the floor of the boat. Jonah and the cameraman rushed to treat his wound. Bo just stared in disbelief.

  ◇◇◇◇

  Bo stared at the gun on the table. The memories had made him feel woozy and light headed.

  Hans looked at him from across the table with eyes full of hate. “My daughter is dead because of a mindless, juvenile stunt. It should have been you that was dragged to the bottom of the sea, Bo. It should have been you. But here we are, and so many others will now suffer because of your foolish mistake. I can’t express how I felt when I saw your footage. I wanted you to suffer. She had no business being on that boat with you. You have a scar on your leg. They never even found my daughter’s body. Can you really live with that, Bo? Of course you can. You’re the great Bo Landers!” he said finally.

  Bo knew what Hans was saying, he just didn’t think it excused his bizarre and mindless experimentation of innocent people. “What you have done here, Hans... this place? You’ve created an island of monsters. That’s not on me, that’s on you. Where are Jerry and Connor?” he asked, raising the gun again. Hans looked at Bo with angry, cold eyes. “They’re both dead. Failed experiments and a waste of good resources. I grow tired of wasting valuable man hours,” he said looking at the intensity in Bo's eyes. “You won’t kill me Bo. Not with all the blood that’s already on your hands,” Hans said, pulling out a small device with a button on it, “But I will,” he said. Bo looked at him. “What the hell is that?” he asked. Hans smiled. “This is a detonator, Bo. This entire facility was built to be destroyed. Your friends? Yes, I know what they’re planning. What none of you could have known is that my plan was always to destroy this facility. Right on top of you!” he said, clicking the button.

  The bombs didn’t go off straight away. Iron doors shot down from the roof, locking them both in the room. “Oh my God! You were gonna blow it anyway!” Bo said - Hans laughing hysterically. “Of course! You let my daughter drown at the bottom of the sea, so I built an empire... just so I could watch it fall on your head!” he said. Bo ran to the doors trying to get out but they were too heavy to budge. “You’re fucking crazy! You’ll die too!” Bo screamed. Yet Hans showed no emotion. “I’m not afraid to die, Bo. I’ve been dying for years and now there’s nothing left to live for! Goodbye Bo. This is for the best.”

  The explosions were loud, deafening them, as the whole facility began to creak - glass imploding. Rachel, the massive great white burst through the glass, and Hans turned to face her, as water sprayed into the room. Her mouth was opened wide, teeth outstretched as she approached, Hans who only had time to utter a single word “scheisse” (shit in German), as the gaping jaws of the shark bit into his body, spraying the floor with blood. Water crashed through the broken glass, flooding the room as Bo, who narrowly avoided flying debris, jumped out of the way of the crashing waves. He was tossed under the water, tumbling and smashing his head on a broken piece of table.

  Abigale, Hammer and Tiger exchanged glances as they swum near the entrance to the cave. “What the fuck?” Abby said, watching as the whole facility crumbled, its support pylons shattering and cracking. The entire facility was exploding at certain critical points of the structure and the three of them swam toward the sinking debris. “Wh
at the hell is going on? We haven’t even rigged it yet!” Hammer exclaimed.

  Abby had a sick feeling in her stomach. “We have to save Bo!” she said, speaking under the water as well as her friends. They reached the dining area level, the structure sinking, and almost completely underwater. Abigale swum inside, finding Bo’s body and seizing it as she pulled him out from broken, floating debris. She held him tight, pulling him up towards the surface. Hans was nowhere to be seen.

  Rachel and Scar swam towards them, swimming up from the darkness of the ocean below, as Abby swam faster, pushing to the surface. Rachel opened her large mouth, almost ready to grab the mermaid's legs, but instinctively turned around as Tiger grabbed her tail with both hands. “Hi bitch!” he said as the massive shark lunged for him. Tiger opened his jaws wide, the shark, and Tiger sharkman swimming fast towards each other. Tiger's jaws locked on the shark, biting into it, tearing a huge chunk out of its back. Blood pumped into the dark water, as Rachel swum off in terror, leaving a bloody trail as she struggled to swim to the depths.

  Hammer sped through the water, his massive head smashing Scar in the face, scaring the shark and causing it to flee. Hammer and Tiger watched in awe as the remnants of the facility groaned and creaked, sinking to the ocean floor in a massive cloud of bubbles. The facility was no more. Hans Strucker’s world of madness was buried, with him inside.

  Abigale leapt out of the sea with Bo, dropping him on the sand of the beautiful beach, as her transformation took place. She put pressure on Bo’s chest, breathing air into his lungs, and screaming frantically. “BO! COME ON BO!” she screamed, performing CPR, pushing on his chest hard and fast, about 100 compressions per minute. “BO! DON’T YOU LEAVE ME!” she screamed.

  Bo coughed, vomiting water out of his lungs. He sat up fast, shaking it off, and seeing Abby. He threw his arms around her and they kissed. “I thought you were dead!” she said and he shook his head. “You saved my life, Eagle Eye!” Bo grinned as Abby kissed him hard on the mouth.