by Michael Cole
He looked back to the group. “It’s here.”
CHAPTER
33
The beast completed its first pass around the boat, continuing to go on for a second. Rick kept his eye on the fin, watching for any change in motion or behavior, while everyone got to work. Nelson opened a panel on the generator, exposing a lever that would start it. On the other side, he exposed the circuit, to which he would attach the copper wire to the bait. The wire was covered, but that did not prevent him from putting on his gloves. Forster wheeled the bait onto the deck on a dolly. She hit a lever on the crane’s control panel and created a bit of slack in the cable. Rick turned around and helped her lift the carcass from the large container. The silver colored mesh was wrapped tightly around the large brown seal carcass, which was sopping wet from its storage. The gashes around its limbs appeared fresh as though it had died only minutes prior. Strung around the bait and mesh was the leather harness, designed to prevent a surge of electricity from surging through the crane.
After clipping its harness to the cable, she moved to the controls and manipulated the lever. The crane unfurled until it was fully extended. Towering fifteen feet above them, the winch went to work. She lifted the bait until it was high enough to lift over the gunwale. She stopped the lift, allowing Nelson to attach the wire to the mesh. After the wire was successfully secured, she slowly adjusted the crane out toward the water. As she did, she was careful to make sure there was enough slack in the wire.
“Hold it there,” Rick said. Forster stopped the extension, allowing the bait to dangle two meters above the water. Rick gave a thumbs up to Nelson, who attached the wire to the circuit. He then pulled the lever, igniting the generator. It juddered as it kicked on, sending a vibration through the deck. Rick looked back out to the shark. Its pass narrowed to more of an oval shape rather than circular.
“Honey,” he said toward Lisa. She stood at the helm, ready to throttle the boat out of the way. She switched her gaze between the events on deck and the video monitors. On each screen, she could see the beast’s red spiny structure as it passed by.
“I see it,” she said, realizing the beast was sizing them up. She put her hand on the throttle, ready to move at any time.
Forster felt her body begin to quiver. Anticipation and anxiety were taking its physical toll. In her mind, she cursed herself and her group for allowing themselves to get distracted. Otherwise, they would’ve detected the hybrid on the sonar as planned, and therefore would’ve had everything in place in time for its arrival.
Rick studied the meter on the generator. The little pointy hand inside was in the green, slowly bouncing toward the middle.
“How long should this thing take to be fully charged?” he asked the Chief.
“It’ll be a few minutes,” he said.
“That’s what I was afraid of,” he said. “We can’t let that thing grab the bait yet. The meter has to be in the red. Otherwise, we won’t deliver a high enough voltage.” He then looked at the rocks. They were clear of them, but still a bit too close for comfort. If the hybrid hit the boat just right, it could point the bow right toward the rigid forest.
“Lisa, you think you could move us away VERY slowly?” he asked. “After all, we don’t want to be served “on the rocks,” am I right?” He smiled in a failed attempt to alleviate the tension.
Lisa eased on the throttle and cut the wheel to port, gradually turning the bow east until they were facing away from the atoll. The propellers rotated, pushing the Neptune away at a snail’s pace.
The hybrid’s pace quickened. Its tail slashed the water as it arched down for a dive. Rick rushed to the portside, desperately looking for its shape in the water.
“Shit, I don’t see it!” he said. Forster checked along the starboard side. Nelson gripped his shotgun and also started looking out for the beast. There was no sign of it. Rick turned and dashed into the wheelhouse. Lisa was already looking at the three monitor screens. Each monitor displayed nothing but empty blue ocean. As he studied the feeds, he noticed words written in small black text on the upper left-hand corner of each screen, naming the camera angles. Port Quarter, Starboard Quarter, Center Stern.
“Dr. Forster, are there any more camera feeds?” Rick shouted through the open window. Forster rushed into the wheelhouse and joined them at the table. She snatched the mouse from Rick’s hand.
“Click here,” she said, moving the cursor to the right of the screen. A bar came into view and she clicked a button. A different feed came into view, reading Starboard Bow. Like the others, they saw nothing but ocean. Another click, and they saw the Port Bow, and Forward Bow. Nothing.
One last click brought to view the Underbelly feed, looking down directly underneath the boat. Their eyes had no time to process the sight. In one instant frame, there was blue ocean. Then, in the blink of an eye, out from the distance, the red shape darted inward until its snout filled the screen.
With colossal force, the thirty-eight-foot boat lifted several feet over the water as if picked up by a giant hand. All four occupants found themselves lifted off their feet, suspended in air. For the slightest, yet terrifying moment, none of them had control of anything. The boat smashed back down, creating a wall of water on each side. Everyone hit the floor hard. The monitors went black, and the hum of the engine ceased as it stalled.
Rick struggled to his feet. He quickly looked to Lisa, who had landed on her back. He scrambled to get to her.
“I’m fine,” she said before he could ask. On the other side of the room, Forster pushed up to her feet. She had all her wits about her. She looked to Rick, who pointed at her head. She touched her scalp, feeling the blood oozing from the reopened cuts.
“You alright?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said. She hurried to the helm and tried to restart the engine. With each turn of the key, the gears groaned and went silent. “Shit.”
“HEY! I could use a hand out here!” Nelson called out. Everyone hurried outside. The deck was covered with spilled equipment, which had scattered in every direction. At the far end, Nelson was laying on his back, pressed against the wall by the fuel barrels which had fallen on him, one of which had landed on his leg. Rick and Forster hurried over, and immediately rolled the heavy fuel barrels off of the Chief. They gritted teeth as they pushed each one back up the deck and stood them up correctly near the crane. Nelson gripped his right leg, grimacing hard as he struggled to stand. Rick placed a hand on each shoulder, ready to catch the Chief should his legs give out. His eyes looked past Nelson to the water. The dorsal fin emerged. A swell moved like a small mountain, paving the way for the creature’s bulk as it cruised at them.
“Look out!” he yelled. The beast’s snout hit the starboard corner of the bow. The hybrid lost no speed as it passed through, knocking the boat out of the way. The Neptune rotated in place like a merry-go-round while leaning heavily to port. Forster felt her balance spiral out of control. She reached out and kept from hitting her head as she fell against the port gunwale. She found herself leaning over the side, staring directly down into the splashing water.
The spin slowed to a stop. Rick pushed himself to his feet, while Nelson was still on his back in a daze. Rick hurried to the generator and peeked at the meter. It was millimeters away from the red.
The boat rocked back to starboard as it settled. The bait, dangling from the crane, swung toward the deck - right toward Forster. In a single stride, Rick rushed to her, pulling her away from the edge just as the metal mesh hit the metal gunwale. Sparks ripped through the air in a brief fiery display.
“Good God!” Forster yelled out. The bait swung back, leaving behind a smoking black mark on the boat. Rick didn’t respond, and hurriedly began looking for the shark.
His gaze barely reached the water when the bow dipped suddenly, following the sound of a huge splash. The hybrid launched itself out of the water, bringing its chin down onto the square bow. The crunching sound of metal filled the air as the whole front
of the boat crumpled. The creature clung on with its claw-like legs extended from under its belly. The bow pressed down into the waterline, creating a downward slope. Laying on his back, Nelson felt a heightened urgency as he felt himself sliding toward the snapping jaws. He reached out with both arms with a dual purpose: to keep from sliding down, and to locate his shotgun. And he saw it, several feet out of reach, propped against one of the standing fuel barrels. His hands found nothing but smooth metal flooring to grab. He kicked his heels at the snapping jaws in a last ditch attempt to fight it off. The hybrid pulled itself further onto the boat and reached down with hyperextended jaws. Three-inch teeth displayed, mere inches away from the Chief.
Lisa Napier burst from the wheelhouse, holding the shotgun given to her earlier. She pumped a shell into place, then placed the shark in her sights. Rick saw the barrel of the weapon lift just past him, and he quickly ducked.
“Don’t move, Chief!” she yelled. Nelson pressed himself as flat to the floor as possible. She squeezed the trigger, creating a deafening burst. The first shot landed inside the creature’s mouth. In a reflex, the creature lifted his head away from the Chief, tasting its own blood as it bled from the roof of its jaws. The painful shock was only momentary, and its interest quickly returned to the Chief. Lisa fired off several more shots, each of which skidded off the rigid shell of its head. The final trigger pull resulted in an empty click.
“Shit!” Lisa yelled. Once again, the creature was inches away from Nelson. He tried crawling away, but the gravity of the slope was too much. Lisa looked for more shells, but quickly realized the duffle bag was near the bow, directly underneath the hybrid’s bulk.
Rick clung to the crane controls, all the while fumbling with them to keep the arm extended far from the boat in order to prevent the electrified bait from making contact. Everything started sliding down the slope, including the generator. Lisa rushed over to it. Hanging onto it with one hand, while gripping the side of the boat with the other, she struggled to keep it from slipping into the watery pool that was forming at the bow. Forster held on, keeping from falling toward the bow as well. Clinging to the gunwale, she watched hopelessly as Nelson neared the jaws.
Barely unable to reach its prey, the creature turned its head back and forth as it began to climb further. Its five-slit gills opened and shut like window shades, as its body was demanding water circulation.
She thought of the Great White when it had initiated its attack on Marcus and her intervention.
Gills…the most sensitive point. She looked down to the floor, seeing Nelson’s dropped shotgun pressed against one of the still-standing fuel barrels. She pushed off the side and fell to her knees. She snatched up the shotgun, chambered a round, and fired a shot. Pellets rained into the open gill slits. In a lightning fast, twisting motion, the hybrid lurched upward and fell back into the ocean. The Neptune leveled out again. The water spread out over the deck, no higher than an inch. Nelson pulled himself up, and looked at Forster, thankful and impressed at the same time.
“Holy hot damn,” he said.
“I grew up in Texas,” she said, and tossed the weapon to him. He snatched it out of the air and aimed it toward the water. The beast had again disappeared from view. Rick looked to the meter. It was in the red.
“Finally,” he said. His eyes searched for the dorsal fin.
“There!” Lisa pointed to the portside. The fin cut through the water, coming at them directly again. The positioning was perfect. Forster took to the crane controls. The wince whined as it slowly lowered the cable. The fin grew closer, and soon the cone shaped nose came into view. She stopped the bait inches from the surface.
“Chew on this, you son of a bitch,” she said. Everyone braced with anticipation as the shark neared. With a wide swing of its tail, it propelled itself in a burst of speed. It passed directly under the electrified bait, ignoring it completely. Its nose connected with the mid-port section of the hull. The Neptune buckled to its right and skated several meters along the surface. The hybrid dove underneath the boat. The boat rocked back. The bait swung and smacked into the hull, sending out another flash of sparks.
“Christ!” Nelson yelled, having stumbled to the starboard side. “I thought this thing wanted food.” Rick peeked over the side to observe the hull as best he could. The side was dented in like a soda can. Had it caved in any further, it would have breached.
“It does,” Rick said. He spoke softly, as a realization came to mind. “Though it’s a living thing, it’s been engineered as a weapon. It’s after living prey.” Nelson suddenly looked sick.
“You mean to tell me our plan’s not gonna work?” he inquired. A stiffening feeling came over all of them, which worsened as the hybrid circled in the distance. It moved around until it was lined up with the portside again. It was clearly readying for another assault. This time, it would certainly impale the reinforced steel. He looked at the crane. A new idea came. It wasn’t one he was thrilled about, but it beat waiting for the shark to sink them.
“Yeah it will,” he said. “We just forgot one other ingredient.”
“What are you talking about?” Forster said. Rick didn’t answer. He jumped onto the arm of the crane, holding on to any mechanical ledge he could grip. Everyone stepped in after him.
“Rick!” Lisa said.
“I’ll be fine, honey,” he said. He climbed further. “Julie! Raise the cable and lower the arm!” Forster looked to the controls, then at Lisa, as if expecting approval. “Now!” he shouted. The shark had begun its approach. There was no time. Forster grabbed the controls, and quickly winched the cable nearly all the way up, until the bait dangled over a foot from the head. She lowered the crane itself, arching it until the bait was nearly touching the water. Rick held his hand out. “Okay, stop there!”
He had climbed all the way to the head. He squeezed his knees together, balancing carefully on the arm. He looked to the fin. It was thirty yards away. Twenty. There was no time. He saw a sharp edge in one of the gears. He winced in anticipation, then slammed his palm into the pointed edge.
“Holy mother of ass!” he shouted in pain. He quickly held his arm out, centimeters away from the electrified mesh, and squeezed his fingers into his palm. Blood dripped into the water, just below the bait.
Signals flared in the hybrid’s brain as the scent of fresh blood entered its nose. Its gaze angled up, and it saw the bulk of flesh just above the water. Near it, was one of the lifeforms. It slowed from its attack speed, ceasing the intended strike.
Rick gulped as the snout broke the water. The beast rose up directly at him. Jagged teeth reflected the bright sunlight, and the abyss of a mouth ascended toward him.
He rolled perfectly onto his back, balanced just right on the arm. The jaws closed around the bait. Teeth and gums clenched around the mesh.
The shark instantly convulsed into a massive seizure. Every muscle in its body tensed, including those in its jaws, causing it to unintentionally grip tighter. Smoke billowed from the mesh, coming out each side of the jaws. The intense spasm caused the crane arm to shake viciously. Rick blindly grabbed at the arm, desperately holding on.
Everyone on deck tensed at the horrific sight. The twenty-four-foot shark convulsed, unable to let go of the contraption. Its eyes were only half shut, as the muscles controlling the lids were frozen from the current.
Forster realized it had enough. She went to the generator and moved the lever back, stopping the current. The seizure stopped, and the hybrid dipped back into the water. Its jaws still clung to the mesh. After several seconds, the loosening in its muscles, combined with the force of gravity, helped it fall loose. It submerged entirely. Its body motionless, it rolled like a log as it sank.
“Holy shit,” Nelson said in an exhausted breath. Tense and tired was how everyone was now feeling. Then, there was astonishment, then joy. The plan worked. The hybrid was dead.
“WOO!” Rick yelled. He smiled and looked to the group. Forster and Nelson started laughi
ng victoriously. Lisa smiled as well, though taking the time to give Rick a scolding glare, obviously not thrilled by his stunt. He shook his head and laid back down on the arm of the crane. “Oh, I’m in trouble,” he joked to himself.
CHAPTER
34
Screams of excitement filled the air as the skier bounced on a large swell of water. Trailing thirty feet behind a twenty-foot red speedboat, he clung to the ski handle. Water splashed against his skis, and cool wind brushed against his face. The boat zipped in tight sweeps, creating whole new swells for the skier to bounce off of. The skier met each challenge, bouncing clear off the surface in long bounds and landing perfectly.
The speedboat raced in a wide semicircle. Once the pass had completed, the driver straightened the course and zipped the boat and skier in a straight line at top speed. They laughed out loud as they cut in front of a large white vessel, passing within a few meters of the bow. As the water sprayed onto the deck, the speedboat was already far out of the way.
Steve, the driver of the yacht slammed his fist angrily against the dashboard. “Stupid sons of bitches!” he yelled out. Dr. Tucker climbed up to the superstructure, and watched the red speedboat perform more tight turns in the distance.
“Morons,” he said. Steve nodded in agreement. As they cruised forward, Tucker kept his eye on the boat to make sure it wouldn’t make a return pass. After watching them move further toward the island, he figured they wouldn’t be any more trouble. He climbed back down to the main deck. The aides were knelt by the dolphins, sprinkling sea water on their smooth grey skin to keep them from drying in the hot sun. Laying on white stretchers, the dolphins whistled to each other. They wiggled their fins, as if waving to their human helpers.
They took the boat out for a few more minutes. Dr. Tucker gazed at the water, then looked back at the island. As the only reason he even came to Pariso Marino was to study the shark, he resented being placed on this assignment like a regular employee. However, the university agreed to Felt’s demands, and therefore instructed him to act as the aquarium’s temporary caretaker. Eager to get back to the exhibit to further observe the shark, he decided they had moved out far enough.
