by Jake Bible
“Manatees are off Florida and Africa,” Lucy said. “Not Mexico.”
“Don’t. Fucking. Care,” Thorne said. “Shoot it.”
“Got it,” Lucy nodded. “I will shoot the fucking manatee.”
“We’re taking the Zodiacs out,” Thorne said. “This is a direct assault. We’re getting in the water with the sharks.”
“We what?” Kinsey asked. “Love you, Daddy, but have you lost your mind?”
“No, I haven’t,” Thorne said. “We take the fight to them. If these suits work like they are supposed to then we have an advantage.”
“Really? What’s that?” Shane asked.
“Maneuverability,” Thorne said. “They are too big to turn and swim like we can.”
“They don’t need to if they chomp us in half,” Max said.
“Which is why we have the suits,” Thorne replied. “At some point we have to trust the equipment. Otherwise we should just be back on land drinking beer an a goddamn recliner.”
“Can we?” Shane asked. “I totally volunteer.”
“Two Zodiacs,” Thorne glared. “Kinsey and Max are with me. Darren and Shane are in the second one. I want the shooters to stay in the boats while we dive. You two will man the motors and keep your rifles ready. Same orders as Lucy. Shoot any shadow you see.”
“Any shadow that doesn’t look like a person,” Darren said. “Just to clarify.”
“Do I need to clarify that, boys?” Thorne asked.
“No, sir,” the Reynolds replied in unison.
“Good,” Thorne said. “We drop in five minutes.”
“Uh, sir?” Max asked, looking at his rifle. “Last time we dealt with these sharks we needed rockets to kill them. You think our guns will really be enough?”
“Have you been studying shark anatomy as you were ordered to during your leave time?” Thorne asked.
“Yes, sir,” Max replied.
“So you know where the brain is?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you need a rocket to hit that brain or are you a fucking SEAL sniper, son?”
“I’m a fucking SEAL sniper!” Max shouted.
“And did you or did you not see what these rounds can do?”
“I did, sir,” Max stated.
“And didn’t I just say we have to trust the equipment?”
“You did, sir,” Max nodded.
“Does that answer your question?” Thorne asked.
“Yes, sir,” Max replied.
Thorne focused his gaze on Ballantine. “Do you have a problem with us killing these sharks?”
Ballantine weighed his answer for several seconds. “Personally? No. But the company wouldn’t mind if they could be captured alive. Our client would prefer that.”
“Do I look like I have a Team that captures?” Thorne asked.
“No, Commander, you do not,” Ballantine replied, smiling.
“Will we have a problem if my Team comes back with nothing but shark steaks?” Thorne asked.
“No, Commander, we will not,” Ballantine smiled. “It’s your Team. All I can do is pass on what the company wants. If things get crazy in the heat of battle then steaks happen.”
“Good,” Thorne said. “Welcome to the Team, Ballantine. This is a provisional assignment for you. You do what I say when I say it. Understood?”
“Wouldn’t want it any other way,” Ballantine grinned. “Can I be dismissed to perform my duties as helo pilot now?”
“You are all dismissed,” Thorne said looking at everyone. “Get your asses to work!”
“I wonder if coke tenderizes shark steaks?” Max asked Shane.
“Let’s find out,” Shane smiled.
***
“Sir?” Carlos asked over the com. “We have it.”
Ballantine smiled over at Lucy as the two of them hurried across the deck and onto the helipad. They hopped into the Wyrm II and got strapped in.
“Good,” Ballantine said as he sat in the pilot’s seat and started up the rotors. He put on his headset and switched to Carlos’s channel. “Send the coordinates to Darby. Then get your ass down to the mini-sub bay and make sure her launch is fast and trouble free. There is no margin for error with this. Once the shooting starts she needs to use that cover to get away.”
“I understand,” Carlos replied. “I am on it.”
***
“Ready?” Popeye asked from the side of the B3, his eyes focused on the Zodiac with Thorne, Kinsey, and Max in it. Behind that Zodiac was the one with Darren and Shane. Two of Popeye’s deckhands waited for his signal.
“Ready,” Thorne said. “Put us in the water.”
Popeye lowered the Zodiac to the ocean below and waited for Max to release the cables before giving the deckhands a thumbs up. The second Zodiac was released and Team Grendel was in the water.
***
Kinsey placed the mustache under her nose and pressed the buttons. She gagged and choked and had to fight every instinct not to rip the thing from her face. But in seconds the rebreather was secure and working.
“Can you hear me?” Kinsey asked.
“I can hear you,” Thorne said.
“We all can,” Lake replied over the com from the bridge. “It’s an open channel, by the way.”
“Good to know,” Thorne said as he put his mustache on. He hesitated and Kinsey laughed.
“It’s not that bad,” she said.
Thorne pressed the buttons then went through the same choking and gagging as Kinsey. His eyes drilled daggers into her.
“Not that bad?” he snapped once he found his voice. “Are you kidding?”
“I’ve had worse things up my nose,” Kinsey smirked.
Thorne just shook his head and pointed at Max. “Your turn.”
“But I’m staying in the boat,” Max argued.
“For how long, do you think?” Thorne asked. “We all know how these things hunt.”
Max looked at the Zodiac then into the water as he sped the boat across the small whitecaps created by a strong, warm breeze.
“Right,” Max said as he donned his mustache as well.
***
“You look ridiculous,” Shane said, shouting over the motor as he secured his mustache. “How do I look?”
“Probably as bad as I do,” Darren replied. “You ready for this?”
“Always,” Shane said.
Darren lifted his channel gun, checked the magazine, slammed it home, then turned his attention to the blue water surrounding them. His eyes scanned the surface, hoping to catch a glimpse of something, but only sunlight reflected back at him.
“Another twenty meters should do it!” Shane announced.
Darren kicked his feet together, making sure his flippers were on tight, then scooted his ass up onto the side of the Zodiac.
“Shit goes bad and you follow me in, got it?” Darren said. “Leave your .338 and grab your channel gun.”
Shane gave a thumbs up and took a deep breath, surprised at how fresh it felt even through the mustache. He cut the motor and let the Zodiac drift into position.
***
“How do they look?” Ballantine asked as he circled the Wyrm II far above the Zodiacs. “Any sign?”
“Nothing,” Lucy said. “Team Grendel is good to go. Stay safe, people.”
There were several inappropriate words said in response and Lucy laughed.
***
Thorne and Kinsey flipped backwards into the water, sank a few feet, then oriented themselves, their channel guns gripped firmly in place.
“See anything?” Thorne asked as he tapped at his goggles, testing the different spectrum views.
“No,” Kinsey said. “You?”
“Nothing,” Thorne replied. “Darren? You in the water?”
“I’m in,” Darren said. “I see nothing here.”
“There’s nothing on the sonar,” Lake said over the com. “Not a single fucking fish anywhere. I bet if I dial it in I’ll see that the crabs have even bai
led.”
“I would’t blame them,” Darren replied.
“Ten meters down,” Thorne ordered. “Then wait. If we see nothing then we keep going. If there’s still nothing then we make our way back up to the Zodiacs, move, and start again.”
“We’re aren’t going to grid it?” Kinsey asked.
“No,” Thorne said. “No need. If the sharks are still here then they’ll find us.”
***
The sub rocked back and forth as the shark tore into its cargo hold, puncturing more kilos of the drug. Clouds of white water puffed around its head as it thrashed, frustrated it couldn’t get all the way inside and to the cargo all at once.
It wanted more. It needed more. It craved more.
Then its senses detected the dying sounds of motors. It didn’t care. It didn’t want what the motors brought; it wanted what was in front of it.
The giant shark pulled back then rammed the sub over and over, desperate to dislodge its contents. More white streamed from the hold, but the frame wouldn’t budge despite the force of the shark’s attacks.
Its rage grew.
***
“Ten meters,” Thorne said. “Report.”
Kinsey was a ways off from her father as she searched the water, looking for any sign of the sharks. Her channel gun was firmly against her shoulder and she sighted down the barrel, her goggles on a motion detecting setting. She had no idea what would happen when the goggles detected motion, but she was pretty sure she wouldn’t have to guess.
“I still don’t see anything,” Kinsey said.
“Darren?” Thorne asked.
“Nope,” Darren replied.
“Keep going,” Thorne said. “Drop another ten meters.”
***
Not too far off, a second shark struggled with the same issue. It hit the sub, tore at the faux skin, thrashed against it with its tail as it flipped about, swimming up and down the length of the sub.
It heard the motors too and could care less as well.
All it wanted was what was in the sub.
Then a new smell hit its heightened senses. Something fresh, something alive, something not dead cow. The shark had grown bored with dead cow. At first the taste, and abundance, had kept the shark occupied, kept it going back to the surface for more.
But it didn’t want that taste again; that was old taste. It wanted the new taste.
It slammed itself into the sub once again, producing a huge plume of white from the cargo hold. It swam back and forth, breathing it in, letting the drug infuse its power into every cell of the its body.
Alive, and hungry for the new taste, the shark whipped about and rocketed towards the surface.
***
“Anything?” Ballantine asked Lucy. “Tell me what you see.”
“A lot of blue water,” Lucy replied. “And two boats bobbing up and down. No shadows. Nothing.”
“Maybe I should have the Mexicans launch another cow,” Ballantine said.
“I doubt that would help,” Lucy said. “If the things aren’t reacting to our people in the water then a dead cow won’t do anything.”
“Not sure what you are basing your theory on,” Ballantine replied. “But you could be right. From the insanity on those videos, I would have expected an attack right away.”
***
“I got movement!” Lake said as he watched the large mass moving quickly from the bottom of the ocean. “Holy shit! This thing has to be doing fifty miles an hour or more! Get the fuck out of there!”
“Not our job to get out of here!” Thorne replied. “Give me a location!”
Lake studied the image on the sonar. “It’s coming for Darren! Looks like about a twenty-five degree angle, man! Turn east and get ready!”
***
Darren twisted around in the direction Lake had indicated. He scanned the dark waters with his goggles, but didn’t see anything. He didn’t want to run out of ammo, but he took a risk and fired the channel gun. The round sped out of the barrel, large bubbles of gas flowing out from behind it. He tried to follow the round’s progress, but it was lost from sight quickly.
Then an explosion lit up the water below him.
And he saw the shark, its mouth open wide, illuminated by the dying light of the explosion under it.
Darren didn’t know what he hit, but it wasn’t the shark. He could see that clearly.
***
“’REN!” Kinsey yelled as she swam towards Darren.
She was a good hundred meters away when her goggles started to chirp and a small window popped up in the bottom of the left lens. It showed the shark, magnified to a close up, its mouth wide, racing up at Darren.
The small image was distracting so Kinsey tapped it away and decided to rely on her naked eyes alone. She kicked her legs as hard as she could, pushing her body through the water, and propelled herself towards Darren.
The shark raced towards Darren and it wasn’t until the thing was only three meters below him that Kinsey realized she wouldn’t get there in time. She slowed and brought her own channel gun up. She was only able to get one shot off before the shark hit Darren dead on.
***
“CONTACT!” Thorne yelled into the com. “Darren has been hit!”
“He’s still alive,” Ingrid said over the com. “Heart rate is dangerously elevated, but he isn’t dead. The suit worked.”
“What?” Thorne asked. “How the fuck do you know that he isn’t dead?”
“The wetsuit monitors all vital signs,” Ingrid replied. “And I’m back in the Toyshop, monitoring the wetsuits. Didn’t we mention that?”
“No, you fucking didn’t mention that!” Thorne shouted. “Darren! Darren, can you hear me!”
There was nothing.
“The impact may have damaged the com,” Ingrid said. “Or dislodged the rebreather. That could be why he isn’t responding.”
“If that happened then he’ll drown,” Thorne said.
Instead of swimming towards Darren like Kinsey was, Thorne maintained his position, watching the waters around and underneath him for the second shark.
“He’s not drowning,” Ingrid said. “His vitals are weak, but not getting weaker. He’s still breathing.”
“Can you tell what the impact did?” Thorne asked. “Broken bones? Internal bleeding? Anything?”
“Well, no,” Ingrid replied. “Those would be cool features to add later.”
“There is nothing cool about this,” Thorne snapped.
“Right, sorry,” Ingrid apologized.
“Lake? Talk to me,” Thorne ordered. “What do you see?”
“Just the one shark, so far,” Lake said. “And it’s diving fast!”
“The wetsuit will help with decompression,” Ingrid said. “So if he gets free, he can swim to the surface without worrying about the bends, no matter how deep the shark takes him.”
“Is that another feature you forgot to mention?” Thorne snapped.
“I guess so,” Ingrid replied. “I’m no good at giving a demonstration. I blame Carlos. He just gets me so flustered.”
***
“Coordinates are locked into your navigation system,” Carlos said to Darby as he crawled out of the Wiglaf II and looked back down inside the mini-sub. “Head straight for them and you’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
“Still no sign of the second shark?” Darby asked.
“Not from what I hear,” Carlos said. “I’m going to flood the bay right now. As soon as they say they’ve engaged the second shark then I’ll launch you from the B3.”
“Launch me anyway,” Darby said.
“But, Ballantine wanted you to wait-”
“I’m tired of waiting,” Darby said. “I should be out there fighting. If I can’t do that, then I want to get on the way. Flood the bay and launch me. Now.”
Carlos could see the look in Darby’s eyes meant there was no arguing with her. He nodded, closed and secured the hatch, then made his way across the plank to th
e edge of the deck. Glancing back at the mini-sub, Carlos shook his head; he couldn’t imagine having the guts Darby had. He much preferred the safety of the Toyshop.
“Armory,” he said aloud, smacking his forehead for even thinking the name “Toyshop.”
He left the launch bay, sealed the hatch, and opened a panel on the wall.
“You sure?” he asked over the direct com as he pressed a button in the panel.
“Don’t piss me off, Carlos,” Darby said.
“No, no, I won’t,” Carlos replied. “In three, two, one.”
He pressed his palm against a flat, red button and a siren rang out as the launch bay began to fill with water. In less than two minutes, the Wiglaf II was completely submerged and Carlos opened the bay doors, letting the mini-sub drive off into the deep.
***
“Sir,” an ensign said, turning from a monitor to look at Espanoza who had taken the captain’s chair on the bridge of the ship even though he wasn’t technically the captain. “A mini-sub just launched from the Beowulf. Did they say they were going to employ that tactic?”
“No, they did not,” Espanoza said. “Keep an eye on it.”
He watched as the Wyrm II circled in the air above the two Zodiacs in the ocean below.
“The men are ready,” Diego said as he stepped onto the bridge. “Loaded into the boats and awaiting your orders.”
“Good,” Espanoza said. “Once I see all of those Americans in the water then you are free to launch.”
Diego nodded and left the bridge.
“What is the mini-sub’s heading?” Espanoza asked. “Is it diving towards the bottom? I want to know if it goes anywhere near my subs.”
“No, sir,” the ensign replied. “It’s leveled out and is heading away from us. Due south.”
