Bone Quarry

by K D McNiven

  BONE QUARRY

  BY

  K.D. MCNIVEN

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental except those that are used as factual.

  São Brazilia, where the story takes place, is a fictitious village, as are the characters who live there.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.

  All rights reserved Copyright © August 2019

  by K.D. McNiven

  I cannot express enough gratitude for the people

  in my life who have helped me achieve my dream

  of becoming a published author. My family has been

  my biggest cheerleaders, encouraging me all the way,

  and helping to get my books to market.

  PROLOGUE

  ⁂

  Brazil, 2015

  Amalia Sousa dashed down the sandy beach, cool water spraying against her brown legs, refreshing her as the blistering Brazilian sun beat down on her. Long ribbons of black hair flagged behind her, a childish laugh tumbling from her lips. She turned her head and peered over her shoulder to see her brother, Alberto, close on her heels. She let out a screech as his hand reached out in a futile attempt to grab hold of his sister’s blouse.

  “You will never catch me, Alberto!” she taunted him.

  Alberto quickened his steps. As yet, he had never outrun his older sister but it never stopped him from trying. He chased her off the golden sand and into the rolling waves. He sliced his hand across the surface, shooting salty spray into her face.

  “You are pure evil to the bone, Alberto Sousa,” she yelled with a wide smile, cutting the water to mimic his playful act.

  A high-pitched squeal burst through Amalia’s lips and in one fluid movement, she slipped beneath the waves, leaving Alberto staring after her. It seemed like she’d been under for quite some time when Alberto became alarmed. He took a few cautious steps forward to search the navy-blue waves, taken by surprise when his feet were knocked out from underneath him by something rather large. He went under, the salty seawater burning his eyes. When he popped back through the surface, he saw that it was only Amalia trying to frighten him.

  “Don’t ever do that again, Amalia.”

  She noted the fear on his face and suddenly felt bad to have pulled such a thoughtless joke. She smiled and ruffled up his wet hair. “Okay. Promise.”

  They scampered back to the sandy shore, clothes drenched, and headed toward a small embankment where they dropped down onto the white powder to dry out. Out of her peripheral vision, Amalia could see a large mass. It appeared to be a decaying animal that had washed up on the beach, approximately thirty yards from them.

  Curiosity prompted her to her feet and she sprinted toward the massive form wondering what it might be. Perhaps a whale or an enormous shark? Once she reached the bulky form, however, she wasn’t sure what kind of creature she had just discovered. Nothing she had ever seen before for sure. She wondered if maybe the decay had disfigured the animal so that it was unrecognizable? Bloated, with large chunks of flesh eaten away by predators, made it nearly impossible to identify.

  She heard Alberto's feet pattering behind her. When she turned to look at him, his eyes were round as half-dollars and his mouth gaped with incredulity. He too looked bewildered.

  “What do you think it is?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “I’m not sure. It’s kind of scary looking though.”

  Amalia pinched her nostrils, blocking the putrid smell of the rotting carcass. Because the outer flesh had been mostly stripped, she couldn’t determine if the animal had come from the water or from the land. Stooping, she stared at two rows of sharp teeth—ninety-six of them to be exact, as Amalia counted, and most looked to be close to three inches long, curving inward, and jutting out from a fully emaciated mouth. The sun’s rays glistened off the bone-white teeth, making Amalia shudder with fear.

  “Alberto, go get Papa.”

  Alberto stood frozen, unable to tear his gaze away. He thought it the most frightening creature he had ever set his eyes on. Measuring four feet, six inches, he stood feet lower than the beast’s body, and he guesstimated it to be around thirty-five feet in length.

  “Alberto!” she said more sternly. “Go!”

  Amalia continued to inspect the gruesome mass of stench and decay, still trying to imagine what the beast could be. Even in her wildest imagination, she could not drum up a vivid picture in her mind to equal its height and length—even though it appeared half of its tail had corroded away.

  Strangely, she had the sensation of something or someone was watching her. She looked around, though she didn’t see anything. Still…goosebumps rose on her flesh and her heart quickened. She felt isolated and hoped her father and Alberto would come soon.

  Crackling and snapping of bushes behind her caused her to jump with a start.

  “Papa? Alberto?” she called out, but no answer followed. “Alberto, don’t play games. If you are there come out right now!” She waited. Nothing.

  There it was again, only closer now. Her breath grew ragged. Fear gripped her like eagle’s talons. Intuiting a present threat, she darted down the beach and up the embankment to the dirt trail that would lead to home. Hearing timbers snapping close behind she twisted her head and dared to look back. Her throat constricted, and though she made a desperate attempt to quicken her steps, her efforts were wasted. A broken limb caused her to lose her footing and she stumbled, falling forward onto the pathway. She pinched her eyes shut, unable to look at the beast encroaching on her with incredible speed. Her mouth opened to scream. Unfortunately, it was too late…

  Chapter One

  ⁂

  May 2019

  Dive leader, Megan (Meg) Gerhart knelt by the aluminum scuba tanks preparing for their first dive since they had arrived in Brazil, anchored relatively close to the Amazon River. She lined up the team’s diving equipment, checking off everything on her list. Safety was of utmost importance to her—one of the main reasons she followed the Buddy Checklist—a pre-dive habit she had fostered to ensure that no mishaps occurred while below the surface. First off, she examined the cylinder valve, fully opened as it should be. Check. Breathed through her regulator several times to assure adequate airflow, as well as testing her alternate breathing source. Check. She examined the air tubes thoroughly, looking for any cracks in the airlines. Check. Lastly, she gave a once-over to assure her cylinder bands were tightened down. Check. Being dive leader had many responsibilities, and Meg didn’t take chances with those who would dive alongside her. Besides, it cultivated peace of mind for all of them.

  About a quarter of a mile off the coastline, the team made plans to gather and test algae and water samples—the team having been sent by the Oceanic Research Institute (ORI), to establish why dead fish were washing ashore by the numbers.

  Taking a quick break, her emerald eyes sparkled with childish delight as she scanned the distant shoreline. Stretches of gold sandy beaches stretched far as the eye could see, feathering into a backdrop of heavily wooded rainforests, fortified with the highly-sought-after rubber trees. Palms of palla were interspersed throughout the vivid vegetation, the trees used by villagers to make thatched roofs. Meg was thrilled to have seen such a diverse ecosystem as they had motored their way along the shoreline. Nothing short of spectacular.

  Before coming, she had read that the rainforest had two-hundred and twenty-seven species of trees—she could attest to that as she looked out at the concentration of trees swaying in a merry waltz in the hot, s
teamy breeze. In the background, she heard the loud chatter of spider monkeys resonating in the air, intermingled with the almost braying sound of toucans. Meg couldn’t wait to see them up close and get snapshots for her photo album.

  Anticipation washed over her as she went back to work, her head snapping up when she heard the padding of footsteps behind her. She smiled when she saw Camilla Maduro approaching. Camilla, originally from Spain, had moved to the states where she furthered her education at UCLA, and signed onboard as their Conservation Biologist, along with seven other qualified marine specialists.

  Camilla, dressed in her black wet suit with wide red stripes on either side, squatted beside Meg and reached across to grab her face mask and fins. “How’s it going, Meg?”

  “Excited, to say the least. I’ve gotten most everything prepared for the dive, now I’m just waiting for the rest of the crew to show up. We’ll be exploring the reef this morning to see if we can identify any damage to the coral reef and I’ll have the team gather a few samples for research. I shudder to think of what might be causing all of these fish to die. Maybe toxic algae?” she shrugged. “I’m sure when we’re back on board, we’ll find a few of the answers.”

  Camilla brushed back her raven-black hair, securing it with a scrunchie on top of her head. Her dark skin already had red splotches from the intensity of the sun. She tipped a glass water bottle to her lips and took a couple of swallows. The thermometer had already jumped the eighty degrees Fahrenheit mark, and she felt a trickle of sweat making a lazy trail down her back.

  A bout of laughter drew their attention. They turned their heads to catch sight of Richard Cooper and his wife, Madison—or Maddy as the crew called her—walking toward the stern dive platform where Meg and Camilla were. Close behind was biologist Jayden Ballenger. All of them donned in wet suits and jabbering away.

  “Morning, gals,” Jayden said, dabbing beads of sweat off his coffee-colored brow. Threads of sunlight glistened off his short afro, clipped short in the back and on the sides; the smell of coconut oil heady around him. “An incredible day to dive.”

  “Nice and warm for sure,” agreed Meg. “Better yet…the ocean is looking cooperative today.”

  “Hey, what do you say we take the zodiac to shore this evening when we finish up and grab a beer? It’ll give us some time to chew on our findings.” Jayden cocked his head slightly, waiting to hear if there were any takers.

  “Sounds like a wonderful plan to me,” Meg replied. “I’m in.”

  “Count me in,” said Camilla. “It’s hotter than the blazes and by the time we’re out of the water and dressed, I’ll be ready for a cool down.”

  “Okay, everyone, grab your equipment and let’s load up the zodiac.”

  Recently hired oceanographer, Kyle Bainbridge, got inside the zodiac and helped load the eighteen-pound tanks and diving gear, stowing them under the seats, then headed for the crane’s control station equipped with a single-handed, thumb-operated mechanism to lower the boat. It didn’t take long before the team spotted the zodiac bobbing on the ocean’s surface, suspended from the bright yellow crane bolted down on the second deck aft and saw the ladder being extended over the side.

  Once the team climbed safely inside, Richard veered off starboard right, heading out to the markers Meg and Jayden had set earlier that morning, engine roaring.

  “Camilla will be my diving buddy this morning,” said Megan, fitting on her flippers. “We’ll go first. We’re only going down fifty feet to gather water samples and check out the condition of the reef to see if there’s any visual damage. Everyone has their dive writes notebook to jot down your findings, yeah?”

  “Roger that,” grinned Jayden, the slashes around his face deepening. He slipped on his fins and fitted his ScubaPro mask on top of his tight coils of hair, readying himself to take the plunge below the transparent blue waves.

  Meg reached behind her a second time to make sure the valve on her tank was open, as a precaution she directed the team to do the same, asking them to check their wrist computers to make sure they were in proper working order and fixed for the right gas. The computers were their lifeline in a sense. They helped the divers avoid decompression sickness and monitored nitrogen levels. In addition, they informed the team as to how much time they had left before they needed to surface.

  “Everyone has their camera?” she asked, not wanting anyone to miss out on a spectacular shot.

  Richard cut the motor and the zodiac rocked gently over the swells like a fisherman’s bobber. The intense sun rays burned against their faces and all of them were looking forward to dipping beneath the cool Atlantic water a short distance from the Amazon River’s headwaters.

  For Richard, nothing compared to the thrill of diving. A ripple of excitement coursed through him as he enthusiastically waited for Meg and Camilla to roll over the side. Soon as they took the plunge over the edge with a splash, he and Jayden followed. Kyle would wait in the boat to see what they might balloon to the surface and would put things into plastic containers to take back to the research ship for study.

  Inflating their buoyancy compensators, they began their descent toward the ocean floor, the current pushing against them as their fins propelled them in their kick cycle toward the area charted out beforehand. Winding their way between the tall spires of plankton, they caught sight of small schools of fish. Not what one would expect in a diverse ecosystem such as this.

  Megan and the team began gathering samples, tucking them into an attached side pouch. For every sample they collected, they jotted down the pertinent information, then moved on. Visually they couldn’t detect any damage to the coral as they kicked their way across the reef. Regardless, something was responsible for killing the numbers of fish spotted on the beach. A sense of relief filled Megan once they reached the particular grid they had marked off. Marine life in this particular area appeared to be thriving. A bit perplexing, she mused. But without more lengthy research, it was far too early to determine the cause.

  Wriggling her fingers, she motioned for Camilla to follow her farther out, the bubbles on her regulator whooshing past her ears. A sea turtle swam shoulder to shoulder with her, and after a short time, the turtle headed for the surface. She smiled. She would never grow tired of surrounding herself with the biodiversity of marine diving. A city all its own.

  The two stopped periodically to collect more samples to be tested once they got back to the research ship. As they kicked their way through the current like miniature submarines, Megan noticed two dead bonefish floating belly-up past her. She reached out to snag one of them, placing it in a plastic container, then slipped it into her pouch. She wondered if it would be more beneficial if they put their focus more on the shoreline to determine if someone was dumping waste into one of the tributaries.

  They continued to fin their way along the seafloor when Meg stopped abruptly. She glanced over at Camilla, her eyes rounded with incredulity behind her face mask. Beyond them, heaped in a wallowed-out area beneath an overhang of coral, were bones. A lot of bones. And not merely fish skeletons—human remains as well. Her heart thundered. What on earth had happened here, she wondered? A shipwreck? No, her senses challenged. There didn’t happen to be any evidence of decaying wood or metal to imply that.

  She flashed a quick glance over at Camilla, seeing shock register on her face as well. None of this made any sense. Jayden and Richard spotted Meg and Camilla and kicked their way over to join them. Meg pointed out the disturbing scene, and the two guys moved ahead, digging through the pile of bones, taking care not to create silt out—a real problem for divers because cloudy water could produce near-zero visibility. They also needed to be watchful so the current wouldn’t toss them into the sharp coral spears.

  Because of the wave action, the bones would normally be swept out. But the coral had formed an overhang on three sides of the hollowed-out space and kept the bones concentrated in that specific location. In likelihood, they would discover other areas stacked wit
h bones if they swept the perimeter.

  The team took several samples of the bones along with a couple of skulls. It would be difficult to determine the age since most of them were heavily covered with barnacles. Meg dropped the specimens into a lift bag, secured it to a tether line, and adding air from her buoyancy compensator, floated the bag to the surface where Kyle was set to haul it inside the zodiac.

  Taking more time to scrutinize the area, they discovered several skeletal remains of sharks and other aquatic species. The amounts of bones gave them cause to wonder how large of an animal they might encounter. Or were they dealing with some tribal ritual that had gone on for centuries? Meg took the time to measure out what she assumed to be Tiger shark skeletons, more than half of them was over eight feet in length. They would not be easy prey to take down, she determined, jotting down the dimensions on her dive writes notebook. When finished, she glanced at her wrist-mounted Aqua Lung computer to determine how much longer they could stay down. With only twenty minutes of air left, she motioned for the team to finish up what they were doing.

  Jayden and Richard sent up a diver marker buoy, so they would have the exact location when they made their next dive. Baffled by their findings, they made their way to the surface, making safety stops about every fifteen feet for a length of five minutes to avoid decompression sickness. Once their heads broke through the water, they pulled themselves along the line back to the zodiac. For a time, each of them sat quietly, their mind whirling with questions about what they had just seen.

  “We’ll have to expand our grid,” Meg said finally, breaking through the wall of silence. “It’s hard to say how many more bones are scattered down there or how close to the shoreline they might extend.”

  “Whatever caused this horrific event, you can bet the villagers have some knowledge about it,” said Jayden. “When we go to shore tonight, we can ask some of the locals what they know.”