Depths of Paradise
Vance Albright
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2019. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, shared, or transmitted in anyway without permission from the author.
Cover Designer: Brandi Doane McCann. https://www.ebook-coverdesigns.com
Developmental Editor: Savannah Gilbo. https://www.savannahgilbo.com
Spelling and Grammar Editor: Sara Kelly. https://reedsy.com/sara-kelly
Book Formatting and Typesetting: Self-Publishing Lab
ISBNS
E-book: 978-1-7340628-0-9
Paperback: 978-1-7340628-2-3
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lightanddarknovelizations/
Business E-mail: [email protected]
Contents
Prologue: The Creation of Niihau Base
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Vance Albright’s Biography
Prologue: The Creation of Niihau Base
On January 17, 2020, the Japanese government purchased the privately owned Hawaiian Island Niihau. The smallest of the Hawaiian Islands, Niihau covers an area of seventy miles. Officially, the land and the surrounding waters were purchased to train dolphins and other marine life for usage in water parks across America and Japan. Unofficially, the island’s true purpose is to train attack dolphins to locate and destroy any hostile marine threats that threaten the Japanese islands.
Land Construction
To make project Niihau a reality, a small airfield and boat dock were created to provide work crews with transportation to and from the island. Next, important buildings like work crew shelters, warehouses, and a hangar were built to hold vehicles and months of supplies. Niihau was known to experience long periods of drought. To combat this, large water distillation tanks were assembled to convert the local sea water into drinkable water. For the island’s permanent staff, a housing unit was built that could hold up to seven people. The outside of the house had the appearance of a simple one-story home. What was simple on the outside was state-of-the-art on the inside. The inside of the house had top-of-the-line private quarters, kitchen, living room, and medical supply room. The basement of the house held a state-of-the-art laboratory and recreation area.
To further aid in hiding the island’s true purpose, the large areas of land not used for storage or housing were converted to a wildlife refuge for critically endangered species. The public was informed the wildlife was tracked by a network of ground sensors, equipped with HD cameras installed across the island. Photos of flora and fauna could be found on the Niihau wildlife preserve website. The deception worked, hiding the sensors’ true purpose of locating any intruders on the island.
Fencing
A massive network of underwater fencing was constructed half a mile from shore. It stood seven feet above the water line and surrounded the entire island. The fencing served a dual purpose. Primarily, it would act as the dolphin’s habitat; secondarily, it acted as a barrier to keep unwanted vessels from entering the area. The fencing also played a role in the dolphins’ intelligence testing. Bottle nose dolphins can leap fifteen feet. The test was to determine which dolphins learned they could easily clear the fence. Occasionally, the dolphins that learned this would escape and go for a swim outside the training zone. Dolphins that failed to return on command or by themselves shortly after leaving were tracked down by GPS and removed from the program. Failed dolphins were sold to zoos or marine aquariums across the world.
It took a year of nonstop work from hardworking Japanese and American contractors, but in early 2021, the job was finished. Now, the facility at Niihau was ready to create the first wave of the new Japanese marine defense force.
Chapter 1
10:17 PM 4/7/2021 HST
The Japanese fishing trawler Lucky Dragon sailed thirty-two miles off the coast of Maui. The Lucky Dragon was a sixty-foot-long vessel that held a crew of four: a captain, a helmsman, and two deckhands. Captain Fumio Kudo sat in his cabin reading a Hawaiian newspaper. Whenever the Lucky Dragon docked for supplies, he picked up a newspaper at the port. He enjoyed reading about the news events from different countries, and how those countries perceived and reported on world events. Fumio was an older man in his early sixties, who had worked around fishing vessels since he was a teenager. His reading was interrupted by a beeping sound, which alerted the crew a fish was on one of the lines. He smiled.
Another catch, he thought to himself. He could hear the sound of the fishing line getting reeled in. Music to his ears. The ship’s freezer was filled with large yellowfin tuna and marlins. In a few days, the Lucky Dragon would begin sailing back to Japan. Ready to cash in on a big payday. A successful trip. The thought brought a smile to Fumio’s face as he went back to his reading. A few moments later, a deckhand’s voice came over the ship’s intercom.
“Captain Kudo, please come on deck right away!” The voice had a confused and slightly worried sound to it, which made Fumio wonder what was going on above him. He opened his cabin door, walked through the sleeping cabins, up a set of stairs, and onto the main deck. The bright ship’s lights made him squint. He looked out at the dark ocean to let his eyes adjust. Clouds covered the moon, making the water surrounding him nearly invisible. He walked over to his two deckhands who were standing around the recently caught fish.
“What is the problem?” he asked.
“Look, Captain!” one of the men said, pointing at the seven-foot tuna. The entire bottom and middle portions of the tuna had been removed. Only the head, tail, and a few pieces of flesh hung from the tuna’s still intact spine.
“This is unfortunate,” he replied, looking at the mangled fish. “What did it? A shark?” Fumio asked.
“I don’t think so. Not with a bite like this!” one of the deckhands replied nervously.
“Captain, come to the main cabin right away!” the helmsman shouted over the intercom. Fumio quickly ran into the main cabin where the helmsman was glued to the radar screen. “Captain, a large object started circling us several minutes ago!” Fumio looked at the radar screen, which showed a large blip fourteen feet in front of the boat. The blip started moving towards the Lucky Dragon. The radio also showed it was rising towards the water’s surface. Fumio pressed the intercom button and spoke.
“Turn on the spotlight now.” He then turned to the helmsman and ordered him to cease engines. The object was most
likely nothing more than a whale, but after seeing that half-eaten fish, Captain Kudo was taking no chances.
He watched as a deckhand rushed to the assigned position. The ship had a single spotlight mounted on the front of the ship that could be rotated three hundred and sixty degrees. The other deckhand walked up to the spotlight holding a shotgun. The spotlight’s first scan showed nothing but the dark ocean. Just before the deckhand started the second scan, the helmsman’s voice screamed over the intercom.
“The object just surfaced on the starboard side.” The light and shotgun barrel turned right. The spotlight illuminated a large fast-moving wake heading right towards them. In rapid succession, three slugs left the shotgun. Small ripples started forming on top of the wake as the bullets pierced the water. Nerves filled both men as the wake’s speed increased. The deckhand holding the shotgun got ready to unload another volley. Suddenly the sound of a thunderclap filled the area, and the spotlight went out. Some of the crew scanned the skies, looking for the source, while others looked at the deckhand operating the spotlight. He was shouting in confusion, trying to get the light back on. Alarms started going off in the main cabin as the boat was violently shaken, nearly knocking Captain Kudo and the helmsman off their feet.
“What’s happening?” Captain Kudo demanded to know.
“We’re taking on water!” the helmsman shouted as he tried to start the ship’s engines. “The engines are not responding! The engine room must be flooded!” he screamed in a panicked voice. Although nervous, Captain Kudo managed to keep his composure. He ordered the helmsman to send out an S.O.S.; then he ran outside and began shouting orders to the deckhands.
“One of you go below and see how much damage we have taken! The rest of us will ready the life raft!” Before the men could move, the boat was struck again. The deckhand with the shotgun screamed and fired his gun as he fell over the boat’s railing. “Man overboard!” Kudo shouted.
“Captain, the spotlight is not working. I don’t know what’s wrong with it,” the remaining deckhand shouted, rushing to the middle of the boat. Kudo handed him a flashlight.
“Come on. We must try to locate him.” Kudo and the deckhand rushed to the spot they saw Ryu fall overboard. The beams from the flashlights revealed nothing.
“Ryu! Ryu!” both men cried, hoping to hear a response. Abruptly a loud splash occurred, followed by the sound of shattering wood and glass. The boat started to turn to the right, knocking both men off their feet. A scream from the helmsman filled both men’s ears, which was followed by another splash. Kudo got to his feet, struggling to stand on the increasing vertical deck. He looked at the main cabin. The right side was completely destroyed.
My God, what is this thing? he thought to himself.
“Captain, what do we do?” the deckhand screamed.
“Into the life raft! Abandon ship!” Kudo ordered, snapping out of his shock. He and the deckhand tossed the life raft into the water. Kudo and the deckhand jumped off the boat into the circular life raft. Both men sat in disbelief as the ship slowly sank beneath the ocean. For the moment, the sea was silent. The only sound came from the water softly hitting the raft. Neither man wanted to speak, nor could they explain what just happened. Kudo opened the emergency supply kit and started going through it. The silence was broken by an eerie moan, followed by another splash.
“It’s a Kappa,” the deckhand said, frightened. Normally, Kudo would have lectured the man for suggesting such a thing, but now he was unsure what to believe. Hesitating, Kudo turned on his flashlight and started to search the waters around them. Suddenly, the loud hissing of breaking rubber occurred. Both men let out a final scream as the sides of the life raft started to enclose around them and fall beneath the surface.
Chapter 2
6:38 PM 4/8/2021 JST
It was late afternoon in Tokyo, Japan. Commander Okada Takahashi sat in his office, located in building A of the Japanese Ministry of Defense complex. The defense complex had five main building lettered A to E. He intently looked over the latest reports on the progress of the Japanese Marine Defense Force dolphin training drills. Okada Takahashi was in his mid-thirties. He was tall for a Japanese man, standing at six feet with a muscular build. He had black hair and brown eyes. He spoke in a thick authoritative Japanese accent. When on duty, his face always had a serious look on it. He also had a strong reputation for always having a serious no-nonsense attitude. His mere presence in a room intimidated most people. A perfectly cleaned and pressed Japanese military uniform covered his body. A knock on the door made Okada’s eyes rise from his papers.
“Enter,” he said. His personal assistant, Saburo Nakamura, entered the room and bowed deeply. Saburo was a thin built man with short brown hair. Unlike the intimidating presence Takahashi gave off, Saburo had a much more professional business presence to him. His professional suit, small glasses, and polite smile added to the aura.
“Sir, I just received a report from the American Coast Guard,” Saburo said.
“Concerning what?” Okada asked.
“Thirty-two miles off the Hawaiian mainland, at exactly ten seventeen Hawaiian Standard Time, the Japanese fishing vessel Lucky Dragon was attacked and sunk,” Saburo replied.
“Attacked by what?” Okada asked, expecting Saburo to say “pirates.” Saburo paused for a few seconds, trying to find the right words.
“Well…. I know this is going to be hard to believe, but the ship reported it was under attack by a large unidentified sea creature.” Okada looked straight ahead with an unreadable stare on his face.
“Have any crew members been recovered?”
“Not that I know of, sir. The American Coast Guard is conducting a rescue operation as we speak.”
“Bring me the full report as soon as you receive it, and make travel arrangements for me. I’m going to join my team on Niihau and personally look into this situation,” Okada ordered.
“Yes, sir,” Saburo replied. He bowed and started to leave the room. He stopped and turned to the commander. “Sir, may I ask something?” Okada shook his head yes. “Are you taking this sea monster report seriously?”
“I’m not making any assumptions until I have more information,” he replied.
“Sir, what if the Lucky Dragon truly was sunk by a sea monster?” Saburo asked, concerned. “If the legends are true, then more ships may meet the same fate.”
“I am confident my team and I can discover what truly happened to the Lucky Dragon. Once the truth is revealed, we will take appropriate action.” Saburo smiled, satisfied with the answer, and left the room.
Chapter 3
4:43 PM 4/8/2021 HST
Mya Kendig nervously stood near the baggage claim belt of Kahului Airport. When her flight landed, she had received a text from her sister Jade stating she was going to be late picking her up from the airport. That was the last thing she needed. This was her first time flying, and her first time traveling alone. Thoughts started to fill her head as she waited for her suitcase. She had no idea where to go or where Jade was going to meet her. To make matters worse, Jade was not responding to her return texts. She hoped this was because she was driving to the airport. She spotted a large black suitcase with a stuffed dragon tied to it. She reached over and grabbed it off the rack.
Mya Kendig was in her mid-twenties. She had long dark brown hair, with large streaks of it dyed purple. She had a thin build, with pale skin. Mya scanned the crowds of people, hoping to locate her sister’s face. Mya checked her phone again; still nothing. Still nervous about the situation, Mya took a deep breath and headed for the airport entrance. After a short walk, Mya sat at a bench near the entrance door and anxiously waited for her sister. The half hour that went by felt like an eternity to Mya.
What if she forgot I was coming? Mya thought, staring at her phone. Finally, her phone’s ring tone went off.
“Jade,” Mya said.
“Hey, I’m so sorry I’m late. The diving tour took longer than expected and then the traff
ic was terrible.”
“It’s fine,” Mya replied in relief. “I’m just glad to hear your voice.”
“Where are you?” Jade asked.
“Sitting at a bench right near the airport entrance.”
“Did you go outside yet?” Jade asked.
“No,” Mya answered.
“Good; don’t go out until I get there. Criminals wait around to grab unsuspecting tourists.”
“What?” Mya asked nervously as her eyes scrutinized the crowds of people.
“I’m kidding,” a voice said next to her. Mya jumped up, startled only to see her older sister standing a few yards from her. Jade was a few inches taller than Mya and in her late twenties. She had long light brown hair and matching brown eyes. She had an athletic build, and what some would call perfectly tanned skin. A smile formed on Mya’s face as the two sisters hugged. “It’s so great to see you! Over a year is too long,” Jade said.
“Yeah, I’m happy to see you too!” Mya replied.
Jade released the hug and said, “How are you holding up?”
Mya put her head down. “As well as can be expected,” she replied, trying to hide the pain in her voice. A few seconds later she perked up and said with a smile, “But I’m in Hawaii for a week and ready to have fun!”
She noticed Jade was keeping one hand hidden behind her back. “Jade, what are you hiding?” Jade leisurely brought her arm forward and placed a bright pink Hawaiian Lei around Mya’s neck. Mya looked at it with an annoyed expression, which made Jade laugh.
“Welcome to Hawaii!”
“Just what I always wanted,” Mya said sarcastically. “Can I take this off now?” she asked.
“Not until we get to the car,” Jade replied. “I want you to get the full Hawaiian experience. How was your flight, anyway?”
“After a six-hour flight, I’m jet lagged and hungry. When can we go eat?” Mya asked.
Depths of Paradise Page 1
