Depths of Paradise

by Vance Albright

  I have to get out of here. Need air, she said in response to the pain in her lungs. She started swimming, searching for the escape hole. Her arm brushed a soft object. She soon identified it as her bed. She looked around for the roof, not knowing up from down. She was completely disoriented. Her lungs were now burning for air. She took a deep long breath to satisfy them. Her senses started to fade. She hardly felt the teeth working their way into her stomach. She closed her eyes for a final time and was gone.

  Chapter 6

  5:30 AM 4/9/2021 HST

  The Hawaiian sun began to rise over Niihau. Okada, Max, and Liz had just finished a quick breakfast and were getting ready to head out. Okada walked out to the Jeep to look over the gear that had been loaded the previous night. In his experience, the most unnecessary mission failures were caused by missing or faulty equipment. He was strict about double- or even triple-checking mission equipment. Max and Liz changed into their wetsuits. One less thing to do when they got to the mission sight. After a final search for forgotten equipment, Max headed out the door. Liz grabbed two cups of coffee and joined him.

  Okada was sitting in the driver seat with the engine running. Max climbed into the back seat. Liz got into the passenger seat and handed a coffee cup to Okada. He thanked her and put his foot on the gas pedal.

  “What do you think attacked the ship?” Liz asked, turning around to look at Max.

  “I honestly don’t know,” he replied. “I highly doubt it was a whale or a shark. So right now, my prime suspect is Nessie,” he said in a joking voice.

  “Cute,” Liz replied. Okada stopped the Jeep next to the X-7. The previous night it had been fueled up and towed from the hangar.

  “My turn to fly,” Liz said. She climbed into the cockpit and got the X-7 ready for takeoff. Okada and Max loaded the gear and entered the helicopter. The X-7’s trio of blades began to spin, and soon they were airborne.

  The X-7 was a silver hybrid helicopter. In addition to the normal overhead blade, the X-7 had two forward-facing propellers that were attached to short-span fixed aircraft wings. This allowed the X-7 to reach top speeds of two hundred and ninety-three miles an hour. At that speed it could reach the farthest Hawaiian island in only a few hours. Visitors from Japan arrived by commercial airlines and needed to be transported to Niihau. By using the argument of less travel time, this meant more work could be accomplished. Liz convinced the military leaders in charge of the operation to purchase the fastest helicopter available: the X-7. Off duty, the X-7 had become Max and Liz’s personal island hopper. Bulk supplies were transported to the island monthly; however, Max and Liz preferred to gather smaller supplies themselves. Living on an isolated island made them enjoy trips to the other islands. Even if it was for simple things like groceries or housing supplies.

  Half an hour later, the X-7 landed on a U.S. Coast Guard offshore patrol cutter that was stationed above the wreckage of the Lucky Dragon. The ship’s commander and a few crew members approached to greet them.

  “Commander Takahashi, I’m Vice Admiral Thomson. Welcome aboard the Sea Eagle.”

  “Thank you, Vice Admiral,” Okada replied. He briefly motioned to Max and Liz. “My team, Lieutenant Liz Tayler and Max Varian, a civilian biologist.” The two momentarily stopped unloading their deep sea diving gear to shake the Vice Admiral’s hand. “Thank you for your Government’s assistance and cooperation during this tragic disaster,” Okada continued.

  “Of course. We’re all allies here,” Vice Admiral Thomson replied. “I have received orders from Governor Fatu to let you and your team run the show from here on out.”

  “I hope that will not be a problem for you or your crew,” Okada said, not wanting the Vice Admiral to feel like they were taking over the ship.

  “No problem at all. I’m honestly grateful. You’re taking a load off my plate. Monitoring and coordinating the crew recovery efforts gives me enough to worry about.”

  “Have you located any survivors or bodies?” Okada asked.

  “No,” Vice Admiral Thomson replied in a puzzled voice. “We have been searching the surrounding waters for over a day and not a trace. We’re about to expand the search grid a few hundred miles. If that brings up nothing…” Thomson paused for a moment. “Well, I’m afraid we will have to call off the search.”

  “I understand,” Okada replied, fully understanding the difficult decision the Vice Admiral needed to make.

  “Have you had any unusual sonar reading?” Max asked.

  “None that I’m aware of,” Vice Admiral Thomson answered.

  “What depths is the wreckage at?” Okada asked.

  “Our sonar shows the ship is resting just under one hundred seventy-five feet. Are all three of you going down?” Thomson inquired.

  “I’m staying on board to monitor the situation from the control room,” Okada replied.

  “The ship’s sonar has a longer range then the small sonar devices we used. During deep sea operations, we have two divers and one sonar operator,” Liz added as she and Max put on their rebreathers.

  “Okay; before you go down. Equipment check list,” Okada said. Max and Liz both stated their equipment.

  “Rebreathers check, diving transceiver check, underwater camera and tools check, spear guns and extra spears check, diving knifes check, Pontus system check.” The Pontus system was a small sonar and tactical GPS device. Liz normally used the Pontus, while Max took care of the photography.

  “Very good,” Okada said as Max and Liz put on their diving masks.

  “Before you ask. The diving transceivers work,” Liz said smartly.

  “I’m glad they do,” Okada answered, seemingly not enjoying the joke. “I’m heading up to the ship’s control room. Keep in radio contact.” The transceivers they used had two channels. One for the divers to talk to each other, and one for communicating with a ship.

  “Let us know if the sonar picks up anything… strange,” Max reminded, not wanting to use the words “sea monster.”

  “Way before it reaches us,” Liz added. Okada motioned that he understood. Max and Liz fell backwards into the water and disappeared beneath the surface.

  “What do you hope to find down there?” Thomson asked. He wondered what Max meant by strange sonar readings.

  “Answers,” Okada replied.

  s s s

  Max pointed at the wreck.

  “There,” he said, pointing towards the ship resting on its side. “Well, to state the obvious, the entire right portion of the bridge is caved in,” Max said.

  “That doesn’t make any sense. The ship must have hit a rock while sinking,” Liz said. Max took photos of the damage. “Okada.”

  “I’m here,” Okada replied.

  “Does the ship’s sonar show any large rocks or terrain changes around the wreckage?”

  “No,” Okada confirmed. That was the answer he did not want to hear. The closer they got, the more it looked like the damage was caused by something massive ramming into the ship.

  “Here’s the plan. I’ll stand guard. You explore the wreckage,” Liz suggested.

  “Okay with me. You wouldn’t know what to look for anyway,” Max teased.

  “And you couldn’t hit a two-hundred-foot sea monster right in front of you,” Liz added. The comment sent a feeling of uneasiness through both of them. Neither of them thought they would run into something like that, but the dark waters around them caused the thought to linger in the back of their minds. Whatever had sunk the ship could still be lurking, somewhere in the darkness. When they arrived at the wreckage, Liz stood up and rested her back on what was left of the bridge cabin. Her eyes moved between the sonar and her surroundings. With Liz standing guard, Max went inside the ship to search for answers. Even with a powerful flashlight, at this depth, the examination process was difficult. He was only able to see small portions of the ship at a time.

  Ten or so minutes had passed when Liz asked, “Max. How’s the search coming?”

  “Slow. I’m
heading to the engine room now. I found another damage sight,” he said a few seconds later. Max studied the large hole in the side of the ship. What he found unnerving was the wood on the right and left sides of the hole were covered in scrapes.

  “Max, is the new damage sight what caused the ship to sink?” Okada asked.

  “It’s definitely large enough. These marks are just odd. It looks like something was trying to claw its way through the hole,” he replied. After saying that, his radio went silent.

  “Max, you okay?” Liz asked, concerned.

  “Yeah,” he answered. This sent a feeling of relief through her body. “I cannot believe I’m saying this, but there are claw marks on the inside of the ship,” Max continued. He wished he could see the damaged portion of the ship from the outside. Unfortunately, it was blocked by the ocean bottom.

  “Claw marks?” Liz said, wondering if she heard right. Her finger moved to the trigger of the spear gun.

  “That’s what it looks like. I’m going to finish up here and head out,” he replied, wanting to leave the area as much as Liz did. The room was starting to become claustrophobic. The machinery inside the room was starting to become the sea monsters of the deep. The levers and switches began to resemble teeth and claws. Max shook off the feeling and focused on the task at hand. He measured the side of the hole and photographed the damage. The hole was three feet around, and the claw marks were half an inch deep.

  Liz moved inside the damaged bridge. She saw the light from Max’s flashlight. She waved her light to show him her new location.

  “Get too scary out in the open?” Max joked.

  “Of course not,” Liz scoffed. “I was getting the ship’s VDR. It’s possible we can still learn something from it.” Liz pulled the voyage data recorder out of the ship’s control panel. “Ready to head back up?” she asked.

  “In a minute. I want to check the cabin for claw marks.” Having two lights in the small space made the search much easier. In the few seconds, Max spotted what he was looking for. “There,” he said.

  “What?” Liz inquired, not seeing anything of interest. Max pointed to the cabin floor. Four small holes were carved into the bottom.

  “That’s where our friend placed one of his limbs. Remember what the helmsman said right before the radio cut off?” Max asked.

  “Monster,” Liz replied. Her head looked down at the sonar. She jumped when the flash from Max’s camera went off.

  “Now, if I’m right, another set of holes should be over here,” Max said to himself. Liz watched him. She was about to ask how she could help when she noticed the number of bubbles coming out of his rebreather suddenly increase. “Liz, give me your knife!” he shouted in a voice filled with nervousness and excitement.

  “What did you find?” Liz asked as she handed him the knife. Her eyes grew wide when she saw what he was looking at. On the end of another set of four small holes was a large claw. The tip of it was sunk at least an inch into the floor. Max carefully dug the knife into the floor and forced the claw out. The claw was white with a large curve on the front of it. On the end of the claw, small pieces of flesh danced in the ocean water. Max was mesmerized by what he was looking at.

  “Please tell me you know what animal has a claw like that,” Liz said.

  “Are you kidding? I have no idea,” Max replied in a stunned voice. The tension was broken when Okada’s voice came over the radio.

  “Max, Liz, we had another possible attack. Return to the surface at once.”

  “What do you mean? What happened?” Liz asked.

  “We just received a report that an underwater hotel room in Kaanapali was found flooded early this morning.”

  “Why are we just hearing about this now?” Liz continued.

  “The hotel thought the accident was caused by structural failure. They sent divers down to retrieve the bodies of the two guests staying there. The divers reported they found no bodies, and what’s left of the glass dome had strange marking all over it.”

  “What type of marking?” Max asked.

  “The divers reported they appeared to be claw marks,” Okada answered.

  “Tell them not to touch anything until we have a chance to look over the damage,” Max said.

  “As we speak, Vice Admiral Thomson is ordering the area to be sealed off. The Coast Guard and rescue units in the area have been ordered to stand down until we arrive.”

  Max pulled out a plastic bag and placed the claw inside.

  “Liz, let’s head back. I want to examine that hotel as soon as possible,” Max said. His heart was racing. A day ago, the idea of a real-life sea monster was nonsense. Now, it seemed like the possibility was growing.

  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” Liz replied.

  Okada stood on the deck of the Sea Eagle and waited. He knew Max and Liz needed to make decompression stops on the way up. This annoyed him because, although necessary, it also wasted time. An hour had passed when Max and Liz finally broke the surface. Liz held up a large pink snapper she had shot on one of her decompression stops.

  “Dinner,” she said to Okada.

  “Looking forward to it,” he replied as he helped Liz on to the ship. Once Liz was on board, he offered his hand to Max. “I assume you brought the claw with you?” Max opened one of his diving suit pockets and pulled the bag out. Okada stared intently at the claw for a moment.

  “Place that in the cold storage container, and both of you be ready to fly in ten minutes,” Okada ordered.

  “No point changing. We’re going to be back in the water soon,” Liz said. She pulled off her rebreather and placed it in an unused seat of the X-7.

  “Agreed,” Max said. He opened the cold storage container that sat in one of the helicopter’s side compartments. Smoke from the dry ice rose over the container. He was about to drop the claw in when Liz’s fish flopped into the container. “Really! You could contaminate the sample,” Max shouted. He carefully placed the claw in a corner the fish was not touching.

  “The claw’s still in the bag,” Liz reminded, climbing into the X-7.

  “Only you would use a high-tech cold storage unit as a fish freezer,” Max said, joining her in the back seat. Okada walked over to Vice Admiral Thomson, who was approaching the X-7.

  “Vice Admiral. Thank you your corporation and aid.”

  “No trouble at all, young man. I hope your team found something useful on the dive,” he replied.

  “They did. Please keep us informed of any new developments.”

  “Don’t worry; you can count on the U.S. Coast Guard to do everything we can to locate your missing sailors.”

  “Myself and the Japanese government thank you again,” Okada replied. Both men shook hands, and then Okada got aboard the X-7. Vice Admiral Thomson and several crew members gave final waves as the X-7 lifted off and headed east.

  Chapter 7

  5:30 AM 4/9/2021 HST

  Mya Kendig rinsed the toothpaste from her mouth, still not believing Jade had woken her up at five-thirty in the morning.

  “Hurry up, sleepy head. I want to be on the boat by six,” Jade said in an excited voice as she lightly pounded on the door.

  “I don’t even get up this early on work days,” Mya replied in a tired voice. When she opened the bathroom door, a fully awake Jade spoke.

  “I get up at five every day and go for a relaxing swim.” Mya gave her a look that said she would never dream of getting up that early. The one thing she hated about Jade was that she was a morning person. “Why are you so tired, anyway?”

  “I couldn’t sleep so I stayed up watching TV until eleven,” Jade laughed.

  “Watching what?”

  “Some paranormal program about Native American legends,” Mya replied as they got in the car.

  “Learn about anything we need to look out for?” Jade asked in a creepy voice.

  “Only the Ogopogo, and some half cat, half dragon that lives in Great Lakes called the water panther.”

&nb
sp; “What? You’re making that up,” Jade said, giggling. She loved the stories her sister came up with.

  “No, apparently some people believe in it,” Mya said, laughing a little herself.

  “Let me guess: it swims around the lakes eating people?”

  “No, it guards copper and battles thunder birds, and then it eats people. Jeez, get your facts right,” Mya said with a serious face. They were stopped at a red light so Jade gave her an annoyed glare. After a few seconds, both sisters burst out in laughter. Jade put an arm around her younger sister’s shoulder.

  “I’m so glad I get to spend a week with you.” Mya gave her a tired smile that said the feeling was mutual. Around fifteen minutes later, Mya groggily followed her sister on to the boat dock. She looked at a fully awake Jade, still wondering how she could be so active at six in the morning. The pleasant salty smell of the sea and the sound of the sea gulls flying overhead lessened the major annoyance she felt having to be this active, this early.

  “Come on, sleepy head. We want to get an early start to the day,” Jade said happily, whistling a tune Mya did not recognize.

  Jade pointed to the first of four boats tied to the dock. “Here’s our boat.” The sight of the thirty-six-foot power boat sent away any feelings of grogginess Mya was feeling. The boat was ocean blue with several species of fish painted on the lower sides. The bright yellow words “The Maui Diving Experience” stretched across the front and top middle section of the boat.

  “Do you own that boat?” Mya asked, stunned by what she was seeing.

  “No, it belongs to the company I work for. However, since I’m the lead diver, during nonbusiness hours I get to use it whenever I want,” Jade said, raising both her eyebrows.