Depths of Paradise

by Vance Albright

  “Sorry. No, it seems to be lost in the mail, and Saburo is not happy about it.”

  “Any idea when it will get here? I would like to examine it with Dr. Yamaguchi,” Max asked. Liz shrugged her shoulders.

  “No idea. All I know is Saburo has redirected it to Niihau.” Max cursed in annoyance. He was hoping to examine the diving equipment while he was here.

  “Well, since you’re back, let’s discuss how to kill the creature,” he continued.

  “I’m surprised you’re in favor of killing it,” Samuel said in a stunned voice. “I thought you would be making an arguing to capture and study it.”

  “I would love to study an unknown animal in its natural environment, but I also know a man eater needs to be put down. The two of us can study the remains once it’s dealt with or find another living one,” Max replied.

  Samuel was about to speak when Ashly shouted in satisfied excitement, “Okay, that’s done!”

  “What is?” Liz asked.

  “The personal matter I was working on,” Ashly replied, relaxing in her chair. “Now that it’s finished, my life will be a little easier.” She quickly sat up straight and got back on topic. “Okay, sorry for asking what some may find an obvious question, but this has been bothering me since I got here. Why do we need to destroy this creature? Why not just use the American or Japanese Navy?”

  “The sight of Japanese subs and destroyers sailing around the Hawaiian Islands firing guns may alarm some people,” Liz said.

  “That, and Japan cannot conduct offensive military operations,” Okada answered. “When it comes to the American Navy, I doubt they will want to conduct destructive naval operations in United States waters.”

  “Plus, it would ruin the tourist industry,” Liz remarked.

  “Enough,” Okada ordered.

  “Wait, I thought the American government was working with us and willing to give us any support we needed,” Ashly commented.

  “The Americans are assisting us in investing the destruction of the Lucky Dragon. Asking for material aid is very different than asking them to conduct military operations,” Okada replied.

  “We do have seven attack dolphins. Maybe we should finally turn them loose,” Liz suggested.

  “I thought about that, but I don’t think they’re ready to complete a hunt and kill mission yet,” Max replied.

  “Every one of our dolphins has completed every training program we put them through,” Liz countered.

  “Patrolling a small area in a controlled environment.” Max turned so he was facing only Liz. “As you know, we have only conducted the more advanced hunt and kill tests several times. With mixed results. Before we turn a group of attack dolphins loose in populated waters, I would like to conduct more tests and see them continually following commands.”

  “If we need to use them, can we?” Okada asked.

  Max thought about it for a moment until he reluctantly said, “Yes, provided the snout mounted hypodermic lances can be built.”

  “What are those?” Ashly asked curiously.

  “In simple terms, large needles with small amounts of C-4 explosives inside them are mounted to the dolphin’s snout. The dolphins ram the target. The needle enters the target and the explosive is pushed inside the target’s body. The force of the impact activates a detonator and five seconds later, boom!” Liz answered.

  “What about underwater mines?” Ashly added.

  “Darling, we just discussed the Navy cannot conduct destructive naval operations,” Samuel replied.

  “I know that, and don’t call me darling,” Ashly snapped back.

  “What did you have in mind, Ashly?” Okada asked.

  “I was thinking the Navy could give us small underwater mines that we rig with remote detonators that we can control from a ship. That way we can explode them when we want. The mines would be no danger to passing ships and the explosion would be small enough nobody will know anything unusual is going on.”

  “I honestly like that idea the best,” Max commented.

  “What? I thought you would want to use some sort of poisoned bait,” Ashly said. Max laughed a little.

  “No way. First, we don’t know what type of poison would affect this creature or how much we would need. Second, the poison bait could be eaten by native wildlife or leak out and contaminate the local ecosystem.”

  “Anyone else have anything to add?” Okada asked. Nobody said anything and everyone seemed satisfied.

  Liz put her head on the table and said in a worn-out voice, “Thank God we’re nearly done. Creating reports are so boring.”

  “It’s not that bad. I love creating reports,” Ashly said. Everyone looked up when Saburo entered the room.

  “Hello, everyone. How’s the brainstorming going?”

  “Great! We came to a conclusion for both problems and are just finished up the final report,” Ashly said proudly.

  “That’s wonderful to hear,” Saburo said. He reached inside his business jacket and pulled out an envelope. “I have your plane tickets. Your flight leaves tomorrow at eight p.m.” Saburo handed Max, Ashly, Liz, and Okada first class tickets. When he got to Samuel, he frowned slightly. “I’m afraid there was an error with your ticket. When I printed them, the airlines had you sitting in a middle seat back in the economy class.”

  “Wait, what! I’m an important person. I cannot be seen sitting in coach,” Samuel said in a worried voice. “Just change the ticket back to first class!”

  “Unfortunately, I cannot. When I tried, the airline was completely full.”

  Ashly laid her elbow on the table and placed her hand over her mouth to hide her evil grin.

  Just wait till you get on the plane; it will only get worse, she thought.

  Chapter 17

  8:17 PM 4/12/2021 HST

  Rain poured over the Maui waters. Keoni and his three high school friends Alanna, Elijah, and Sophia were traveling from Maui to Molokai. Keoni and Alanna were Hawaiian natives. Elijah had moved from California when he was five; since then, he had grown used to the area.

  Sophia had only moved to Maui the previous year from Maine, and was having a hard time adjusting to the new climate and atmosphere the island life offered. She loved the year-round pleasant weather, but also missed the changing seasons. Elijah had grown fond of the new girl in school and invited her on the beach trip. The four friends planned to have a double date on Kumimi Beach.

  Keoni had the idea of making the seven-mile journey in his wooden row boat. Keoni’s father was a boat builder by trade. Last year he helped Keoni create a small glass bottom for the row boat. Keoni knew since it was a full moon, the bioluminescence bobtail squid would be shining brightly tonight. He hoped this would give the journey a more exciting and romantic feel. A quarter of the way through the trip was nothing like he had planned. What was supposed to be a clear, pleasant night had turned out to be a miserable, raining day. It had been raining moderately hard since they started their journey. Luckily the four of them had prepared for unexpected weather and brought rain jackets. So, despite the unpleasant conditions, the four friends decided to press on, hoping the storm would end soon. The sea had some rough waves but nothing dangerous. While he paddled, Keoni looked at the GPS on his phone.

  “Good thing we don’t need the stars to navigate,” he said, trying to cheer the group up.

  “How long until we reach Kumimi Beach?” Alanna asked, resting her head on Keoni’s shoulder. She tried to hide the misery in her voice, but the continual beating of cold raindrops on her coat was really starting to get to her. The rain jacket kept her dry, but not warm.

  “A little over an hour,” Keoni replied. Elijah looked down into the boat’s glass bottom. He looked up at Sophia, who was sitting up straight with her eyes closed. As she listened to the rain, she imagined she was in a boat back home on Webb Lake.

  “You still with us, Sophia?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said, opening her eyes. “I was just thinking of home.�
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  “Did it rain a lot in Maine?” Keoni asked.

  “Yes, rain in the summer, snow in the winter,” Sophia answered.

  “I’ve only seen snow a few times on top of Haleakalā volcano,” Keoni replied.

  “I remember the time you and I hiked up there to see it. It was cold and wet,” Alanna added. She turned to Sophie. “How much snow did you get in Maine?”

  “Around seven feet every winter.” Keoni and Alanna could not believe what they just heard.

  “I’m never visiting Maine,” Alanna said.

  “Hey, let’s play a game,” Elijah suggested to Sophia.

  “What kind?” Sophia asked. Elijah placed his hand on her back.

  “Let’s look through the boat’s beautiful glass bottom and see what type of sea life we can see in the sea,” he replied, trying to sound poetic. A slight feeling of uneasiness came over Sophia when he started rubbing his hand up and down her back. This was her first time out with him, and she did not know how she felt about him yet. However, she liked the fact that someone had taken an interest in her, so she tolerated it, and soon found herself enjoying it.

  “It’s dark. We’re not going to be able to see anything,” Sophia replied, pointing at the dark water.

  “You might be able to see bobtail squid,” Keoni said. “At night they glow a faint blue. It’s very pretty, very romantic.”

  “Okay, let’s play ‘spot the bobtail squid.’ What does the winner get?” Sophie asked.

  “The loser has to be the winner’s servant for the beach trip,” Elijah replied.

  “It will be nice to have a beach servant. Let’s play,” Alanna added, inviting herself to the game.

  “I’ll row the boat while you kids play,” Keoni said. For a while they saw nothing, but concentrating on the ocean helped lessen the unpleasant feeling brought by the rain. Sophia noticed a blue light in the water.

  “Called it,” Sophia said, smiling as the bobtailed squid came into view. “Oh, look, more,” she continued, spotting three more. Keoni stopped paddling. Feelings of excitement filled the four friends as they watched the squid’s mystical blue lights dance around as the squid hunted shrimp. The smile left Sophia’s face when she noticed something swimming under the squid. The faint bioluminescence light coming from the squid only showed a faint outline of what she thought was the back and possibly the tail of a large creature.

  “Guys, something else is down there,” she yelled, a little startled.

  “What? I don’t see anything?” Alanna said.

  “It’s pitch black down there. Your eyes were just playing tricks on you,” Elijah said. Sophia looked again and saw nothing but blackness.

  “You’re right. It was probably just a fish,” she agreed. Their attention turned back to the squid only to realize they were gone.

  “Where’d they go?” Elijah wondered. He reached into his backpack and grabbed a flashlight.

  “What are you doing?” Alanna wondered.

  “Trying to attract the squid back.” He looked at Sophie and shined the light on himself. “Your hero will bring the squid back,” he said in a mystic voice. She pushed him into his seat. Elijah placed the flashlight beam against the glass and started moving it around. The two girls looked down, hoping Elijah’s plan would work. Suddenly, the end of the light beam caught the shine of two eyes rapidly swimming towards the surface. Elijah screamed and pulled the flashlight up. Abruptly, the boat was struck hard from below. The impact broke the small boat apart and sent it flying several feet into the air. The four friends plunged into the ocean. Keoni broke the surface, gasping in shock. He tried to get his bearings as broken pieces of the boat fell into the water around him. Alanna soon come up a few feet in from him.

  “What happened?” she cried.

  “I don’t know. Look for Elijah and Sophia.” The two scanned the area around them. Alanna spotted Sophia emerge several yards to the left of them. She swam for a large fragment of wood. After grabbing on to it, she cried out in shock.

  “Hello, is anybody there?”

  “Sophia, we’re over here,” Keoni yelled, waving his hands up and down. “We’re coming over to you,” he said, noticing the bit of wreckage was large enough to hold all three of them.

  “Is Elijah with you?” Sophia asked.

  “No,” Alanna replied. Sophia called out for Elijah, hoping her friend would answer. Her calls turned into a scream when a sharp pain filled both her legs just above the knees. It felt like numerous knives were piercing her skin. Amongst her screams of pain, she managed to cry out in horror.

  “Something has my legs!” She felt both her kneecaps break as she was pulled under the water. Keoni and Alanna both stopped swimming.

  “What happened to her? What happened to her?” Alanna asked in a panic. Keoni paused for a moment, but he knew he needed to tell her the truth.

  “Alanna, I’m not going to lie. We’re in the water with a shark!” Keoni replied. He reached to the side of his pants and removed the bowie knife from its holster.

  “What do we do?” Alanna asked in a tearful panic. Keoni looked in the direction opposite to where Sophia had gone under. He spotted another larger piece of wreckage. A piece large enough to climb up on.

  “Swim for that bit of wreckage! Try to get on!” he said, pointing towards it. The two friends swam for the wreckage. Keoni figured they were safe since the shark had most likely swam off or was still feeding on Sophia’s remains. When they reached the piece of floating wreckage, Keoni pushed Alanna onto it. He began to hoist himself onto the wreckage when his foot was struck by something. He spun his arm around and thrust the knife into the water. He felt the knife dig into living tissue. The knife was ripped from his hand when the animal fled the area. “I hit it. Whatever it was is gone,” he said, proud of himself.

  “Hurry! Get up here!” Alanna begged, reaching out her hand. Keoni grabbed it. She started to pull him up when she heard the sound of thunder. Instinctively she looked up, and then she heard Kenoni scream. He looked down to see him covering his left ear with his free hand.

  “My ears!” he cried in pain. Alanna tried to hold on to him, but he was fighting her, wanting to get his right hand to his ear. She noticed a stream of blood starting to pour from his uncovered ear. Keoni began to fall backwards as he coughed up blood.

  What was happening? she thought to herself. She felt his wet hand slipping from her palm. Alanna closed her eyes and pulled with all the strength she had. Keoni’s dead weight soon became too much for her. She felt his hand slip though hers. She watched helplessly as Keoni fell back into the water. Alanna wanted to jump in after him, but the fear that filled her body would not let her enter the water. Tears filled her eyes when she saw Keoni’s body disappear under a wave. She waited and waited, but he never came up. Alanna broke down. Thoughts started to fill her head. Was the shark still in the area? What if a wave knocked her into the water? Almost like the ocean heard her thoughts, a large wave struck the wreckage, sending it bouncing up and down. Alanna grabbed on to the sides of the wreckage, struggling to stay on. When the wreckage stabilized, she sobbed in frustration.

  “What did I do to deserve this? How long am I going to be stuck out here?” Her face lit up when she heard a splash break the surface of the water. “Keoni!” she cried. Regrettably, it was not Keoni that had surfaced. What came up from the depths paralyzed her body. The outline of the head and back of a large creature was right in front of her. The creature opened its mouth. The rain washed the fresh blood from the animal’s teeth, sending it down on Alanna, who could not move or even scream. She closed her eyes as the head slowly came down.

  Chapter 18

  6:19 PM 4/13/2021 JST

  Saburo lay back in the easy chair in his private quarters. Being Okada’s personal assistant meant he needed to be available at all times during work days. He lived at the military complex during the work week and spent time with his wife Fumi and his eight-year-old son, Ichiro, on weekends. Saburo was enjoying a
plate of omurice when his tablet pinged a notification. When he saw the message was from the Hawaiian coast guard with a link to a news article, he put down his plate and opened it. The heading of the message read: “Search for Four Missing High School Students Continues.” After reading down a few paragraphs, he leaped from his chair and headed for the door. He turned around to grab his suit jacket, then headed for the commander’s office. Saburo knocked on the door and entered. When he saw the room was empty, he called Okada. Okada was at the prime minister’s office meeting with several military officers and Japanese government officials. Okada momentarily excused himself from the room when he got the call.

  “Commander, sorry to disturb you, but there has been another attack. This time in the waters that separates the islands of Maui and Molokai.”

  “How many are dead?” Okada asked, knowing the likelihood of survivors was slim.

  “Four high school students. A pleasure boat spotted the wreckage of the student’s boat several hour ago. The Hawaiian coast guard and Maui police force are searching the area.” Okada placed his hands together. He remained silent as he thought.

  “I’m going to recommend to the Prime Minister that he issue a statement encouraging our citizens not to vacation in Hawaii at this time.”

  “I agree with that recommendation,” Saburo said.

  “Now I must go; the men inside are waiting for me.”

  “Understood, sir, goodbye,” he said, hanging up. After dinner, Saburo arranged meeting times for matters he could handle personally. He was about to leave Okada’s office when Okada’s secretary peered through the door.

  “Hello,” Saburo said. “I’m afraid the commander will be away for some time. Is there any way I can help you?”

  “A large package marked urgent material has just arrived from Maui Hawaii.” Saburo slammed the table in frustration.

  “I ordered the mail service to ship that package to Niihau!” Saburo pulled out his phone, then he looked at the time. “No, I can’t have someone come back and pick it up.” He looked at the secretary. “Have that package sent to Niihau at once, and tell the postal service this time without delays!”