He could
feel the tension in the air around him as the crew prepared for his dive. His whole life had come to this; it’s what he
had been preparing for since birth.
Today was his day. As he gazed
past the camera crew and to the horizon, he remembered all the years he spent
in training, all the days studying and practicing, all the moments he thought
about quitting. And to think, he only
got the gig of his life because of a little computer chip, a tracker.
A group of
scientists had been monitoring a nine-foot great white somewhere in the Pacfic. Apparently where was a blip in the data, then
it appeared that the shark had died.
However, when they found the tracker washed up on the coast of Australia,
there was no shark, dead or alive. So,
here he was at the location of the blip.
Most likely, there will be nothing there; if it was a “sea monster” it
would have moved on by now. But, after
the scientists had lost another shark in this area, they decided this was its
hunting ground. At least, that’s what he
thought they said. They used words too
big for his mind to comprehend; he was in it for the dive of his life, not the
data.
So anyway,
there he was on the deck of the vessel, staring out into the distance reminiscing
when they told him it was time to go. He
would never admit it, but his heart started to race as he put on the suit; what
if something went wrong? What if it ate
him?
As the designated
time approached, he took his position on the edge of the deck. “Three, two…NOW!” He felt himself sinking in the pressure suit
as the water engulfed him. Finally, he
was home. The fears that had choked him
on the deck seemed to wash away with the tide.
On the deck, he couldn’t seem to remember his objectives, but now the
water cleared his mind and he could focus again.
Switching
on the light on his helmet, he gazed at his surroundings. He had not yet sunk down to the cliff where
he was supposed to be. “Tommy. Tommy, you read?”
“Copy. Not on the cliff yet – maybe thirty for forty
more feet,” he said into the mic taped to the inside of his helmet. A few sharks glided past as he kept sinking
closer to the shelf. He watched a school
of fish swimming towards him. They parted
like the Red Sea around him and he found himself encased in a bubble of fish. Finally, he was able to call up to the boat
that he had hit the cliff. “How much
cord do I have left?” he asked.
“About…one
and a half miles,” one of the crew replied.
“Is that
enough to make it down to the next cliff?” he asked.
There was a
slight pause before the next answer came through, “Yeah, there should be just
enough.”
“Good, ’cause
there’s nothing here,” he said looking around again. Just rock.
It would
have looked like a slow motion movie if you saw him propel himself off the cliff;
the water held him back. He began to
slowly sink again, and suddenly the cliff fell away to reveal a cave in the rock
face. “Guys, did you know there’s a cave
here?”
“A what?!”
“A cave, damit,
a cave!” He was ashamed to say he was
losing his cool. If they didn’t know
there was a cave, what else didn’t they know?
He had jumped on this offer as soon as they gave it to him; it was one
of the best dives of the century. But
his brother had warned him to research it first, know the company. Now he could be about to die.
The static
in his mic flared again as one of the men came back on, “Sorry, we didn’t have
the cave there. We had it as being
filled…the computers say it’s filled now.”
“What do
you mean filled?” he asked as he touched down on the rock, his voice wavering
slightly. The light on his helmet couldn’t
penetrate the darkness of the cave.
“Damit, the
computer says there’s no cave there Tommy!
It’s filled!” the voice said.
“Well,
shit.” Suddenly, the was a great rumbling
beneath his feet that shook him to his core.
“You guys feel that?”
“We’ve got
huge waves up here -- is it, Tommy?” the voice cut out.
“Hello?!”
he desperately called up.
“--ommy!”
“Tell my
brother I love him!” he said. He could
feel himself being pulled back up to the boat.
The rumbling grew as he was ever so slowly pulled up. Then something burst from the cave.
The only
word he could use to describe it was “huge.”
Fucking huge. It reminded
him slightly of the Chinese water dragon myths.
It looked like a giant eel at least forty feet long with gills
stretching four feet along its neck. Its
body was covered in greenish-blue shimmering scales and it had slit nostrils at
least a foot long and flaring at the metal smell of his suit. There were no eyes to speak of on its head,
but just looking at its jaws could kill you.
Each tooth was about a foot and there were three rows that he could
see. Coming out from behind the first
gill were three tentacle-like structures trailing behind it. Above these was a six-inch hole which must
have been its ear.
“PULL ME UP -- FOR GOD’S SAKE PULL
ME UP!” he screamed, his voice breaking and cracking over and over as he sob
the phrase repeatedly. The cord began
pulling him up as fast as the machine on the boat would let it. As the creature lunged toward his feet, mouth
open, he pulled his legs up to his chest as the cord pulled him out of the
way. He could feel the shock as the
massive jaws snapped shut just behind him.
He could see the light begin to flicker through the water as he got
closer and close to the surface. Soon he
was able to hear the radio communications again.
“Tommy, we’re getting you up. There was a cave there! Something was in it!”
“NO SHIT!” he screamed into the
mic.
“Tommy, I–”
“No, shut up. Listen – this thing is coming up behind
me. You need to get the motor ready,” he
said, his voice surprisingly more steady.
“To–”
“NOW!” With one last yank from the crew aiding the
machine, Tommy was flung out of the water, curving through the air. He could feel himself hit the deck and
quickly took his helmet off.
“Tommy–”
“Not now. Start the engine! GO, GO!”
Just in time, the ship jumped forward.
Half of the monster’s body was propelled out of the water, mouth open
ready to swallow the ship right where they had been anchored. Now, the crew, frightened for their lives, helped
dump unnecessary supplies over the railing or at the monster. Eventually, they were able to lose it in the
tide.
When they had gotten back to the
base, no one believed them. The doctors
claimed it was dehydration or heat. The
scientists claimed that had no proof; the computer had been thrown off
board. Years later, many members of the
crew had taken residence in mental institutions, others had committed suicide. Tommy gave up his passion of diving, vowing
never to swim again. To this day he
lives in fear of the monster, afraid of taking a shower as if it might crawl
out of the pipes.
