From the Deep (5 page)

CHAPTER 12

The island of New Guinea

Pacific Ocean

Freeman paced the beach barricade, pausing to wipe the sweat from his brow. The scorching temperatures had turned his pale skin an ugly shade of red, and the portly man checked his watch for the twentieth time in the last five minutes.

On the other side of the barrier, a large crowd of locals and tourists were rubbernecking and trying to get a look at the remains of the blue whale that was stinking up the beach. Freeman had been sent to make sure the Marine biologist they had called for got an undisturbed look at the remains. He pushed his glasses back up his sweaty face, and glanced at his watch again. The stench of the dead animal was awful. He had been told not to touch it, and to erect screens around the carcass to keep the curious eyes of the public off the body. That was a day ago. Freeman hoped their Marine biologist was there before Andrews himself was, otherwise, he suspected he might be in for a verbal dressing down which he was both too hot and too tired to take. His attention was caught by a skinny man with glasses and a nerdy, awkward gait who pushed to the front of the barricade. Freemen would have bet his bottom dollar that this was his biologist. His interest lasted only a second before he shifted his gaze to the smoking hot redhead who was following him.

“You must be Thompson, the Marine biologist we sent for.” Freeman said, thrusting his hand towards the bespectacled man.

“Actually, that’s me.” Said the redhead, giving Freemans hand a professional double pump and releasing him. “I’m Clara Thompson. This is my assistant, Dexter.”

“My apologies, this heat is baking me alive. I’m Gus Freeman, I’m the one who called you.”

Clara nodded, half looking over Freeman’s shoulder to the screens erected further down the beach.

“So, what do we have here? What was so urgent to have the government fly me in all the way from Oz?”

“Whale carcass,” Freeman said, pulling a gap in the barrier to allow Clara and Dexter through. The trio began to walk towards the screens as Freeman continued to speak.

“It washed up here a couple of days ago. Some guy found it whilst he was walking his dog, we closed the beach after that. As far as I know, nobody has seen the remains yet.”

“So why did you ask for me? Does New Guinea not have marine biologists?”

Freeman came to a halt, and as Clara looked at the awkward, sweating official, she half felt sorry for him.

“Look, I was told to get the best, and your name came up pretty much everywhere I searched.”

“This all seems a little extreme for a whale carcass. Why all the secrecy?”

Freeman fidgeted, and wiped his arm against his brow.

“Well, frankly, I would rather not say.”

“I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what we are dealing with.” Clara said, trying to sneak a look between the screens.

“Oh, sorry, I think you misunderstand. We know what it
looks
like happened, I would rather you see for yourself without me clouding your judgement.”

Clara flicked her eyes to Dexter, and she could see her curiosity mirrored in his face.

“Why do I get the feeling I’m about to see something unusual?”

Freeman grinned without humour.

“Lady, you don’t know the half of it. Come take a look.”

Freeman led them around the screen, and even though she had visited every corner of the earth and thought she had seen pretty much all there was to see, she still drew a sharp breath when she saw what lay beyond the screens.

“What the hell did this?” she asked, unable to take her eyes from the carcass.

“Well, frankly, we were hoping you could tell us.” Freeman said as he stood beside them.

The remains of the blue whale dwarfed them where it lay half in, half out of the water. Dozens of seagulls were feeding on its body, as others still circled overhead. Although it was unusual, Clara had seen evidence of blues being attacked. Sometimes, particularly aggressive pods of Orcas had been known to attack if they were desperate enough. Although not in this case. Even at a glance, she knew it was no Orca attack.

The entire lower half of the whale’s stomach was missing, its fleshy blubber fanned out over the sand, sloshing and rolling in the gentle tides. What looked to be a huge bite had been taken out of the animals flank, and one of its flippers was missing.

Clara tried to take it all in, but her eyes kept drifting towards the bite.

“When did this wash up?”

“Couple of days ago.” Freeman said as he squinted at Clara. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know yet. Has anyone interfered with it since it was found?”

“No, that’s how it washed up. Damn seagulls might well have helped themselves to a bite or two, other than that, it’s been sealed off and under guard.”

Freeman nodded to the rotting remains. “What could do that, in your opinion?”

Nothing I know of.

She almost said it, and then clamped her jaw closed. 

“It depends. I need to make a few initial examinations.”

“Go right ahead, if you can stand the smell.” Freeman said, grimacing and shooting the dead whale a venomous look.

Clara turned to Dexter. “Start taking some pictures, all angles.”

“On it,” Dexter said, slipping off his backpack and looking for the camera.

“Hand me the tape measure will you?” she said as Dexter rummaged in his pack. He found it and handed it to her, and she approached the carcass, fanning the mass of droning flies away from her face as she took a closer look. Her instincts screamed at her to go directly to the bite, but she wasn’t sure where she stood with Freeman, and so she walked instead to the stumpy remaining flesh of the flipper and crouched in the sand, leaning closer to examine the wound. She knew what her eyes were telling her, the facts didn’t tally with what she knew as possible. With a frown, she stood and looked at the remains.

“Looks like a fully grown male. Size can only be estimated due to decomposition and extensive tissue loss, but I would say eighty five to ninety five feet in length.”

Dexter started to snap photographs as she walked towards the deep wound on the whale’s side.

“Death appears to be due to massive blood loss from injuries consistent with attack by a large predator.”

She glanced at Freeman who stood sweating with his hands on his hips.

“Is it a bite?” he asked.

“Hard to say. My first instinct would be to say that it’s far too big, and there is nothing out there that could inflict such a wound.”

“Looks like a bite to me, if you don’t mind me saying.” Freeman said as he wrinkled his nose at the smell.

“Appearances can be deceptive. Remember, Mr Freeman, this creature could have been dead for days before it washed up here. Any number of predators could have fed on this animal.”

“Why there though? Wouldn’t they have bitten it elsewhere?”

She had asked herself that same question, and because she hadn’t yet formulated an answer, declined to give Freeman one. Instead, she turned to Dexter.

“Hang five with the photos for a minute, and help me measure this...”

Bite

“…Wound,” she said, stopping herself from saying the wrong word. Dexter set his camera in the sand, and jogged to Clara, grabbing the tape measure. Even as they went through the motions of taking the gaping wounds measurements, she was now certain it was a bite. She had learned to read such things as an average person might read a book, but this particular book looked to be written in a brand new language, because it made no sense. Dexter knew it too, she could see it in his eyes as they took their measurements. When it was done, she took a step back and simply stood, staring at the whale and trying to make sense of what she was looking at. Freeman approached, his presence foretold by his musky, sweaty odour as he stood beside her.

“So, what do you think?” he asked, glancing at Clara, who was still staring at the whale.

“I’m not entirely sure.”

“It’s a bite, isn’t it?”

She turned to Freeman and took a sip of her bottled water.

“It looks like one, and if it is, that opens up a whole host of problems.”

“Such as?”

“Well, for starters, the wound is twenty eight feet across and nine feet deep. If it’s a bite, we need to rewrite the history books.”

“What do you mean?”

She hesitated, wondering if she should say what was on her mind.

“I mean, if that is a singular bite from one animal, which at this stage it appears to be, you’re looking at something of unbelievable size.”

Freeman glanced at the wound, and back to Clara.  “Please, explain what you mean.”

“If this is a bite, Mr Freeman, then based on the radius and depth of the wound, we are talking about an animal which is over three hundred and fifty feet in length, and weighing three to five hundred tons.”

“That’s impossible,” Freeman said, his eyes wide. “I mean, there isn’t anything in the ocean big enough is there?”

“As far as science knows, no,” Clara said quietly “For as much as I would love to suggest otherwise, this does appear to be a bite inflicted by a huge, and as yet, unknown animal.”

“I think,” he said as he looked at her, “you better have a word with my boss. He might be able to give you some more information about this…situation.”

Freeman took out his phone and dialled a number as Clara and Dexter looked on. She tried to gauge the conversation, but Freeman walked away, taking his sweaty stench with him and leaving them for the time being, alone.

“What do you think?” Dexter said quietly.

“I think we’re in over our heads here.”

“You’re telling me. That’s one hell of a bite. Something ate the crap out of this animal.”

“What are your first thoughts?” she asked, keeping a close eye on Freeman.

“Looks like something big. From the early examination of the wound, I’d say whatever did this has teeth between twenty and thirty inches long.”

He shook his head and flashed a nervous smile. “Hell, even as I say it, the whole thing sounds implausible.”

“Well,” Clara said, glancing at the carcass, “if it helps, I drew the same conclusion. There’s something out there, and it’s big and aggressive. I think whatever it is, it’s responsible for all the beaching’s we have seen of late.”

“You think it’s so dominant that it might be scaring the marine life into beaching itself?”

“It would make sense. It certainly fits with everything else.”

“So what’s our next move?”

“For now, we keep our suspicions to ourselves. Last thing we need is to be frozen out of this. Let’s see what this guy’s boss has to say.”

Dexter nodded, and spoke under his breath. “Heads up, he’s coming back.”

The pair waited as Freeman walked back towards them. He was squinting at the sun as he stopped and exhaled, the phone still held in his hand.

“My boss asks if you would be willing to meet him.”

“What does he want?” Clara asked.

“He wants you to join his team.”

“What team?”

“The team that is going to find whatever attacked this whale.”

“Tell your boss we would be happy to meet with him and discuss it in person.” Clara said.

Freeman nodded, and held the phone to his ear.

“They said yes.” He said simply, and then listened as he was given instructions. Clara turned away from Freeman and looked at the giant carcass on the beach. She tried to imagine the scale of the kind of creature that could incapacitate such a goliath of the seas, but try as she might, she couldn’t see it. It was too big, too improbable. Hell, it was impossible, even if the facts were right in front of her.

“Dr Thompson,” Freeman said, snapping her back to reality as she turned towards him.

“What is it?”

“He wants to know if you are able to meet him today.”

“When?”

“Right now. He can send a helicopter to pick you up in thirty minutes. From there you will be transported by plane to his location.”

“And where is that exactly?”

“Alaska.”

CHAPTER 13

East dock

Freeport,

Kodiak, Alaska

Rainwater cast his eyes to the sky. The clouds were a threatening shade of deep grey, and as he looked beyond the relative calm of the harbour, he could see vicious whitecaps rolling in increasing velocity as the ocean threw wave after wave towards land.

“You getting on or not?”

Rainwater turned to see Mackay walking down the dock. His stomach involuntarily knotted with fear, yet he didn’t get the impression Mackay was there to dish out another beating. Instead, he waited as the former soldier stood beside him and looked at the
Lisa Marie
.

“How’s the eye?” Mackay said, flicking his gaze towards Rainwater’s swollen cheek.

“It’s fine. Looks worse than it is.”

“Some good memories on this boat,” Mackay said, smiling reflectively “This is where I cut my teeth as a greenhorn. Nobody would give me a job, said I was too old at thirty to start life as a fisherman. Sam gave me a shot anyway. I spent the best years of my life sleeping, puking, and working so damn hard I wished I was dead on this boat, and I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.”

Rainwater said nothing, and waited as Mackay lit a cigarette, then looked out over the bay.

“I was deck boss for a while you know,” he continued. “A few years back your uncle had a falling out with your father. Said he was done with fishing. We thought it would blow over, but he was a stubborn one, and he left the boat. For three seasons, I ran things alongside your father. Course, we all knew Joey would be back, we didn’t know when. Some of the best memories I have were on this old girl.”

“I don’t remember much of this boat. I was only a kid the last time I was on it.”

Mackay nodded “I remember. You were a whiny little bastard.”

Rainwater looked at Mackay and was about to protest, when he saw the older man was smiling.

“Hell, even back then you hated being out on the water. You couldn’t get back on dry land soon enough. I think your dad understood that fishing wasn’t in your blood the same way it was his and his fathers before him.”

“I get it, I’m a failure. You don’t need to remind me.”

“You ain’t no failure.” Mackay said, glancing to Rainwater then back to the
Lisa Marie
. “That wasn’t what I was saying. What I mean is, you just ain’t a fisherman. Nothing wrong with it. Hell, some might say it makes you the most sensible of us all.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter now anyway. I don’t think I can do this. Hell, I don’t know what to do. You were right, Mackay. I should shut up about this and get on with my life.”

“If you had said that yesterday, I would have agreed. Truth is, I’m starting to think maybe you have a point.”

“What do you mean?” Rainwater said, turning to face Mackay.

“Well, it seems to me this fella who went to see Valerie was asking a lot of questions about the accident. Normally, I wouldn’t think twice about it. Some folk are just nosy, can’t keep out of other people’s business. This guy seemed different.”

“Different how?”

“You gotta remember, I was in the forces for twelve years before I got out and started working for your dad. I know military when I see it, and this guy stank like high end government.”

“What would the government want with you and Valerie?”

“It wasn’t really us he was interested in, it was you. That got me thinking about the stuff you were saying about this thing you claim hit us. Maybe this Andrews guy knows more about it than he’s letting on.”

“That’s a bit of a stretch.”

“Well, there’s more. I called an old buddy of mine from the forces. Served with me in Iraq. Anyhow, he’s pretty high ranking, so I asked him to snoop around for me and look into this guy.”

“How did you know who to look for?”

“The guy gave me his business card. Anyways, this buddy of mine took the info and made some enquiries. It turns out this Andrews guy is working with a slimy piece of shit called Russo.”

“You know him?”

“In a way. He was responsible for funding cuts to my unit when I was serving in Iraq. Long and short of it is that we didn’t have enough body armour to go around. My squad got ambushed during patrol and the three of my guys who didn’t have vests were killed. My CO told me to leave it alone, said it was just a case of casualties of war. I knew Russo was responsible and I ain’t never been good at holding my temper. I knew I shouldn’t have done it, but I went to his office and before he could try to worm his way out of it, I punched the motherfucker square in the mouth.”

“Holy shit, what happened?”

“He got a bloody nose, I got kicked. Dishonourable discharge. Thanks for the years of putting your life on the line, Mackay, but this prick in a suit wants you out.”

Mackay grinned, and shrugged his shoulders.

“I was about done with the army by then anyway. Seen too much shit, spent too long fighting other peoples wars. I will tell you this, if this Russo guy is involved, you can bet your ass there’s an angle in it for him.”

“What else did your contact dig up?”

“Well, he couldn’t find much. A lot of it was locked tight, and he didn’t have the clearance. All he knows is that Russo and Andrews have commandeered a ship and the government have thrown a ton of money at them to do whatever it is they intend on doing. He couldn’t say for sure, it seems they are looking for something, which was enough to make me interested as it is, but there’s more.”

“Go on.”

“Well, you know when we were adrift in the lifeboat after the accident, and we assumed we were picked up by the Coast Guard?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, it wasn’t. It was Andrews who picked us up. He was looking for something in the exact area where you say something hit our boat. By the time he’d come back to the hospital to question us, we’d checked ourselves out. The only reason he couldn’t find you when he came looking is because you aren’t registered as living here anymore. Now I’m a realist, but I also don’t believe in coincidence, and things are stacking up here that makes me think maybe you might not be as crazy as I thought.”

“So you believe me?”

“Do I think you saw a sea monster? No. That’s something I can’t buy until I see it for myself. I do believe that whatever you saw is the thing Russo and Andrews are looking for, and that’s enough for me to be interested. Maybe some new piece of military kit that has gone rogue. A sub maybe, I don’t know. Whatever it is must be important to have the government sniffing around like this.”

“I don’t get it, if it was Andrews who found us, why keep it quiet? Why ask us later on about the accident if he was there?”

“Exactly. Nothing about this situation sits right. I get the feelin’ we have only scratched the surface.”

“I still don’t understand why top line government would be involved in this. Maybe we should get in touch with them, see if we can work together.”

“I don’t think you understand. If Russo and Andrews want to find this thing, I want to get there first.”

“Why?”

“Because I still owe that asshole one. You might think I wouldn’t be so bitter after all these years, but you’d be wrong.”

“I thought you didn’t believe me?”

“I said I’d have to see it for myself, and I ain’t ever gonna do it from here on dry land.”

“It’s no good,” Rainwater said, shaking his head. “If they have the resources you say they have, and the expertise, we don’t stand a chance.”

“They’re soldiers and pencil pushers. Not fishermen. We know the seas, and that gives us the advantage.”

“Maybe I should go with them. I’m no fisherman either, you said so yourself.”

“Maybe it’s time you learned. What I’m saying is, if you really want to find out what this thing is, I’ll come out and help. Maybe you’ll prove me wrong and I’ll see this monster with my own eyes, although I suspect it won’t be anything quite so dramatic when we get to the bottom of it.”

“I don’t know if I can do it. The thought of setting foot on that boat scares me, Mackay. I keep thinking about the accident, how close we came to dying…”

Mackay nodded.

“It’s normal to be scared. Fear keeps you on your toes. If you don’t conquer this, it’ll eat at you until there is nothing left.”

“I don’t think I can do it.”

“You will.”

“Why so confident?”

“Because despite whatever you choose to call yourself, you still have Harris blood running through your veins. You belong on the water, even if you don’t know it yet.”

A mixture of pride, nerves and fear surged through him as he looked at the boat rocking against the dock.

“It won’t be enough with just us, we need more help.”

“I might know a guy. He’s ex-army too, but he knows about hunting things. He a tough son of a bitch, spent some time in Japan working on a whaler and also did some safari stuff in Africa in between tours in the forces.”

“We aren’t hunting lions here, Mackay.”

“I know that, my point is that he knows the way to hunt things. He’s our only option anyway, so it was a case of take it or leave it.”

“So where is he?”

“Flying in today as it happens. We recently got in touch again and had been planning to meet up anyway. I asked him to come and see if he can help us.”

“You don’t want to leave right away?”

Mackay shook his head.

“Not without prepping first. We should head out in a day or two. It gives us a chance to make some kind of plan instead of going out into the unknown.”

“I’m not sure this is anything we can plan for. Not really.”

“Doesn’t hurt to be prepared though, kid.”

“I suppose.”

“Let me make a few calls, see what I can arrange. In the meantime, you need to get your shit together and be ready for when we leave. If there’s one thing I know about Russo, it’s that he doesn’t fuck around when he has a job to do.”