flooded his face. “He’s alive.”
Annja sighed. “Thank God.”
“The attack must have knocked him out,” Hunter said. “He must have clamped down on the regulator knowing what would happen.”
Cole’s eyes fluttered open. “Annja?”
Annja nodded. “I’m here. Are you all right?”
He frowned. “Head hurts. That was some hit I took in the cage.”
“That was some shark that hit you,” Annja said. “Can you stand?”
“I think so.” Cole got to his feet, helped by Annja and Hunter. He stood for a moment and swayed. Annja helped him steady himself. He smiled at her. “Thanks. Glad that you’re here.”
Hunter frowned. “I got you out of there, you know.”
Cole smiled. “Yeah, but you’re not nearly as attractive as Annja.”
Hunter nodded. “Granted.”
“If you two are finished…” Annja said. She stared at Cole. “So, you saw it.”
“I think everyone did,” Cole said. “It’s massive. Definitely a member of the carcharodon carcharias family. But I can’t tell if it’s a meg or not. Going by size, it certainly could be.”
“Could it just be a great white?” Hunter asked. “Maybe a really big one?”
“It might be, but the likelihood of it is remote. There’s not much of an indigenous seal population around here. Certainly not enough to sustain a creature of that size. It must have been forty feet at least. Probably six tons worth of weight on that beast. It was incredible. The dorsal alone—”
“Maybe three feet,” Annja said. “It was terrifying.”
“Did you see it up close?”
Annja nodded. “It made its presence known to me pretty convincingly. Talk about smiling for the camera, holy crap.”
Hunter took a breath. “All right, so what happens now? I mean, we’ve got a monster shark hanging around. How do we handle this? We’ve still got a business to run and something tells me that our being here won’t dissuade this shark.”
“It won’t,” Cole said. “This shark is here to stay.”
“Then how do we handle it?”
“Carefully,” Annja said. “I got a look at those teeth and they’re saw blades, for crying out loud. We don’t play this right, then we’ll all be seeing the business end of them. And I don’t have any inclination to do so. No, thanks.”
“You weren’t in the water with it,” Cole said. “I may never sleep again. We’re going to have to think about this long and hard because we can’t just go back into the water without a plan. A good plan.”
“Hunter!”
They all turned and saw Jax approaching. Hunter nodded. “Good work on that reversing there, Jax.”
“We’ve got a bigger problem right now.”
“What’s that?”
“You’d better follow me to the engine room to see for yourself.”
13
With Jax leading the way, Hunter and Annja threaded their way through the narrow corridors of the ship and down into the engine room. Cole stayed on deck to clear his head.
Annja could smell something burning and frowned. Fire on a ship is never a good thing. When Jax pulled open the engine room, clouds of dark smoke billowed out.
“What the hell?” Hunter said.
“Engine’s got something in it. Maybe some water, maybe we ground the gears, I don’t know.” Jax frowned. “But this is bad.”
Hunter waved some of the smoke away. “The Seeker has brand-new engines. This shouldn’t be happening.”
Annja peered around him and couldn’t see much of anything because of the smoke. She coughed. “It can’t be very good to stay in here. We’ll suffocate if we do.”
Hunter nodded. He looked at Jax. “Blow the smoke out and get Sammy down here to look at this. The engines are his game.”
“All right.”
Annja turned and found her way out, coughing as she went. Behind her, Hunter coughed a few times, as well. In the corridor outside, Annja stopped and bent low to take a deeper breath.
“Why are the engines doing that?”
Hunter shrugged. “Sammy will be able to tell us. For right now, let’s worry
Annja sighed. “Thank God.”
“The attack must have knocked him out,” Hunter said. “He must have clamped down on the regulator knowing what would happen.”
Cole’s eyes fluttered open. “Annja?”
Annja nodded. “I’m here. Are you all right?”
He frowned. “Head hurts. That was some hit I took in the cage.”
“That was some shark that hit you,” Annja said. “Can you stand?”
“I think so.” Cole got to his feet, helped by Annja and Hunter. He stood for a moment and swayed. Annja helped him steady himself. He smiled at her. “Thanks. Glad that you’re here.”
Hunter frowned. “I got you out of there, you know.”
Cole smiled. “Yeah, but you’re not nearly as attractive as Annja.”
Hunter nodded. “Granted.”
“If you two are finished…” Annja said. She stared at Cole. “So, you saw it.”
“I think everyone did,” Cole said. “It’s massive. Definitely a member of the carcharodon carcharias family. But I can’t tell if it’s a meg or not. Going by size, it certainly could be.”
“Could it just be a great white?” Hunter asked. “Maybe a really big one?”
“It might be, but the likelihood of it is remote. There’s not much of an indigenous seal population around here. Certainly not enough to sustain a creature of that size. It must have been forty feet at least. Probably six tons worth of weight on that beast. It was incredible. The dorsal alone—”
“Maybe three feet,” Annja said. “It was terrifying.”
“Did you see it up close?”
Annja nodded. “It made its presence known to me pretty convincingly. Talk about smiling for the camera, holy crap.”
Hunter took a breath. “All right, so what happens now? I mean, we’ve got a monster shark hanging around. How do we handle this? We’ve still got a business to run and something tells me that our being here won’t dissuade this shark.”
“It won’t,” Cole said. “This shark is here to stay.”
“Then how do we handle it?”
“Carefully,” Annja said. “I got a look at those teeth and they’re saw blades, for crying out loud. We don’t play this right, then we’ll all be seeing the business end of them. And I don’t have any inclination to do so. No, thanks.”
“You weren’t in the water with it,” Cole said. “I may never sleep again. We’re going to have to think about this long and hard because we can’t just go back into the water without a plan. A good plan.”
“Hunter!”
They all turned and saw Jax approaching. Hunter nodded. “Good work on that reversing there, Jax.”
“We’ve got a bigger problem right now.”
“What’s that?”
“You’d better follow me to the engine room to see for yourself.”
13
With Jax leading the way, Hunter and Annja threaded their way through the narrow corridors of the ship and down into the engine room. Cole stayed on deck to clear his head.
Annja could smell something burning and frowned. Fire on a ship is never a good thing. When Jax pulled open the engine room, clouds of dark smoke billowed out.
“What the hell?” Hunter said.
“Engine’s got something in it. Maybe some water, maybe we ground the gears, I don’t know.” Jax frowned. “But this is bad.”
Hunter waved some of the smoke away. “The Seeker has brand-new engines. This shouldn’t be happening.”
Annja peered around him and couldn’t see much of anything because of the smoke. She coughed. “It can’t be very good to stay in here. We’ll suffocate if we do.”
Hunter nodded. He looked at Jax. “Blow the smoke out and get Sammy down here to look at this. The engines are his game.”
“All right.”
Annja turned and found her way out, coughing as she went. Behind her, Hunter coughed a few times, as well. In the corridor outside, Annja stopped and bent low to take a deeper breath.
“Why are the engines doing that?”
Hunter shrugged. “Sammy will be able to tell us. For right now, let’s worry
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