Читать книгу The Stone of Kuromori - Jason Rohan - Страница 12

‘Something’s wrong!’ Matt said, staring out at the placid sea from the stern of the boat.

‘What do you mean?’ Charles asked, stepping out of the shade of the small cabin. ‘In what way?’

‘Just give me that aquascope over there.’ Matt pointed to a fat tube stowed beside the scuba tanks.

Charles fetched the instrument, but didn’t hand it over immediately. ‘That’s my son down there. I need to know if he’s in danger.’

‘Fine,’ Matt grumbled, holding his hand out. ‘I just saw a bunch of hammerheads jump out of the water.’

‘Is that unusual?’

‘Hell, yeah. It’s one of those things that’s possible in theory, but no one’s ever seen it happen. Question is, why are they doing it now?’

Matt took the aquascope. He flattened himself on the diving platform, pressing his face against the tube’s cushioned viewing pane, and plunged the other end into the sea. He evidently didn’t like what he saw. Cursing, he jumped up and went for his speargun.

‘What’s going on?’ Charles asked, a knot of worry growing in his stomach.

‘Mako sharks,’ Matt said. ‘Big suckers. I’ve never seen anything like it before. They’re hunting in groups and sweeping like in a search pattern.’

‘Searching? For what?’

‘Give you three guesses. Whoa! There goes one of them now.’ Matt’s outstretched finger followed the silvery dorsal fin of a shark gliding by the boat. He stood on the edge of the platform, levelled the speargun and took aim.

‘I wouldn’t stand there if I were you,’ Charles warned.

‘Chill out, Prof,’ Matt said. ‘I know what I’m doing. If I can bag this one, the blood will draw the others and they’ll eat him alive. That’ll buy time for our guys down there.’

The triangular fin disappeared, leaving only bubbles on the surf. Matt swore.

‘Are you sure this is a good idea?’ Charles asked, holding on to the rail. ‘I mean, we need to get our swimmers back up. How is sending the sharks into a feeding frenzy going to help?’

Matt’s eyes danced over the sparkling sea. ‘Sharks don’t eat a lot. Once they’ve had a bellyful, they’re done. The quicker they feed, the quicker they leave.’ Another fin broke the surface, slicing through the waves. ‘Ooh, right there. Hold that pose, you ugly . . .’

He swung the tip of the speargun in a wide arc, tracking the shark, then KRAKK! pulled the trigger. The stainless-steel shaft discharged and buried itself deep into the flesh below the shark’s dorsal fin.

‘Hah! Told you I never miss!’ Matt crowed as a bloom of crimson stained the sea. He reached for a second spear to reload the gun, watching in keen anticipation. ‘Any second now . . . Hmm. That’s weird. They’re not eating it.’

The fin sailed away, trailing blood in the water. Another fin sliced past, heading towards the boat, before it dived straight down.

‘Hey, where’d my shark go?’ Matt said, readying the speargun for a second shot.

‘I don’t know,’ Charles said, ‘but wasn’t the other one coming this way?’

WHAM! Without warning, the vessel lurched as if it had struck a rock; the hull groaned and the bow rose two metres into the air. Charles hooked an elbow through the railing as his feet slipped from under him and the deck tilted at a forty-five-degree angle.

Matt, standing at the edge of the platform, was pitched headlong into the water where the wounded shark was waiting. ‘YEE-AAGH! ’ Treading water, he tried desperately to bring the speargun on target, but the giant mako took him down with a single bite.

Charles’s stomach heaved as the boat righted itself again, throwing up a huge bow wave. Captain Mike staggered from the bridge. ‘Nandayo? ’ he growled, looking for Matt. ‘Sono bakayaro wa dokoda? ’

‘He’s gone,’ Charles murmured. ‘One shark tips the boat, the other gets revenge. This is bad.’

Thirty metres straight down, Kenny was thinking exactly the same thing. The shark-rider stabbed the spear into the crevice where it struck the stone wall by his head, making a tiny spark and chipping off a splinter of rock. Not satisfied, the creature repositioned itself and aimed again. Kenny squirmed and this time the blade scraped against the lead weight of his belt, scoring a groove in it. The rider raised its arm for a third attempt.

Kiyomi watched in dread while the creature tracked the rising bubbles from Kenny’s exhaust valve and readied another spear thrust to skewer him. Knowing he was trapped and it was only a matter of time before his luck ran out, Kiyomi grabbed hold of the sides of the chasm and launched herself upwards, into the open.

Gathered round the crevice were a dozen mako sharks, each with a handler; some were still sitting on top of their rides, holding on to the dorsal fin. Others had dismounted and were directing their attention to the jagged crack. The creatures’ heads were large, seeming to grow from their shoulders with no discernible neck; large round eyes stared from each side where ears should be; wide mouths filled with pointed teeth gaped open; and brawny limbs sprang from powerful torsos. Despite being human-shaped, they were definitely creatures of the sea.

Kiyomi recognised them as gyojin. She waved to attract their attention and then bolted, thrusting hard with her arms and kicking out with her flippers. Two spears fizzed past and she ducked down towards a square boulder for cover.

Half of the gyojin mounted their steeds and charged after her. The others made way for a newcomer gliding in from the depths. Three giant moray eels churned through the water in undulating coils, each wearing a harness with a seaweed rope attached; a man-fish held the ropes in its hands like reins. He planted his webbed feet in the sandy seabed and gave two sharp tugs on the cords. The eels dropped low and waited, mouths open, gulping water, their fins rippling.

The eel-handler peered into the narrow ravine and signalled to his living weapons, a proud smile on his face. At this command, the three eels surged forward and arrowed into the blackness.

Kiyomi hauled herself over the stone block and weighed her options: the breakaway pack was now hunting her and Kenny was still trapped. Being unarmed, with limited air and no time to return to the surface safely, it wasn’t looking good. She crouched down, pressing her back against the rock, as the mako sharks circled.

Kenny watched the spear-carrying gyojin back away from the edge and exhaled in relief. Unable to dislodge him, the creatures seemed to be giving up. He craned his neck towards Kiyomi, to give her a thumbs up, but she had disappeared.

Scanning for any sign of her, Kenny saw three long sinewy shadows swim into view. He stared in horror at the nightmarish, prehistoric heads with their tiny eyes, gaping maws and long, sharp, backwards-facing teeth. The moray eels homed in on their target.

The mako sharks continued to circle until they had completed three loops each, at which point one of the riders dismounted and pointed in Kiyomi’s direction. His shark immediately surged towards her. Kiyomi reached for her knife out of habit and swore when she remembered that Dwayne had taken it. She wondered if she could poke the creature in the eye, but it was a slim hope. She watched the pointed nose lift and the yawning tunnel mouth open wide.

Without warning, a large shadow glided into the space between girl and shark. Instinctively, Kiyomi jabbed out a hand, latched on to the turtle’s shell and flattened herself against its back. The shark’s teeth clamped down hard on seawater and it wheeled away, returning to its master, baffled as to how its meal had vanished.

At the same time, Kenny took one look at the savage teeth closing in and hurled himself upwards, out of the chasm, and into the trap. The waiting shark-riders pounced on him, spears at the ready.