Below The Earth Read online

  BELOW THE EARTH

  Lucas Pederson

  www.severedpress.com

  Copyright 2018 by Lucas Pederson

  To my son, Noah. Always dream. Always let your imagination soar. You're my favorite T-Rex.

  THIS IS what happened…

  1

  The group came to a sudden stop in front of the enclosure, just as I knew they would. Just as many groups before them have.

  And as every group before, they all stood gaping and gasping at what they saw beyond the hardened nanoglass. One little girl, maybe six or seven, with a purple ribbon holding her ponytail, broke away from the group and wandered closer to the glass as a huge shadow glided by. Standing in my usual post beside the group, I caught her wide-eyed expression. Wonder sparkled on her face. A slight smile curled her lips and she pressed a small hand on the glass. Ah, to be so young and full of love of all things. It’s not until adulthood strikes when all the wonders of the world great and small fade into nothingness.

  “The livyatan is a species of whale thawed several years ago by the Great Melt of 2024. Since then,” I said through the mic near my mouth, “the species have dominated the oceans, surpassing that of the blue whale in length and weight. This is Orville, and even as a juvenile, he is already as large as a full-grown blue whale.”

  The group gave a few ohhhs and took pictures with their phones as Orville passed by the glass again.

  Underwater World opened eight years ago, boasting an array of nanoglass tubes for guests to walk through and observe a small chunk of North Pacific life. There were also restaurants and gift shops and fun activities for the kids. The park was a success from day one and I had gotten lucky enough to be a part of it. Did I always want to be a guide for an underwater park? Heh, no. Not at all. I loved diving and thought I’d end up doing that for a living. Sometimes our dreams just aren’t in the cards. Being a guide, though, wasn’t bad, just long repetitive days and by closing time, it took every last ounce of strength I had just to smile.

  I guided the group of guests away from Orville. The quarinious kept sticking around the park for some damn reason. At times, he’d disappear for a couple weeks, but he always returned to glide his behemoth self around for all the guests. I didn’t get it, nor did the biologists of the park. Odd behavior, but at least it was friendly behavior.

  Some of the ocean’s beasts weren’t so friendly…

  A couple great whites cruised overhead as I led the group down Tunnel 30. Last leg of the tour. Also, the most unpredictable. The guests ooohed over the big white sharks, as so many had before them. The little girl with the purple ribbon, the one so full of wonder, sidled up beside me.

  “Do you like your job?” she asked.

  I smiled as best I could. “Absolutely. And just wait, the best part is coming!”

  She frowned a little. “If you like it, then why are your eyes so sad?”

  Funny how kids picked up those little details. I smiled for real then. “Just been a very long day, hun.”

  She nodded and we walked a few more feet in silence.

  “Addy,” a woman, surely the girl’s mother, called. “Stop bothering the poor lady and come back here.”

  Addy glanced at me, all sad-eyed.

  I snorted. “I’ll be okay. Go on back to your mom and enjoy the show.”

  Her smile was so bright and infectious. I smiled back, and she returned to her mother. The big ohhhs and ahhhs (probably a scream or two) were just up the way. A final thrill before tucking them into bullet shuttles to the surface.

  I just hoped the ornery bastard was around. I’d been burned before and the guests leave pretty damn disappointed. The biologists were supposed to be working on something during show times to lure him in. Of course, asking them to do real work was like pulling teeth. Lazy, the lot of them.

  The tunnel opened up to a great glass cavern. A full view of the Millennium Trench and the vast dark blue of the deep sea. The trench was the result of a massive earthquake a year or two before the park was built and it never failed to amaze even me sometimes. But…

  “Where are you, you bastard,” I muttered.

  The man standing next to me frowned. “What?”

  I plastered on my professional smile and said, “Nothing at all.” I moved away from the group and spread my arms. “Here, my friends, is the Millennium Trench. Once thought to be the very opening to Hell itself. Many strange and dangerous creatures appeared after the trench opened up.”

  A woman in the back said, “I thought all of that was a myth. Nothing really came out of the trench.”

  I chuckled. There was always one skeptic in a group. Always one that doubted and believed everything the media fed them. It actually made the final show more powerful.

  I lowered my arms and focused my gaze on the group. My sight slipped over each and every one of them. A practiced theatric that worked every time, even then. “That’s what they claim. Yes. They claim many things. But what if I told you it’s so you don’t panic? So, you don’t worry about what lurks in the deep while you’re enjoying your swim or boat outing or fishing trip? What if I told you…” I counted to the three. “…that monsters are real…”

  It worked. Even the skeptical woman appeared a bit uneasy, glancing around. Little Addy, I felt sorry for though. The terror in her eyes and slack face broke my heart a bit. Who brought a child so young to the park anyway, for shit’s sake?

  I waited, but what was supposed to happen, didn’t.

  Damn.

  I watched the group first mellow, then look around a bit bewildered. Like a bear cub stepping out of its den for the first time.

  I sighed. Burned again. I turned around, just to be sure. Nothing. Just the vast blue of the north Pacific. Sometimes I hate the—

  It came from the right and slammed into the glass cavern so hard it shook the floor. The guests screamed. Pretty sure every single one of them. I even let out a small yelp. Because, damn it, he wasn’t on cue. Not that any species was trained in the park, but…yeesh.

  This time was much different than others, however.

  Its teeth actually broke through the nanoglass. Spurts of water jetted down onto us. I ushered the group toward the exit, managing to get them all past the door threshold. If this mad bastard really breached the facility, I would hit the blue button, sealing them off from the flood.

  Still, the show must go on.

  “This is Roofus,” I shouted over the cracking glass, spraying water, and cries of terror. “He came from the Millennium Trench and is believed to be a crossbreed between a Mosasaurus and a Liopleurodon. No mutation here. This is the real deal. Our marine biologists say Roofus, here, is very rare. Possibly the result during the final days of dinosaurs. As the surface dinosaurs died out, the ones protected underwater procreated with whatever was nearby, and large enough. It was a very different thing, going from the surface to the seas. Pretty much whatever lived in the ocean survived for a while after the massive meteor strike wiped out everything else.”

  The nanobots in the glass worked extra hard to seal the leaks created by Roofus’ foot-long teeth and tremendous power of his jaws. He shook, but to no avail. The cavern and tubes were anchored deep into the seabed. Never, during my time at the park, had he attacked the glass cavern so violently.

  Typically, he rose out of the trench and sank his teeth in, but not so much as to puncture the glass. He’d been doing it so long, one would think he was trained. Not so much. Not everything could be trained. You couldn’t take the wild out of a wild thing. It just laid dormant until something woke it up.

  The cavern had taken on about six inches of water. Not enough yet to seal the guests out.

  They cried out. One man spun and ran toward the bullet shuttle while others
simply gaped up at the teeth sticking through the glass.

  Finally, Roofus let go of the cavern and rushed away into the trench. The holes left by his teeth patched themselves up quickly.

  I sighed, heart still thundering, and ushered the group to the bullet shuttle.

  All of them were extremely quiet as I loaded them into the shuttle and shut the doors. I taped the green button on the wall and the shuttle jetted away. Zero to 200 miles per hour in six seconds. Thankfully, by design, there was no sonic boom.

  I let out a long breath, ran shaky hands through my hair, and simply stood there gaping through the doorway to the glass cavern for a few minutes.

  What the hell had gotten into Roofus?

  Straightening, I intended to find out.

  2

  “There are high levels of nitrate in the trench,” the Head of Biologists, Malcom Redding, said. “Which might explain Roofus’ outburst.”

  From across the room, arms crossed over my chest, I said, “How does high nitrate levels even matter? Shouldn’t affect anything like that.”

  Malcom nodded. He tapped something on his paper-thin tablet and nodded again, bald head gleaming under the lights of the meeting room. “Agreed. It shouldn’t, but it is the only explanation we have for what happened.”

  “Or,” I ventured, “maybe Roofus is hungry? He’s a big boy and there’s not a lot for him to eat…”

  Malcom frowned at me. “The environment is sustainable, Ms. Hunter. If we didn’t think so, we’d relocate the subject to a better environment.”

  Lies. He was putting on a face for the cameras. There was a reason why the giant lizards and fish of the depths eventually evolved or became extinct. Less food and less water…

  I found it funny an acclaimed biologist, of all people, was denying simple science.

  Near the closed door, Hannah Shinder, the park’s lieutenant biologist, said, “Come on, Mac. You know better.”

  Malcom blinked, visibly ruffling. He sputtered a second or two, then spouted, “Well, it’s true. The ocean levels have increased drastically in the past decade. Food sources for large predators are more abundant due to evolutions. This species should not be want of food.”

  If I was higher up, I’d have given that son of a bitch a piece of my mind. As it was, however, I’d probably lose my job if I spoke up too much.

  Hannah saved me from that anyway. “Roofus lived over 300 million years ago. There was more ocean than land back then. We accidentally unthawed him and I feel it’s our duty to keep him alive.” She pointed at me. “Like Wen said, we need a constant flow of food in here if we want to keep everything alive.”

  Malcom huffed and placed his pudgy, manicured fingers on the table. His heavy jowls trembled as he spoke. “Ms. Shinder! There is no viable evidence of your claim.”

  Hannah grinned. “Nor is there of yours.”

  That appeared to stall Malcom just enough for another biologist to weigh in.

  Megan Sullivan, Head of the Shark Exhibit, stood from the large, rectangular table and said, “Maybe we should let other marine life in here. Roofus could really damage us if he got desperate enough.”

  Malcom gaped at her as though she never existed until right then. Such was the way of some men, I knew. He blew out a heavy breath, cheeks puffing. “And how do you propose we do that, Ms. Sullivan? Not like we can shut down the nanite fence just so you can let a few fish in. Can’t risk losing the specimens.”

  That’s how the pompous ass thought of the sea life of the park. Specimens. Nothing really important. And the man used to be a leader in sea life research and recovery. A steadfast force against overfishing. A man who appeared to truly care about the oceans and all the life in them.

  Then money corrupted him. As it did for most people.

  “Not necessarily,” Hannah said and brought up a holo of the trench on the table so everyone could see.

  “This is a safety and readjustment meeting,” Malcom said. “Not a proposal meeting. Put that thing away, Ms. Shinder.”

  “Oh, just listen, you stubborn ass,” Hannah spouted and pointed at the trench where Roofus typically popped out of. “This is where he goes. I haven’t been able to track him when he goes too deep into the trench. I’m curious about where he goes.”

  Max Williams, Head of the Whale Exhibit, sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair. “What does that have to do with feeding the galoot?”

  Hannah smiled. “We have found tunnel systems under the seafloor before. I’m curious to see if we can find or open up some through the trench.”

  “And,” Malcom said, clearing his throat. “How in the hell do you expect to do this? Sorry, Ms. Shinder, I can’t send any probes out there just appease your curiosity.”

  She straightened, gaze drifting to me. “I won’t need probes.”

  Everyone followed her gaze and suddenly they were all staring at me.

  Malcom frowned. “What’s Ms. Hunter have to do with this? She’s nothing more than Head of Guides. She’s not a—”

  “She’s a diver. A deep-sea diver. What’s the deepest you’ve dived, Wen?”

  I blinked, frozen for a moment. “Um, 900 meters, give or take, but I barely lived through that one and won’t go that deep again.”

  Hannah smiled. “Of course not. I wouldn’t send anyone out at that depth without a minisub. And you do have experience with minisubs too, correct?”

  “Yes. I used them a couple times.” I was wondering how she knew all that when it hit me. Deep-sea diving is in my file and I’ve used minisubs at the park.

  “Ms. Shinder,” Malcom said. “I still don’t see what any of this has to do with—”

  “Wen,” Hannah said. “Would you like to accompany me and a couple others on a dive into the trench?”

  Everyone fell silent, even Malcom. In fact, his jaw dropped a bit. I glanced around, heart whip-cracking against my ribs. I mean, how was I supposed to answer that? Most of all, was I getting a raise?

  “I… I guess?”

  Hannah’s smile was warm. “We need an expert down there.”

  Finally, I managed, “Okay.”

  Hannah nodded then turned her attention to Malcom. “Here is my proposal, which is more of a demand at this point. Get Burt to shut the park down for two days. Only two. And we’ll find a way to flow food into the park without disrupting the nanite fence.”

  Malcom opened his mouth, then shut it again. His beady gaze shifted to me then fixed on Hannah. He sighed. “Fine. Two days. No more than that. If this fails, we carry on as we are and dump fish to feed the massive specimens.”

  “Deal,” Hannah said. “Thanks, Mac.”

  He waved a small, dismissive hand. “Yes, yes. Just…just don’t make me regret this.”

  “You won’t, Mac. Promise.”

  He sighed, and I saw the old Malcom. Mac was what everyone called him back in the day before…well, before the park happened. In that moment, I saw the man who cared so much for life in the sea. Then he waved his hand again and put an end to the meeting.

  Everyone shuffled out, no doubt ready to eat something then pass out and be ready for the next day. Hannah caught me and Megan before we could leave. She snagged Max too.

  Once everyone else was out of the room, she closed the door.

  “Okay,” she said. “Sit down. We have some planning to do.”

  “Ya know,” Max said, “I haven’t eaten in almost 16 hours…”

  Hannah smiled. “You’ll live for another five minutes.”

  He huffed out a breath and plopped down in a nearby chair. I followed suit, as did Megan.

  Hannah stepped to the front of the table and tapped for the holo to show the trench again. “We only get two days. Two days to locate and open up tunnels to the outer sea.”

  “Do you even know if there are tunnels?” Megan asked.

  “No. But, I have a feeling there might be. It’s worth a shot. We can’t lose Roofus. Hell, we can’t lose any exhibit here.”

  “My g
reat whites are getting agitated,” Megan said. “Food is growing scarce and they like to hunt, not mow down on dead fish dumped into the park.”

  Hannah nodded.

  “My orcas and humpbacks are the same,” Max said. “Living food.”

  “Okay,” Hannah said. “So, here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll take two minisubs into the trench and search for possible caved-in tunnel openings. That’s all. If we do find a couple, we open them and travel to the outer sea and draw food in.”

  “Um,” I said. “How do you plan on drawing that much food into the park through tunnels?”

  “Bait,” Hannah said. “We can get sea lions and fish and all kinds of life in here with the right bait and luring methods.”

  It sounded utterly insane to me, but…

  “Anything is better than dead fish,” Megan said.

  “Same,” Max said.

  I really didn’t know what to say, so I shrugged, still not seeing how it would work.

  Hannah gave us a glance, smiled, and said, “Go rest now. I will be in touch with you all in a couple days. Burt will want to think about the proposal for a day, so we have more time to really plan if it’s approved.”

  Burt Murdock was the owner of the park and kid brother to the oil tycoon, Murdock Jones. One was considered evil, while the other a good man who only wanted to preserve life. One switched his last name around, while the other remained true. Night and day those two, or so I’ve heard.

  “But I think it will be a go,” Hannah said. “I chose you three to aid in this exhibition for your various skills. Once we are greenlit, it’s on. We don’t stop or rest until we find a tunnel.”

  There was a long pause, then Max said, “There better be food.”

  Hannah chuckled. “Oh, I’m sure we’ll stow some food, just for you, Maxy.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Least you could do is make your insult accurate. I need to bring my own food, don’t I?”

  Hannah smiled.

  Max nodded. “Thought so.”

  “Anyway,” Hannah said. “I need to know if you three are all in with this. If not, sound off now so I can find a worthy replacement.”