Ocean Blue (Sea Lab Book 1)

CHAPTER 29

Sarah no longer called for help from Tony or Kevin, or anyone else.

It had to be her. She was the closest one to Jake, the only one in position.

She drew near, bringing the speargun to bear at the creature's head. As she steadied her aim, a harpoon tore through the water from behind her, soared past her arm and tracked high, missing the torso of the fish by inches.

Sarah jerked her neck around to see Tony's frustrated scowl beneath his dive mask. By the time she zeroed in on the target again, another sharpened harpoon bored through the predator's mid-section from the other side, erupting into a plume of blood. A short distance away, Kevin floated within range, lowering his weapon.

Sarah had been wrong about being the only one in position.

The fish writhed like it was in the thralls of a seizure, shaking and lifting Jake from the sandy bottom.

She readjusted her sights and squeezed the trigger.

The spear shot through the water and covered the gap between Jake and her in seconds. An arrow-like shaft drilled the creature straight through the eye, its interlocking teeth springing open and clamping down one last time. The fish quaked and twisted and then relinquished its hold on the crumbled air canister.

Jake drifted to the ocean floor as more blood spilled into the clear blue above him. Weakly, his arms and legs flailed, head bobbled.

"Spare air, quick," Sarah ordered Tony. "And get him back to the Atlantis."

"On it," he replied without trepidation, removing the extra bottle attached to his utility belt.

Tony pulled away his friend's mask and inserted the mouthpiece.

Jake's eyes burst to life.

To Sarah's relief, Tony offered his usual okay hand signal and began the trek back to the moon pool. With her dive partners on their way to safety, she un-spooled a coil of nylon cord from her belt and tied off the creature's tail to a rocky formation near the coral reef. She could try to tow the monstrosity to the ship, but knew it would be a futile effort. They'd have to return for it and hope it was still there. They could examine the specimen later.

After covering half the distance back to the ship, Sarah checked her air gauge. Crap. She'd used too much energy to help save Jake, and while maneuvering the fish into position to secure it after the kill. She had maybe five minutes of air left. Concern crept into her mind when something mysterious emerged in the depths. The oblong shape grew larger and materialized into a discernible form. For a second, she thought it might be another monster fish, but to her surprise, it zipped by with Tony on its back.

He whizzed around on the diver propulsion vehicle and came up beside her. "Where's our catch?"

"Tied off to a rock back there."

"How much air do you have left?"

Sarah snagged the gauge dangling behind her back and then peered up at Tony. "Not enough."

"Hop on. We can make it."

"What about ascending too fast? The nitrogen buildup in our bloodstream."