Shark

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Thanks: To justTrip'n.

Shark

Trip looked around. Where were the others? They were supposed to be right behind him. He had signaled that he was headed in this direction and for them to follow. But there was no sign of them.

Trip looked behind him, up to the sides. No one. There was, however a great white headed in his direction obviously drawn by the bubbles coming from his mouthpiece. Trip pulled his spear gun loose and checked to make sure there was a spear and it was fully charged. He set the charge on maximum. The shark was closing in on Trip. He knew it was going to attack. Trip had to time his response just right. As the Shark closed in and made his attack run, Trip dropped to the ocean floor. The shark missed, but Trip knew it would circle and come back. He aimed his spear gun, led the shark, and pulled the trigger. The spear hit the shark in one eye, passed through the head, and out the other eye. The shark twisted in agony bleeding; it jerked violently. Trip started to swim as fast as he could away from the shark and towards his boat. The boat’s signal indicated it was a mile away.

Trip was watching out for sharks drawn to the blood of the shark he had wounded. They could smell blood for two miles. As he watched, he saw one come. He settled to the ocean floor and did not move. He stopped his breathing so no bubbles escaped  to mark his location. The Shark passed and Trip moved on. Three times he had to settle to the floor, stop breathing, and wait. Once he had to hold his breath longer because two sharks, one right after the other, came. He almost blacked out but they passed and he could breathe again. Trip didn't worry about sharks behnd him as they would be going to the Blood. All he was concerned with was in front and to the sides.

At last he was underneath the boat. He knew he had to get to the surface and in the boat fast, as he would be exposed and unable to see an incoming shark or defend against it. He knew that if he vented the air out of his tanks it would be the same as if he had a Jet pack on his back. If he also swam fast, he should make it to the surface and into the boat in moments. He drew in a very deep breath and vented his air. Trip shot to the surface. He broke the surface and went about three feet in the air. He thew his spear gun into the boat, grabbed the top rungs of the ladder and vaulted on to the deck without falling back into the water.

"There you are," said the captain of the boat.

"Are the others back on board yet?” Trip asked.

"One of them is, but the lady with the pointed ears is still down there," said the Captain.

Just then Trip saw two hands on the ladder. He jumped to the ladder, grabbed T’Pol by her arms, and jerked her on to the deck.

"Oh," said T’Pol. "What is wrong?"

Trip was looking out at the water he saw a shape coming towards the boat. It looked like a great white. He picked up T’Pol and tried to run to the passageway leading into the boat but he had on flippers. He made it about halfway when a large shark broke the water parallel to the boat and jumped up. Trip could hear the snap of teeth. The shark jumped along side of the boat and fell back into the water.

"Get this boat the hell out of here, now" he said to the captain.

The captain climbed up to the cockpit and started the boat, it was barely crawling.

"Move it, damn you," yelled Trip

The captain increased the speed, but not enough.

"Move, move, get us out of here," screamed Trip.

Trip could see the shape of the shark. It was headed for the boat again.

The Captain increased the speed and the boat had moved about 30 feet when the Shark again broke water.

If they had not been moving, Trip saw that it would have landed halfway into the boat. It probably would have grabbed one of them, pulled the person back into the water, then killed and ate its victim. And just his luck, it would be T’Pol that got grabbed.

The captain saw the same thing. He pushed the throtle to full, and the boat shot forward.

Trip watched, he could see the shark's fin above the surface, it was heading for the boat. The boat was leaving the shark behind now, and it broke the water as if in frustration at its prey getting away.

Trip pulled T’Pol in to the passageway. "Why in Hell weren't you with Hoshi?"

“I wanted to look at something. Hoshi was distracted and headed for the surface, so I stayed behind for a bit."

"Damn it. I suppose you took your time to come back to the boat. I know how you take off your flippers, throw them in to the boat, and then climb on board. That shark was just seconds behind you. It probably would have pulled you down and killed you or bit off the bottom half of your body. Let's go into the decompression chamber," said Trip.

"I did not know of any danger from a shark," said T’Pol.

"You're right," said Trip. "It just scared the Hell out of me how close you came to getting killed."

“Chamber? I thought we did not have to do that," said T’Pol

"Just a precaution, that's all. Won't hurt, and I can lower my blood pressure," replied Trip.

Trip opened the door to the air lock, followed T’Pol inside. A moment later Trip opened the door to the chamber.

Malcolm and Hoshi broke apart as they entered. Malcolm turned a little red.

"Only place where we can get a little privacy," said Hoshi.

Normally Trip would have joked about it, but not this time. He was angry.

"Why in Hell did you let T’Pol stay behind?" He asked looking at Hoshi "Damn it. T’Pol almost got killed by a great white."

"Hoshi turned white. "I am sorry, I was distracted. I thought that T’Pol had gone ahead and was on the boat already. It won't happen again. A great white? I didn't know there were any around us"

"Yes, one jumped me and I had to wound it. The blood drew every shark within two miles. If you didn't see her on the boat when you got back on board, didn't you think that she was still down there?" asked Trip.

"I thought she had gone to your cabin," said Hoshi. "How could I know about you wounding a shark? We weren't behind you."

"I'm sorry. This has got me upset as hell. That damned shark could have killed T’Pol. I am glad you weren't behind me. There were so many sharks drawn to the blood. It was lucky that the two of you were so far away that the sharks missed you, other than that one and he was a bit late. Hell had it been a few minutes earlier he might have killed both of you," said Trip.

"Christ," said Malcolm.

T’Pol spoke up, "It appears that Hoshi made a slight error. I am sure it won't happen next time."

"There isn't going to be a next time," said Trip.

"What?" said T’Pol. "There is something I would like to inspect down there.  That is the reason I was behind Hoshi."

"No, you are not going back in the water, and you definitely are not going back down there." replied Trip.

"But why?" asked T’Pol.

"Because I forgot that we are off the coast of Australia, that is why," Trip said. “Australia has some of the most dangerous critters on Earth, in the outback and in the surrounding waters. Sea snakes have the most toxic venom on Earth. Step on a stone fish and it is curtains; there are jelly fish that, if you get among them, will sting you to death, and then there are the great white sharks."

"But you never said anything about them," said T’Pol

"I was thinking we were in the gulf. The only thing there are barracuda and some sharks, but it is pretty safe compared to these waters," said Trip

But you will go down with me so I will be safe," said T’Pol

"I can't protect you from a school of great whites or even two of them at a time. No, you are not going down again. That goes for you too Hoshi," said Trip.

"Too right!" agreed Malcolm

"Aren't you guys getting a little bossy?" said Hoshi

“No. Just informing you of the dangers down there and that we don't want you risking it,” said Malcolm.

Hosi considered this and then smiled. "Nice to be wanted"

T’Pol said nothing, which was a bad sign. No logic thrown at him, no arguments. She was strangely quiet, which Trip knew meant she was up to something.

"Okay with you T’Pol?" he asked.

"If you say so, Husband," she replied.

"What say we leave here and get something to drink? Something cool," said Malcolm "I could use a beer."

They left the decompression chamber and went out on the deck. After unfolding some chairs, they ordered drinks from the steward. It was nice in the sun with a cool ocean breeze.

T’Pol said, "I am beginning to appreciate what a Human means when he says it is a beautiful day here on Earth."

Trip was waiting for something, anything, but nothing came. They lounged on the deck until dinner, went below changed in to casual wear and left for the dining room.

Later that night in bed, Trip was again waiting for T’Pol to say what he knew was on her mind, but again she said nothing, just pulled him on to her, and they made love. Nothing unusal there, Trip thought. They were newlyweds after all, and this was part of their honeymoon after two weeks alone in a private bungalow hidden in the hills of Mississippi.

They had asked Hoshi and Malcolm along because they were friends and they had been in the wedding party: Malcolm, Best Man; and Hoshi, Maid of Honor.

The next morning, Trip was on deck with his second cup of coffee. Another great day. The morning sun felt good. Trip was at peace with the world. No one was around, so T’Pol came up and crawled into his lap.

"Here it comes," thought Trip.

"Why cannot I go back down? There is a formation that is interesting and appears to have a mineral I want to study," T’Pol said in a soft voice.

"Because I don't want you to end up in a sharks belly, that is why," retorted Trip

"But if you are with me?" said T’Pol again in the soft voice.

She is giviing me both barrels. Buttering me up. First last night, and now in that voice that melts me, Trip thought.

"Tell you what, we can send down a video camera, and it can take all of the close-ups you want," smiled Trip.

"But I need to be there to investigate the formation and see where it comes from, and where it goes under the ocean floor. That is important to my study," said T’Pol.

"Cameras can do that for you," said Trip.

"I need to take samples too and bring them back up to the boat," replied T’Pol.

"We can send down a robot crawler, and it can dig you a sample and bring it back up to the boat," said Trip.

"I need to be there so I can measure how deep the formation is and to make sure I get the right size and the best sample I can. The robot would just take anything," said T’Pol.

“No, you just want to go back down," said Trip.

"It is beautiful down there. When you wanted me to go diving, I did not want to; but I did go down. I see now the water is so clear and everything so different and the little fish so facinating."

"T’Pol it is too dangerous period," replied Trip.

"You said that many people dive in these waters,” replied T’Pol

"Yes, in groups of five or more, so they look out for each other, and combined they can drive away a great white and they all know what the jelly fish look like and they stay away from the bottom so they won't step on a stone fish," said Trip with a little annoyance in his voice.

"Is there no way we can go back down? Husband?" asked T’Pol.

"There is one way and that is in a cage with alloy steel bars, so one can see out but a shark cannot get in nor bite a bar apart," said Trip.

"Let’s get one," said T’Pol.

"Whoa, first they cost a lot of money, second we have to call for one and wait for it to come here. We start paying once it leaves its moorings. We have the money, but I was planning on using it for something else," replied Trip.

"I would very much like to go back down and examine that formation. Can't we spend a little money? I have my savings too," said T’Pol

Damn!  I said the wrong thing. Guess I have to order a cage. Got to keep the wife happy, Trip thought.

"Okay, I will have the captain radio the nearest place where we can rent one. But it will take a couple of days to get here and until then I don't want you near the water. Understand? I will go down with you in the cage to make sure you don't leave it. Trip said.

"But I have to examine the formation, take samples, I have to leave the cage," said T’Pol.

"No you don't," replied Trip. "The bottom of the cage has little doors you can open, reach through, and take samples without leaving the cage. The cage can hover just off the ocean so you can putter and dig all you want without worry about sharks. We can even have the cage moved so you can follow the formation if you want." Trip smiled.

"You promise that I can work on the floor without having to leave the cage and that will make you happy?” asked T’Pol.

"Happy as Hell," said Trip.

They spent the next three days lazing around on the boat, sunning themselves, having meals and naps. Trip was very happy. His life was better than he had ever hoped. He had a beautiful wife, who looked stunning in her bikini — a very brief bikini,  which the crew noticed. Hoshi look equally good in hers. The two women turned every head on board. At last the barge with the cage came; it had a crane to raise and lower the cage into the water. The barge anchored a short distance away from the boat. That gave room for anyone who came up alone outside the cage to board the boat without the barge interfering with the swimmer. It gave a margin of safety. Had the two been side by side, it would have made boarding the boat hazardous. And boarding the barge was impossible anyway.

Since the boat and the barge were fairly close together Trip was going to jump on board the Barge to take a look at the equipment. The man who seemed to be in charge of the barge told him to stay on board the boat. Trip said he wanted to look over the equipment.

"It is in tip-top shape," said the man

"Just want to take a look," said Trip.

"We know what we are doing," said the man.

Trip knew that engineers and mechanics could be touchy about their equipment and their ability, so he let it go.

"We will swing the cage over to the boat and you can get into it from there," shouted the man.

The cage was swung over, and Trip and T’Pol put her equipment and tools in the cage, donned their tanks and got into the cage. Trip closed the door and waved to the Man on the Barge. The Cage was swung out over the water and lowered into it. The cage sunk down to the floor of the ocean. Trip got on  the intercom to the barge and told them to move the cage over to where T’Pol had seen the formation she wanted to inspect. The cage was raised a bit and moved over to the spot.

"Okay?" asked the man on the barge

"Fine," said Trip

The cage was lowered back to about a foot above the ocean floor and stopped.

"How is that?" said the man above.

"Great hold it there," said Trip.

T’Pol happily went to work digging and measuring, taking samples. At last she signaled Trip that she was finished.

"Raise the cage," said Trip over the intercom.

Trip waited for five minutes and again said, "Raise the cage we are finished."

Ten minutes went by and the cage did not move.

"What is going on up there?" asked Trip irritably

"Small problem. We’ll have it fixed in a jiffy. Hold on," said the man on the barge.

Another fifteen minutes went by and still the cage did not move.

"Dammit what is going on?" Trip yelled in to the intercom. "Get the cage up."

"Working on it," said the man.

Trip had checked the air in their tanks and saw that they should go up as they only had about a half hour left and he didn't want to cut it too close.

"Have to swim up," he said to T’Pol. "We can get your stuff after they get the cage out of the water."

Trip pushed the button to unlock the door, the bolt slid out and then shot back right away keeping the door locked.

"What?!" said Trip. "That shouldn't happen."

He didn't have his tools and the one that T’Pol had would be useless. He examined the lock and the bolt. He again pushed the button and watched as the bolt opened and then immediately closed again.

"Must be a short," he said. I think I can get it open but it will take two to do it. I will push the button, the bolt will open, and before its closed again, you push the knife blade down to stop it, and I will push on the door. I think we can get it open that way."

T’Pol took out her diving knife from its sheath and held it just above the thin space between the door and the lock. The blade would just fit, but she would have to time it right.

"I am ready," she said

Trip pushed the button, the bolt puled back and closed again. T’Pol was too slow and missed.

"Okay that was for practice. We’ll do it again," said Trip.

Malcolm came on the comm. "Damned cook threw some garbage overboard. I think some of it had blood in it. That will draw sharks in a hurry.  You’d better get up here right smart."

Trip looked at T’Pol. Got to get it this time," he said. "Ready?"

T’Pol nodded and poised the knife.

Trip pushed the button. The Bolt drew back and forward but T’Pol was on time and stopped it from closing, and Trip pushed the door open. He floated in front of the door it to keep it from closing again.

"We have to get to the surface damned fast. The tanks will slow us down. There is too little air in the tanks, so no presssure left.  We can't vent it to help us get to the surface faster. So let's do this without tanks. Can you take a deep breath and hold it while swimming up fast as you can to the Boat? I will be right behind you.  When we get to the boat, I will give you a shove to push you on board. Grab hold of the very top of the ladder and swing yourself on board. I will be on you like a blanket, so move out of the way. Take off your tanks, deep breath, and go when I signal."

Trip took off his tanks, T’Pol did the same and they were off. T’Pol headed towards the surface swimming as fast as possible. The water cut down on her Vulcan strength by dragging at her body. Trip swam for all he was worth and stayed up with T’Pol. They reached the boat . The ladder hung down in the water except where it was attached to the boat. Trip grabbed as far up the ladder as he could where it was attached. He pushed on T’Pol's bottom and pulled at the ladder at the same time. She went up and out of the water. Trip reached up and took hold of the very top of the ladder and pulled. His trunks dragged him back. He felt two hands on his arms pulling. It was T’Pol. On the boat she had her Vulcan stremgth to use. Trip was out of the water and on the boat falling to the deck.

He came up yelling: “Skipper, get this boat moving to the barge I want to talk to those guys."

The boat made a wide fast swing through the water and then came alongside of the barge. Trip angrily jumped onto the barge. He ran to the small cabin and stepped inside. It housed the steering, controls, and a small desk. Trip immediately opened the desk and took out the maintenance log.

"Get out of there," snapped the man in charge of the barge. "You have no business on this barge and put those logs back."

"Like Hell," said Trip. "My wife and I damned near died because your equipment failed and you couldn't seem to fix it."

"I don't need some amateur to tell me about my equipment," said the man

"I am a chief engineer on a starship," said Trip. "I am no amateur. Get out of my way so I can look at your equipment."

By that time, Malcolm, T’Pol, and the skipper of the boat had also jumped onto the barge.

"Move your butt," said Trip.

The man, seeing he was outnumbered, moved begrudgingly.

Trip walked over to the motor used to raise and lower the cage. He opened it and peered inside. "Give me a flashlight," he said.

Trip, using the light, closely inspected the motor. "Damn. This thing doesn't have any lubricant. The workings have bound up. Lucky it worked at all. Just enough to get us in the water and down there."

Trip opened the Log. "It says that the motor was overhauled last month, and it was inspected before leaving the mooring to come here. That is a bunch of crap. Why in Hell couldn't you see the problem, put in some lubricant, and get us up?"

The other man on the Barge spoke up. "We just know how to run the thing, lower, raise it and move it a bit. We aren't maintenance types. We don't know what to look for when something goes wrong. Usually we have a certified maintenance man but he was sick, and the boss needed the money, so he sent us out her with this barge. It has been in dock for some months. I guess we took the wrong one. There hasn't been any business so the owner has had to cut corners and furlough workers."

"Christ," said Trip. "We could have been killed. Guess some of the corners he cut were maintenance. Look, I will fix the motor for you so you can head back to your mooring. But tell your boss, ‘No Bill!’ I am not paying anything. We are going to inform the authorities, so tell him he had better not get cute."

"You might also look at the chain attached to the cage. Think it is rusted, so it binds," said the second man.

Trip spent three hours taking the motor apart, greasing and lubricating all parts, and putting it back together again. He tried it and the motor ran smoothly. He had the two men on the barge climb to the top of the hoist and put oil in the dispenser that lubricated the chain as it was moved. The cage was brought up and T’Pol retrieved her tools, samples, and notes. The tanks were taken to the boat. Trip, T’Pol, Malcolm, and the captain boarded the boat.

"Head back to your moorings. You have a radio so you can call for help if anything else breaks down," yelled Trip to the barge men.

The captain started the boat's motor and they headed for shore. Trip was glad that the diving vacation was over. He’d had the scare of his life. All he wanted now was to get back to their hotel and sit by the pool. That was as near to water as he would want to be for a long while.

Finis