Ryan Lockwood - Below

“Where is he now?”

“I don’t know for sure.” Joe pointed to the water. “Somewhere around there, where the squid are agitated.”

The captain jammed the end of the ten-foot pole into the water. Joe turned and scanned the deck for something. Anything . He saw a life ring hanging above the wheelhouse and ran over to grab it.

He tossed the life ring down into the water, but felt stupid doing it. There was nothing much they could do. Val ran up with the dive light in hand. Karl was with her. She leaned over the edge and shined the bright light down onto the shoal. The squid attempted to move away from the light for a moment, but in the confined space the white beam only seemed to agitate the shoal. Rather than rest in place, they began to churn the water violently where the deckhand had disappeared.

“Dammit, woman! You’re making it worse!”

“I can see that, Captain!” She shut the light off. Alongside Joe and the big deckhand, she stared helplessly down at the water.

They watched as the captain cursed and used the pole to fish around for Tomás in the net full of squid. Joe’s life preserver bobbed untouched on the surface nearby. It grew quiet. As MacDonald swept the pole around in the net, several more squid propelled themselves into the air and landed on the ocean with loud smacks.

Suddenly the captain tensed. “I’ve got something.”

He pulled up furiously with both hands as the pole jerked downward. He grunted. “Need help!”

Joe and the big deckhand reached to help him, but just as they were about to grasp the pole MacDonald doubled over as an unseen force tore the pole from his grip. Joe grabbed the back of the captain’s belt as he almost went over the low gunwale. They watched as the pole disappeared under the surface.

All five stood shoulder-to-shoulder, silent, focused on the water. Tomás had been under for several minutes. There was no sign of him in the throng of squid, which had again assembled in organized fashion inside the net. Another minute passed slowly, the waves bumping indifferently against the hull and rocking the vessel. The big deckhand started to moan.

Most of the shoal still appeared to be confined inside the net. Some of the squid had managed to escape by going airborne, but many had landed back inside the net, while many more had never made the attempt. Joe noticed that the squid gathered in the net below them were gradually beginning to move downward, as though they were settling toward the bottom of their holding cell—or gathering around Tomás’s body.

He said, “Christ, are they headed down after him?”

The captain grimaced. No one answered.

Something else was bothering Joe. Captain MacDonald leaned heavily on his hands next to him, his head bowed, still looking over the side of the seiner. Fifteen minutes had passed since Tomás had gone under, and none of them had any illusions about his fate. Ari sat near the boom, still sobbing.

It was as if everything had ceased around them, the universe pausing for a moment to pay its respects to the poor man, whose lifeless body was probably now being consumed, or perhaps simply pressed against the bottom of the squid-filled net, eyes unseeing, lungs full of black seawater. Maybe the bastards would at least ignore the body as they focused on escaping. It was hard for Joe to tell what the squid were doing because he couldn’t see most of them.

Joe suddenly realized what was bothering him. “Captain, why aren’t they jumping anymore?”

MacDonald didn’t answer. Joe was about to repeat the question when he felt the vessel shudder almost imperceptibly. It felt different than when a wave struck a vessel. More sudden.

Val said, “Joe, what was that?” In the bright lights of the boom, she and Karl looked at him, wide-eyed.

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe if we just open the net and release the squid, they’ll leave that man’s body here, intact? No research is worth what’s happening here.”

“I don’t know. Captain, what do you want to do?” Joe looked at MacDonald. He was still staring into the water. Joe asked again, gently. “Captain, I’m sorry about Tomás, but we need you to focus on the—”

The Centaur shuddered again, more noticeably.

“What the hell was that?” Joe followed the captain’s gaze down into the net. He couldn’t see the squid, as each last one had descended in the dark water.

“They’re sounding.” MacDonald spoke softly, almost in a whisper.

“What do you mean?”

There was a burst of activity underwater as hundreds of squid swelled upward toward the surface, a supernatural glow emanating from the black water as many of the animals produced pulses of pale light. A few seconds later, the shoal reversed direction and vanished toward the bottom of the net. The vessel shuddered again, and Joe felt the deck tip to the starboard side as a loud twang came from the taut cables running into the boom.

“The bastards are sounding, dammit!” The captain shoved past Joe toward the machinery in the stern.

“What the hell is he talking about, Val?”

“He means they’re trying to go deeper. They’re working together to try and escape through the bottom of the net!”

“Are they smart enough for that?”

The boat shook again. “I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

Karl looked at her. “Yes, you do, Valerie.”

“You can’t do it! You’re not going anywhere, you sons of bitches!” At the stern, the captain shouted down at the shoal. The squid answered with another rush toward the bottom of the net. Joe stumbled as the boat tilted and spun a few degrees in a rapid jerk. He heard the lines and metal cables sing again, and the towering boom groaned as its steel frame was tested. Joe tried to picture the amount of squid that must be down there, capable of moving what had to be an eighty-ton vessel.

He noticed something bobbing on the surface of the water, alone above the net now that the squid had headed deeper. Tomás. His corpse was floating face-down. Joe heard the big deckhand moan when he saw his friend’s body.

“Captain, Tomás’s body—”

“No time for him now. He’s gone.”

“Can you cut the net free?”

“Cut it free?” The captain scowled. “You have any idea how much that net costs?”

Val said, “My God, you’re worried about the money? Can’t the shoal damage your boat, though? The net isn’t worth losing your boat, or our lives.”

“Weston can pay you for the net, Captain.” Karl spoke quickly. He was breathing fast. “Safety is paramount here—”

“Bastards could never hurt the Centaur . She’s too big. Hear me, you bastards? Wear yourselves out! I’m still going to brail you out and have one of you for supper !”

Joe watched as the shoal rose again, swirling to the surface like autumn leaves and bumping against the deckhand’s lifeless body as they regrouped for another go at the net. A flash of dim greenish light rippled through the shoal before its members descended in unison. The main cable running from the boom changed angle and hummed as the deck beneath Joe lurched. He looked up at the cable just as there was a loud pinging noise.

He thought he saw something flash on the boom and blinked instinctively. For a brief instant, his mind registered that something was about to strike his face.

Val heard more than saw the small metal part give way on the seiner’s boom. There was a piercing whine, which ended a split second later as the shard tore into Joe’s head. She watched in horror as his face erupted into a red mist with a sickening, audible crunch, spraying her face with blood. He instantly crumpled against her knees and onto the deck.