Phantom Prospect

9

“Is that it?”

Hunter leaned over the display. “I don’t know.”

“It looks like what was on there earlier.” Annja watched as the line swept around the scope, and every time it reached the nine-o’clock position, it revealed the huge shape in brilliant orange.

“Doesn’t seem to be moving all that fast,” Hunter said. “I would have thought it would be.”

Annja shuddered as another breeze swept in through the open window. “Maybe it’s just cruising around.”

Hunter nodded. “I suppose that could be it. Sharks like to hunt at night. Maybe it’s down there tracking something.”

“How do they see?”

Hunter shrugged. “Better ask Cole that one. I think I saw a television special last year that mentioned they could use tiny amounts of ambient light to spotlight things against the backdrop. This guy did some research down in South Africa and found the ambient glow of city lights on shore helped great whites hunt seals at night. Pretty wild.”

“And you think that thing might be using our running lights as help in this case?”

“Like I said, you’d have to ask Cole. But I suppose it’s a possibility. Sharks haven’t evolved over millions and millions of years just to be thwarted by something as rudimentary as the darkness.”

I wonder if they could handle my sword, Annja thought. She kept watching the sonar sweep around. The shape in the water seemed to have drifted more to their port side. “It looks like it’s searching for something.”

“Yeah.”

“Should we go get Cole?”

Hunter checked his watch. “I don’t know. I mean, it’s after midnight and the guy probably needs his sleep.”

“Yeah, but he might get upset if he finds out he missed this.”

Hunter eyed her. “Or he might jump into the drink without a second thought.”

Annja nodded. “I guess you’re right.”

Hunter smiled. “My brother doesn’t let things like the dark stop him, either. And he probably should in this case. Maybe we’ll just keep this sighting to ourselves, huh?”

Annja watched the scope. “Sure would like to know what it’s doing.”

“Probably looking for a midnight snack.”

Annja had watched some shark specials on television, but she couldn’t remember seeing anything that came close to this size. The creature was huge. And yet, there seemed something almost unnatural about it. Maybe it was the overall size of the shark or maybe it was because Annja hadn’t seen any shows that did night research on sharks, but the whole event left her chilled.

Suddenly, she had an idea. “Do you have a flashlight?”

Hunter nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

“You mentioned that sharks would use ambient light to hunt. Maybe I’ll give this thing some extra light and see if its behavior changes.”

Hunter handed her the flashlight from the instrument panel. “How are you going to do that?”

Annja took the flashlight. “Keep an eye on the scope and tell me if anything changes.”

“Annja—”

She grinned. “Relax, I’m not going in the water. I’m not nearly that suicidal.”

“Okay.”

Annja stepped outside the wheelhouse and found her way to the steps leading down to the main deck. She followed the port side toward the stern and then stood staring out at the inky sea.

Waves lapped against the side of the boat, but from her vantage point, she could see nothing to indicate that a huge shark was cruising nearby. She smirked. This was probably how it was all the time. Nature had crafted these incredible creatures and humans were, by and large, oblivious to when they were close by.

She switched on the flashlight and its bright beam cut through the swath of darkness, illuminating the waves nearby that foamed white as they slapped into one another.

Annja swept the beam across the surface of the water and waited. She hoped this would provoke some sort of reaction from the shark. If Annja could get it to surface, then maybe she could get a decent look at the thing.

Maybe.

She glanced up at the wheelhouse and could see part of Hunter’s body still leaning over the scope. She whistled softly and he leaned out of the window.

“Yeah?”

“Anything yet?”

“Not a thing. It’s still moving at the same pace and on the same course. Maybe it doesn’t see the light.”

Annja frowned. If a shark could use the ambient city lights miles away, then surely this shark could see a bright white beam on the surface of the water.

She looked out at the waves. She needed something else to help attract the shark. Something it wouldn’t be able to ignore.

Annja checked to see if the crew had left anything nearby that she could use. But the stern of the boat was remarkably absent of clutter. The dive platform hovered a few inches below the surface of the water and, before she could think things through, she sat down and pulled her socks off.

Maybe I am crazy, she thought.

“Annja?”

Hunter’s voice drifted down to her, but Annja ignored it as she stepped off the back of the boat and onto the dive platform. The water felt cold and she shuddered as her feet went into the water. She was standing in it up to her ankles.

She felt a wave of fear wash over her. Now she was actually in the ocean with this thing, even though she was technically still on the boat. If the shark rammed hard enough, she might lose her footing and that would be it.

Annja swallowed and used the flashlight beam again, aiming it just off the stern of the boat, closer to where she stood. With her other hand, Annja held the back railing for dear life. It would be her only link to the ship and she didn’t want to lose it.

“Annja!”

She glanced back. Hunter had come out of the wheelhouse and stood halfway down the stairs leading to the stern. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I’ve got to see if I can get this thing interested in me or if it’s doing something else.”

“I can’t help you if it attacks.”

“Just keep watching the scope and let me know if it starts to change course. Give me as much warning as you can.”

“Yeah, all right.”

Hunter vanished back up the stairs, leaving Annja alone on the lolling platform. She felt cold and her legs wanted to carry her back up onto the boat proper. Psychologically, she knew that she would feel a lot safer with the deck between her and the ocean. Right now, all that separated her from the deep was a few inches of steel.

The flashlight beam cut into the darkness and then died only ten yards away from the boat. Annja could see the frothy white caps cresting in time to the sway of the boat. A stronger breeze blew and she shivered again. Her left hand ached from holding the railing so tightly, but there was no way she’d loosen her grip.

Annja’s stomach cramped slightly and she realized that if the shark did indeed decide to check out the light, she had no way of summoning her sword if necessary. Both of her hands were fully occupied.

She couldn’t very well risk using one of them to hold the sword. Plus, its appearance would mean an uncomfortable amount of questions from Hunter and who knew who else? How would she explain that she somehow possessed the sword that once belonged to Joan of Arc and that she could summon it at will?

No, the time for the sword would be later. If it got to that point. If this was just a shark acting like a shark, then Annja didn’t see any real need to fight it. Jock’s death notwithstanding, there was already enough shark slaughter happening elsewhere in the world and Annja didn’t want to contribute to it any further.

She frowned. There should have been some reaction to the presence of the light by now. She glanced back at the wheelhouse, but her view from the stern of the boat was limited and she didn’t know what Hunter was up to.

She heard him coming down the stairs a moment later. “Annja?”

“Yeah.”

“You okay?”

“I’m wondering why this shark hasn’t responded to my presence or to this flashlight beam.”

“You thought it would?”

Annja frowned. “Hell, I don’t know what I thought. It was more of an experiment than anything else.”

“The scope isn’t showing much. It’s still there, but its movement is as slow as it was before. It’s like it either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that you’re there.”

Annja frowned. “I could go for a swim.”

“Don’t you dare!” Hunter’s voice grated across the darkness. Annja smiled at the reaction.

“Relax. I told you I wasn’t suicidal. And even if I was, I wouldn’t do it like that.”

“All right. Don’t make me haul you back aboard against your will.”

“Like you could.”

Hunter started to laugh, but then they both stopped.

Something splashed out beyond the range of the light.

Annja’s heart started beating faster. “Did you hear that?”

“Yeah.”

She could tell Hunter was coming closer to her. “Annja, why don’t you get back on the boat now?”

“Hang on a second.”

She could hear more splashing. It sounded like something was almost on top of the water. She swept the flashlight beam as far as she could but the inexorable darkness simply swallowed it up beyond ten yards.

“I can’t see a damned thing.”

“Neither can I. But I think you should get back on the boat,” Hunter said.

“Get back to the wheelhouse and tell me what you see.”

“I’m not leaving you alone out here.”

“I’ll be fine. Just do it, okay?”

“Annja.”

“Hunter. Just do it. I need to know if this thing is coming at me or not.”

“Fine.”

She heard him stomp away and then turned back to look out at the ocean. More wind blew up and she felt her fear rising with it. The shark might be heading right for her and she wouldn’t know it unless her flashlight beam cut across its shape in the dark. “Annja!”

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