Megalodon by Rookie Burwick (free e novels .TXT) 📖

"Call me Marlin."

"Okay, Marlin. Look, I have suspicions that there are people on board this ship that don't belong here. Spies, maybe."

"So, is that why you're lying about the material?"

Dob looked around for a moment, then answered. "Yes, it is, Marlin. I can't have the wrong person finding out our real plans."

"I see. Obviously Ian wasn't too worried. He blabbed everything right out, and never looked around or made sure things were silent."

"Dr. Lissiter isn't the most careful person I've met."

"True, he is a bit careless. But not enough to spill the beans to enemy spies."

"You never know. . ."

"That's right, captain. You never know."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying do you really know what Ian's got down there?"

Dob leaned forward and nodded very slightly. "It's that Megalodon, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is captain. That thing is being used to make weapons in the most scientific way possible."

"Then what's to worry about?"

"Oh come on Capt., there's plenty to worry about. He's got this tooth down there that belongs to a Megalodon, but not the one he's got in that tank. There must be more than one. What if that thing finds us?"

"Calm yourself, Marlin. We're scanning the waters surrounding us nonstop, twenty-four hours a day. We have yet to see a single thing out there."

"Alright. Maybe I am over reacting, but still. Keep monitoring the water until I'm back on dry land, and I'll be happy."

"We will, Marlin. Keep your focus on the project for now."

He eyed the captain for a moment before nodding. "Right. Shall do, Capt."

"Please, just call me Liam."

"Alright, shall do that, too."

"Thanks. Now, might I ask if you've seen the blue-prints for the new weapons?"

"Yes. I got your email last night, and have looked through it several times."

"Good. Memorize the best you can. I have to be honest, the internet isn't the best either."

"My tablet seemed to have no trouble connecting. It didn't ask for the network password. Is there one?"

"I'm not sure. I've ever really taken any notice. The guys who installed it years back set it all up, and I paid no attention to what they did."

"You should've. It might come in handy one of these days."

"It might. But that doesn't matter right now. If you'll excuse me, I have one last meeting to attend to before the nights out."

"No trouble. I'm gonna go outside and get some air."

Dob nodded his goodbye, and then took off towards the exit. Marlin watched and waited as he hurried back out into the hall, then got up himself, and strode softly towards the open doorway on the farthest wall. He could tell from the distant view he had of the outside that the fog had cleared, and a bright, vanishing sunset shone over the waves.

He stepped out onto the station and took a deep breath. It was so refreshing, he needed another. So he took another. The sun was just low enough to create an amazing and even beautiful effect on the ocean that lay stretched out beyond the deck, and the rest of the ship. He heard something over to his left, and turned to find young man, in his teens, puking over the side of the railing.

"You alright?" he asked.

The boy turned to him and smiled weakly.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Seasickness, I'm guessing."

"Yeah, I've got it pretty bad."

"Well, just try not to eat much. That's what works for me."

"Thanks for the advice."

"No problem."

There was a slight pause.

"Who are you?" the boy asked suddenly.

"Oh, my name's Dr. Marlin Jacobs."

"Nice to meet. . ." the boy spat out a little more. ". . .You. . ."

"Take it easy."

The boy didn't respond, but only nodded. It was hard to watch the poor kid puke like that. He couldn't imagine how bad it was inside the bridge. It seemed bad enough out here. He tried his best not to watch as the kid continued to lurch forward and vomit. IT fell down and splattered onto the deck below, followed by much more. It appeared that the kid had eaten quite a bit earlier in the day. He watched for a few more seconds before hurrying back into the dining hall and scattered through the now empty tables, hoping to get back to his room before the night was out. After all those twist and turns and hallways, he would probably get dizzy.

Ian's crazy antics were the thing that bothered him the most as he strode on down the hallway. It just wasn't possible to do the things he was doing. He knew that people change, but Ian had changed the most of anybody he knew. He was becoming like a mad scientist from a cheap horror movie. His experiments could lead to the death of everyone on board the ship.

                                         * * *

It was a little past seven when Marlin finally reached his room. He opened the door and stepped inside, and flipped on the light. Tomorrow was  going to be a long day, and he had a lot of work to do yet. He hurried over to the bed, and grabbed up his tablet, once again switching it on. It lit up seconds later, but didn't start up until a few minutes later.

Once the main screen was up, he typed in the password, and the sonar image came up again. He tapped on the small X in the corner, and the image disappeared. Then, he swiped through some files on the screen and soon found the small g-mail icon, and tapped on it. His email opened up seconds later, and he tapped on the new email from the captain. Another sonar image flew onto the screen, and he saw the same thing he had seen in the lab; the weaponry maps of the ships. The weapons flashed orange below and on the deck. He tapped on the little magnifying glass icon, and the image zoomed in on the bottom weapons.

The missile launchers were the most numerous of them all. They lined the entire bottom edge of the ship, and he guessed were the good type. The old ALD 59'ers. He didn't know for sure, but it was just a guess. The launchers were loaded with up to sixteen large and powerful missiles that could easily destroy a small enemy vessel. He could now see why both the captain and the Navy itself wanted to upgrade the weaponry. It was all so small numbered as far as quality, but he imagined the performance was much better. He moved the screen around and re-zoomed in on the bigger weapons, that were visible here and there along the bottom of the ship. They were special underwater canons, or so he was told. They were all designed in a heavy armored steel that was going to be hard to replace. The sensors were picking up heavy rust along the sides of the weaponry, a big thanks to the water.

The missiles were aligned perfectly with the canons, with every weapon on board the ship pointed east, and the launchers were heavily guarded by steel caps that slid open when they were ready to fire. It was just another guess, but he imagined that they hadn't had to use the weapons for a long while now, given the overall appearance of the weapons. He exited the image and went back to his digital schedule list. First thing tomorrow was to look over the blue-prints. Second thing to do was get the materials from the delivery chopper. Third thing was to begin the building aspect of everything. He and Ian would begin putting the weapons together based on the already existing weapons. But, these new ones would be bigger, better, and a lot easier to use. And much more powerful, as Ian put it. Despite all of this good news and happenings, he still was worried about the Megalodon. The shark scared the crud out of him, and he wasn't ashamed of that. Fear would be the main element in the lab as long as that thing was alive.

But, what worried him even more was the tooth that came from something even bigger.

Dr. Arlo Conworth reached up and gripped the cold and wet railing, and pulled himself upward. His hand slid back down, along with his entire body. He tried again, but had the same results. This time, he crouched down, and tried springing up. He grabbed the upper railing, and tried one last time to hoist himself up. But, once again, he fell back down. The stairway was blocked at the base by shattered pieces of cement and rock that had shattered when the hit occurred, and he had spent the last hour trying to get past the heavy debris.
 Before that, he had been knocked out cold, which he guessed was the condition of most other people on board. He had been cramped in that small space in his lab for hours, not sure where he was or who he was. Then he finally came to. After that, he had crawled out from the darkness and found everything just like the way it was now, which was cluttered and shredded. The air in the room was oddly damp, and had a misty smell to it that was stronger than any other smell he had encountered before, and it made him very nauseous. Everything was quiet all around the ship, and it felt like a ghost town. The waves were gently pulling the boat from side to side in their own, unusual rhythm.
   It wasn't until recently that Arlo had come to like being on board the ship. The captain and crew all seemed trustable people, and he was beginning to blame himself for the captain's doubts on his work. He was a marine biologist, and he had been called on personally by Skith. But, just days earlier, the same man that invited him on board had lost all trust for Marlin, and that haunted him. What did he do to lose such a trust? The captain knew very well what he was doing, and he had shown good interest in it. But then, the old man suspends him from his work. But of course, Marlin had to consider the type of work they were dealing with. It was the types of work only government labs do, or some mad scientist from a horror film. He had done it. It was truly amazing what he had done, but, considering the current circumstances, it had gotten out of hand.
 At that moment, he heard voices from somewhere above him, on the next floor up. He sprung to his feet and, once again, reached up for the railing. But this time, he gripped it even harder and preformed the same function he had been preforming for a long time now. And this time, it worked. He swung up onto the stairway, and then listened. The voice had vanished. But that didn't stop him. He hurried up the stairway, and rounded the corner. He tried his best to follow the voice due to how much of it he had actually heard. He rounded the corner, only to fall backwards onto his tailbone.
  The sight of the body was the most gruesome he'd seen. He'd seen the insides of all sorts of fish which came close,