The deformation of the cage had wedged shut the top hatch.
I kicked it several times, but it wouldn’t budge.
That sense of dread swelled, and panic filled Ariel’s eyes.
The clatter drew the attention of the mammoth shark. It plunged to the bottom and circled the cage.
The current washed over us and kicked up more sediment.
I kept kicking at the hatch until it finally gave way.
With a way out of the cage, I breathed a little easier. As easy as one can breathe with a meat grinder waiting for you. I did not want to get out into the open ocean with that thing. But at some point, we wouldn’t have a choice. Drown or die as fish food.
The shark kept swimming around, eyeing us.
Our oxygen kept depleting.
In a blink, 10 minutes passed.
The shark showed no sign of boredom.
Another blink, another 10 minutes.
In a perfect world, we needed a 3-5 minute stop at 15-20 feet.
This was far from a perfect world.
If I swam away from the cage first and kept to the bottom, it might distract the shark long enough for Ariel to get to the surface. I wasn’t particularly keen on dying down here, but it was better than both of us. Sometimes life is a series of compromises. And sometimes, it’s just a sacrifice.
The time drew near. It was now or never.
I pointed at Ariel, then to the surface.
She looked at me with trepidation.
I gestured in the direction I would swim.
Ariel shook her head.
I nodded, overriding her.
She shook her head, adamant.
This was perhaps our first and last argument.
I tapped the gauge and pointed to the surface again. We were out of options.
Ariel’s eyes filled behind her mask.
39
Iswam out of the cage and hovered over the sea floor, kicking my legs as hard as I could until my quads burned. My arms pulled me through the water. I tried to put as much distance between Ariel and me as possible.
The leviathan lurked in the distance in a long, arcing figure eight. He circled around and headed in my direction.
Ariel swam out of the cage, hugging the bottom as she headed in the opposite direction.
Neither of us had fins. We weren’t expecting to need them. Too cramped in the cage with them.
