Beneath The Waves (bxb)

1. Beneath The Waves

Just a quick note before the story starts. All of my stories are in a program on WP that generates ads between some chapters in the phone app. If you would take a moment to glance at them, I would greatly, greatly appreciate it. These chapters take 3-5 hours of my time, so please lend me a few seconds of yours as you enjoy the series :) 

Also, please give a BIG thank you to those who have done the app program so far. They've helped me bring this back so everyone can have it for free again. Please keep doing the  program so I can start bringing back even more stuff :) 

"Hey, Doc."

Glancing up, I shielded my eyes from the dwindling sun.

"Yeah?"

"I can see something in the water. Wanna take the boat out? It might be what's been tearing up my nets."

My gaze roved over the seemingly deserted waves... but one could never really know what was under the smooth surface.

"Yeah. Let's go out."

Kenton, the captain of the main fishing vessel in the harbor, walked over to me, offering a hand, which I quickly shook. He was around thirty-five or so but looked a bit older due to the amount of time he had spent out on the boat every day. The man was an avid fisher and even went out during storms to make a promised quota.

"Wanna take the glass-bottom boat?"

I nodded and headed to the far end of the dock where he had the smaller vessel tied up. It was only about twenty feet long, but that was just big enough for small tour groups who were more interested in watching the wildlife than catching it. We both jumped down into the waiting boat, then I untied the craft as he started up the engine. It was a fairly quiet boat, too, so whatever was out there would hopefully not try to swim off at the sound of the small motor.

Kenton steered us away from the dock while I settled in one of the seats at the side, watching our progress through the see-through floor. The reef there was surprisingly well maintained, which made the water amazingly clear most days.

"Put the dimmers on," I mumbled to him, my eyes still focused through the floor.

A faint green glow suddenly illuminated the reef seven feet below. So far I couldn't see much, just a few larger fish coming out to hunt any smaller ones that hadn't hidden fast enough within the corals. Even at night it was possible to see all the different colored creatures if you focused. The reef never really slept. There was always something moving about or waiting and watching.

"I have a net out about fifty yards north with some precaught stuff."

"Hm, hoping to lure it out?"

"Hell yes, that thing's been killing my profits this month."

I gave a light chuckle before I caught sight of a large shadow darting beneath the boat.

"I see it."

There was a slight splash about ten yards away a minute later, making Kenton cheer and reach for his rifle.

"You know it could just be a shark, they do move into the area at night to feed sometimes."

"Nah, sharks don't tear up my nets. They aren't stupid... well, most of em."

He set the large gun on his shoulder and closed one eye.

"Come on, you bastard, splash again."

We waited with bated breath, our gaze roving over the small swells. After five minutes, he began to lower his gun, only to see a big splash right beside the net.