Adrenaline pumped through Jake's veins, energizing his body as he focused the added strength on the trapdoor. The hinges nudged under pressure, resisted, but burst open in a cloud of sediment.
The disturbance in the water heightened his awareness. His back muscles tightened, and a frantic sense of urgency gripped his neck and locked his jaws together.
He didn't dare look back.
He kicked inside, whirled, and slammed the door shut.
A second later, the creature smashed into the cage. The impact thrust him to the bottom and whip-lashed his neck, snapping the crown of his head against the bars. Lights streaked across his eyes, followed by a shroud of blackness.
Jake's vision cleared with another deafening crash. The fish pulled away, revealing rows of serrated teeth. With each thunderous collision, the creature caved in the cage door, but the bars held firm.
He pushed halfway up and stared at the colossal predator.
"What in God's name is that thing?" He watched it swim off and turn for another run. It garnered speed and flew toward him like someone shot it out of a spear gun.
Jake sank to the bottom, braced for the blow as the creature soared toward the cage and struck the enclosure with all its power.
The muffled clash of muscle and steel blasted more silt free, but to his surprise, it had not compromised the mangled bars. As the fish backed away, a tooth snagged, popped free, and drifted like a feather into his lap.
The creature paused, considering its next move, and then, as if the big fish knew its efforts were futile, it swam away and disappeared.
Jake stared into the blue expanse of water and soon came to an uncertain conclusion... it was gone. At least for now.
He pushed on the trap's door and found it frozen shut, jammed from the creature's repeated blows.
Jake shook the bars with no fruit for his labor. The after effects of the adrenaline flow left him weakened and his heart pounding. With no way to gain leverage, he lowered down into the cage. Seconds ticked by. He needed a rational mind. He couldn't allow panic to set in. His first thought was the communication set on his dive mask.
He pressed the button. "You're kidding me."
It was locked down in the talk position, unmovable, damaged when he hit the bottom of the cage.
After a moment of contemplating his situation, a mental alarm sounded in his head. One look at his air gauge confirmed the reason for his concern. The needle hovered in the red. He tapped the cover and got no reward for the effort.
He had to escape this godforsaken trap. Suffocation inside the full-face mask was no way to die.
Then it occurred to him.
The distress beacon on his weight belt. He ran a hand down to his waist.
What?
It was gone.
Jake strained his eyes, searching, and then he saw it outside the cage. He stretched his arm up to the shoulder through a gap in the bars. The small device rested on a piece of coral inches from his fingertips.