Depths Of Paradise Preview Chapters 1 to 4

Chapter 1

                                                                                                                                               10:17 PM 4/7/2021 HST

The Japanese fishing trawler Lucky Dragon sailed thirty-two miles off the coast of Maui. The Lucky Dragon was a sixty-foot-long vessel that held a crew of four: a captain, a helmsman, and two deckhands. Captain Fumio Kudo sat in his cabin reading a Hawaiian newspaper. Whenever the Lucky Dragon docked for supplies, he picked up a newspaper at the port. He enjoyed reading about the news events from different countries, and how those countries perceived and reported on world events. Fumio was an older man in his early sixties, who had worked around fishing vessels since he was a teenager. His reading was interrupted by a beeping sound, which alerted the crew a fish was on one of the lines. He smiled.

Another catch, he thought to himself. He could hear the sound of the fishing line getting reeled in. Music to his ears. The ship's freezer was filled with large yellowfin tuna and marlins. In a few days, the Lucky Dragon would begin sailing back to Japan. Ready to cash in on a big payday. A successful trip. The thought brought a smile to Fumio's face as he went back to his reading. A few moments later, a deckhand's voice came over the ship's intercom.

"Captain Kudo, please come on deck right away!" The voice had a confused and slightly worried sound to it, which made Fumio wonder what was going on above him. He opened his cabin door, walked through the sleeping cabins, up a set of stairs, and onto the main deck. The bright ship's lights made him squint. He looked out at the dark ocean to let his eyes adjust. Clouds covered the moon, making the water surrounding him nearly invisible. He walked over to his two deckhands who were standing around the recently caught fish.

"What is the problem?" he asked.

"Look, Captain!" one of the men said, pointing at the seven-foot tuna. The entire bottom and middle portions of the tuna had been removed. Only the head, tail, and a few pieces of flesh hung from the tuna's still intact spine.

"This is unfortunate," he replied, looking at the mangled fish. "What did it? A shark?" Fumio asked.

"I don't think so. Not with a bite like this!" one of the deckhands replied nervously.

"Captain, come to the main cabin right away!" the helmsman shouted over the intercom. Fumio quickly ran into the main cabin where the helmsman was glued to the radar screen. "Captain, a large object started circling us several minutes ago!" Fumio looked at the radar screen, which showed a large blip fourteen feet in front of the boat. The blip started moving towards the Lucky Dragon. The radio also showed it was rising towards the water's surface. Fumio pressed the intercom button and spoke.

"Turn on the spotlight now." He then turned to the helmsman and ordered him to cease engines. The object was most likely nothing more than a whale, but after seeing that half-eaten fish, Captain Kudo was taking no chances.

He watched as a deckhand rushed to the assigned position. The ship had a single spotlight mounted on the front of the ship that could be rotated three hundred and sixty degrees. The other deckhand walked up to the spotlight holding a shotgun. The spotlight's first scan showed nothing but the dark ocean. Just before the deckhand started the second scan, the helmsman's voice screamed over the intercom.

"The object just surfaced on the starboard side." The light and shotgun barrel turned right. The spotlight illuminated a large fast-moving wake heading right towards them. In rapid succession, three slugs left the shotgun. Small ripples started forming on top of the wake as the bullets pierced the water. Nerves filled both men as the wake's speed increased. The deckhand holding the shotgun got ready to unload another volley. Suddenly the sound of a thunderclap filled the area, and the spotlight went out. Some of the crew scanned the skies, looking for the source, while others looked at the deckhand operating the spotlight. He was shouting in confusion, trying to get the light back on. Alarms started going off in the main cabin as the boat was violently shaken, nearly knocking Captain Kudo and the helmsman off their feet.

"What's happening?" Captain Kudo demanded to know.

"We're taking on water!" the helmsman shouted as he tried to start the ship's engines. "The engines are not responding! The engine room must be flooded!" he screamed in a panicked voice. Although nervous, Captain Kudo managed to keep his composure. He ordered the helmsman to send out an S.O.S.; then he ran outside and began shouting orders to the deckhands.

"One of you go below and see how much damage we have taken! The rest of us will ready the life raft!" Before the men could move, the boat was struck again. The deckhand with the shotgun screamed and fired his gun as he fell over the boat's railing. "Man overboard!" Kudo shouted.

"Captain, the spotlight is not working. I don't know what's wrong with it," the remaining deckhand shouted, rushing to the middle of the boat. Kudo handed him a flashlight.

"Come on. We must try to locate him." Kudo and the deckhand rushed to the spot they saw Ryu fall overboard. The beams from the flashlights revealed nothing.

"Ryu! Ryu!" both men cried, hoping to hear a response. Abruptly a loud splash occurred, followed by the sound of shattering wood and glass. The boat started to turn to the right, knocking both men off their feet. A scream from the helmsman filled both men's ears, which was followed by another splash. Kudo got to his feet, struggling to stand on the increasing vertical deck. He looked at the main cabin. The right side was completely destroyed.

My God, what is this thing? he thought to himself.

"Captain, what do we do?" the deckhand screamed.

"Into the life raft! Abandon ship!" Kudo ordered, snapping out of his shock. He and the deckhand tossed the life raft into the water. Kudo and the deckhand jumped off the boat into the circular life raft. Both men sat in disbelief as the ship slowly sank beneath the ocean. For the moment, the sea was silent. The only sound came from the water softly hitting the raft. Neither man wanted to speak, nor could they explain what just happened. Kudo opened the emergency supply kit and started going through it. The silence was broken by an eerie moan, followed by another splash.

"It's a Kappa," the deckhand said, frightened. Normally, Kudo would have lectured the man for suggesting such a thing, but now he was unsure what to believe. Hesitating, Kudo turned on his flashlight and started to search the waters around them. Suddenly, the loud hissing of breaking rubber occurred. Both men let out a final scream as the sides of the life raft started to enclose around them and fall beneath the surface.