Chapter 1

“What’s that on the radar?” the commander asked.

“I’m not sure, sir. It’s been following us for a few minutes. I thought it was a whale, but it’s far too fast.”

It was definitely something biological, at least according to the sonar. But nothing that large should follow a vessel at such depth, and certainly not for so long.

“Hold course and increase speed to thirty-five knots. Good chance to test the turbines.”

I turned the throttle wheel counterclockwise and the steel began to groan under the shift in acceleration. No one in the crew made a sound, but the concern was unmistakable. This was an experimental submarine, and even the engineers didn’t fully know how the hull would react to the crushing pressure of the deep.

I looked at the radar and felt my stomach turn.

“Sir…” I said, my voice trembling, “it’s gaining on us and it’s much faster than we are.”

It shouldn't have been possible. No known creature of that size could move at such speed. We were being hunted by something unknown.

The sonar returned an echo so broad that for a moment I thought the console had malfunctioned. It wasn’t a mere dot, it was a stain, a shadow spilling over half the screen.

The commander didn’t hesitate:

“Engines to full power. Prepare to engage if necessary.”

“Forty knots and climbing, commander.”

The consoles shook violently screeching the metal to its limits . The crew began to panic. A veteran officer vomited across the floor. The acidic smell filled the cabin, and several crew members recoiled, covering their faces to avoid getting sick as well.

By some miracle, the vessel held together surprisingly well and to my astonishment, we had broken the speed record for a craft of this size. But none of that mattered. The thing stayed on us, relentless, and it was about to catch us.

Something struck the hull hard. The power died for a moment, plunging us into total darkness. We could hear it right beside us. The turbines fell silent, and the quiet inside the cabin turned sepulchral. The submarine began lurching side to side, as if something with impossibly large limbs were playing with it, with us.

The green emergency lights flickered on, and I started rebooting the electronic systems as fast as I could.

“ Prepare Tubes one and two, ready to fire on my command “ Said the commander.

As soon as all systems were ready, he gave the order. My hand struggled to reach the launch button as the whole deck violently pitched, but I managed to slam my hand down on the controls.

We hit the target. The sound that creature made froze my blood. It was so shrill that my eardrums have never fully recovered. It released the vessel and slipped into the black depths of the sea. I don’t think we killed it, not really.

There are things in this world no human should ever encounter. I know now we must abandon all exploration of the deep.

The commander and I share a secret, you see. As we climbed toward the surface, the hull creaking and the systems barely responding, the radar detected another signal…

Another presence.

Larger.

Much larger than the one that had been following us.