Kingdom of Monsters by John Schneider (microsoft ebook reader .TXT) 📗

the Witch of November had taken out the Edmond Fitzgerald.

“Where did you get your license?” Kate had asked – shouted, actually, over the thundering storm.

“License?” Maverick had replied, playing the wheel, seeming to dodge lightning strikes like slalom flags.  “I learned to fly on my daddy's crop-duster.”

Kate had glanced back to where Betty was retching into a bag, her voice an involuntary moan. “Ohhhh God.”

“You might as well relax,” Cameron told Kate, as they had barreled along, headlong, “he'll either crash us or he won't.”

It was a remark that Kate had not found very reassuring.

But Maverick had gotten them there.  In Kate's world, that was first and foremost.  And while he wasn't an unpaid intern, he was a sight cheaper than most charter pilots.

Of such auspicious beginnings...

Maverick, as it turned out, was quite reliable, at least, in the sense that she could count on him to be talked into anything – if the cash was there, he did not care.

It dovetailed nicely that Cameron's role on their charter business had been filming the trip for customers, and his film-school skills adapted quite nicely as Kate's personal cameraman.

To her credit, Kate had kept this little Scooby Doo team together ever since.  And when she had contacted them this morning, in the very early a.m. – via a text, no less – they were available on a dime.

“Got a communication/tip – you have to hurry – we need to GET there!!!”

When Cameron and Maverick had appeared on-scene, Kate showed them the craft she had acquired, just for the occasion.

It sat at the end of the boat-dock, floating on pontoons.  A two-engine Cessna.

“We might need to make a water-landing,” Kate said, “so....”

Maverick chuckled.  “I've always wanted to try out one of these.”

Then she had shown him the route.

“You realize,” he said, “that this is deep within restricted waters?”

Kate nodded.  “Is that a problem?”

“Well,” Maverick asked, eyeing her meaningfully, “what would Han Solo do?”

“Ask for more money,” Kate replied, pulling out her checkbook.

They had been in the air in twenty minutes.

The flight should not be more than three hours, the largest practical risk simply being the possibility of flying out into the middle of nowhere and running out of fuel over empty ocean.

They would also have to fly low to avoid radar, which would be harder on gas, and of course, way more dangerous.

Fortunately, Maverick was crazy enough on all necessary levels, and didn't require much convincing.  And Cameron always just seemed to show up.

And Betty, who sat looking pale-green?  Well, Kate hadn't exactly told her about the restricted air-space – or more accurately, she might have implied, by mentioning her father, that she'd gotten special clearance.

Kate operated on the philosophy that, if you needed someone's help, and it involved committing a federal and international crime, and you were pretty sure that person wasn't predisposed to do so, it was better not to tell them until after they'd already done it.

Ideally, it wouldn't come up until after they got back.  Betty's mind was currently occupied with all the jumps and gyrations as Maverick wrestled with the unfamiliar craft, even as the surface winds from the ocean below tugged at the cumbersome pontoons.

“Jesus, Maverick,” Kate barked, as she was tossed in her seat.  “Can you fly this thing or not?”

“So far,” he called back, and then dipped one wing, knocking them all back into their seats.  “Now hush up in the peanut gallery.”

Kate bit down her reply.

They'd been in the air nearly three hours.  If their destination wasthere, it should be soon.

If it was there.

The next twenty-minutes would tell.

But then there was a crackle of static as Maverick's radio barked – a hailing frequency.  Maverick hit a switch and a woman's voice came on the speaker.

“Attention!  Unidentified aircraft.  Please come in.  You are traveling in restricted airspace in violation of international law.  Please come in.”

Maverick had tipped an eye to Kate.  “Um. Boss?  Does anyone know we're coming?”

Kate leaned forward, taking the co-pilot's headset.

“My name is Kate Rhodes.  I received communication from Professor Nolan Hinkle, and was provided these coordinates.”

There was a pause.  When she replied, the woman's voice was doubtful.

“We accept visitors under absolutely no circumstances.”

“Well,” Kate replied, “we're here.”

And for the first time, just ahead, on the endless stretch of ocean, they could see the peak of land-mass on the horizon.

From a distance, it appeared to be a flat plateau, rising out of the sea.  But as they grew closer, they realized it was actually the mouth of what must have once been a huge volcano.

As they passed over, they saw the mouth created a circular wall around an interior bay, surrounding a smaller island within – a craggy mass that had likely once been a massive lava-cap.

The radio crackled again.

“Listen to me,” the woman said, “you are in extreme danger.  Do exactly as I say.  Circle north.  We have a dock at the lagoon.  Maintain altitude.  Do not drop below a hundred feet until you pass the reef.”

Maverick glanced back at the cabin.  Kate nodded.

Pushing the limits of his instruction, Maverick held at exactly one-hundred feet.

As he approached the island, the water below suddenly erupted.

Riding the exploding geyser were a massive set of crocodile-like jaws, attached to an enormous body that blasted out of the brine like a breaching whale.

The jaws snapped shut just below their ponderous dangling pontoons.

There was a second deluge of ocean as the beast crashed back beneath the surface.

“What the hell was that?”  Maverick had barely reacted before the attack was over, like a croc missing a strike at a passing bird.

“Oh my God,” Betty said, staring out the window.  “It's all really true.”

Cameron belatedly had his camera out, filming empty water where the creature had disappeared.

Properly impressed, Maverick held his altitude until they were well past the reef, and approaching the lagoon.

There was a long dock, probably where supplies were delivered.  Maverick brought them in low, touching the pontoons down experimentally.

Kate had almost forgotten it was Maverick's first water-landing, but he promptly reminded them, as the plane