Robert was thrown back into his chair as the sphere dropped down. Connelly had the control stick pushed all the way forward, sending them into a rapid and uncontrolled descent. Robert wondered if it would be enough.

The creature was still sucking in. Robert could feel the pull, like gravity. The bottom lip of the beast came into view as they dove down, but they were still approaching the exquisite jaws, which Robert could now see were filled with human sized teeth. The teeth were jagged and crisscrossed, meant for snagging and holding prey rather than chewing. Robert was sure this giant could swallow its dinner whole.

He felt ill as he saw the inside of the creature's throat, wide like a cave, ribbed by a hidden skeletal structure. But the vomit that threatened to free itself from his throat never made it out his mouth. He swallowed it back down as he realized that they were going to crash directly into the creature's lower lip.

"Watch out for the lip!" Robert said.

Connelly pushed harder on the stick. "I'm trying!"

Robert buckled his safety belt a split second before the struck the lip. The collision wasn't as jarring as Robert had expected. They bounced into the creature's flaccid lip and instead of being pulverized, were spun end over end.

The sphere continued its rapid decent as it spun like a cue ball across a pool table. One hundred feet below, the sphere finally came to a stop. Robert leaned forward, head between knees and wretched onto the floor. Without pausing, he wiped off his mouth and looked at Connelly. "We can't outrun that thing down here."

Click, click, click.

The pain behind Robert's eyes became like a quickly repeating explosion inside his cranium. The son-of-a-bitch was hunting them!

Connelly bit her lip and furrowed her brow. "Then we'll have to outsmart it." She thrust the control stick forward and they shot into another rollercoaster drop.

Click, click, click.

The sound grew louder, closer.

Trying desperately not to vomit again, Robert gripped the side of his chair and watched with wide eyes as they rapidly approached the glowing ocean floor. "What in God's name are you doing?"

Connelly stabbed a finger out. "There!" She was pointing to a rocky outcrop, which appeared to hide a large cave. "I saw it while we were spinning."

"We don't know what's in there," Robert said, making no effort to conceal his worry.

"Would you prefer the alternative?"

The clicking grew louder, like tribal war drums.

Robert looked back over his shoulder at a blimp-sized shadow closing in on their position. "Go! Go! Go!"

Dodging the glowing coral, swaying plants and darting sea creatures that lit up the ocean floor like Christmas tree bulbs, Connelly steered straight for the cave. Robert chanced a second glance back. Blackness consumed the view. At first he thought the creature had given up, but then he realized he was starring into the dark void of the beast's throat.