“That’ll be Milo,” one of Olander’s crew said, as he squinted into the dark. “What’s happening over there?”

Jack jammed the glasses back to his eyes. The Megalodon rose from the water again, this time it came up on the stern, as if trying to attack the small helicopter before it could get away. It attacked anything it could get in its mouth. It seemed to be working itself into frenzy, and Jack saw the recognizable shaking as it sawed through the wood and synthetic materials. Once this was pulled away, the ship was sitting right down at the water line. The tiny helicopter buzzed away, and Jack could swear he saw a figure hanging onto to one of the landing struts for a few dozen feet, before falling back to the water.

Small boats were being pushed out as the Megalodon shark surged fully up onto the deck; its massive tail flicking as it pursued the running bodies. The few remaining people not in small rafts, leapt into the water. The shark then followed.

Jack saw the recognizable surface feeding patterns – the head thrashing, the circling, the surge waves, as it took the swimmers first, and then found the crowded rafts. He thanked god he couldn’t hear the sounds of their screams.

The magnificent boat began to fall below the surface. He finally lowered the glasses then.

“What… happened?” Olander’s eyes were round and confused.

“What do you think happened?” Regina grabbed at his shoulder. “Your boat, your people… they’re all gone.”

“They just got what you deserved.” Mironov’s mouth was turned down in disgust.

“We have rafts. What about survivors?” Olander asked.

Jack rubbed the back of his neck, before looking up at the man. “If there are any in the water, then they won’t be alive for long. And even if they were, we couldn’t get to them anyway – you’ve seen to that.”

The sound of a helicopter could be heard buzzing overhead. “Clear the deck; he’s going to try and put it down,” shouted Vincent.

Regina pushed people back and then dragged some rope coils out of the way. “Gonna be tight.”

“Nowhere else,” Jack shouted above the din. “We’re fifty miles from shore, so it’s here or ditch it in the sea.” And he knew that would be the end for the pilot.

People scrambled now, trying to clear enough room for the helicopter to land. “Heads up.” Vincent dragged a few more of the Gaia Warrior crew out of the way. The small helicopter only needed a small pad, but the rotors were going to find it difficult to come down without striking the gunwale, bridge deck or bow cannon. If it struck anything at all, the rotor blades would most likely shatter, sending high-velocity shards all over the deck

“Hope they know how to fly.” Regina took cover.