She looked up into his face. “Jack, but then what? We just leave this thing in the waters?”

He shook his head. “We can’t do that. Based on fossil records, this one looks to be a good-sized animal. But it could potentially grow much larger.”

She smiled weakly. “Well, I guess that’ll make it easier to spot then. Thank god there’s only one them.”

Jack let her go and turned slightly. Cate must have seen something in his face, because she grabbed at him, turning him around. “What? What is it?”

He grimaced. “There’s only one way to tell a female from a male Carcharodon, and that’s on their underside. This one had no male claspers. When it passed underneath us, I saw it just… it just looked to have a very round shape. I think it’s a pregnant female.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ.” Cate put a hand to her head.

“So we could end up with two of these things in a few months,” Regina said, overhearing.

Cate straightened. “To start with.” She turned to Regina. “Sharks are able to mate with their offspring. If it has a male pup, within a few years, they’ll be a breeding pair. They dominated the global seas for twenty million years. If they return, it’ll finish shipping worldwide for anything other than a supertanker.”

Mironov turned to Sonya. “Take a note, my dear; must invest in international airlines when we return.”

Sonya grinned.

“That’s a big help, Valery.” Cate glared.

He shrugged. “A little graveyard humor, Cate.”

“Bottom line, we still need to kill it, somehow, some way,” Jack said. “Just maybe not this day.”

The boat took another hit. Cate fell backwards and Jack went to his knees. When he scrambled back to his feet, he skidded sideways a few inches. “Shit, we’re tilting.”

The hold’s door banged open, and Vincent jogged towards them, while Drago headed for Sonya and Mironov. “I don’t need to tell you this, but were taking in water. The Slava’s pumps are working at capacity, but they’re old…” Vincent wiped his slick face, and took a few steps towards the railing. The Coast Guard officer stared out over the black water for a few seconds before drawing in a deep breath. He spoke without turning. “I think we’ve got about an hour. And that’s only if we don’t split any more plates.”

Drago was covered in perspiration as he talked animatedly to Mironov and Sonya. The woman looked like she wanted to murder something or someone. The big Russian pointed, and Valery Mironov threw his head back to laugh. They came and joined the group.

“It seems there’s only inflatable dinghies – two of them – just enough, hmm?” Mironov half smiled. “Lucky for us, they each have oars.”

Regina started to laugh cruelly. “That’s a fucking death sentence.”