In my case it was a sub, and I knew what was coming because I had heard the blee-bloop sound on sonar in the Sargasso Sea just before I drowned. The Navy guys had named this unknown species “the bloops” because they weren’t whales or sharks or giant squids, and their internal respiratory organs created a bloop sound on sonar. Having survived the encounter, it was my unfortunate fate to discover Nessie to be one of their kind—a predatory fish that had grown very large after becoming trapped in Loch Ness when an aquifer had collapsed, cutting off access to the ocean and her migratory pattern. Thus spawning a legend.

And now we were about to meet her ancient Miocene cousins.

Ben grabbed his headphones. “Where are they?”

“Approaching from the northwest on course two-eight-five. These are big, nasty predators, and we seriously need to leave. Like now!”

“How do you know they’re predators?”

“You read my book. Don’t you hear that bloop sound?”

“No. All I hear is Ming scraping that damn claw along the bottom. Hey, Ming.” He reached over his seat and grabbed her arm, getting her attention. “Zach says we’ve got biologics on sonar.”

“Really? This is incredible. How far away are they? Can we catch up with them? We absolutely need to get them on video.”

“Maybe I’m not explaining this right. These predators are thirty to forty feet long, and they’re stalking us, Ming. Now get that claw docked. Ben, are you driving, or am I?”

“Just tell me a direction.”

I stared at the sonar screen. They’re coming from the northwest. Southeast distances us, only we need to head north to get to the extraction point

The creatures were closing fast, and I couldn’t think.

“Zach?”

“Come about. We’ll let the current take us north. No engines for now; we need to sneak past them. Ming, enough with the damn whale tooth!”

“Give me twenty seconds. I’ve almost got it in the catch basket.”

I turned to Ben for help. “Remember that creature that choked on the croc? You’re about to meet his great-grandkids.”

“To hell with that!” Strapping himself in, Ben turned the sub hard to starboard, spinning the Barracuda’s bow to the north.

Ming swore in Mandarin. “I lost the tooth!”

“Dock that arm and strap in. Zach, you sure about these lights?”

“Yes— no. Wait. Keep them off for now, but be ready to turn them back on. Everyone quiet. Ming?”

“You wanted me to dock the arm; it’s docked.”

I listened on sonar, my eyes following the bloops. We were going to cross paths any second, only there was no way to know if they had heard us turn into the current.

Eight hundred feet…

The respiratory sounds grew louder. There were three of them, an adult and two gurgling offspring.

Four hundred feet…

They were slowing.