We hit the surface with a loud thwack, my heart leaping into my throat. I force down the granola bar still clutched in my shaking hands, washing it down with water when it gets stuck in the back of my throat.

“You should have eaten breakfast, babe.” Xander glances at me with concern in his eyes.

I hold up my water bottle and give it a small shake. “This is enough for me, thanks.”

Sophie stares at the ceiling of the Hydra, the aluminum hull shining back at her. “It really isn’t, Em. I can hear your stomach from here.”

I grab my middle and grimace. “Traitor.”

I barely make out Xander’s soft chuckle. He tosses me a drawstring sack. “I brought you your favorite snacks. Just in case.”

“Oh.” I glimpse inside to see a bag of pretzels and some beef jerky and smile. “Thank you, Xander.”

He winks at me. “Anytime.”

“All systems clear. Let’s get this show on the road.” Nathan hits a few switches and peers at our sonar monitor, a green beam circling the screen.

“Aye, aye, Captain!” Sophie salutes.

I giggle when Nathan frowns.

“I’ve always wanted to say that,” Sophie whispers.

Xander shakes his head as he steers our submersible through an opaque cerulean sea. “Which direction did Reaper go?”

“East,” Nathan points with his finger.

Xander nods. “Good. We’ll take different directions. Cover more ground.”

“Soph, you got anything that might help us find this thing?” Nathan glances over his shoulder.

She chews her bottom lip. “They more than likely hunted near the surface as they preyed upon baleen whales.”

“That’s a start.” Xander navigates around a pod of dolphins.

***

“I miss my smartphone already.” Sophie reclines in her seat, counting the bolts in the ceiling for the fifth time.

I keep getting a different number when I count. It’s become a competition. The prize? To quell our boredom. I hand Sophie one of my snack packs. “Ditto.”

“Thanks.” Her bag of Cheetos puffs opens with a quiet pop.

Xander sighs. “It’s hardly been an hour. Do you expect this creature to serve itself on a silver platter?”

“Would be nice,” Sophie grumbles. She glares at her Cheetos.

“Have you heard something from the other teams?” I shift in my chair, my legs numb from sitting cross-legged for too long. I look up to a flash of silver as a school of yellowfin tuna race past our starboard side.

“Nothing in the last ten minutes.” Xander’s gaze moves to the empty sonar screen.

Nathan grunts. “You realize we are searching for one small fish in the Atlantic Ocean, right?”

A pair of blue marlin stalk closely above the school of tuna, their swords casting a sinister shadow in the Hydra’s cockpit.

“The Livyatan is a cetacean, and I wouldn’t exactly call fifty feet little.” Sophie glowers.

Nathan scoffs. “Compared to the sea, that’s microscopic.”

“That’s a fair point. Why does everything have to be so giant down here?” I chew a piece of spearmint gum. My mind swims at the thought of the ocean’s vast depths and the creatures within. I’ve never been able to wrap my head around that information.

“Hey, we got something,” Xander interrupts my reverie.

We watch the blip on the sonar growing closer. Nathan squints. “That’s about the same size when it attacked the Griffin.”

“Is anyone else acutely aware of how tiny the Hydra is, or is that just me?” I take deep, even breaths to calm my racing heart.

Sophie’s eyes widen as she makes the connection. “Well, now I am.”

“Sorry, Soph.” I force a smile. “Maybe we should return to the ship?”

Xander and Nathan track the water before us, their hands skimming the controls. “Too late for that. Getting the harpoons ready.”

“Missiles set, too,” Nathan adds.

“For fuck’s sake,” I’m on the edge of hyperventilating. Studying the endless blue, I watch for a shadow to appear in the distance.

“There. Do you see it?” Sophie points to the far left.

I glare into the gloom. “No.”

“It’s big.” The color drains from Sophie’s face as she stares.

The Livyatan propels through the water like a king surveying his domain. Its tail arching upward with each thrust forward. His mouth forms a menacing grin as he homes in on our location.

Xander flicks a button, and the sub shakes. “Now I can make it out.”

A harpoon rockets out from underneath our vessel, exploding into a wall of charcoal gray not fifteen feet away.

“Hang on!” Nathan barks.

The blast vibrates through me. The beast surges past, grazing a wing and sending us into a somersault.

“I’m going to throw up. Or pass out.” Squeezing my eyes closed, I try to swallow my panic. “I haven’t decided which.”

Sophie peeks through her fingers. “Is it over yet?”

A shadow passes overhead, and my abdomen bottoms out.

“Nope.” Xander steers toward the Livyatan. “Now, Nathan.”

Nathan clicks a key on his control switch, and a soft buzzing sound whirs to life. A missile launches from a side panel, sending a path of bubbles floating behind it. The whale only takes half of the explosion as he dodges the torpedo.

“Shit, what is this thing made of?” Nathan grumbles.

Xander takes a sharp turn to avoid being hit by the creature again. “I don’t know, but I think it’s time we get the hell out of here.”

“Thank God,” Sophie and I say in unison. I place my forehead on my knee and take shallow breaths.

Sophie’s face is buried in her hands, and her shoulders tremble.

I run a soothing palm along her spine.

“I’ll radio the others. We need a better plan.” Xander fumbles with the walkie-talkie. “This is the Hydra. Everyone back to the ship!”

“Or a bigger one,” I hear Nathan mumble.

“I repeat: Get back to the Griffin. Now!”

Editor: Lucy Cafiero