Hotel Megalodon: A Deep Sea Thriller (10 page)

Chapter 19

“I can’t hold them off any longer. You have to talk to someone, Mr. White. Here, it’s the Operations Manager.” Kamal handed him a cordless phone that was currently online with the hotel’s topside front desk. White snatched the phone from his hand, and stared at it as though it represented the devil come to take him to the fiery pits of Hell.

“James here.”

“Jesus, James, I’ve been trying to get through to you for a half an hour. All hell’s breaking loose up here. Have you seen the news?”

White felt a knot form in his stomach. “What news?”

“No, then. Okay, you might want to be sitting down for this. You know that NBA owner—Doherty?”

“Yes...Christ, was he on the tram?”

“He sure as fuck was. And his wife.”

“That’s terrible. Make sure his family—and the press—get my sincere condolences.”

White’s Operations Manager gave a wicked-sounding laugh. “You haven’t heard jack shit down there, have you?”

“We’re working on—“

“Shut up and listen, James!”

White averted his gaze from Kamal, uncomfortable with his people hearing another employee talking to the boss in such a manner. But that was the least of his concerns now.

“All right, what the hell is it?”

“The Doherty’s aren’t dead, Jim. They survived. They walked straight into the front desk, dripping fucking wet, and spoke to a Sydney TV reporter on camera about how they personally witnessed multiple hotel guests die in the train tunnel.”

White was speechless.

“Oh, not going to run your big-ass mouth now, are you?” his manager goaded. Kamal looked away from White, and pretended to adjust some controls.

“They’re...they’re not dead? That’s great! How—“

“Save the fake pity for the press, Jim. I don’t give a fuck. How’d they make it, you ask? A little angel in scuba gear apparently quite literally lifted them from their watery grave to the surface, where they were able to swim to shore. I can’t wait to see their review on TripAdvisor, Jimmy, old boy! Gonna be positively glowing, right?”

“So Coco saved them.”

“Yeah, the marine biologist. Reporters are asking for her up here, too. You should send her up, Jim. We could use some positive press about now. Let them see a hotel hero, someone doing the best they can in the face of unforeseen circumstances, that kind of thing.”

White exchanged an uncomfortable glance with Kamal as he flashed on Coco quitting not long ago. “Tunnel’s out, no one can go topside from here right now. Engineering is working on an emergency tunnel fix.”

“Fuck that, Jim. Emergency tunnel my ass. They’ll say, yes sir, Mr. White, we’ll get right on it, but they don’t have any real skin in the game. They’re a bunch of nerds getting paid to solve puzzles. That’s all it is for them. If they can’t do it, oh well. Tomorrow’s another day on the job, and if they can’t work here, they’ll go work somewhere else. They haven’t even got the A/C running again yet have they?”

“No.”

“So think about it, Jim, how long will it take to get another tunnel in place? A long fucking time, that’s how long! Longer than we have. You can’t keep a Saudi fucking prince down there forever before he takes some kind of action. Send up the angel. We need her up here.”

White opened his mouth to say she quit, but nothing came out. It was as if his throat was so parched that he could not form the words.

“No arguments, good.”

“No, wait,” White croaked. “Seriously. The tunnel. How’s she supposed to get up there?”

“She’s a scuba diver. She can dive out of there.
Oh
!” The manager shouted the word as though having some sort of epiphany.

“What?” White hated the feeling that he was losing control of the situation to someone else, but at the same time he couldn’t deny that he needed help. Even on the most personal level, White had to admit that the idea of being trapped down here, even for a short while, didn’t exactly sit well with him.

“Surely some of the guests down there now are also scuba certified. You can have Coco lead any of those who can scuba out of the hotel up to the beach, where we’ll have a welcome party waiting to give them the royal treatment, set them up right away with topside bungalows, showers, meals, whatever they want. The media will see us evacuating guests to safety, the guests will be happy, it’s a win-win.”

“Okay, that sounds good.”

“What about you, Jim—you certified?”

“What?”

“Are you a certified diver? You’re
certifiable
, I know that, but my point is if you can dive, you should come up with Coco’s group.”

“I’m not.”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a beat.

Then, “Not at all? You never took one of those little resort courses, like on a cruise ship or something? Anything?”

“No. I’ve never been diving at all. And besides,” he added almost gleefully, glad to have an extra reason not to send anyone out there in case he asked him to dive anyway, even though he wasn’t certified.

“Besides what?”

“Coco was worried about something in the water, some...” He hesitated, searching for the right word.
Mega
—
what’s it
? wouldn’t cut it.

“Some
what
!”

“Some creature or animal or something. Maybe a big shark. I don’t know. She was all freaked out about it. Said it may have caused the tunnel failure.”

They heard a spitting noise emanate from the phone’s speaker. “Fuck that. Here’s a thought for her on that: If an animal did that to the train tunnel, which is made of the same material the hotel is made of, then that animal can do the same thing to the hotel. That ought to make her feel better about getting the fuck out of there
pronto
.”

Kamal frowned as he surveyed an array of indicator lights.

“Thanks, that sure makes me feel better.”

“Hey, we’ve got to start getting people out of there. Get creative, Jim. Do what you have to do.”

“Okay. What about the sub?”

“What sub? Our sub!” The manager laughed.

“Yeah, I know it can only hold two passengers, but that’d be something. We could have Mick make several trips.”

“No. The whole sub tour thing was designed to run from topside. Passengers board it from the floating dock, it dives the reef then returns to the dock. It can go down to the hotel, but has no way to go inside it. The scuba airlock is much too small.”

“I thought we had plans for—“

“For a sub docking station in the hotel?”

“Yeah. What happened to that?”

“The key word there was
plans
, Jim. It was too expensive, we had enough on our hands with the hotel itself, and so it got pushed to the
maybe later
list. So listen—“

They heard a series of beeps interrupt the call. “Oh shit,” the manager said.

“What is it?” White’s mind was racing as he tried to estimate the probability that Al’s team would be able to get another tunnel in place to the hotel anytime soon.
They knew to forget about the A/C for now, and focus on the tunnel, right?

“The Board’s patching in. They want to talk to you. I’m sorry pal, I did my best to buy you some more time, but they want an update from the horse’s ass, I mean mouth.”

“I’ve got to—“

“Clicking over now... Mr. Cimmaron, hi, I’ve got James on the line down in the hotel. Can you hear me, sir?”

The voice of an elderly man came back. “Hi Marty, I’m here in Singapore for the World Technology conference with Anne Hathaway and Pedro Simone. We’re due to speak in about...ten minutes...but my advisors alerted me to a developing situation with the underwater hotel that may be cause for concern?”

“That’s right, Mr. Cimmaron, I’m glad you called. James is going to update you on that situation. Go ahead, James.” White could practically hear the glee dripping from the Ops Manager’s voice, taking great pleasure in how he must be squirming right now.

Kamal raised his eyebrows as he watched the rest of the color drain from White’s face while he brought the phone closer to his lips.

“Hello, Mr. Cimmaron, this is James. Thanks for calling in.”

“Uh huh. So how bad is the situation there, James? People have died? Is that true?”

“Unfortunately, that is true, Mr. Cimmaron.” He heard the man’s breath suck in sharply across the line. “We don’t yet know how many, but it does look like the danger has passed for now.”

“How many people are in the hotel with you now?”

White looked to Kamal, who tapped some buttons on a keyboard built in to the console. He pointed to a number on the screen.

“Fortunately we stopped taking more guests down at the first hint of danger, Mr. Cimmaron, but there are still thirty-three people inside, including ten staff.”

“Understood. Now listen. I need you to get every single one of those people—staff included— out of that hotel and onto dry land right now, James, is that clear?”

“Yes, sir, my team is working on a temporary evacuation tunnel right now, and—“

“I heard all about that. Forget that. Well, don’t forget it—let them keep working on it, but we have another option I haven’t heard discussed yet.”

“And that is?”

“The escape pods.”

Silence fell on both ends of the line. The gears in White’s brain seemed to churn to a halt while he searched his mind for a reference. “Escape...Oh,
those
. Mr. Cimmaron, with all due respect, that system is far from tried and true. It’s really more of a last resort when all other options have failed.”

Cimmaron raised his voice a degree. “All other options
have
failed, James! People are dead! How bad do you want things to get! If I may be so bold as to remind you, this is mostly
my
money on the line here!”

Kamal’s expression rapidly grew concerned, right along with White’s. This was getting downright ugly. He furrowed his brow as he moved along the control panel, looking for anything having to do with the escape pod mechanism. White eyed him hopefully until Kamal looked up from the switchboard and shook his head. Wherever the emergency escape controls were, they weren’t in here.

“I’m well aware of that, Mr. Cimmaraon,” White said, “but once that system is activated—if we even know how to activate it—it’s a major project to restore the hotel to operating condition. Basically, as I recall, some of the hotel’s rooms are equipped with mechanisms that allow them to break away and float to the surface when the escape apparatus is put into play.”

“Precisely! Just what the doctor ordered right now. No more discussion, make it happen!”

“That system has never been tested.”

“That is unfortunate. Nevertheless, we need to use it now, so it’s trial by fire, as they say.”

“Mr. Cimmaron, if I may, if we wait just a few more hours we may have a new tunnel.”

“We may, or we may not. I don’t really care what we may or may not have. We need those people out of there now! What part of
get them out now
don’t you understand?”

“Very well. I’ll get in touch with our land-based team, sir, and I’ll make it happen.”

“Good. We can write this venture off now, James, chalk it up to experience, and there will be others. We can
learn
from this. But if we have any more deaths—forget it. At a certain point negative publicity becomes inescapable.”

White started to say goodbye, but then heard the line click over, and his Ops Manager’s voice came back on.

“You heard the man, Jim. Get everybody into the lobby, and turn that place into a big-ass escape pod. Oh, and get Coco up here, quick-like.”

Chapter 20

White threw the phone down and turned to Kamal. “I’m going to go get Coco.” He ignored the discouraging look on Kamal’s face and continued. “There’s nothing more to do with the train controls, so I need you to work on the escape pods. First find out how they work—if they even work—then once you’ve done that, let me know, and we’ll talk about next steps. Got it?”

Kamal nodded. “I’ll need to get in touch with the Engineering team for that, sir, but I will do that now, and figure it out.”

White was already moving off toward the door. “Good. Keep me updated.” He got to the doorway, and turned around. “And Kamal?”

“Sir?”

“Do not actually activate the escape pod system without notifying me first. I don’t care who gives you clearance. Do I make myself clear?”

“Of course, sir.”

White left, and strode down the big well-lit hallway, currently devoid of other people. He was not looking forward to asking Coco to come back to work for him, but at the same time he knew he had to suck it up. He had absolutely no choice in the matter. He’d have to apologize to that half-drunken waif, and ask her to take some people to the surface. As he walked, he wondered how many of the guests might be scuba certified. Probably at least a few. These were, after all, a clientele who were enamored enough of the ocean to spend big bucks on staying in an underwater hotel. Some of them will be scuba certified. And some of them, White reflected as he glanced out on the sun-dappled reef, might just say they’re certified even though they’re not to have a chance of getting out of this place. He’d have to warn Coco to check their certification cards, or she could run in to trouble with a bunch of panicky newbs who don’t know what they’re doing underwater.

Speaking of...where the Hell was Coco? A pang of adrenaline hit him as he considered that she might have already scuba dived back to shore on her own. She did quit, after all. Then he heard the chatter of multiple human voices coming from up ahead. The restaurant bar. Figures people would be gathered there at this point. She might be in there, or if not, someone might have seen her, or know where she is. The proposition of showing his face in front of a bunch of guests right now made him slightly queasy, though. They’d have lots of questions, and he had very few answers.

He stood at the junction of hallways, one leading off to the right to the restaurant, and the one he had been walking continuing straight to the grand lobby. There would probably be people there, too, but not as many. He took a deep breath, smoothed out his shirt, and walked off toward the restaurant. He had to man up, and deal with it.

He entered
Neptune’s Bounty,
and was pleased to see two tables occupied with diners—a Japanese couple supposedly connected to the Kobe beef empire, and an American family of three whose background White was unsure of—and that fact alone had to mean they had to have serious power. The hostess greeted him with a pleasant smile. She’d better. He had been against going through so much trouble to bring someone all the way from the States to do such a simple job, but the business partners had insisted she’d be worth it. Presentation was everything, they’d told him.

“Hi, Mr. White! Come in for a bite?”

“Hi, uh...”
What is this girl’s name again?
He was usually pretty good with names, employing a mnemonic device to associate some detail about them with their first or last name. He looked her up and down, admiring the supple curves.
Hot piece of
tail
...Tail—Tricia!

“Hi there, Trish. Actually no, I’m not hungry yet. I’m actually looking for Coco. Is she over there?” He looked toward the crowded bar.

Tricia nodded enthusiastically. “She is! Would you like me to get her for you?”

Now that was considerate. She was offering him a way not to have to show his face over there. Points for that. But what if Coco simply said no, she didn’t want to talk to him? If he went over there, he’d have the opportunity to turn on the charm in person.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll just go over there myself.”

“Sounds good, Mr. White! Let me know if you need anything.”

She busied herself by pecking at the touch-screen reservation system while White made his way to the
Wet Bar
. He spotted Coco with her back to him, bare skin revealing a tattoo of a sea turtle, or
honu
as she called it. She sat at the end of the bar facing the window to the reef, where a grouper the size of a VW bug, nicknamed “Oliver” by the staff, hovered just outside, entertaining the guests who waved at it and posed for pictures. He caught the bartender giving Coco a heads up with a subtle nod in his direction. She didn’t turn around. White slipped into a seat next to her, avoiding eye contact with the other patrons.

He wasn’t pleased to see the empty shot glass in front of her, and a full one in her hand, especially given that he needed her to scuba dive, but there was nothing he could do about it except remind himself to be especially nice.

“Can I get you anything, Mr. White?” Aiden asked.

White looked at Coco and said, “Nothing for me, thanks, but I’ll be happy to cover her tab.”

The bartender nodded, and took the cue to walk away. White turned to Coco, who gave him a hard stare through slightly glassy eyes.

“Excuse me, Coco, but I came to apologize.” He tested the waters. She said nothing, but didn’t leave. “I’m sorry about the way I acted earlier. It was inappropriate, and I regret it. I was under a lot of stress, and extremely upset after hearing about those guests who died in the tunnel. I still am, but that doesn’t excuse my behavior.”

Coco looked him in the eyes and nodded, though still said nothing. She drained the last of her shot unapologetically, and said, “Apology accepted, Mr. White.” Then she raised a finger to gain Aiden’s attention.

“Coco,” White said, aware that with every drink she took she pushed back her window for being able to dive, “I’d like to hire you back. I made a mistake, and I admit it. Let’s just get you back on the job, and pretend the whole thing never happened, shall we?”

Aiden came over, and Coco ordered a mai tai before addressing White. “Sorry, I’m not looking for a job right now.”

White gave an awkward laugh. He knew it was pathetic, really, but that was his reaction. “Retired now, eh?”

“No, just on vacation. I’ll probably roam around the South Pacific for a little while, and then go back to Hawaii, and get back to work there.”

White sighed. “Coco, look. I said I’m sorry. We both know you’re the best person for this job. That’s why I hired you in the first place. Tell you what: I’ll give you a raise if you go back to work right now.”

Coco perked up at this. Marine biologists, especially young ones, were not highly paid. “How much?”

“Ten percent.”

Coco took another drink, and said nothing.

“Okay, okay. Twenty-five percent. But seriously, the Board would never approve more—“

“Deal!”

She set the rest of her mai tai down on the bar with a
clack,
and extended her hand. White was surprised at how quickly she’d moved, given the alcohol. He gripped her hand, and pumped it. “Deal,” he echoed. Then, after a beat, “Welcome back.”

“Glad to be back. So when do I start?”

“I need you to start now.”

Coco pushed the drink back, indicating she was done with it. “Okay, what do you need me to do?”

He explained how he needed her to scuba dive from the hotel to shore with any scuba certified guests or employees who wanted to go.

“Okay, but I can’t dive drunk, Mr. White. No matter what. I don’t know what your opinion of me really is, but there are two things in this world that I’ll never do. I don’t drive drunk, and I don’t dive drunk. Megalodon or no megalodon.”

White put on his best understanding expression. “Of course. I’m not asking you to do that, or to step out of your comfort zone. Go take a nap for a while in one of the staff rooms. You have to scuba to leave the hotel at some point anyway, right? So all I’m asking is that when you do, you take with you anybody who is certified who says they’d like to go.”

White smiled, more to himself than outwardly. Coco’s buzz was actually working to his advantage. He didn’t mind slowing down the timetable. What a perfect excuse to tell Cimmaron!
She’s drunk! Can’t dive right now! Guess that means we’ll just have to delay the dog and pony show with the reporters for a little while longer...

Suddenly the bar patrons nearest the window began to scream.