Empire of the Sharks Page #2

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...an opportunity to get out from under

whatever hold that lowlife has on you.

- What kind of con is this?

- It's no con.

It's the opportunity of a lifetime.

Yeah, I've heard that before.

Listen. Someone with your skills...

...shouldn't be wasting it on drinking money.

Do you want to spend the rest of

your life with your head in a bucket?

How 'bout I put your head in a bucket?

No offense...

...but you're better than this.

Go on.

You know Hawksbill Fortress?

We're gonna crack it open.

What do you say?

I'd say you're buying me a drink.

Come on. What are you doing to me?

Is that thing for real,

or is it just for show?

- Depends who's asking.

- That would be me.

In that case, it's real.

Stop.

Left.

I saw what you did.

What did you see?

- You pinged the shells.

- Excuse me?

You know, like a dolphin would.

It's acoustics and sonar.

We're not on the water...

What really struck me is the skill

it must have taken to miniaturize that.

- What do you want?

- I have a job opportunity.

I'm retired.

I noticed you gave away your winnings.

If you really want to strike

back against the big man...

...this is the job for you.

I'll give you five minutes.

So you want us to help you break

into Hawksbill to rescue your people?

That's right. Edgar here will use

his sonic tech to ping the fortress.

We can use his data

to map out the structure...

...work out where all the captives are,

and see what other threats we may face.

Toby, in his deep-sea

salvage suit, will go in...

...crack open the weak spot in the fortress,

and that'll give us a way in.

What will I do?

You're a free diver. Your job will be to

lure the sharks away from the fortress.

You'll get the Warlord's sharks

to chase you to a terminal depth...

...giving us a clear shot

of infiltrating from below.

The sharks will follow you,

but only to a point.

We discovered that

when we were in our submersible.

Once you get to a certain depth,

they won't be able to follow you anymore.

And, uh...

- ...what's in for us?

- Yeah.

I'm sure that, uh,

some of this commands a high price...

...in the outer atolls, but, uh...

...I'm not sure if the rewards...

...match the risks.

The Warlord's been gathering tribute

from the neighboring villages...

...for as long as we can remember.

He's got a ton of loot, fuel,

and his own desalination machine.

The Warlord has the means

to make fresh water...

...more than any of us could ever need.

Once we have that,

we can name our price anywhere.

Okay, I got a question.

Am I gonna be able to blow things up?

Now hear me out, 'cause...

...you know, uh, dive salvage,

that's... that's my specialty, right?

But, uh, demolition...

...boom, that's my reason detra,

like the French say.

"D'tre."

- I know my French.

- Raison d'tre.

Anyway, do you think...

...I, Toby, will be able

to give the big boom-boom?

If the opportunity presents itself...

...it's likely.

Mm-mm-mm. I'm in.

Yeah, me, too.

This is against my better judgment entirely.

- I'm in.

- Excellent!

Now all we need is a boat.

See you haven't lost any limbs yet.

- That's encouraging.

- Thanks for helping us.

- You don't belong here.

- We want to hire you and your crew.

I'll give you the same answer

as before. Not interested.

- You haven't even heard our offer.

- I don't need to.

One look at you two tells me

everything I need to know.

- You don't know the first thing about us.

- Oh, yeah? You're fishermen, right...

...from some little village, God knows

where, from the looks of it, Korotoa.

Someone did you wrong. Came here

with a big plan to make things right.

Seen it before. Big plans from little

people end up getting people killed.

And I, for one,

am not interested in dying today.

So I suggest you return

to your home while you still can...

...and next time you need saving,

I might still be around.

Hey, there's plenty of other captains here.

Hawksbill? The fortress?

The one filled with enough sharks

to make Poseidon piss himself?

Oh, boil your heads, you monkey halfwits.

For sure.

I'll take you to Hawksbill Fortress.

I drop you right off at the gate.

I'm sure the Warlord would be happy

to reunite you with your friends...

...and then feed you off to his sharks.

Okay, just so I understand,

you want to hire me and my boat...

...to take you to Hawksbill Fortress?

I know how this all ends.

You're all gonna die.

No. No, thanks.

We got a boat.

How'd you do it?

You know, we can be persuasive.

Um, introduce me to the captain.

I want to go over the details of our plan.

- That'll be you.

- What?

The boat is ours.

What do you mean, "The boat is ours"?

- Where is everyone?

- Ah...

...they're a bit, uh, tied up.

Indisposed, I'd say.

- You stole this boat?

- You know who you hired, right?

The less you know, the better.

- This is what we do.

- This isn't what we do! Right?

Before you get all high and mighty...

...you better take a look and see

what's down in the hold, eh...

...Capitano.

From the manifest...

...looks like it's all bound

for Hawksbill Fortress.

- What is it?

- This is a kinetic-energy harvester...

...for their desalination machine, it seems.

This looks like some kind

of kinetic-energy generator.

Okay.

This is Hawksbill Fortress.

Can you repeat that again?

We have your boat and your cargo.

Check call signs. Confirm.

Release all prisoners unharmed...

...and you can have your boat back.

This is Mason Scrim. To whom am I speaking?

None of your concern.

Release all the prisoners, and you

will have your precious cargo back...

...or we will deep-six it.

Now listen to me carefully.

You will return the ship and the cargo...

...belonging to the Warlord immediately...

...or I will send our sharks

to destroy Korotoa.

- Where?

- Korotoa.

- Never heard of it.

- I repeat...

...release the cargo and the ship,

or I will destroy Korotoa.

Can he do that?

You have five seconds to decide.

I'm keeping this.

The minisub will only hold two people.

I don't think your salvage suit can fit.

What about your sonar rig?

What kind of space does it need?

It works best on a boat. It could be

redesigned, but that will take time.

- How much time?

- I'd have to source new parts.

Two, maybe 3 days for it to work in your sub.

Then I'll have to teach you how

to use it, and that will take time.

We don't have three days. There's no

guarantee our people will still be alive.

What do you think, Edgar?

Can you mount your sonar device on this?

- Well, it's...

- This is Korotoa to Timor. Come in.

- Go ahead.

- Timor, what have you done?

You need to return those items you stole.

Listen. The Warlord is threatening

to kill all the hostages...

...unless you return the cargo

you stole from them immediately.

We returned that cargo.

That's not what they're telling me.

You better do something and now.

Give me one minute.

You did what?

- We kept their stuff.

- Why?

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