Free Hotel Megalodon: A Deep Sea Thriller by Rick Chesler Page A

twenty people aboard, sir.”
    “I happened to see that one of them was that reporter from the New York Times,” Coco said.
    “Shit.” White raised his radio to his lips. “Hotel to Topside: Al, this is James, do you copy?” He repeated the message once before they heard Al’s voice emanate from the radio.
    “Al here, James. Train situation, right?”
    “Right. Tram stopped about halfway through en route from hotel to beach with twenty on board. We need to get somebody in there now, Al. Escort the guests out.”
    “Bobby and Taj should be just about there now.”
    “Good. What do you recommend for an external view?”
    “Probably SCUBA would be the most expedient, and thorough enough.”
    “Thanks, Al, keep me informed. Out.”
    White turned to Coco. “I need you to scuba dive over the tunnel, and check it out.”

 
     
     
    Chapter 13
     
    Coco entered the hotel’s dive locker. Situated in the lower part of the cylindrical tower on the opposite side of the hotel from the lobby, it featured a full dive shop including tanks, an air compressor, and other equipment. Access to the water for scuba diving was via an airlock—a wet-dry room with a system of double doors that sealed the chamber off from the rest of the hotel so that it could be flooded with water, and then emptied again.
    Coco put on her scuba gear—a single air tank and regulator, buoyancy vest, mask, and fins—and stepped from the gear room into the airlock. She pressed the button to seal the first door, the one that separated the airlock from the dive area and the rest of the hotel. Then she stepped across the airlock to the outer door—the one beyond which the ocean waited. She strapped on her fins, and put her breathing mouthpiece in place. This last step—opening the outer door—was always a little unnerving for her, and this was the first time she’d had to do it by herself. The thought of all that water out there waiting to come rushing in was scary, but she knew that the airlock was slightly pressurized to prevent a catastrophic rush of water that could breach the hotel itself. When returning to the airlock, the process would be reversed, with greater pressure activated in order to expel the water back outside.
    She read the pressure gauge on the wall, taking comfort in the green LED that told her the airlock was properly pressurized. Then she hit the button to open the outer door, and waited while it slid up. Water pooled inside the airlock, quickly rising to her knees, waist, and then chest as she stood there. Through her mask, she stared at the control buttons on the wall until the door had risen all the way up, the entire airlock now flooded. She inhaled through her mouthpiece, taking comfort in the familiar rasp as air was delivered to her. She kicked off the floor, and swam outside of the hotel, pausing to press the button on the outside wall to close the outer airlock door.
    Looking to her right, the bulk of the underwater hotel stretched across the coral reef, the tower on its far end nearly reaching the lagoon’s surface. It was an odd sensation, swimming along while looking into a glass building, watching people walk around inside. So surreal; she still hadn’t gotten used to it. She had a job to do now, though, and a serious one at that, so she kicked faster, and forced her mind to focus as she finned over the corals.
    The train tunnel itself wasn’t easy to see from far away simply because it was so clear that it blended with the water. Unless the tram happened to be rolling through it when she looked, she’d often been surprised at just how invisible it seemed. That was one of Triton’s selling points: architecture that was a harmonious fit with the natural seascape. But right now it made it difficult to discern the structure, even though she knew where it was.
    She angled away from the hotel when she neared the opposite end.
    There! The train tunnel.
    Coco spotted the glint of sunlight off the shiny surface. She