The Dragon's Triangle - Chapter 2

Daniel was leaning over the rail of the boat again. Angel stood beside him rubbing her hand over his back, listening to the snickering laughter from the group of hangers-on she had dubbed ‘The Posse’ who had paused their busy schedule of lounging around taking selfies and short videos for social media long enough to mock her friend from the opposite side of the deck. She sighed, wondering again if the job was worth it.

“Why didn’t you tell me you get sea-sick?” She didn’t want to make him feel worse, but even though she tried, she couldn’t keep her tone from sounding exasperated.

Still facing the waves Daniel spoke just loud enough for her to hear, “Because it’s been a rough year financially and you wouldn’t have taken the job if you’d known.” He dropped his head onto his arms folded over the top of the rail resting there a moment before turning around and slowly lowering himself to the deck to sit. Angel crouched beside him. “Besides,” he smiled lopsided, “I really thought the tablets would work this time.” She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help laughing a little.

“Angie! Hey, Angie!” Gerrod, the guy who had hired them to create an image catalogue of his expedition, called to her from the head of the cluster of his twittering sycophants.

Daniel waved his hand at her with an absolute lack of enthusiasm in a shooing motion. “Go. I’m fine. At least one of us needs to look professional.” His crooked smile flashed before another wave caused the boat to rock and he clamped his mouth shut, trying hard not to give Gerrod’s Posse a reason to laugh again.

“You sure?” He waved his hand dismissively. Angel stood up , watching him for a moment before turning towards the guy responsible for their pay cheque this week. He stood on the rolling deck gesturing broadly as he regaled the group of followers with some tale that had them snickering and glancing sideways at Daniel.

“Angie!!” he opened his arms in a welcoming gesture that earnt her dirty looks from a couple of the princesses in the Posse. Angel had thought leaving the fashion industry to start a freelance photography and cinematography business with Daniel that she wouldn’t have to deal with people like these any more. The shallow crap these people carried on with set her teeth on edge. And she hated being called Angie. How hard was it to use the name she had introduced herself as? At least having navigated an environment that seemed to breed shallow attitudes had taught her how to step around clients like Gerrod and The Posse. They sounded like a bad 80's Pop group.

Unclenching her jaw, she put on a smile. “Gerrod.” Her tone was strictly professional. He must have caught the edge in her voice despite the increased volume of sound from the wind and waves the further they sailed into the target zone in The Dragon’s Triangle, because he lowered his arms a little his cocky self assured mannerism slipping. A moment later a larger wave swept the boat up causing a number of people standing around the deck to loose balance, including Angel who took a couple of involuntary steps forward, straight into Gerrod.

“Ooo, she’s a keen one!” he called out to the assembled onlookers who laughed raucously before turning back to her and saying, “No need to throw yourself at me Babe, there’s plenty of the G Love to go around!” He leered at her as the laughter renewed.

Angel despised people like these, the sort who delighted in belittling and degrading others. If she hadn’t needed the work she would have cheerfully slapped the sleaze bag. Her teeth clenched and unclenched as she bought her arms up between herself and Gerrod, using her forearms to push his arms out and away. For a moment he resisted her like he wasn’t going to let her go before suddenly, hastily, retracting his arms, all but falling over himself to step away. The mocking atmosphere changed and looking over her shoulder, she could see why. Despite looking off colour, Daniel’s face wore an expression that was as intimidating as the ominous black clouds gathering in the skies overhead. As if that wasn’t enough, Daniel stood taller than any other person in the group. If looks could kill, Angel thought. Gerrod cleared his throat and hesitantly took his eyes off Daniel like he was afraid of what might happen if he wasn’t watching Angel’s business partner.

“Anyway,” his voice cracked and he cleared his throat before trying again, “Angie, how about grabbing your gear and we get this done? We are about to hit the spot where the ship graveyard should be and I have to get the equipment in the water before it gets too late.”

Angel gave a curt nod, turning toward the stairs headed below deck with Daniel a couple steps behind. His stony silence said more than any words would have. He was far too polite to say what he was thinking.

She sighed. “I got out of fashion photography because I was tired of dealing with people like that.” She laughed. “It never occurred to me we wouldn’t always be able to pick and choose the jobs or the people we would work with! That may have been an oversight on my behalf.”

“No one could have anticipated the world coming to a standstill, Angel.” Daniel crouched beside an open case containing their video equipment. “And it won’t be forever.” He looked up from the camera he was preparing to meet her eyes. “It won’t. You have an amazing way of seeing the world and it comes through in your pictures. The world is coming back to life. Just wait ‘n’ see, it’ll pick up. Our work speaks for its self.” He smiled and she couldn’t help smiling back. He was the perfect business partner. Good with tech, a solid understanding of business and the outdoor skills that helped them go that extra mile for the perfect shot when necessary.

“I’m glad you came along to keep my head in the clouds. I was seriously contemplating calling Melinda and begging for my old job back. After all, why follow my dreams if the alternative is selling my soul day after day working with hangry models with underwear riding up their butts and a regular pay cheque?!”

Daniel snorted. “And miss my gastro-techniques? What! You be crazy girl! What if I was hangry and wore some butt floss? How about a pair of heels too? Would that satisfy your nostalgia? ”

“Now that’s an image I didn’t need!” Angel laughed, the earlier unpleasant incident forgotten. They headed back up on deck after Daniel swallowed another couple of sea-sickness tablets without water, afraid they would not stay down.

What Angel had come to think of as the ‘serious’ crew had been preparing for the launch of an Unmanned Deep Sea Pod that would send images back to a computer on deck. She had heard the men refer to it as 'the Pod'. The Posse had retreated to a sheltered seating area out of the way. A few had been sensible enough to add layers to protect bare skin from the cutting whipping around the boat. Others were not so sensible. Maybe it was having been in the cosy protection of the cabin, but Angel could have sworn the weather had become a little more rough in the last 15 minutes. She had never spent time out on the open sea before, maybe this was just what happened the further out from land a boat went. A chill ran down her spine she wasn’t convinced was due to the cold and wet. When Gerrod had told her about his once-in-a-life-time expedition to look for sunken ships in the eastern version of the Bermuda Triangle know as The Dragon’s Triangle, she had done some reading on the area. Entire war ships and research vessels had disappeared, the rescue ships sent to find them had also run into trouble and though one rescue ship itself had been found, there was no trace of any of the 30-odd experienced crew members, leading the Japanese government to ban all travel through the area. Until Gerrod had used his family money to pull some strings and obtain a time limited permit to look for evidence of the sunken vessels. Maybe it was the thought of disappearing without a trace that gave her the chills.

A quick glance at Daniel to be sure he was holding up OK and then she got down to business. The dramatic skies would turn out some impressive photos. This was her element. Angel could feel at ease anywhere as long as she held a camera in her hand. The interactions between people, objects and the environment became her absolute focus. It was when she put the camera down and had to relate to people on a personal level that the job could potentially became a draining challenge. Dealing with personalities like Gerrod tested her limits and took its toll on her mental fortitude. So she had run for the hills. Literally. Angel tendered her resignation via email after a particularly difficult week and rang Melinda, her boss, from the road to make sure she got it. She and Daniel spent the weekend trekking through forest covered hills and Angel fell in love life all over again. She couldn’t even pinpoint where she had lost it. They had come up with the idea for their company around the camp fire that weekend and Elysium Imaging was created.

Daniel took the video camera specifically chosen for the job because of a special feature that kept the image steady even with the rolling of the deck. Daniel had a talent for getting in close enough to the action to get good footage but staying out of the way that made him perfect for cinematography. Later they could also take stills from the video if needed.

Working together, Daniel and Angel got ample images of the preparation and launch of the D.S. Pod. Afterwards, the Pod techs and interested crew gathered around the screens to watch the images coming back. Absorbed in watching the sonar and video images on the laptops, it took Angel a minute to realise there was a confrontation happening. Gerrod faced the Capitan who had his back to the group watching the underwater scenes. Snatches of Gerrod’s voice reached Angel’s pricked up ears.

“But it hasn’t been long.... pull it out before we get more info... costs a fortune!..... paying for a service..... the permit is limited, we won’t get another....” The Capitan folded his arms as a stronger gust of wind drowned out Gerrod’s voice. After a moment he turned away and called over his shoulder, “ You have 15 minutes, that’s all.”

Something wasn’t right. Gerrod walked back to the screens mumbling something about paying top dollar but not meeting expectations. He spoke up to be heard by the people surrounding the screens. “Bring the Pod back in,' adding in a snide tone, ‘ El Capitan can’t handle a little weather and wants to go home.”

Jed, the Pod driver almost looked relived. “Sure Boss. Turning her around now.” A few of the other guys moved to get ready the hoist and rigging they would use to bring the Pod back onto the boat. There had been an undercurrent of emotion amongst the serious crew, but she hadn’t been able to put her finger on what it was. Now, it was palpable. They were afraid.

Daniel appeared quietly beside her, still filming. He was a laid back sort of guy, something Angel appreciated about him. His calm in the face of even the most dire seeming circumstances, like the time her safety line broke while rock climbing, was invaluable. His calm kept her grounded too. To an outsider, Daniel looked unruffled because they would miss the little cues: the tension in the set of his shoulders, his lips pressed into line, the twitch in the corner of his eye and if particularly stressed, constant motion in his hands. Right at that moment it was the twitch. He was still and appeared focused on the video camera but Angel knew he had picked up on the atmosphere too.

After a moment of silence, Daniel asked quietly, “Do you think it’d be obvious if we, I don’t know, put on life vests?”

Angel chuckled in spite of the tension around them. “Not at all, high vis is totally in this season.”

They watched the Pod winched up out of the lashing waves, streams of water running off the sides back into the reaching waves. It was that moment the heavens opened up in a heavy downpour. Squealing, the last of the Posse ran for the cabin, their friends having headed in for the warmth of the interior earlier. The downpour was so heavy, Angel and Daniel could barely see the crew on deck and the sound was deafening. Angel was grateful to be standing under a canopy, the rain made the pitching deck look like keeping her footing might be a challenge. A couple of the crew members had stayed out on deck to finish securing Gerrod’s expensive deep sea equipment. One approached the cover where she and Daniel stood, impressing her with his ability to not only stay upright, but walk with ease on the slippery surface of the deck. Up close, she recognised a drenched Jed.

“You need to get inside, it’s not safe out here.” He bellowed gesturing at the cabin entry. He could on just make himself heard over the howling wind and was about to add to his instructions when all three of them were thrown sideways. Daniel dropped the video camera as he threw both hands out to stop from falling over as Angel hit the wet deck, vibrations feeding back through the metal she wasn’t sure was normal. It felt like the boat had hit something and was still vibrating like a tuning fork. Jed had managed too keep his footing, but a second jolt, harder than the first knocked him to his knees. The second jolt was followed by a increasing tilt to the deck, like they had dipped down one side of a big wave, but the tilt did not correct and roll back the opposite way. Instead, the degree of tilt increased, the slick, drenched deck caused Jed to slowly start sliding backwards. Unable to stop himself, he increased speed and cannoned towards his fellow worker who had grabbed a rail to stop from sliding past into the segment of deck with no safety rail, used to launch equipment like the Pod. Thankfully, the second crewman managed to free a hand and grab Jed as he tumbled backwards. Their relief was short lived. The rain changed direction, driving sideways. Lightning spread out across the clouds highlighting the rain and a terrifying spiral of water tearing at the side of the boat. The men clinging to the rail were close to the edge and didn’t stand a chance. Angel felt like the rest of the world stopped as the massive funnel of water stretching from raging waves to roiling thunder clouds pulled them off the boat, their faces set in horrific terrified masks.

Daniel’s shouts reached her through the incredible level of sound roaring in her ears and snapped her back into the moment, bringing with it the reality that she was not anchored to anything. Anything in close she could grab was behind her, up the steadily increasing gradient.

At first she attempted to do something like a push up, with the aim in mind of getting up onto her knees so she could turn, but the slick deck sent her sprawling each time. It felt like it took forever to get herself turned 180 degrees, but she was now facing Daniel. He let go of his anchor, a pole supporting the canopy, reaching for her hand. He was not fast enough. Angel started sliding backwards like Jed had. She scrambled trying to get traction to move forward as she slid with increasing speed. A sudden lurch sent the deck almost vertical. Instinctively Daniel reached out for the pole again as Angel was flung out into a free fall towards the waves. He didn’t think, he just let go of his grip on the metal anchoring him to the boat. If Angel was going in the water, he was following. It all happened so quickly though the memory would stay clear in his mind for years to come.

Either from damage caused by the water spout or a rouge wave, the listing of the boat increased dramatically and the deck became vertical. Angel slammed into the water and went under, swallowed up by a dark wave. He struck the water a few moments later, the undercurrents of the waves rolling and pulling him in different directions confusing up and down. Panic bubbled up and the need to inhale nagged at him. He needed to find Angel, but he couldn’t even control which way he faced, let alone search purposefully. A wave undercurrent spun him again, disorientating him completely and bringing him about to face dark water void of features. His lungs burnt as he fought hard against the primal autonomic impulse to breath in. His arms and legs beating at the water as his breath ran out, he became aware of something pale in the murky depths, small but growing larger by the moment. His oxygen starved brain struggled to make sense of what he was seeing as it screamed at him to inhale air that wasn’t there. A human body held in the front arm of a creature with an elongated body, the maned head of a lion with broad scales instead of fur, a sinuous serpentine shape with a broad fin-like tail that behaved like a rudder propelling the strange sight toward Daniel.

Before he could even break through the haze in his mind to comprehend that the bizarre thing was on a collision course with him, the thing’s head passed his shoulder and a moment later the unoccupied arm caught him around the waist. The spent breath streamed out with the force of the impact, the bubbles whisked away like they had never been there. Before his brain could force him to inhale liquid, his head broke the surface.

As if on cue, the grip loosened and slid away leaving him suspended upright in the water. Air flooded his lungs as the swell lifted him up. From the crest of the wave he could see Angel floating face up a short distance away. Pumping his arms and legs, breathing hard, he fought the drag of the wave to reach her. Before the next wave could pull her under, he reached her and looped his arm around her chest. He experienced a moment of sheer relief before the reality of the situation hit.

Floating in the middle of a ‘no-go’ zone in a raging storm after their vessel had capsized did not sound promising.

Time to pray for a miracle he thought, tightening his grip on the unconscious Angel.

578, 579, 580, 581..... the only sounds around them were the wind and waves. The storm with its devastating water spout seemed to be moving away, meaning fewer waves crashed over Daniel’s face. He tried to stay flat to the water, holding Angel up with him, but it wasn’t easy. He hadn’t been able to rouse her and it was difficult to find a pulse with his cold fingers while still trying to keep them both afloat, their water logged clothing weighing them down. He couldn’t even be sure if she was breathing.

582, 583, 584, 586..... other than the peaks and valleys of the waves, he couldn’t see any features in the seascape that would help him to know what direction he might find help in. If the boat was still afloat somewhere, he could not see it. With the low level he was laying in the water, unless it was right beside them, he wouldn’t be able to see it anyway.

587, 588, 589, 590..... Angel had told him all about the stories of The Dragon’s Triangle and its reputation. Even if the Capitan of the research vessel had sent a distress signal, there was no rescue coming to search for them. No passenger vessels , shipping container transports or private vessels were allowed to sail through that area of ocean. There was no hope of rescue from above either, they were adrift in a No-Fly zone.

591, 592, 593, 594..... Given he had nothing in his stomach thanks to being sick, their clothes were weighing them down, Angel could not help keep them afloat and the water was cold, Daniel’s strength was waning. He couldn’t keep this up.

It would have been easy to lose his head and give up against the obstacles to living that had stacked up against him. Counting gave him something to focus on besides the insurmountable odds. 595, 596, 597, 598....

The fist thing to flash through his mind when something grabbed his shoulder was that the creature he had hallucinated when close to drowning was back to finish the job. Until he heard Gerrod’s voice over his shoulder. “Hell! How are you two still alive! I thought I was the only one!” He started trying to haul Daniel up out of the water.

“Stop!’ Daniel was shocked to hear the hoarse sound of his own voice, ‘Help Angel first! She is unconscious!”

Gerrod hooked his hands under her arms and pulled her up into the bright yellow inflatable raft covered top and sides by a canopy. He turned back to help Daniel up too. Inside was big enough for around 4 or 5 people. Daniel scooted himself over away from the flap they had just been rescued through and tried to pull Angel further away too like getting further from the exit would keep them safe, but he couldn’t manage much. His arms felt like jelly and the water running from their clothes made the floor a little slippery. Gerrod zipped shut the flap and helped move Angel before flopping down on the other side of the raft. It didn’t escape Daniel’s notice that it was the only dry spot in the raft. Beside him was a plastic pack strapped to the side marked with a green cross. First aid supplies.

He pointed to it. “What’s in the pack? Angel is freezing, we need to bring her temperature up before hypothermia sets in if it hasn't already. There might be a heat blanket in there.”

“Right,’ Gerrod pulled the pack out of its secure straps and opened it up to rifle through the contents, ‘there’s a couple heat packs. Some water. Bandages. No blankets though. Just these little cloths.” He piled the items on the floor of the raft between them, tossing out the little cloths and a packet that looked like foil wrap.

Daniel seized the cloths. “These are camp towels, not your average cloth. They take up little space but absorb large amounts of water.” He struggled out of his wet jacket and began to dry himself with one of the camp towels. “That silver packet is a heat blanket. Help me get some of the water off Angel’s clothes, use the other camp towel. Take her jacket off.”

“Sure!” Gerrod sounded a little too enthusiastic about the task than Daniel felt was appropriate in the situation, but he lacked the strength to help her himself.

While Gerrod helped dry the unconscious Angel as much as possible, Daniel mopped up some of the water off the floor trying his best to make a spot to warm Angel. Once Gerrod was done Daniel gave him further instructions.

“Unfold the blanket and lay it over her, just leave her head uncovered. Her breathing is shallow and we don’t want to smother her. Lay her on her left side. Prop her top leg and arm so the stop her rolling forward onto her face.”

Gerrod looked up and grinned at Daniel. “If she is going hyperthermic, she can’t produce her own heat. She needs a warm body to warm her. I’m the warmest here, so I guess that’s my job.”

“It’s hypothermic, not hyper. And I’m not far behind her. I need to warm up too. That blanket is only big enough to cover two people. Since neither of us is able to heat the other, we will use the heat packs.” Daniel hit one against his leg to break the chemical pouch inside that would generate enough heat for a small area. “Put these under the blanket beside her, spaced out from feet to chest.” He held out the first pack which Gerrod snatched but placed where he had been told to as Daniel activated the others. Once all packs were placed, Daniel slid in under the blanket facing Angel, his back to their companion, tucking the top edge as best he could to create a kind of hood over her head that left her face uncovered.

Gerrod had retreated to his dry side of the raft in sullen silence. Facing death together had not warmed him to the self entitled wanna-be explorer at all. It didn’t take long for Daniel to drift into a fitful doze, waking regularly to check on Angel who was yet to stir but was at least breathing.

At some point his dozing slipped into an exhausted deep sleep, filled with dreams of huge snakes with 4 legs and a lion's heads that made the weirdest chittering sounds and batted him around like a play thing. He woke with a start when the motion of the raft changed from a rocking motion to a solid bump. He opened his eyes and lifted his head to look around. Gerrod held part of the flap open to see out.

“How’d you sleep? Warm and cosy?’ Gerrod sneered at him. Not waiting for an answer he continued, “We’ve beached somewhere. It doesn't look like the area is developed. We might have to pull the raft up the beach and go look around.”

Between being sick, dehydrated and the small amount of salt water he swallowed while trying not to drown, Daniel’s throat felt raw, his voice sounding hoarse and weak. “How long was I out for?”

“About 6 hours, Sleeping Beauty. Don’t worry, she hasn’t woken up, but she is still breathing. I kept an eye on her.” Gerrod finished unzipping the flap and climbed out over the side of the life raft as Daniel tucked the heat blanket back around Angel. His joints were stiff from laying in one position for that long and his clothes were still damp. It took him longer to get moving than usual. He finished making sure she was well covered when he heard a strange sound that stopped him in mid action. A rapid, animal chittering sounded from outside the raft, just like the sound the monster had been making in his dreams. He stayed still a moment longer, ears pricked to pick up the sound if it came again, when Gerrod called from outside.

“Hey! There are horses with saddles and bridles running up the beach! No riders! There has to be people around here somewhere! We can get help!” Forgetting the strange animal sound, he moved to the flap to look out. The sight that greeted him was not comforting. Gerrod’s four ‘rider less’ horses were not rider less at all. The people astride the beautiful beasts were all dressed oddly, in loose looking thigh length robes with long billowing sleeves and leggings with dark shin high boots.

Every one of them was armed to the teeth.

Gerrod had begun to walk towards the horses, holding his arms out like he hoped he could catch one. “Stop! Gerrod! Stop! Those people look dangerous!”

“What people? Mate, you drank too much sea water, there are no people!” He continued to walk forward, closing the gap between him and the lead horse. The rider on the first horse directed his mount around Gerrod easily avoiding his clumsy grab for the bridle. It didn’t make sense, why did Gerrod say there weren’t people riding the horses? Was he experiencing some weird delayed mental break after the events of the last day? Was Daniel himself having a psychotic event? The question as to who had it wrong was answered when the second rider drew an arrow in her bow. The sheer skill of the manoeuvre did not escape Daniel’s appreciation despite knowing that drawing a bow usually ended in one of 2 ways. The rider released the bow with incredible speed, the arrow looking almost like it disappeared from the string to reappear in Gerrod’s chest. Daniel ducked his head back into the raft, not wanting to see Gerrod fall. There was nothing he could do for him now. Despite the inflatable raft being entirely covered, like a floating tent, he felt extremely exposed. There was no where to hide. There was nothing to defend himself and his best friend with. He was looking around for something, anything, to give him some hope of defence when the flap suddenly flung open from the outside. He whipped his head back to face the newcomer, ready to fight with his bare hands if he had to, when a chill ran down his spine. He wasn’t sure if the chill could be attributed to the business end of a very sharp looking sword tip being a hand span from his face or the creepy chittering sound reaching him again.

Despite the menace of the situation, he could not ignore the beauty of the blade. The metal seemed to glow from the inside and the waved patterns weaving over the long blade added to its beauty. Daniel kept absolutely still while slowly raising his eyes to meet those of the wielder. He recognised the man as the first rider. But the young man who looked to be barely more than a teen, despite holding the lethal weapon on Daniel, his stance held perfectly, was not looking at Daniel.

The rider’s eyes were locked on the unconscious Angel.

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