Dive to Oblivion

2

It took the better part of two days for the Hari Maru to reach the rich fishing grounds off Iwo Jima. Soon after setting sail from Okinawa, the crew of nineteen began sewing together a drift net, over three miles long. Stored on a pair of massive, stern-mounted rollers, this translucent, monofilament net was fitted with a series of corks on the top and with weighted line on the bottom. The net would create a floating barrier thirty-five feet deep, whose sole purpose was to catch squid.

The sun had yet to rise on the third day of their voyage, when the ship’s air horn sounded three times. This signal called the fishermen from their bunks. Hurriedly dressed in blue oilskins and white boots, they assembled on the foredeck, where the vessel’s fishing master, or sen do instructed them to release the net.

The net itself was assembled in one-hundred-foot sections called tans. One hundred and sixty tans had been sewed together to create a single nagashi-ami. A white buoy marked the beginning and end of each separate tan. Positioned beside each buoy was a red numbered flag, a miniature battery-powered strobe light, and a radio antenna that signaled a direction-finder located in the Hari Maru’s wheelhouse.

A thick, grey fog shrouded the calm sea as the net was tossed overboard. Deployment took over an hour.

To insure good fortune, the sen do made certain to soak the net with sake, which was stored beside a small Shinto altar near the bridge.

The youngest fishermen currently aboard the Hari Maru were a pair of seventeen-year-old twins — Toshi and Yukio Tanaka, born in Naha, Okinawa. They came from a long line of squidders, among whom was their uncle, the ship’s present sen do This was only their second working cruise, and both impressionable teenagers looked at this event as a great adventure.

This was especially the case when the net was fully deployed, and they anxiously stood at the rail, waiting for the first squid to be pulled in.

“This is some morning,” observed Toshi as he gazed out to sea.

“The fog is so thick that even the sunrise will be veiled from us.”

Yukio seemed uneasy as he voiced his reply.

“What did you expect, brother? The sea here is perpetually shrouded.”

“I hope that you still don’t think that this portion of the sea is haunted by demons?” asked Toshi lightly.

Yukio’s serious tone did not falter.

“You may laugh all you want, Toshi. But for me, this area will always be Mono Umi, the sea of the devil.”

“Oh come now, Yukio. You’re beginning to sound just like a superstitious old woman.”

“Then why are the other fishermen so somber this morning?” questioned Yukio.

“Even Uncle seems affected, Never before have I seen him bless our net with an entire bottle of sake.”

“I blame it all on the Americans and Canadians,” reflected Toshi.

“If it wasn’t for their unfair protectionist laws, we’d be fishing in safety off the coasts of California or British Columbia, instead of in these treacherous waters.”

“Then how do you account for the hundreds of ships and planes that have mysteriously vanished while traveling over this portion of the Pacific?” asked Yukio.

“One only has to look at nature for the answer to that question, Yukio. The floor of the ocean beneath us is ringed with underwater volcanoes and deep trenches scoured by powerful currents. This region is also no stranger to sudden storms and freak waves, that can swallow a ship in the blink of an eye. All of these naturally occurring phenomena could be responsible for the disappearances that you speak of.”

Before Yukio could respond to this, their uncle joined them at the rail. The Hari Maru’s sen do was a powerfully built man, with a full, black beard and gentle brown eyes. A veteran mariner, he intently scanned the fog-shrouded seas, centering his gaze on one of the blinking strobe lights, just visible in the near distance.

“Well nephews, what do you think of this glorious morning?”

Toshi was the first to answer him.

“My brother fears that there’s a demon lurking below these waters, Uncle, just waiting to swallow us up at the first opportunity.”

“You don’t say,” replied the sen do whose kind glance turned towards Yukio.

“Have no fear of the Mono Umi, nephew. When I was your age, I too heard the frightening tales of the sea demons that supposedly inhabited these waters. Many a horrible nightmare has since been filled with visions of a ferocious dragon, which comes to the ocean’s surface to seize my fishing boat, and drag me and my crew down to the dragon’s underwater lair. But here I am an old man already, and still this tragic prophecy has not come true.

So set your mind at ease, Yukio, and know that the only monsters in these parts are right here in your head.”

Yukio managed a slight smile. Satisfied that his message got through, the sen do looked to his watch and added.

“The sun will soon be breaking the eastern horizon, and with its arrival the squid will swim up to the surface to feed. If I were you, I’d go below and get some hot tea and rice in your bellies, for all too soon there will be no time for such a luxury.”

Quick to follow their uncle’s advice, the twins climbed below deck and joined the other fishermen in the galley. They were in the midst of enjoying a large bowl of fish soup, when the Hari Maru’s air horn sounded twice. This was followed by the shrill blast of a whistle and the sen do booming voice.

“Come on, lads. To the nets with you!”

Gulping down a last mouthful of soup, the twins rushed from the cabin and gathered on the stern. The net was already in the process of being pulled aboard.

Its corks and weighted line were drawn through separate rollers, so that the four-and-a-half-inch mesh could be grasped by the fishermen and yanked onto the main deck amidships.

Toshi and Yukio took their positions beside the rail and watched as the first squid was pulled in.

“Ika! Ika!” shouted the excited sen do who brought his whistle to his mouth and blew out a series of spirited blasts.

The squid plopped down onto the deck beside Yukio. Its sleek, oblong body was over two feet long, and as it brushed up against Yukio’s boot, it shot out a spurt of jet black ink, this being the creature’s primary defensive mechanism.

“My, that one’s a beauty,” observed Toshi as he bent down to pick up the squid by its head.

“It must weigh a good five pounds!”

Both the twins admired its purple, tube like mantle.

The squid’s head had a pair of clearly discernible eyes, and a beaklike mouth, with two long tentacles and eight shorter arms protruding downwards. One of these shorter arms attached itself onto Yukio’s arm, and he quickly yanked the sucker free.

Hundreds of similarly sized squid soon covered the deck, that was awash now in black ink. The sen do seemed particularly pleased and as he passed by the stern, Toshi breathlessly addressed him.

“What species of squid are these. Uncle?”

“We call them neon flying squid,” he answered.

“Why’s that?” asked Yukio.

The sen do grinned.

“Believe it or not, these creatures give off a bright flash of light while pursuing their prey of small fish. I’ve once seen this miraculous sight myself, while watching a hunting squid break the surface of the sea and leap through the air.”

“Aren’t they in danger of being over fished if we continue taking them in these numbers?” asked Yukio.

“Not this species,” replied the sen do “I’ve been told that each female produces as many as half a million eggs during their one-year life span.”

A sudden grinding noise broke from the stern, followed by the rending sound of tearing net.

“Stop the rollers!” shouted the sen do his tone filled with concern.

“What in the world is going on back there?”

“We’ve hit some sort of snag!” replied the crew member who operated the roller mechanism.

Both the sen do and his nephews quickly joined this individual, who was positioned on the aft-most portion of the Hari Maru’s stern. As the roller ground to a halt, they collectively examined the torn net, whose shredded remnants extended well out to sea.

“There’s a good mile of net still out there,” said the roller operator as he pointed towards the fog-enshrouded waters at their stern.

Even though the sun had long since risen, the thick fog completely veiled the horizon in all directions. A ghostly, milky white radiance hinted that a new day had dawned, with the only evidence of the surrounding ocean being the occasional slap of a passing wave.

“Perhaps we’ve caught a whale out there,” offered Yukio.

“Or maybe it’s a sea serpent that we’ve snagged,” joked his brother.

“A whale could very well be responsible for this entire mess,” observed the sen do “Since this fog veils even our strobe lights, the only way that we’re going to be able to recover the rest of the net is by tracking it down with the radio-direction finder. Join me in the wheelhouse, Nephews, and we’ll get on with this task.”

The wheelhouse was located on the ship’s foredeck.

A short flight of steps took them up into an equipment-packed compartment dominated by a wraparound window.

“Yukio, switch on the radar,” instructed the sen do “Toshi, have you ever used a radio-direction finder before?”

“Not in a fog like this one,” replied the wide-eyed teenager.

“Well, stick close then, and I’ll give you a quick lesson.”

The sen do led his nephew over to a large console where he switched on a green-tinted monitor screen.

After inputting a series of commands on the computer keyboard, the elder looked as the screen beeped a single time before going unceremoniously silent.

“That’s certainly strange,” he thoughtfully observed.

“We appear to have lost our data link with the rest of the net.”

“But how can that be. Uncle?” asked Toshi.

“Aren’t those direction-finders on the net battery powered?

They couldn’t have all failed to transmit at the same time.”

“Uncle, what do you make of this?” interrupted Yukio.

The sen do was quick to join him beside the radar screen, as Yukio added.

“There seems to be another vessel out there.”

“I’ll say,” reflected the surprised sen do “That return that you’re getting shows an immense ship, over four hundred feet long, floating in waters less than a half mile off our stern.”

“So that’s what snagged our net,” supposed Ioshi.

“Switch on the foghorn and activate our running lights,” ordered the sen do “It’s time to see for ourselves just what it is besides squid that the Hari Maru has managed to catch this morning.”

Yukio’s stomach tightened as he studied the radar screen. Then he looked up and peered out the window.

From this vantage point, he could see several crew members gathered on the foredeck. Their lower torsos were completely hidden by the swirling fog, and Yukio could only pray that the Hari Maru wouldn’t be the victim of a collision.

His uncle readily engaged the throttle and expertly steered the trawler in a broad, circular turn. With the foghorn mournfully crying out in steady warning, they cut through calm seas, blind to that which lay before them.

“The contact lies dead ahead of us, Uncle!” warned Yukio, whose eyes had returned to the radar screen.

“Approximate range is 10,000 yards.”

“Yukio, I want you to climb up on the flying bridge and activate the spotlight,” ordered the sen do “But Uncle, who will monitor the radar screen?” countered Yukio.

“Don’t worry, lad. Our spotlight will illuminate any traffic out there, regardless of this damn fog.”

Though he was all set to argue otherwise, Yukio held his tongue, and after meeting his brother’s concerned gaze, proceeded outside to the exposed bridge. A gust of cool, damp air greeted him as he began climbing the ladder that would take him up to the ship’s flying bridge. This compact, elevated platform was supported on a base of four steel poles. During normal daytime conditions, a lookout would be stationed there to scan the surrounding ocean for signs of feeding squid. Yukio regularly volunteered for such duty, though in this instance, he sincerely wished that his uncle had chosen another in his place.

Try as he could, Yukio couldn’t shake a feeling of unease as he climbed onto the flying bridge and peered down below. Except for the ship’s red and green running lights, the main deck was all but invisible, effectively veiled by the thick, ghostly mist. Adding to the eerie atmosphere was the persistent, lonely cry of the foghorn, and the muted chugging whine of their diesel engine.

His uncle had yet to cut back the throttle. This meant that the danger of a collision increased with every second. With this fear in mind, he reached up and pulled off the spotlight’s canvas cover. As he turned on the spotlight, there was a loud clicking noise. Yukio swung the swivel base so that the powerful beam of light was focused on the waters immediately ahead of them.

As he expected, the fog veiled even the ocean’s surface.

A supertanker could be out there and they’d never know it, and Yukio angrily cursed their predicament.

Visions of slithering sea serpents formed in his mind’s eye. Such terrors of the deep had been well documented in these parts for centuries past. He had actually seen grown men shake in horror upon describing their terrifying experiences in the Mano Umi. And here they were today, foolishly challenging the fates, in the sea where the devil stalked.

Yukio’s pulse quickened as he spotted a brief flash of greenish light in the distance. Several more quick flashes followed, and Yukio wondered if they could be from a group of flying neon squid.

As he slightly angled the spotlight upwards a bone chilling fetid breeze hit him full in the face. Fighting back the urge to retch, Yukio watched as the flashing green lights intensified, until it almost appeared as if a miniature electrical storm was occurring in the seas before them. Seriously doubting that such a phenomenon could be caused by squid, he looked on in wonder as the fog slowly began to part.

Never would Yukio forget the immense, black skinned object that his spotlight next illuminated. At first he thought that it was a whale. But then he spotted the distinctive conning tower of a surfaced submarine.

It lay dead in the water, with seaweed hanging from its sail-mounted hydroplanes. Strangely enough, it had no running lights on, and its deck was vacant of sailors. Puzzled by this fact, Yukio excitedly called down, to share this amazing discovery with the others.