The Malice Below: Full Dark, #1

By Erik Handy

IF LOVECRAFT WROTE MOBY DICK

People are disappearing on the seas, leaving behind ghost ships. The crew of the Final Fantasy are in search of the cause of these disappearances. Each crew member knows the dangers involved — the uncertainty of the tides, the ulterior motives of each other, the unseen monsters – but yet they seek.

The leader of this expedition, Harold Martin has his sights set not on the shared goal of the team, but on redemption.

Marci Kim is in it for the thrill of chasing the unknown . . . and the paycheck.

Dan Cole is in it for revenge.

All will collide as they face the tidal fury of The Malice Below!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Erik Handy
• Release date: Oct 18, 2010
• ISBN: 9798223938569

Erik Handy

Erik Handy grew up on a steady diet of professional wrestling, bad horror movies that went straight to video, and comic books. There were also a lot of video games thrown in the mix. He currently absorbs silence and fish tacos.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Marci Kim stared at the bear and the bear stared back.

Neither one moved.

Neither broke eye contact.

Neither gave the other any ground.

There was no room for flight.

Marci breathed easy.

The modern sitting room had sleek furniture, a flatscreen television taking up the majority of a wall, and a coffee table with all the latest tabloid newspapers scattered on top.

And stuffed animal heads nailed on every wall wherever there was empty space.

This ghastly showcase memorializing the thrill of a hunt was obscene, but she had seen worse.

Like animal brains in jars of formaldehyde.

That one always got her. Some far-off societies ate the brains of their captured prey, but one American so-called hunter kept his in jars to be displayed in every room of his house, from the bedroom to the kitchen to the bathroom. She gave the thought that her field was well-suited for certifiable loonies more than a second's consideration.

She shifted her gaze from the bear to the elderly man limping into the room. While Kim was average-looking at best, Harold Martin stood out with a regal aura about him despite his limp. His thick gray hair was slicked back. His blue eyes didn't miss a thing.

Doctor Kim! he happily said. Thank you for coming.

Kim rose to shake his hand.

Thank you, Mister Martin, she replied. Although why you requested my presence is beyond me.

According to what I've read, nothing is beyond you. He gestured for her to sit. She did. I need an open mind. My team has, how should I say, suffered a few losses on our last expedition and there's an open slot. For you.

Kim's enthusiasm threatened to burst, but she held herself together. Thank you for considering me, but I'm just a cryptozoologist like you. Having two on your staff –

Team, he corrected.

"Team. It seems a bit overkill."

But, like me, you are more than a mere cryptozoologist. Martin sat next to her. You're in it for the chase as well as the catch, are you not?

Kim glanced at the bear's head on the wall. You must have heard a lot about me, Mister Martin.

Call me Harold, he said. Your assistant had nothing but glowing praise about you.

He leaned closer to Kim. She wanted to back away. His presence was invading hers. Some manner about him struck a strange chord in her. This man is more than he appears, that chord rang.

Doctor Kim, I need another keen mind on my team. An opportunity has presented itself off the coast of Australia. All I can say is that the potential discovery of a new species that has only been dreamed of is at stake.

Kim mulled the prospect over. To work with Harold Martin would be nearly divine. It would get her out of the university for a while and away from . . . her other problems.

With all due respect, she said, I need to know a little more before I agree to anything.

She also didn't want to seem too eager. This was how this game was played.

Martin was taken aback. He quickly collected himself. Nodding, he rose. Come to my office.

***

Martin powered up the laptop on his desk.

Three weeks ago, he began, the Ishmael, a private cutter, was found off the coast of Australia. Abandoned. There were supposed to be three men aboard. There were no signs of foul play or misadventure.

He turned the laptop so Kim could see the screen.

On the screen was a picture of a foot-long, nasty-looking barb. The appendage was jagged, as if torn from the body of the creature. Kim was immediately taken in by the photo, nearly ignoring everything the old man was telling her.

This was found in the bottom of the hull, Martin said. My team whisked it away. Every test we performed on it concluded its origins as unknown.

The creature this barb belongs to, Kim said, isn't necessarily the reason those men vanished. I'm still not sold.

A look of defeat drooped Martin's aged face. He had to have her.

Kim raised her hand, stilling his mood. But I'm in.

If the price is right, she mentally added.

Martin smiled as Kim moved closer to the laptop screen, attempting to figure out what creature could have possibly possessed such an appendage. Her apprehension of their close proximity to each other was lost in the thrill of this discovery.

I'm sure you'll tell me more once I sign on, Kim said.

Martin's spirits were lifted. So I can count you in?

Kim smiled back at the old man. Sure. She turned to Martin and shook his hand. The man was all smiles.

There is one other thing, Martin somberly said. A small matter actually. There's another team member who doubts this opportunity. Perhaps if you, an established member of our field, and I visit him, he'd be more receptive and take this more seriously.

Sure, Mister Martin.

Please, call me Harold. I insist.

Then I'm Marci.

Chapter 2

Once in her car, Kim's cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and her good cheer crashed into jagged fragments.

She debated answering it. Nothing good would come from it.

A terse greeting being the preamble to another argument about the boy.

Her son, she had to tell herself. The boy was still her son. And the caller was still her ex-husband, the boy's father. Calling to bitch at her for not making her bi-weekly visit.

She bit her bottom lip until the phone quieted.

Had she visited her boy – son – she would have missed this golden opportunity. There would always be another time. Two weeks from now unless that bastard tried to get a judge to