The Ghost sat anchored just off the coast of a small nest of uninhabited islands hundreds of miles west of the Gulf of California. Since the battle with the unknown Gargantua, Hansen and his crew had been holding their current position while Durontus rested and recovered from the titanic struggle.
Nestled in an underwater cave, it would be days, maybe even weeks, before the serpent would emerge for food. The creature was currently in a hibernation-like state so his body could allocate all of its resources to healing.
In the meantime, the G.W.G. had a mountain of data to read over and interpret, though most of the crew were skeptical of what they would find. Because of the field team’s missed opportunity for a DNA sample from Durontus’ foe, large sections of data on the dragon-like creature was unreliable with nothing to cross-reference it with.
The real question was what happened two days ago, miles below the surface?
Before Krieger and his crew could mobilize to follow the battle underwater in their pods, just like that, the event appeared to be over. There was a strange electronic pulse that temporarily knocked out all of the G.W.G.’s equipment, then Durontus surfaced and casually headed out to sea as if the entire encounter had never happened.
It didn’t seem possible that the serpent had enough time to do away completely with the unknown’s corpse and Hansen didn’t believe that Durontus would give up pursuit if it had escaped. He pondered back and forth between scenarios, each one as likely, or unlikely, as the next.
“How fitting that an event that began in mystery should end in mystery as well,” said Hansen outloud.
Leaning on the ship’s railing next to Hansen, Krieger looked at him with a blank stare. “Yeah, something like that,” he remarked, bringing a beer bottle to his lips.
Hansen shook his snifter of scotch, the ice cubes clanking against the glass. “Well, whatever happened, I guess the old boy survived another one. We all did.”
“Just barely, I think,” replied Dan. “I’m getting another, you want a refill?”
“No thanks. Think I’m going to call it a night,” Hansen replied, heading for his cabin.
The Ghost rocked easy in the shallow water, its crew resting soundly with a feeling of relief after the event’s conclusion.
Though none slept more soundly than the primordial serpent Durontus, tightly coiled against the cold rocks of the sea cave, miles below the surface. For the serpent, neither the how nor the why mattered. All that mattered was the he was alive and he had defended his home from a powerful enemy. He had earned his rest.