I DON’T BELIEVE, I KNOW PART 3.

I DON’T BELIEVE, I KNOW PART 1.

I DON’T BELIEVE, I KNOW PART 2.

Arthur left his office with all the material he gathered. The deep water camera screen did not dominate his desk anymore and only four scratches on the wood reminded him it once stood there. The camera itself was on its way up to be reinstalled. Dr. Fritz made sure it was in an area he considered shark-free.

Arthur looked away as some colleagues passed him.

“Hey! Arthur!” An Asian woman in a lab coat, the head of the coral recovery team, tapped his shoulder. “I’ve heard what happened last week. I am sorry. Just wanted to let you know that if you would like to talk, I’m here.”

“Oh, that is very nice, Mrs. Zhang. I will be alright, no damage done.”

“We all make mistakes.” She smiled and wrinkles around her eyes deepened. “But don’t let this discourage you. This unfortunate issue proved you have enthusiasm, don’t waste your potential.”

Arthur mumbled some phrases about being sorry, about admitting his foolishness, and he reflected on the hope to find a more reasonable topic for research.

He already lost his grants and received an email about his already accepted publications for two scientific magazines. They denied the publication, even though the paper topics had nothing to do with his latest discovery. Dr. Fritz promised to help him restart his damaged career as much as possible and already made sure Arthur did not lose his job at the institute.

Dr. Fritz waited on the rocky coast with a huge metal bucket. Fresh salty wind stung their faces. The birds flew from them as they walked and silently observed the vast blue ocean surface.

“Since I recorded that, I never felt safe in a boat,” Dr. Fritz admitted. “Of course, the chance is zero. Well, almost zero. Still…”

“At least we can’t expect a tsunami throwing a whole Meg on us.”

They laughed. The wind ruffled the ocean. Small crabs hasted on the rocks.

Dr. Fritz and Arthur found a group of large smooth rocks to sit on.

“Breaking it with rocks? Fire? Water?” Dr. Fritz suggested.

“Water seems the best. Symbolic.” Arthur shrugged. “And let’s use the stones afterwards. To be sure.”

Dr. Fritz helped him empty his evidence bag into the metal bucket. All the printed images, texts, CDs, and flash drives. He added his own recording as well.

They took the bucket to the waves together and let them pour in. The papers swelled. Bubbles left the space under the electronics.

They shared a packet of crisps and waited for the paper to get soft. They put the soggy mass into a plastic bag and broke the electronics into pieces with stones. The remains went into another bag.

They slowly walked back as the evening darkened the coast.

“You know what’s funny? I was never interested in megalodon. I love our sharks. Mako, the whale shark… Megalodon was always just a long-gone fossil. But now, when he is real, damn those stupid horror movies are terrible. They always kill them.”

“But I have no idea what else I would advise to do.” Dr. Fritz frowned. “Meg is a huge predator. Can you imagine the damage to the ecosystem? And the danger to anyone venturing on the sea? I am happy we sealed our secret today. And I hope that poor beast will never surface again to end up in formaldehyde somewhere in our lab. Because that’s the best possible fate I can imagine.”

“It would suffer, I think. The change in the pressure, different water parameters, the light,” Arthur remarked.

“But it still feels good to know they are there.” Dr. Fritz took a deep breath. “They survived for so long it’s hard to comprehend such long ago times. I am happy I had the honor to glimpse them.”

“Maybe we will again. We will protect them. Watch for any sign of revelation.”

The ocean rumbled. The sun set and the first stars shyly blinked at the purple sky.