Shark Wars (12 page)

GRAY WAS STUNNED. FOR A MOMENT HE
couldn't speak at all. Velenka, Ripper, and Streak looked on from their favored positions above him and the other full members of the shiver not in the Line. Goblin wore an amused expression, hovering highest of all above the Speakers Rock.

“Snapper got your tongue, Gray?” the big great white joked. “You have to actually answer the call.”

“Of course, I mean—yes!” Gray said loudly so everyone watching could hear. “I accept the position of fifth in the Line!”

Then there was whooping and hollering. Goblin came over and bumped him, then Ripper, and then Thrash. Gray lost track after that as
everyone
was bumping and finning him. It was all in good sport, though. Moments before Gray's appointment, Velenka had received the same treatment when she ascended to fourth in the Line. Later Gray found out that in the old days sharkkind actually drew blood in this part of the ceremony by biting the newly ranked shark, becoming family in the tasting of their blood. But there were times that the celebration got out of hand, and the promoted shark died from his wounds, so the practice was wisely stopped.

Gray couldn't believe it when Goblin offered him fifth! He didn't have a clue that it was about to happen. Everyone was congratulating Velenka—he was right next to her—and Goblin said in a loud voice from his position above Speakers Rock, “I now name Gray as my fifth. Does any full member want to contest my decision and fight him in mortal combat for the right to his rank?” Gray didn't want to be in the Line if it meant fighting, especially when there were so many sharkkind who had been members for so much longer. He was about to open his mouth when Velenka stopped him.

“It's just old-timey language,” she told him. “No one will go against Goblin's wishes, and he wants you!” And she was right. After a bumping and jostling melee, the great white made introductions to everyone Gray hadn't met, and even a few important dwellers in the homewaters. Then the party began.

The celebration lasted all night long. A trio of whales sang songs while a school of lantern fish swam around the shiver area, brightening the place with their colored lights. Very festive! It felt good to flick his tail back and relax after the previous few days. Gray was still shaken by Churn's death and the ferocity of the fight against the bulls. True, Gray hadn't known Churn that long, but he had been a shivermate, and they had gone patrolling together once. Even though they hadn't said two words to each other, in Gray's mind, it still counted for something.

The weird thing was that Gray found something enticing about the battle after it was over. He'd felt horrible
right
afterward, of course. He'd sent a bull to the Sparkle Blue and watched Churn die. There was no way that wouldn't jolt even the toughest shark to his core. Gray had been so shaken, in fact, that he'd actually thrown up on the way home. Oddly, this broke the pall hanging over the survivors, who'd swam in silence until that point. Goblin and Ripper laughed, along with everyone else, and confessed that they did the same thing after their first battles.

The remarkable thing was that after the immediate, horrible blackness of terror and death subsided, there was something else. After you battled for your life—and won—it was incredible! He felt the bond he had with both Ripper and Goblin
change
. The huge hammerhead had pretty much been a rude and icy fish to Gray before that day. But since he and Rip (the hammerhead said to call him Rip!) had fought flank to flank, they talked often, Rip even divulging little secrets now and then. Who knew Rip had sea horse friends? Not that Gray was going to tell anyone about that. And Goblin? Gray would go into the blackness of the Dark Blue for Goblin. They were brothers now. They had fought together and survived.

And then to hear that Thrash's patrol was attacked by another shiver that same day! Thankfully they didn't lose anyone to this Jetty Shiver. Apparently their leader was so crazy that a bunch of their sharkkind decided to leave him and join Goblin Shiver. That was good! There was strength in numbers, just like the great white said. They would need every shark they could muster if they were going to avenge the death these bulls were causing.

Velenka glided over, her shapely form moving through the crowd like a sea wraith. “I need a little clear water,” she told him, scraping against his flank. “Would the new fifth like to take a swim with the new fourth?” Her big, black eyes bored into him.

The mako occasionally made Gray nervous and this was one of those times. She seemed so sure of herself. He took a quick glance over at Goblin who was furiously pushing against Ripper in a test of strength. Whoever was moved over a glowing line of coral underneath them would lose. It was all in good fun, though. Goblin would probably get the best of the hammerhead, but not for a while.

“Sure,” Gray told her. They swam from the raucous crowd. But Velenka didn't appear to be going for an aimless swim.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“I want to show you something. Something special.” The mako smiled and flicked her tail for him to follow.

They headed into a cave mouth. It was dark inside. “In there?”

Velenka chuckled. “You're not afraid, are you?”

Gray flicked his tail. “Of course not. I just don't want to get stuck.” The cave looked creepy as all flip, but he wasn't a pup to be scared of the dark and followed her.

“Don't worry,” Velenka answered. “It opens up into a cavern after a bit.”

As soon as they entered the cave mouth, a few body lengths in, it was absolutely black. Luckily, Gray had a keen sense of direction, even though he couldn't see a thing. The water got much colder as they angled down, down, down. After a long stretch Gray thought he saw a faint, white glow. Were his eyes playing tricks on him? No, something was definitely glowing, and it was getting brighter. After another turn, it got
really
bright. Gray slowed to let his eyes adjust.

“Come on,” Velenka prodded. “Just a little farther!”

Gray emerged from the tunnel into an underground cavern. It was immense. There was even a surface to the water above him, meaning there was an air pocket. How strange! The walls above and below the surface glowed pale white like the moon. Now that Gray's eyes had adjusted, he could see it wasn't algae or lumos, but the rock itself that was glowing.

“So, is it worth it?” Velenka asked as she flicked her fin at—

“Tyro's tail!” Gray gasped. “
What
is that?”

There, at the wall of the cave, half covered by rock sediment, was a giant skeleton of a shark. You could tell it was sharkkind from its curved, dagger teeth. But it was the size of a whale!

“We call this the prehistore cave,” Velenka began. “This is a megalodon. They were the rulers of the Big Blue when the oceans were young. Some think that Tyro was a megalodon.”

“No way!”

“It's true,” she told him. “Why? What type of shark did you think he was?”

“Hmm, guess I never pictured him as anything. He's the first fish, so he's kind of like all fish, I suppose.” Gray learned about prehistore sharkkind in Miss Lamprey's class. It was one of the few times he paid attention, because it was so cool. But she only described how they looked. It was one thing to be told that sharks were the size of whales but quite another to see it in real life! One time they took a class trip to a rock tower, where Miss Lamprey showed them a rib bone of something she said was a prehistore sea dragon. Yappy got really annoyed when Barkley said he thought it was just a whale rib. That trip was a disappointment. But this! This was incredible!

“It's huge!” Gray exclaimed. “What a monster!” He drifted over to the skeleton's rib cage. Gray could fit inside the beast's stomach with room to spare. He swam around the megalodon and stopped in front of its awe-inspiring jaws, frozen open as if striking at some other giant fish. Its teeth were at least three times the size of his own. “Wow. This is great.” Some of the meg's skeletal teeth shined reflectively because of a silvery mineral coating. It was so smooth Gray could see himself, a rare occurrence. The last time he got a good look at himself was a year ago when he was near the surface of the water and the sun was shining at just the right angle. Today, however, he wasn't pleased with what he saw. “Flip, I'm really fat!” he whispered to himself.

“What did you say?” Velenka asked.

“Nothing, nothing.” Gray looked deeply into the reflective surface of the petrified teeth. He smiled and gnashed his teeth, making a scary face into the silvered surface. He was pretty fierce, indeed. Gray looked closer as something caught his attention. His teeth were smaller than those of the giant prehistore skeleton, but they were shaped
exactly
the same. Exactly.

How could he have the same teeth—it was then he realized the truth. A cold prickle danced down his spine, and he unconsciously whispered, “I'm not a reef shark at all.”

He turned to find Velenka staring at him, the blackness of her eyes like two holes in the ocean. “I don't think so, either,” she said.

“You knew?”

“I suspected.”

Gray shook his head from side to side. “No, it's impossible. Even I know these things lived a really long time ago!” he told her. “They're all swimming the Sparkle Blue.”

“Yes,” the mako said nonchalantly. “Except you.”

“You're yanking my tail, right?” asked Gray. “This is some sort of new fin in the Line joke, right?”

“No,” Velenka said matter-of-factly.

“How?” was all he could think to say.

“That I don't know.”

What did this mean? How would others react? “It can't be! It just can't!”

Velenka swam over, scraping against him. “It'll be all right.”

“I'm a monster!” Gray yelled. “How's that going to be all right?”

“Accept it. You're a megalodon, or at least a cousin of one. I think it's fantastic.”

Gray looked at the meg's teeth again, hoping to see some difference he could point out to Velenka. But they were the same, which practically guaranteed that nothing in Gray's life would be the same after today. He wanted to scuttle underneath a rock like a crab. “I'm here to help you through this,” Velenka said as she slid her tail underneath his belly.

“Thanks,” he told the mako. His mind whirled. Why would his mother keep this from him? Is this why she never spoke of his father? Did she know? Maybe she didn't. But if so, where did he come from? How could it be possible?

A nagging feeling whirled inside his stomach when Velenka smiled at Gray. It was probably the combination of such a huge, life changing discovery and this creepy cavern.

Probably. But in any case, Gray was now much more worried than when he first swam inside.

THE MESSAGE WAS MYSTERIOUS AND THE
lionfish rude. Barkley was hiding in the thick greenie, watching the Goblin Shiver homewaters. The patrol routes and patterns had changed, and he was determined to make sure he knew the schedules. Even Goblin wasn't so thick as to not make a few adjustments after his attack on Jetty Shiver. Probably afraid someone will come looking for him, thought Barkley just before the arrival of his strange messenger.

“Hey, dogfish,” the lionfish said after swimming around him once. “Your name Barkley?”

On the whole, lionfish were impressive fish, and this one was no different, having neat, two-toned brown stripes separated by white ones. Its fins were almost featherlike (he knew about feathers from seeing landshark birds hunt in the ocean) and stuck out everywhere in a dazzling display. But lionfish were also deadly, having poisonous spines in those feathery fins.

Barkley backed from the fish slowly, ready to streak away. “Maybe. Who wants to know?”

“I do. That's why I asked.”

“Why don't you introduce yourself first?” Barkley said. This was a mistake.

The lionfish's spikes went rigid. He fluttered them menacingly and said, “That's on a need-to-know basis. AND YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW!” He went on in a quieter tone. “What
I
need to know is, are you or are you not Barkley? And since I asked first…SPIT IT OUT!”

“Fine, yes, I'm Barkley.”

“Good, because I was looking for you.”

“Yeah, I figured as much.”

The lionfish stretched his spiky fins menacingly before continuing. “I have a message for you from a shark, big fin who calls himself Gray.” This definitely got Barkley's attention, and he swam closer to the lionfish.

“What did he say?”

“He wants to talk with you. And he wants you to ask everyone if he can come back.”

“Gray said that?”

“Are you slow or something?” the lionfish asked. “I wouldn't say it IF HE DIDN'T TELL ME TO SAY IT! He says meet him by the half-moon rock North of the homewaters at high sun.” The lionfish came closer to Barkley and whispered, “And he says to come alone.”

And that was exactly how Barkley told the rest of Rogue Shiver.

“Never believe a lionfish,” said Striiker. “Anything poisonous is a liar.”

Snork nodded seriously. “I've heard that, too.”

“Why would he lie?” asked Barkley. “Maybe Gray's in trouble.”

“Goblin and the shiver will be leaving for the Tuna Run soon,” commented Shell. “It would be a good time to sneak away. But why trust a lionfish with such an important message?”

Mari nodded and swished her tail in thought. “Did Gray use to talk with dwellers at your reef?”

“Yeah,” Barkley told her. “Not a lot, but sometimes.”

Striiker harrumphed. “If you ask me, I'd say he's been poisoned by Goblin first, and by the lionfish second. We can't trust him.”

Barkley shook his head. Striiker had never been warm to Gray, but now it was even worse. Mari looked thoughtfully at the greenie swaying in the current. Barkley knew she was smart, so he asked her, “What do you think?”

“It's odd he told you to come alone,” she said. “We should go with you in case it's a trap.” Barkley didn't like not trusting Gray, but this seemed like a good precaution.

Striiker spun in a quick, angry circle. “Do not tell me you are actually thinking of going! It's too dangerous!”

“He was our friend,” said Snork in a quiet voice, not wanting to anger Striiker.

“
Was
is the key word there!” yelled the great white. “I've never trusted him!”

Mari swished her tail in agitation. “And that's part of the problem! But if he's in trouble, shouldn't we help? Shouldn't we get him away from Goblin?”

Shell had been very undecided until this. Now he nodded to himself. “I'll go.”

“Well, I won't!” shouted Striiker. “You guys go ahead and talk with that big, ungrateful flipper if you want! Not me!” And with that, he swam away.

Barkley and the others did go to the appointed place after the sun rose. He insisted on getting there early so they could pick a good spot to secretly survey the area. They saw nothing suspicious, so they went forward. The half-moon rock was so named because of its crescent-moon shape. The area surrounding the rock was flat, barren sand, with no greenie. And no place to hide.

Was Gray afraid that Striiker would attack him? Possibly, which didn't make Barkley feel any better about exposing himself and the rest of the group. But if there was a chance Gray was in trouble, Barkley owed it to his friend to show up.

The time of high sun came and went and shadows began to lengthen by the crescent-shaped rock. Barkley's spine tickled the way it did when he became anxious. He definitely didn't like being out in the open even though this area was beyond the patrol routes of Goblin Shiver.

“Maybe he's not coming,” Mari said.

“Or couldn't get away without being seen?” added the sawfish in a whisper.

Both of those statements could be true. But waiting around any longer would be foolish. Barkley was about to say as much when he heard a voice come from behind the other side of the half-moon rock.

“What do we have here?”

Barkley grew cold. He knew that voice.

“A cluster of traitors!” said Thrash triumphantly as he glided from behind the wider edge of the rock formation. Streak and Ripper were with him.

It was a trap!

Streak's eyes blazed. “I hate traitors,” the sleek blue shark growled. There was a meanness about her that Barkley had never liked. Ripper just grunted menacingly.

“Swim!” cried Mari. The group tried to dart away in different directions, but Shell bumped Snork, slowing them both down. Mari swam right into five more sharks from Goblin Shiver. Barkley turned in the direction they'd come from, but ten other sharkkind hemmed him in. Others were descending fast from above. There was nowhere to go!

Ripper barreled into Shell, knocking him senseless. Snork was so scared, he tried to burrow into the ground. The shiver sharks all laughed as they rammed the sawfish.

“I'm going to enjoy this!” said Thrash, zooming toward Barkley.

Barkley didn't even feel the tiger's impact on his side. Suddenly he felt the water cool and sweet, and he was floating by the Coral Shiver reef.

“How did I get back
here
?” he wondered.