The Shark Whisperer (7 page)

“And what's yours? Rolling around in the mud?” Tristan fired back. He might be clumsy, but he'd always been plenty agile with words when needed.

Rosina's face turned scarlet, and her eyes became little slits. She seemed about to either make a lunge for Tristan or literally explode into tiny teenager pieces.

“Okay, that's enough,” Coach interjected. “Let's all take it easy. You are going to have to learn to get along and work together.”

“Doubtful,” Rosina muttered.

“You that asked the question. What's your name?” Coach asked.

“Hugh, sir. Hugh Haverford.”

“Haverford, each of you was invited to come to Sea Camp because you have special abilities when it comes to the ocean. Some of you may be able to swim faster and longer than most people. Others might be better at stealth or defense. And a few of you may be better at communicating with marine life, or even echolocating with your own personal sonar—though that one is pretty rare.”

“Uh, sir. Only dolphins, whales, and bats can echolocate,” Hugh said.

“Yes, I am sure that is what you have been taught,” Coach replied. “But what you are going to learn here is that some people can do things in the ocean you never thought possible.”

Ms. Sanchez stepped forward and made a sort of poof, blowing sound.

“Does that sound familiar to anyone?” she asked.

Sam tentatively raised her hand. “It sounds like a dolphin clearing its blowhole.”

“Yes, that's right. And you are?”

“Samantha Marten, but everyone calls me Sam.”

“Ah yes, Miss Marten,” Ms. Sanchez said, clearly recognizing her name. “Well, as you and the others here may already know, life on Earth is believed to have started in the ocean. Over hundreds of millions of years, animals evolved and adapted to life in the sea—like dolphins. They developed special abilities and behaviors so that they could breathe, eat, navigate, defend themselves, and communicate. Humans of course have always lived on land. But since life began in the sea, our very earliest ancestors came from the ocean. In some people there are still traces of the genes that allowed those organisms to adapt to and live in the sea. At the right age and with the right help, these genes can sort of, well, be turned on, at least for a few years.”

“Are you saying I'm actually a fish or whale and just don't know it?” Rosina said. The other Seasquirts snickered.

“Not exactly my dear. But deep inside your genetic code you might have a trace of what enabled whales to adapt to life in the ocean.”

“C'mon,” Hugh said. “We evolved from primates, everyone knows that. And some people can't even swim.”

Ms Sanchez smiled and patiently continued, “You're right, some people are not well suited for the ocean. But that is not the case for all of you here. I bet in the last few months or so, many of you have had some sort of unusual experience in the sea or with marine life.”

Coach Fred stepped in. “Ms. Sanchez likes to hear your little heartwarming stories. Me, I couldn't care less. But for her benefit, how about you, boy, the tall mud talker in the shark T-shirt.”

It took a minute for Tristan to realize that Coach Fred meant him. “Uh, What was the question?”

“Has something odd recently happened to you related to the ocean or marine life?”

Tristan hesitated and then quietly said, “I swam with a shark.”

“Speak up, son,” Coach Fred instructed loudly.

“I fell into a pool of sharks and swam with them.”

The other Seasquirts stared at Tristan.

“That sounds about right. Good one. And how ‘bout you Marten?” Coach asked.

Sam took a deep breath. “The other day after my dad came in from . . . uh work. We went out on his boat to go swimming. I thought I saw or maybe heard a whale. But see, no one else in my family did and they didn't believe me. But then about five minutes later a whale came up exactly where I said it would. They all thought it was just luck, but I really thought I heard it before it came up. Later another whale . . .”

“Okay, very good,” Coach Fred interrupted.

Ms. Sanchez looked at Hugh whose glum expression left little doubt that he had not had any such experience. “It may be more subtle for some of you and take a little time for your talent to reveal itself.”

She continued, “Your abilities are very special and very rare. They can also be put to extremely good
use. But it is critical that for now we keep your talents secret and the training that goes on here, hidden from others, as they could try to take advantage of you for their own—possibly bad—purposes.”

Coach Fred pulled out a thin iPad adorned with red sequins that matched his vest. “Before we can train you, and help you to develop your skills, each of you must promise to keep your talent and what goes on at this camp a secret.”

Walking over to Ryder, Coach continued, “If you agree to keep everything you see and do here a secret, place your palm on here and say I swear and your name.”

Ryder placed his palm on the screen and said his name. When he took his hand away there was a glowing green imprint of it on the screen. His voice played back saying, “
I swear, Ryder Jones
.”

Coach Fred walked around to each of them asking them to swear and provide a palm print. Everyone agreed, though some more quickly than others. Rosina needed additional convincing. Hugh asked Coach if it was a legally binding contract before he eventually agreed.

“Excellent. What a show! What a night!” Coach exclaimed. “That's it for now campers. We want to start fresh, first thing in the morning. Early chow at 8:00 a.m. sharp. Your first class meets at the lagoon dock at nine. Wear your swimsuits and do not be late.”

“Goodnight kids, get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon,” Ms. Sanchez added before disappearing just as suddenly as she had appeared.

At first they sat in silence. No one got up to leave. Ryder then looked at the others, shrugged, and took off. Rosina left with the twins, talking quietly. That left Tristan, Hugh, and Sam in the amphitheater.

“Wonder if my talent is swimming with sharks?” Tristan said.

“Maybe I can hear sea creatures,” Sam added.

They both looked at Hugh. He was resting his head in his hands, staring at the ground.

“C'mon, let's go. I'm sure we'll find out more tomorrow,” Tristan said.

“Yeah, I can't wait,” Hugh moaned.

5

A SWIM SURPRISE

A
T BREAKFAST THE NEXT MORNING
, T
RISTAN AND
Hugh met up with Sam. After eating they headed to the lagoon for their first training session. Tristan and Sam would have run the entire way—they were so excited to get started. But Hugh moved as if he was trudging through thick sandal-sucking mud. The three of them were still the first of the Seasquirts to arrive, but there were already others on the dock. Director Davis and the red-haired boy, Rusty, were standing near the end of the dock and Jade was just climbing out of the water. They were so engrossed in conversation that none of them noticed the young campers approaching.

“Any additional information?” Director Davis asked Jade.

“The dolphins are reporting more blasts and
they've detected an unfamiliar ship in the area. And some sharks have been killed—looks like finning,” she answered in a surprisingly unJade-like, less than perky tone.

Tristan, Hugh, and Sam hung back not wanting to interrupt, but they were close enough to hear what was being said.

Tristan whispered, “Finning, that's totally disgusting. It's when people slice off a shark's fins and then throw the dying shark back into the water.”

“Gross! Why would anyone do
that
?” Sam asked quietly.

“They use the fins to make soup in Asia,” Tristan answered. “I read that people pay lots of money for it—something like 200 dollars a bowl.”

“Yuck!” Sam said. “That's just nasty.”

Tristan and Hugh nodded in agreement, quietly inching closer to the dock to better hear what was being said.

“I don't like it. Things are very sensitive right now,” Director Davis said. “But we'd better send a small team in. It's a pretty remote area, and the evidence might be gone before the authorities get there—if they even bother.”

A large brown pelican hopped down from one of the dock's pilings. It waddled over and poked Jade's leg with its long bill. The loose pouch of skin between the bird's lower bill and neck jiggled like flabby arm skin.

Jade stepped to the side, pushing the bird away with a flick of her hand. “Stop it, Henry. Director, I can do the communications, let me go.”

“I can do the camo,” Rusty added.

The pelican poked Jade's leg a second time and again she shooed it away.

“Okay, take Rory as your swimmer and check in with Flash for tracking devices and gear. The helicopter will take you as close as possible and I'll arrange for a boat to meet you. Remember, our job is just to collect evidence. That's all. Stay out of sight and out of trouble. And above all else,
stay safe
. Wish we had an echolocator to go, but ever since we lost Roger, no one has shown the talent.”

A shadow of sadness passed over their faces. The pelican then reached up and this time stabbed Jade hard, right in the butt cheek.

“
Oouw!
Okay already. What is it Henry?”

To Tristan's great surprise, the pelican took a step back and turned to where he, Hugh, and Sam were standing.

“Well hello there,” Director Davis said, eyeing the three young teens. “Ready for your first day?”

“I think so,” Tristan answered.

“Jade, you and Rusty get moving,” the director said. “I'll catch up with you before you go.” He also nodded to the pelican. It then jumped back onto its perch.

“Roger that,” Jade replied as she and Rusty jogged off the dock, briefly nodding to Tristan, Hugh, and Sam.

“Here come the others,” Director Davis noted, looking to where Rosina, Ryder, and the twins were approaching. Coach Fred was also with them, his apparel was now quite drab—just your everyday
sequin-less swim trunks and polo shirt. A bulky blue backpack was slung over his shoulder.

“Welcome to your first day of training everyone,” the director said. “This is going to be an exciting day and there's no one better than Coach here to help you through it. But first let me ask you this, what made the angelfish turn red?”

Coach Fred rolled his eyes. The others looked confused, not sure what the director was asking.

“It blushed because it saw a ship's bottom,” Director Davis said expectantly.

Once they actually realized it was a joke, Tristan and the other young teens smiled awkwardly.

“That's a good one,” Coach Fred said, turning to the others in a way to obscure the director's view. He shook his head and silently mouthed “
NOT
,” which unlike the joke got a chuckle out of the campers.

“I'll leave you in Coach's very capable hands,” Director Davis said, hurrying away.