by Aimee Carter
“Come on!” said Jam, splashing his fins. “The water’s warm.”
Simon somehow doubted that, given how cold the cave was, but he closed his eyes and focused. His body began to shift, painlessly turning from human into dolphin, and as he took a breath and dived into the water, the transformation was complete.
“Whoa.” He gave an experimental kick with his tail and nearly barreled headfirst into the wall. The water was warm. “This is awesome.”
“Just wait until we get into open ocean,” said Jam, and with that, he swam into the depths of the tunnel. Simon followed.
He could see underwater—that was surprising, though he figured he probably should have guessed it. In front of him, Jam made a curious clicking noise, and Simon tried to imitate him.
Immediately something happened, though Simon wasn’t exactly sure what. He seemed to grow aware of the shape of the cave around them, and that the exit was no more than fifty feet ahead. Beyond that was ocean floor, and—
“Is this echolocation?” he said, stunned. “Is this how you always know where things are?”
“I guess,” said Jam as they approached the opening. “I don’t think about it too much. Technically I’m not allowed out on my own, and the General’s always too busy to swim with me, so I’ve never had the chance to ask if I’m doing it right.”
“But don’t you leave for drills?” said Simon.
“Sure, but we stick close to the city. You saw the platoons when we were approaching. Only the most experienced go very far.”
“Then how are you ever supposed to learn how to protect your kingdom if you don’t even know what’s in it?”
“Beats me,” said Jam as they swam through the cave exit. “The General keeps promising he’ll give me the grand tour, but—”
“’Lo there.”
Without warning, a huge great white shark appeared inches in front of Simon and Jam, cutting off their path to open water. The shark grinned, baring hundreds of sharp teeth as it circled them.
“Going somewhere?”
8
CHUM BAY
Simon had never been face-to-face with a shark before, not like this. The captain, who drilled the students of the underwater kingdom at the L.A.I.R, had usually remained a safe distance away while in shark form, although there had been one memorable occasion Simon had been underwater with him at the same time. Still, he’d known the captain wouldn’t eat him. This shark, he wasn’t so sure.
He was ready to beg forgiveness and swim back into the cave as fast as he could when beside him, Jam spoke. “Do you really have to do this every single time, Al? You know who I am.”
“Don’t know who that one is,” said a second great white shark, circling above Simon and Jam.
“He’s my friend, Floyd, so does it matter?” said Jam. “You’re going to let him through anyway.”
“Are we now?” The first shark—Al—tightened his circle. “And who says we gotta?”
“I do. And I’m going to be your General someday, so unless you want to be ground into chum first chance I get—”
“Yeah, yeah, we got it,” said the second shark, Floyd, from above. “Big talk for a couple of little dolphins. We ain’t had a decent meal all morning, but you’d barely make up an appetizer, the both of you.”
Simon kept his mouth shut, but he gave Jam a look that made it clear how much he wasn’t enjoying this. Jam shook his head irritably.
“You have five seconds to decide whether you want to fight me and have the entire underwater army come after you and your little gangs,” he threatened, “or if you’re going to look the other way like you always do and let us both go. Choose wisely.”
Al looked to Floyd, who seemed to be considering the offer. “Fine,” he muttered. “But next time, he’s ours.”
They stopped circling long enough for Simon and Jam to swim past, and it wasn’t until they were well out of earshot that Simon swore. “I thought Animalgams weren’t allowed to eat other Animalgams.”
“They aren’t Animalgams,” said Jam. “They’re real sharks.”
If Simon could’ve gone pale, he would have. As it was, he suddenly had a difficult time keeping his breakfast down. “We almost got eaten by real sharks?”
“Nah. Al and Floyd like to pretend to be all big and tough, but they’re mostly harmless,” said Jam. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, most real sharks don’t like us. They’re supposed to be kings of the ocean, and here we are, telling them we’re in charge. But the General mostly keeps the peace. And traditionally, the ruler of the underwater kingdom marries a shark Animalgam,” he added. “So that helps.”
Simon looked at him, startled. “You’re supposed to marry a shark?”
“A girl that can turn into a shark, yeah. There are a few families on the island.” Though Simon couldn’t see Jam’s face—and wasn’t even sure dolphins had expressions the way humans did—he didn’t sound very happy about it. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Yeah, it does,” said Simon, glancing around the open water. They were far enough away now that he couldn’t see the cave entrance, or its guards, but he still felt an almost undeniable urge to swim as fast as he could. “How can you stand this? The way your family treats you, all the rules and traditions—”
“I don’t,” said Jam, a flicker of something dark in his voice. “Sometimes I think it’d be easier if I ran away. Then the General would have to make Rhode his heir, and no one would bother me or bark orders at me, and we could all be happy. But then I wouldn’t have my family anymore. And they’re not all bad,” he added as Simon opened his mouth to protest. “I know how it looks, and I’m not saying it isn’t awful. But there are good moments, too.”
No amount of good moments could make up for the things they’d said to Jam at dinner, as far as Simon was concerned. “Family shouldn’t treat each other the way they treat you.”
“Mom sticks up for me most of the time. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she wants Rhode to be General, too—everyone does—but she doesn’t let them be too nasty.” Jam sighed. “It’s only for two weeks. Then we’ll go back to the L.A.I.R., and I won’t have to think about it for another six months.”
“What happens after school lets out?” said Simon. “You’re just going to let them keep this up?”
“I—” Jam faltered, his fins growing still. “I don’t know. Maybe it’ll be better by then.”
Simon knew it wouldn’t be, and Jam must have known, too. But if he wanted to stay, then there wasn’t much Simon could do to change his mind. “The things they say—you know they aren’t true, right?”
“They are,” said Jam in a resigned, matter-of-fact way that made Simon feel awful for him. “I’ll make a terrible General. I don’t like rules or traditions, and the thought of yelling at everyone all day makes me sick.”
“So be a different kind of General,” he said. “Be the kind of General people can look up to, not the kind they’re afraid of.”
“Maybe,” mumbled Jam in a way that made it clear he was done talking about it. “Where are we going?”
Simon hesitated, but pressing the issue wouldn’t help, not if Jam didn’t want to talk anymore. “I don’t know,” he said, letting the subject drop. “My mom’s old postcard didn’t say much. There were some facts about great white sharks, and she said that they were a ‘greatly misunderstood and feared breed,’ but she wouldn’t recommend befriending one no matter how chummy it seemed. Does that mean anything to you?”
“Maybe,” mused Jam. “There’s a place on Santa Catalina Island that the local sharks call Chum Bay. Lots of them hang out there, inside the bones of an old shipwreck.”
Simon wasn’t exactly excited about the prospect of facing even more sharks after dealing with Al and Floyd, but he didn’t have much of a choice. “Maybe we can swim by,” he said nervously. “See what it’s like.”
“They’ll never let us anywhere near the ship, but we can see if there are any more clues,” agreed Jam, and though Simo
n’s heart was pounding, he followed him toward Chum Bay.
He tried to remind himself again and again that he was an Animalgam, and there was no reason to be afraid of great white sharks when he could turn into one, but that didn’t help much. Instead, as the water grew a brighter blue and they approached the coast of Santa Catalina, Simon was so jittery with nerves that he almost couldn’t contain them. He wasn’t used to being this afraid, but now, out in the ocean, surrounded by nothing but water and animals he’d never seen before, he felt completely out of his element.
As they surfaced, Simon sucked in a giant breath, relieved to see the sky again. “What’s the plan?”
“Follow my lead,” said Jam. “The shipwreck’s in that cove over there.”
Simon looked at the picturesque beach with glittering blue water, and his stomach turned to lava. “Are there any animals sharks are afraid of?”
Jam thought for a moment. “Killer whales, I guess. They aren’t actually whales, you know. They’re more like us—like dolphins, I mean. But they’re huge, and they eat sharks.”
“Got it,” said Simon. “If any of the sharks come after us, turn into Shamu.”
“Or flip them on their backs,” said Jam. “If you do that, they won’t be able to attack.”
Tucking that nugget of information away, Simon took another deep breath and ducked back under the water. He mustered up his courage and followed Jam, and before long, a shipwreck began to take shape in the blue water.
It must have been a magnificent ship a hundred years ago, but now what was left of the wooden hull was covered in coral, algae, and barnacles, giving it the look of a thriving underwater neighborhood rather than the bones of a man-made vessel. From a distance, Simon couldn’t make out details, but almost immediately he spotted silhouettes so large they could only be sharks.
He and Jam took cover behind a large rock. “How many are usually here?” said Simon quietly, afraid of drawing the sharks’ attention.
“A dozen, usually,” said Jam. “Depends on the time of day. And you don’t have to worry about them hearing you. They’ve been able to smell us for the past ten minutes.”
That didn’t help ease Simon’s anxiety at all, and he peeked around the corner. “Then why are we hiding?”
“Because they’ve probably just eaten, and chasing us is too much effort. Unless we give them a reason.”
Simon’s fins twitched. “And I’m guessing trying to look for the piece would be the perfect reason.”
“Unfortunately.”
They watched the sharks lazily circle through the shipwreck, scaring off the other fish, and Simon tried to spot a pattern—any kind of pattern that might give him and Jam an opening. But even that was too risky, especially when they didn’t have much to go on. His mother could have meant anything with that chum comment.
With a sigh, Simon finally resigned himself to the fact that, for now, he wasn’t getting in there alone. Even if he shifted into a great white shark, they might ask questions he couldn’t answer, and as soon as they grew suspicious, Simon was sure he’d be a goner. And shifting into a killer whale might have chased them away, but he would be too big to look around, and they might decide to attack him anyway, since they would have the advantages in numbers.
Instead, he surfaced once more and looked toward the nearest beach on Santa Catalina Island. They were much closer now, and Simon could see dozens of people gathered on the sandy shore. At first glance, they could have easily been sunbathers and swimmers, but it didn’t take Simon long to notice that none of them were wearing swimsuits or wading out into the water. Even more chilling were the hundreds of birds perched in the trees around the cove.
“I think we found Orion,” he muttered, glancing nervously into the sky. Above them flew countless birds—hawks, eagles, falcons, and even seagulls joined in, honking noisily to one another. “They weren’t there before, were they?”
“No, they weren’t,” said Jam, gulping. “Come on, before they spot us.”
“I think they already have,” said Simon as a few hawks dived for a closer look. A screech echoed through the air, and he and Jam both ducked back into the water, swimming as fast as their fins could manage.
A pang of regret shot through him as they put distance between themselves and the cove, and it took him several long seconds before he realized why he felt like he was leaving something behind. His mother was on that beach with the birds, held captive by Orion.
No. Not held captive. She was choosing to stay with him, and Simon had to remember that. No matter how much he missed her, no matter how much he wanted to reassure himself that she was all right, there was no point in taking the risk to see her. It was too dangerous. Besides, he didn’t trust himself not to try convincing her to come with him, and right now, they didn’t have any time to waste.
“They don’t know we’re Animalgams, right?” said Simon as they swam deep enough into the water that the birds wouldn’t be able to spot them. “Maybe they weren’t suspicious.”
“Orion’s always suspicious,” said Jam. “If this gets back to the General—”
“He has no way of knowing it was us,” said Simon. “They think I’m an eagle, remember?”
Still, Jam continued to fret, until at last Simon had no choice but to try to distract him. “There must be other really cool stuff down here,” he said. It all looked turquoise and hazy to him, but Jam did perk up.
“My favorite spot isn’t far,” he said. “We still have time if you want to see it.”
After surfacing far from shore to take another breath, they headed deeper into the water. It was darker down here, with little sunlight reaching the ocean floor, and Simon shivered. With all its different creatures and glowing walls in caverns full of starfish, the underwater kingdom was spectacular, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that he didn’t belong down here.
“This is it,” said Jam proudly as they approached a gaping entrance. “It’s a huge maze of caves, and there are so many that I still haven’t explored every one. Pearl told me about it when I shifted for the first time last winter. I don’t think she was supposed to,” he added. “She told me I had to be careful not to come when my sisters were here. I think it’s their secret clubhouse or something.”
Simon looked around the murky ocean floor warily, half expecting another shark to pop up. Considering their morning so far, he wasn’t sure his nerves could take another unexpected visit from something with that many teeth. “Are you sure they aren’t here right now?”
“Probably not,” said Jam. “They all have drills.”
“Probably not?”
But Jam was already swimming through the mouth of the cave. Cursing to himself, Simon hurried to catch up, not liking this one bit.
“Which way do you want to go?” Jam had stopped at a fork twenty feet inside, waiting for him. Simon glanced between the two options.
“Right,” he decided. It looked lighter that way. And, he figured, if he only chose the right option, it would be easier to find their way out. So, again and again, whenever they came across a new choice, Simon went right.
“Are you doing this on purpose?” said Jam, but instead of sounding disappointed, he seemed almost giddy with excitement.
“Doing what?” said Simon, not wanting to explain that he simply didn’t want to get lost. Usually it was Jam who was the nervous one, not him.
“You’ll see. Choose right again,” said Jam, and obediently Simon did as told.
This tunnel was shorter and darker than the others, and as the walls began to close in, Simon wished he’d chosen left instead. But as soon as the tunnel seemed like it would never end, it opened up into a large cavern.
It wasn’t just any cavern, though. Like the planetarium, the ceiling was covered with bioluminescent liquid that cast enough light for them to see what was inside. This time, instead of sea stars, the floor of the cavern was covered in sparkling rocks and shells that reflected the blue glow. Some were small, no bigg
er than pebbles, but amid the quartz and corroding coins, Simon spotted what looked like real gems that were the size of his fist. His mouth dropped open.
“What is this place?”
“It’s an octopus garden,” said Jam. “You know, like the song.”
“What song?”
Jam stared at him. “You’ve never—” He hummed a few notes in his squeaky dolphin voice, as if that would jolt Simon’s memory.
“Sorry,” he said. “Uncle Darryl didn’t listen to much music.”
Jam shook his head, seemingly dismayed. “Never mind. Octopuses collect rocks and other shiny things, and they make these gardens. I mean, mostly they’re just hoarding stuff, but they’re cool to look at. The one that lives here is really old and cranky, but he’s almost always out in the morning. Isn’t it awesome?”
It was pretty great. Slowly the knot in the pit of Simon’s stomach loosened, and he relaxed as he and Jam looked around the garden. There were, as Simon suspected, real gemstones, though a small glittering stone in particular caught his attention. In the blue light, it looked like the starry night sky.
“Winter would love this place,” he said, picking up the rock with his mouth. “Gonna bring this to her.”
His words were garbled, but Jam seemed to understand. “We have to get back anyway,” he said. “It’s almost lunchtime, and if we’re late, the General won’t let me be your chaperon again.”
The last thing Simon wanted was one of Jam’s sisters breathing down his neck all day, so he followed Jam out of the caves without complaint. Now that they knew where they were going, it was quick swimming back to the entrance beneath Atlantis, and after Jam greeted Al and Floyd like they hadn’t threatened to eat them earlier, they headed up through the tunnel and into the open air. Simon spit the rock onto the ground and shifted back into a human, stretching.
“That was fun,” he said as he tucked the stone into his pocket. “I mean, except for the part where we almost got eaten multiple times.”
“I’m telling you, they wouldn’t have eaten us,” said Jam, who seemed to be in a much better mood now, and they continued their friendly argument as they climbed back up the slippery rocks. Somehow, through whatever magic gave them the ability to shift in the first place, their clothes remained dry.