by Rae Knightly
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Humpback
AS SUSAN PICKERING’S MOTORBOAT BOBBED
gently up and down in the bay of Deep Cove, Tike woke up to the sound of two men laughing loudly as they trudged along the pier with buckets, fishing rods and a picnic box. The white and brown Terrier lifted his head to watch them curiously.
The two men chatted and laughed as they loaded their motorboat which lay further down the pier. One of them pointed to the other side of the inlet, in the general direction of the island that was the Pickering woman’s home.
Tike pricked his ears, alert. He picked up the asthma inhaler with his teeth before jumping onto the pier. He slowed down until he saw that the men were busy placing their gear near the front of the motorboat, then hopped nimbly on board, before scurrying under a bench at the back. He glanced back nervously, but the men had not seen him.
Not long after, the motor rumbled to life. Then they were off, zipping away over the waters straight to the opposite side of the inlet.
Tike waited patiently before emerging from his hiding spot. He peeked out to watch the approaching piece of jutting land on which Susan lived. As soon as the boat was close enough to the island, Tike emerged from his hiding spot. He grasped the asthma pump tightly with his jaws, then leapt into the air before falling full force into the swirling, cold water.
The impact came as a shock. The dog almost lost his grip on the inhaler as he spun round under the water. He moved his paws frantically, trying to reach the surface again.
Tike’s head emerged between the waves. He swam feverishly with his ears back and the white of his eyes showing. The small waves lapped at his face, the salt stung his eyes, the cold was numbing. No matter how hard he paddled, his short legs didn’t seem to be bringing him any closer to the shore. Water was entering his throat, his jaw hurt from holding the inhaler and exhaustion was taking over. Soon only his snout was sticking out from the water.
Tike stopped swimming, surrendering to the flow of the tides. The dog sank down into the water…
…then his paws touched sand.
In a last effort, the valiant canine began swimming again, pushing against the sand to move forward, until his head was completely out of the water. He reached round, hard rocks which lay just below the surface. They allowed him to cover the last meters to the shore, where he stepped out onto the beach next to the short pier that he and Ben had left that very morning.
***
Inspector James Hao contacted his men as he paced the walkway in front of Granville Market, but the reports were fruitless. The boy was nowhere to be found. He scanned the river and harbor opening as he spoke over the phone, excruciatingly aware of how many small sailing ships and motorboats were coming and going. It was going to take a lot of manpower to check all the boats stationed within the small harbour, one by one.
He had barely hung up when his phone rang. It was Connelly.
Hao filled him in on what had happened at the Police Department, including the ant incident, followed by the boy’s escape from the frozen bathroom. When he finished, there was a silence at the other end of the line.
“What is it?” Hao asked, fully expecting Connelly to accuse him of making the whole thing up.
Instead, Connelly replied slowly: “Well, that makes sense.”
“What do you mean?” Hao asked.
“The preliminary results from the boy’s blood test have arrived. They need further research, of course, but the evidence is already pretty conclusive.”
“Well?” Hao urged.
“The blood sample does not match that of the other witnesses.” Connelly said. “Rather, it matches that of the aliens.”
Hao put his hand through his black hair streaked with grey above the ears, pacing from one end of the walkway to the other, as Connelly’s words slowly sank in his mind. “What are you saying, Connelly?” He asked carefully.
The agent’s voice came clearly over the phone: “What I’m saying, is that the boy’s blood is not human.” He paused for effect, before adding: “It looks like we’ve found ourselves another alien.”
***
On the island in the middle of the Burrard Inlet, Susan Pickering finished filling a basket with wood for the fire.
She walked back to her cabin, only to find the door ajar. She stepped inside carefully, noticing small, wet prints on the kitchen floor. The area around the dog’s bowls was littered with crumbs of dog food and splashes of water. The paw prints went on towards Laura’s bedroom.
“Ben?” Susan called urgently.
She dropped the basket, then rushed to the back, pushing open the bedroom door. She found a very ruffled Tike rolled up in a ball on the bed, fast asleep.
Laura’s head was propped up on a pillow with her eyes open. In one hand she was grasping an asthma inhaler. She showed it to Susan, saying with a frail voice: “Where’s Benji?”
***
The Haida Gwaii II sped onwards across the Strait of Georgia, heading further and further away from Granville Island.
Ben lay hunched over his knees, his feet resting on the edge of the bench in front of him, his head down between his arms. Around him groups of people chatted away excitedly over the loud humming of the motors, making funny faces as they took each other’s pictures in their fancy orange suits and lifesaving jackets.
Others were reading the whale watching company pamphlet, trying to memorize the names of all the different types of whales they might encounter. The list was quite impressive, as it included Killer, Humpback, Minke and Blue whales, as well as Pacific white-sided dolphins.
Someone patted Ben on the back. He looked up, startled, then sniffled as he wiped his nose on his arm.
“Have some chocolate.” Mrs. Stenner, the old widow from the pier said gently, offering him a chocolate bar. “You’ll see, it will help with the sea-sickness.” She waved the bar at him, so he took it gratefully. “Harold’s pockets were always full of them.” She chatted amiably: “He didn’t eat them himself, mind you. He was always careful about his diet, poor dear. But he did it for me. He knew I would always ask him for one, my Harold did.” She stared into the distance, remembering.
Munching hungrily on the chocolate, Ben said with a full mouth: “I’m sorry I got you into trouble.”
Mrs Stenner clicked her tongue: “Tut, tut! I won’t hear of it. My Harold always paid for two tickets, and so it will be this year too!” She patted him on the leg, before adding: “Now you relax, dear, enjoy the trip. You’ll see, when you get back, everything will be all right.” She got up, humming to herself as she strolled around the boat.
Ben sighed, then decided to explore the boat as well. It was made up of three decks: the bridge deck with the cockpit, the main deck with outer and inner rows of benches to accommodate the tourists and the lower deck with machinery and the captain’s quarters. Thick, white clouds were rolling across the sky, once in a while letting some sunshine through, while seagulls swooped down around them, squawking. Ben wasn't invested in the scenery around him. The fact that he had had a panic attack on Susan’s motorboat that morning crossed his mind, but all he could think of right now was his mom and Tike. How was his dog ever going to make it all the way to Susan’s island?
I miss you!
He settled down near the front of the boat, below a jutting window from the indoor tourist area. A great exhaustion came over him. It had been a long day, full of intense emotions. The boat's engines were running smoothly and evenly over the water. The sound lulled him. The occasional sunshine warmed him as he huddled away from the sea breeze. Before long his head was bobbing until it rested against the wall, and he fell into a deep sleep.
***
About two and a half hours later, up in the cockpit of the Haida Gwaii II, Captain Oliver Andrew was sipping on his cup of hot coffee, when a crewman turned and stretched out the phone to him: "Captain, it's the Coast Guard. They want to speak to you directly."
The broad-faced Captain picked up t
he receiver, speaking with a distinctly Australian accent: “Captain Andrew here." He listened for several minutes, before saying: "That seems highly unlikely, Sir. But send over the report: I’ll have it checked out by my crew."
He hung up, drummed his fingers on the dashboard impatiently, then turned around as the fax machine came to life. A crewman picked up the document that had just printed, then handed it over to him. The Captain read it with curiosity.
“J-Pod, 3 miles north-west.” A crewman announced, pulling the Captain out of his toughts.
Captain Andrew placed the arrest warrant with Ben Archer’s face on it on the table, then took his binoculars to inspect the area of interest.
A family of about 20 orca - also called an orca pod - were frolicking in the open waters some ways ahead of them.
“That oughta keep Mrs. Stenner happy.” The Captain muttered half to himself, though the crewman overheard him and chuckled.
Behind them the young sailor who had been checking the boarding tickets entered. He searched his jacket hanging from a hook in the wall, pulled out a sandwich wrapped up in aluminum foil and sat down at the small table in the middle of the cockpit. He was about to take a big bite out of it when the Captain noticed him: “Better hurry with that, Egor. I’m announcing a J-Pod in 2 minutes.”
The tanned sailor with tattoos on his muscled arms pulled the sandwich away from his mouth to answer: “Yes, Captain.” As he lifted the sandwich to his mouth again, he spotted the up-side-down arrest warrant. He gasped. “That’s that old widow’s grandson!” He said, as he picked up the paper, turning it the right way up.
Captain Andrew let go of his binoculars in a hurry: “What did you say?”
Egor was still holding his sandwich in one hand and the paper in the other. He nodded towards Ben’s face: “Yes, that’s him, the boy who’s travelling with that woman… er… what’s her name again?” He frowned as he tried to remember.
“Mrs. Stenner?” The Captain offered.
“Yes, that’s it! She couldn’t find the boarding tickets for her grandson and herself, remember?”
The Captain and the sailor exchanged a glance as they began to grasp the situation.
“Get Mrs. Stenner up here, would you?” The Australian ordered.
“Yes, Captain!” Egor answered, getting up in a hurry, the sandwich now forgotten on the table.
The engines stopped close to the orca pod as the young man left the table in search of Mrs. Stenner. Speaking over the loudspeaker, the Captain invited the tourists to watch the black and white animals from the rear end of the deck, which they did in an instant, clicking away with their cameras as the animals played in the water.
In the cockpit, Captain Andrew could hear Mrs. Stenner’s voice long before she reached the top of the stairs. As soon as Egor opened the door for her, she exclaimed excitedly: “Thank you so much for inviting me up here Captain! I…”
“Mrs. Stenner!” The Captain interrupted, holding up his hand to silence her. “Please, Mrs. Stenner, didn’t you say you were travelling with your grandson? I was hoping you might have brought him up here with you.”
The old widow stared at him blankly: “Grandson? What grandson?”
Captain Andrew scowled as he waved the arrest warrant in her face: “This grandson?”
She squinted to see the image better, then giggled: “Oh! That boy! This is his first trip, you know? But that’s not my grandson, by the way. I have 6 grand-daughters and only one grandson! Can you imagine? He just turned 3…”
“Mrs. Stenner!” Captain Andrew scolded, “Are you telling me you lied to me? And that I now have a stowaway kid on board my ship?”
“Ooh!” Mrs Stenner quipped, wide-eyed: “A stowaway! Well how about that…” She stopped as Captain Andrew held up his hand again. He stared down at his feet with gritted teeth as he fought to remain calm.
***
Ben woke up to the sound of excited shouts. He blinked and searched the boat with his eyes, then realized all the tourists had flocked to the back of the ship to observe the group of orca that was apparently putting on quite a show.
The ship’s captain quietly spoke over the loudspeakers, explaining the nature of the orca family, where they came from, how old they were, what they ate, and even named some of the individual orca, recognizing them by the shape of their tails and dorsal fins.
Ben didn't have the energy to participate in the excitement at the back of the boat. He was still tired and hoped to catch some more sleep. At least that way he wouldn’t have to listen to his worried thoughts or his grumbling stomach. He closed his eyes again, but could not find any peace of mind this time. He had an eerie feeling of being watched. When he realized there was no-one else there, he settled down again.
That’s when he saw a great humpback whale basking at the surface of the water right in front of him. Ben blinked, thinking at first it might be a large rock. But then he saw the big, black eye staring at him silently, as the beast swam along gently, accompanying the gentle swaying of the boat.
Ben looked around, discovering that he was the only one who had noticed the huge mammal. He slid down from his comfortable spot and approached the edge carefully, afraid any sudden movement might frighten the great beast away. It remained there, motionless, captivating him with its one huge eye. Boy and whale gazed at each other with curiosity. Ben felt an awe towards the animal that he had never before thought possible. In his mind, he could hear the muffled silence of the deep sea, while the immensity of the ocean was reflected in the whale’s eye. There was a sense of great freedom, in the vastness of the open waters, away from the sounds of humming motorboats, of wind and rain, drifting at will over miles and miles of open waters.
"What are you looking at?" Ben said softly, as the whale swam level with him. "Are you going to keep me out of trouble?" He asked.
As if in answer, the whale spewed out a loud stream of air and water through its blow hole before sinking slowly beneath the surface like a ghost.
Beware…
"Hey, kid!" someone barked behind Ben. "Free ride's over now."
Ben whirled around to face the sailor in his black
t-shirt and jeans, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly nauseous, though he couldn’t tell if it was from motion sickness from the boat or something brought on by the whale.
"You'd better come with me,” the sailor said. “The Captain wants to speak to you."
He was standing very close to Ben to show he meant business. It crossed Ben’s mind to make a run for it, but he had to give in to the obvious: there was nowhere to run to.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Haida Gwaii II
WHEN BEN ENTERED THE COCKPIT, CLOSELY followed by Egor, the Captain was waiting for him with his hands on his hips. The Australian was about to say something to the young sailor, when he wrinkled his nose, saying: “Ugh, what’s that smell?”
Egor fidgeted as he remained by the door: “Sorry, Captain. The kid threw up on my shoes on the deck.”
The Captain glowered: “Well, what are you waiting for? Get cleaned up! And take care of that deck, too, I don’t want anyone slipping and hurting themselves.”
The sailor opened his mouth to object, but the Australian glared at him in warning. Egor straightened: “Yes, Sir!” He said hastily, before exiting the cockpit.
Ben concentrated on remaining standing: his legs were like jelly. He felt terribly awkward standing before the Captain with his huge orange waders and jacket. The Captain waved him over to the table so he could sit down. The smell from Egor’s abandoned roast beef sandwich left Ben’s stomach churning, though, curiously, he couldn’t tell whether it was from being seasick or from being extremely hungry.
“I’m Oliver Andrew, Captain of the Haida Gwaii II.” The Australian introduced himself.
Ben glanced at him shyly. “I’m sorry I threw up on the deck.” He said apologetically “…and that I didn’t pay for my ticket.”
The Captain crossed his arms. “Do you really
think this is about an unpaid ticket, son?” He asked. “Tell me, do you know how many people are on board this ship?”
When Ben shrugged, the Captain explained: “There are 47 tourists and 6 crewmembers, me included. That’s 53 in total. 53! Not one more, not one less. And I’m responsible for all of them. In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re way out in the middle of the Strait. Should we run into any trouble, we’d be on our own here.”
He paused to make sure he had the boy’s attention. “So,” He continued, “If we were to run into any kind of trouble, I’d be looking to save 53 people. Not 54. If you were to slip and fall into the water, no-one would know to look for you, because no-one would have known you had snuck up onto the boat.” He turned to look out at the vast sea - Ben's eyes following his. “Do you see, now, why you did a very irresponsible and dangerous thing?”
Ben stared at the floor.
I understand full well.
“Now,” the Captain said, “For the safety of my passengers and crew, I want to know what’s going on. Why are you here and what did you do, son?” He waved a finger at him.
Ben glanced up at him angrily: “I didn’t do anything!”
Captain Andrew shoved the arrest warrant towards him: “That’s not what it says here, mate. This CSIS guy seems to think otherwise.”
Ben sat back, his heart sinking.
The Captain waited for him to respond, but since he didn’t reply, he finally said: “Fine, have it your way.” He took the paper from the table, then picked up the speaker from the marine VHF radio: “I’m sorry, son, but whatever trouble you’re in, you’ll have to face the consequences. You’re too young to be dragging arrest warrants behind you.”
He said into the speaker: “This is Captain Oliver Andrew from the Haida Gwaii II, over.”
“This is the Coast Guard, over.” A woman answered.