When they got to the railing, Ms. Hatattii was pointing off in the distance. “They’ve already harpooned one, but I think if we are quick enough, we can cut the lines,” she yelled over the wind.
Beside Shalie, Callum nodded.
Binoculars were passed around. It was shocking to see the whaling act first hand. Such cruelty and for what? Products that were now easily synthesized? It was horrific. She wanted to put a picture of harpoon sticking out of living, breathing creatures on every cosmetic that used these products.
The boat’s engines kicked into high gear as they cut across the waves, aiming for the whaling vessel.
“You are an experienced boatman, correct?” Hatattii asked.
Callum nodded. He was an expert at anything that pertained to the sea.
He turned to everyone. “You guys ready?”
There was a unanimous nod, even Quax got in on the action.
Shalie pulled in a huge breath as the dingy was lowered into the roiling waters.
She’d nodded, but was she really ready?
* * *
Nami shivered even though she had on a dry suit as Dillon lowered himself down into the inflatable boat. It was going up and down way too much.
Finally she admitted the truth before she hurled over everyone. “I can’t,” she whispered to Shalie. “I just can’t.”
Shalie patted her on the back, almost as if she would like to join Nami. “It’s okay, honey, just go up to the bridge and watch from there.”
Nami bit her lip. She should be stronger. Or at least her stomach should be. “Tell Dillon it isn’t about the danger…”
Shalie patted her shoulder. “Honey, even it if was, Dillon would understand.”
Nami thought that was true, but she really didn’t want to see the look of disappointment in Dillon’s eyes.
“Now go on,” Shalie said, urging Nami up the steps to the bridge.
Slowly, regretfully, Nami climbed the stairs. She opened the door, letting in the storm. Everyone frowned as they turned to her. Quickly she closed the door, cutting off the howl of the wind.
She scanned the bridge. Pretty much it was just the crew minus Ms. Hatattii and the journalist.
“Where is Mr. Stetterson?” she asked.
Captain Meadow turned to her, a lazy smile on his face, the one he always had, no matter the conditions, “Oh, he’s going with the boat.”
Nami felt her eyes dilate. This was news to her. “Does Callum know?”
“He does now,” Meadows said indicating down to the dingy.
* * *
“No!” Callum shouted into the wind. “Absolutely not.”
He stood in front of the supposed journalist, blocking him from sitting down in the bucking dingy.
“Not your boat, mate,” Stetterson countered. “I have permission from Hatattii.”
Callum looked up to find the woman waving them off. “What are you doing? Get out there!”
There really was no time to argue. That whale’s life depended on swift action.
“Sit down then and hang on,” Callum barked, moving swiftly to the large outboard motor. He fired it up as Dillon loosened the lines that secured them to the boat.
Within seconds they were off crashing head first into the waves, cutting their way over to the whaling vessel.
These weren’t the whaling ships of yesteryear. This whaling vessel was all fiberglass and steel. The harpoon racks were bolted to the deck. Plus there were armed guards along the railing.
Callum couldn’t worry about that. His only concern right now was the whale.
“Get ready!” he yelled. Quax and Dillon were already all over it.
Dillon had the large wire-saw up and primed.
Callum took them between the whaler’s hull and the whale.
They might only get one shot at this.
* * *
As much as Dillon wanted to be the one to cut the whale loose, he knew that his friend was better equipped so he handed the saw to Quax.
The inflatable surged forward, now protected by the bulk of the whale, zipping along the hull. They were lucky his father was driving. He could thread a marine needle at twenty knots an hour.
Quax hit the first line, the saw cutting right through the line, freeing one out of the six harpoons from the whale.
Six harpoons. How did a whale have a chance against these odds?
But this is what they were here for. The second and third lines went down just as quickly. Even though injured and bleeding badly, the whale could sense his freedom becoming a reality.
Instead of laying there as he had been, the whale now actively tried to get away.
They hit the fourth line, but it was reinforced braided line. They couldn’t cut through it on the first pass.
“We need to go back around!” Dillon yelled as the fifth line went down.
His father cut a tight left turn, going around the whale, heading back for a second pass.
The Norwegians weren’t taking this sitting down though. Rifle fire peppered the water around them. Luckily, the storm was knocking their aim off. One bullet pinged off Quax and nicked Dillon in the chin.
Boy, was he glad Nami wasn’t here.
They made their way around the whale and ducked back between the great beast and the ship, giving them some shelter from the gunfire.
This time his father slowed down, coming in under the braided line that whalers called the anchoring line.
Well, it would have been if not for Quax, who finished cutting through braid.
It broke with a satisfactory snap, whipping its way back up to the deck of the whaling vessel.
Now only a single weak line held the whale, but not for long. The whale could taste its freedom and surged ahead. The line went taut. They didn’t get there fast enough, as the whale pulled the line right out of the ship’s deck.
Breaching once, the whale dove out of sight.
That was when the Norwegians lost it.
CHAPTER 3
Shalie ducked as bullets flew all around her. They were out in open water and the dingy was taking quite a few hits. The sound of hissing air filled her ears. The wind a distant cousin.
She slapped a hand over the largest hole, knowing it wouldn’t do much good, but she had to do something. Callum was trying his best, zigging and zagging through the water, trying to give the Norwegians a moving target.
This was bad. The whalers weren’t giving up without a fight. They were actually chasing the dingy.
Ever since the laws had been changed to grant exclusive jurisdiction over whaling in international waters to the international courts, whaling ships had become armed vessels. The international courts were slow and generally ill-suited to deal with whaler’s crimes. So the whaling fleets had become nearly militarized, confident they could repel protesters with force with minimal risk of consequences.
And they were definitely showing their forceful side.
“Dad!” Dillon screamed, pointing out the way the whale had gone. Was the whale coming back? What was going on?
Then Shalie saw it. A dorsal fin. And not any dorsal fin.
That was a Great White. She knew it too well.
While it wasn’t crazy to think a shark would find all the blood from a whaling operation curious, it so seldom happened that Shalie’s belly tied up in a knot.
This was no accident.
Callum, turning, looking furious confirmed her suspicion.
* * *
“Take the helm!” his father yelled. Dillon leapt over Shalie to get in position, taking the handle of the motor from his father.
“What did you do?” Callum screamed at Stetterson.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Stetterson whined.
Not very brave now.
Callum forced Stetterson’s face toward the oncoming shark.
“I repeat,” his father yelled over the wind. “What did you do?”
Stetterson began sobbing. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
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That was not good.
His father looked up. He and Dillon locked gazes.
This was bad. Way bad.
His father gave the nod. Dillon knew that nod. He’d seen it way too frequently in the past year.
It was time to get the women to safety.
But how?
There were three other dorsal fins on the way in. Whatever Stetterson used to bait the sharks, it was working extremely well.
Plus they were taking on water. Although Quax was on it. He was using his jet propulsion to pull water from the inflatable and spray it out over the side.
However the Norwegians were also on their tail, firing at will.
Dillon had no idea how to stop them.
* * *
“How did he do it?” Nami asked Ms. Hatattii.
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” the woman replied. By the stricken look on her face, Nami believed her.
“Stetterson! He must have brought some kind of shark attractant on board,” Nami explained. She turned to the captain. “What did he bring on board?”
Meadows answered as he steered. “Just his personal gear and a few crates.”
“Crates? What does a blogger need with crates?” Nami asked.
The captain shrugged. “I thought it was maybe camera gear?”
“He’s a blogger, not a vlogger,” Nami stated. No one in the room seemed to know what she was talking about. “Did anyone see him with anything that didn’t look right?”
She spun around to face the crew. One of the girls that cleaned the rooms stepped forward. “He was putting a boom over the starboard side this morning.”
Nami didn’t even ask for help, she just jetted off the bridge and down the stairs, racing to the starboard side. She found the boom and pulled it out of the water.
The sound was odd and screechy. She knew it had sounded different under water. Nami looked to the tape. “Sounds of baby seals.”
Dear God, it was a chow call for sharks. She found another tube and pulled it out of the water. It was blood red. Seal blood. A Great White’s favorite prey.
Stetterson had intentionally drawn sharks to the area. Add in the whale blood and those sharks were as hopped up as a gangsta’ rapper mainlining cocaine.
Even though she had turned off the equipment, they were past the point of no return. Those sharks had come for a meal and they were intent on getting one.
What had Stetterson been thinking? He was out on that boat. Clearly, he hadn’t thought it through at all. It was one thing to blog about sharks from the safety of your mom’s basement.
It was quite another to be in the water with them.
Nami didn’t envy him a bit.
* * *
Shalie shoved the blubbering Stetterson off of her. Callum had given up trying to get information out of the man and went back to trying to get them out of this mess.
The sharks were circling as the inflatable continued to lose air and began sinking. And the Norwegians weren’t looking like they were backing off at all.
It was like they were in a vice, slowly being squeezed to death.
Then one of the sharks got brave, coming straight for them, mouth wide open.
Almost as if it were in the distance, Shalie heard herself scream. Or was that Stetterson? Did it matter?
The shark lunged, biting into the prow of the dingy, ripping the rubber. Everyone who was in front leapt out of the shark’s way, but it wouldn’t be long now.
The boat was taking on water faster than even Quax could pump it back out.
The whaling ship was heading straight for them. This wasn’t going to go well.
She was glad she had her affairs in order.
“Come on!” Dillon yelled.
Come on to what? Shalie had no idea what the teen was thinking as the ship bore down on them. Then Quax leapt, straight out over the water. His prehensile tail catching hold of the metal ladder that went up the prow of the whaling ship.
The robot had been carrying a wire with him.
Dillon hooked on and Quax pulled him to the ship just as it plowed into the dingy.
Shalie was about to go overboard when an arm caught her, pulling her up. It was Callum.
Stetterson was too far to the side and went overboard.
His screams were cut off all too quickly. His body jerked down under the water in a pool of red.
He had paid the maximum penalty for his crimes.
Not that Shalie felt all that sorry for him. Not after what he had done.
Callum and Shalie hit the side of the hull. She lashed a hand out to grab one of the metal bars.
She didn’t deny the irony that the whaling ship had just saved their lives.
The sharks were following, churning in the water, waiting for their turn. They weren’t stupid. Their prey hadn’t gotten far. A full-sized shark could jump six to eight feet out of the water.
They were not safe. Not yet.
* * *
Nick checked his phone while he was in the waiting area for Navy detainees. He had been sitting here for hours, waiting to visit with Zoya. His high-priced lawyers had done everything they could, but she was still detained.
“Threat to National Security,” got the government pretty much carte blanche when it was invoked.
It had taken nearly two days to get permission just for him to visit.
They were saying that Zoya had only befriended him to get access to an American Visa. They thought her some kind of seductress. Which, given the fact they hadn’t even held hands yet, indicated that it was basically the lamest seduction in the history of seduction.
What information could she get from him anyway? He might have played the president three times, but the only situation room he had access to was made out of plywood.
This was just stupid bureaucracy.
He looked down at his phone. Nami should have texted by now. She had promised to text before they got into the water. She was usually so responsible. Too responsible. Like a forty-year old in a teenager’s body.
But she had to pick this day to be a carefree teenager?
The door opened and an officer indicated that Nick could come through into the visiting area. As he rose, the muted television screen caught his eye.
Something about a live feed from a whaling protest.
To his shock he found his future son-in-law clinging to a whaling ship.
Where was his daughter?
CHAPTER 4
“You’ve got to do something,” Nami yelled at the captain.
The Norwegians had sent sailors down the metal stairs and were kicking at Quax’s hold. Not that they were doing to get that far with the robot, but soon they would start on the others.
“What exactly do you want me to do?” the captain asked.
“Ram them if you have to, but do something!”
Ms. Hatattii stepped between them. “I feel sorry for your people, but --”
“Hell, yes!” Meadows cried.
Nami smiled. They both knew exactly what the CEO had been going to say.
Meadows changed course, now heading straight for the oncoming whaling vessel.
Nami grabbed hold of the console. This was the worst game of chicken ever and the Norwegians didn’t look like they were going to back off. And the sharks were keeping up, not allowing their prey to escape.
At the last moment, the Norwegians blinked, turning to port. Meadows spun the wheel taking them in the opposite direction. They skimmed by the prow of the whaling ship.
Dillon, Shalie, Callum and Quax jumped off the Norwegian ship and landed on the deck of theirs.
Despite the howling winds and pelting rain, Nami dashed out the bridge door and ran over to Dillon and the others.
They hugged until a large wave, one created by the wake of the Norwegian vessel, rose over the bow of the boat. A dorsal fin stuck up from the wave.
A Great White was coming straight at them and there was nothing they could do. Nami vaguely w
ondered who would play her in the Lifetime movie of this disaster.
Then another, larger, form created a shadow within the wave. It was scarred and still bleeding, but thank god it was sentient.
The whale, it had come back for them.
Just as the shark was about to crest the railing, the larger whale threw his weight into it, knocking the shark off course. The Great White fell to the side, disappearing into the storm-churned waters.
The whale breached to the side, showing off his massive belly almost like saying “Favor returned.”
* * *
Nick whooped as he watched the environmental boat pulled away. He raised his hand to the guard, who did not complete the high five. Awkwardly Nick lowered his hand.
“That’s my daughter!” he couldn’t help but exclaim. “She’s safe!”
The guard’s expression didn’t change. “Are you going to visit or what?”
Nick didn’t bother to respond. The guard just didn’t get it.
“Yes, yes I am.”
Nick’s phone jangled at his hip. He grabbed the phone to read the text. It was from Nami.
“Just checking in, dad.”
That was his daughter, always burying the lead. He texted back. “So how are things going?”
There was a slight delay. Was she really going to try and pull off the most audacious text lie?
“Other than a little sea sickness, nothing big to report.”
“Really?” Nick texted back to the annoyance of the guard. “Because I just watched this…” he sent the link to the boat’s live feed. “You are so busted.”
Another delay. He could imagine his daughter sitting there, biting the edge of the thumbnail. Dillon hovering over her, both trying to figure out how to respond to that one.
Finally the text came… “Busted but alive, dad. Busted but alive.”
He couldn’t help but smile. How could he punish a daughter that wouldn’t go out with her boyfriend until her homework was done?
He just wrote back, “Touché.”
Then he followed the guard through the door. They walked a little ways down the hall when an officer met them. After salutes all the way around, Nick’s guard left and the officer guided him down a side hallway.
Apex Predator Thriller Series Collection (Including the blockbuster new shark park thriller, Salechii) Page 54