by EJ Altbacker
The sharks all snapped their tails and dipped their snouts, yelling, “Yes, sir!”
“Good!” Barkley told them as he swam toward the thick kelp bed. “Wait for two minutes, and then come after me. I will meet you in the greenie!”
It took only a minute for Barkley to totally disappear in the thick kelp of the Hydenseek. He felt serene as his unit came after him. He watched most everyone pass in their too fast and too wild search for him. A pair of Vortex Shiver sharks who had decided to work together swam within a tail length of him.
The third Vortex shark, and last of the recruits to come in the greenie, Barkley struck from below.
And so it went.
Barkley caught Peen as he came around a rock without checking first.
Sledge got a bump to the gills when he was lured into a thin gap by a brain coral formation.
The pair of Vortex sharks Barkley dealt with at the same time, both tail strikes.
He led two other recruits into the thickest greenie and thumped them in the flanks when they got turned around.
Snork he found lying in wait. The sawfish had picked an excellent spot but was given away when his gills puffed up too much sand.
And Mari—she was the toughest. She was already well-trained from the time they had spent together. But Mari was so busy looking for threats from below that she forgot to check topside. Big mistake.
Within two hours it was all over.
Barkley had stalked and ambushed each and every shark in his group. He earned their respect—and a nickname: Ghostfin.
After that, everyone listened. They kind of had to, after all ten of them were soundly beaten by a dogfish. Ha! And Barkley discovered he had picked the correct sharkkind all right. They were gifted, lightning quick learners. And since they were some of the finest mariners in the armada before his training, in no time they could unleash complete destruction with the element of surprise that they now always had in their favor.
Soon, Barkley’s “students” could run ambushes against three and four times their own number of regular mariners. In a one-on-one battle inside the greenie, they were simply unbeatable. The other mariners in the Riptide United forces began referring to their special corps as Barkley’s Ghostfins, and the name stuck.
And when Finnivus finally arrived—now less than a week away—Barkley was determined that he and his ghostfins would help defeat the Black Wave armada.
“WHY DOES MY STOMACH HURT SO MUCH?” whined Finnivus. He lolled sideways against the Speakers Rock atop the blue whale that carried him. The royal court rode behind the Indi armada, which led the way, its many mariners seeming to combine into a mega-predator. Drafting in the armada’s wake, the royal court had an easy time of it and didn’t even slow down for eating. The current was leading them inexorably to Velenka’s old home at Riptide. She couldn’t wait to see the death and destruction that the armada would inflict on Gray and his friends.
But I want to be the one who gives the order, she thought.
Finnivus groaned again. “Oh, I—we—hate this!”
“Perhaps you’d like a little something to settle your stomach, My Magnificence?” Velenka asked. Finnivus got himself to a more regal posture. He always liked it when she called him My Magnificence.
Finnivus smiled, clicking his perfectly aligned, notched teeth dramatically. “Perhaps we should keep our strength up! Tydal!”
“Yes, Emperor!” Quicker than a sea snake, Tydal the First Court Shark was there. “What is your wish?” The finja had nothing on Tydal in terms of sneaking around invisibly. And he was stuck with an epaulette shark’s bright yellow and brown pattern all over his body! These were in addition to the two prominent black dots, one on each flank, which should have made him even more noticeable. But somehow, Tydal did abide.
“Have the royal seasoners prepare something.” Finnivus gave it some thought and then added, “Sunfish, I think. Yes, sunfish. Let’s make it hot and sweet, just like me.” Finnivus led the court in a group laugh, until it ended with a deep, rattling cough.
Velenka smiled to herself. The emperor looked so pale and frail. His skin had turned a grayish color, quite unlike its former robust sheen. She had recently fed the prisoners a large amount of the poisonous revulent greenie. Just one more good dose should be enough to carry Finnivus to the Sparkle Blue.
“Why not a prisoner, Emperor Finnivus?” she asked.
Finnivus turned. “What?”
“Shouldn’t we eat a prisoner to whet your appetite for when you’ll devour Gray?” Velenka put an adoring fervor into her eyes when she asked this.
Finnivus considered and called out to his court. “See why I, umm, we, plucked this mako from the muck and transformed her into a member of my royal court!”
Velenka felt herself actually preening. Apparently, she had grown fond of receiving attention from this fool! The sooner he was dead, the better.
Tydal zipped off but returned in a matter of moments.
“Your Majesty! The prisoners are all dead!”
Finnivus was in a good mood, though. Instead of flying into a rage at the epaulette, he smirked. “That’s impossible! We did not order them that way!”
Tydal bobbed his head to the sandy seabed they were moving over. This was hard to do and maintain your distance from the royal blue whale, but the epaulette didn’t put a fin out of place. “Forgiveness, Emperor Finnivus, I misspoke.”
“Well, speak without doing that! You are beginning to opud.”
Velenka sighed. The emperor was still trying to make everyone use the stupid word he made up.
Tydal dipped his head again. “What I meant to say is that all of our prisoners have died, without being killed by your order, or any of our sharkkind doing it. In fact, there are no bite marks.” And then Tydal looked straight at Velenka. “It’s as if they were … poisoned.”
Velenka grew very still.
He knows.
The emperor roused himself, realization lighting up his eyes. His rage grew. “Tydal, are you saying the reason I am ill is because I—we—are poisoned?”
“I believe so, Your Majesty.”
“STOP! STOP EVERYTHING!” Finnivus bellowed. The floating court slowed and then halted, sinking to the uneven ocean floor. The armada mariners didn’t know what was going on, but the new mariner prime was no fool. He split his forces into battle fins and circled the court in a defensive screen.
Velenka asked accusingly, “How would you know the prisoners were poisoned, Tydal? Are you an expert in poisons?”
She hoped the epaulette would melt before her accusation, but he did not. Tydal answered calmly, “As First Court Shark, of course I am,” he told everyone. “It’s one of my duties. I test all the food from the royal seasoners. But I do not check the prisoners.”
Oh, this was a disaster!
In Velenka’s eagerness to poison Finnivus and the court, she had obviously given the prisoners too much revulent. Instead of tainting their flesh as she had planned, it killed them instead!
I can’t believe my bad luck! she thought.
The emperor’s eyes narrowed on Velenka, and she knew it was her life on the line now.
“You mean that someone who is an expert in poisons could have been contaminating the prisoners’ flesh to kill the emperor as he ate them?” Velenka asked.
“I cannot say for sure.”
“You cannot, Tydal? Or you will not because it was you that betrayed our beloved emperor!”
Finnivus’s eyes turned toward Tydal, who seemed calm as a windless lagoon in the summer. The emperor waited for the answer.
“I cannot say for sure because it’s not for a lowly court shark to accuse anyone of anything.”
“He seems guilty to me, Majesty!” Velenka interrupted.
But Tydal continued, “Which is why—just in case of something like this—I asked the captain of His Majesty’s squaline to watch the prisoners as we traveled toward what will no doubt be a rousing victory over Riptide Shiver.”
Velenka’s insides froze.
Commander Hooktail, the new leader of the squaline swam forward from his position. He was a fat blue shark, one of the largest Velenka had ever seen. His body seemed to burst from its metallic armor covering.
Finnivus gestured with his tail. “Did you see anything odd, Hooktail? Speak! I command it!”
The muscled mariner bobbed his head. “Majesty, there were only three sharkkind from the royal court that went near the prisoner’s cages, or the food served to them: Ashara, Klarion, and Velenka.”
Velenka sprang into the silence before anyone else could. She knew that Ashara and Klarion were brother and sister and also members of the royal Line. It would have to be enough. “Emperor Finnivus! Ashara and Klarion must be trying to topple you! They are royalty! They want to lay themselves on your throne! I would never do anything like that!”
Klarion was struck dumb, but Ashara, his sister, shrieked, “You dare accuse me! You are the one! I had reason to be there!”
“Of course you did, you were poisoning my beloved emperor!” Velenka shot back, even though she knew this was a lie. Actually, the Indi mariner who had coughed during Finnivus’s speech and was put in with the prisoners had been a family friend of theirs, and that was why they had visited.
But too bad! This was life and death.
“Lies!” shouted Klarion, who found his voice. “How could you think this, Majesty? We have both known you since we were pups!”
This seemed to have some effect on Finnivus, who nodded thoughtfully. Ashara then added, “And how well do any of us truly know Velenka? She would have said anything to survive when you conquered her puny shiver!”
“I offered my life to His Magnificence on that day!” Velenka answered calmly. Luckily, she had learned the history of Indi Shiver, knowing one day her life might depend on it. That day was today and the time was now. “My loyalty to Finnivus Victor Triumphant is as deep and as constant as the tides! But your family has always wanted to lie on Indi’s coral throne! Treachery runs in your blood! Wasn’t your grandfather executed for plotting against Finnivus’s mighty father, Romulus? And here you are, doing the same thing while accusing me!”
Ashara and Klarion were aghast at having this family disgrace thrown in their faces and for a moment could say nothing. That was unfortunate for them. There was just enough truth in what Velenka said that Finnivus saw something in their eyes, or at least thought he did. Either way, it was a death sentence. He shouted, “Execute them!”
Ashara tried to make an excuse, and Klarion fought well. But both were dealt with in the end by the vicious squaline.
Then Finnivus looked Velenka’s way. Again, her insides went cold. “And what are we supposed to do with you?”
“Emperor Finnivus, I would never do anything to harm you!” she cried. “I have loved you from the moment you spared my life! I wish only to serve you!” Finnivus swished his tail back and forth. Velenka made sure she looked sad and thoughtful and then struck with her most effective tactic.
Crying.
Between sobs she said, “If you do not believe me, My Magnificence, then execute me this very moment and dine on my seasoned head! I only hope the meal is enjoyable for you as, you see, our family always did have bony heads. But with Tyro as my witness, I will swim the Sparkle Blue with a clean conscience.”
The emperor considered this. It looked as if he would forgive her, when—
“I believe her,” said Tydal.
What was the epaulette doing? The court shark was far too intelligent to blurt out of turn like that. And just as Finnivus was going to pardon her!
The emperor was equally amused. After all, Tydal had proved himself very able today and earned some current in which to swim. “What’s that, Tydal? You believe her? Who cares what you believe?” But Finnivus asked this more to get a chuckle from the court. He motioned for the epaulette to continue.
“I only say that I believe her, but surely if there were any doubt, Velenka would agree to share your dangers, both large and small, to prove her loyalty—”
Velenka pounced on this lifeline. “I would! Yes, My Magnificence! It wouldn’t matter how large the dangers, I’d face them!”
“Really?” Finnivus asked, growing interested. “You would share my dangers, both large and small, to prove your loyalty?”
Something about the way the emperor said those words bothered Velenka, as if they were part of some oath or code. She desperately wanted to ask questions, but it wasn’t the time. “Yes! Yes, I do!” she exclaimed loudly for everyone in court to hear.
After some thought, Finnivus nodded. “It’s settled then. You will share my dangers, both large and small, to prove your loyalty. If you survive, then you are surely loyal!”
Inside her mind, Velenka howled at Tydal. Just as she was going to swim free, the sneaky fish trapped her. She had to use every ounce of her will to keep smiling and not be sick. “It will be my honor, emperor! I will face any danger for you.”
“Oh, you’ll come snout to snout with all of them!” Finnivus said, laughing a little as he slapped his tail against the blue whale’s back. “You shall swim on the front lines of my armada!”
Velenka froze her face in a smile but couldn’t help gnashing her teeth once before answering. “I can’t wait for the opportunity!”
“And since I nearly ate poison just now, you should eat some.”
“I will bring it at once, Magnificence!” said Tydal. The deceitful court shark zipped away.
“But—but, Your Majesty!” cried Velenka. “It’s … poison!”
She cast her big, black eyes toward the throne, but this time Finnivus was unmoved and regarded her coolly. He stretched languidly, at ease with the potentially imminent prospect of her retching death. “Come, come, Velenka. Your loyalty and innocence will keep you safe.”
“I have the flank here!” Tydal said proudly, coming in from nowhere.
Of course the epaulette had found the flank of a very large prisoner.
WHALEM HAD REPORTED TO GRAY THAT THE advance scouts saw the Indi armada moving relentlessly toward the Riptide homewaters. They were well into the Southern Atlantis and would arrive within a week at the most. The fevered training everyone was going through would be put to use sooner than Gray would have liked.
Takiza studied Gray. “You are quiet.”
“A wise fish told me I should listen rather than speak,” Gray answered.
The betta nodded. “That does sound like something a wise fish would say. But surely he meant that you should listen instead of asking stupid questions.”
“The time for questions is over,” Gray replied as he looked out over the cool, blue waters. The terraced greenie had been neatly trimmed and looked spectacular. The long strands of kelp floating up from the base of the cliffs were tireless, constantly waving back and forth over the lower part of the mountain as if fanning it. Gray found this hypnotic and soothing.
Takiza watched with him for a moment, then said, “I cannot be here when you face Finnivus.”
“I know.”
There was a long silence where Gray could sense everything happening in the Riptide homewaters. He could hear crabs scuttling in the sand, felt small fish flitting about in the greenie around the coral mounds, saw sharks moving through the waters with deliberate movements, and, of course, their mariners training in massed formation barely a thousand tail strokes away.
Takiza let out an exasperated sigh. “Now is the day you do not ask questions? Today? When I tell you I will not be here? You do not want to know why?”
“You must have your reasons,” Gray replied. “And I don’t need another worry.” He felt at peace. Was that the reason for Takiza breaking him down? Definitely. And it worked. Gray was thinking more clearly than at any time since Finnivus had first come into their lives. “We can’t wait for you to save us from danger every time it appears. We have to do this ourselves, or the peace we gain won’t be valued as highly as it should be.”
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br /> Then Takiza did something unexpected. He flashed right in front of Gray’s snout and bowed deeply.
“You are no longer Nulo. I shall call you by your full, given name from this point forward. What is your real name? I do not know it as, until this point, it was not worth knowing.”
Gray was taken aback, and all he could say was, “I, umm, err, I …”
“Well? Do not hover there with your mouth open like a sea cow!” Takiza said, acting much more like the usual Takiza. “Perhaps I was wrong to do this? What is your full, given name?”
“It’s just Gray, Shiro,” he told the frilly betta, who swished his gauzy fins this way and that, considering.
“I think not,” Takiza finally told him. “But that is for another time. As it was, I do have much to tell you. Please do not spoil my decision of promoting you from Nulo. Demoting you in this very same conversation would be a failure on my part, and I do not enjoy failure. Understood?”
“Yes, Shiro,” Gray answered. “I will listen quietly.”
Takiza grunted and bobbed his head. “I went to see if something untoward had happened to the Seazarein.” The betta gave him a quick glance to see if he was going to ask a question, but Gray remained still. “What she told me was … distressing.”
Takiza didn’t say anything for a time. Finally Gray said, “Okay, if you’re just going to set me up like that—”
The brightly colored betta snapped his tail fin in annoyance. “I was gathering my thoughts! Sometimes you irritate me so. Never mind.” Takiza took a calming breath. “You realize that various sharkkind and dwellers know me. Know of what I have done through the years?”
Gray was confused, but it seemed his teacher did want an answer here. “Yes. You’re famous. I mean, everyone might not believe you’re real, but plenty of fins and dwellers have heard of you.”
“Correct. That is so,” Takiza said. “It began when I was young and foolish. I decided that I wanted those who would do evil to know my name. To understand I would come for them.”
“That sounds good.”
“Except that it is not!” Takiza shot back. “Forgive me. I am angered by my own youthful stupidity. I now know that to work behind a cloak of secrecy, to be thought of as myth—to remain unseen, and therefore, unmeasured—would have been a far wiser current to swim.”