Far From The Sea We Know (19 page)

“You seemed concerned that we not do or say
anything that Chiffrey could pick up on, but then you let him watch
the playback.”

The Captain almost smiled. “Hiding a little
of what happened out there this morning got Chiffrey. Then, giving
him a quick look at the sonar, we hooked him. He’s had a taste now
and wants more. My mind’s changed about cooperating. Without
anything to tell them different, the people who pull Chiffrey’s
strings will start to see us more as trouble than asset. They need
to know they need us. Then there’s Ripler.”

“Now, besides the Air Force investigation
disrupting the work of the students Jack blames me for the injured
whale.”

“He’ll use everything against us, but
especially if we come home with nothing. Ripler’s patrons on the
Board will call this trip a scandal and use it to push Penny’s
father into retirement.”

The Captain must have noticed how Matthew
looked at him, because he added, “And right after that, they’ll
sell the
Valentina
. We can’t wait. We either play this hand
‘all in,’ or we lose it all.”

“I think Jack’s losing it, and I don’t mean
his hand.”

“Always was that below the surface with
Ripler. His rigging’s strung too tight, but don’t underestimate
him. Or his friends.”

“What about the minisub? Why look for the
whale if you think it disappeared?”

“No one will believe what I just told you.
If we don’t look, later they’ll ask why not.”

The Captain opened a drawer, pulled out a
bottle of single malt whiskey and a glass and set them in front of
Matthew.

“Picked up a case of this when we were
moored in a little cove in the north of Scotland a few years ago.
I’m on duty, you’re not.”

“Well…”

“Just took you off. Have a shot, you earned
it.”

Matthew hesitated only a moment before
nodding his assent, and Thorssen poured him a double. The first sip
slid down like silken fire and turned into a second longer sip. The
Captain did smile this time. Before Matthew could take another,
there was a quick knock on the door.

“Captain, it’s Dirk. The whales are on the
move again!”

“I’ll be on the bridge in two minutes,”
Thorssen answered back.

“What are you going to do?” Matthew
asked.

“I’ll know when we get there.” Thorssen eyed
the still mostly full shot glass. “You’ll have to save that, more’s
the pity.”

Up on the bridge, Matthew stood well behind
Thorssen who was scrutinizing the departing whales. Becka was
beside him taking her turn at the helm.

“They just pulled together suddenly,” she
said. “All at the same time and synchronized again.”

“Follow them.”

“Then you’ll lose the lead whale, won’t
you?” Chiffrey said, slipping through the hatchway. “The one that
went down?”

“Can’t be in two places at once.”

“Maybe you can.”

Everyone looked at Chiffrey, and he went on.
“Remember our cruiser, the one on the way for the news team? She’s
sailing in a small convoy with a salvage vessel and a support ship.
We could send one of them after the whales, while you stay here to
search for the lead whale. I can get the authority.”

“I’m sure you can,” Matthew said.

“Hang on, boy, I’m not trying to steal your
show.” Chiffrey turned to Thorssen and Becka. “Wouldn’t it be
valuable to find and retrieve the dead whale—assuming it
is
truly dead—and still be able to follow the rest to see where they
go and what they do? You could even put some of your people on
board one of our ships. They have knowledgeable people on board
already…” His voice trailed off.

The Captain stared at Chiffrey and finally
said, “These ships you called were on the way here to track the
whales anyway, right?”

“We have an interest here. That’s a fact
neither of us can change. So, why not make the best of it?”

“Give us the rest of the story,” Matthew
said, “and maybe we can.”

“That’s not up to me. For the record, I did
recommend we fill you in on all relevant details. I didn’t request
the escort. I spoke against it. And I’m sticking my neck out by
telling you this.”

The Captain was silent for another moment
and then laughed. “Lot of necks stretched out lately.”

The comm buzzed and Thorssen grabbed it, but
only said, “I’ll take it in the chart room.”

The Captain barely glanced at Becka as he
said, “Follow the whales.” He left without bothering to see if his
order would be carried out.

Becka ran her fingers through her thick
curly hair a few times, before turning the wheel and bringing up
some speed.

“The Navy’s coming to help,” Chiffrey said.
“You think they’re going to steam in here firing depth charges or
something?”

She waved off his justification with her
hand and said, “The Captain was right. Your ships are going to
track them.”

Chiffrey seemed suddenly tired. “For the
record, I did tell them that it would be obvious to you. We’re just
trying to understand what’s going down here, same as you.”

“But there has to be more to it,” Matthew
said.

“Speaking of ‘more to it,’ you haven’t gone
out of your way to tell us about the whale ‘displacement,’ have
you?”

“Ripler filled you in?”

“Don’t have any names for you, boy.”

“Cut the ‘boy’ crap. I’m older than
you!”

“Calm down. It’s just a term of endearment
where I come from. No disrespect intended…Mister Amati. Listen, I’m
going to go check on the cameraman. See you all later.”

He left Matthew and Becka alone on the
bridge.

“With us gone,” she said, “there is nothing
to prevent the Navy from searching this area themselves and
recovering the carcass.”

“Do you believe we should stay?”

“No. Did you notice the whales are back in
lockstep?”

“After the leader disappeared,” Matthew
said. “I wondered if they’d go back to that.”

“She didn’t disappear, she’s dead.”

Before he could answer, Dirk came through
the hatchway.

“You’re early,” Becka said.

“I know, but I’d be happy to start now.
Could use a little focus.”

“Fine with me. It’s all yours.”

She stepped away from the wheel and
stretched, bending backward in a yoga arc.

“How is Jack?” Matthew asked her.

“Let’s go,” she said, not looking at him. “I
need to move.”

He followed her out onto a small deck just
below the bridge, and she stretched against the railing. She
started speaking, staring at the sea the whole time.

“He’s not so good. This whole affair has
been extremely hard on him, and the incident this morning…”

She stretched her arms up as high as she
could, then suddenly let them collapse as if unplugged. She still
did not look at him, but continued speaking.

“The injured calf and now the dead lead
whale—all terribly traumatic for Jack. Whether you believe it or
not, he cares deeply. He has his own ideas about how we need to be
responsible and effective, and to tell you the truth, they makes
sense to me. We can’t just appeal to people to love the planet or
something because it’s all so marvelous and fun. We don’t need
romantics at this point, damn it, there isn’t time for that
anymore. We need to be effective across the whole range of action,
including politically and economically. We have to prove to people
that it’s in their own best
financial
interest to manage the
oceans well, because that’s the only way we’ll get enough of them
behind us. That will mean making some tough choices. It’s too late
to save everything.”

She turned around and for the first time
looked directly at Matthew.

“Mary is with him. Somebody else took over
her shift at the tracking station. Jack trusts her completely. I’m
sure he’ll be okay.”

“Could I ask about what happened to him the
other morning?”

“What do you mean?”

He had a feeling she already knew what he
meant, but he said as calmly as he could, “You mentioned that
something had happened to Jack the morning before I got here.
Remember? He didn’t want to talk about it.”

“Yes. Well, I don’t know, it wasn’t—”

“Becka, please…”

She paused, and for the first time since he
had been onboard, seemed nervous.

“Let’s walk,” she said and abruptly stepped
down toward the fo’c’sle. They went all the way to the tip of the
bow. She faced him, her hands braced against the railing.

“He went blank for a few minutes,” she
said.

“Blank?”

“I asked him something, and he didn’t
answer. I looked over and repeated it, and he was just staring. His
eyes seemed out of focus. I looked at his monitor. It was
flickering.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, a glitch, I guess. Flickering
on and off, changing color. I switched it off.”

“Didn’t you think that was odd?”

“The gear malfunctions a few times a week.
It's a new rig, essentially we are taking it for a test drive. At
the time, I was more concerned about Jack. He was starting to hum
and…”

He did not say anything, just waited for her
to go on.

“I gave him a shake and called his name.
Nothing. He didn’t answer, just hummed a few notes over and over. I
started to get worried and shook him again, harder this time. I
rubbed his hands. I was about ready to call for someone when he
came out of it.”

“What did he say?”

“He didn’t seem to realize exactly what had
happened. He noticed we had lost the whales, but refused to go into
it.”

“Has he ever mentioned it since?”

“I tried to bring it up once, besides the
time when you were there. He just clammed up, so I dropped it.”

“You’ve known him a while.”

“Six years. I’ve never seen anything
remotely like this happen to him before.”

“Are you aware of any other unusual behavior
among the crew?”

“Maybe. Damn it, we’re losing perspective
here. I’m getting tired of all the hocus pocus.”

“I don’t blame you. What about the
Navy?”

“What about them?”

“Becka, they’ve got three ships on the way.
Do you think they’d be allocating this many resources just to track
down the cause of a technical anomaly?”

“I don’t know enough to say. Major trouble
with their front line defense radar could be reason enough.”

“But Lieutenant Chiffrey just mentioned the
displacement. They know.”

“In the context of you not
telling
them about it. He didn’t say he believed they really moved, and I
certainly do not.”

She stalked away a few steps, then whirled
around to face him. “Listen, this is not some boutique adventure
cruise to the Bermuda Triangle. We’re funded to do straight
research out here, not to delve into paranormal nonsense.”

“So, what do we do, just let the Navy take
over?”

“I don’t know,” she suddenly yelled, then
lunged forward and shoved him so hard he fell over. “Stop
haranguing me, damn it!”

He lay on the deck looking up at her,
shocked beyond words. She stood over him, her chest heaving.

“I’m sorry,” she said, then spun around and
darted off, breaking into a run before she disappeared through a
hatchway.

Great job of breaking the ice, Matthew
thought.

His arrival had disrupted her projects and
those of every student onboard. He was the natural one to blame.
Perhaps the albatross that had been hung around his neck belonged
there, but he was sick of trying to justify himself, and with still
no answers.

He looked at his watch. It was nearly noon,
which meant that the ship coming for the news crew should be
arriving in a couple of hours. He headed off to find Penny to see
how she was doing with the TV reporter. After asking around, he
wandered down a companionway, and soon heard their voices emanating
from a small equipment room that had been set up to house their new
guest. They were arguing.

He hesitated, but knocked anyway. “It’s
me.”

“Backup at last,” Penny said. “Door’s
open.”

He cautiously poked his head in to survey
the terrain. Penny was leaning back against the bulkhead right next
to the hatch, her arms folded in front of her. The newswoman was
reclining on an improvised bunk, and her annoyed look turned to a
smile as she looked up and saw him. “Can’t you do something about
this?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, Miss…”

“Hart. Lorraine Hart. Why can’t anyone
remember my name around here? Listen, I am really sorry about the
whale. I didn’t realize there was any danger. I’m sorry. It was an
accident. Anyway, the baby whale that got injured is almost
better.”

“Seems that way, but we’ll have to wait and
see. And the lead whale, she—”

“She’ll be fine.”

“Well, no,” Matthew said. “She was under too
long. She never came back up. They’re not fish. They need to
surface or they drown.”

“No, your whale will be all right. She said
so.”

Matthew gave Penny a quick glance. “Whatever
Penny told you, Miss Hart, we don’t know that yet.”

“Lorraine. It’s
Lorraine
,” she said,
“and your girlfriend here won’t tell me a thing. The whale let me
know.”

“You lost me.”

“Why can’t you hear?” She asked, looking at
him as if he was a sick puppy.

Penny shook her head. “She’s been going on
and on about this. Good luck.”

“All right, then,” Matthew said. “Can I ask
how you know that?”

“I have no idea. How could I?”

“Sure, of course,” he said softly. “But,
doesn’t it seem, well, a little odd?”

“No, not at all. It was just before she
left, but—ha hah…stop it, hey! Ha hah!” She laughed harder and
harder until her face turned lobster red. Tears rolled down her
cheeks and she doubled over into a ball, then abruptly
straightened, snorted a few times, and gasped for air.