Into the Abyss (5 page)

“What are you doing, dog-breath?” yelled Striiker, somehow right next to him.

“Umm, nothing?”

Stupid! I let my mind wander! Barkley yelled inside his head.

“Oh, it wasn’t nothing, doggie!” roared the great white. “You were daydreaming!”

Barkley stammered, “I—umm—”

“That wasn’t a question!” Striiker shouted in his ear, causing Barkley to wince. “I can tell you were dreamin’ of a nice, fat fish for dinner. Of hovering in a warm, cozy current while you ate it! Tell me I’m wrong, doggie!”

He actually
had
been thinking of that earlier. Had Striiker developed some sort of mind-reading powers recently? No, no, I’m just woozy from the pressure in this place, he thought.

“What do you have to say for yourself, doggie?” In his capacity of drill instructor, Striiker insulted everyone, but Barkley thought that as a dog shark, or dogfish, he got a little extra. He tried not to take it personally, but this rankled. No one seemed to respect dogfish.

Wisely, Barkley didn’t mouth off. The entire group had learned that if anyone said
anything
, Striiker would add another hour to their training. He stuck to his attention hover, eyes forward, mouth closed.

The great white grunted and swam to his position in front of the formation. “Okay, back to it! This time with feeling!”

The group roared, “Yes, sir!” and began shifting formation as Striiker called out the commands.

Barkley sighed. Only two hours to go.

GRAY GULPED DOWN HIS THIRD FISH OF
the night. “You should try the sea trout with hot seasoning.”

Lochlan had insisted that Gray take a night off to stop worrying about Finnivus. Of course Gray didn’t want to. There had to be something to do to prepare. But after a while it was Mari who convinced him that nothing more could be done right now. If Finnivus was moving toward them, it would still take the Black Wave several weeks—even at top speed—to reach them. “And worrying about something that you can’t do anything about is pointless,” she told him.

The preparations for the invasion were in the capable fins of Lochlan, Whalem, Quickeyes, and many others. No matter how hard it was, Gray would relax tonight. He would get to spend some time with Mari, just the two of them.

But that was before Barkley overheard and invited himself along.

At first Gray thought that Barkley tagging along would be awkward but soon realized he was relieved to have his friend there. Although he would have liked to be alone with Mari, Gray realized he didn’t know the first thing to say when that happened. With Barkley, there were no pauses in the conversation. The dogfish always had something to say.

The three of them gathered at Slaggernacks by one of the many flattened stones, which were the prime spots to eat and watch the musical entertainments. The seasoned fish was brought over by the dwellers, usually turtles or large crabs. The meals were “dumb” fish, not thinking ones. Good fins in the Big Blue all knew the rule:
Silver or brown, gulp it down. Fish of color, find another
.

Mari seemed to be enjoying her fish, a fat salmon. It was kind of an introductory meal that Slaggernacks served for those who hadn’t tried seasoned fish. The meals were prepared by stuffing the fish with different types of greenie gathered from the Big Blue. Gray heard that some of their spices came from all the way on the other side of the world, traveling by migrating whales to get here. He wasn’t certain that was true, but it sure made for a good story during the meal. And the fish were delicious.

“I don’t see why catching regular fresh fish has gone out of style,” Barkley put forth as he took another tentative bite of his own salmon.

“It hasn’t. It’s just different,” Mari replied.

“I guess,” Barkley said. “But it seems weird for a shark to
pay
for fish. I tell you, that Gafin must be some kind of genius.”

When you came to Slaggernacks, you had to bring more than one fresh fish in payment for what you ate, usually three or four for every one ordered. Some fish were valued even higher, sometimes seven or eight to one. This way the place had a steady supply of fish and the dwellers who worked there didn’t have to hunt and worry about where their next meal was coming from. Barkley was right, though. Gafin, the mysterious owner of Slaggernacks and also, supposedly, king of the urchins and poisonous dwellers,
was
a genius.

“Barkley, are you going to be grumpy all night, or only part of it?” Gray teased.

“No, no. It’s great that we’re out together, and I do like the music. I said right away I was good with coming here.”

“Yes,
right
away,” echoed Mari, giving Barkley a weird look. Hmm.

The band started up. Entertainment was another thing Slaggernacks provided to attract customers. They organized musical groups to play while the diners enjoyed their seasoned fish. Of course whales had been singing since Tyro created the Big Blue. They were the ones who taught everyone else how to do that. But now many different dwellers banded
together, which was how the word
band
came to mean a musical group. At first it was mostly older dwellers who found it hard to hunt for their meals and who formed bands. But now you would just as likely find much younger fins and dwellers doing the singing. And these days, since you could become famous, many weird dweller combinations had formed groups. Between the music and the food, the whole Slaggernacks scene combined into an odd and enjoyable experience.

And tonight the band was great. They called themselves Wild Current and had a whale and several huge sunfish singing, along with two dolphins providing back-up vocals with their clicks, razzes, and whistles. From their position in front of Slaggernacks’s various caves and coves, the current brought their music right into the place. It was fantastic!

“Look who it is,” said a gravelly voice. “Youse fins enjoying your night?”

Gray, his mouth full, turned as Trank the stonefish floated into view. If Gafin had a Line of replacement leaders like sharkkind did, Trank would be the first in his Line. Barkley and Mari weren’t very fond of Trank, as poisonous dwellers like stonefish had a bad reputation in general. They were often accused of threatening other dwellers with their deadly toxins to get what they wanted.

“Just listening to the band and eating some fish,” Gray answered.

“Have youse tried the volcano sauce? Hot, hot!”

“That’s a little too much for me,” Gray said. He had made the mistake of trying the lava sauce last week. It made his mouth feel like he’d eaten
actual
lava. He wouldn’t be doing that again.

“Big fin like youse shouldn’t be afraid of adding a little spice to your life,” Trank replied.

“I’m surprised you have time to chat,” Barkley said with a smile. “Aren’t there any crimes you need to commit?”

Mari looked mortified. “There’s no call for that, Barkley.”

“Youse bet your life there isn’t,” Trank huffed. “And if youse insult me again in my place, youse
will
be betting your life.”

“Don’t you mean Gafin’s place?” asked Barkley, genuinely curious.

Trank’s fins circled a bit faster. “Yeah, yeah. That’s what I mean. But insult me again—”

Gray interrupted before things escalated. “Hey, everyone calm down.”

“I agree,” added Mari. “Trank, this fish is delicious.”

“Thanks,” grunted Trank. “We have a new seasoner—cuttlefish named Bozenka. He’s a wizard of flavor, that one.”

“A
wizard
of flavor?” Barkley asked incredulously. “What the heck is a—”

“Hold on!” urged Trank. “Something’s not right. Something’s—”

Gray felt a jangling buzz through every nerve in his body. He rocketed toward the ceiling a split second before Barkley yelled, “LOOK OUT!”

Two makos appeared from nowhere and charged Gray, ignoring his friends in their single-minded rush at him. Instincts and lightning-quick reflexes saved him from being immediately sent to the Sparkle Blue. As it was, one mako barely missed his gills. Barkley managed to rise and jostle the second mako’s tail, spoiling its strike on Gray’s left pectoral fin.

Slaggernacks exploded into a riot, sharks and dwellers tearing off in every direction. “Flashnboomer! Flashnboomer!” yelled Trank as he disappeared into the sandy bottom of Slaggernacks. It must have been some pre-arranged signal because a number of blue ringed octos and lionfish were suddenly among them, stinging the makos with their deadly venoms. In the cramped space of the cavern, it was impossible to do any real defensive moves. That was probably why the pair chose to make their move here. But since the attackers hadn’t caught Gray by total surprise, the two much smaller makos were now at a disadvantage.

Gray did a Bull Shark Rush at the closest shark, smashing him against a razor sharp coral wall. The second mako was distracted by the poisonous dwellers, particularly the lionfish that finned him in the soft of his
gums as he opened his mouth to charge. Mari rammed that mako in the side, as did Barkley from above. The combined forces of the two blows knocked the attacking shark senseless, and the poisonous dwellers swarmed, stinging so many times that the mako jerked and spasmed.

“Gray!” shouted Mari. “Are you okay?”

Gray kept his bulk pressing against the shark he had trapped. “I think so. Check on the one I have here, Barkley!” His voice cracked a little from the adrenaline coursing through him. The dogfish ducked into the tight space between Gray and the ceiling.

“Move away,” Barkley instructed.

Gray did and saw that the mako had been speared by pointed rods of coral in three different places, including through the gills. His coloring was odd; not black on top and white on the bottom like usual, but dark bluish
everywhere
. It was the very shade of the water that would make him almost invisible for this time of night. Because of the mako’s injuries, though, he wasn’t long for the Big Blue.

“Why did you do this?” Gray asked, almost shouting.

“I was hired,” the shark said. “Nothing personal.” Slowly, his coloring changed from its weird bluish all over to the regular mako hide with black on the top and white on the bottom.

“Did you see that?” Mari whispered in wonder. “How did he do that?”