Shark Wars (11 page)

GRAY SWAM ANOTHER MOON PATROL ON THE
East side of shiver territory with Goblin, Ripper, and Churn. It was his fifth patrol in force this week, which meant that the group consisted of at least five sharkkind. Velenka, Thrash, and Streak led another down the Western ridge. The homewaters were tense these days as Razor Shiver sharks were spotted close by several times.

Goblin was also taking an increased interest in Gray, even scheduling one-on-one combat lessons. It was so much more than just ramming and biting! Strength and size were important, but real fighting was about tactics. What to do in a given battle depended on the particulars of the situation. Were you fighting alone or with other sharks? Were the numbers in your favor? Did you have the element of surprise? Were you swimming with or against the current? It was how you answered these questions, and many others, that would prove if you were a true mariner, or just another brawling sharkkind.

Goblin said that in the old days of the empire, some sharkkind battles involved armadas of sharks and dwellers that fought in formation, with the opposing forces clashing at different points on what they called the
battle waters
. Apparently humans did the same thing when fighting on land and in their ships on top of the ocean. Sharkkind had given the humans the idea of massed battle formations, but of course the landsharks said it was the other way around. As if…

In their last single-combat practice, Gray fought Goblin to a standstill. He thought the shiver leader was going to bite him in anger, but the great white laughed instead. “Now you're doing it!” he told Gray. “You're getting tough!” In the Big Blue that was the only way to survive.

But Gray had been troubled since his meeting with Takiza. A week had passed, and he still hadn't told anyone about it. Thrash was quiet about it too, but that was likely because he may have finally remembered the frilly fish beating the stuffing out of him. Somehow Gray knew the betta swam the Big Blue without concern, without constant fear or anger. What would it be like to live that way?

“You're quiet today,” said Goblin. “Anything the matter?”

“Nothing,” Gray began, but then he said, “You ever think if all the shivers stopped the patrols and stopped trying to take territory from each other that maybe things would be better?”

“You mean in a perfect ocean? Where there's enough food for everyone?” Goblin asked sarcastically. “Where magical sea horses pull us around so we don't have to swim?”

Gray nodded. “I guess you're right. Too good to be true, huh?”

“You know it. What brought this on?”

“I met this little fish, a betta, named—”

“Takiza.” Goblin almost choked on the name. “The
peace-loving
Siamese fighting fish.”

“You know him?” Gray asked, surprised.

“Don't know him, know
of
him,” answered Goblin. “There are stories about Takiza all around the Big Blue. Crazy stuff about how he's invincible. He's more than five hundred years old—if you believe it.” Goblin cast a sidelong glance toward him. “Did you fight him?”

“No, just talked,” Gray said. He wouldn't tell Goblin about Thrash's beating. The great white would definitely make fun of the tiger and that would be trouble for everyone.

“Peace and love makes the current go around, eh?” The great white shook his head. “But that little flipper supposedly kicks some serious tail. So you tell me, why is such a nonviolent fish so good at fighting?”

“I'm not sure.”

“Because he's not peace-loving,” Goblin continued, “Why would you learn to fight so well if you believed that peace and harmony is the way to go? No, no, he learned how to fight so he can crush anyone he meets.”

This was an excellent point. Why would a fish who preached the evils of violence be so good at finning it out himself? It should have stopped the nagging thoughts in Gray's mind, but somehow made them worse.

Suddenly Churn cried, “Razor Shiver!”

Eight bull sharks were resting on the other side of an immense field of glowing coral. The coral was beautiful to Gray's eyes, different spires casting eerie light everywhere: pink, red, blue, green, and yellow. Everything was lit by the ethereal glow of moonlight from above the chop-chop. But no one stopped to admire this.

Without a word the bulls sped up, and the two shivers clashed over the shimmering coral field. Though everything was in a frenzy of commotion, time slowed for Gray. The cries of bloody victory and death receded until he only heard his heartbeat and the water whisking past his gills. Gray rammed one attacking bull hard, sending it spinning away just before it could bite Thrash. In doing so, though, Gray dazed himself. His vision blurred, and the rigid coral spires seemed to sway like greenie in the tide.

“Thanks,” Thrash mouthed. Maybe he said that aloud, even yelled it, but Gray didn't hear anything. The big tiger flashed away, avoiding a dorsal attack from another bull. Gray hovered and watched. Something crashed into him.

“Move it, pup!” Gray blinked at the shark in front of him, sensing that he should know who it was. There was a high-pitched whine filling Gray's ears, and whoever was speaking sounded very far away. “Can you hear me? Snap out of it!” The large great white whirled and slapped Gray across the face with his tail, and suddenly he could hear again. “STAY WITH ME IF YOU CAN!”

“Right, right!” Gray heard himself yelling over the sound and fury as everything came into deafening focus. Goblin battered a blue shark away from Churn, then bit the dorsal fin off another. Gray rammed his way through an attack. He knew his side should hurt, but it didn't right now. That shark was replaced by another, faster one. This bull did a series of tight turns, trying to get behind him, and succeeded in separating him from Goblin. Gray recognized this move, called the Sea Horse Circles. The tight, attacking maneuver could rip his tail off if it succeeded. To protect against this, Gray switched into Manta Ray Rising, a series of counter turns.

As he was swimming for his life, Gray caught only flashes of the continuing battle. Ripper took a massive chunk out of a bull, and a cloud of blood fogged everything, adding to the confusion. Churn was being attacked by two sharks and was trying to defend himself, but Gray couldn't get away to help the whitetip. If he stopped turning, he would lose his tail! Goblin narrowly avoided having his flank opened, then killed his attacker with a bite clean through its head.

Another bull streaked to join his shivermate behind Gray. Gray executed a violent downward power thrust to get out of the way, letting his second attacker accidentally ram his pursuer, who had almost closed to striking distance. In a moment they would turn and attack him from both sides at once and send Gray to the Sparkle Blue! There was no choice. Gray tore the flipper off the first bull, sending him spiraling to the bottom of the ocean, then charged the second bull. That attacker beat a hasty retreat now that it wasn't two against one,
and
Gray had the current flowing in his favor. Then, as fast as the battle had begun, it was over. The bulls were nowhere to be seen. All that remained was a red haze, already thinning. Soon it would be as if nothing happened at all.

Ripper bumped him from behind and Gray nearly jumped out of his skin. “Nice work, fin,” the hammerhead grunted. “Goblin, you okay?” he called over Gray's flank. Goblin was facing away from them and didn't turn. Both went to where the great white hovered. Blood bloomed in the water around him. Gray got worried. With that much blood gushing from his body, the great white would swim the Sparkle Blue in minutes. But it wasn't Goblin who was bleeding.

It was Churn.

The whitetip had received two massive bites, one in the side and one in the back. “Did—did we win?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Goblin told him with sadness in his eyes. “We won.” And with that Churn's gills stopped moving and he sank to the seabed.

Gray wanted to throw up. “This is winning?” he asked in a shaky voice.

Goblin turned, but not in anger. “Yes, and it's not pretty. If the bulls have their way, we'll all be just like that.” The great white pointed a fin at Churn's carcass. “
That's
what Takiza's mumbo jumbo gets you! A place right next to Churn.”

Gray looked at the unmoving whitetip lying on the coral. Already, crabs and small fish were gathering to eat.

BARKLEY WAITED IN THE THICK BLUE-GREENIE
for his prey. He'll never know what hit him, he thought. He was careful to let the target swim past his hiding place before rushing out to attack.

“Gotcha!” Barkley yelled as he scraped Striiker's flank, but not hard enough to cause a gash.

As the great white groused, Mari, Snork, and Shell joined them from where they had been watching. “Your angle was all wrong! You should strike a fin or the tail if you've got a chance like that.”

The dogfish's flippers drooped. “Oh. That
would
have been better.”

Mari gave him a playful slap with her tail. “But your stalking was excellent! You were so far into the greenie that I didn't see you at all.”

“Yeah,” said Snork. “You're really good at sneaking.”

“Thanks. I think,” replied Barkley.

Shell shook his head. “How can you deal with all that greenie? Being inside the thick stuff gives me the willies. Like it's going to strangle me.”

“If you go slow it slides right by,” Barkley told the bull. “Just don't charge through it and you'll be fine.” Barkley felt a little better now. He definitely wasn't the toughest fin around, but with Rogue Shiver's help, he felt a little more at ease in the open waters of the Big Blue.

They were practicing—Striiker refused to call it playing—for when trouble came. The great white was sure it was on the way and only a matter of time before it would show up. He didn't trust Goblin any further than he could drag him onto shore. Barkley hoped Striiker was wrong, but practicing was a wise precaution. Still it would take a long time, if ever, to change Barkley into a relentless, steely-eyed mariner.

It was just like old times after they got back to the landshark shipwreck. They were careful not to hunt anywhere near the patrolled areas of Goblin Shiver's territory. After the second close call, Barkley took it upon himself to monitor when and where the patrols went. Luckily, these were on a fairly regular schedule. Whoever was in charge of organizing the patrols, probably Ripper or Thrash, wasn't devoting enough thought to the task. Velenka definitely wasn't in charge. What was she planning? Barkley didn't have a clue what she was up to, and it worried him.

One time he caught sight of Gray patrolling with Thrash. Obviously Barkley didn't pop out from his hiding spot to say hello because the big tiger was there. But he wondered whether he would have come out even if Gray had been alone. This made him sad. They had been such close friends. And now? Barkley wasn't so sure.

Striiker was muttering and looking at him. “Barkley, you've got to get better at this. If we get into trouble, we're going to need everyone.” The young great white was always so serious!

“Why don't you leave him alone?” said Snork, coming to Barkley's defense. He and Snork were now fast friends. Barkley liked Mari, of course. Everyone did. And Shell seemed okay, but distant. Even Striiker, though annoying sometimes with his short temper, was a good fin. But Snork seemed like the brother Barkley had never had.

Striiker was about to start a full-blown argument when Mari stepped in. “He's getting better every day. We all are! And we have you to thank for that.”

“I just hope there are enough days to practice before we leave for the Sific,” he answered. “It's a long trip and there are plenty of territories to swim through.”

“Or we could
sneak
through them. And Barkley's great at that!” Snork said proudly. “He'll be leading us forward some of the time, you'll see.”

Before Striiker could get angry, Shell interrupted. “All this practice made me hungry. How about we hunt?”

Striiker looked Barkley's way. “Patrols?” he asked.

Barkley shook his head. “We should be clear on the Western side of the wreck. But like you always say, let's be careful.”

“Finally,” the young great white said, “some sense.” Striiker never could let anyone have the last word. Barkley wondered if this was a great white thing, or if all shiver leaders were like this.

The group swam to the area past the Western reaches of Goblin Shiver's homewaters. There was usually good hunting there, and this day looked to be no different. Though there weren't any large clusters or droves, the fish were plenty.

Barkley's stomach rumbled. He was about to launch himself toward his prey when Mari whispered an urgent “Wait!” She motioned into the distance with her snout.

For a moment Barkley didn't see anything, but suddenly a shark materialized in the distance. And then another, and another, and more and more. It wasn't a patrol in force like Goblin Shiver was using lately. This was different. There were pups and older sharks. Some were trailing streams of blood.

“So many,” whispered Snork fearfully.

“I don't recognize anyone,” Shell said in a low voice.

Striiker agreed. “It's not Goblin Shiver.”

“Then who are they?” asked Barkley.

No matter what Striiker thought they should do, he always looked to Mari before deciding anything important. This was one of the things that, to Barkley, counted very much in his favor as Rogue Shiver's leader. Striiker knew Mari was smart, and even though he was bigger and tougher than she was, the great white valued her opinion.

Striiker looked at Mari now, and she said, “I think we should talk with them.”

Striiker nodded in agreement. “Let's swim in slowly so we don't scare them into attacking.”

“And what if they
do
attack?” asked Snork, his eyes very wide.

“Swim away if you can, fight if you have to. And don't head straight for the wreck, circle wide.” All of this was very good advice. Striiker had his moments.

Barkley followed as Striiker and Shell took the lead. Mari formed a second level above them, with Snork protecting the pair's topside. As they rose from the greenie and revealed themselves, the ragged group stopped and quickly formed a defensive position with the more mature sharks on the outside. Barkley saw that these sharks were wounded. All of them. The pups in the group wailed from underneath their mothers' bellies as Rogue Shiver slowed to a stop, barely a few tail strokes away. Barkley was horrified to see that some of the
pups
were also injured!

A scarred, old thresher swam out in front of the pack. “We're not here for trouble,” he said. “Just passing through. We won't hunt in your territory.”

“That's fine,” Striiker replied. “Can you tell us what happened?”

The thresher spoke in low tones to a couple of other sharks. He definitely looked like their leader and was probably consulting with what was left of his Line. He faced Striiker and said, “We're called Jetty Shiver. Our homewaters are about a day away in the direction we came from, a nice little reef.” The thresher stopped, overcome for a moment, but the fin was a mariner and kept his emotions under control. “We were attacked by sharkkind from Goblin Shiver. We had heard of them but didn't think they'd come so far East. They took some of us to be recruits and killed others who said they wouldn't go. We're what's left.”

Barkley felt sick to his stomach. Goblin was an evil shark!

“We're sorry for your losses,” Snork said. The sawfish was tearing up. Strangely, this seemed to dispel any tension between the two groups. Snork was the best.

“You're sure it was Goblin Shiver?” Shell asked. “Maybe it was bull sharks from Razor Shiver?”

A small hammerhead answered, “No bull sharks were there. The leader of the raiders was a big tiger. A mean blue shark was giving orders, too. They said they were Goblin Shiver. Was it someone else?”

“No,” Striiker told them. “That's Goblin Shiver.”

Barkley nodded to himself. The tiger was Thrash and Streak was the blue.

“If you swim another quarter day to the West, you should be able to hunt there for the rest of the sun,” Barkley told the thresher. “But Goblin Shiver will send a patrol through there by moonrise.”

The thresher nodded. “We thank you and hope to repay the kindness.” Their group began to move again. They could only swim as fast as their slowest member, though, so it wasn't very fast.

Barkley's mind raced. Was Gray with Ripper when they did this? Could
he
have been a part of the attack on Jetty Shiver? Attacking pups? No! Barkley could see that Mari was asking herself the same questions. He needed to know! “Excuse me!” he yelled to the thresher, who turned. Barkley's voice caught in his throat as he asked, “Was there a big, young pup with them? Kinda like a reef shark, but not?”

The thresher shook his head. “Nothing like that.” And then the group swam onward. No one spoke as the refugees receded into the Big Blue.

“At least it wasn't Gray,” Barkley told Mari.

Striiker got furious! “‘At least it wasn't Gray'? I got news for you, dogfish! He's a member of Goblin Shiver! He's probably okay with what happened!”

“Striiker, you're not being fair!” Mari protested.

“Maybe he was there and they didn't see him!” the great white continued. “Maybe he was busy gutting someone's mother!”

Barkley had had enough. “Come on, Striiker! I don't know why you don't like Gray, but I can tell you he would not kill
anyone's
mother! Not possible!”

“You're right.” Striiker calmed. “But are you absolutely sure he won't be part of the next raid on some poor shiver if Goblin orders it?” Striiker whirled and left everyone in his wake. Mari, Shell, and Snork slowly followed him toward the landshark wreck.

Barkley grew cold when he realized that deep down, he wasn't absolutely sure what Gray would actually do.