Ocean Girl

Awakened
12/08/12

Verse one: I miss the misery, the way you told me to go away. The way you blame me.

Verse 2: Miss when I tried to keep you, then I just realized; you aren’t worth keeping. I was awakened, now you try to say it’s my fault.

Chorus: You awakened me when you lied straight to my face. You told me that you only love one girl, and that was me. I was stupid enough to listen …

[ Full reading ]

Title: Sanity Sisters
Date: 6-6-11

Verse 1: We’re sanity sisters til the end, side by side. We can keep each other sane. That’s why we’re sanity sisters.

Chorus: We fight together, we die together. We kill anything that stands in our path. We stand together, we die together, we’re sanity sisters.

Verse 2: We’ll be sanity sisters, we’ll be blood sisters, we’ll be side by …

[ Full reading ]

Title: Staying Sane
Date: 6-5-11

Verse 1: We’re walking, in sand. We’re laughing, minds alike, we’re staying sane, we have each other.

Chorus: Those who choose to have. Those who choose to have unlike minds, most likely will go insane. We stay sane. We promised to each other we won’t change, we won’t turn our backs on each other.
*Repeat Chorus*2

Verse 2: We laugh. We cry. …

[ Full reading ]

Title: Forever Haunted
Date: 6-3-11

Verse 1: Footsteps all around me, something following, nothings there. Run and Hide but they always find you.

Chorus: Haunted by the ghost of your past, Haunted by your future, Haunted by today.

Verse 2: Pull the covers over my face, try to hide, they come and seek and always win the game. It’s a never ending game of Hide and Seek.

(Repeat chorus)2

…

[ Full reading ]

Title: My Heart Belongs to You
Date: 6-3-11

Verse 1:
See your face, how it shines in the sun light. See your eyes how they glow in the darkest light. See your smile, how it shines through the grey days. See your heart, how it races when I’m by your side.

Chorus:
My heart belongs to you. Please, oh please. Don’t break it. I love you and that’s the only thing my heart knows. My heart …

[ Full reading ]

Title: Lost Sanity
Date: 6-3-11

Verse 1: Broken Sanity. Unspoken voices speak of nothing, Lost but not found. Seen but unseen. I hear them, but my sanity is lost in the web of lost voices of nothing, Spoken by no one.

Chorus: Lost sanity. Never found. Never lost, spoken from unspoken words. Remembering everything but nothing. Lost sanity, Lost in my mind. Lost on my own. Lost sanity.

Verse …

[ Full reading ]

Subject: Ocean Girl Mon Feb 20, 2012 6:29 pm

Chapter 1
The Girl In The Sea

The little island passing below them sat in the glittering sea of the Great Barrier Reef. The birds are chirping and the final rain drops drip off the leaves as the sun warms the land over head. The spider is weaving its web after the previous rains destructive path. The butterflies shake out its wings as the bird come out of hiding. The sounds of frogs croaking as a woman dressed in what most would consider rags, walk through the shallow stream.

She kneels in the water and retrieves a drink of water. She pulls out a little of the kelp and places it in her bag at her side. She walks out of the water to grab two pieces of fruit off of a nearby plant. She places one into her bag and takes a bite of the other as she walks away across the rock and branch laden ground. She walks to a tree that has a severe lean to it where at the top she has made her bed beneath the leaves. A loud sound approaches directly over her head and startles her to reveal a helicopter soaring by.

“Hey!” Jason, whom was sitting in the front of the helicopter with the pilot, had to shout to be heard over the chattering of the helicopter’s rotors above them.

“What’s that?” The pilot glanced back over her shoulder to hear what Jason had said.

“I thought I saw something.”

“Couldn’t be. None of these islands have ever been inhabited. You ORCA crew are going to be on your own out here.”
Ahead, the ocean stretched all around them to the horizon, only broken here and there by tiny specks of land like the one they had just passed over. He glanced back at it as it quickly receded from view. Funny. For a moment there, he really thought he had seen someone. Just a glimpse of a little figure that paused, stared up at them, and then disappeared quickly beneath the thick foliage.

No, he decided. It couldn’t have been. And he pushed the thought from his mind.

Neri stepped from the cover of the rainforest canopy back into the clearing. She watched the flying machine go with both fear and fascination. Its roar faded as it dwindled to a dot and disappeared from view. That had been too close. Though she had seen them in the sky nearly every day since the Outsiders started building the strange thing in the sea, they rarely flew directly over the island. So, this one had caught her by surprise. She must never make that mistake again.
From the day she was left alone, she decided the Outsiders must not know about her or about the giant in the ocean. Jali. Her friend.

Out in the middle of the ocean, lies a huge metal platform in the shape of a T with a smaller square platform off to the side. The crystal clear blue ocean sparkles under the sun. The waves laps against the sides of the platform as they get near.

Brett, who was sitting in the back with his mother, Dianne, looked out the helicopter with a big grin on his face with his mother looking on with enthusiasm as her younger sons eyes light up at the sight. At ten years old, Brett still got excited no matter how dumb the place was that Mom was dragging them off to.

The helicopter landed and the three of them unladed their bags and stood by watching as the helicopter had lifted above their heads and was already swinging away back in the direction of the mainland. They stood with a jumble of bags and suitcases in piles around their feet, still clutching their caps against the buffeting of the downdraft. Mom was shielding her eyes as she watched the helicopter abandon them where they stood.

Mom turns and notices a smudge of dirt on Brett’s face and proceeds to wipe it away.

“Oh, mum”, the younger boy whined.

Jason surveyed the scene with dismay. It was even worse than he had anticipated. Back on shore, Mom had tried to make it sound as if ORCA was the next best thing to Disneyland. What confronted them now was a vast, ugly, gray metal platform sitting alone in endless ocean. Boats of varying sizes bobbed at moorings alongside. The only thing that broke the dreary flatness of the platform itself was a large cylindrical structure in the middle. On its front were a symbol and the words OCEANIC RESEARCH CENTER (AUSTRALIA).

“What is this? Devil’s Island? I’m working out some way to get off fast!” Jason hissed to Brett.

“Excuse me. I heard that, Jason,” mom said slightly turning towards Jason. Her voice was calm but there was a note of warning in it.

They were interrupted by a soft whooshing sound. A door was sliding open in the side of the large central cylinder. A figure emerged, a small, sprightly man whose huge grin split dark Indian features. He was dressed in a blue uniform with the ORCA crest emblazoned on a top pocket.

“Hey guys,” said Brett.

“Ah!”

“Hello,” replied mom.

“Dr. Bates,” he hailed mom and they shook hands as if old friends. “How was the flight?”

“Oh, fine thanks, Winston.” She motioned the boys forward. “Boys, this is my new assistant, Dr. Seth. This is…”

“Jason, Brett. Right?” He guessed correctly. “Welcome to ORCA!” He shook both of the boys’ hands in a strong grasp.

“Yeah,” Jason replied flatly, “you’re welcome to it, too.”

Winston shot a look at Jason, one eyebrow cocked, and a quick laugh before he plunged into the pile of luggage and began loading himself up with bags. Brett hurried to help him. They began to carry them toward the open door in the cylinder.

As they did, Winston fell in step beside Jason laughing. “This way. Jason,” he said, “there is an old Japanese saying: The carp smiles at the surface, for he has seen the wonders below.” And he gestured downward under their feet.

“What does that mean?” Jason challenged.

“How should I know? I’m from India!” Winston said with a high-pitched giggle that continued as he led them through the doorway.

They found themselves in a circular elevator with one large seat running most of the way around it. Winston dropped the bags he was carrying and the elevator descends down deep into the ocean. Water surrounds the elevator and the fish swim alongside it not even noticing as if it is just another part of the ocean.

At the bottom the door whooshed open in a smooth movement. Brett’ eyes lit up with a sense of wonder. Each taking in the sights as Winston smiles at their reactions. Even Jason looked amazed he tried to play it off to look cool.

“Coolness!” exclaimed Brett excited as he started to carry the luggage off the elevator.

He turned in a complete circle nearly bumping people over in the midst of his excitement. He walks into the hallway as others are passing by.

“Hey I’ll get you for that,” a girl named Zoe yelled nearby Brett as she chased a smaller boy in a hat through the crowed hallway.

A man in uniform stops them by placing a hand on each or their shoulders and says “Walk, don’t run. Walk.”

He allows them to pass as they took off and Brett walks down the hall a little. A yellow door swooshes open and more people walk out as he continues to look around as he went in a circle.

“Brett, would you come over her please? You’re going to get lost.” Dianne says with a slight laugh.

“How long have these other kids been here?” Brett asks Winston who has picked up some of the luggage.

“Not long. Most of the families have moved in here within the last week. Come on”

“All new residents please precede directly the Berth Allocation Terminal,” cooed a female robot voice issuing from speakers overhead.

Winston quickly remembered that her forgot to do something and says. “OH, no no. This way. The computer over here. This is HELEN, our master computer.” Winston explained as they began to shuffle out with their bags. She really runs this place.”

Nearby was a model of the ORCA complex in a glass case, its cluster of modules with connecting tubes looking like some nest of strange, gigantic shellfish linking arms on the bottom of the sea. Winston led them past it to where another sensor plate jutted from the wall.

Winston presses a button on the screen and says, “Bates Family.”

Jason and Brett took in the scene around them as they waited. They were in a large-domed reception area from which tunnel-like corridors seemed to run off in every direction. It was clearly some kind of central hub, judging by the number of people constantly passing through. A lot were adults, but there seemed to be a good many kids of various ages, too. All wore uniforms with the ORCA symbol prominently displayed.

“Bates,” the voice broke in again. “Module lima. Level three, cabin fourteen. Have a nice day.”

“Good, no? Come on Lima five.”

Winston began to lead them toward one of the tunnels, but paused to speak to a tall, hawk-faced man with gold braid on his uniform.

“Ah, Commander Lucas, may I introduce Dr. Dianne Bates? She’s one of our top marine biologists, specializes in animal communication.”

“Doctor,” the man said, nodding to Dianne. But his eyes were firmly fixed on Jason and Brett. “Are these two yours?”

“Yes, I think so.”

He glared at them. “Well, just remember - this is a vessel at sea as far as I’m concerned. Not a kindergarten or a playground. Obey the rules, don’t skylark, and you’ll have no trouble. If you’ll excuse me.” He nodded curtly again in Dianne’s direction before turning on his heels and walking off.

“Come on,” Winston said.

“Oh, great!” Jason moaned as they continued on their way. “We’ve signed on with Captain Bligh.”

They followed through a series of gently winding narrow corridors. At one point, the gray metal walls gave way to thick pressure-proof glass and they found themselves standing in a viewing tunnel, from which they could see out at the seabed spread before them. Permanently lit by great banks of lights, the ORCA structure stood perched on the edge of the continental shelf, beyond which everything disappeared into permanent darkness.

Brett ran ahead to gaze out of the glass at a diver looking at something in his hands. Brett frantically waves his hands to get the divers attention. The diver looks up and waves back before continuing on with his work but Brett smiled in response.

Winston continues with the tour of ORCA, “Up ahead, we have the aquaculture labs. And on the next level, the mining and oil companies have their labs.”

“Labs! Is that all there is in this place?” Jason complained again.

“Jason, that is the whole point of ORCA. To put marine laboratories right in the ocean itself. And you should be proud to be a part of it.”

“Get a grip, mum.”

“Well, you can consider yourself lucky. We’ll only be here six months and you can get back to the mainland occasionally. But who knows, one day people may live in cities like this permanently.”

“Well, they’ve got my sympathy.”

They all get into yet another elevator when Brett says, “Hey, where are all the buttons?”

“Level three, please,” Winston stated calmly.

“Wicked!”

Then the elevator closes them in and takes them to the proper level. When they all exit Winston gets a little turned around.

“This way. No, this way I think. Yes.”

“This is cool! Like being on a space station or something.”

“12…13… Oh, 14! This way. Here we are. Ha-ha. Here we are. Welcome to your new home.” Winston scans his id and the door opens to reveal their cabin that they will be staying in. “Ta-da! Ha-ha, please.”

“It’s not exactly what you’d call roomy, is it?” mom asked.

“This is my room right? Cool?”

A screen on the wall flickered on and a boy started to speak, “ Hey Ludwig! Me and a bunch of the guys are going to play an old initiation trick on that new girl from level kilo. Want to be in it?”

Winston presses a button on the wall and speaks into a speaker. “I think you’ve crossed wires, son.” Then he turned away and explained, “There’s still a few hiccups with our communication system. In fact, there’s still a few teething problems.”

The cabin was small, awfully small. Hardly the size of the little study Dad had back home when they’d all lived together. Against one wall was a cubicle the size of a telephone booth which appeared to be a toilet until Jason tried to find the flush button on the control panel. “Aaaah!” He emerged, wet and spluttering, to announce, “What’s wrong with the stupid thing? You’re gonna get wet,” he said as Brett approached.

“Try doing it this way. Simple.”

“Never mind, Jase. Look – you boys have to put on your uniforms anyway,”
mom explains.

“Cool!”

“Forget it,” Jason states.

“Orders, Jason,” Winston chimed in actually being serious.

“Look, I’m not walking around like some geek space cadet and that’s it!”
The boys actually go and change. As they emerge they have their identification badges around their necks and dressed in the typical blue uniforms. Jason frowning which has become his normal look since arriving on ORCA and of course Brett none to happy with his new outfit choice.

“Ta-da!” exclaims Brett beaming from ear to ear.

“There you are. Look you both look very dashing actually. Now, who wants to come do some exploring with me?” mom says all the more pleasant.

“Yeah.”

“Count me out,” said Jason. “I’ve seen enough as it is.” Then he turns and walks out of the room.

“Suit yourself,” says mom with s sigh as she turns and walks away to begin the exploration.

Winston follows Jason and sits beside him on the sofa and tries some light conversation with him. “You don’t appear to be looking forward to your stay in ORCA, Jason.”

“Look, I wasn’t given any say in this. I was just dragged away from my mates, my aeroboard, my laser blades, everything – to be buried alive in this dump. And for what? I mean, how much more is there for you guys to learn?”

“We haven’t even scratched the surface yet, Jason. There are things under the sea we don’t even know about yet.”

Beautiful fish under swimming around the reef as Neri swims among them. She is a part of them as if every part of her being screams to tell her this is where she belongs beneath the surface far into the depths where no human can swim without gear.

Neri swims a little doing some rolls. Her shoulder length wavy hair flows behind her with each movement. She swims towards the ocean with a leap out as if she was made like a dolphin before swimming under and doing some flips. As she slightly tires she swims to shore and walks the shallow end in towards the bank. She grabs some of the sea weed as she walks in glancing back once at the horizon before continuing on her way.

She grabs something to eat and carries the fruit in her mouth as she walks to her tree where she has made her home. Leaves spread out across the branches and packed in a little that serves as her bed. Like a giant birds nest nestled in the heart of the island.

She sits on the edge with her feet dangling and swinging. Then she takes old of her fruit and slowly bites into the sweet fruit letting the juices slide down her tongue to fill her empty stomach.

Meanwhile back on ORCA, it is also dinner time. Kids are already moving to the counter and selecting their meals. Then the meals come out the other way and the kids pick up their trays in search of a place to sit. Kids all over are deep in conversation with each other.

Brett selects his food and scans his id for confirmation then picks up his tray and walks away. When someone at the first table spoke up, “Hey. Yeah, you. What level are you on?”

Brett paused and looked back at the girl that had spoken to him recognizing her from the hallway earlier.

“Yeah, you. What level are you on?”

“Lima.”

“Same as us. You’re not the kind of kid that would get in trouble are you?”

“Well, sometimes.”

“Good. You’re in. Zoe and Froggy. Sit down.”

Jason also grabs his meal and finds a table to sit at with a boy named Damien and another girl that had a long braid coming from a ponytail at the top of her head. They started talking in between bites.

“Yeah, some people don’t really like it here for the first few days at ORCA. But after that, you get used to it.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t plan on staying here long enough to get used to it. As soon as I’ve helped my mother bag a whale – I’m out of here.”

“A whale?”

“Hi, Daggy,” a girl interrupts as she walks by.

“Good day, Lee.”

“Nice.”

“Yeah, but she’s also the commander’s daughter. I tell you, if you ever did anything to get up his nose.” Damien held two fingers to his head imitating a gun and made a firing noise to proof his point.

After dinner, Jason and Winston are in the lab doing some target practice. Jason shot at a target using a weapon that mimics a crossbow hitting dead center of the target. Winston exclaims, “Good, well done. Excellent shot.”

“Yeah, well she made me put in a million hours practice.”

Winston turns to grab something on a counter behind them and takes something out of a long box about the size of a small arrow. “Now, this is the real one we’re going to use. It’s very expensive. It’s important that you hit the whale here,” Winston points to a whale diagram on the wall for emphasis,” – behind the head. If we’re going to monitor the brain waves, it’s important we get as close as possible.”

“Are you sure it’s not going to hurt it?”

“No, no, no. It’ll only feel a slight discomfort. When it hits the whale, the shaft falls off but the monitor cannot be removed.”

“And you really think you’re going to hear the whale through this.”

At this moment Jason’s mom walks in and interrupts bringing in a case and opening it to reveal its contents, “Oh, more than that, we hope. I mean, all we know is the humpback sings and it must be some form of communication. By recording the brain patterns at the same time – we may eventually learn what the songs mean.”

“Get real, mum.”

“Jason, you may laugh but this could be the beginning of understanding their language. And – who knows. Eventually we may be able to even talk to them.”

A monitor begins to beep and Winston heads over and sits in front of it. The other gather around him watching the screen as Winston explains. “Incidentally, I think we’ve found our target. A lone male in the area, I’ve been monitoring for the last couple of weeks. From the initial soundings, he’s been singing like a bird.”

Neri was in a tree gathering coconuts and tossing them to the ground. Suddenly, the water at the mouth of the cove in front of her shimmered and then erupted as Jali’s great body broke the surface, and a plume of spray jetted into air. She heard his voice, singing in her head.

I have returned, Neri.

She jumped from her perch in the tree to the ground with a roll in the sand, a smile on her face and the wind blowing through her hair. She got up and ran into the sea and plunged beneath the sea. One, two, three powerful kicks and she was zooming through the coral groves at high speed. Shoals of rainbow-colored fish darted desperately out of her way as she plowed through them. She surfaced beside the huge head and ran a hand under his eye, stroking him in welcome.

Come. Time to play, he sang, and he started to dive. Neri waited until he was nearly submerged. Only his tail remained out of the water, towering above her head. Then she, too, dived.

His giant flukes dwarfed her little feet as both slid under the surface. Then, together, they turned back out toward the open sea. She returned to her tree as the sun set and the moon rose. A thousand stars twinkling in the night sky. She gazes out at its serene mask as she settles in for the night.

The following morning, when the sun is high and not a cloud in the sky, Jason, Brett, mom and Winston were all in the lab making some preparations before setting out on their mission.

“Come on, mum. I’ve never seen a whale up close before in my life. Please!” Brett begged to go with them.

“All right. You can help Winston,” mom give is.

“Cool.”

“Dianne,” Winston calls.

“Yeah?” Mom walks over towards Winston where he is pointing towards the screen. Jason follows and looks as well.

“There. At that size, it’s almost certainly our boy. He’s back in the area.”

“Get the gear, Jason. Come on, Brett. We’ve got to get this tracking system –“

The door opens and the commander walks in interrupting mom. “Hold it right there. What’s going on here?”

“We’re just tagging a whale, commander,” explains mom.

“You’re not intending to let the child use this weapon.” The Commander takes the weapon from Jasons hand as he spoke.

“He has done his permit course and the teacher said he was the best she’d ever seen.”

“With all respect, Doctor, under the circumstances, I can’t authorize this.” He hands the weapon to mom and she gives it back to Jason.

“Show him, Jason.”

“Don’t worry. It’s only a dummy.” Jason turns and shoots nailing the bulls eye once again.

“Satisfied, commander?”

Commander clears his throat before speaking again. “I don’t want anyone anywhere near him when he’s firing. Understood?” Then he turns and leaves.

“That guy’s got a definite attitude problem,” says Brett.

“Come on. We’ve got a whale to tag,” says mom rounding up her group.

Once the boat has been loaded and on its way towards the whale. Winston says,
“Looks like he’s starting to come up.”

“All right, Jase,” Mom calls out, “Get into position.”

“Can I go with him?”

“Brett, you heard what the commander said. Come on. You’re up top with me.”
Jason nursed the crossbow in the crook of his arm as he double-checked the safety harness that secured him to the prow of the boat. He had reason to be cautious. Though the powerful craft was just cruising through the water now, he knew things would be different when the chase began. He could easily slip overboard if not firmly anchored to the deck.

He adjusted the bow’s sights. Despite himself, he was beginning to feel a rush of excitement. They had waited nearly a week before the target whale had been spotted again. Now at last he was about to put all the months of boring practice to the test.

The commander had nearly ruined everything. He’d really made a scene about Jason being only fourteen and the bow being a lethal weapon. Mom had shown him the certificate proving that Jason had finished the safety course in proper handling.

Back in the wheelhouse, Brett watched as Mom and Winston hovered over a screen when Winston yelled, “There! Two o’clock!”

“See him, Jason?”

Her voice squawked through the earphones of the matching headset Jason wore.
He pulled the mouthpiece into position. “Yep.”

“Stand by. We’re going to try and move up on him. Nice and steady, okay?”

“I think he’s spotted us, mum,” says Brett.

Twenty minutes later, they found the whale, lolling on the surface of the water. Cutting back the engines, they edged slowly and steadily toward him. Jason half lifted the bow. This is going to be too easy, he thought.

“He’s starting to run!” exclaims Winston.

“Hold on, Jason! We’re gonna chase him! Here, take over.” Mom hands the headset over to Brett.

Suddenly the whale arched and, in one rolling action, began to move away, picking up speed. With a powerful roar, the boat shot forward. Jason was thrown around in the harness as the boat buffeted through the water, giving chase. The animal desperately tried to change course, but it was no match for the throbbing engines and before long they were on his tail and closing.

The call burst into Neri’s brain like a flash of lightning. Danger. There is danger.

A moment later, she saw the vision. The churned-up ocean. The vessel bearing relentlessly down. The Outsider on the front of it with the weapon in his hands. She raced into the water and streaked out toward the open sea.

I am coming, my friend. I am coming.

“Left. Right. No wait, wait,” Winston directed.

“Cut it! Well?” asks mom.

“Right over him.”

The boat sat nearly motionless in the water. The whale had dived, but Jason knew they would be monitoring his movements underwater back in the wheelhouse. Now it was just a matter of being in the right place when he surfaced.

“Tell Jason to load up and stand by.”

“Mum says to load up and stand by,” Brett relays to Jason.

“Okay,” Jason replied as he picked up the dart. It was not much larger than his hand, the barbed head studded with tiny transmitters and sensors. He clicked it into place in the bow.

“I just wish there was some way we could let this poor fellow know we don’t mean him any harm,” says mom.

“He’s coming up again! Behind us!” Winston cried.

“Port 180!” Dianne yelled.

“40 meters. 35. 30.”

“Hold it there! This is it, Brett!” Mom exclaims.

“Get Ready,” Brett relays to Jason.

“Ready.” On the prow, Jason could see the huge dark shape rising to the surface.
He cocked the bow and lifted it as the creature’s bulk began to break the waterline.

“Wait, wait, wait,” mom says

He hefted the bow to his shoulder, running through the instructions one last time. Near the blowhole. Behind that part of the head where the brain was located. As the creature seemed to pause for a moment, he lined up the spot in his sights, slipped the safety catch with his thumb and held his breath.

The whale was almost stationary. At this range, he couldn’t miss. His finger tightened on the trigger. Spray flew over the prow, blinding him.

And then a girl appeared, out of nowhere, thrusting up from the depths at incredible speed. She burst to the surface right in his line of fire. Between him and the whale. Her arms splayed out defensively as she screamed against the noise of the motors: “NO!”
Jason froze, his jaw dropping.

“Fire, mum said!” Bret yelled trying to get him to shoot.

“No!” Neri cried again trying to get him to leave the whale alone.

“Fire! What is wrong with him? Jason shoot!”

There was a rising urgency in Mom’s voice through the earphones, but Jason could neither speak nor move. He just stood there, gaping at the girl. There was no land in sight. No other boat to be seen. Where had she come from? How did she get there?

The girl met his gaze steadily. There was a pleading in her sea green eyes, but also anger. The force of that look was such that Jason did not feel capable of tearing his own eyes away. Beyond her, he was vaguely aware of ripples starting to spread. The girl seemed to hear the running footsteps before he did. Her eyes flicked toward the stern of the boat, then, in a flash, she flipped and dived, slipping out of sight at the same speed she had arrived.

The next thing Jason was aware of, Mom was at his side, ripping the crossbow from his hands. “Give me that!” Her voice was shaking with fury.

She spun around, steadied herself, aimed and fired.

The whale was preparing to submerge again. Normally, Mom couldn’t hit the side of a barn but, by some miracle, the dart flew straight and true. It struck just in front of the blowhole a moment before it disappeared under the water.

“I think I got him.” For a moment, her voice was a hushed whisper, but not for long. She rounded on Jason, eyes blazing. “What happened to you? Why didn’t you shoot when you were supposed to?”

“There was a girl.” Even as he said it, Jason was aware of how pathetic it sounded.

“There… was… what?”

“There was a girl in the ocean. She just appeared. And she was in the way.”
With dangerous calm, Mom indicated the unbroken waterline to the horizon. “Well where is she now?”

Jason shrugged helplessly. ”I dunno.”

Winston had come up to join them, with Brett trailing on his heels.

She turned to Winston, businesslike. “Uh huh. I think I lucked out. But we’ll have to wait ’til we get back to the lab to be sure. Can you tell him to head straight back to ORCA?”

Winston gave Jason a strange look before heading back toward the wheelhouse.

“And as for you, young man, we will be having a very long talk, believe me.” She followed Winston.

“But mum-” Jason called after her.

“I don’t want to know, Jason.”

Mom just kept walking. Brett stood, grinning at his older brother, twirling one finger around his ear.

Jason looked out at the empty sea, bewildered. “There was a girl.”

The engines fired up as the boat began to come around to head for home.

Neri’s head came up out of the water. The boat was in the distance now, heading away at speed. She watched it go, troubled.

Back in the laboratory the equipment on the tag was not working and Winston was trying to solve the problem checking the wires and connections.

“Working?” he asks.

“No,” mom responds.

“Yes?”

“Nothing.”

Winston bangs on the back of the monitor and the screen flickers on and all seemed to be working perfectly, to Jason’s relief. On one screen, a glowing blip registered the location of the whale at that moment. At the same time, another monitor showed the repeating patterns of his brain waves. Winston calculated that both could be picked up within a range of twelve miles. And all the time, the sound of whale songs issued from two speakers. The whole room rang with strange whistles, moans, and squeals, relayed by the powerful transmitters.

“It works. Winston, we did it! Listen to that!” Mom cried jubilantly

“Ah, beautiful.”

Only Jason stood aside from the excitement, knowing his mother would turn his attention back to him sooner or later. He didn’t have long to wait.

“But it is no thanks to you, Jason. What you did out there could have set us back by weeks.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“Ever since I accepted this position, you have been sulking. I have put up with it because I understand there are a lot of things you have to give up. Including the occasional weekend spent with your father. But to deliberately try to mess up a major part of this project just because you are cheesed off at having been here is unforgivable.”

“I didn’t!”

“Then why didn’t you fire when you were told?”

“Because the girl was in the way.” Again Jason tried to explain about the girl, but Mom was in no mood to listen.

“Oh really, Jason! If you’re going to invent some sort of excuse, at least make it vaguely believable. I mean, we were in the middle of an ocean. What would a girl be doing out there?”

“I don’t know,” he said defiantly. “But she was.”

“Look. I am not even going to dignify this by arguing. We’ll talk about it later, all right? When I have had time to cool off.”

“But mum, there was. I tell you!” Yells after her as she leaves.

“Jason, there’s an old saying. When the tiger roars, the wise rabbit flees,” says Winston.

“And what does that mean?”

“It means get out while the going’s good.”

Jason took this advice and fled.

A little later he lay on his bunk twirling a basketball in his hands, trying to figure it all out. Clearly, no one else had seen the girl, but that was not surprising when he thought about it. They would all have been watching either their equipment or the whale. And even if they had looked, he was on the bow, blocking their view. So they only had his word. And none of them believed it.

His thoughts were interrupted by Brett’s teasing voice coming from the lower bunk. “There’s one thing that explains it all, of course. You’ve finally gone crazy.”

“I’m not crazy, you little creep,” Jason snarled through clenched teeth.

“That’s what crazy people always say, though, isn’t it?” Brett countered. He smirked to himself. It wasn’t often he got the chance to stir Jason up this much.
Jason swung down from the bunk and faced his younger brother angrily. “Listen, I did see a girl. I don’tʼ know how, I don’t know why. But, she must be out there somewhere and I’m going to prove it.”

Jason’s face was stony. Even Brett was aware of a strange determination in his voice. “Even if I have to stay here the rest of my life. I’m not leaving until I find her.”

Neri was back on her island in the peace and comfort of her home. The fire is crackling and the crickets are out in full force. She looks out upon the horizon thinking of the days events.

[center]