Enemy of Oceans (3 page)

“WOW!” EXCLAIMED GRAY WHEN THEY GOT
nearer the Stingeroo Supper Club and could hear a group of dolphins singing in their native tongue, click-razz. “Who knew this was here?”

The place was hidden inside a forest of dense greenie a mile outside of Fathomir's territory and couldn't be seen at all from the outside.

“I did,” Shear told Gray and Barkley. “We know everything that goes on around the homewaters.” Shear, a prehistore tiger shark, was the leader of the Seazarein's finja guardians at Fathomir. Back when Gray was named Aquasidor, Shear had been the captain of his guard. Since there currently was no Aquasidor, the big tiger now used his depleted finja force to protect Gray wherever he went.

“Does everything include Hokuu's finja makos almost killing Mari and Velenka?” Barkley asked.

Gray gave his friend a bump. It was hard to patrol an area as big as Fathomir with the few specially trained mariners Shear had left. They did need to tighten security, though. Shear had taken Kaleth's loss personally and held himself responsible even though the blame for everything could be put squarely on Hokuu.

“No one blames you for that,” Gray told the big tiger. “Have you talked with Striiker?” Striiker was a longtime friend of Gray and Barkley's, and led Riptide Shiver now that Gray was Seazarein.

“Yes,” Shear answered. “I'm going to have him begin patrols with the Riptide mariners he has available who are not protecting your shiver sharks. Though their training isn't up to guardian standards, I suppose they could be helpful.”

Barkley bristled at this comment. “At least Riptide is helping while they're settling in,” he said, eyeing Shear. “That's nice of them, don't you think?”

Gray gave Barkley another bump to remind him not to push the guardian tiger shark too far. Since the destruction of their homewaters, Riptide had been homeless. Gray wouldn't allow his family and friends to wander the ocean like jelly drifters, so as Seazarein, he gave them a chunk of territory and a swath of the golden greenie as their hunting grounds. Shear hadn't liked that decision because of the security risk but Gray wouldn't budge.

The group swam through the thick greenie curtain toward the music. Inside this barrier was a large area where most of the kelp and seaweed had been cleared. What was left seemed to be there for decoration. Lumos were plastered everywhere. Since the sun was shining straight down this time of day, their light wasn't noticeable, but at night it would be beautiful.

Sharkkind, none of whom Gray recognized, hovered in clumps of twos, threes, and fours as they ate seasoned fish prepared by skilled shellhead dwellers who stuffed them with tasty greenie and mosses from around the watery world. This environment was different from Slaggernacks but just as fun. This was exactly what Gray needed. A little time to clear his head and relax!

“I see too many lionfish swimming about for it to be natural,” Shear commented. “They are usually loners.”

Barkley gave Gray a look, agreeing with the tiger. “And those are just the ones you can see. Oh, you'll love this place, Shear. It's delightfully full of poisonous dwellers. Trank hires them out to be assassins from time to time.”

“What?” The tiger turned to Gray. “Then this place is too dangerous for you to be here. We should leave and I'll order my mariners to attack before nightfall.”

Gray spied a group of rocks and reached out with his senses. Sure enough, he could tell that many of the rocks weren't rocks at all, but stonefish. He had a feeling one of them was Trank and decided to have a little fun. “So, you think you could wipe this place out in the next day or two?”

“I wouldn't need that long,” the finja captain answered. “I didn't realize this was a nest of killers, or I would have already done it.”

“Well, since I don't see any friendly faces, or free orders of seasoned fish . . .”

“Whoa, whoa, sharkkind,” Trank said as he stopped acting like a rock and swam up from the pile Gray had been watching. “Is that any way for youse to treat an old friend? Especially when I have your favorite south seas flavored bluefin with volcano sauce being made as we speak? And it's never been proven that anyone died of anything other than natural causes where I was concerned.”

Shear had chomped his teeth in surprise at stonefish's sudden appearance. Barkley couldn't be happier at his startled reaction and rubbed it in.

“Look at that. Gray and I, the two poorly trained Riptide Shiver mariners, didn't flinch at all because of Trank but you did. Maybe you could use a little training tune up.”

Shear glared at the dogfish.

“Quit bumping snouts you two,” Gray told the pair. He turned to the stonefish and said, “I was only kidding, Trank. How's Gafin doing?”

Gafin was the reputed king of the urchins who controlled all criminal activity in the North Atlantis. Supposedly, Trank worked for him, but Gray and Barkley didn't know for sure. Trank was something of a mystery. There had been times when he helped Gray and his friends in the war against Finnivus. But another time it seemed Trank had betrayed them. The stonefish always came up with a great explanation for why he did whatever he did, though.

“He's good,” Trank answered. “He sends regards and congratulations, but also his regrets at not being able to be here today. Follow me, please.” The stonefish's tiny fins circled as he led them deeper into Stingeroo. “I've been saving the best spot in the place for youse. And don't worry, it's private.”

The stonefish took them to an area in a maze of coral that formed a cavern over their heads. You could see and hear the musical group through a number of honeycombed openings that also allowed a nice current to flow.

But there was only one way in or out unless you were Trank's size.

“I don't like it. This isn't safe,” Shear told Gray.

Trank turned and faced the giant tiger shark. “Not safe? Sharkkind, youse is safer here than under your momma's belly when youse was a pup.” He gestured with his fins to the opening they had swum through. Now there were long strands of clear greenie hanging in front of the opening. Then Gray realized it wasn't greenie at all. They were jellyfish tentacles! A swarm was tumbling with the light current and blocking the opening. Not only that, they were the most dangerous jellies in the Big Blue.

“Box jellyfish!” Barkley gasped as he watched the translucent, square jellyfish.

“That's right, dogfish,” Trank said, nodding with pride. “And nobody, but nobody, swims through a swarm of box jellies.”

“This is crazy,” Shear grunted. “Dwellers and jellies do not work together.”

“Most dwellers, and all sharkkind, do not work or talk to jellies. But I and my new jelly friends share a certain, how can I put it—”

“Poisonous-ness?” Barkley offered.

Trank shrugged. “Youse isn't far off the mark, doggie. We venomous dwellers are mistrusted by youse regular types in the Big Blue, misguided as everyone is about our gentle and honest natures.”

Gray gave Barkley a tail slap before he could throw out a smart comment.

Trank went on, “It turns out the less poisonous jellies don't like the more poisonous ones, either. So, out of the goodness of our hearts, we bonded with these friendless dwellers and formed an arrangement profitable to both of us.”

“What could they possibly need from you?” asked Shear.

“That youse don't need to know,” Trank answered.

Shear ground his teeth. “You cannot stay in here forever, stonefish. And you will tell me how you were able to get a quickfin code word.”

Trank flicked his tail at Shear. “Whoa, whoa! Please, stop. For your own sake. It just so happens that making threats to me in my own place happens to be very, very bad luck, Shear-the-guardian-captain-of-the-finja-at-Fathomir. Fins who do that tend to have shockingly horrible, bloody accidents soon after making those threats.”

“Why, you—”

Gray bumped Shear away from Trank. “How about nobody threatens anyone today?” he said. “I'm here for a nice meal and to hear some music. I don't want to spend my limited free time having to yell at anyone for acting like a chowderheaded moron. Is that understood?”

“Got it! Sorry,” Trank said. “I apologize to everyone.” Shear also nodded.

“I do have a question for you,” Gray went on. “And I'm asking this as the Seazarein and a friend.”

“Since youse added that last part, ask away,” the stonefish replied.

“Why are you here?”

Trank opened and closed his mouth a few times, thinking before he answered. “I'm here because you're here.”

“What does that mean?” Barkley asked suspiciously.

“Not like that,” the stonefish said. “Youse see, the people I work with, the leaders of the families in the other oceans, their business sunk to nothing when that psycho Finnivus was around. And youse solved that problem, permanent-like. And since Gray and I worked together in the Atlantis . . .”

“So, you're here to help Gray?” Barkley asked. “Seriously?”

“Very seriously,” Trank told them. “Profits have never been better than during this peace youse created. Gafin and the other urchin kings want it to stay that way. Nice and quiet.”

“Could you tell me where Hokuu is?” asked Gray. “That would help.”

Trank shook his head. “I'm glad youse asked about him because he concerns the urchin kings. Maybe it's better for everyone if youse take him out like with Finnivus?”

Shear slashed his tail through the water but kept his temper. “The Seazarein is not a contract killer, stonefish.”

“Not saying he is, though I think Gray would be pretty great at it if he tried,” Trank said. “That's a compliment. As it is, we don't know exactly where Hokuu is, but we think the fire waters in the South Sific are a good place for youse to check.”

“And why do you think that?” asked Barkley.

“Because everyone I send there doesn't come back,” Trank told them.

Everyone was silent, considering.

“Your meal will arrive shortly. Enjoy yourselves and don't forget to tell your friends about the Stingeroo Supper Club.” The stonefish swam out one of the openings in the wall to the main area.

“As if that means anything,” Shear commented after Trank left.

Barkley sighed. “Unfortunately, it kind of does.”

Gray nodded. “It looks like we need to go visit Kendra and AuzyAuzy Shiver and speak with this Eyes and Ears shark, Leilani. Something is going on in the fire waters and we need to find out what.”

TYDAL GAZED ACROSS THE FLOATING GREENIE
Gardens of Indi, trying to order his troubled thoughts. The gardens were famous as one of the true wonders of the Big Blue. It was a collection of the most beautiful kelp, coral, seaweed, and sea flowers in all the seven seas tended by master dwellers who trimmed and pruned them to perfection. Walls of delicate coral moved back and forth allowing the blooms to be caught by the current and whisked upward to create swimming lanes of dazzling color both above and below.

Besides the skilled shellheads and fins who took care of the gardens, no one but royalty had been allowed to look at this marvel for ages. Finnivus, the former leader of Indi, hadn't even let other royals see the gardens, preferring to keep them for his own enjoyment. Tydal wanted to open the marvel to everyone, but they were located near his royal quarters and there had been two attempts on his life already so he couldn't for safety reasons.

His safety.

All this beauty and no one to enjoy it, Tydal thought. Not even me.

At least Finnivus could take pleasure in the fabulous gardens because he didn't care about anyone but himself. It added to his enjoyment that others wanted to see them and couldn't. Tydal shook his head, remembering.

Finnivus was the reason for Indi Shiver's fall. The vain fool had declared war on the entire Big Blue. He didn't stop until the Indi armada was crushed and he was sent to the Sparkle Blue in the titanic Battle of the Maw in the Atlantis. Tydal didn't miss or mourn the former emperor. As First Court Fish, he had lived in fear of being sentenced to death every day of his life. No, Tydal was glad Finnivus was gone.

The victorious force in that fight, Riptide United, had been led by Gray. Tydal thought him a bold and cunning leader. It was Gray—now the Seazarein of the entire Big Blue!—who had imposed the sanctions on Indi Shiver after their loss. The Black Wave armada was disbanded, their mariner force made smaller, and five hundred AuzyAuzy sharkkind were left in the Indi homewaters to watch them. This was actually better than Tydal had hoped for. If Finnivus had won the Battle of the Maw, he would have put each and every shark that opposed him on a feeding platter.

That Tydal, a lowly epaulette shark, had been chosen to lead was nothing short of incredible. Finnivus had no children, so after his death the main royal families—Punjaw, Razor Tooth, Charavyuh, Korak, and Taj—each thought they were the best fins to lead Indi Shiver. But they were all equal in power and none would ally with another. They couldn't agree, so when Gray picked Tydal—probably as a joke—they said yes.

Tydal knew the royals chose him as a placeholder—he'd even heard them use that word—destined for the Sparkle Blue as soon as any of them won the power struggle for control. The royals considered him a mucksucker because epaulette sharks preferred hunting squid and shellheads by the seabed instead of catching fish in the open waters. There was no way any would allow themselves to be led by a mucksucker. But Gray was too smart for them. He had kept the Indi court—including the strongest of the royal sharkkind—in the Atlantis and under guard as “guests” until Tydal could sort things out. What Gray hadn't counted on was that the royals were getting messages to their relations in the Indi homewaters.

It was those sharkkind who had made the attempts on Tydal's life. The most recent was by a squaline, one of his own personal guards. It was only the lightning quick reaction of Xander del Hav'aii, the AuzyAuzy commander and a royal himself, that had saved Tydal's life. Xander had relieved the squaline of their duties, and now Tydal was guarded only by AuzyAuzy sharkkind.

Tydal wondered if that made his chances of survival better or worse. The AuzyAuzy homewaters had been destroyed by Finnivus and Indi mariners. For better or worse, he was an Indi shark. What did any of them care if Tydal lived or died?

Enough moping, he told himself.

Tydal was Indi's acting leader and there was work to do. Though his selection was approved by the royals because they thought him weak, he still had to rule them. It was the only way that Indi wouldn't get into another war. The royals had been coddled their entire lives. Most didn't understand what it was to be told they couldn't do anything they wanted. Each thought everyone should bow before them, just like Finnivus. They were dreadful! If Tydal allowed one of the royals to take his place, there would be plots and killings and finally civil war.

I cannot allow that, he thought. We have been through too much already.

Tydal swam out from the gardens and into the royal court proper, where Indi's coral throne sat. The throne was made of gleaming rose coral and polished by sea snails until it shined. When the sun above the chop-chop cast its rays just so, the reflection formed a rainbow that glowed around the throne like a halo.

Tydal didn't like resting his fins on the coral throne. It felt haughty and arrogant. Then there was the fact that whenever he did so, absolutely nothing got done because the royals grew angry by what they thought of as arrogance when he used it. They challenged him in every small way that they were able. It shouldn't have been the case since Tydal was their chosen leader, but there it was.

“Giving it another go today, are we?” Xander asked. “Do I need to call in more of my mariners?”

“I think you have enough,” Tydal replied.

The scalloped hammerhead always looked like he was thinking deeply because of the ridges in his oddly shaped head. Tydal knew Xander was smart but he could also be rude and unhelpful because he hated being stuck in the Indi homewaters. But the hammerhead had recently saved Tydal's life, so that was a big point in his favor.

“Try not to let them snout-bang you so much, mate. It gets boring watching you used and abused every day by this sorry lot, savvy?”

Tydal searched the hammerhead's eyes to see if he was joking or making fun. It seemed that he was actually offering advice. Truly, Xander was a mystery.

Tydal nodded to indicate to his own First Court Shark, a port jackson named Oopret, to put the royal court in session, which he did by saying, “The Indi Shiver royal court under Minister Prime Tydal, the first of his name, is now in session. Swim forward and be heard!”

Five sharks, one from each of the royal families, came forward in a group. Usually they jostled one another for the chance to speak first. Sometimes there was a big enough fight that Tydal could simply cancel the audience, which was always a relief.

This silent grouping was new and couldn't be good.

The tiger shark from the Taj family glanced right and left before speaking to Tydal, who hovered by—but not on—the Indi throne.

“Minister Prime, we representatives of the five royal Lines demand to know what you're doing to free our kin from their unlawful and illegal imprisonment in the Atlantis!”

So that's it, Tydal thought. They're working together.

Bringing their princes and princesses back to Indi would set all of their war-mongering plans into motion, and Tydal would surely be killed. He would have to be an absolute dunce to do this so it wasn't going to happen.

“I'm having high-level talks with Striiker, the leader of Riptide, and Graynoldus Emprex, the Seazarein, to do just that,” he lied. “When I know something for certain, you'll be the first I inform.”

“So, you know nothing . . . for certain?” asked the spinner shark from Korak. He left a huge pause between the words
nothing
and
certain
on purpose.

On the outside Tydal remained serene. He had learned well to keep his face free of emotion, especially negative ones, in Finnivus's royal court. “No, I didn't say that. I know many things about that topic that are very certain, but I cannot tell you what they are at this time.”

“So you're keeping this information to yourself?” wailed an ancient Razor Tooth princess. “I have no idea what's become of my grandson and I'm worried sick!”

Tydal knew this wasn't the case. The old crone and the prince hated each other. There were even rumors that she'd tried to have her grandson sent to the Sparkle Blue using an urchin king assassin.

“I know it's been hard on you,” he told the group.

“He loves ruling over us!” cried out the Razor Tooth princess. “I bet he'll have them put to death to stay in power!”

“That's not true!” he shouted. Though it would solve his problems, Tydal couldn't send those sharkkind to the Sparkle Blue like Finnivus would have done. He didn't want to be anything like Finnivus. But Tydal's voice was drowned out as the five royal representatives all began yelling.

The Taj shark's voice overcame the others. “You've betrayed us and now are allied with Graynoldus, the very shark who sent our beloved emperor to the Sparkle Blue! You're a traitor!”

Tydal couldn't believe it. Beloved emperor? Each of the royal families had lost members to Finnivus's temper. He had even eaten the heads of a few in front of the royal court while their families watched! “Are you insane?” Tydal sputtered.

Xander streaked in and rammed the Taj shark in the flank. The other four sharkkind from the royal families clammed up as the Taj royal writhed in pain. “You dare touch me?” he gasped.

POW!
Xander whirled and hit the Taj shark again with a huge tail slap to the face.

“Not only do I dare touch you, I can do it anytime I want. True it's not as fun as sending your princes to the Sparkle Blue in the battle waters, but it'll have to do. And let me tell you another thing, the next sharkkind that mentions the beloved emperor Finnivus won't live to say another word! You pack of krill-faced jellies savvy that?”

The group of five sharkkind collected themselves and left without another word.

Tydal swam down to Xander. “That was fantastic! I can't believe you did that!”

The hammerhead turned and his eyes blazed. “I wouldn't have to if you were any kind of leader! Might as well put an empty conch shell on that throne for all the good you're doing.” With that, the scalloped hammerhead pushed past him.

“What? What did I do?” asked Tydal, bewildered.

But Xander was already gone.