The Discovery

CHAPTER TEN

Marina Kappas surveyed the light chop that frosted the Caribbean, a frown on her exquisitely formed lips. “It doesn’t look too bad on the surface. But I’ll bet there’s a current a few feet below.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Star yawned and jumped off the dive platform.

Marina turned to the three remaining interns. “You’ll be tethered to the Brownie, but without an anchor line, you can drift without knowing it,” she said in concern. “And you’d better watch out for Star. Sometimes confidence can work against you.”

Kaz flipped down his own mask. “We’ll keep an eye on her.” He added quickly, “But don’t tell her I said that.”

Dante hit the waves with a splash, bit down on his regulator, deflated his B.C., and sank. Sure enough, the current kicked in a few feet below the surface. The unseen force was subtler than wind. And yet it was relentless, propelling him slowly but irresistibly backward.

Don’t panic, he told himself, remembering his certification training. Just keep descending.

The advice turned out to be correct. By thirty feet, the manhandling of the ocean began to weaken. That was when he noticed something unusual.

Where are all the fish?

The reef was empty. The coral was still there — with its growth of anemones and sea fans. But the permanent traffic jam of fish that characterized the Hidden Shoals was just plain gone.

He shot a questioning look at Adriana. His partner shrugged, mystified.

The disturbance came from above. At first, it seemed like portable rapids — a fast-moving wave of violently foaming water.

He tried to swing his camera around to get a shot of the phenomenon, but he spun too hard, twirling himself on a diagonal axis like a globe. Peering through the lens of the Nikonos, he saw a blurry panorama, and then —

Two eyes and a protruding snout staring right back at him!

He nearly jumped out of his wet suit. Then he recognized the creature in front of him.

A dolphin!

A whole pod of them, in fact, scouring the reef in a cacophony of high-pitched squeals and clicks. Dante tried to guess at their number, but the sea mammals were moving too fast — faster, in fact, than he’d ever seen anything travel in water. There were at least twenty of them, maybe thirty, diving and swooping as they streaked past.

His visitor circled him with a lightning spin-o-rama, and darted off to join the group.

No wonder the fish cleared out. This is a hunting party. They’re not gone; they’re hiding!

He began shooting pictures. Dante had seen dolphins only at aquariums and theme parks. These appeared similar — Atlantic bottlenoses. But the show tanks of Sea World could not begin to demonstrate the personality of these animals. Fish eyes were blank and staring. But the expression of a dolphin sparkled with charisma, even humor. The face that had scared Dante out of his wits wasn’t a threatening one. On the contrary, it had been almost mocking, as if to say, “Man, you’re a lousy swimmer. What are you doing in my ocean?”

I need a video camera, he thought to himself. Still pictures would never do justice to the dolphins’ playfulness. He squinted at a small dark object that appeared to be swimming along with the pod. It was a conch shell, batted from snout to snout. A toy!

They’re practically people! He wondered whether the dolphins would consider that a compliment.

A practiced bump from a bottlenose floated the shell directly into Kaz’s hands. The boy lobbed it back into the pack only to have it expertly volleyed to Adriana.

They’re not just playing, Dante marveled. They’re playing with us!

The game lasted maybe thirty seconds before Dante bobbled and dropped the shell, earning a squeaky reprimand from a five-foot cetacean. To interact with these creatures, so alien yet so strangely human, was something he would never forget.

But Star was not ready to say good-bye to their new friends. With a Herculean double kick of her flippers, she came up behind a dorsal fin and latched on to it. The dolphin seemed surprised at first, and then sped up, carrying the girl along for the ride. Suddenly, Dante felt his safety line go taut. And then he was flying through the water at spectacular velocity.

Shock soon turned to amazement. Since the four divers were connected via the Brownie, Star’s dolphin was towing them all! He could see Kaz and Adriana, sailing along with him. Kaz’s arms were spread like airplane wings. Those maniacs were enjoying this!

Like it’s some kind of underwater roller coaster.

The other dolphins kept pace with them as the reef accelerated to a blur.

But is it safe?

Dante never saw the coral head swinging out to meet him.