over to Ryder, Coach continued, “If you agree to keep everything you see and do here a secret, place your palm on here and say I swear and your name.”
Ryder placed his palm on the screen and said his name. When he took his hand away there was a glowing green imprint of it on the screen. His voice played back saying, “I swear, Ryder Jones.”
Coach Fred walked around to each of them asking them to swear and provide a palm print. Everyone agreed, though some more quickly than others. Rosina needed additional convincing. Hugh asked Coach if it was a legally binding contract before he eventually agreed.
“Excellent. What a show! What a night!” Coach exclaimed. “That’s it for now campers. We want to start fresh, first thing in the morning. Early chow at 8:00 a.m. sharp. Your first class meets at the lagoon dock at nine. Wear your swimsuits and do not be late.”
“Goodnight kids, get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon,” Ms. Sanchez added before disappearing just as suddenly as she had appeared.
At first they sat in silence. No one got up to leave. Ryder then looked at the others, shrugged, and took off. Rosina left with the twins, talking quietly. That left Tristan, Hugh, and Sam in the amphitheater.
“Wonder if my talent is swimming with sharks?” Tristan said.
“Maybe I can hear sea creatures,” Sam added.
They both looked at Hugh. He was resting his head in his hands, staring at the ground.
“C’mon, let’s go. I’m sure we’ll find out more tomorrow,” Tristan said.
“Yeah, I can’t wait,” Hugh moaned.
AT BREAKFAST THE NEXT MORNING, TRISTAN AND Hugh met up with Sam. After eating they headed to the lagoon for their first training session. Tristan and Sam would have run the entire way—they were so excited to get started. But Hugh moved as if he was trudging through thick sandal-sucking mud. The three of them were still the first of the Seasquirts to arrive, but there were already others on the dock. Director Davis and the red-haired boy, Rusty, were standing near the end of the dock and Jade was just climbing out of the water. They were so engrossed in conversation that none of them noticed the young campers approaching.
“Any additional information?” Director Davis asked Jade.
“The dolphins are reporting more blasts and they’ve detected an unfamiliar ship in the area. And some sharks have been killed—looks like finning,” she answered in a surprisingly unJade-like, less than perky tone.
Tristan, Hugh, and Sam hung back not wanting to interrupt, but they were close enough to hear what was being said.
Tristan whispered, “Finning, that’s totally disgusting. It’s when people slice off a shark’s fins and then throw the dying shark back into the water.”
“Gross! Why would anyone do that?” Sam asked quietly.
“They use the fins to make soup in Asia,” Tristan answered. “I read that people pay lots of money for it—something like 200 dollars a bowl.”
“Yuck!” Sam said. “That’s just nasty.”
Tristan and Hugh nodded in agreement, quietly inching closer to the dock to better hear what was being said.
“I don’t like it. Things are very sensitive right now,” Director Davis said. “But we’d better send a small team in. It’s a pretty remote area, and the evidence might be gone before the authorities get there—if they even bother.”
A large brown pelican hopped down from one of the dock’s pilings. It waddled over and poked Jade’s leg with its long bill. The loose pouch of skin between the bird’s lower bill and neck jiggled like flabby arm skin.
Jade stepped to the side, pushing the bird away with a flick of her hand. “Stop it, Henry. Director, I can do the communications, let me go.”
“I can do the camo,” Rusty added.
The pelican poked Jade’s leg a second time and again she shooed it away.
“Okay, take Rory as your swimmer and check in with Flash for tracking devices and gear. The helicopter will take you as close as possible and I’ll arrange for a boat to meet you. Remember, our job is just to collect evidence. That’s all. Stay out of sight and out of trouble. And above all else, stay safe. Wish we had an echolocator to go, but ever since we lost Roger, no one has shown the talent.”
A shadow of sadness passed over their faces. The pelican then reached up and this time stabbed Jade hard, right in the butt cheek.
“Oouw! Okay already. What is it Henry?”
To Tristan’s great surprise, the pelican took a step back and turned to where he, Hugh, and Sam were standing.
“Well hello there,” Director Davis said, eyeing the three young teens. “Ready for your first day?”
“I think so,” Tristan answered.
“Jade, you and Rusty get moving,” the director said. “I’ll catch up with you before you go.” He also nodded to the pelican. It then jumped back onto its perch.
“Roger that,” Jade replied as she and Rusty jogged off the dock, briefly nodding to Tristan, Hugh, and Sam.
“Here come the others,” Director Davis noted, looking to where Rosina, Ryder, and the twins were approaching. Coach Fred was also with them, his apparel was now quite drab—just your everyday sequin-less swim trunks and polo shirt. A bulky blue backpack was slung over his shoulder.
“Welcome to your first day of training everyone,” the director said. “This is going to be an exciting day and there’s no one better than Coach here to help you through it. But first let me ask you this, what made the angelfish turn red?”
Coach Fred rolled his eyes. The others looked confused, not sure what the director was asking.
“It blushed because it saw a ship’s bottom,” Director Davis said expectantly.
Once they actually realized it was a joke, Tristan and the other young teens smiled awkwardly.
“That’s a good one,” Coach Fred said, turning to the others in a way to obscure the director’s view. He shook his head and silently mouthed “NOT,” which unlike the joke got a chuckle out of the campers.
“I’ll leave you in Coach’s very capable hands,” Director Davis said, hurrying away.
Tristan again noted his limp and that today he was wearing one orange sneaker and one blue one.
“Enough playtime, kiddies. Time to get down to work,” Coach said more seriously. “Hope you all have your suits on or you’ll just have to go in naked.”
The Seasquirts glanced at one another, wondering if that too was a joke, but Coach Fred seemed quite serious.
“Uh sir? Are there fish and other things living in the lagoon?” Hugh asked nervously.
“Oh yes, of course. Lots of life in there.”
Hugh looked like he was going to be sick.
Coach Fred instructed them to sit down. From his backpack, he unloaded a stack of water bottles—each with the shark and wave logo on it. The liquid inside had a slight pink tint. He handed one to each of the Seasquirts.
“It