Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEENDown to the HarborDown to the harbor they went away the condos, the cane fields, the golf course, the Burger King, the Buddhist cemetery with its great green Buddha blissed bug out by the sea, past the steak houses, the tourist traps, the old guy riding pop Front Street on a girls bike with a macaw perched on his head land to the harbor they went. They waved to the researchers at the fuel bobtail, nodded to the haglets at the pursue booths, shakaed the divemasters and the captains, and schlepped science stuff trim the come in to start their day.Tako Man stood in the suffer of his boat eating a breakfast of rice and humanta as the Maui Whale crew form, Quinn, Kona, and Amy passed by. He was a strong, compact Malayan with long hair and a stringy soul-patch beard that, along with the rig out fishhooks he wore in his ears, gave him the distinct aspect of a pirate. He was iodinness of the wispy-coral pistons who lived in the harbor, and this m orning, as always, he wore his wet suit.Hey, Tako, form give tongue to. The diver glanced up from his bowl. His eyes looked as if mortal had poured shots of blood into them. Kona noticed that the beautiful octopus in the divers bowl was still pathetic, and he scampered knock down the quayage feeling a case of the creeps fluttering to life in his spinal cord.Nightwalkers, gray unmatcheds, on your boat last night. I seen them, verbalise Tako Man. Not the first time.Good to know, state frame, patronizing the diver and moving down the chase. You had to carry on peace with anyone who lived in the harbor, especi aloney the black-coral divers(prenominal), who lived far everywhere the edge of what most people would consider normal life. They shot heroin, drank heavily, dog-tired in all day doing bounce dives to two hundred feet aspect for the gemstone-valuable black coral, then spent their money on weeklong parties that had, more than once, terminate with one of them dead o n the dock. They lived on their boats and ate rice and any(prenominal) they could pull out of the sea. Tako Man had gotten his shape because on any habituated afternoon, after the divers came in for the day, youd see the grizzled Malaysian carrying a net bag full of tako (octopus) that he had speargond on the reef for their supper.Hi, Amy give tongue to sheepishly to Tako Man as they passed. He gl atomic number 18d at her through his blooming(a) haze, and his head bobbed as he almost nodded out into his breakfast. Amy quickened her pace and ran a Pelican case she was carrying into the back of Quinns thigh.Jeez, Amy, Quinn utter, having almost lost his footing.Do those guys dive in that condition? Amy whispered, still sticking to Quinn desire a shadow.Worse than that. Would you back up a bitty?Hes scary. Youre supposed to protect me, ya mook. How do they keep from conquerting into trouble?They lose one or two a year. Ironically, its usually an overdose that binds them.Tough job.Theyre tough guys.Tako Man shouted, Fuck you, track down people Youll see. Fucking nightwalker fuckers. Fucking fuck you, haole m otherfuckers He tossed the frame of his breakfast at them. It landed overboard, and tiny fish broke the body of urine fighting for the scraps.Rum, give tongue to Kona. Too much hostility in digital audiotape buzz. Rum come from da cane, and cane come from slavin the people, and dat conquest all distilled in de bottle and come out a man mean as cat shit on a day.Yeah, said Clay to Quinn. Didnt you know that about rum?Wheres your boat? asked Quinn.My boat?Your boat, Clay, said Amy.No, said Clay. He stopped and dropped two cases of camera equipment on the dock. The forever and a day Confused, the spiny and powerful twenty-two-foot Grady White center-console fisherman, Clays pride and joy, was gone. A life jacket, a water bottle, and various other familiar flotsam bobbed gently in a rainbow slick of gasoline where the boat had once been.Everyone th ought someone else should say something, tho for a full minute no one did. They exactly stood there, staring at what should shoot been Clays boat but or else was a big, boatless gob of tropical air.Poop, Amy finally said, saying it for all of them.We should equalise with the harbormaster, said Nate.My boat, said Clay, who stood over the empty slip as if it were his of late run-over boyhood dog. He would have nuzzled it and stroked its little dead doggy ears if he could have, but instead he fished the oily life jacket out of the water and sat on the dock rocking it.He really want that boat, Amy said. empennage I yield a duh for the sistah? exclaimed the dreaded blond kid.I paying the insurance, Nate said as he moved away, headed for the harbormaster.Tako Man had come down the dock from his own boat to stare at the empty water. swarthy now. Amy O.K. up into Kona for protection, but Kona had backed up into the next soul behind him, which turned out to be Captain Tarwater, re splendent in his navy whites and newly Kona-scuffed shoes.Irie, ice cream man.Youre on my shoes.What happened? asked Cliff Hyland, overture down the dock behind the captain.Clays boats gone, said Amy.Cliff moved up and put his hand on Clays shoulder. Maybe someone beneficial borrowed it. Clay nodded, acknowledging that Cliff was trying to comfort him, but comfort fell the like sandwiches on the recently bombed.By the time Quinn returned from the harbormasters office with a Maui find out in tow, there were a half dozen biologists, collar black-coral divers, and a couple from manganese who were taking pictures of the whole thing, forecasting that this would be something they would requirement to remember if they ever found out what was happening. As the cop approached, the black-coral divers faded to the edges of the gathering and away.Jon doubting Thomas laden, the scientist/entrepreneur who was accompanied by three of his cute female naturalists, stepped up beside Quinn. This is clean horrible, Nate. estimable horrible. That boat be a major capital investment for you guys, Im sure.Yeah, but mainly we liked to intellectionte of it as something that floated and moved us a move on the water. Nate very had a great capacity for sarcasm, but he usually mute it for those things and people he found truly irritating. Jon Thomas full was truly irritating.Going to be tough to replace it.Well manage. It was insured.You might want to get something bigger this time. I know theres a measure of safety on the job(p) off of these sixty-five-footers we have, but also with the confine you can set up computers, bow cameras, a lot of things that arent really possible on little speedboats. A good-size boat would add a lot of legitimacy to your operation.We mannikin of decided to go with the legitimacy we get from doing credible research, Jon Thomas.We didnt make those figures up. ladened caught himself raising his voice. The cop interviewing Clay looked over h is shoulder, and Fuller lowered his tone. That was just professional jealousy on the part of our detractors.Your detractors were the facts. What did you expect when your paper cogitate that humpbacks actually enjoyed existence struck by Jet Skis?Some do. Fuller pushed back his pith helmet and ventured a smile of sincerity, which collapsed under its own weight.Whats your angle, Jon Thomas?Nate, I can get you a boat like ours, with all the trimmings, and an operating budget, and youd just have to do one little render for me. One season of spring, maximum. And your operation can keep the boat, sell it, do whatever you want.Unless Fuller was about to ask him to shove him off the dock into the oily water, Quinn pretty much knew he was pass to turn down the offer, but he had to ask. Those were really becoming boats. Make your proposal.I request you to put your name on a depicted object that says that human- dolphin interaction facilities are not harmful to the animals, and do a st udy that says that building one at La Perouse Bay wouldnt have a negative electric shock on the environment. Then Id need you to stand up at the reserve meetings and make the case.Im not your guy, Jon Thomas. First, Im not a dolphin guy, and you know that. Nate avoided adding what he wanted to say, which was Second, you are a feckless weasel out to make a buck without any consideration for science or the animals you study. Instead he said, There are dozens of people doing studies on captive dolphins. why dont you go to them?I have the animal study. You dont have to do the study. I just want your name on it.Wont the people who actually did the study have some objection to that?No. Theyll be fine with it. I need your name and your presence, Nate.I dont think so. I cant see myself testifying in the first place impact committees and county planning boards.Okay, fair enough. Clay or Amy can do the stand-ups. Just put your name on the paper and do the environmental impact study. I need the credibility of your name.Which I wont have as soon as I let you use me. Im sorry, but my name is all I really have to show for twenty-five long time of work. I cant sell it out, conceive down for a really nice boat.Oh, right, the grandness of starvation. Fuck that, Nate, and fuck your high ideals. Im doing more for these animals by exposing the public to them than youll do in a lifetime of graphing out songs and recording behavior. And in front you record to your ivory tower on the ethical high ground, youd better bring in a good look at your people. That kid is a harsh thief, and no one has ever perceive of your precious new assistant. Fuller turned and signaled to his chorus line of whalettes that they were going to their boat.Quinn looked for Amy, saw her on the other side of the cop who was talking to Clay, helping him fill in details. He ran up behind Fuller, grabbed the smaller mans arm, and spun him around. What are you talking about? Amy analyze at forest Hole , with Tyack and Loughten.That right? Well, maybe youd better give them a call and ask them. Because theyve never heard of her. Despite what you think, I do my research, Nate. Do you? Now, get back to your one-boat operation, would you.If I find out you had anything to do with thisFuller wrenched his arm out of Quinns grip and grinned. Right, youll what? Become more unconnected? Screw you, Nate.What did you say?But Fuller ignored him and boarded his million-dollar research vessel, small-arm Quinn skulked back down the dock to his friends. Oily flotsam seemed to be losing its allure, however, and the crowd had dispersed somewhat, leaving only Amy, Clay, the cop, and the couple from Minnesota.You. Youre somebody arent you? asked the woman as Nate walked up. Honey, this guy is someone. I remember seeing him on the Discovery Channel. outfox my picture with him.Who is he? said honey as his wife took Nate by the arm and posed like hed just handed her a check.I dont know, one of those o cean guys, she said through a grin, acting as if she were posing with one of the carved statues that decorated doorways around Lahaina. Just take the picture.Are you one of those Cousteau fellas? Oui, said Nate. Now I muss let out with my good fren Sylvia Earle, he continued in his French-by-way-of-British-Columbia-and-Northern-California fake accent as he went over to Amy. I need to talk to you.Sylvia Earle Shes a content Geographic person. Get their picture together, honey.Hes lying, Nathan, Amy said. You can check if you want. It was all on the resume I gave to Clay. She didnt appear angry, just hurt, betrayed perhaps. Her eyes were huge and teary, and she was get-go to look vaguely like one of those creepy Keane sad-eyed-kid pictures. Quinn felt like hed just smacked a bag of kittens against a truck bumper.I know, he said. Im sorry. I just well, Jon Thomas is an asshole. I let him get to me.Its okay, Amy sniffed. Its just just Ive worked so hard.I dont need to check, Amy. You do good work. My shortcoming for doubting you. Lets get Clay squared away and get to work.He tentatively put his arm around her and walked her back to where Clay was finishing up his interview with the cop. Clay saw the tear tracks down Amys scene and immediately took her in his arms and pressed her head to his shoulder. I know, honey. I know. It was a great boat, but it was just a boat. Well get another(prenominal) one.Wheres Kona? Nate asked.He was around here a second ago, said Clay.Just then Nates cell phone rang. He worked it out of his shirt paper bag and answered it. Nathan, its me, said the Old free. Nate covered the mouthpiece. Its the Old Broad, Nate said to Clay.Amy, you go round up Kona while I finish up with the officer, okay? Clay said.Amy nodded and was off down the dock. Clay turned back to the officer.The Old Broad went on, Nathan, I spoke to that big male again today, and he unquestionably wants you to take a hot pastrami on rye with you when you go out. He said its very important.Im sure it is, Elizabeth, but Im not sure were even going out today. Somethings happened to Clays boat. Its gone.Oh, my, he must be distraught. Ill come down and look after him, but you have to get out in the channel today. I just feel its very important.I dont think youll need to come down, Elizabeth. Clay will manage.Well, if you say so, but you have to promise me youll go out today.I promise.And youll take a pastrami on rye for that big male.Ill try, Elizabeth. I have to go now, Clay inevitably me for something.With Swiss cheese and hot mustard the Old Broad said as Nate disconnected.Clay thanked the policeman, who nodded to Quinn as he walked off. Even the couple from Minnesota had moved on, and only Clay and Quinn were left on the dock. Where are the kids? asked Nate, cringe at the whole idea he and Clay, the middle-aged couple being responsible and boring while the kids went off to play and have adventures.I asked Amy to find Kona. They could be anywh ere.Clay, I need to ask you something before they get back.Shoot.Did you check any of Amys references before you hired her? I mean, did you call anyone? Woods Hole? Her undergrad school what was it?Cornell. Nope. She was smart, she was cute, she seemed to know what she was talking about, and she said shed work for free. The bona fides looked good on paper. Gift horse, Nate.Jon Thomas Fuller said that he checked and that no one at Woods Hole has heard of her.Fullers an asshole. Look, I dont really care if she finished high school. The kid has be herself. Shes got balls.Still, maybe I should call Tyack. Just in case.If you need to. call in him this afternoon when you get back in.Im sure Fuller was just yanking my chain. He tried to offer us a boat like his if we backed his dolphin-park project.And you turned him down?Of course.But those are really nice boats. Our armada has been cut by fifty percent. Our nautical resources have declined by more than one-half. Our boatage is une qual by point five.Whats up? Amy said. Shed come back down the dock and seemed to have shaken off her earlier melancholy.Clays being scientific. Fuller offered us a sixty-foot research vessel like his, with operating budget, if we back his dolphin project.Do I have to sleep with him?We havent put that on the table, Clay said, but Ill bet we could get a sonar array if youre enthusiastic.Hell, Nate, take it, Amy said.It would mean selling out my credibility, said Quinn, appalled at what inwardness whores his colleagues had become. Wed be going over to the dark side.Amy shrugged. Those are really nice boats. The corner of her mouth twitched as if she was trying not to grin, and Nate realized that she was probably goofing on him.Yeah, said Clay. Nice. Clay was goofing, too. Hed be all right. Nate shook his head, looking as if he were fighting disbelief, but actually he was trying to shake the memory of his dream of driving a big cabin cruiser through the streets of Seattle with Amy di splayed as the bikinied figurehead. If youre okay, Clay, we really should get out before the wind comes up.Go, Clay said. Ill get the police report for the insurance company. To Amy he said, You find Kona?Hes down there with that Tako guy.Whats he doing down there?It looked like he was building a saxophone. I didnt go close.Quinn strode down the dock and looked to where Kona was talking with Tako Man. No, thats his bong. It breaks down for easy portage.Whats a bong?Cute, Amy. Help me get the equipment in the boat.Suddenly Kona started shouting and running down the dock toward them. Bwanas I found the boatClay perked up. Where?Right there. Tako Man says its right there. He dove down there this morning.Kona was pointing to a patch of murky degenerate green water in the center of the harbor. Jade green because of all the waste flushed from the live-aboards, as well as the bait, fish guts, seasickness, and skirt poop that went into the water faster than the scavengers could clean it o ut, and so it caused a endless algae bloom.My boat, said Clay, looking forlornly at the empty water.Amy stepped up and put her arm around Clays shoulders to resume stage-two comfort. He dove in that water?The nightwalkers sank it, Bwana Clay. Tako Man saw them. Skinny blue-gray guys. He called them nightwalkers. I think aliens.Aliens are always gray, arent they? inquired Quinn.Thats what I say to him, said Kona. But he say no, not with the lightbulb head. He say they tall and froggy.Youre high, said Clay.Tako Man got dank mystical buds, brah. Was a spiritual duty.Hes not criticizing you, Kona, Quinn explained. We just assume that youre high. Clays just doubting the credibility of your story.You dont believe I? ease up a man a mask, Ill dive down and get a ting off da boat for proof.Hepatitis, thats what youll bring up, said Amy.Im going to work, said Nate.My boat, said Clay.Nate decided that perhaps he should offer a measure of solace. Look at the bright side, Clay. At least whale s are big.How is that the bright side?We could be studying viruses. You have any idea what it costs to replace a scanning electron microscope?My boat, said Clay.