“Shalie!” a voice called out. Dillon turned to find Dr. Yashimoto walking up to the platform with his wife Nica at the doctor’s side shuffling forward in her walker. They really need to find something more eloquent for Mrs. Yashimoto to use. Dillon had handled her special needs in the park himself, but they needed to get better about their disabled services.
“Tonaka,” Shalie said pushing past Dillon and Flack to climb down the short stair case to greet her boss. They hugged warmly.
“Are they are functioning well?” he asked. “I saw QX59 briefly when we landed.”
“Yes, and absolutely they are functioning perfectly,” Shalie answered. “I have a team of eight suited up with the veterinarian in case they are needed during the birth.”
“Good, good,” Tonaka said. “I had hoped that the beta testing had all gone well.”
“Off the charts well,” Shalie beamed. “The vet was shocked that we didn’t have to sedate Lola to get her into the birthing pen because the robots were so effective in moving her.”
“That is so gratifying to hear. I will need to email Bill Gates tonight to let him weep that he did not approve my project when he had a chance.”
“Come, come,” Shalie said urging him up the steps.
Tonaka and his wife didn’t have to talk his way up to the VIP deck. He was the VIP. Dillon lent a hand to the elderly woman and lifted her walker up onto the platform.
“Look!” and exclamation from the crowd interrupted the round of handshakes on the deck.
All heads spun around as Lola waved her head side to side and her belly contracted.
“It’s starting,” his father whispered.
This was it. The park was about to make history.
Lola swam in tighter and tighter circles, scraping her belly along the sand at the bottom of her enclosure.
“All right, guppies, what Lola is trying to do is break the psuedoplacenta,” his father stated, loud enough for the entire crowd to hear. “Hammerhead sharks are live bearing, what we call --”
“Viviparous,” Nami stated.
CHAPTER 3
His father’s eyebrow went up. “For a young lady that doesn’t like sharks, you certainly seem well versed in them.”
Regretting that she’d called attention to herself, Nami shrugged. “It’s kind of a ‘know thine enemies kind of thing.’”
After the incident with Rusty, Nami, even before therapy, had tried to make sense of the tragedy. She’d read everything on sharks she could. But instead of making her feel safer, it had only reinforced her fear of them. They really were killing machines with no soul or remorse.
She hated them. Hated them all. There were 470 species of shark and she hated each and every one of them. Nami probably knew as much about the sharks as Dillon. She could recite the number of shark attacks by heart.
On a screen embedded in the glass, a graph showed the hierarchy of sharks. From the largest, the whale shark, down through the Great White, Bull, Tiger, Mako, Leopard, all the way down to the dwarf lantern shark which you could hold in your hand if you wanted to, which of course Nami did not want to do. Even those little guys could take off your finger.
Salechii was also dumb enough to have a white-tipped shark. Okay, if Jacques Cousteau is afraid of a shark, maybe you might not want to keep them around humans. And Mako sharks? They were known to jump as high as twenty feet out of the water, snatching fishermen from the deck of their ship.
Her dad had dragged her to this stupid Hammerheads birth event saying that by seeing the “miracle of birth” that she would see sharks were just one of God’s creatures. Which didn’t hold a lot of weight since he was a card-carrying atheist and her mom was a Buddhist.
Nami didn’t think that seeing the monsters born was going to change her opinion of them. Would seeing a serial killer born make you any less afraid of them, Nami didn’t think so.
The crowd however was “ooing” and “ahhing” as the shark wiggled back and forth trying to get the babies out of her belly. It seemed like even she didn’t want them anymore.
Nami wanted to look away, but the shark’s writhing mesmerized her. Then the shark turned on his side, nearly pushing her vulva up to the glass. You could see a tiny baby shark, held back by only a thin membrane, thrashing inside her uterus. Everyone below the platform rushed forward, pressing against the glass at the tiny shark as it tried to make its way out into the world.
Lola slowly swam past, thrashing back and forth. The baby shark opened its tiny mouth and bit the membrane, ripping it apart. A rush of blood came out and the baby shark swam out of its mother’s belly.
A collective gasp went out as the baby swam way from his mother.
“See?” her father said, giving her shoulder a hug.
Okay, so the tiny shark was pretty darned cute with its miniature Hammerheads and little bitty eyes on the side of its head.
In quick succession, now that the membrane was opened, the other baby sharks swam out. A total of twelve. They all grouped together, instinctively swimming like a school of fish. They darted this way and that.
Then finally as a group, they turned to the window and charged it. Their little faces smashing against the glass. Their inch long teeth gnashing at the prey that got away.
Yah, so much for cute.
At first there were gasps and the sound of shuffling feet as the crowd retreated from the glass. Then as the baby Hammerheadss swam off, looking for all the world like little Lego versions of a shark, the tinkering of laughter drifted above the guests, then full on laughter. You know the kind, the kind right after you didn’t get murdered by a serial killer in the movies. That nervous, holy crap we could have been dead but only through blind luck, we aren’t.
Idiots. This was nothing to laugh about. Take away that glass and they all would have fallen prey to baby Hammerheadss. Slightly embarrassing.
“Raise the gate!” Callum yelled out. Dillon hit a button on his tablet and a steel door on the right hand of the pen raised up.
The holes in the revealed grate were about a foot wide.
Nami wondered what that was for when the mother suddenly, flicked her tail, no longer thrashing side to side, but swimming forward, straight for her brood of babies.
The little ones scattered as their mother rushed them, her mouth open wide, snapping and chomping at empty water.
So much for the miracle of birth.
* * *
“Get the QXs in there now,” Callum shouted.
Tonaka watched as Shalie got out her tablet and hit several commands. The QXs responded immediately. Silver plated robots jumped into the water apparently not concerned about the agitated Hammerheads. Just as they were designed to do.
He took pride as their water propulsion system worked perfectly, the water sucked in through their chest plate was forced out their feet, giving them amazing forward propulsion while still having excellent steering. They raced over, blocking the mother Hammerheads from ingesting her own young.
The first robot put his arm out, allowing the Hammerheads to ram into him. That was over 50,000 pounds of force and his arm didn’t even take a scratch. Another robot joined him, then another, creating a wall of titanium between the mother shark and her babies.
But Lola wasn’t a young shark. In the wild she’d probably faced Great Whites, giant squid and even larger Hammerheads sharks. She was wily, Tonaka could tell. Lola flicked her giant tail, going after a stray baby that had wandered off from his clutch.
A robot came shooting in from below, knocking her wide-open jaw away. The teeth still ripped through the tender fin of the baby. Blood shot into the water as the baby flailed to get away, unable to swim properly with its torn pectoral fin.
The mother, smelling the blood in the water, charged again, but this time there were six robots to block her. She barely moved them an inch despite using her head as a battering ram.
A splash marked the entry of the veterinarian into the water. Tonaka could easily tell it was a human
given his black wet suit. The fact that a human even needed a wet suit to get into the water demonstrated how weak they were compared to robots. And he was not alone. Another three robots jumped in with him creating a circle of protection while he swam to the injured baby.
The mother shark, sensing new prey in the water tore her attention away from her brood and torqued around, speeding toward the vet as he fended off the baby’s feeble attacks and finally captured the little one. After giving up the struggle the Hammerheads baby put its broad snout on the vet’s arm and allowed him to cradle him.
The vet turned just in time to see the mother’s powerful attack. He bent his head down, closing his eyes, preparing for the impact, but there was no need. The robots formed a protective ring around the veterinarian. The Hammerheads, hit full on, ramming into the robotic retaining wall. His robots were strong, but Lola was a force of nature. Using her battering ram head and powerful tail, she pressed forward, driving the entire group backwards, pinning them against the side of the tank. The vet protected the baby shark, but even he was crushed against the Plexiglas.
Under any other circumstances this was not going to end well. This was how Hammerheads killed their natural prey, the manta ray. They crushed them against the bottom of the ocean until they stopped putting up a fight. However, it was not going to end like this here. Not with Tonaka’s robots protecting the vet. One of the robots, QX14 perhaps, reared back and with ten times a man’s strength, punched the Hammerheads right in the center of its broad nose, right where the clustered of highly specialized neurons lay. The Hammerheads jerked away, gliding past the vet, settling to the bottom as she shook her head side to side, trying to get reoriented.
He’d like to see any human diver try that maneuver.
The vet struck for the surface with the injured baby Hammerheads in his arms. The rest of the brood, instinctively seeking shelter from their cannibalistic mother, had all fled through the grate and swam in a huddle near a small-protected reef.
Within moments the vet and the robots were out of the water leaving the Hammerheads mother to swim alone.
“Let her out,” Callum said and Dillon responded immediately, opening an even larger gate, one without a grate. The Hammerheads, sensing freedom swam straight out. Little did she know she was going from one enclosure into another. A much larger one, but an enclosure nonetheless.
“Yes!” someone from the crowd shouted, then it spread through the guests. They were high fiving one another and there was even the odd American tradition of chest bumping one another. As if they somehow had anything to do with the amazing sight that had unfolded before them.
Everyone on the platform seemed pleased as well. Dillon had an ear-to-ear grin that was matched only by his father’s. One of the business men, Tonaka thought his name was Knightly, although the man seemed far from virtuous, stepped forward, holding out his hand for Tonaka to shake.
“Okay, I have to admit those robots kicked ass,” the man said as if Tonaka needed his opinion. “At first I thought they might be a little retro, a little knuckle dragging for what we were shooting for here, but after that, man oh man.”
Tonaka tried to pretend that he didn’t speak impeccable English, just nodding and murmuring “Hi, hi,” as if he were in a Godzilla movie. That usually got rid of obnoxious Westerners.
“I think we can get some serious sponsors for those. Do you think you can develop a glue to hold the banners on underwater? I’m thinking Coors, Google, Amazon, you know the big players are going to want their logo on your boys.”
“No, no,” Tonaka murmured still trying to hide his English accent. “No sponsors.”
The man, however, did not seem dissuaded one bit. “Oh, there’s going to be sponsors. I just need to know if you can make the logos stick.”
Tonaka’s eyes sought out Callum. He begged for the Park’s creator to rescue him from this conversation. Callum stepped forward, guiding the businessman away from Tonaka.
“How about we ponder that sponsorship thing a little while, Kevin?”
“Of course! Chase bank. They are going to want in on this action. How could I forget them?”
Tonaka was glad to see the men disappear into the crowd. When he turned back to the viewing window, he found a young girl looking up at him. She had beautiful green eyes and skin that made cream jealous. However her features seemed as haunted as her eyes darted back and forth. Despite having her back to the window, she kept looking in that direction as if the mother Hammerheads might come back and somehow break the glass.
“Can I help you?”
“Yes,” the girl gulped.
“Come on, honey, I’m sure this nice man has other important things to do.” Her father tried to escort her away, but Tonaka waved him off.
“It’s all right, tell me,” Tonaka asked.
“Can I… well, can I have one of the robots to protect me while I’m here?”
Tonaka chuckled until he realized the girl was completely serious.
“I can pay for one,” she said.
“I’m sorry. I don’t own them anymore. You would need to speak with Mr. McClay.”
“Okay, thanks anyway,” the girl said seeming glum.
“You’re safe though,” Tonaka said trying to reassure her. “You know that right?”
“Wow,” she answered back. “You’ve drunk the Kool Aid too I see.”
Tonaka frowned, not understanding the reference as the girl walked off with her father. He understood Kool Aid to be a sweet, refreshing summer drink. How she said it though? Tonaka did not think he would like to know the translation.
* * *
Dillon knew a maiden in distress. And what did a gentleman do in that circumstance? Why, rescue her of course. Especially if the gentleman had recently dumped her underthings all over the tarmac.
“I’ve got just the robot for you,” Dillon stated. He waved for Quax to come out of the corner. “This amazing QX will be more than glad to hang out with you for the weekend.”
“That’s great. We’ve already met.” The girl put her hand out to shake the robots as if Quax was a human. Oh yah, they were going to get along great. “Your dad won’t mind if I hog him all weekend?” the girl asked, her cheeks blushing a little.
Okay, Dillon really liked this riding to her emotional rescue thing. “Not at all. Quax is better at customer relations than anything else.”
“I don’t cook or clean windows though,” Quax stated.
The girl chuckled apparently getting Quax’s dry sense of humor.
Unfortunately Dillon’s walkie talkie crackled to life. “Sorry, I’ve got to take this, but Quax can show you back to your rooms.” He turned to the robot. “Take them the back way, avoid the shark passages.”
“Most certainly,” Quax said with an enthusiastic nod. “Blow it up?” the robot asked.
Dillon made a fist and tapped Quax’s fist then they both pulled back like their connection created an explosion. They created the sound effects and everything.
The girl shook her head. “Boys.”
So after making two “people” happy, Dillon answered the radio’s call. It seemed the last helicopter had finally arrived and just in time. The storm was really kicking up out there and helicopters would be grounded soon in preparation for the upcoming storm.
He turned to his dad, “He’s here.”
There was no need to clarify who ”he” was.
His father grimaced. It was such a strange look on his father who was normally all wide Australian smiles. His dad sighed.
“All right. Let’s get this over with.”
Knightly stepped forward, if I can just have a few minutes of your time?” the business man asked.
“Walk with me,” Callum said heading out the door.
* * *
Knightly had to hustle to catch up with Callum, as they hurried down an acrylic lined tunnel. Fish swam around them, darting in and out of the reef that lined the underwater enclosure.
“Great gig
with the Hammerheads shark,” Knightly said. “Great stuff.”
“Yes, well, we got lucky to have caught a pregnant shark.”
“Yah, yah, but we gotta talk about spicing up the place,” Knightly informed McClay.
“Spicing up?” Callum asked with a frown.
“Yeah, we gotta amp up the danger factor. People love to be just a little scared.”
“My job is actually to make them as safe as possible.”
“Oh, sure, sure,” Knightly clarified. “We need them safe, but also just a little nervous.”
“What exactly are you talking about?” Callum asked, really keeping up the pace.
“Just a few stats here and there. Like about how many fatal shark attacks there have been. Or that girl was telling me that Jacques Cousteau was actually afraid of white-tipped sharks, stuff like that.”
Callum rolled his eyes as he sighed. “The point of this park, Mr. Knightly is to educate people about how important sharks are to the earth’s oceans and therefore to the earth itself. I don’t want them scared, I want them respectful of the shark’s important role in the sea’s ecosystem.”
“Yah, yah, sure,” Knightly said, “but it is my job to make sure that my investors get their money back. So we need a little titillation here and there. Some sexy stats about how lucky the guests are to still be alive. I heard that the Great White attacks the tubes sometimes. Any way we can get her to do that every time?”
Callum shook his head, but Knightly knew that the director would come around. “Or, or, or just have the Mako shark jump for his food or something. Or put a gauge in the meat so that people can see how strong a dusky shark’s jaws are. How about milking the seasnakes for their venom in front of a crowd. Stuff like that.”
“I really need to get this last guest settled in,” Callum said.
So, not a “no” Knightly noticed. Wise man. He clapped Callum on the back. “Think about it overnight. We’ll sit down tomorrow and hammer out the details.”
“We’ll talk at breakfast,” Callum said, waving him off as he took a sharp right turn with this son hot on his heels.
Apex Predator Thriller Series Collection (Including the blockbuster new shark park thriller, Salechii) Page 7
