The Search Begins
Chapter 11: A Spy in the Pod
The story so far: After reconnecting with their pod, Mattie, Poindexter and Kayote encounter an unusual dolphin. It is a robotic dolphin that scientists use to research dolphin behavior. The three friends are unaware of this, but because the dolphin does not behave like a real dolphin and because their ultrasound reveals it is like Proprius’ tail they are confused. When a goblin shark (that does not look like any other goblin shark they have ever seen) bites into the dolphin’s back and strange parts start flying about, the friends conclude it isn’t a real dolphin at all.
It was Kayote who figured it out. “Part of Proprius was real dolphin but part of him was not. His tail was made by humans. I had that tail in my mouth long enough to realize the tail had the same parts as we saw coming out of the dolphin when the shark tried to eat it. That dolphin was not a real dolphin. It had to be made by humans like the ones who knew how to make Proprius’ tail. I just don’t understand why they would want to make a ‘fake’ dolphin.”
“I bet that shark was not happy with his meal. Maybe he will think twice before he chooses to make a dolphin his lunch again!” laughed Poindexter.
“If we went back and told the pod we just saw a pink and blue giant shark eat a dolphin that really wasn’t a dolphin, they would think we had been playing with a puffer fish again. I vote we just keep this adventure to ourselves,” cautioned Kayote.
“The thing is, we saw a kind of shark that was the scariest shark we have ever seen. A shark, is a shark, is a shark. They might look a little different from one another but they still like to attack us and eat us. I say we just stay away from all of them,” said Mattie.
Kayote and Poindexter nodded in agreement. They didn’t understand why the shark was still fighting and breaking up the strange dolphin that wasn’t a real dolphin. But, at this point they really didn’t care. They were anxious to return to their pod.
As they swam, Mattie recalled the time his mother had told him Polaris Jack was his father. Mattie had been shocked and stunned because when growing up, everyone wanted to grow up and become like Polaris Jack… including Mattie.
Stories about Polaris Jack were favourites of Mattie and his cousins. At the Dolphin Olympics they had learned he had beaten all records and that he was considered a hero and a role model. Strangely though, Polaris Jack was not seen after the Olympics. No one seemed to know what happened to him. It was as if he had vanished.
Learning he was the son of the famous Polaris Jack took a while to sink in but when it did, Mattie knew he had to find him.
Mattie felt the first step to finding Polaris Jack was to start questioning members of the pod to see if anyone knew where to find the oldest and wisest dolphin. The first dolphins he would ask were A’kab, Brutus, Kawak and Ajitzi. They had been his father’s friends. He approached them during the night when it was quiet and the dolphins were resting half of their brain while the other half was working and reminding them to breathe.
Mattie asked them to tell him more about their friend Polaris Jack.
Kawak was the one to start. “He saved my life when I got caught and tangled up in the turtle grass at one of the Olympics. Even though he took time to save me, he was still able to win the event.”
Ajitzi was next. “I have a story. I watched Polaris Jack help hard fish find their way through underwater rocks to safety. We would wait and when a hard fish came near to land, Polaris would appear at the front of it and lead it past the rocks until it was safe. It was as if he thought it was his job to help the hard fish.”
Listening to the others tell their stories had been fun but Brutus thought he had a very unique and special story. “A long time ago when we were about your age, a group of us travelled farther than normal from our pod. We had gone into a small bay to catch some fish for dinner when some small hard fish blocked our way out. WE WERE TRAPPED! The beings on the hard fish caught us and brought us to another area where we were contained with no escape. We had no idea what to expect but we were afraid for our lives because we had watched them kill other dolphins in the bay. We did not know why we had been spared. Polaris Jack watched the beings very closely to see what they were doing while we just waited for death to come.
But then the beings started to work with us. One by one we were taught to swim to a very big hard fish out in the ocean. It was the biggest one we had ever seen. When we swam back we were rewarded with food. It seemed easy enough and we quickly learned what was expected of us. Later the beings attached something to our backs and we were to repeat the same thing. Once we had learned that, they attached something heavier to our backs. It was a new experience to be burdened with something on our backs and a new experience for us not to be able to swim free. Each of us was freed to swim to the hard fish and back and although we might have taken the chance to swim away, none of us were prepared to leave our friends so we always returned.”
A’Kab continued the story. “One day which seemed the same as any other day, they attached the ‘heavy thing’ to Sonje. She swam towards a different hard fish that had replaced the one we had been practicing with. When she swam up to its side there was a terrible loud noise and lots of orange and black smoke. There was no more Sonje and there was a big hole in the hard fish. The wound was so big that the hard fish sank below the waters. We all looked on with great shock and sadness. We did not know what had happened, but our friend was gone. The next day, another hard fish appeared and this time it was Tehi’s turn. The same thing happened. We lost another friend and another hard fish sank. We quickly realized that whatever they were attaching to us now had changed the task’s results. We didn’t know what to do.”
Brutus chose to continue. “Polaris Jack talked to us and said he would take on the next task. We all shook our heads. We didn’t want Polaris Jack to offer himself up because we knew the outcome and we also knew if we continued doing this every day, we would all cease to exist. There had to be a better way. But, the next day, Polaris Jack swam forward. The thing was attached to his back and he was given the signal to swim to the hard fish.”
“But he didn’t move!” chimed both Brutus and A’Kab.
“He just stayed beside our captors. They kept repeating the signal and he kept ignoring it. With Polaris Jack staying put we would all be blown up. And then it came to us - this was Polaris Jack’s plan. If we were going to die we were going to die together. So we surrounded him to show him and the beings that we were as one when we lived and as one when we died! We were going to be blown up together along with our captors! We waited for the end together.”
To be continued Monday February 26. Next Time: The Legacy of Polaris Jack