The tour boats she’d audited were much further to the south and by this time might even be back at their moorings.
All around, the sharks splashed as they competed to bite off as much of the whale as possible.
There had to be at least a dozen tiger sharks, maybe six bull sharks and another handful of black tip reef sharks around. Fins broke the surface more than ten metres away as they moved towards and away from their floating meal.
No need to be scared. They were far more interested in the whale than they would be in her. That meal wouldn’t fight back.
The sun was low now. Another hour and it would be on the horizon and she would be harder to spot.
She sloshed through the ankle-deep water and collected all the life jackets, inflating them and then using rope from her survival kit to tie them together into a makeshift raft. They might keep her above the surface.
The water was up to her knees and it was just a matter of time before the boat would go down, and go down fast. She had to get away from it, and the whale carcass before it did. She activated her personal EPIRB and grabbed the radio. “Abandoning ship. Will make my way south from the whale carcass and try heading for shore.”
Problem was, the currents would push her and the carcass in the same direction. She scanned the water in the fading light and snatched the waterproof torch from the cubby hole next to the wheel.
Though it was probably foolish, she slipped her backpack on. If no one found her quickly, she had enough in there to survive a couple of days.
The sea breeze blew strongly from the west and as she picked up her handmade raft, the wind snatched it from her grasp and blew it away from the whale, sending it about ten metres away before it landed in the water. Clear of most of the sharks. She just had to reach it.
The sharks should be too busy feasting to be interested in her.
Taking one last scan to check for a rescue boat, she slid over the edge of the boat and into the cold water. The water was dark, the angle of the sun making it difficult to see below the surface. She fought her urge to race to her raft, instead using breaststroke to move fast through the water without splashing.
Nearby, a fin broke the water followed by a tail flick. She kept moving, confident strokes despite her heart trying to burst through her chest.
The sharks she could see, she could deal with. It was the ones she couldn’t that she was worried about. The ones that might attack from below.
A fin broke the surface in front of her, heading straight for her. Her calm shattered.
***
Sam grinned as he headed back to the marina. It had been a pretty awesome day. He’d seen Penelope, the passengers had been terrific, the whales inquisitive, and the fact he’d had to go a little further north than usual wasn’t enough to bother him.
This was what he’d been hoping for when he’d bought the business.
The whales had approached the swimmers, and he didn’t know who was more curious and thrilled. He’d even handed over the wheel to Rob and swum with the whales.
Magical, majestic, mind-blowing.
Nothing could spoil his day now. His crew were downstairs chatting with most of the passengers, though a couple were enjoying the cool breeze on the top deck next to him.
It was then his radio squawked.
“Mayday, this is Victor Sierra Foxtrot. I have a vessel approaching with known fugitives on board. I am at the whale carcass.”
Penelope.
His blood froze as he turned the boat west, already calculating how far she was from him from the coordinates.
Gretchen stuck her head up the ladder. “Where are you going?”
“Penelope’s in trouble,” he barked. “Get the passengers seated and get Rob up here.”
Gretchen called to the couple who were on the top deck. “Please come to the lower deck. It’s going to get bumpy.”
It sure as hell was. He slowed only long enough for them to get safely to the lower deck as Gretchen announced they were answering a distress call.
Then he opened the throttle as Rob clambered up the ladder to join him.
