Chapter 11

THE SWIM BACK WAS QUIET. GRAY WAS WORRIED sick about his

mother. But there was another thought that cut through this sadness, and he

was ashamed that it terrified him more than anything else. Gray was

homeless now. Barkley was also, of course. And the dogfish was certainly

worried about his family. But Gray's overriding feeling wasn't sadness,

anger, or confusion. It was fear that he had no place to go. And this made

him feel awful because he was only thinking about himself. Again.

Before this, after his banishment was over, Gray's exile would have

turned into an adventure he'd tell stories about around the reef. But now his

mother was missing, and there was no Coral Shiver reef to go back to and

he was petrified.

Gray could feel that Barkley was also scared, but grief was the biggest

sensation coming from him right now. He grew mortified when he realized

that his friend could probably feel his state of mind, too. "I'm the worst

shark ever," Gray muttered.

They reached the edge of the Rogue Shiver homewaters, where they

were met by Mari. Her silhouette was easy to spot with the sun shining

overhead. She raced over. "Are you okay?" Then she saw the looks on their

faces and knew everything wasn't okay. "I'm so sorry. I hate Goblin!"

"It wasn't him," Barkley told her. "They were bulls."

"Oh, no! Please don't tell Shell that!"

Gray was going to ask why, when the big bull steamed toward them.

"Striiker saw Thrash on patrol! We should get back to the wreck and hover

low."

They began swimming, picking up their pace with steady, powerful tail

strokes. They were nearly home when they saw Striiker and Snork. They

were being circled by at least ten other sharks!

"Goblin Shiver!" Mari exclaimed.

There was no trouble picking Goblin out of the pack. He was as large as

Gray, but all muscle, his teeth flashing in a harsh grin. Striiker and Snork

had nowhere to run. The seabed was clearly in sight, and the greenie and

rock formations in the area were too sparse to hide in.

"We can make it home without being seen if we stay away," whispered

Shell.

"Shell's making some very good sense," said Barkley, tapping Gray's

side with his tail.

Mari bristled. "We can't just leave them!"

Then they heard sharks laughing and Goblin's booming voice carrying

through the current. "If you don't join us, we'll rip your pointy-nosed friend

to pieces in front of you!"

That did it. "You guys can go. I'm not." Gray swam toward Goblin,

who taunted the sawfish by nipping at his tail as his other shiver sharks

laughed.

Gray picked up his pace by ferociously whipping his tail back and forth.

He lost speed blasting two whitetips out of his way. Gray hit the great white

in the side, doing no real damage but forcing him from Snork. There was

yelling and screaming and total confusion for a few seconds. Gray saw that

Barkley, Mari, and Shell had followed him into the melee! His heart

pounded with pride and fear as the two shivers faced one another, ready to

fight. Rogue was outnumbered about three to one, but at least they weren't

surrounded anymore.

"Who the heck are you?" shouted Goblin.

"Come find out!" Gray yelled back.

It seemed like the shiver leader would surely attack, but a mako got his

attention and whispered something only he could hear. The mako was black

as night with eyes even blacker. She stared at Gray as if she was looking

inside him. Inwardly Gray shivered and wondered why he was doing so.

Goblin calmed down, curiously looking him over from snout to tail tip.

"Told ya he was different," said Thrash, off to one side. Goblin silenced

him with a hard look. Gray watched Goblin, who was distracted by the

mako speaking low and urgently to him. Gray probably would have been

distracted, too. Even in this life-threatening situation, he couldn't help but

notice that the mako was stunningly beautiful. Every now and again her

sleek, black upper half would reflect the sunlight from above, making her

skin shimmer with color like a rainbow.

"All right, all right," Goblin told the mako, irritated. He swirled his fins

and made an incredibly quick turn to face Gray. This great white was much

faster than Striiker! Gray was lucky he'd caught the big fish by surprise, or

he might have ended up swimming the Sparkle Blue. "So, how's your day

been? Good?"

The change in tone caught everyone by surprise. Gray didn't have the

first clue what to say. Striiker shoved in front of him. "Like I told you, we

were just leaving, Goblin."

"I wasn't talking to you, flipper," the larger great white told him. He

flicked his tail dismissively at Striiker, who gritted his teeth at the insult.

Goblin looked right at Gray. "You! Who are you and what are you doing

here?"

"Don't be a turtle. Say something," Barkley whispered to Gray, who

slapped him quiet with his tail. He didn't need the dogfish's special brand of

humor right now.

"I was—" as Gray spoke he was reminded that he had just come from

his destroyed home and missing mother. He was nearly overcome with

emotion. I'm going to bawl like a pup in front of everyone, Gray thought.

Way to make a tough impression.

Mari, sensing his hesitation, took over the conversation. "He's lost his

home and family, Goblin. He and the dogfish were passing through when

we found them."

The mako swam smoothly in front of Goblin and gently scraped against

Gray's side. It felt wonderful. "You poor fin," she said. "You must feel so

alone. I'm Velenka, by the way."

Mari stared daggers at the mako and gave her a quick slap with the

elongated upper lobe of her tail. "He's not alone, Velenka. He's with us!"

She stared defiantly. That was odd. Mari seemed to know both Velenka and

Goblin.

Snork chose this time to exclaim, "You attacked his family just like you

attacked mine!"

Goblin struggled to keep his temper. "I asked you to join us and your

leader said no. That was his choice, not mine."

"You're a murderer!" cried Snork.

"A realist," Goblin insisted. "I won't let my shiver starve, and I won't

share what little food there is in these waters. Your leadership failed you."

The great white was very much in control as he stared down the sawfish.

"Rogue Shiver forever!" Snork yelled.

Goblin chuckled, joined by everyone else on his side. "Rogue Shiver?"

The great white shook his head at Mari. "I should have known you were

involved when the reports came in of sharks hunting in our territory without

permission, Mari."

Barkley and Gray looked at each other. Goblin did know Mari!

That wasn't the end of the surprises, not by a long shot. It turned out

both Striiker and Mari were former members of Riptide Shiver and had left

after Goblin became the leader. In fact, they'd left right when he renamed

the shiver after himself. Mari's mother and father were members too, before

they died. She blamed Goblin for the loss of many shark lives, including her

father's.

The big great white was offended. "That wasn't my fault," he said in a

quiet voice. "Your father was on a patrol, and Razor Shiver attacked us. I'm

sorry about him, just like I'm sorry when we lose anyone from the shiver!"

Goblin seemed genuinely upset, which confused Gray. He expected the

great white to be evil and nothing more. Certainly not a fin with feelings.

Velenka saw his reaction. "I see you've heard Mari's lies about our shiver,"

she remarked. The mako moved closer, as if to stroke Gray's flank, but

stopped when Mari glared. "Goblin Shiver is about family. We protect our

friends and our hunting grounds. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Valenka asked Gray, her big black eyes boring into him. He couldn't find

anything wrong with it.

Gray turned to Mari. "So Razor Shiver sent your father to Sparkle

Blue?"

"Goblin and Razor have been fighting for years. They won't stop until

everyone's dead!"

"But the bulls did that. Just like they did to Coral Shiver," said Gray.

Goblin shook his head at Gray. "Mari needed someone to blame, so I let

her blame me. Should we leave our territory and wander the Big Blue

homeless? No. We stand and fight."

Velenka looked pointedly at Gray. "Don't you want revenge on the ones

who destroyed your home?"

"I do."

Barkley grew alarmed. "Gray, no! We'll meet our families at the Tuna

Run!"

"If they're alive," he answered. "But we need to survive until then."

Goblin smiled a toothy smile. "Then come with us. But I won't let you

hunt in our territory. You join the shiver or leave the area."

"Oh, really?" Striiker asked sarcastically. "You'll just forgive and

forget? You must be pretty desperate."

Goblin's eyes flared with anger, but his answer came calmly as he

looked at Mari and Striiker. "We need to band together and put aside our

differences, so I forgive you both." Next he flicked his tail at Snork. "I'm

sorry I threatened you. It was Striiker who made me angry. You can leave

here in peace or come along. Your choice."

Barkley looked absolutely pained. "Gray, this is crazy."

"It gives us the best chance to get to the Tuna Run and find everyone,"

he told his friend. "And I want to fight the bulls. Sorry, Barkley."

Shell, who was a bull himself, had been silent for the entire exchange.

Now he asked, "What about me? Can I join?"

Mari looked horrified.

Goblin swam around the bull, taking his measure. "I recognize you.

You've battled against us." Shell gave a terse nod. "You'd fight your own

shiver? Why?"

There was a long silence. "You don't need to know why. You just need to know I'd fight against Razor and anyone who swims at his flank."

The great white nodded. "That's good enough for me."