Chapter 17

GRAY HEADED TOWARD THE AREA INSIDE THE homewaters where

many of the shiver sharks slept. It had a nice current that allowed you to

easily hover and doze. He felt guilty about having such a good time at

Slaggernacks. He hadn't even seen Mari and the others leave. "What's so

bad about the place, anyway?" he muttered.

Just then, Barkley streamed into view. Gray was glad for a chance to

talk with him alone. It might get awkward after the dogfish rightly

apologized for being such a little puffer. Barkley could be such an

emotional shark.

"Gray! Gray!" he panted. "I'm so glad I found you."

"It's okay, Barkley," Gray told him. "I forgive you."

"What? You forgive me?" The dogfish slowed sharply. "You forgive me

for being such a total flipper?"

"You weren't a total flipper."

"I'm not talking about me, jelly-brain!" the dogfish shouted.

Gray didn't say anything. He wasn't going to get into another fight with

his friend tonight. Instead, he swam by without saying a word.

Barkley caught up with him. "Okay, we can figure out who was the

bigger flipper later. I have something very important to tell you!"

Gray stopped. He was still miffed but would hear the dogfish out. "Go

on."

The tone Gray used irritated Barkley for some reason, but he shook it

off. "You're in danger! Goblin and Velenka are planning something."

"Planning what?"

"I don't know. She didn't come out and say it, but they want to use you

somehow."

"She and Goblin?" Gray asked.

"No, she was talking to Thrash."

Gray looked at Barkley incredulously. "So now Goblin, Velenka, and

Thrash are plotting against me? What about Ripper, Streak, and Churn?

Won't they feel left out?"

"Please take this seriously, Gray! They're planning something that

involves you, and it didn't sound good!" The dogfish hovered, gills

pumping furiously, waiting for his reply. "Well?"

Gray shook his head. "Barkley, you sound like Yappy with his crazy

stories."

The dogfish bumped him hard. "I'm trying to save your life!"

"It was only a game," Gray told him. "I can teach you."

Barkley swam in a furious circle, talking to himself. "Tyro's tail! He

thinks this is about Tuna Roll! What am I going to do?"

"Calm down."

Barkley yelled toward the surface, "ARRGH!"

"What are you two doing?" asked Mari. "Half the homewaters can hear

you." The rest of Rogue Shiver came through a nearby curtain of kelp,

watching curiously.

Barkley told everyone, "While I was out hunting, I overheard Velenka

and Thrash talking about some plan of Goblin's. It doesn't sound good."

Mari, Shell, and Striiker looked to Gray for an explanation. He shook

his head and rolled his eyes. "I have no idea what he's talking about."

Snork finally said, "We're going to need more information, Barkley."

The group gathered by a coral tower, instinctively moving behind it so they

couldn't be seen from the homewaters.

"I know it's not much to go on," the dogfish began, lowering his voice

for some reason. "But Velenka was talking about an alliance with the bulls.

And Thrash didn't like that."

Shell looked dubious. "Goblin and the bulls? Unlikely."

"Could you have misunderstood?" Mari asked uncertainly.

Barkley shook his head. "No. And also, Gray's part of their plan.

Somehow."

"Of course he is," Striiker said sarcastically. "He's the center of

attention in every ocean."

"I am not!" Gray exclaimed. "This is all in Barkley's jelly head. If

anything's in there at all! He's mad that Goblin and Thrash gave him a hard

time. And what's so wrong with that, Barkley? I'm saying this as your

friend, but you need a little toughening up."

For a moment it was so quiet that Gray could easily hear a single

sardine swimming in the distance, its tiny flippers making a switswitswit

sound as it passed.

Then the dogfish exploded, slapping his tail against the coral spire with

a CRACK! "It's not about being tough!" he yelled. "It's about looking out

for your friends!"

Striiker swam over to Barkley, getting his attention. "I'm sorry I have to

ask this just to be sure—this has nothing to do with your really bad day at

Tuna Roll?"

The dogfish gave Striiker a death stare and said nothing, though his gills

pumped furiously. Barkley swam in front of Gray. "One more time—please

believe me when I say that I'm trying to help you! Goblin has a plan and it

involves you!"

"Of course I do!" Everyone spun around to see Goblin grinning,

accompanied by Velenka. "I have a plan for all of you, and it involves being

good members of this shiver."

"There, see?" Gray said to Barkley.

"What about the bulls? What about Gray?" the dogfish accused.

Velenka swam very close to Goblin, rubbing his flank. She spoke so low

only he could hear. Though Goblin was perfectly motionless, it seemed as if

he wanted to rush forward and swallow Barkley whole. "My plan with the

bulls is to rip them to shreds," Goblin spit. "My plan for Gray is to let him

help. Something wrong with that?"

"Unless you don't think you're up to it," Velenka remarked to Gray.

"I'm more than up to it!" Gray countered.

Goblin sighed. "If the rest of you want to leave, then go. I've got bigger

fish to hunt." As if to prove his point, the great white snapped up an

unlucky sea trout that swam a hair too close to his massive jaws.

Mari swam over to Velenka, eye to eye. "Just like that?"

"Just like that," Velenka told her. "You don't deserve to be a part of this

shiver, you ungrateful turtle!" Mari rushed the mako, but Velenka did a

nifty turn and slammed her in the side. "Like you could ever be my match!"

Striiker and Shell blocked Mari from making another sprint at Velenka.

"Go!" said Goblin in a commanding voice. "All of you leave this place.

You can stay until we go to Tuna Run. If you're hunting in my territory

after that, you'll swim the Sparkle Blue." Barkley stared at the great white,

probably a little longer than he should have. "What, doggie? What now?"

"And Gray?" asked Barkley. "Can he leave with us, too?"

"Sure," Goblin told them. "None of you are worth the distractions

you're causing."

Striiker looked very unsure of himself as he said, "Then, we'll do that."

He, Snork, Mari, and Shell withdrew, swimming away from the Goblin

Shiver homewaters, looking back from time to time. Almost automatically

they headed in the direction of the landshark wreck.

Gray felt torn. He didn't want to see his friends leave. "Mari, you really

want to go?"

"I do."

Barkley stared straight at him. "Are you coming?"

Gray looked first at Goblin and Velenka, then at Barkley and the rest of Rogue Shiver.

"No. I'm staying."