Chapter 30

GRAY WAS EXHAUSTED. THEY'D BEEN SWIMMING nonstop for

days, eating only when they could do so while moving. Striiker led them

toward the deepest of the Big Blue. With every tail stroke, Rogue Shiver

moved closer to the middle of the North Atlantis and the Atlantis Spine, the

undersea mountain range the bluefin followed for the Tuna Run. Gray and

Barkley hoped it would lead them to their families and friends from the

reef. But as important as finding their loved ones was, they knew that

Velenka's plan must be stopped. If it wasn't, no one would be safe.

"You know," Barkley gasped through labored breaths, "It won't do any

good if we go belly up before we get there!"

"It's just ahead!" Striiker shouted through the current. "Toughen up!"

Barkley grumbled but kept swimming. Gray sped up so he could get a

better look. He bumped into Striiker's tail when he saw the range.

Snork gave out a squeak and even Mari said, "Whoa." Everyone else

was shocked into silence.

Gray had heard that in the landshark world there were huge mountains

that stretched into the sky, much larger than any by the Caribbi reef where

he was born. But they couldn't be larger than these! The immense, jagged

mountain range rose from the Dark Blue as though it were the ocean's

spine. Its depths were said to be deeper than any shark could swim and

inhabited by monsters. Gray always thought those stories were something to

scare pups, but seeing the blackness below, he shivered.

"So Striiker, you've been here," Mari began.

"Twice!" added Striiker.

The thresher rolled her eyes. "Right. So what happens? Tell us what to

expect."

"The shivers take up positions either by the edge of the mountainside or

away from it on the water side. I like the water side because you can be

swept away if the tuna swerve too near to the rockside depending on if a

legion or siege comes through. It's best to hunt from above or below the

main body. If you get too deep inside the run you'll be battered. These

dummies may be smaller than us, but get hit by a few hundred, and you'll

swim the Sparkle Blue." Indeed, Gray could see most of the shivers that

were already here set up to feed a good distance away from the jagged walls

of the rockside. There were a good number of smaller shivers that couldn't

get a good spot, though. Once again, Gray saw how it was an advantage to

be the strongest shiver.

Barkley was becoming more nervous by the minute. "Good tip," he said

as his voice cracked. "Don't get killed by our dinner."

Suddenly a swarming mass of bluefin swept through the area. Snork

cried, "Look! We're missing it!"

"That's a shimmer at best," Striiker told the sawfish. Gray hid his

embarrassment. He had almost launched himself toward the tuna but now

saw the great white's count was accurate. "These are the shimmers and

shoals that swim in front of the main Run. You can feed on them if you like,

but most wait. It's tradition."

Barkley wasn't in favor of this. "Forget that," he said. "Let's feed now

and stop Goblin's plan on a full stomach."

"You don't want to fight with a full stomach," Shell said. "Slows you

down."

This made the dogfish sick with worry. "Oh, right," he answered in a

quiet voice.

"If what you say is true, why's Razor Shiver on the rockside?" Mari

asked.

"Because even though it is rockside, that particular spot is the best spot

there is!" Striiker told the thresher and everyone else. "See how they're

protected by the wall behind them?" Gray took note of the bulls in front of a

jutting outcropping rearing from the mountainside. This formed an area

where the current would be slower and they'd be protected as the tuna

would undoubtedly swing wide to avoid running into the cliff wall. This

way they could hunt the inner edge at their leisure. Tuna were dumb fish,

but not even they were dumb enough to swim straight into the mountain.

"There's Goblin!" Shell said, pointing a fin. "Hmm, I was here last year

with Razor, and they didn't set up there."

Striiker also looked perplexed. "Yeah, that's not their spot at all. They

take the best water-side spot. That's not even a good spot. The current is

really strong near the spine."

Gray couldn't figure out why Goblin would want to be on the rockside

wall in front of the bulls. It seemed dangerous. Another shimmer, maybe

even a double shimmer, roared through. A few sharks did catch a straggler

or two, but not many.

Mari was trying to figure it out, too. "Striiker, what would happen if

Razor and his shiver came out from that area protected by the wall?"

"They would never do that," he told her. "You'd take the brunt of the

Run right in the face."

"But what if they were pushed?" she asked.

The bull shook its head at Mari. "Nah, it's very defensible," Shell said.

"Razor's pretty smart. The shiver feeds in shifts, and there's always a group

of sharks guarding their tails that would outnumber two to one anything

Goblin could use to attack. If they tried anything from where they're set

now, Goblin Shiver would get shoved into the Run because of the current

and Razor Shiver."

Barkley swam in a quick circle. "Unless they were betrayed by bulls in

their own shiver! That's it!" The dogfish explained: "Kilo and his fins will

join Goblin Shiver while Razor and his Line are feeding! What Goblin

doesn't know is that he's on the menu, too!"

"Kilo!" Shell growled the name. "I never liked that flipper. Too bad the

giant clam didn't snap his face just a little tighter. Left a nice mark,

though."

"WHAT?" Gray yelled so loudly Shell started.

The bull was taken aback. "Umm, when Kilo was a pup, he almost got

eaten by a giant clam. The thing clamped onto his face—what does this

have to do with anything?"

"Did it leave a scar like a clam shell?" Barkley asked, almost as wound

up as Gray.

"Yeah," the bull said. "It sure did."

It all came together in Gray's mind. Barkley knew too, but neither could

speak they were so overcome by emotion.

Finally the dogfish looked at him and said, "Tyro's tail. She's evil."

Gray couldn't have agreed more.

Mari told the rest of the group, "Kilo led the bulls who destroyed their

reef."

"So it wasn't Razor who ordered that. It was Goblin and Velenka, after

they learned about Coral Shiver's reef from Thrash!" said Barkley bitterly.

Gray could feel himself trembling with fury. All this time Goblin had

stoked Gray's rage against Razor Shiver, when he was the one who had

caused everything!

Barkley was angry but controlled it. "Gray, we're not here for revenge

—"

"Speak for yourself!"

The dogfish bumped Gray hard in the flank. "You're not an evil shark!"

"Oh, come on, Barkley," said an exasperated Striiker. "If anyone

deserves to swim the Sparkle Blue, it's Goblin!"

"I'm afraid I agree," Mari added.

Barkley shook his snout side-to-side "No! All we'll do is get ourselves

killed. How does that help anything?" This gave everyone pause.

"Whatever you decide, I'll help," Snork said in a squeaky voice. "Or,

I'll try my best. But how can we beat them all?"

"We don't have to," Barkley told him. "We can hurt Goblin and

Velenka. It'll be worse than sending them to the Sparkle Blue."

"And how do we do that?" asked Shell.

"By spoiling their plans," Barkley answered with a grim smile. "By

spoiling their plans."

Just then, a long, soulful whale call pierced the water around them.

Then another and another! A thin, dense stream of bluefin tuna spilled into

view. It was the Tuna Run! The fish were blue on top with silvered bellies

that caught the sun rays and caused a million flashes of light, resembling

the landshark fireworks Gray and Barkley once saw near the reef. They

were so fast! Maybe not as fast as the speedy, speedy wahoo, but the

difference wasn't enough to bet your life on. Their torpedo-shaped bodies

shot through the water as their crescent tails churned, moving them faster

and faster as they mindlessly swam to who knew where. The tuna Gray had

caught on hunting trips by the reef were half this size. These were openocean bluefin, twice as long as the wahoo, weighing four and five times as

much!

The dogfish spoke for everyone when he said, "Wow."

"It's beginning," Striiker told everyone. "If we get caught in the middle

when the main mass comes through we won't make it to the other side."

Even now the stream of fish was getting thicker and more dense. "Then

let's go," Gray shouted. The noise of bluefin tails churning caused a

constant buzz even from this distance.

So Rogue Shiver swam into the Tuna Run to do battle and meet their

destiny.