The next morning, the seagulls flew over the dock as Tyler parked his car in the harbor parking lot. Carl was there.
"Good morning, John."
John threw him the keys to the car.
"Take care of it for me, will you, buddy?"
"John, I don't get it. I don't think my wife will approve."
"Oh, please, Carl. Now she can have her own car to get to work and she doesn't need to drop you off anymore."
"Okay. But…"
Tyler sighed and said "look, Carl. Call me if there are any problems. But you're in charge of the car while I'm gone."
"What will I say to the chief about it?"
"The chief won't care. I really gotta get going. The crew's waiting for me."
"Crew?"
"Yeah. The U.S. Marine Corps."
"Oh, you mean The Firebolt."
"Yes. That boat. We're heading out sea to dispatch what is left of a Great White family."
"Alright. Well, good luck with that."
"Okay. Take care, Carl."
And Tyler walked off down into the dock.
"Detective Tyler!"
Tyler looked over to see Hudkins waving at him inside a big boat labeled FIREBOLT.
"So this is the boat," said Tyler to himself.
Quickly, he walked over and hopped on to the ship where Hudkins greeted him.
"Welcome aboard The Firebolt, detective," said Hudkins, shaking his hand.
"Oh, please, call me John."
"Alright then, John," said Brickins, walking up from the cabin.
"Lieutenant Brickins."
"Oh, it's alright. Call me Lars."
Tyler cleared his throat and muttered "Lars."
"Come downstairs. The rest of the crew is waiting."
The three of them headed downstairs.
"So first, we'd like to meet to meet our two most superior troops: the Corporals."
"Hmm, corporals," said Tyler, "impressive."
"Arnoldson! Thompson!" Hudkins called.
Quickly, the two corporals ran down to greet the three of them.
"Corporals, this is our visitor aboard the mission, Detective John Tyler," said Hudkins.
"Corporal Dwayne Arnoldson," said the male corporal.
"Pleasure to meet you, Corporal Arnoldson," said Tyler, shaking his hand. Then he turned his head toward the female corporal and said "and your name is?"
"Corporal Michelle Thompson," she replied, shaking his hand.
"Well, it was nice meeting you both," said Tyler.
"You wanna meet the privates?" Arnoldson asked.
"Sure."
"Alright, well you fellas get to that," said Brickins, "the sergeant and I have matters to discuss concerning the route along the ocean. Come on, Mitch."
Both of them ran back upstairs as Tyler, Arnoldson and Thompson walked further down through the pathway.
"So how many others are there again?" Tyler asked.
"Nine of 'em," said Arnoldson.
"Harding, Reilly and Thames are all first class privates while the rest of them are lower in rank," explained Thompson.
"But they're getting better at their job everyday," continued Arnoldson, "we haven't been in many battles over the years but the lieutenant took us all in as our own."
"How?" Tyler asked.
"Well, he adopted me and Dwayne first after the war ended," said Thompson, "then he resigned for the army and decided to raise us as his troops."
"How interesting," said Tyler.
"Indeed," said Arnoldson, "and as the rich man he is, he adopted many others over the years, starting with our three second best troops. Come. We'll go over and meet them now."
The first class private dormitory was quiet. A machine gun cocked.
"Say, Harding," called a troop, "is this baby loaded or am I just full of shit, huh?"
The female first class private, Harding by name, walked over, slightly chuckled and said "I think you might just be full of shit, Reilly."
Reilly laughed hard and said "that's exactly the answer I was expecting from a female."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
"I meant a female like yourself. You never actually found the right guy in your line of the army, have you?"
"What's in it for me? Almost every guy on this ship like yourself is the male definition for a slut," she joked.
"Oh, girl, I just love it when you talk dirty. How about you and I check out the local clubs here on the shore before we sail off, huh?"
"Sorry, but I already have a date."
The third private in first class came down, ready for a joke as well.
"Would that date by any chance be me, Miss Harding?"
"Yeah, in your dreams, Thames," said Reilly.
"Oh, shut it, Reilly. You're jealous because she would rather go for a guy like me than yourself."
Harding walked up to him and said "it's just like he said, Thames, in your dreams." Then she turned towards both of them and said "well, the fact is I don't have a date tonight and I probably never will as long as I'm dealing with more than half the guys on this ship.
"Attention, troops!" called Thompson, "up on deck!"
"Oh, boy. Here we go," sighed Harding, climbing up the ladder.
Reilly and Thames watched up after her.
"Hey, babe. Keep that ass nice and tight, will ya?" joked Thames.
"You guys are perverted," she grunted as she climbed up.
Reilly and Thames laughed before Arnoldson called from upstairs, "Reilly! Thames! Up on deck!"
So the two men rushed up the ladder and followed Harding up on deck.
The rest of the six privates gathered around with Harding, Reilly and Thames as the squad's German Shepherd came up the first class dormitory using the stairs. He barked loud as he came up and joined the group. As Harding got in line, she saw Tyler and smiled. It was hinted from Reilly looking at her that she had a crush on him. Tyler looked back at her and slightly chuckled.
Arnoldson turned to Tyler and said "Buddy here is like Private Harding's dog. In the five years that we've had him, that dog has remained a faithful of us all."
Thompson gathered all of the troops around and said "alright, privates. Attention please. Now that I have you all in line, it's time to take attendance."
The troops all stood in line as Thompson read names from her chart.
"Harding!"
"Here."
"Reilly!"
"Here, babe."
Thompson looked at him with a slight glare and said "please address me properly from now on."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Thames!"
"Right here, babes."
Reilly and Thames laughed as Harding rolled her eyes and the rest of the troops slightly chuckled.
"Always the two usual suspects," sighed Arnoldson to Tyler.
"I can see that," Tyler replied.
"Enough now!" called Thompson before continuing, "Crystal!"
"Here."
"Thank you," sighed Thompson, "Shawson!"
"Here."
"Flash!"
"Here."
"Goulms!"
"Here."
"Harkins!"
"Here."
"And…Carter!"
"Here."
"Good. We're done here."
The troops all sighed in relief.
"Anyway, privates," said Arnoldson, walking forward, "I'd like to introduce you to Detective John Tyler of the Jersey Shore Police Department."
"Detective Tyler will be joining us on our mission," added Thompson, "so I'd suggest that you listen up because he has awry important speech for ya'll."
"Ooh, this oughta be interesting," joked Thames.
Reilly and Crystal chuckled.
"Shhh!" hissed Harding before looking at Tyler and winking.
"Quiet back there, please, Private Thames," called Arnoldson.
Tyler walked forward and began his speech.
"Good morning, privates. I'm Detective John Tyler of the Jersey Shore Police Department. You're all probably wondering why I'm here to join you on your mission."
"Why?" Flash asked.
"Well," continued Tyler, "a couple of days ago, I set out to sea aboard a boat called The Lifesaver. Any of you guys familiar with that boat?"
"Isn't it that boat owned by Captain Craigson?" Shawson asked.
"It WAS the boat that was owned by the mighty captain. Unfortunately, we destroyed it at the cost of destroying the shark itself. Now this next part is very important so I need you guys to listen up."
"Yep, we're all ears," joked Reilly.
His buddies, Crystal and Thames laughed with him.
"Enough!" boomed Brickins, who walked in with Hudkins to join the group, "sorry 'bout them, detective. They can be out of order sometimes, don't you think?"
"Oh, that's alright, Lieutenant," said Tyler, "anyway, you guys. What I was saying is that the shark itself that attacked everyone aboard The Lifesaver including myself, managed to kill the majority of the crew in about 24 hours time, including the captain himself. Only three of us made it out, which brings me here before you guys today."
"Just one question, Detective Tyler?" called Crystal.
Brickins sighed.
"Yes, sir," said Tyler.
"Would it take the whole team to kill a shark or just one guy such as myself?" he joked, putting his fingers up in a gun position then making out an explosion.
The rest of the privates laughed.
"Woo! Yeah, Crystal!" called Reilly.
"Crystal here's a professional in weaponry" said Thames.
"Yeah, even though he can't control his aim," joked Carter.
The rest of the privates laughed before Crystal turned his head back towards Carter, smiled, give him the finger and said "yeah, we'll talk about that later, Carter. How about a shootout, eh?"
"Bring it!" joked Carter.
The privates all laughed before Brickins shouted "Hey, cut the shit back there!"
"Nah, nah, it's alright," said Tyler, "go easy on them, Lieutenant. They're just soldiers."
"Yeah, well, they're not behaving like soldiers," said Brickins, "I really suggest you give them a talking to."
Tyler sighed and looked back at the group.
"Alright, men. We all had a good laugh. Now it's time to get serious. The attack on that little boy yesterday was no joke as all of you know. Now, I assure you all that it was no big shark at all."
"Then what kind of shark would it be?" Goulms asked.
"Well, it was a Great White of course and I'm afraid it was just an offspring of something bigger that we're hunting for. So was the shark from a few days ago."
"So we're just going to kill the parents?" Harkins asked.
"Precisely. And their offspring. We must stop the entire school of sharks from reaching the shore at all costs. Destroying them is the only way to do so AND this involves doing what's best for our town. Now that I've gotten directly to the point, this is where I leave you privates on your own but you must pay attention to my authority when it comes to hunting the sharks. Am I clear?"
The privates all quietly said yes at different times and nodded their heads and Tyler smiled.
"Good," he said before turning around towards Brickins, Hudkins, Arnoldson and Thompson, "now that I'm done with my speech, lieutenant, sergeant, corporals, do you guys have anything to add?"
"Nope," said Arnoldson.
"Um, no," said Thompson.
"I'm done with these idiots for now," laughed Brickins.
"I have something to say," said Hudkins.
"Yes, sergeant," said Tyler.
"The two sharks that were killed already were the first offspring. The first shark was like a big brother to the rest and the shark from yesterday was the second biggest that we've seen from this school, which makes it the second oldest out of the offspring. Which makes killing the younger sharks a little bit easier compared to the parents. Just a little heads up before you all plan out how you're gonna deal with this situation. Thank you."
"Now, return to your stations!" ordered Brickins.
The privates all got up and cleared the area as Brickins looked back towards Arnoldson and Thompson and said "that goes for you too, corporals. The sergeant and I need to have a little chat with Detective Tyler."
"Whatever you say, lieutenant," sighed Thompson, "come on, Dwayne."
The two of them left as Brickins faced Tyler.
"Now, Detective Tyler. Mitch and I need to have a word with up in the front. We're getting this baby out to shore and we also need to come up with a plan."
"Let's go," said Hudkins.
The three of them walked upstairs.
It wasn't long before Crystal, Shawson, Carter and Flash untied the ropes to the ship and The Firebolt set out away from the shore, ready to go out to sea.
Along the shore, the fin of the second offspring floated away from the beach, which was all that was left now of it. As the beach was closed, a few other shadows circled around it a few times before swimming off towards The Firebolt.