Chapter 3
"Who has been attacked?"
"A swimmer, near the beach…this morning…"
"Now calm down and breath. Is he dead?" asked the boss moving his arms up and down.
"No, he survived. He's hospitalised in the clinic."
"It means that the shark didn't eat…the poor…" mumbled Donegal.
Evelyn couldn't realize that Donegal was serious.
*
The boss sent Evelyn and Gary to gather some information about the shark from the attacked man.
The clinic was a simple building of bricks in front of the sea, near a sandy beach. The two were greeted by a blonde middle aged nurse dressed with cream and pink clothing.
"We are of the Coast Guard. We know that someone has been attacked by a shark today, can we ask him some questions?"
"Well, I don't know…he's resting now, but if you wait for a little time maybe…"
A little time meant one hour and twenty minutes and after that Gary fumed and said "I go to buy a newspaper!"
"What? Come back immediately! Gary! Gary?" shouted Evelyn in the same time that the nurse called her to go to see the man.
The victim was lying on a green bed and watching the sea over the window next to him. The man was at least fifty years old. One of his legs was wrapped in a white lint on which little stains of blood shaping an half moon were visible.
Evelyn and the nurse entered the room.
"Good morning, mister Jupiturn. There's a person that would like to talk with you."
The man turned his head and looked at Evelyn.
"About what?"
"About what happened this morning."
"If I must…" he sighed "Take a chair and listen to me."
Like a child that listen to a fairytale Evelyn sat down and waited for the report (also the nurse did, even if she already knew the story…).
"This morning there was a marvellous water. I've swum for years and that sea was a temptation, so I dived. It happened when I was coming back to the land. I was enjoying the last stroke of the water when I felt the most terrible pain of my life. As if twenty knives cut my flesh. Something (now I know what it was) pulled me underwater. I agitated, I waved, I tired to get the surface!"
Evelyn was listening everything and shaking her head as if she was at the cinema.
"I don't know how, but I opened the eyes and looked under. The water was red! It was horrible!" cried the man.
"Perhaps we should stop." said the nurse.
"Now that I reached this point let me hear the rest of the story."
"I looked and I saw it. I saw that terrible black eye and those terrible white jaws!"
Ok, it wasn't an octopus would have said Gary if he had been there.
"With the other leg I kicked its nose and miraculously it released me…but only to attack again!"
"And?" asked both ladies got from the report.
"I don't know what happened. I managed to swim to the beach and a man who was walking there helped me. I don't know were the shark went, but I didn't came back to ask it."
"Well, you are the luckiest person I've ever met!"
*
Evelyn exited the clinic and found Gary reading the newspaper on a bench.
"Gary, you are a…" she began but she was stopped by him.
"Read it."
Ebvelyn took the newspaper and saw a capital letter title saying Shark freed, coming terror.
"What does it mean?"
"Read it, I say!"
"Ok, I've understood!"
Monterey Bay Aquarium is under shock. An unknown hand has broken the seals of the tank of a great white shark. The shark was there to be studied by scientist, in fact some features of this sea creature are still unknown. The shark has been housed for a week and two days ago someone entered the Aquarium and released the shark in the Pacific ocean. Who? Perhaps a "shark fanatic" or a mad person. The problem stays in the fact that the shark represents a danger for swimmers and divers. The manager of the Aquarium says…
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Evelyn.
"Do you want an ice cream too?"
"No! I speak about the shark!"
"Oh…well, perhaps that shark is our shark."
"Yes, Monterey is not far from here."
"Fantastic! There's not only a killing shark that swims peacefully in the sea, but now there's also a fool that freed it!" shouted Gary.
"We must prepare us to fight it." said Evelyn.
"Which one? The shark or the fool?"
*
"This time we need a bigger boat!" said Gary the following day walking on the dock with Victor.
"You'll have it, the boss will lend you the Wave Slasher."
The two joined Evelyn and the boss near the boat. Donegal was loading the weapons against the shark.
The Wave Slasher was a big white (of course) boat, made of two floors. One were there was the commanding cabin and the other was under the deck.
"Do you know how to drive it?" asked the boss worried for his boat.
"Yes, boss…"
"Donegal, have you loaded the hypodermic spear and the guns?"
"Yes, I did!" shouted Donegal from the intern of the boat.
"Well, Gary, Evelyn…I wish you good luck!"
*
A quarter of hour later the boat left the harbour.
The boss looked Wave Slasher until it disappeared in the light of the sun.