Chapter 4

It's 5:00 AM on ORCA. Cass yawns as she walks the hallway. She can't believe she got up so early on a Saturday, or this early period, especially during winter holidays. She and Winston are making an early morning dive to document the recovery of the reef, which was all but destroyed during the earthquakes. They have to get documentation of all 24 daily hours, and since they'll be stuck in mandatory lectures most of day (why the kids have to know about the ocean related statistics and ORCA economic issues is beyond her, and on a Saturday!), Winston decided to document the period right after dawn. Despite the ridiculous hour, Cass really wants to do this project.

Cass briefly encounters Dr. H and Maria, they too are headed out early. After a brief but friendly exchange, they are on their way. Maria said "Hello Cass" and "Bye Cass", but otherwise stayed silent. Cass had finally met them the other day. Dr. H not only recognized Cass, but actually greeted Cass by her name, rather than as Morgan Clayhorn's sister. It was so pleasantly shocking, and refreshing.

Maria recognized Cass too, but could barely manage to speak. It seems to Cass that Maria wants to speak to her, but it seems as if her shyness is getting in the way. When Maria opens her mouth, she mostly stutters and gibbers. Then she goes mostly silent and just listens, only nodding or shaking her head in response.

Aside from Maria's unusual shyness, she seems a little eccentric. She doesn't eat her meals in the cafeteria, it's rumored that she wouldn't touch a guy with a 39 and a half foot pole, and she supposedly won't eat "land animal" meat, although she does seem to like seafood. In fact, just yesterday after they'd returned to ORCA, Maria was eating freshly caught, raw shrimp with her hands. She even ate the heads and tails! Cass gets grossed out just thinking about it.

Cass stops to get a drink from a water cooler. She hears an unwelcoming throat clearing from behind. She turns around to see Herold. What's he doing up at this hour? Probably spent the night with a girl again.

"Did I give you permission to drink from this fountain?"

"It's called a cooler. And I don't need 'your' permission."

"You dare be smart with me?" Herold grabs Cass's shoulder hard.

"Let go of me!" yells Cass, but Herold yanks her away from the cooler and slams her hard into the wall; "I'll teach you to go ahead of me."

Herold grabs a cup, turns the nod, and water pours out. Then suddenly, a large amount of water shoots out at him from the cooler. The pressure is so strong that it slams him into the wall, and it keep coming and coming.

"Well I guess I should be thanking you;" smirks Cass, "or I'd be the one getting a shower." She walks away rubbing the back of her head. She then looks back as the water continues to spew out at the deserving bully. Then Cass thinks about it, and realizes that shouldn't be happening. If it did, the water would be shooting down, not up or straight, and shouldn't have pressure even remotely close to high. Oh well, perhaps Herold is finally getting what's coming to him.

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Neri and Diane are getting ready for the day. Diane is braiding Neri's hair into a side braid. They will be having 'girl time' today while the boys are on a 'Pirate Adventure'.

Diane finishes the braid with a teal colored clamp to match Neri's peach and teal outfit. "We're finished;" she shows Neri the finished product with her hand-held mirror; "How's that?"

Neri smiles; "It's beautiful. Thanks Mother."

"No problem. I'm glad it turned out as good as it did. It's been so long since me and my cousin braided each other's hair."

"Will we meet her and daughters with parents and boy's grandparents?" asks Neri.

"Mother said they'd be there;" answers Diane; "I'm surprised that Jenny's bringing her daughters to an upscale restaurant. They're two and five."

Neri looks at the picture of Jenny and her girls that was recently sent to Diane. While Jenny is Caucasian, the older girl is Asian and the younger girl is dark-skinned.

"They look different from their mother."

Diane nods; "That's because they're adopted Neri."

"That mean she did not birth them?" Neri guesses.

Diane nods again; "Yes Neri, but she loves and cares for them as if she did. That's adoption."

Neri smiles; "Like you are to me Mother." She gives Diane a huge hug; "Do they call her Mother, or Mum?"

"Yes they do Neri."

Diane grabs her things and they head out the door.

"Mother, may we eat at that French Toast place?"

"It's actually called a pancake house Neri;" corrects Diane; "but yes, they have several kinds of French toast there."

"Why not call it French toast and pancake house?"

Neri looks at the cover of "The Little Mermaid" movie as they are returning it. They had watched it two nights in a row as Neri wanted to see it again. Diane had told her the differences between the movie and the original novel, which is one of her all-time favorite books.

"I'm so happy Walt Disney changed the ending;" says Neri; "I would hate to see Ariel so sad and die."

"It's fine for the movie;" says Diane, who's a not so secret fan of tragic romance novels; "but there's a certain beauty about a not so happily ever after."

"What's so beautiful about it?"

Diane shrugs; "Never mind Neri. It's really hard to explain. My parents, Jenny, and the boys don't understand either. The boys and Jenny just love to torment me about it."

"Mother, do you think mermaids are real?"

Diane, who would have said no before meeting Neri, shrugs; "It's possible."

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Charlie receives another message from his fellow male humpback on this beautiful morning. Gossip about the strange creature has been crazy amongst the local humpbacks, yet this latest message reveals that the other male has finally got a good look at the creature, and confirms that it is indeed half-human, half-fish looking. It appears to be a juvenile female, several years younger than Neri. She swam around the whale for a little while, and when he determined that she wasn't a threat, he allowed her to come close to him. She sounded like she was attempting to communicate with him, but it sounded more like a dolphin attempting a humpback song, and he couldn't help but laugh. She seemed to have no problem communicating with the local dolphins.

Charlie can't wait to tell Neri about this. Seven more days until her return. For Charlie, that can't get here soon enough. He would love to see her himself, but Charlie doesn't dare wonder too close to the other male's territory. If they get too close to each other, they won't be able to help their nature hormonal aggressive towards each other. They have no control over it what so ever, although it doesn't stop them from communicating from a safe distance and cooperating together to keep the waters safe.

Charlie wonders if this strange creature will appear in his territory. So far, she's only been seen in the other male's, which makes Charlie a little jealous, but it could only be a matter of time before she wonders into his. He'll just have to be patient.

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Barbara is diving among some underwater trenches. She and Maria have just been among the first in the world to successfully tag an Aussie humpback dolphin, as very little is known about them. Now out of curiosity, she's checking out the new life beginning to return to the recently damaged reef. Barbara is then greatly surprised to see a couple other divers in the area. She hadn't expected anybody else to be out here, especially this early. They wave to her before they continue with what looks like videotaping the reef.

A little while later, Barbara returns to her boat to see another boat headed towards hers. It is Dr. Winston Seth, along with Cass Morgan. What are they doing out here? Maye I should have asked Cass what she was doing this morning. They pull up next to her and sit on the edges of their boats.

"Hello there Dr. Hernández;" greets Winston, "We didn't expect to see you over this way."

"Likewise," replies Barbara; "I'm surprised to see you too. Good morning again Cass."

"You too Dr. H."

"Well we are filming the reef as it recovers. Heard you successfully tagged a possibly pregnant orca the other day," says Winston; "How ever did you manage that?"

Barbara doesn't know what he's talking about; "We didn't tag an Orca. We observed some underwater and would love tag one. But we haven't yet. We just tagged an Aussie humpback dolphin, however."

"You did?" replies Winston ecstatically; "That's exciting! We know so little about them. There's an old saying; you must pull off the layers to know what's under them."

"I think you're getting a little lame Winston;" giggles Cass. Winston would love to stick his tongue out at her, but he'd never dare. "By the way Dr. H, where's Maria?"

Barbara looks at Cass; "Oh she's exploring."

"Exploring what?"

"I need to pick up her actually."

That wasn't an answer. "She exploring all by herself?"

"Now Cass, probably one of the island beaches. You've explored those by yourself too;" Winston turns to Barbara; "I've heard you both are quite seasoned explores and off-the-grid adventurers."

Barbara nods; "I swear we've spend more time sleeping under the stars in the wilderness then indoors. You'd be surprised at well she can handle herself."

"If I can, she should be able too;" says Cass; "she sure is shy though. Every time I talk to her, she gets nervous and tongue-tied."

Barbara nods; "She is painfully shy. She doesn't trust people very easily, but once you get to know her, she's a firecracker."

"If you can get to know her."

"Seems like a very sweet girl;" says Winston; "Yet she seems to keep her distance from people. The bird never leaves the nest without taking that leap of faith."

I guess this guy really is for real, thinks Barbara.

Just then, a humpback whale breaks the surface. Barbara can't believe it. She's never seen a humpback whale before. She stares in awe as he jumps up gracefully and descends back to the water. This is so much more amazing then any video.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" asks Winston.

"That's an understatement;" replies Barbara; "Is that your chap Dr. Seth?"

"No, that's Henry, this is his territory. Our chap is Charlie, he roams the territory just south of here. If you think Henry's amazing, you need to see Charlie."

"I hope we'll get to see him;" says Barbara.

Winston looks at her; "I'd love to stay and chat longer, but we'd better be getting back. Time for our lectures, right Cass? How exciting!"

Cass rolls her eyes; "Yea, fun. As if any of us kids are interested that ORCA business and statistics. What a drag."

"Aw come on Cass, be excited for our future. As the old saying goes…"

"Come on Winston, enough already."

"Children just don't respect good old wisdom this days."

Barbara giggles at that. As they prepare to leave, Cass nudges Winston.

"Ah yes. Dr. Hernández, I was wonder…..if…you…would…;" Winston swallows; "be interested in, getting tea, or coffee, and….swapping research. I'd love to hear more about your work."

"Lame;" Cass says under her breath.

Barbara is rather surprised by the invite. She doesn't want to be rude, but she's not so sure; "Well, I'll let you know. See you later."

Winston nods, then he and Cass drive away, kind of disappointed that he didn't get a definite yes.

Once they're out of sight, Maria emerges from under water; "Are they gone?"

Barbara kneels towards her daughter; "Yes. Good job staying out of sight sweetie."

Maria lefts her upper body out of the water and rest her arms on boat ramp. Her top looks like the top-half of a bathing suit and is gold and shiny. "Mama, guess what; I swam with a hump-back whale!"

Barbara looks stunned; "Not that big male I hope." Maria nods with a big smile; "You got that close to a giant male?! Maria that could have been dangerous!"

"Actually;" explains Maria; "I kept my distance for a while, then he came closer to me. I got a little closer and I swear he was inviting me closer. He accepted me! I felt safe the whole time. It was one of the greatest thrills of my life!" Maria can't help but splash and leap for joy.

Barbara breathes a sigh of relief. Naturally, she's at a phase of motherhood in which she's caught between protecting her daughter and yet giving her the right amount of breathing room and trusting her judgement. "I'm glad it turned out alright. I just want you to stay safe."

Maria nods; "I know. I was."

Barbara sighs; "Well, I guess we'd better be getting back to ORCA. Come on board and dry off."

Its Maria turn to sighs; "Aw Mama. Can't I swim half way as usual?"

"I'm afraid not sweetie;" replies Barbara, exasperated; "We don't have time right now to dilly dally. We've got those….lectures."

"Why are they making kids my age attend lectures about economics and statistics anyway? Why not just give us handouts if they want us to know that stuff."

Barbara swipes her half dried hair from her face; "Believe me honey; my lectures will be a lot more boring than yours."

Just then, a pinkish, gray colored dolphin sticks it head above the water and cheerfully whistles at Maria.

"Hello again Ariel;" Maria is communicating in "dolphin language", with dolphin sounds coming out of her mouth. Maria didn't really name her Ariel, that's the closest "Human" name that her dolphin name translates into. "Sorry girl, I can't play anymore right now, but I'll come again tomorrow."

"Is that the same girl we tagged;" asked Barbara.

"Yes ma'am. She's been following me and we've been playing. Said she lost her companion just recently to sharks. Poor girl. Hope she finds another one soon."

"I was wondering why she seemed to be alone." As far as humans know, Aussie humpbacks dolphins tend to stay in smaller groups then other dolphins, some even in pairs. They are generally shy about boats and humans and stay near shallower waters.

Maria lifts herself onto the boat ramp. Her lower half is currently made up of not legs, but a mermaid's tale with golden, shiny scales.

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"Oh WOW;" says the message therapist giving Neri an open air beach message; "Young lady, you're so lean and feminine-looking, yet your muscles are about the most firm and tone I've ever felt. You must be a very strong swimmer or something."

Neri, who's eyes are covered by cucumbers, smiles; "Yes I swim."

"A lot apparently, yet you still look like a lady;" says the therapist; "Wish I could get similar results. I love to swim, but it makes me look bulky. I have to balance it with ballet and Pilates to stay lean."

Diane, on the adjacent table, can relate.

"We going to see ballet at Big House in a few days;" says Neri.

"The Opera House? Oh you'll love it;" replies the therapist; "I've done the behind the scenes tour. It's amazing how much work and people and stuff goes into putting on those shows. It's mind blowing."

"Are you seeing "The Nutcracker" or "Swan Lake?" asks Diane's theorist.

"The Nutcracker;" answers Diane.

"I have a friend in the ballet company;" she adds; "She begged to do Swan Lake. Says she's gets enough Nutcracker at Christmas. Amazes me they're doing it in July."

"It's only 3 shows;" responses Neri's therapist; "And I think Christmas in July is AWESOME!"

"Of course would. You're a Christmas freak."

One of the cucumbers slips off Neri's eye. The therapist puts it back; "Why do we have to have food on our eyes."

"I really don't know;" replies the therapist; "I wonder who ever came up with this idea. But I have to do it. It's part of the package."

"That's about, 40 times this week we've been asked that question;" says Diane's therapist.

"I think you're counting that customer who asked, what, 12 times? She was so determined to have an answer other then we didn't know."

Diane and Neri both giggle. It's becoming more obvious to Neri that many humans actually know so little about their own world. True, Neri actually knows very little of her own world and people, considering that she doesn't remember, but all these humans have never left their birth world. Why do they know so little about it? Maybe it's because most humans never leave their home territories. Neri certainly didn't know hardly anything outside her island home and ocean territory before meeting Brett and Jason.

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The lectures for the kids started at 10:00 AM and are still going on at nearly 4:00 PM. The Bates boys and one other kid's vacations were approved months before the lectures were even planned, allowing them to be excluded. However, they will have private sessions when they return. Hopefully they're sessions won't be as long and boring as these. Most of the kids are now having trouble staying awake and focusing. Aside from two 10 ten-minute breaks plus a half-hour lunch break, it's been one lecture and boring slide show after another. Cass and Maria both feel this is just plain ridiculous, especially for the younger kids. And why 6 hours of this. To make matters worse, they are told that after another 10 minute break, they'll be at least another hour or two of lectures.

"Oh joy;" says Cass under her breath.

"No talking, or whispering," reminds one of the older cadet leaders. Cass had asked one of them on the last break why they were keeping them for so many hours. "It's all part of the training" had been the answer. The adult's lectures are supposedly even 'worse', and they'll be stuck in them at least until 8:00 PM. The commander had said they was even more information to cover than originally planned, plus a last minute speaker, so they had to extend the time frame to be done with them in one day.

One kid isn't here, Herold, even though he's supposed to be. Herold just doesn't care and will do whatever he wants. He didn't care at all about getting into trouble with commander, as if Herold's father would let that happen. To say Herold gets away with anything and everything and is spoiled rotten is truly an understatement.

The next 10 minute break finally arrives. Maria just wants to run like crazy all over ORCA and not stop for at least 2 hours. Even better, SWIM! Her body is all jittery and hyped up. Her butt and legs are hurting and cramping. While she can focus, she really can only sit down for so long. Plus being a home-schooler and not used to being around so many people at once for so long, she's about to have a melt-down.

Cass wants to see Maria, but she runs out of the lecture room as if on a mission. Cass noticed at lunch that Maria turned down the choice of ham or turkey sandwich, as well as the milk, eating only the orange and carrot sticks, and drinking 3 bottles of water. No dessert was provided, just extra fruit, in which Maria choose an apple. She actually said to Cass that she wished for bananas. That's the first whole clear sentience Cass can recall coming from her.

Maria runs up and down the hall until she's told to quit. Her mouth is parched. She takes several drinks from the cooler. Her skin is itchy and feels dry and flaky. The lifts and stairs are being guarded to make sure nobody leaves this level. She can't do her business here outside her cabin, it's seriously risky.

Near the end of the break, everybody heads back to the cafeteria. Maria simply can't wait another two hours. She slips away the opposite direction and finds the stairs at far end of the level no longer being guarded. They lead towards the diving area. She will be a few minutes late returning to the lecture, but she'll just have to endure the consequences. What she needs to do is far more important.

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"I can't believe other team found the treasure before us;" says a disappointed Jason; "We lost time on that one clue."

"Hey, it's not my fault we got it wrong the first time;" says Brett; "besides, there was three of them. It sure was fun though."

Jason nods; "Yea it was. It would have been more fun it we had won."

The boys have just finished a treasure hunting adventure. Jason's tends to take being competitive a little too seriously, even the smallest games. Brett just enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. They grab some hamburgers and pass a book store.

"Hey Jas, let's see if they have the latest Dragon Ball manga."

"Brett, that's not supposed to come out until next week."

"So, it never hurts to look. It might have come out …..early;" Brett's voice cracks again; "All man, I wish my voice would make up its…mind."

"I told you they wouldn't have it silly;" Jason says a little while later.

"Oh well; let's see what else they have here;" replies Brett.

Jason isn't much of a book store enthusiasts, mostly because when he was little, his mum spent hours and hours looking through and reading mostly tragic love novel, and books on science and history, while he was bored stiff. Doesn't mean that he doesn't like his share of books, just doesn't like to stay in book stores or libraries for too long.

"You know what Jas? Since we're here, let's find some picture books and post cards for Neri. She's been asking for some, beside, I haven't got her anything for her birthday yet."

"Knuckle head;" says Jason; "Her birthday's tomorrow. Why do you always wait until the very last minute to do your shopping?"

"Oh really;" Brett gives his brother a funny look; "You're no better. Wasn't it two years ago that you forgot to get Mum something and you told her it was in the mail? She didn't believe you of course."

"Hey; I least I didn't forget her birthday again. I remembered the cake and ice cream."

"Better not forget anything tomorrow;" Brett teases.

"Put a sock in it."

"What so romantic about a lighting bug show in a marsh anyway?"

"I said put a sock in it!"

Brett shrugs while looking there the children's picture books. He finds one with pictures of different landmarks from around the world and another with sea life from all across the globe.

"Bet she'll like these." Then Brett a sees story book for Disney's "The Little Mermaid." "Hey Jas, I know she'll love this!"

Jason takes a look through the book; "They're too many words. She can't read silly."

"Oh not like these picture books don't have a few words. Besides, she knows the story, she'll only need the pictures."

Jason shakes head, but then a bizarre, probably rather stupid idea comes into his head; "I wonder if there's a book on mermaid myths or something."

Brett gives his brother a funny look then laughs; "Are you kidding? Why would you want to read about mermaids?

"Not for me silly;" replies Jason; "For Neri. Since she's asking so many questions about mermaids, it'd be good to have a reference book of legends to read to her."

Brett smirks; "Can't say her interest hasn't rubbed off on you."

Jason gives Brett a stern look. Yet it is true, Neri's new obsession with mermaids has got him interested too. After asking the sells lady, to Jason's surprise, there is indeed a book on Mermaid myths and legends at the store.