"This is not going to work," Glen protested under the blankets he and everyone else was hiding under inside the back of Walker's van.
"That's what I've been saying all this time, Glen, but it appears the teacher, the one who's supposed to be the smartest in the room, doesn't have a clue," Dwight grumbled from the van's front passenger seat.
"Will you relax, guys? We're about to go in now, so just stay quiet," Mr. Banks hissed from the driver's seat. From his position near the back door, Jesse could feel the van sliding to a stop. His heart was pounding; he had to agree with Glen and Dwight that there was a big risk with what they were about to do. And since only Hobbs the guard had a gun, they'd be heavily outmatched if Dial's men figured everything out...
"You the vet?" one of the guards at the gate asked once Mr. Banks rolled the window down.
"Ya, I am Dr. Sven Svensen Svendowski from Upsala-where, I must say, things are looking rather down-sala lately," Mr. Banks said in his best Swedish accent, laughing at his joke. Jesse had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. One benefit of the plan, though, he knew, was that Mr. Banks' previous acting experience would come in handy. "This is my American contact Dr. Jackson Michael," he continued, prompting an unamused growl from Dwight, clearly not happy to have been shanghaied into the plan, "And you of course know Mr. Douglas Hobbs here; he found my car stuck in a snowdrift down the road from here and gave me a lift here to your nice facility. So, where are ze patients?"
"Right that way, Doc-did you buy a new van, Doug?" the guard asked him.
"Uh, yeah, yeah, Al; the doctor here needed a lift like he said, and I had it ready to go," Hobbs explained.
"Oh. Well, drive on over there, Dr., uh, Svensven..."
"Svendowski. I am ze best vet in all of Sweden, because I do my job so well, my clients 'Sweden' the deal for me when I'm done," Mr. Banks said, laughing again. The guard sighed in frustration. "OK, right over there, like I said," he instructed the teacher. Jesse felt the car start moving again. "OK, we're in," he breathed softly.
"Now let's hope the next phase works well," Judy sounded worried next to him. And Jesse certainly couldn't blame her at all, for he felt much the same. The van stopped again. "So you're Doctor...?" Carl greeted Mr. Banks as he climbed out.
"Sven Svensen Svendowski-and Dr. Jackson Michael, my associate. You must be Carl Salkind, then, I presume?"
"Yeah, Carl Salkind, Doctor, and that's Robert Dial here. We have fifteen killer whales, ten dolphins, and eighteen seals and sea lions ready for international travel, so if you could give a quick check to make sure they're all right and not diseased, we can get them out of here as soon as this blizzard blows over," the whale hunter told him.
"Certainly, Certainly. First, though, Dr. Michael and I must request you clear ze compound first. I work best with as few people around as possible, just myself and ze whales-when it's just me and them, I can make a good 'splash' with them."
He laughed again. "Terrific, Carl; you hired a damn comedian here!" Dial could be heard muttering to his partner.
"Oh well, as long as he gets it done, Robert," Carl seemed resigned to using Mr. Banks. "Uh, Doctor, my men here need to keep an eye on these whales..." he tried to explain.
"Oh I understand, I understand, but I have found from ze experience that ze whales will respond better with less bystanders, you understand? It would just be for about fifteen, twenty minutes."
"Well...all right, I guess I could accommodate that. OK guys, clear out," Carl called to his men, "The doctor needs some time alone with the whales. Have some snacks or a smoke and be back in about thirty minutes."
"OK Carl," came a call across the compound. Car engines started up as the guards prepared to leave. "Uh, sorry I hit you like that, Doug," Jesse could hear Wade apologizing to Hobbs outside, "You realize we just had to make sure that kid couldn't ruin this, right?"
"I guess, Wade. It's done now anyway," Hobbs mumbled, trying to sound depressed.
"It's for the best. OK Doc, whales are over here," Wade told Mr. Banks. Footsteps trudged through the snow away from the van. "Now?" Jake whispered to the rest of the team.
"Just keep low for now," Randolph advised him. Jesse agreed with that assessment. He and the others slowly rose up and peered over the seats. "Ah, here we have our first patient-uh oh, this one does not look too good," Mr. Banks murmured, staring at Littlespot in the tank in question, Jesse noted. "I see a spear wound here, and ze patient appears underfed, don't you agree, Dr. Michael?" he turned to Dwight.
"Uh, yeah, yeah," Dwight nodded quickly, "And are you sure this tank's big enough for a whale of this size?" he asked, concern starting to cross his face.
"It's more than these whales deserve," Dial muttered coldly, "Now is this one good enough to travel or not!?"
"Uh, this one, I'm not sure I can give a stamp of approval to just yet, with an injury like this," Mr. Banks told him, "I may have to recommend sending him to an aquarium, or to release him back into the ocean..."
"Out of the question, Doctor; for all the effort we needed to catch these whales, and with too much attention now given towards the whales in this area thanks to an incident at Robert's old amusement park back in August, we can't just put them back," Carl said firmly.
"I see, I see. Well, hypodermically-hypothetically, sorry-if we were to move these whales to a new location, how would we go about doing it?"
"Same way we got them here in reverse, Doctor: use the forklifts we have here to get them out of the tanks and load them onto the special trucks we have here," Carl explained, "Then drive them where we would need to take them."
"Impressive, impressive. And ze forklifts and trucks are on ze property here, ya?"
"Right over there in the garage," Carl pointed to the building in question, "We're probably going to load them up and get them moving right after you're done as long as everything checks out."
"OK, that's all very informative indeed," Mr. Banks shot a thumbs-up behind his back to the others, "All right, let us look at the rest of ze patients; let us go to ze rear and work our way forward, no?" he pointed to the tanks at the far back of the complex, where in the darkness, Jesse knew, he and the others would likely not be seen clearly.
"Guess so. After you, Doctor," Carl gestured him towards the rear tanks. Jesse exhaled in relief as the men walked away into the darkness; so far, the plan was working. "So now we get to the forklifts and load them onto the trucks quick before the rest of the guards get back?" he whispered to everyone else.
"Guess so," Rae whispered back, staring with concern at Littlespot's tank, "And hope we can make it to the ocean in this blizzard-and that the whales are in good enough shape to make it in open water."
"This is a major violation of animal treatment laws if they're injured and starving like this," Shuler muttered in disgust, "Bringing these people to justice will really be fulfilling for me if we can do it."
"Preferably without getting ourselves killed, Mrs. Shuler. OK, everyone ready?" Glen asked the rest of the team, noting Mr. Banks and Dwight disappearing with the villains into the darkness.
"Guess so," Walker declared, the others nodding in turn.
"OK, cover us," Glen whispered to Hobbs, standing outside the van. He opened the door as quietly as he could. Everyone slipped out and hunched low, heading in the direction of the garage...
...when suddenly, with loud blares of their horns, the other goons' vehicles came tearing back into the compound, screeching to a stop in front of them. "Hold it right there!" one goon bellowed, jumping out of the nearest car with his gun raised.
"What's going on, Al!?" Carl ran back over with the others in tow, Mr. Banks visibly sighing to Jesse's eyes to see his plan now coming apart.
"That guy's a fraud; we found the real Swedish vet in a daze by the side of the road," the goon pointed into his car, where the real veterinarian now sat, rubbing his head. He and his colleagues quickly leveled all their guns at Jesse and his cohorts, who had nowhere to run to.
"What's the story here, you!?" a furious Carl rounded on Mr. Banks.
"Um.." the teacher thought hard, then quickly seized the gun off the nearest goon and waved it around wildly. "OK, nobody move, we're in control here!" he yelled, reverting back to his regular voice.
"You're crazy!" a wide-eyed Dwight hissed at him.
"And...loving it," Mr. Banks grinned back. "All right, we're taking these whales out of here, and...I said don't move!" he yelled at one goon who was defiantly stepping towards him with his gun raised, "You get one warning shot...OK, you asked for it," he insisted when the goon kept coming. He pulled his gun's trigger-but it only clicked loudly. "Huh?" he frowned, getting only more clicks with each trigger pull, "Really!? What angry backwoods guy actually goes around with an unloaded gun...!?"
A half dozen fully loaded guns were now thrust in his face by the goons. The teacher laughed nervously. "Did I ever tell you guys you have the perfect physique to be linemen for the Seahawks!?" he mumbled weakly.
"Get over there!" Dial furiously seized both he and Dwight and flung them over to the rest of their partners. "Hate to say it, but I think I came up with a dumb plan here," Mr. Banks conceded to the others.
"Mr. Dial, I guess it is, I'm just a social worker, I..." Dwight tried to talk reason to the furious-looking Dial.
"I don't care who you are; you're a dead man! I've had with people trying to ruin my transactions-and why the hell aren't you three dead!?" Dial glowered at Jesse and his younger friends, then shot a harsh look at Wade.
"They were dying when I left the cabin area; I don't know how they got out of there alive!" Wade protested.
"So you did try and kill Jesse, you monster!" Annie roared accusingly, putting a protective arm around her foster son, "And Glen and I thought we'd seen the worst of you before...!"
"Shut up!" Dial barked at her. "You made the biggest mistake of your life coming after him, lady, and you and everyone else here is going to pay for it!"
"What you're doing here is clear cut animal abuse!" Shuler shouted at him, "And I want you to know, the police and the Coast Guard all know we're here; they'll all be up here before...!"
"In a blizzard!? I don't think so. And for the record, you legal genius, these are my whales, and I can do whatever I want with them!" Dial countered.
"Willy's not yours anymore, Dial! And the way you treated him before, he should never have been yours in the first place!" Rae snarled coldly at her former employer.
"Well he IS mine, and there's nothing you or anyone else can do. And by the way..." Dial abruptly slapped her hard across the face to the gasps of everyone else, "You had that coming for a long time, you rat! And you too!" he slapped Randolph just as hard, "You and the kid ruined my life, and now, I'm going to ruin yours right back! All right, take them out back and let them have it; no survivors," he ordered the goons, grabbing Jake and hurling him to Wade, then seizing Jesse himself, "And I'm coming along to make sure they're dead this time...!"
"No you won't!" Hobbs raised his own gun. "What the hell are you doing, Doug!?" an incredulous Carl asked him.
"It's over, Carl; trying to kill kids is going too far. I'm not going to let you do this-and what we're doing with these whales is wrong too. We're going to let them take them out of here, and...!"
"Traitor!" another goon abruptly smashed the handle of his rifle across the back of Hobbs' head, sending him down to the ground. "Thanks, Eddie," Carl commended this goon.
"Finish them, all of them, now," Dial repeated the order to the thugs, tightening his grip on Jesse when he tried to pull away, "Then burn the bodies when..."
There came a sudden squealing of brakes behind them as an expensive car that Jesse recognized entered the compound and slid to a stop nearby. "Robert!" a furious Mrs. Corwin exited the car and pushed her way through the goons towards her client.
"Ah damn it...!" Dial muttered in disgust, releasing Jesse in a flash. "I really don't have time for this right now, Anita...!" he protested to her.
"What the hell is this, Robert!?" Mrs. Corwin demanded, pointing at the whales wailing their tanks, "I go the extra mile to try and acquit you of trying to kill the whale at the park-which it looks now like you actually were guilty of doing-and you do this behind my back!?"
"I'm really busy right now, Anita! We'll discuss it first thing Saturday morning, okay!?" Dial growled at her.
"He won't be here Saturday morning," Jesse spoke up, glaring at Dial, "Wade bought fake passports for them; they're flying to Mexico Saturday morning with the millions of dollars they got from selling Willy's family to parks around the world. They were going to live the rest of their lives safe in Cancun."
"You can't seriously believe him, Anita, not with his rap sheet!" Dial pointed accusingly at his young nemesis, "Now I promise, this is not as bad as it looks...!"
"Robert, I am going to ask you one question, and expect either a yes or no answer in three seconds: did you try and kill Judy earlier tonight!?" his attorney asked him murderously.
"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard...!"
"ANSWER THE QUESTION, ROBERT!" she angrily seized him by the collar, "DID YOU ACTUALLY HAVE THE NERVE TO TRY AND MURDER MY CHILD IN COLD BLOOD THIS EVENING!?"
"Are you on drugs, Mom!?" Judy looked shocked to see her mother showing that much concern for her, "This isn't like you at all..."
"I know, and I'm sorry, Judy, about everything," her mother turned to her apologetically, "I...I let my career get in the way of so much between us...and with your father too. But that ends right now," she turned her gaze piercingly back to Dial.
"Anita, you are being completely unprofessional here! Now I'm warning you, get out of here now, or I'll call the state bar and ask you be disbarred!" Dial warned her.
"Shut up!" she tightened her grip on his collar, "You flat out lied to me, Robert! Everything you and Wade told me from the moment we started working on your case was a bold-faced lie! Well I will not be used and manipulated like that and let you get away with it!"
"This is your last warning, Anita; get out of here now!"
"Not without you, buster, because you are going to jail, for a clear-cut violation of numerous animal rights statutes, perjury under oath, and attempted murder...!"
Bellowing, Dial punched her hard and shoved her to the ground. "Enough of this! Finish them all, now!" he ordered the goons, heaving his attorney up and throwing her towards the nearest one, "And Carl, I don't care how much snow's on the roads; get these blasted whales out of here right now and get them on the first planes to their new homes!" he ordered the lead whale hunter, then grabbed Jesse's arm and started dragging him towards the fence.
"These are living, breathing creatures with names, not just things you can buy or sell!" Walker shouted at him, nonetheless marching with the others at gunpoint towards the far end of the compound, "It's people like you who...!"
"Shut it, Walker! It's arrogant holier than thou rich guys like you trampling on us little guys with your idiotic radical plans who're the problem around here!" Carl snarled, thrusting his own gun right in the businessman's face.
"I am more than willing to work out a compromise with legitimate fisherman concerning the possible marine preserve. And just because I have over two hundred million dollars to my name right now doesn't make me evil!" the businessman protested.
"Protecting whales!? These are just things, you fool; things that make us money, and things that ruin local fisherman's stock!" the lead whaler bellowed, "They're better off out of these waters and in aquariums...!"
"Just things!?" Mr. Banks looked close to tears again, "Let me tell you about the leader of these 'things,' buddy. She had a name: Nekilstlass. She lived for close to ninety years. She was the queen of the ocean: she cared for her family. She even did some good for me a couple years ago. And you and your thugs here shot her in cold blood because she clearly tried to stop you from taking her family!"
"Oh yeah, the real big one. Well, we had no choice but to shoot it that much, buster; it was putting up too much of a fight. And you'd better not when we finish you either," Carl cocked his rifle...
"Look out!" came the cry from the gate. Jesse turned again to see, also to his surprise, at least twenty-five large Perkins Sanitation dump trucks barreling into the compound, sending the goons scattering. The lead truck braked to a stop right in front of the crowd. "Everybody freeze where you are!" Mr. Perkins leaped out of the passenger door, brandishing a shotgun. "You, Fat Boy, let go of my boy!" he ordered Wade, leveling the shotgun right at him. Pale, Wade immediately complied. Jake rushed over towards Annie and Glen while his father stormed up to Wade and slugged him hard to the ground, "And I ought to kill you for laying your filthy hands on my son anyway!" he snarled.
"Who the hell are you!?" Dial demanded.
"I'm your worst nightmare, pal, that's all you need to know! OK, everybody, guns and phones on the ground right now, and don't try anything, because we've got you outnumbered!" Mr. Perkins turned back to the line of trucks, out of which numerous other Perkins Sanitation employees now jumped, brandishing firearms of their own. They trained them on the goons, who quickly tossed their weapons and phones to the ground. "And if I find out that any of you hurt my son in any way, it ain't gonna be pretty!" Jake's father warned them.
"Dad, please, don't hurt anyone!" Jake begged him, hiding behind Glen. His father's face crashed to see his son still afraid of him. "I won't, Jake, if they don't hurt you," he said softly, lowering his shotgun, "I want you to know, I've decided to get help for the drinking, and I'll start taking anger management classes. Because the last thing I want is for the most important person in my life to be afraid of me...where do you think you're going!?" he grabbed Dial as the former park magnate tried to sneak away, "You ain't going nowhere, since it looks like you're the one in charge here!"
"You are this close to a lawsuit for trespassing on private property...!" Dial snarled at him.
"So sue me! Over there with the rest of them, you ape!" Mr. Perkins shoved him and Wade towards the other goons. "Anywhere we can lock them up at?" he asked the group.
"The bathroom in the main office'll probably work," Mr. Banks picked up Carl's rifle, "It's right over there."
"OK then, march, all of you!" Mr. Perkins ordered the goons, waving some more of his employees over to help herd their now prisoners away.
"Feels terrible doesn't it, seeing the script flip that quickly, huh?" Mr. Banks taunted a scowling Dial. He moonwalked backwards towards the main office, keeping his gun trained on the former park owner and singing mockingly, "He must be wanted by the CIA; he don't do half of what he say. Bob Dial is a cold man, HEE-HEE!"
"Shut up!" a disgusted Dial muttered back at him. Mr. Banks paid him no heed. "All right, in there, gentlemen," he gestured at the bathroom the goons had been marched to inside the office.
"In the ladies' room!?" a goon protested.
"You heard him, pal, inside now!" Mr. Perkins ordered, waving his shotgun at him. Sighing, Dial and the goons marched inside. Mr. Perkins locked them in, then shoved the office's desk and several filing cabinets in front of the door to block them. "OK guys, great job," he thanked his employees, bustling back out into the compound, "Now let's get to work with these whales."
"Holy god, George, you weren't drinking...there really are whales in here..." Hal mumbled in shock, seeing Willy and his family in the old water treatment tanks.
"And we're getting them back to the ocean where they belong, Hal. That's why I asked you to fill up the trucks with water," Mr. Perkins said, gesturing at the nearest dump truck, which Jesse now noticed was filled to the brim with water. "So let's get these whales loaded up, guys, and get them rolling-uh, how do we get them loaded up?" he bent down to ask his son.
"Forklifts in the garage," Jake pointed, looking relieved and delighted that his father, previously indifferent to the whales, had now gone the extra mile to help his marine friends. "And Dad," he called out as his father started to leave, "Thank you."
"I messed it up so much with you lately, Jake," his father apologized, "I let you down so much. But I wasn't going to let you down now when you needed help the most. "Hurry it up, guys; let's get those forklifts rolling and get these whales loaded up!" he barked to his employees.
"You're guaranteeing tripled pay and more sick days for this, George!?" a garbage man demanded to him.
"Do this for Jake, Rich, and you'll get everything the union wants," his boss promised, climbing into one of the forklifts himself. Beaming, Jake rushed towards Jesse. "I think he really means it, too. I think he's going to try and make it better from here on," he said with a smile.
"I think so," Jesse nodded, "And now we don't have to worry about how to transport them out of here."
They walked over to the left, where Mrs. Corwin, her hair having been knocked down out of its bun from Dial manhandling her, leaned against Luna's tank, clutching her jaw. "You all right?" Jesse asked her.
"Yes, I'm OK," the lawyer said, "Although, mentally, I haven't been for a while now," she hung her head. "I think I owe you a major apology, Mr. Richter," she confessed somberly to Jesse, "I was so eager to win that case that I typecast you in my mind as a full-blown juvenile delinquent. And I have to say, I'm so sorry I did that to you. You're clearly a much better person than I originally thought, one who's really worthy of being Judy's friend..."
She let out a guilty sigh and turned towards Judy, who was rubbing Luna's head nearby, "It's clear now I became something I never would have wanted to when I started law school...to think I didn't believe a word my own child said about a dangerous client...but then, I haven't been a mother to Judy for so long anyway..." She cracked a small grin to see her daughter smiling as she comforted Luna. "She really does care for these whales, doesn't she?" she asked the boys.
"She sure does," Jesse nodded, "Jake and I do too. That's why we have to help get them back to the ocean."
"I see," Mrs. Corwin said softly. "Honey, is there anything I can do to help here?" she asked Judy.
"Well, if you're serious, Mom, go get the seal cages," Judy pointed at them along the fence, "We're bringing them out too; hand them off to somebody loading a truck up."
"Seals?" Mrs. Corwin frowned, staring at the barking, wailing seals and sea lions in the cages. "Why not?" she shrugged with a smile, though, and bustled over to grab the nearest two cages. "Now don't any of you bite me, please..."
Jesse broke into a laugh; seeing the formerly high-strung "Anita the Assassin" now willingly carrying seals to safety was quite satisfying for him. He rushed over to Willy's tank, where Rae was examining him, a medical kit in her hand. "How's he doing?" he asked her.
"He seems OK, Jesse, although he clearly hasn't been eating much since he was brought here," Rae told him, "If we can get him back to the ocean safely, he should be OK."
"And at least with water-filled dump trucks, we don't have to worry about him drying out this time," Jesse said, staring at the nearest truck, "You think these'll be big enough for them?"
"If we don't take too long, they should suffice," the former whale trainer nodded, rubbing Willy's nose, "I'm just worried about the roads, and whether we can find our way to the ocean from here in a snowstorm..."
"I know," Jesse was worried about this deep down himself. He turned at the sound of a forklift approaching, Randolph at the controls. "OK, Willy, we're going to get you out of here and get you back home," he told his big friend, "It'll be just like how we got you out of your tank at the park, but this time you don't have to worry about the tank breaking down on you. Just do what we tell you, and you'll be all right. You trust me, right?"
Willy gave a firm nod, making it clear he trusted the boy implicitly. "Great," Jesse rubbed the whale's head. "Mrs. Shuler, can you give us a hand with this?" he called to the state's attorney, who was on her cell phone nearby.
"If you need me. Call you back, Captain; we're getting the whales out of their tanks now," Shuler told her caller in parting before hanging up. "What do you need from me?" she rushed for the catwalk.
"Help get this sling into the water," Rae told her, reaching out for it as Randolph lowered it towards the tank, "Was that the police?"
"It was; they're trying to get some snowplows together. It's taking longer than they thought, though, and the snow's really building up on the roads now. It may be up to us to get these whales to safety. Still, I'm not complaining," Shuler cracked a grin, grabbing hold of the other end of the sling and helping Rae lower it down into the water, "This is basically what I was hoping to be when I first became interested in law as a girl: being the hero somehow. And to be honest, my job was starting to get a little boring..." she cut off and broke into laughter at Mrs. Corwin straining to carry two more cages of sea lions towards another dump truck. "And I get to see Anita Corwin get her comeuppance too. I hope she'll seriously consider reforming for Judy's sake. OK, now what?" she asked once the sling was in the water.
"Spread it out, and leave the rest to me," Jesse told her. "OK, Willy, just like last time, come on into the sling," he called to his friend, "Nothing to be afraid of this time."
Willy in fact swam straight forward into the sling and parked exactly in the right place, clearly knowing the procedure by now. "OK, take him up, Randolph," Jesse told the forklift operator, who threw the lever to raise Willy out of the tank. "Put him in the front most truck," the boy called over the forklift's engine to him. He glanced sideways. Several other whales were now being lifted out of their tanks by the other forklifts as well. "We're doing it," he declared happily, "And it's good to see this many people coming together to help do it," he told the women, "I guess, in a way, this is what life's really all about: helping others...what?" he noticed Rae beaming.
"Just so glad to see how far you've come since we first met," the former whale trainer smiled at him, "To see that the bitter, grouchy boy I first saw after the seal show's grown into a caring young man who'd go as far as he has for his friends..."
"You're that graffiti kid, aren't you?" Jesse imitated Rae's very first words to him from seemingly ages ago, "Well, looking back, yeah, that's what I once was, just an angry graffiti kid. Now I know I'm more than that, and it feels great. Let's see if anyone else needs our help."
He bustled off the catwalk and made for Kago's tank, where Jake was leaning as far out as he would dare over the water from the tank's edge. "Come on, Kago, you know you can't stay in here," he was pleading with his own big friend, who was backed up against the tank's rear wall, "I'll even rub your tongue this time, promise."
Kago whimpered, sounding afraid. "Is he all right?" Jesse rushed up to the tank's edge.
"I'm trying everything to get him to come; he's scared for some reason," Jake looked crushed that Kago wouldn't come over.
"I think he's flashing back to when they put him in the tank; he must connect the sling with that," Rae mused grimly.
"So how do we get him not to be scared?" Mr. Perkins, at the controls of the forklift in front of the tank, leaned out and asked her, clear concern now visible on his face.
"If we had some fish around, maybe we could reward him in..."
"Wait, maybe..." an idea struck Jesse. He dug out his harmonica and played the familiar tune he'd often played for Willy. And sure enough, Kago started swimming forward towards the notes. "That's it, buddy, that's it, a little bit more..." a now excited Jake gestured for Jesse to keep playing, "Right in the middle there...that's it, Kago, that's it!" he exclaimed as Kago entered the sling. "OK Dad, now!" he called to his father, who quickly threw the switch and raised Kago out of the tank before the whale could back out. "Thanks," Jake commended Jesse, reaching back into Kago's mouth to rub the whale's tongue as he'd promised.
"Hold up a minute, let me take a look at him," Rae called to Mr. Perkins, who obligingly stopped the forklift's arm in midair. "Is he injured bad?" Jake worriedly asked her as she examined what Jesse could see was a notable spear wound in Kago's side.
"It's a deep wound, but I don't think it'll affect his ability to swim too much. I'd better treat it, though; Lauren, bring my kit," Rae called to the state's attorney. "We'll patch him up as best we can, Jake," she promised the boy, "It should heal soon, I think."
"Good, good," Jake breathed in relief.
"Everything OK?" Judy came running over now.
"We're treating Kago, but he should be fine," Jesse told her.
"A couple of the other whales are injured too; you'll have to check them out too," Judy told Rae with concern, "I'll show you which ones when you're done here."
"OK, thanks," Rae said with a nod, taking her medical kit from the approaching Shuler.
"Polaris OK? Willy's brother and sister OK?" Jesse asked Judy.
"Yep, they're being loaded in now," Judy pointed to the right, where Polaris, Luna, and Littlespot were already high in the air and being driven towards the nearest dump trucks. "I think we did it, guys," she grinned, high fiving them.
"For now. Now we've got to get them back in the ocean," Jesse pointed out. He glanced to the front of the line of trucks, where Randolph was lowering Willy into the water-filled back. "OK, let's keep them company; they probably would feel better," he told Jake and Judy.
"Yeah, Kago's clearly going to be less scared with me nearby," Jake nodded.
"OK, I'm going with Willy then," Jesse himself bustled for the lead truck. "He still looks good?" he asked Randolph, now climbing out of the forklift.
"For now, Jesse, but the sooner we get him back in the ocean, the better," Randolph advised him, staring worriedly up at the snow, now falling heavier than ever.
"Yeah, I know," Jesse started climbing up to the top of the dump truck. "I'm here, Willy, and I'll stay with you the whole time," he told his friend, squirming along the side until he could sit down on the front edge of the trailer. Willy, with enough room in the back of the dump truck to at least move a little bit, inched forward and raised his head to be rubbed. Jesse happily complied. "At least you're not stuck in place for the whole trip this time, huh?" he pointed out to the whale, "I'm sure you appreciate that."
Willy exhaled, as if to agree. "I know," Jesse said, shivering, "I don't know how you and your family can stand it when it's this cold out in the ocean," he told the whale, "Speaking of which, want you to know, your mom's all right; she managed to escape the hunters. We saw her mourning the rest of your family that didn't make it. So, if we get to the ocean, she'll be waiting there for you and everyone else. I guess she'll be in charge of the pod now since she was your grandmother's oldest daughter, so be nice to her from here on." He sighed dreamily. "I'll tell you though, Willy, I wish my mom were here to help out. If she knew what we were doing, I'm sure she'd be proud of me." He glanced backwards, seeing the final set of whales and dolphins being lowered into the last empty trucks. "Kindness and helping others really are what it's all about, isn't it, Willy?" he leaned his head against the whale, "If more people could do things like what we're doing for you and your family now, the world would be so much better a place."
With a loud splash, the final orca was dropped into the last truck in line. "That's it, that's the last one!" Hal declared, climbing out of the last forklift. He rushed over to where the others had all congregated in front of Willy's truck directly below Jesse. "OK, so now what, George?" he grilled Jake's father.
"We put them back in the ocean like I said, Hal," Mr. Perkins said matter of factually.
"And which way is the ocean from here, George?"
"Uh...Jake?" Mr. Perkins glanced at his son for an answer.
"Sorry, can't help you guys there," Jake shrugged. "Anyone?" he asked the rest of the group.
"Hold on...as best as I can remember, when they shot the movie here, the cove where they filmed the finale was over that way," Mr. Banks pointed to the northwest, "I kind of remember seeing these buildings in here from the beach when I was on break. If we can find it, that's probably our best bet."
"We need more than just a bet, mister, especially with a blizzard going on," Hal pressed him, "Are you sure of where that cove is or not!?"
"Wait, I think I know what he means; it has to be McCaw Cove he's thinking of," Walker realized. "Mr. Hobbs," he turned to the former mole at the institute, now back on his feet again and holding a large chunk of ice to his head, "Would you agree we should aim for McCaw Cove?"
"You pretty much would have to; it's where we brought the whales we caught in at," Hobbs explained, "The next closest natural harbor along the coast's a good fifteen miles north of it; you'd never get the whales there in time without getting snowed in. And yeah, it is northwest from here," he pointed in the same direction Mr. Banks had, "Make a right back at the main road, and that should take you towards it."
"Tom, type McCaw Cove into the GPS," Walker called to his chauffeur by the van.
"OK, Mr. Walker," the chauffeur bent down over the dashboard, too far out of Jesse's range to see clearly what he was doing. "Got it; it's about twelve miles from here by the fastest route," he called back.
"Let me see," Walker rushed over to look for himself. "Is this right, Mr. Hobbs?" he called to the former institute guard. Hobbs bustled over, bent down, and nodded firmly. "OK, make a copy disc for the lead truck Tom, then lock up the van; we're heading out," Walker instructed his driver.
"How long a ride is it?" Hal pressed the businessman.
"It's listing about a forty-five-minute drive given the conditions, although I'll admit that may be somewhat optimistic," Walker ran back over to the group, "And it won't be an easy journey either way. We're heading away from the park entrance, so that'll make it harder for any plows to reach us. And it's a fairly steep downhill run for a while. Plus, there's a critical left turn about halfway there; if we miss that, we'll really be lost, and with a blizzard raging, I don't know if help could reach us and these whales in time..."
"We have to try, Mr. Walker. These whales are counting on us. We can't let them down," Judy said firmly.
"Exactly, Judy," Walker beamed at her. "So let's finish what we started and get these whales back home."
"You said it, Walker. All aboard, guys; let's get these whales on the road!" Mr. Perkins told his workers with an excited fist pump. "You going up there, Jake?" he noticed his son climbing the truck behind Jesse, into which Kago had been deposited, "Hal, you and I are driving this one," he pulled the union's leader into that particular truck's cab.
"Are you sure you're the same George Perkins I knew before, and you haven't been body snatched by aliens or something...?" a confused Hal asked before the truck's door slammed shut. The other adults rushed for the other trucks, which started up again with loud sputters. "Well, this is it," Judy climbed up onto the rear of the truck behind Jake's, in which Polaris now rested. "Here's hoping for the best," she crossed her fingers at the boys.
"Here's hoping," Jesse crossed his fingers back. "Your mom's coming up too," he pointed back, having noticed Mrs. Corwin appear on the top of Polaris' truck as well.
"If...If it's all right, honey, I'd like to share the experience with you," the attorney told her daughter with a humbled expression, "After everything else I've missed..."
"Promise no finishing school, and that you'll support me working with whales from now on," Judy grilled her with a firm expression.
"I promise. I want to be your mother again."
"OK then, hang on tight, Mom," Judy smiled, forgiving her.
"Jesse, you need anything up there?" Annie called to him from the passenger side of his own truck, snapping his attention back forward.
"No, I'm good for now, Annie; Willy's nice and wet here," Jesse called down, "Let's just get going."
"Right. Come on, Glen, let's go," Annie called through the cab to her husband as she climbed in.
"In a minute, Annie-thanks," Glen took a GPS disk from Tom on the driver's side. "Put this in the GPS slot," he handed it to his wife. "And you're completely sure the ocean's that way?" he called to Hobbs, who was climbing into the driver's seat of a nearby truck, then pointed to the northwest.
"Yeah, trust me on that," Hobbs nodded in confirmation.
"Great. OK, Jesse, hang on tight up there," Glen advised his foster son, "I don't want you falling off and getting run over."
"I'll be careful, Glen, I promise. Let's just get Willy back home."
"You know it. Well, here we go again, taking a whale back into the ocean again," Glen shrugged in amazement, climbing into the truck's cab, "Who'd have ever thought it...?"
He swung the truck's door closed. Seconds later, the truck lurched forward towards the compound gate, in conjunction with Mr. Banks delightedly yelling, "Eco-Avengers, away!" from a truck about midway through the convoy. Jesse laughed again at the big child inside of the teacher. "We're on our way, Willy," he patted the whale down, "Nothing's going to stop us now."
No sooner had the final truck exited the complex, however, then a loud bang rang out as the villains smashed the bathroom door off its hinges and tumbled into the office. Dial lunged to his feet and ran out the door into the snow. "Damn it!" he bellowed, seeing the last truck's taillights disappearing through the gates.
"They took everything we had!" one of the whalers lamented, staring at the now empty tanks and cages in the complex.
"What are we worried about? They'll never make it out of the park in a blizzard," another whaler scoffed.
"But if they get anywhere near the ocean, they still win! Where's the nearest ocean access point from here, Carl!?" Dial demanded to the head whaler.
"McCaw Cove, and it looks like they're heading that way," Carl squinted after the trucks, "But there's a back way there from here we'd used before when bringing whales up; if we hurry, we could circle around and cut them off. Meanwhile, I can radio my guys out on the boats..."
"Do it now!" Dial ordered him, "Tell them to seal off the cove completely, and that the full nuclear option is in play here. And if need be, they're to shoot to kill! I want my whales back no matter what the cost! The rest of you, get to your vehicles!" he ordered the other men, "We've got to beat them down to the cove if we humanly can!"
