(Toby? Just how far are these dolphins taking us?) Lee asked. (I mean, we've got that time limit to worry about, and we had enough trouble demorphing when we actually had something to stand on.)

(They said the Great Ones are close,) I answered, (As they live out here and we do not, I think it wise to trust them.)

Marco disagreed. (But their idea of 'close' might not be the same as ours,) he said, (Like you said, they live here, they don't have to demorph, so for all I know they think 'close' means anything within 50 miles. We've been swimming all morning, gone less than 20 miles, and already had to demorph once.)

(I trust them,) I said, in as firm a tone of voice as I could manage with Thought-Speech.

(Why?) Marco asked.

(Because there's no other choice, unless you'd rather keep swimming in a straight line.)

Silently, we swam along for five minutes, still unsure of what a Great One was or how it might help us. Then ten minutes. Fifteen. Twenty. Thirty. We were getting close to halfway through the time limit. If we did not find these Great Ones soon, we would have no choice but to turn back and-

There was a storm of KLIKs from the wild dolphins. Curious, I sent out my own burst, and received a picture of... something. It was larger than a dolphin, but for some reason the picture felt blurry. I could not get a clear image. I had my suspicions, though.

)Great One!( the dolphins cried, )Great One in danger!(

I sent out another sonar burst, and received a slightly clearer picture. There was one large animal out there, surrounded by several smaller ones. I did not recognize either species. But my dolphin instincts told me that the smaller shapes - similar to my own body, but with a differently built tail - were dangerous.

(Cassie? What are we looking at?)

There were KLIKs as the others sent out their own sonar pulses, and Cassie promptly answered me.

(It's a humpback whale!) she said gleefully, before adding in a worried tone, (And sharks.)

)Good fight ahead,( the dolphins said, )Landlowda Seer, you people warriors?(

(The dolphins want to know if we are warriors,) I translated.

(Hell yeah,) Lee said, (I'm Apache. This is what my ancestors lived for.)

(Let's do it,) Rachel cheered.

(You guys are nuts,) Marco protested, (We came here to find the Andalite, not to fight Jaws.)

(Those sharks are attacking the Great One that can help us find the Andalite,) I said, (This is in our interest.)

(There's six of us, five dolphins, and only five sharks,) Jake said, (If this gets us a location for the Andalite, I say we go for it. Every in favor?)

(All right,) Marco relented, (But if I get killed, I'm never speaking to you again.)

(We will fight,) I said to the wild dolphins.

)Five targets. Range, 300. Depth, 15. Aqualowda, ready?(

)Ready in all respects.(

)Flank speed. Charge!(

)Killee Killee Killee!(

The dolphins rocketed away, leaving us scrambling to catch up. We split into two groups - Jake, Rachel, and Cassie on the left, and Marco, Lee, and myself on the right.

(Try and hit them in the gills,) Cassie instructed, (Or the eyes. That's where they're most vulnerable.)

We kept sending out sonar pulses as we approached, repositioning for a good angle of attack as we drew closer and closer. We were fifty yards away now. The dolphins had already reached the sharks and isolated two of them. Twenty-five. Rise up for a downward plunge into the shark. Five yards...

I felt my snout smash into something surprisingly solid and rough-textured. It wasn't the same as striking a rock headfirst, but it still hurt. I'd missed the shark's gills! All I could do now was to break loose and circle around for another try.

(Cassie, on your left!)

(Toby, watch out!)

(I got one! I got one!) Rachel shouted, as I dodged between a shark and the whale. The shark twisted around to bite at us, and I realized we were now at a disadvantage - dolphins relied on speed to deliver a powerful impact, but the shark's teeth were dangerous at short range. I dashed away from the melee, turned around, and hoped I had enough distance to build up speed again. As we circled around, I lost track of Lee. There were so many twisting bodies in the water, I couldn't even tell Jake's group apart from the wild dolphins. All I knew for sure was that Marco was on my left.

(Marco. Do you see me?)

(I think so.)

(Good. Stay close to me.)

I raced towards the sharks again, with Marco following, then drawing level, and finally pulling slightly ahead of me.

We rammed into the next shark, and missed the gills again, forcing us to swing around once more, right through the swirling melee. One of the sharks was right next to Marco, jaws wide open. All it had to do was twist its head to the side, and-

(NO!)

I slammed into Marco, knocking him out of the way, but putting myself in front of the shark's mouth. I felt something tear through my side, and suddenly I could no longer steer in the water. A few seconds later, a Thought-Speech voice that could have been Marco's cried out. But I barely heard it. The pain on my left flank was intense. Swimming was no longer an option, and I was left to drift helplessly. As panic began to set in again, I retreated into the dolphin mind.

Author's Note: The wild dolphins are basically talking like the crew of a submarine preparing to launch a spread of torpedoes. It's entirely possible I may have read too many Tom Clancy books. They've also borrowed a battle cry from the sparra in "Redwall".

Many years ago, when I first decided I wanted to be a professional writer, I did not expect that someday I would be combining those specific influences for an Animorphs fanfiction.