Dragging myself along
15k...woo...go me...mrrfff....
It was chaos from that point on. The mother was dragging her child away from the scary sight. People were running back in to see what was so frightening and were gasping and pointing just before the creature darted away. A few quick witted individuals had whipped out their cellphones and were trying for a snapshot before the creature moved. Most of them were disappointed at the blur they got, unrecognizable. The tour guide was paging frantically for Mitchell Walker, since he was the man in charge. "Tell him there's something in the dolphin tank that shouldn't be in there. I'm not sure what it is...though I could tell you what it looks like..."
On the other end, near the information desk, Mitch was listening in to Linda's part of the conversation. He could hear the ruckus in the background too and was pinching the bridge of his nose. "No, tell him not to bother. I'm pretty sure I know what's in the tank." He took off, calling over his shoulder mid stride, "Get some security over there and clear out the people and block off both sides of the tunnel."
"I'm on it," Linda said, tapping her earpiece as she notified security. Mitch was already at the tunnel entrance with his knowledge of how the building was laid out. He pushed his way through the crowd of people to find the staff member. Everyone was trying to see the creature, but it had disappeared back in a far corner and couldn't be seen.
"You, Try to get these people out in an orderly fashion so we can get our people in," Mitch told the tour guide in a low voice. They were still a bit flabbergasted by what they had seen, but they nodded obediently and began to say in their tour guide nothing-to-see voice, "Ok, people, we need to clear the tunnel to let our staff in. Let's move towards the exit please on to the next exhibit..."
Nobody wanted to leave was the problem. A few obeyed initially but the rest kept on stubbornly looking around, trying to see the mystery creature again and trying to ask Mitch and the tour guide questions.
"What's really in there??"
"Was it a real mermaid or just someone pretending?"
"Was this part of the tour?"
It wasn't till security showed up that they were able to clear the viewing tunnel completely. Mitch could very well see the same problem happening up above so he sent a few security guards upstairs to cordon off the dolphin tank above the ground. "Hang a sign saying we're working with the dolphins, no visitors allowed till further notice, that kind of thing," he said into his walkie talkie.
The dolphins were still moving back and forth, acting like nothing had happened. Tony showed up soon after hearing the chatter on the radio. Mitch gave him a what are you doing here look. "I hurried over after my show, is she in there?" Tony put a hand against the glass, peering out into the water, trying to see between the swimming dolphins. "Yup, she scared a whole tour group pretty good." Mitch groaned with realization, "If the media gets a hold of this..."
"Well, would that be so bad? I mean, she is the find of the century if she is a real mermaid."
Mitch was leaning with his shoulder against the glass, thinking. "Y-es, I suppose. However..." He wasn't quite sure how to explain it. "We haven't had time to see if she's...you know..."
"Senscient?"
"I guess that's as good a word as any." Mitch looked out into the tank, still not able to see where the girl fish was hiding. "Think about it, she's practically an alien. How do we know if the government would take her away if they found out about it... or how the public would respond... I'd rather not have her in pieces or becoming a side show attraction if she is as human as she looks."
Tony's smile was a bit lopsided. "Always the one with the soft spot for the animals," he teased Mitch lightly. "Just for that remark, you get to go in there and get her out," Mitch countered with his own grin.
Both men started in surprise as the girl swam by extremely close to the glass where they were, darting over the tunnel like a whiplash of gray and green to disappear between the dolphins on the other side. "...well, I'm awake now, how about you?" Mitch said, a hand over his heart. "If she is sensient, she's got a wicked sense of humor," Tony said, moving to the other side of the tunnel peer out. "Nope, she's hiding again... do you really think we should get her out of there? The dolphins don't seem to mind her."
"I realize that... however, till nightfall, we'd have to keep the dolphin tunnel blocked off. And that might raise some questions. So the sooner we can have her out and safely back in the infirmary tank, the better."
Tony sighed, cracking his knuckles. "Alright, I'm already suited up anyway. I'll grab the tranq gun on the way."
"I'm going with you," Mitch said, falling in step with Tony as they walked back past the security guards at one entrance. "Safer in pairs."
"In theory," Tony smirked. "Besides, she looked like she was going for you last time, you sure you want in?"
Mitch nodded. "I'm not having you going in alone, experienced or not. She's a lone, possibly still hurt creature that's used to moving very fast in the water. You're going to need backup."
A few minutes later, they were both dressed the same and holding their snorkeling goggles and standing above the tank looking down into it. Somewhere in the mass of diving and giggling dolphins was one lone girl fish... and they had to capture it without making too much fuss. The word had gotten around a bit that something odd was going on at that tank, so the security people were having a bit of trouble keeping random curious people back. "Won't be long..." Mitch said under his breath.
"You're thinking news teams are going to show up, eh?" Tony asked, sitting on the edge of the ladder, dangling his feet in the water. "That's exactly what I'm worrying about, Tony." Mitch primed the tranquilizer gun and handed it to his sharp shooting friend. "Do I play bait again?"
"Worked last time like a charm," Tony grinned. "You got the dose set?"
"Yeah, this is a different drug altogether... and it won't hurt the dolphins if you hit one accidentally."
"Like I would do that. I'm offended you would even imply such a thing." Tony gave one of the inquisitive dolphins that was nudging his leg a pat on the nose before jumping in. Mitch followed behind.
Inside the tank, they swam carefully towards the bottom where the fake coral ridges were. Both men were on the alert, looking in all directions at once. Mitch gestured with two fingers to spread out, they didn't want to be caught together and have them both become the bait. Tony moved off to the left, gun gripped in his hands. Mitch couldn't see the girl fish on this side of the tunnel. Hopefully she wasn't good at cameoflage from the top, otherwise their feet might get attacked first. They really didn't know how aggressive this creature was. Most of their dealings were with it being unconscious. There was a quick movement off to the side. The mermaid had crossed above the tunnel in the blink of an eye. Man, she's fast, Mitch stroked quickly with his arms, trying to turn to see where she went. She was hovering against the side of the wall of the tank. As Mitch watched, she moved slightly forward, touching a hand along one of the dolphin's sides in a casual gesture. The dolphin made a quick left turn, bumping it's top dorsal fin against her stomach as he crossed deliberately through her path. She dove around in a smooth motion to circle around him. Mitchell watched, entranced by the behavior he was watching. The FIRST person to watch the behavior of these two creatures together, albeit even if it was in captivity. It was incredible, people in his field wait years for such findings as this and never get it.
The mermaid was circling. And watching. Watching and circling him actually. Mitch was getting that foreboding feeling again. He usually got it around swimming with sharks like that one time he almost was bitten while out in the field. He tried to slow his heart rate and braced himself, trying to keep still.
One of the dolphins swooshed by, Mitch knew this one as Val. They'd named him that after Val Kilmer, one of the interns insisted there was a facial resemblance. Mitch knew him more for the scar that ran along his right front fin. At an idea, Mitch reached out as he passed, touching along the bottom of the front fin, one of the few signals they knew about dolphins. This was the gesture for friendship. Val chirped back a hello and continued on his way.
Mitch found himself face to face with the girl fish. She was looking at him... without looking at him. As if not wanting to completely look at him, more animalistic than human at the moment.
It was chaos from that point on. The mother was dragging her child away from the scary sight. People were running back in to see what was so frightening and were gasping and pointing just before the creature darted away. A few quick witted individuals had whipped out their cellphones and were trying for a snapshot before the creature moved. Most of them were disappointed at the blur they got, unrecognizable. The tour guide was paging frantically for Mitchell Walker, since he was the man in charge. "Tell him there's something in the dolphin tank that shouldn't be in there. I'm not sure what it is...though I could tell you what it looks like..."
On the other end, near the information desk, Mitch was listening in to Linda's part of the conversation. He could hear the ruckus in the background too and was pinching the bridge of his nose. "No, tell him not to bother. I'm pretty sure I know what's in the tank." He took off, calling over his shoulder mid stride, "Get some security over there and clear out the people and block off both sides of the tunnel."
"I'm on it," Linda said, tapping her earpiece as she notified security. Mitch was already at the tunnel entrance with his knowledge of how the building was laid out. He pushed his way through the crowd of people to find the staff member. Everyone was trying to see the creature, but it had disappeared back in a far corner and couldn't be seen.
"You, Try to get these people out in an orderly fashion so we can get our people in," Mitch told the tour guide in a low voice. They were still a bit flabbergasted by what they had seen, but they nodded obediently and began to say in their tour guide nothing-to-see voice, "Ok, people, we need to clear the tunnel to let our staff in. Let's move towards the exit please on to the next exhibit..."
Nobody wanted to leave was the problem. A few obeyed initially but the rest kept on stubbornly looking around, trying to see the mystery creature again and trying to ask Mitch and the tour guide questions.
"What's really in there??"
"Was it a real mermaid or just someone pretending?"
"Was this part of the tour?"
It wasn't till security showed up that they were able to clear the viewing tunnel completely. Mitch could very well see the same problem happening up above so he sent a few security guards upstairs to cordon off the dolphin tank above the ground. "Hang a sign saying we're working with the dolphins, no visitors allowed till further notice, that kind of thing," he said into his walkie talkie.
The dolphins were still moving back and forth, acting like nothing had happened. Tony showed up soon after hearing the chatter on the radio. Mitch gave him a what are you doing here look. "I hurried over after my show, is she in there?" Tony put a hand against the glass, peering out into the water, trying to see between the swimming dolphins. "Yup, she scared a whole tour group pretty good." Mitch groaned with realization, "If the media gets a hold of this..."
"Well, would that be so bad? I mean, she is the find of the century if she is a real mermaid."
Mitch was leaning with his shoulder against the glass, thinking. "Y-es, I suppose. However..." He wasn't quite sure how to explain it. "We haven't had time to see if she's...you know..."
"Senscient?"
"I guess that's as good a word as any." Mitch looked out into the tank, still not able to see where the girl fish was hiding. "Think about it, she's practically an alien. How do we know if the government would take her away if they found out about it... or how the public would respond... I'd rather not have her in pieces or becoming a side show attraction if she is as human as she looks."
Tony's smile was a bit lopsided. "Always the one with the soft spot for the animals," he teased Mitch lightly. "Just for that remark, you get to go in there and get her out," Mitch countered with his own grin.
Both men started in surprise as the girl swam by extremely close to the glass where they were, darting over the tunnel like a whiplash of gray and green to disappear between the dolphins on the other side. "...well, I'm awake now, how about you?" Mitch said, a hand over his heart. "If she is sensient, she's got a wicked sense of humor," Tony said, moving to the other side of the tunnel peer out. "Nope, she's hiding again... do you really think we should get her out of there? The dolphins don't seem to mind her."
"I realize that... however, till nightfall, we'd have to keep the dolphin tunnel blocked off. And that might raise some questions. So the sooner we can have her out and safely back in the infirmary tank, the better."
Tony sighed, cracking his knuckles. "Alright, I'm already suited up anyway. I'll grab the tranq gun on the way."
"I'm going with you," Mitch said, falling in step with Tony as they walked back past the security guards at one entrance. "Safer in pairs."
"In theory," Tony smirked. "Besides, she looked like she was going for you last time, you sure you want in?"
Mitch nodded. "I'm not having you going in alone, experienced or not. She's a lone, possibly still hurt creature that's used to moving very fast in the water. You're going to need backup."
A few minutes later, they were both dressed the same and holding their snorkeling goggles and standing above the tank looking down into it. Somewhere in the mass of diving and giggling dolphins was one lone girl fish... and they had to capture it without making too much fuss. The word had gotten around a bit that something odd was going on at that tank, so the security people were having a bit of trouble keeping random curious people back. "Won't be long..." Mitch said under his breath.
"You're thinking news teams are going to show up, eh?" Tony asked, sitting on the edge of the ladder, dangling his feet in the water. "That's exactly what I'm worrying about, Tony." Mitch primed the tranquilizer gun and handed it to his sharp shooting friend. "Do I play bait again?"
"Worked last time like a charm," Tony grinned. "You got the dose set?"
"Yeah, this is a different drug altogether... and it won't hurt the dolphins if you hit one accidentally."
"Like I would do that. I'm offended you would even imply such a thing." Tony gave one of the inquisitive dolphins that was nudging his leg a pat on the nose before jumping in. Mitch followed behind.
Inside the tank, they swam carefully towards the bottom where the fake coral ridges were. Both men were on the alert, looking in all directions at once. Mitch gestured with two fingers to spread out, they didn't want to be caught together and have them both become the bait. Tony moved off to the left, gun gripped in his hands. Mitch couldn't see the girl fish on this side of the tunnel. Hopefully she wasn't good at cameoflage from the top, otherwise their feet might get attacked first. They really didn't know how aggressive this creature was. Most of their dealings were with it being unconscious. There was a quick movement off to the side. The mermaid had crossed above the tunnel in the blink of an eye. Man, she's fast, Mitch stroked quickly with his arms, trying to turn to see where she went. She was hovering against the side of the wall of the tank. As Mitch watched, she moved slightly forward, touching a hand along one of the dolphin's sides in a casual gesture. The dolphin made a quick left turn, bumping it's top dorsal fin against her stomach as he crossed deliberately through her path. She dove around in a smooth motion to circle around him. Mitchell watched, entranced by the behavior he was watching. The FIRST person to watch the behavior of these two creatures together, albeit even if it was in captivity. It was incredible, people in his field wait years for such findings as this and never get it.
The mermaid was circling. And watching. Watching and circling him actually. Mitch was getting that foreboding feeling again. He usually got it around swimming with sharks like that one time he almost was bitten while out in the field. He tried to slow his heart rate and braced himself, trying to keep still.
One of the dolphins swooshed by, Mitch knew this one as Val. They'd named him that after Val Kilmer, one of the interns insisted there was a facial resemblance. Mitch knew him more for the scar that ran along his right front fin. At an idea, Mitch reached out as he passed, touching along the bottom of the front fin, one of the few signals they knew about dolphins. This was the gesture for friendship. Val chirped back a hello and continued on his way.
Mitch found himself face to face with the girl fish. She was looking at him... without looking at him. As if not wanting to completely look at him, more animalistic than human at the moment.