Cry of the Sea (28 page)

Chapter
Eighteen

An eel in its cave. That’s what I thought as
I stepped toward the heavy desk. The wall behind Mr. Cortlandt’s
desk was made entirely of glass, but instead of being a lovely
island view, it exposed the cloudy strait waters. The busy water
reflected on the blue walls of the office, making the whole room
take on the effect of an underwater cave.

I felt like spooky sea monsters of the deep
were lurking about me, ready to snap out and gobble me up at any
moment. My feelings were justified when Mr. Cortlandt spun around
in his chair to greet me. Brown spots were scattered across his
balding head. His teeth seemed almost too big for his mouth, giving
him that evil, leering look that is so common to eels. His eyes
were small and beady too, as if the absence of direct light to this
room had caused him to slowly go blind.

Naturally, I hated him on sight. I tried to
imagine him with a wife. Somebody out there in the world might
actually think he was quite cute and charming. Ugh. The thought
made me shiver.

I thought of the person I considered cute and
charming. Carter. No one could describe him as being like an eel. I
held his smile in my mind and let it calm me as the slimy voice of
Mr. Cortlandt filled the eerie room.

“Miss Sawfeather. I knew it was a matter of
time before you found us. Although, I have to admit I didn’t expect
you to arrive so soon.” He gestured for me to take a seat, but I
continued to stand.

“Guess you underestimated me. Before I do the
same to you, how about you tell me who you are exactly? Are you in
charge of this aquarium? Are you a scientist? Are you Dr.
Schneider’s boss?” I did a quick pause and added. “Or do you just
work for Affron Oil?”

“Please sit, Miss Sawfeather,” Mr. Cortlandt
said, gesturing to the seat again. This time, I took him up on his
offer, but I sat very straight, ready to get up quickly if I needed
to. “The answer is yes to all of those questions. I am the leading
marine biologist at this facility. Dr. Schneider now works directly
under me here, but his center downstate is also under an umbrella
of several marine rehabilitation centers that all report to me. All
of these centers are funded in part by a grant from Affron Oil, so
I do work for them in a manner of speaking. I am hardly what you
could consider an Affron employee, however.” He tried smiling at
me, but it just made him look creepier.

“Mr. Cortlandt,” I said as business-like as
possible but cutting right to the chase. “I am here because I know
that you have the mermaids I discovered on Grayland Beach. Dr.
Schneider and the mermaids have been missing from the Sea Mammal
Rescue Center, and I know that they are here. I suspect that there
are other mermaids here as well.”

His grin evaporated immediately. “Yes, I know
all about your escapades with the press, trying to convince them of
real mermaids. I have to say, Miss Sawfeather, that there are no
mermaids. What you discovered were three rare mutant fish.”

“Nice try,” I said. “I know what I saw.” He
shrugged like he didn’t care. “Since you know I’m right,” I
continued anyway, “and you know that the press is outside, are you
going to take me to the mermaids?”

“No.”

Not a pause. Not a thought. His answer was
definitive. A man used to saying no.

But I wasn’t done yet.

“If you have watched the news at all lately,
then you know that there is a lot of interest in these mermaids.
Whether or not you have them here, people are going to be
interested that I think you do. One report from that news team
outside is going to bring thousands of people crashing through the
doors of this place and scuba diving past your lovely window
here.”

Mr. Cortlandt seemed to growl, his lips
pulling back from those enormous teeth. “Again, I tell you, there
is nothing here for your news team to report. There are no
mermaids.”

“Then why is Dr. Schneider here?” I asked.
“Why would he abandon an entire rehabilitation center full of sea
animals rescued from Affron’s latest screw-up to come up here?”

“Dr. Schneider is here to do valuable
research.”

“On the mermaids. Who do you think you’re
fooling here?”

Mr. Cortlandt cleared his throat. “I think
I’m talking to a dumb kid who is getting involved in matters way
beyond her.”

I couldn’t stand this anymore. “Do you know
who my parents are, Mr. Cortlandt?” I didn’t give him time to
answer. “My father is one the most famous activists in North
America. His fight for our Chinook people and the environment are
legendary. My mother, Natalie Brenner Sawfeather, is the leading
environmental lawyer in Washington State. She is currently working
on getting your company taken down for destroying the entire
western coast of America with your oil spills. They are powerful
people, my parents.” As I ranted, I realized for the first time
just how important my parents were to the world. “They have home
phone numbers for nearly every member of Congress in the United
States. They have numbers for many Canadian government officials as
well. With one touch of the button on my cell phone here, I can
send your address to my mom, and within an hour you’ll have press
and government officials from both countries swarming in here to
see what you’ve really done with these mermaids.” I pulled out my
cell phone and turned it on. As it chimed to announce its power, I
said, “Your company is so proud of their mission to ‘make the world
better’. So, what do you think will happen to Affron when people
find out that you’re hiding or perhaps even killing mermaids?”

The eel-man slammed his hands down on his
desk. “Enough of your threats!” he shouted. “What does it matter if
we have mermaids or not? In my opinion they are like fish! They
breathe through water. They don’t think. They don’t communicate.
None of our tests have shown otherwise.” He stood up. “And what
makes you presume we are doing anything harmful to them at all? We
are simply studying them to prove whether or not they
can
be
considered as part human—which we have definitely proven by now
that they are
not
. Have you heard enough?”

From behind me, I heard the familiar voice of
Dr. Schneider at the door. “No she hasn’t,” he said. “Not by a long
shot.”

Dr. Schneider walked toward the desk, and I
stood up beside him. He nodded at me but didn’t smile. I wasn’t
sure if he was glad I was there or not. “Where is Carter?” he
asked.

“He should be here any time.”

Mr. Cortlandt spoke through gritted teeth.
“Carl, remember, the tests we are doing on the mermaids are for the
good of the environment and for mankind. It is important to know
what we’re dealing with before we let the whole world know about
them. We’ve discussed the importance of this mission.” He pointed
at Dr. Schneider accusingly. “And you agreed with it.”

“Yes, Bill,” Dr. Schneider said, his tone
equally confrontational. I was ready for them to launch over the
desk at each other. If they weren’t both old, crotchety men, I bet
they would have. “And some of what we talked about makes a lot of
sense. At the same time, though, you’re leaving out the part where
we discussed how my mission here is to prove without a doubt that
these creatures are indeed
fish
. That they can be discarded
just like trout or salmon. How they aren’t any more important or
valuable to the world than tuna, maybe even less so, since no one
will want to eat them. You aren’t talking about how I am to
formulate these opinions no matter what the cost is to the
mermaids.”

“Carl,” the man seethed. “You’re out of
line.”

“No,” Dr. Schneider said, “I’m finally on
track for the first time since this began.” He focused on me, and
I’m sure I looked like a complete dork considering how dumbfounded
I was at this heated exchange between the two men. “I need you to
come with me.”

“Carl,” Mr. Cortlandt warned. “Don’t do
it.”

Dr. Schneider ignored him and led me out of
the office. He whispered to me, “I’d hit that button on your phone
now.” I nodded and did as he said.

“I’ll call the police!” Mr. Cortlandt called
after us.

“Do it!” Dr. Schneider shouted back over his
shoulder as we headed up the hallway back to the main lobby. “I’d
love to see what the news team outside does when the police show
up.”

Mr. Cortlandt’s secretary popped out one of
the doors in front of us, blocking our way. I heard Mr. Cortlandt
scream for her. There was a moment where she was uncertain whether
she should chase us or go back to the cave. He screamed her name
again, and she left us.

“What’s he going to do?” I asked Dr.
Schneider.

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think we have a
lot of time.”

We entered the lobby to find a huge commotion
at the front door. The receptionist stood with her back to the
door, using all her weight to keep it from being opened by the
several sets of arms reaching through from the other side. I could
see Marlee peering through the window with her hands cupped around
her eyes. She saw me and waved at me excitedly. I saw her mouth
move, and Regina’s face appeared beside her.

I left Dr. Schneider’s side and ran to the
front door.

“June, we don’t have time!” he shouted at
me.

I pushed the receptionist out of the way and
my friends tumbled inside. Carter, Ted and Gary fell over each
other. Stepping over them were Juarez Peña and Chuck Emory. Peña
had his microphone at the ready, and the camera was firmly on
Chuck’s shoulder already rolling. The girls strode in behind the
reporters. Regina nudged Ted with her shoe to get out of the way,
and he rolled to the side instead of standing.

“Dr. Schneider!” Carter gasped, leaping to
his feet and bounding toward his boss. It was almost as if he
hadn’t truly believed his mentor was really a traitor until this
second.

“Carter,” Dr. Schneider said, motioning for
him to follow. “Come with me. Hurry.” Carter grabbed my hand, and
we ran back to Dr. Schneider, who was already nearing the doorway
at the far right of the lobby.

Regina shouted, “Where are you going?”

“Just stay here, Regina,” I said.

“No! I’m done missing out.”

I let go of Carter’s hand and nodded that he
and Dr. Schneider needed to continue on. “I’ll catch up.” I walked
back to Regina. “Look, I don’t have time to play this stupid game
with you right now. Will you stop being such a power freak and
realize that this has nothing to do with your stupid high school
popularity. This is real life, and it’s serious.”

She sneered at me. “I know it’s serious,
June. I want to help. Really. What can I do that will help?”

Go away
, I thought.

But right then Mr. Cortlandt and his
secretary exploded into the lobby. “What the Hell is going on
here?”

The receptionist skittered toward him. “I’m
sorry, sir. I couldn’t keep them out.”

The news camera swung toward him. Peña raised
his microphone to catch every word of what was going to happen.

I put my hand on Regina’s shoulder. “Here’s
your golden moment. Keep that man here and keep him busy.” She
raised her hands to her hair. “Don’t worry, you look beautiful as
always.” Regina smiled gratefully at me. “Go get him,” I told
her.

With that, Regina barged toward the eel-man
with a thousand questions about mermaids and what this building was
supposed to be used for. Between her and Peña, and the other
Student Council team members blocking the way, Cortlandt would be
held up for a few minutes at least.

I crooked a finger toward Haley to get her
sneak away and follow me while the attention was off her. She
backed away from the crowd and hurried with me through the door
where we quickly caught up with Dr. Schneider and Carter.

The building was set up like a honeycomb,
each octagon pod designated to a different sea creature or region
of species. From what I could see as we passed the open doors, the
tanks were completely enclosed, but a handful of the laboratories
featured windows that had an ocean view like in Mr. Cortlandt’s
office. A single hallway connected all the pods and wound downward
like a corkscrew, making each floor deeper under the water.

Near the bottom Dr. Schneider stopped,
unlocked a door, and held it open for us to step inside. I noticed
he kept his head hung low, not looking any of us in the eye as we
passed him. He shut the door behind us. I barely registered it
clicking into place because what I saw in front of me took away
every sense as my body filled with rage and sorrow. The reality of
what was before me was so much worse than I could have ever
imagined.

A wall of glass stretching from floor to
ceiling separated the mermaids from the laboratory. Even though the
lights were kept extremely low in the tank, it wasn’t hard to see
that there were too many of these human-fish in there. I couldn’t
begin to count them all, but there had to be close to a hundred.
They were so crowded together in the tank that they could barely
move.

I walked over to the tank, crouched to the
floor and pressed my hands and face against the cool glass, unable
to speak. Maybe when I opened them again the sight would be
gone.

No luck. The vision remained. The mermaids
were crammed so tightly into the tank they looked more like
oversized sardines than the beautiful creatures I had carried from
beach. Some of them whimpered in their strange voices. Most of them
trembled. All of them looked as though they might die at any
moment.

Carter came over and helped me to my feet.
Haley hung back by the computers, her mouth agape at the sight of
the mermaids. “I can’t believe there are so many,” she
whispered.

“What’s the matter with them?” Carter
asked.

“They’re suffocating,” Schneider answered.
“Fish need to move to be able to get oxygen into their gills. They
can’t move in there.”