It was the first day everyone was allowed back out on the ocean after the tsunami. They had been watching closely for signs of an aftershock but none had been detected, and the sea was relatively calm. Relatively. The Tundran sea was never completely calm, and white capped waves crashed around them out on the open water, the boat’s stabilizers only partially compensating for the harsh conditions. Fishing on Tundra, was problematic. This was why they were building the aqueducts, bringing the fish to the human cities, rather than bringing the humans to the fish, which had been known to end badly.

  “Are you bringing me out here to kill me?” James asked glumly. “Because I don’t think I’ve annoyed my mother quite that much.”

  “That’s between you and your mom.” Robert said, with a shrug. “Sam does her own dirty work.”

  “That’s charming.”

  “That’s Sam.”

  James nodded. He knew his mom. And it was hard to argue with that. Instead, he pulled up the fish finder, activating the sonar technology to look for fish. He was only vaguely familiar with the controls, and paid careful attention as Robert explained how to drive the boat.

  “Want to try?” Robert offered when he finished the explanation.

  “Is this a trick question?” James asked.

  With a shake of his head, Robert stood back from the controls, watching the boy take over. James was taking the boat further out, but Robert didn’t have the heart to stop him. Idly, he wondered if Olivia would have liked the kid.

  “Fish!” James shouted in excitement a few minutes later, seeing the unmistakable signs on his screen.

  They threw down the net together, off the back of the boat. From what James saw on the fish finder, it wouldn’t take more than a few minutes before they had enough. When they pulled the net back up only a few minutes later, six large fish came back up with it. And when Robert pulled out a large knife, James stepped back, suddenly feeling a twinge of real fear. Robert, was a friend of the family, he reminded himself. A close and trusted friend. He took another step back, and suddenly, his own knife was in his hand. James had been taking self defense classes for as long as he could remember. But he really hoped he wouldn’t have to fight Robert.

  “Good.” Robert said, kneeling down “You can help.” And then he took one of the fish and stabbed it at the base of the head, nearly severing the head with the force of his blow.

  “Um. Why are you doing that?” James asked, only slightly comforted by the steadiness of his own hand as it held the knife.

  “You said to kill the fish as quickly and painlessly as it is possible to kill fish.” Robert pointed out, swiftly picking up the next fish and stabbing it in the exact same location.

  “Right.”

  “That’s what I’m doing. Are you going to help?”

  “Usually we just leave the fish.” James said, taking another step back from the man with the large knife.

  Robert didn’t say another word until he stabbed all six of the fish and all six lay lifeless on the deck of the boat, their silver scales gleaming in the afternoon sun. “You just leave them.” He repeated carefully, wiping off his knife and putting it away.

  “Yeah. We just leave them.”

  “And do they die right away?” Robert asked.

  James hesitated. “Not… maybe not right away. But…” They both looked up, interrupted by the sound of an alarm from the ship’s sensors.

  James ran back towards the controls while Robert looked out at the ocean beyond the prow of the boat. “It says” James blinked, trying to make sense of what he was seeing “it says we’re about to hit land” he said in confusion.

  “Shit.” Robert said uncharacteristically. It was his own fault for indulging the boy. They had gone too far out to sea. The boat had no weapons and his gun would have no effect on the creature about to attack them. “James.” Robert said sharply. “Take the boat back. Do you understand me? That is an order. Get behind the controls and take the boat back to shore.” Without saying another word, he stripped off his clothes, took the large knife he had used on the fish in one hand, the net filled with dead fish in the other, and jumped into the water.

  “What the…” Mouth open in shock, James ran to the side of the boat, only to see Robert disappear into the water. And then the boat leaned to the side, until only the full power of the built in stabilizers kept it from capsizing entirely, as the dark blue form of an enormous megalodon shark smashed into it, sending James rolling towards the other side. Acting on instinct, he crawled back towards the controls, following Robert’s orders and taking the boat further from the shark. The force of the shark’s thrashing movements continued to send waves towards the boat as the stabilizers struggled to keep it upright. Once the boat had stabilized, James navigated in a wide circle around the location where he had last seen the shark, trying to find Robert’s small form among the white capped waves. He had no idea what Robert could have possibly done, but the megalodon shark had disappeared, leaving him and the boat alone on the open water. Robert, was nowhere to be seen.

  Dropping a waypoint to ensure the boat didn’t get blown off course, James continued to circle the area, but the visibility was limited. Concerned Robert may not be able to see the boat, he raised the flag, trying to make the boat visible from as far away as possible. Without pause, James pulled every net he could find, anchoring them all around the boat so that a man in the water would be able to get in easily, in case James wasn’t there to help. “Man overboard.” He said, breathing hard from the exertion as he ran back towards the cockpit and ship’s controls. “We need a rescue team.”

  On the other side, there was the drawn out sound of static before a human voice finally came through. “Do you see him?” The voice asked.

  “No. That’s why I need a rescue team.”

  “Kid, we just did the clean up from a tsunami. The rescue team’s mostly asleep in their beds. And they’re not coming out to look for someone who’s already dead.”

  “No.” James shook his head. “He’s a really strong swimmer. He’s out there, I just need help finding him.” At least, he thought Robert was a strong swimmer. He sure as hell hoped he was.

  On the other side, there was static and silence.

  “This is James Hawk.” He tried. He didn’t like pulling that card but he wasn’t above using it for emergencies. “I need a rescue team.”

  “You need to come in. The sun’s up now but it goes down fast. It’s not safe out there after dark. Your boat in working condition?”

  “Yeah, the boat is fine. I need a rescue team for…”

  “Bring the boat in. Now.” The man on the other side of the line said sharply.

  James slammed his hand down on the controls. Ignoring the voice, he ran all the way around the boat, trying to see out over the ocean. All he saw were choppy waves and emptiness. A shark of that size should not have been this close to shore, and it wasn’t likely that another large predator would be in the area. Not likely, but possible. Clearly, the Tsunami stirred things up in unexpected ways. It was probably safe to wait for a little while, James told himself. Until the sun began to set. Taking a breath, he went below to find the emergency flares. They may help with the visibility.

  Returning back to the upper deck, James continued patrolling the boat, looking out in all directions and circling over and over again. Every ten minutes, he sent out an emergency flare. The sun was on its way back down now, making its way towards the open water in the distance. The shadows cast by each wave made the visibility even worse. He set off another flare.

  ---

  The shark thrashed in the water, furious at what it saw as another predator encroaching on its territory. Robert knew that a megalodon shark of that size could capsize the boat. If they used a lifeboat to escape, the shark would go after that, as well. In retrospect, it had been a mistake bringing young James out this far. And it was his mistake. He would need to fix it. Wincing as the ice of the water hit his skin, Robert let his natural instincts take over, his skin no longer anything resembling human as it reflected back the water, the sun, and the sky, making him completely invisible. Only the knife in his hand and the fish remained visible. But the shark would not see the knife floating by itself, as a threat. Robert sighed slightly, treading water. His gun didn’t work under water, which was an unfortunate oversight. He wasn’t particularly looking forward to tangling directly with the giant shark.

  He had no chance of keeping up with the megalodon in the open water, and he had no intention of trying. Patiently, Robert held out the net filled with fish in one invisible hand, the knife in the other, and waited. The speed of the massive animal was truly incredible. Cutting through the water effortlessly, its giant mouth edged with jagged teeth, it sucked in a massive amount of water, and the fish along with it. Robert just barely managed to keep his invisible head from accidentally following, as he stabbed out directly towards the eye of the shark. For a sight hunter such as the shark, the fear of being blinded would drive it away faster than any other threat. Robert heard the vibration that was the shark’s underwater scream of pain and rage as it lost one of its eyes. The thrashing body slammed into him, entirely on accident. He passed out.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  ---

  Robert wasn’t entirely sure how long he had remained unconscious. He came to as another splash of icy seawater hit his face, looking up at the silvery sun over his head as he floated rather peacefully, rocked by the waves moving across the water. His side ached and he knew that the bruising would be bad enough that he would not be able to maintain the appearance of human skin. His chameleon’s scales were too damaged to look like anything other than what they were. That would be awkward. He closed his eyes, letting the waves continue to rock him. It didn’t seem all that important.

  The hissing sound of another flare interrupted his peace. How many had there been now? At least eight, he thought idly. Perhaps nine. He opened his eyes in time to see the orange trail of the flare as it reached up towards the sky. The sun was lower on the horizon. And the stupid boy was still there. But surely he would come to his senses soon enough. Robert thought as he closed his eyes.

  The hiss of another flare screeched across the sea. Robert opened his eyes again, watching it go. That had to be at least fourteen. And the sun was lower still. Stupid, stupid boy. With a grunt of genuine regret, he rolled onto his stomach and swam in the direction of the flare. Stupid, stubborn kid.

  ---

  The Tundran ocean was cold. Generally, humans could not survive in it for longer than an hour. James knew that. He looked at the sun, which was now lower towards the horizon. It had been over two hours since Robert went overboard. On the other hand, he was less than an hour from shore. There was still time. He sent out one more flare. Maybe just one more after that. He went back to patrolling the boat, in case Robert had managed to swim up to the net and didn’t have the strength to make his own way up. James was feeling slightly numb, as if his brain couldn’t quite process the reality of the situation. One more flare.

  When he heard someone shout his name, at first he thought he had imagined it. He wanted to believe it was the rescue team there to help, but he saw no boats approaching, there was no one out here but him, the boat, and all the predators of the Tundran ocean.

  “James!”

  With a shake of his head, James ran towards the voice. And stared. Robert was holding on to one of the nets he had tossed down along the side of the boat, his hand holding on to the rope in a way that James could only describe is ‘casual’. That didn’t seem quite right. But he could think of no other way to describe it.

  “Toss me my clothes.” Robert said.

  “But… but they’ll get wet.” James said in confusion.

  Robert considered the situation with some annoyance. “Fine.” He said finally. “Toss me a blanket and go wait in the control room.”

  James did as he was asked. And then he sat in the control room and thought: what in the actual fuck? Robert wasn’t breathing hard. He wasn’t shivering. He was just… there. That didn’t make sense. And how the hell did Robert convince the shark to leave in the first place? None of it made sense.

  “What did I tell you?” Were the first words Robert said as he walked into the control room.

  “To take the boat back.”

  “And instead of following my orders, you did the opposite of that.” Robert observed.

  “My mistake.” James said flatly, crossing his arms over his chest. “Clearly.”

  Robert took a deep breath. “Fine. We will not speak of it. Take us back now before I need to fight off another shark. I’m not sure I have it in me.”

  They drove back to shore in relative silence. James noted that Robert was moving somewhat stiffly, but that appeared to be the extent of the damage he suffered following his one on one with the megalodon shark. “Why did the shark leave?” James asked.

  “I stabbed it in the eye and it didn’t want to lose the other one.”

  “That kind of makes sense.”

  “It makes perfect sense if you are a shark.” Robert said.

  “Robert.” James hesitated.

  “What?”

  “Why does mom say my existence is your fault?”

  “I’m sure she didn’t say fault.”

  “She said responsibility, but she meant fault.” James said firmly. He knew what his mom meant.

  “Your parents never told you the story?”

  “No.”

  “You’ll have to ask them.”

  “Right.” James rubbed the back of his head. “I’ll do that. Do you want me to drive the car?” He offered.

  “Why would I want that?”

  “Well you seem a bit… stiff.”

  “I’ll be fine.” Robert said, his voice as flat and expressionless as ever. They left the boat at the dock and walked back towards Robert’s car.

  “Robert.” James paused again, looking out the window as they made their way back towards the city. “Do you think I’ll ever develop some kind of super powers?”

  “What?” Robert asked, his tone somewhere between tired and exasperated.

  “You know, superhuman strength, speed, cold tolerance.” James added somewhat pointedly.

  “No.” Robert said.

  “Oh. You’re sure?”

  “Quite sure.”

  “Not even one?”

  “I would like you to work on developing the super power of not being stupid.”

  “I already have that super power.” James said with a grin. It may have been an odd afternoon, but he was pleased with the outcome of his rescue operation.

  “Hmmm.” Robert said.

  James shrugged, unrepentant. If Robert expected him to turn around and abandon him in the middle of the ocean, then as far as James was concerned, he wasn’t the one being stupid. “Can you turn it off?” James asked suddenly.

  “The empathy?”

  “Yes.”

  Robert shook his head. “I’m wired differently.” He said.

  “So it doesn’t bother you. The interrogation?”

  “No, the interrogation doesn’t bother me.”

  “Nothing about what happened bothered you at all?” James asked, refusing to back down.

  Robert hesitated. “The death.” He said slowly. “The death bothers me. It was a waste. A tragic waste.”

  “Well what else were we going to do with her?” James asked. “She wanted to kill my dad. And given the opportunity, me and my mom, too. She wanted to kill my whole family. It’s not like we were going to release her if she promised to be nice.”

  “In this world, you are correct. If we let her live she would be a drain on resources and live a miserable life until her untimely death. An outcome that would benefit no one. There was no point.”

  “And in a different world, how would the outcome be different?”

  “In a different world, she would have been a slave.”

  “Did not see that one coming.” James said under his breath. “Is that somehow better than what we do?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is it?” James repeated dubiously.

  “As opposed to killing her or leaving her to suffer in prison, a drain on society and of benefit to no one? Yes, it is preferable.”

  “I don’t think she would find it preferable.” James said quietly.

  “Well that can be hit or miss.” Robert shrugged. “What would happen in your perfect world, James?”

  “Maybe… maybe what you did was the best outcome.”

  “Once an enemy is dead, they will never be a threat again.” Robert said, restating the point James had made.

  “Exactly.”

  “Do you see the lost opportunity?” Robert asked.

  “From killing an enemy?” James frowned. “No. What have we lost?”

  “What is the greatest victory?”

  “To defeat your enemies.”

  “No.” Robert shook his head. “Use your superpower, James.” He added drily.

  “The greatest victory…. is to turn an enemy into an ally.” James said slowly. “And you’re not doing that by taking slaves.” He added.

  “Throughout history, humans have taken slaves. What do you think happened to those slaves, and their offspring?”

  “It ended up backfiring, didn’t it? For the all biggest empires of the world that took slaves. There were rebellions and it all ended up falling apart.”

  “Most empires had slaves, in one form or another. And most empires fell apart.” Robert shrugged. “The causation is unclear.”

  “Do you really think that’s a preferable outcome?” James asked, his sharp gray eyes looking over at Robert across the small space of the car.

  “Yes.” Robert said.

  “That’s pretty strange.”

  “So is leaving fish to suffocate to death.” Robert said sharply. “Morality is somewhat subjective.”

  “It really bothers you, the fish.”

  “Yes.”

  “You know what bothers me?”

  Robert frowned slightly. “What?”

  “What bothers me, is that I think you tried to kill yourself out there.”

  There was a long, drawn out silence. “It’s complicated.” Robert finally responded.

  “Are you going to try again?”

  “No.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “For the foreseeable future, yes.”

  “It was pretty great you know. What you did fighting off the megalodon shark.”

  Robert smiled slightly. “It was one of my better moments.” He admitted.

  “I was never going to leave you.”

  “No. I suppose not.”

  “Can I come again?” James asked suddenly. “Maybe next month?”

  “Sure.”

  “Do you promise?” James asked. Robert, always kept his promises.

  “Yes.” Robert said.

  ---

  “Hey.” His dad said, sitting by his side on the floor in front of the kitchen fireplace. It was late, and the sun had long since set into the ocean. The darkness outside was lit by a million warm orange lights, the windows of fellow humans who occupied this alien planet.

  “Hey.” James said in return, his eyes focused on the fire in front of him. “I’m really sorry, dad. About the pool, the flood, the expulsion. I’m sorry about all of it.”

  “Well.” His father shrugged. “It would have been rather funny if it weren’t for the tsunami.”

  “But there was a tsunami. It was all my fault.”

  “Your fault but Tony’s idea, I rather think.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I was there. I let it happen.”

  “No real harm done. We can pay for the property damage.”

  “I’m sorry.” James repeated.

  And then, to his surprise, his dad put an arm around his shoulders. “Save it for something that really matters.” He said. “And who knows? By the time you grow up, we may not need to worry about tsunamis. There’s this young physicist, thinks he can improve the shields around our cities to withstand a tsunami. Maybe more.”

  “You really think he could do it?” James asked with interest.

  “Everyone says the guy is brilliant. Also, he’s a giant.” Jim Hawk grinned, doing his best to cheer up his son.

  “What?” James asked uncertainly. It had, after all, been an all around odd day.

  “Yeah, a giant. I met him and I’m telling you, like eight feet tall.”

  “Whoa.”

  “Mhmm. I think it must be some sort of a thyroid condition.”

  “Maybe his brain grew even bigger.” James said with a grin.

  “Yeah, maybe it did.” Jim Hawk hesitated. “I heard Robert gave you a rough time.” He said carefully.

  “He really did.” James agreed.

  “Want to talk about it?”

  “Not even a little.”

  “All right.”

  “When’s mom coming home?”

  “In about an hour. She’s still dealing with the tsunami rescue efforts.”

  “I could have helped.”

  “I know you could have. I guess your mom thought this was more important.”

  “I guess so.” James agreed. “Dad…” He hesitated.

  “What?”

  “Why did mom say my entire existence is Robert’s fault?”

  Jim Hawk smiled slightly. “She did not say fault.” He said.

  “She said responsibility. But she meant fault.” James added.

  “Hmmm. Well, you know your mom’s injury means she can’t have kids.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “When she came home from that last mission, none of us were thinking about it, except for Robert. He was the one that brought in a specialist, someone who found a way to salvage one last egg. There would not have been more. And that one egg resulted in you. The whole thing was a miracle.”

  “So that one egg, it came from Robert?”

  “That’s not quite how I would have phrased it.” His dad said with a laugh. “The egg came from your mom, but Robert did help make it happen.”

  “Why did he do that?”

  “Maybe because he knew that if your mom had anything less than everything after that damn mission, I would never forgive him. And I may have killed him.”

  “You wouldn’t have really done that.”

  “Oh yes.” Jim Hawk said, his voice suddenly cold as ice. “Yes, I would have.”

  “Could he have had another reason?”

  “What other reason could he have?”

  “I guess… I guess I don’t know. Dad, do you like Robert Nagar?”

  “I don’t know if I like him exactly. We’ve certainly had our differences. But I trust him. And he has been an ally to this family, even back when we were nothing and no one. I don’t think we would be where we are, without Robert’s support.”

  I could see that becoming a problem, James thought silently. “I’m going to bed.” He said out loud, standing up abruptly. “Tell mom I’m sorry, will you?”

  “I will.” His dad nodded. “Good night, James. And if you want to talk later, I’m here.”