Fatal Tide - Iris Johansen [53]
Pete gave her a shove with his nose that was far from gentle.
Susie hit him with her tail and then swam up to the surface and started clicking indignantly at him.
Melis breathed a sigh of relief. No trauma. Susie was just being a drama queen. She turned to Rosa. “Thanks. I couldn't have gotten them settled without you and Manuel.”
“It was our privilege,” Rosa said. “My professor was very excited that we're going to be permitted to take care of the dolphins until you're ready to release them. We're going to keep journals for extra credit.”
She was so serious, Melis thought with amusement. Serious and eager and young. What was it like to feel that young? “You say there are other students coming to help tomorrow?”
“Marco Benetiz and Jennifer Montero. They both wanted to be here tonight, but we didn't want to overwhelm you.”
“I believe I would have been able to take it.” Melis turned to the ice chest beside the tank. “They have to be fed. I purposely didn't feed them before or during the trip because I didn't want to deal with sickness or fecal material in those close quarters. Would you and Manuel like to do it?”
“Could we?” Rosa was opening the ice chest before Melis could do it. “How much? Do we hand-feed or do we just toss it into the tank?”
“I'll show you.” She hesitated. Might as well teach them to protect the dolphins while they were helping out. “But you must make sure that nothing is fed to the dolphins that isn't in the ice chest. Sometimes people like to toss human food to the dolphins, but that mustn't happen. Do you understand?”
Rosa nodded. “Of course.”
“And since this is a new environment, Pete and Susie have to be monitored twenty-four hours a day. Someone has to be here watching them every minute.”
“We would do that anyway. We've already set up shifts of two so that we can complete our journals.”
“Good.” She bent over the ice chest. “They like whole fish. I only serve them cuts in emergencies. You can toss it to them. Later I'll show you how to hand-feed. It's quite an experience to feel . . .”
“Satisfied?” Kelby was standing at the end of the pier when she left the tank an hour later. “The kids are eager enough anyway.”
“That's an understatement. They'll have their eyes glued on the dolphins every minute of the day.”
“And that's a good thing,” Kelby said. “You won't have to worry about any interference with them on the job. I've had every student on the roster checked out with the university to make sure they're bona fide, but I'm still having Cal stand sentry duty.”
He meant interference from Archer. Who else? He seemed to dominate every thought these days. “Any sign of Archer?”
“No. I'm having Nicholas scout the taverns and hotels around the docks to see if he can come up with any info. But Archer may be using his ship, the Jolie Fille.”
“He'll want to know what we're doing here in town. He can't do that sitting out at sea.” She stared out at the twilight-cloaked horizon. Was he there, waiting? They had arrived in Las Palmas four hours ago and he still hadn't phoned her. “How long do we have to stay here?”
“Probably another two days. The Trina hasn't finished being outfitted yet. Wilson had to arrange the loan of a navy underwater sonic imager, and it's not due to get here until tomorrow.”
“Very fancy.”
“I have great hopes. The technology didn't work so well when scientists used it to try to find the Greek lost city of Helike, but this imager is worlds ahead of the one they used there.”
“Pete and Susie are a better bet.”
“Maybe. If their mamas decide to answer their whistles. How are dolphin memories?”
“Excellent.”
“That's good. Why did Lontana choose the waters around the Canary Islands to search for Marinth? I'd have thought he'd stay closer to Egypt.”
“A hunch. The Marinthians were supposed to be master seamen, so the Canary Islands aren't such a stretch, and the topography of some of the islands lent itself to the legend.”
“How?”
“They're volcanic, and that means possible earthquakes, and some scientists think they're ripe for tsunami waves.”
“That would