Woodruth “Woody” Poplar was a coward. A physical and moral coward. He knew it, buried it beneath work and joking.
Elaine started tugging at her own tanks. It unfroze him. He grabbed her arms, held them at her side until she finally nodded slowly, calmed.
It took every ounce of courage he possessed to look outside that cranny. He blinked, drifted out further. He had disappeared. Poplar glanced in all directions. Nothing.
He beckoned to Elaine. Carefully he made his intentions clear. Megalodon, being as stupid as any
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WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE . ..
modern shark, had doubtlessly drifted off in search of prey that behaved like such and didn’t melt into hard, unappetizing coral.
Poplar armed his shark stick … a terribly futile-seeming gesture. Elaine did likewise. He had to try twice with his shaking hands before he got the shell armed. The monster was a good 30 meters long and must weigh more tons than Poplar cared to think about. The shark stick might tickle Him. But it was comforting to hold in the crook of one arm.
He pushed away first and they headed for the Vatai. Moving fast, they hugged the reef as tightly as they could. He let her get a little ahead, as arranged. That way they’d make less of a blur against the reef. The smaller shapes would be harder for the shark’s eyesight to detect against the dark coral.
As they rose gradually toward the surface, leaving the protection of the reef wall, he tried to watch five directions at once. Inside he was oddly calm. What an animal! Nearly a hundred feet of sheer grace and power.