Free White Shark by Peter Benchley

aren't great fighters, they're not true game fish.   They just
pull and pull and finally give up."
    As they watched, the boy with the rod
tried to reel in some line, but the weight was too great, and the drum of the
reel skidded beneath the spool of line.   So the boy at the console put the outboard in reverse, backing down
toward the shark, giving the angler slack to reel in.
    As Chase had feared, the boys   knew what they
were doing.
    "Get closer," he said to Tall
Man.   "I want to have a talk with
them."
    Tall Man maneuvered them so that the stern
of the boat was within ten yards of the side of the outboard.   Chase walked aft and stood at the transom.
    "What've you got there?" he
asked.
    "Jaws, man," the boy at the
console said.   "Biggest
damn white shark you ever seen."
    "What're you gonna do with it?"
    "Catch it... sell the jaws."
    "How're you gonna get it aboard that
little boat?"
    "Don't have to... gonna kill it, then
tow it in."
    "Kill it how?   That's one big angry shark."
    "With this."   The boy
reached under the console and brought out a shotgun.   "All we have to do is get close enough
to him for one clean shot."
    Chase paused, considering, then said, "Did you know he's a she?"
    "Huh?"
    "That shark is a female, and she's
pregnant.   We've tagged her, we've been
studying her.   If you kill her, you're
not just killing her, you're killing her and her
children and her children's children."
    "It's a fish," the boy
said.   "Why should I give a
shit?"
    "Because white
sharks are very rare... endangered, even.   I'll make you a deal.   You cut that shark away—"
    "Fuck you!" shouted the boy with
the rod.   "I been busting my
hump—"
    "—and I'll get your names in the
paper for helping the Institute.   You'll
get a lot more mileage than if you just kill her."
    "Not a chance."   The boy with the rod yelled over his
shoulder.   "Come back some more,
Jimmy.   He's takin' line again."
    The boy at the console put the outboard in
reverse, and Chase saw the angle of the line increase as the boat neared the
shark.
    "Dad," Max said, "we've
gotta do something."
    "Yeah," Chase said, leaning on
the bulwark as he felt rage rise within him.   The problem was , there was nothing he could do, not legally anyway, for the
boys were breaking no law.   And yet he
knew that if he let this happen, he would never forgive himself.   He turned away and went below.
    When he returned, he was carrying a mask
and a pair of flippers, and a pair of wire cutters was stuck in the belt of his
shorts.
    "Jesus, Simon... " Tall Man said from the flying bridge.
    "Where is she, Tall ?"
    Tall Man pointed.   "About twenty yards thataway, but you
don't—"
    "She's so worn out and confused, she
won't pay any attention to me.   Last thing
she wants to do is eat anybody."
    "You know that, do you?"
    "Sure," Chase said, forcing a
smile and pulling on his flippers.   "At least, I hope that."
    "Dad! " Max
said, as Chase's intent suddenly dawned on him.   "You can't—"
    "Trust me, Max."   Chase pulled the mask over his face and
rolled backward off the bulwark.
    The driver of the outboard saw the splash
as Chase fell into the water, and he shouted, "Hey!   What the hell's he up to?"
    "What you shoulda done way back
when," Tall Man said.
    The boy picked up his shotgun and cocked
it.   "You get him back, or—"
    "Put that away, you little
prick," said Tall Man, in a voice as flat and hard as slate, "or I'll
come over there and make you eat it."
    The boy looked up at the huge dark man
towering over him on the fly bridge of the much larger boat, and he lowered the
shotgun.
     
    *           *           *           *           *
     
    Chase located the line feeding down from
the outboard and followed it with his eyes until he saw the shark.   He took three or four deep breaths on the
surface, held the final one and thrust himself downward with his flippers.
    The shark had stopped fighting, for in its
initial