Free Far From The Sea We Know by Frank Sheldon

it became strangely calm. After a pause,
he went on.
    “That’s never happened to me. Not like this.
Seen some terrible things in my day, had to do some terrible
things.” He looked at Matthew. “Don’t understand it, but I’m
inclined to take your account more seriously than I did
yesterday.”
    He thrust his hands deep in his slicker
pockets. “Happened after I spoke with you last night, of course.
Didn’t seem possible to explain on the sat-phone this morning, and
you were already on the way. I was the only one who saw all this.
Lot of late sleepers this morning, not sure why. Crew’s a little
antsy lately, a little keyed up, since we’ve been tracking the
whales.”
    “You?” Penny asked.
    Thorssen’s smile faded for a moment to
reveal a glimmer of sadness floating under the surface.
    “I’m okay, but we’re in some deep water out
here, and it’ll only get deeper. My opinion.” He smiled finally.
“Not out to scare you.”
    Penny only laughed, but Matthew said, “Well,
frankly, it’s a relief.”
    “All right,” Thorssen said, looking at
Penny. “Can’t seem to scare you off, so you might as well stow your
gear. Bunk in your father’s cabin.”
    She gave Thorssen another hug and said over
her shoulder as she ran off, “I have some things I want to get,
then can we get to work?”

 
CHAPTER 9
     
    Matthew returned to the main deck cradling a
cup of coffee, as much for the warmth as for sustenance. This first
day of June was a little cool. The sea was still choppy, but had
already come down a notch. The weather forecast called for milder
days with calm seas by tomorrow, which should last at least a
week.
    Penny and Thorssen had obviously wanted to
talk by themselves for a while, and they hadn’t protested when he
left them to ‘check on some things.’
    He felt glad to be at sea again, glad to be
on board the Valentina , and after waiting years for this
moment, looked forward to checking her over stem to stern. But this
was not the time. Instead he brought all his attention to the
whales heading north. They were swimming a little ahead but well
off the port bow. Maybe Thorssen did not want the grays to feel
threatened and was keeping well away and to their inland side. In
any case, from this distance, it was hard to see anything of
significance.
    Only a few others were on deck, but that
made sense. The Valentina was crewed almost entirely by
students, and many would be below, in the labs or doing the work of
the crew. The policy was unusual, as research ships ordinarily had
professionals do the manual work while the scientists just did
science. It was also controversial. He had heard grumblings from
some graduate students at the Point who felt that having to learn
engine maintenance cut too much into their study time. Others,
however, believe it was one of the best reasons to be part of the
program, as it gave them a total immersion into the whole process
of fieldwork. In any case, it was a policy Bell and Thorssen had
insisted on, and no one was willing to argue the point with two
living legends.
    From his fishing days, Matthew had learned
that he couldn’t just find a place on a ship, he had to make his
own place. Although the Valentina was a research ship, it
wouldn’t be any different this time. Time to introduce himself.
    Two students on the aft deck were assembling
a large holding tank for marine mammals. He recognized one of them
as the operator of the Zodiac that had brought him here, Dirk. The
other was a large man with a heavy beard who somehow still managed
to look more like an overgrown child. They seemed annoyed about
something, maybe how their construction project was going. Another
pair sat stationed behind the array of monitoring controls and
screens on the fo’c’sle. They’d make a better beginning.
    As he approached their observation station,
the young man looked up from his console and gave a friendly, if
crisp, welcome.
    “I’m Jack. Jack Ripler. And this