research. She intends to make sound recordings — this way we hope to learn just what is causing the marine disturbance. If the strange sea life occurrences are just a series of natural blips and shifts, then so much the better; the information will be passed on to those who deal with such things, and we will concentrate on the shipping alone.”
LB stepped to one side and Agent Kekoa walked to the front. Ruby’s dive instructor looked shorter out of the water and less assertive. You could tell she wasn’t particularly comfortable standing there talking. She clearly wasn’t really comfortable out of her wet suit. In fact, clothes made her look strangely out of her depth.
“There have been reports of a sound, a whispering sound,” said Kekoa. She clicked the remote and up popped a slide showing a freckly kid of about seventeen, his photo alongside a map of the Twinford coast, and an arrow pointing to the sea beyond Little Bay.
“Tommy Elson was swimming out past Little Bay and reported a whispering sound coming from under the water.”
Click
: Slide of a young couple in beach gear. The map showed that they were on a sailboat far out at Rock Point.
“Same story with Hallie Grier and Lyle Greene.”
Click
: A surfer girl with a couple of missing teeth. She was smiling and shielding her eyes from the sun.
“Billie-May Vaughn was surfing with her dog and heard a noise that she described as someone calling, but calling in a whisper; she dove under the water but could see nothing to explain it. She claimed her dog reacted to the sound too.”
There was some snickering in the audience that could have come from Agent Froghorn, but Kekoa took no notice.
“The girl alerted the lifeguard, who swam out but found nothing to substantiate what Billie-May had told him.”
Kekoa clicked through some more pictures that showed various fresh-faced looking people and the location references.
“The sounds have generally been heard when people are swimming a mile or so from shore, or on boats farther out to sea. One person, Danny Fink Junior, heard the sound when fishing on a rock which juts out into the ocean, almost an island, but that’s the only example of anyone hearing the sound on dry land.”
“Have
you
heard it?” asked one of the agents.
“No,” said Kekoa.
“And how many years have you been diving in those waters?” asked another.
“Seven,” said Kekoa. “But I’ve been in Hawaii the last couple of months.”
“Yet you yourself have heard nothing?” said the first agent. “Even since you got back?”
“No,” said Kekoa.
A rippled whisper went through the audience.
“So have you considered that these accounts could all be bogus? I mean, some of the people who reported it are just little kids,” continued the first agent.
“Yes,” said Kekoa. “But I consider it unwise to disregard them just because
I,
just because
you,
have no personal experience of them.”
Ruby couldn’t agree more strongly with this statement. There were people who made wild claims about spotting aliens and spacecraft, and there were other people who claimed that this was nonsense and that aliens and spacecraft didn’t exist, but either way what you had to accept was that these people had seen
something.
RULE 5: REMEMBER, THERE IS MORE TO LEARN THAN YOU CAN EVER KNOW.
“In conclusion,” said LB, stepping back in front of the screen so the smiling face of Danny Fink Junior was projected across her white suit, “I want this case wrapped up all neat and tidy AS”— she rapped the file with her fountain pen —“AP.” She couldn’t have looked more serious.
“One of our agents is dead. Spectrum needs to know if it was foul play or just plain bad luck. The coast guard needs to know if all this disruption to the cargo shipping is incompetence or something a lot more serious. The fishing industry needs to know where all the fish have gone. I want to know if I have a team smart enough to give me some answers. If I
LB stepped to one side and Agent Kekoa walked to the front. Ruby’s dive instructor looked shorter out of the water and less assertive. You could tell she wasn’t particularly comfortable standing there talking. She clearly wasn’t really comfortable out of her wet suit. In fact, clothes made her look strangely out of her depth.
“There have been reports of a sound, a whispering sound,” said Kekoa. She clicked the remote and up popped a slide showing a freckly kid of about seventeen, his photo alongside a map of the Twinford coast, and an arrow pointing to the sea beyond Little Bay.
“Tommy Elson was swimming out past Little Bay and reported a whispering sound coming from under the water.”
Click
: Slide of a young couple in beach gear. The map showed that they were on a sailboat far out at Rock Point.
“Same story with Hallie Grier and Lyle Greene.”
Click
: A surfer girl with a couple of missing teeth. She was smiling and shielding her eyes from the sun.
“Billie-May Vaughn was surfing with her dog and heard a noise that she described as someone calling, but calling in a whisper; she dove under the water but could see nothing to explain it. She claimed her dog reacted to the sound too.”
There was some snickering in the audience that could have come from Agent Froghorn, but Kekoa took no notice.
“The girl alerted the lifeguard, who swam out but found nothing to substantiate what Billie-May had told him.”
Kekoa clicked through some more pictures that showed various fresh-faced looking people and the location references.
“The sounds have generally been heard when people are swimming a mile or so from shore, or on boats farther out to sea. One person, Danny Fink Junior, heard the sound when fishing on a rock which juts out into the ocean, almost an island, but that’s the only example of anyone hearing the sound on dry land.”
“Have
you
heard it?” asked one of the agents.
“No,” said Kekoa.
“And how many years have you been diving in those waters?” asked another.
“Seven,” said Kekoa. “But I’ve been in Hawaii the last couple of months.”
“Yet you yourself have heard nothing?” said the first agent. “Even since you got back?”
“No,” said Kekoa.
A rippled whisper went through the audience.
“So have you considered that these accounts could all be bogus? I mean, some of the people who reported it are just little kids,” continued the first agent.
“Yes,” said Kekoa. “But I consider it unwise to disregard them just because
I,
just because
you,
have no personal experience of them.”
Ruby couldn’t agree more strongly with this statement. There were people who made wild claims about spotting aliens and spacecraft, and there were other people who claimed that this was nonsense and that aliens and spacecraft didn’t exist, but either way what you had to accept was that these people had seen
something.
RULE 5: REMEMBER, THERE IS MORE TO LEARN THAN YOU CAN EVER KNOW.
“In conclusion,” said LB, stepping back in front of the screen so the smiling face of Danny Fink Junior was projected across her white suit, “I want this case wrapped up all neat and tidy AS”— she rapped the file with her fountain pen —“AP.” She couldn’t have looked more serious.
“One of our agents is dead. Spectrum needs to know if it was foul play or just plain bad luck. The coast guard needs to know if all this disruption to the cargo shipping is incompetence or something a lot more serious. The fishing industry needs to know where all the fish have gone. I want to know if I have a team smart enough to give me some answers. If I
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