Take My Breath Away

"They're new?" Wesley asked. "How new?"

"They started work yesterday," the man answered.

Wesley punched the door furiously. "So you let a couple greenhorns pilot the boat?"

The sailor was frightened. Wesley was intimidating even when he wasn't angry. But now, he was enraged. "It's not like that," the sailor explained hurriedly. "They're qualified. They've got all the required certificates, and they have a lot of experience."

Based on this, Wesley realized that Carlos and Debbie had been set up. The most important thing was to track down their boat and rescue them.

Soon, Blair found Kinsley. He was trying to get Stephanie to take a dip with him. "Hey Kinsley! Debbie and Carlos are in trouble," she told him. "Wesley wants you to grab some boats to find Carlos and Debbie."

Kinsley was holding Stephanie in his arms. When Blair said her piece, he let go of Carlos' fiancee instantly.

As a result, Stephanie fell into the water with a splash. She thrashed around and swallowed some seawater, choking as she spit it out.

She was about to get angry, but she realized the news was about Carlos. She got out of the water, grabbed Blair's hand and asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know. Wesley asked me to find people, have them hop in a boat, and try to find them." Blair didn't stick around to talk with Stephanie. She had to let Niles know too.

Meanwhile, underwater, Debbie tried to calm down. She broke the surface. Finally she could breathe, and the storm had passed over them.

The island Carlos told her about seemed to be closer, close enough to swim to. She swam towards it as fast as she could.

After a while, she had to take a break. She panted hard and put a hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun. The island still looked quite far away, and now she lost track of Carlos.

"Carlos!" she shouted, tears in her eyes. She couldn't even hear an echo. The sea was quiet, and swallowed her words. No one answered her.

She couldn't panic. Carlos had coached her on saving her energy. If she relaxed, she could float. Debbie had to make it to the island.

So she swam and swam. Her legs ached and started cramping up. 'One more, just one more.' She told herself that to motivate her. 'One more, ' and then a stroke. 'One more, ' and then a kick. When she finally reached the shore, she was so exhausted she had to crawl towards the island.

But then even crawling was too much for her. She rolled over to lie on her back. Looking at the sky, she gasped as if she had never breathed before, gulping down great lungfuls of air. It took her a few minutes before she had enough energy to even sit up. Just then, a weird creature came into view. It broke through the surface and dove underwater again. It happened again and again.

Debbie looked carefully. It was big. Sleek, and long. A blue fin broke through the water. Now it was less weird, but super-dangerous. "A shark!" she screamed.

Her legs were shaking uncontrollably. Thankfully, she had gotten out of the water.

She turned around and walked quickly towards the dry sand. But before she could take two steps, she reflected, 'Carlos is still out there. I can't just leave him alone like this.'

Cupping her hands around her mouth, she shouted, "Carlos! Old man!

Shark!"

She sat there listening, waiting for a response. But none was forthcoming. All she could hear were the waves lapping the shore. After several seconds, she shouted again.

"Old man, where are you? There is a shark in the sea!"

The sea was much quieter now, but only the sea breeze and the waves were answering to her.

Where was he? She couldn't let anything happen to him. How could she? She kept shouting, hoping her voice could guide him to the shore.

Something bobbed to the surface. Was that...a person?

Debbie cried excitedly. "Old man! Old man, over here!"

Carlos got closer and closer. But then she noticed that there was blood in the water. He was injured! But it was worse than that.

Sharks are sensitive to smells. Especially the smell of blood. A little blood can attract them from far off. Their sense of smell is stronger than that of dogs.

Debbie's face went pale. She waded into the sea again. She couldn't let Carlos die before her very eyes!

The shark darted towards him. She could see its fin gliding through the waves. It got closer by the second. Debbie swam nearer to Carlos. She poked her head out of the water and warned Carlos while panting, "Old man, shark! Quick!"

Then she dived in and swam towards him as quickest she could.

Carlos stuck his head out of the water and yelled at her, "Get away!"

She heard him, but she couldn't go back. What if the shark was hungry, and Carlos was on the menu? She couldn't swim back to the island knowing that Carlos was in danger.

She swam on. Carlos' eyes burned in anger. "Damn you, Debbie Nian! I order you, go back!"

But it was too late. She was already at his side.

"Move! Shark!" Debbie grabbed his hand.

Then they started to swim as fast as they could.

When the shark was quite near, Carlos suddenly grabbed her wrist. "Why are you holding my wrist? Swim!" she urged. She didn't want to end up dying in a shark's mouth. She didn't want that fate for Carlos, either.

But Carlos still didn't release her hand.

She looked back to find that he was staring at something.

It was also sleek, black, with white trim. It looked a lot like a shark with razor-sharp teeth. Noticing her frightened expression, Carlos explained, "That's a killer whale. He's pretty harmless. He's hunting the shark."

The killer whale started its attack as he was talking. The whale raced through the water, slamming its head into the shark, again and again. Finally, the shark rolled, drifting helplessly, unconscious. Then the feast began.

Carlos and Debbie stood in the under-chest-high water and watched. The brutal sight shocked Debbie. "That thing was scary. Why didn't the shark fight back?"

Eyes fixed on the ongoing feast, Carlos explained, "If they're knocked over, they faint. Then they're easy prey. Killer whales know this. Everyone thinks the shark is a powerful killer. It is, but the orca is even more powerful."

His remarks surprised Debbie. "I remember now. There was one at the aquarium when I took Piggy there. I thought he was adorable. I didn't expect it to be so fierce."

"They look cute, but they are dangerous. Just not so much to us.

They want to play with us, thinking we're just another mammal." Debbie was scared. With a pasty face, she started dragging Carlos towards the shore. "Okay, let's get out of here before it decides it's feeling playful!"

Her flustered and lovely demeanor amused him. Instead of leaving, he led Debbie closer to the killer whale, smiling the whole time.

"Are you crazy?" she yelled with fright.

Carlos kissed her on the lips to comfort her. Then he pushed a lock of wet and disheveled hair out of her eye and said, "Don't move."

Debbie calmed down. But what she saw next alarmed her again. Carlos was waving at the fed killer whale! Her mouth went instantly dry from fear. After a hard swallow, she asked him, "Level with me. Did you hire the two men on the boat? Are you with James? Are you here to kill me?"