The Legend of SeaWalker

CHAPTER ONE

STORM

It was another perfect morning in the little town of Islamorada in the Florida Keys. Islamorada is a small drinking town with a big fishing problem, the locals liked to say. A young, married couple was planning to sail to the Caribbean for a short vacation like they had done many times before. Steve, husband and Captain, was a writer specializing in murder mysteries with three books published in the last few years, although he still made a living as a reporter for the Miami Herald. His bride of eighteen months, Ocean, had given them their first child, a beautiful little boy they would call Walker, Steve’s middle name. They were water people; Steve liked to sail, and Ocean was a competitive college swimmer. Both were divers. They were even both water signs, he a Cancer and her a Pisces. In the eyes of many, they were the perfect couple, and now they had Walker.

This morning they would set sail for the Bahamas to introduce their new baby to the wild Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. Steve knew that dolphins were very curious of babies, and the couple was excited to share their love of the sea and dolphins with their new baby. It couldn’t have been a more perfect day to sail. The conditions were ideal: flat sea, bright blue sky and pillow-like clouds swept by gentle breezes. The warm teal blue waters reflected the clouds above and revealed the coral reef below. The water was so clear that they could look over the side and see schools of reef fish and a green sea turtle that swam near the bow. They were also treated to several black frigate birds slowly drifting above, effortlessly flying in the airstream. Nothing was better than sailing these calm, warm tropical waters.

Steve and Ocean felt truly blessed as their forty-foot schooner, a boat they had named Celebration, left Florida Bay for an easy eight-hour voyage to the Bahamas. They met in college at the University of Miami during their freshman year. A mutual friend had set them up on a blind date and from that moment, it seemed they were never apart. Best of all, they shared the same deep connection to the sea. Sailing had been in Steve’s family since his first ancestors came to America from their native home of Wales. So, it was only natural that the first major purchase they made as a couple was the vessel they had spent so many hours restoring. The couple enjoyed sitting together at the wheel gazing at the night sky as the Celebration glided through the calm waters of the Caribbean. They dreamed of the day when they could retire off of Steve’s success as a published author. They had each other, their family and the future ahead of them. Life was about as good as it could be.

After a leisurely seven-hour sail, they entered the Bermuda Triangle off the Bahamas. The stories of mystery appealed to the writer in Steve, which included tales of lost ships, flight squadrons and huge freighters disappearing without a trace. Of course, there were simple explanations for everything, Steve thought. But he had to admit that strange stories abounded here. He had learned never to take the sea for granted. As he thought about this, a gust of wind slammed against the sail. The boat jolted hard. He called down to Ocean, You guys okay?

Yeah. What happened? she answered.

Wind’s picking up.

He checked the horizon. The sky had darkened, as if someone had flipped a light switch. The once calm waters rippled and then churned with whitecaps across the horizon. Steve fought his impulse to turn around. Just go forward he thought. This will clear. But as the boat moved into the rough waters, a sense of dread flooded over him. The further the Celebration headed into the churning water, the more the sea raged and boiled. The boat turned, and they were thrust into an ear-piercing whirlpool of raging water covered by ominous skies. The beautiful, white animal shaped clouds that had kept them company all day had now turned low, dark and menacing. When Steve saw the approaching squall line, his heart sunk. The winds from squalls were very strong and savage, and they were as destructive as tornadoes. There was thunder, lighting and stinging sheets of rain. There was no time to warn Ocean before the storm hit. They could only hold on and pray. He yelled to Ocean, "Hang on!

Steve looked through the window. Ocean closed the hatch and swept the baby up into her arms. The Devil’s Triangle, as the area had often been called, was living up to its legendary reputation. Whatever this was, it was real. Now the question: would they make it through? The swells grew by the minute. Ten feet. Twenty feet. In minutes, it seemed the sea pitched in all directions. The swells were at fifty feet now and growing. Each moment it seemed the sea became angrier and darker. They were in a giant whirlpool, swirling like a washing machine in a category five hurricane.

Adrenalin fired through Steve’s body. There was no time to think, no time to bring the sails down, no time to secure the ship. He couldn’t even get a position. The needle of the ship’s compass was spinning madly. The Celebration rose and bucked against the waves. Nothing Steve had learned prepared him for this. Everything– the sky, the sea, the wind – screamed with incomprehensible fury. He managed to feel his way to the radio to alert the Coast Guard or anyone listening on the ship’s radio, turning quickly to the emergency frequency. The radio squeaked and wailed. Mayday! Mayday! Steve yelled. This is Captain Steve Walker Jones of the schooner Celebration! We have an emergency situation! Please send immediate, emergency assistance! We are taking on massive amounts of water, and our engine is failing! My wife has a baby! Can you read me? Please respond! As the radio squeaked louder, a strange voice came on with perfect clarity, Please maintain your position, the voice said. We are watching you.

Steve didn’t understand. How was he to maintain position? There was no way to control the boat. No way to do anything. Ocean asked, are we going to be okay? She was frightened and scared as she opened the cabin door. Steve looked at her trying to hide his concern.

We are going to be okay, he said. We’re going to be okay. I think they’re sending a rescue vessel. Just take care of the baby. But he knew they were too far out. They needed help now. It was everything he could do now to save the vessel from going down. The sea was pitch black, and the billowing clouds of dark gray and fiery red told him that everything was decidedly not okay. A large shadow passed over the boat as a giant, tornado-like water spout sucked up the ocean and moved toward the Celebration. Another spout formed off the starboard side. The winds tore at what was left of the sails as the mast gave way and fell into the raging sea. It was as if the entire ocean was pulling at the vessel, trying to roll it over and drag it into the abyss. The seas had grown into rolling mountains that crashed relentlessly against the hull. The unthinkable was happening. Steve had to tell Ocean. we’re going down! he shouted.

At that moment, the Celebration rolled over, and the sea began to devour it. In less than a minute, the vessel began to sink into the deep. Steve and Ocean were immediately separated by the unforgiving water. It was then that Steve was lost in the raging sea, pulled into the depth with unsustainable pressure.

The child was ripped from his mother’s arms and enveloped in a blue light bubble that seemed to shield him from the ravages of the storm. He couldn’t understand what was happening as his mother disappeared into the darkness, flung from the broken vessel. A quiet fell over the baby as he descended into the water, alongside the Celebration, which fell like a rock deeper and deeper into the bottom of the mysterious sea. The boy was now floating in a cocoon-like air blanket as the Celebration raced beside him toward the depth of the sea and finally crashed. The baby gasped the very last vestige of air in a black unforgiving sea.

The Bermuda triangle now suddenly turned into the Devils triangle taking another ship and three more souls…

W

CHAPTER TWO

GENESIS, BOY IN THE BUBBLE

The Celebration came to rest on the edge of a deep water canyon. The cocoon-like bubble that had carried the child gently landed on the soft bottom a hundred yards away. The bubbles’ air was now replaced with the very gases that formed the first life on the water planet. It seemed to calm him, even as the elements inside the bubble began to rapidly change. There was no way to tell how much time had passed. The air felt different now. It was heavier and denser, but comfortable, as though he was born to it. His senses opened to faint sounds around him. Far away, he sensed movement and life. Slowly, the boy was becoming something much different. He was metamorphosing into a completely different being.

Despite the pleasant way the bubble made him feel, he still felt he had lost something terribly important. He reached outward for the hands that had always responded lovingly, but this time, there was nothing to hold him. Something inside told him to let the feeling go. There was no need to remember it anymore. But the sadness overwhelmed him, and perhaps for the final time, he began to cry. And, as he did, he saw large shadows encircle his bubble. The shadows grew larger until they filled the child’s vision. He felt curious. When he touched the side of the cocoon, one of the shadows pushed gently in response. This call and response continued. Every time the boy touched the side, the shadows would push, as if it were a game. With a flash, the cocoon pulsed a warning. Whatever was out there was not welcome. But the boy felt differently. He sensed the mind of the cocoon claiming him and the presence of the shadows outside beckoning him in a completely different way.

The shadowy creatures now worked quickly as a group before the cocoon could flash again. They tore at the cocoon to free the boy. The smile of an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin appeared, then another, then another. In seconds, the boy’s entire world was filled with dolphins. They lifted him and nudged him, and the boy responded instinctively by kicking his legs. Each time he kicked, he zoomed through the water at an incredible speed. As his vision adapted, he glanced at his legs and his arms and noted the silvery scales that seemed to sparkle with their own light. The cocoon had transformed him into a creature of both the land and the sea. On his back, a distinctive dorsal fin had grown and fin-like appendages emerged from his arms and legs. His skin, eye and hair color were transformed like a sea mammal’s dark and light shades used for camouflage. He breathed naturally in his new element as the dolphins watched curiously. What was this thing? The dolphins darted under and around it. The boy turned and spun with equal ease. He seemed to have no problem among them. Where they went, he followed.

The leader of the pod clicked rapidly. He knew humans. They could be friend or foe. He had seen the wrecks of their ships that littered the sea bed, the product of their wars, and the great clouds of muck that floated from the mouths of their rivers. But this was something different. It seemed human, but no human could live in the sea. Already, it had the speed and agility of the fastest dolphin. Were there more? What could a fully grown one of its kind do? What could a thousand of its kind do? A trio of dolphins clicked at the leader. The creature should not live, they protested. It would bring harm. As they moved in to strike, the leader, a powerful dolphin named Cronos, hurled his body between the creature and the charging dolphins. No! he said. The creature shall have his life. It is not a man. It’s worse! the dolphins said. You’ve seen what it can do, and it is just a child!

Cronos held his position. He looked gravely at the creature. Perhaps they were right. If they waited too long, there could be no turning back. Again, he eyed the child, but rather than defiance, it merely smiled broadly. It had a curious twinkle in its eyes. Perhaps it’s a sign from the Gods, Cronos thought. Why else would it have been left alone in the open sea? But he suspected that whatever this man-thing was or would be, it would certainly be something that all the creatures of the sea may one