Shark Wars by Ernie Altbacker Read Free Book Online

the great white. “Any luck hunting?”
    Barkley jumped in before Gray could reply, “Nope. Just seeing the sights. We’re moving through. Sorry if this is your territory.”
    â€œOh, it’s not!” piped in the sawfish. He stopped talking when the white gave him a look. The great white was definitely the leader. Now that the group was so close, Gray could see they were pups like he and Barkley. If any were older than their twelve summers, it wasn’t by much. An uncomfortable silence descended on them all. The thresher girl, who seemed nice, gave a worried look to the great white and indicated they should leave. He nodded and the four were about to turn.
    For some reason Gray didn’t want them to go. “So, what are your names? This is my friend Barkley and I’m Gray.”
    â€œI’m Snork!” replied the sawfish shark, a little too eagerly for anyone in either group. He was about to swim forward, maybe in greeting, but maybe for a sneak attack.
    â€œWhoa, whoa, whoa! Snork, is it? Keep your distance, okay?” Barkley told the sawfish, whose nose looked sharp and deadly, chock-full of pointy spikes on either edge. Neither of them wanted to be filleted, so caution was a good thing.
    The girl thresher didn’t like this one bit. “You seem kind of rude, Barkley—is it?” she asked sarcastically, saying “is it” just like Barkley had, mocking him. This made Gray smile, which she saw and continued, “Snork’s just being friendly, you know.”
    â€œYeah,” Gray piled on, “Snork’s just being friendly.”
    Wow, if looks could send you to the Sparkle Blue, Gray would have begun his eternal swim on the spot.
    It turned out that Barkley’s venomous stare was hilarious to the four sharks from the other group, and they laughed. “Oh, so now I’m the big flipper?” Barkley asked everyone. “I’m just being safe, you know!” For some reason this struck everyone as even funnier.
    â€œYou’re hilarious!” exclaimed Snork, snorting as he laughed, making Barkley and Gray chortle along with everyone else. Pretty soon Gray’s sides hurt he was laughing so much. It took a moment for everyone to catch their breath and introduce themselves properly.
    Aside from Snork, the great white leader was Striiker, Shell was the big bull shark, and then there was Mari, who seemed pretty interested in Gray when he said he was a reef shark, but that could have been his imagination. Mari had that really cool thresher’s tail, bent back at an angle that just looked awesome. Gray wondered if it made her faster.
    â€œYou’re really a reef shark?” Mari asked.
    â€œThat’s what my mom tells me,” he joked. Of course he was a reef shark. What else would he be?
    â€œThey must grow them real big by that reef of yours,” commented Shell. The bull was quieter than the rest. He seemed okay, though.
    Barkley grew suspicious. “Enough about our reef. Where do you live?”
    Now Striiker gave Barkley the stink eye. “Why do you want to know where we live?”
    â€œJust making conversation.” Barkley swished his tail in a way that told Gray he was agitated. “Any reason you’re so nervous?”
    â€œI’m not nervous. Any reason you’re so nervous?” Striiker shot right back.
    Mari swam between them, taking position by Gray’s right. “Okay you two, enough,” she said. “We’re not part of any shiver, if that’s what you’re thinking. We’re four friends who swim together because it’s safer here if you do that.”
    â€œSo, you’re like a rogue quad?” Gray asked. Barkley waved his tail for him to stop.
    Striiker was genuinely puzzled. “Rogue quad? Is that even a thing?”
    â€œI love it!” Snork exclaimed.
    Gray explained, “Barkley told this shark we were a rogue pair when he got