Sharkbait Down Under
Don't Tell Me The Odds

The Australian Council Treaty was a foregone conclusion after the events of the last few weeks. Werewolves, Mermaids, and Vampires had proven themselves to each other in a way that built up the trust needed. Not every leader in each species in the world was that way, but our Continent had it.

Adrienne had provided a draft treaty and structure based on her experiences that made sense. Covens and Packs had top-down leadership that lent itself to single representation, but the Mermaids did not. Having one representative from each species would be simple but concentrated power into too few people to satisfy the Mers. It would also make things more difficult down the road if another Pack or Coven got started. In the end, we agreed on a nine-person Council, with each species having three representatives and one alternate. Changes to the Council Bylaws required eight of the nine to agree, ensuring fairness to all species. A three-person subcommittee could do day-to-day things like approving visitors.

I felt better after a blood transfusion, so the rest of our time in Sydney went smoothly. The Mermaids knew how to party, and I didn’t even try to keep up. Consuela wanted to see the country, so we brought her along in a rental car. For security, we had two single Werewolves from our Pack who volunteered to drive us home.

Driving had been Nicholas’ idea, but it was fine with me. I hadn’t seen much of Australia yet, and we planned to stop to visit Pack members and unaffiliated werewolves at every stop along the way. I’d met most of them when we were in Bonnie Doon, but that seemed like a year ago now. Our visits were more relaxed, and I got to know my Pack members personally and share our vision for the future. “We can be a Pack all spread out like this, but over the decades, you’ll feel the desire to move closer due to your wolves,” I told them. “It’s a natural impulse for your wolves to gather. We will help where we can; relocation allowances, help finding jobs in the Adelaide area, educational assistance at the local colleges and trade schools. The more often we gather as a Pack, the better your wolves will feel. We’ve got plenty of room for our wolves to run on, and the ocean is our backyard.”

Six families didn’t want to join our Pack. In all six cases, the wife didn’t want to make the change, and the husband didn’t want to risk another situation like Ian and Dorothy. Until that happened, the promise of a change and choice mating seemed worth the risk.

We stayed for a week in Bonnie Doon with the remaining sixteen wives who elected to make the change. All sixteen made it and became choice mates of their husbands. Our Pack was now twenty-five for twenty-five on changes, a success rate that defied belief. I asked Adrienne what she thought it meant on our daily conference call after I woke up, and she couldn’t explain it. “I ran the numbers; it’s more than a one-in-thirty-three-million chance of happening this way, Vicki. If you’re this lucky, you should buy lotto tickets. I have to believe there is something else in play.”

I didn’t know how to explain it. “It’s not you, Unky Leo. You weren’t here for this set.”

“And it’s not you either,” Leo said. “You were on tour when Adrienne and I supervised turns with Nicholas. No, I think this one is all Luna.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think the Goddess took pity on your people for being isolated and alone for so long. The wives showed loyalty to our kind and bore sons and daughters to keep Her people going. It is her reward for them.”

It was as good a reason as any. “How should I handle it?”

“Like the blessing it is. If anyone asks, you didn’t do anything we don’t do in the rest of the world, and the Goddess does what she wants.”

That made sense.

The migration towards Adelaide was already underway. Ian stayed with his brother and his family while the divorce went through. Their family had found a place in Wirrina Cove, a small vacation town about fifteen minutes north of Cape Jervis along the St. Vincent Gulf. It was in the hills and had a view of the ocean, plus he could be at the marina in five minutes. In another surprise move, two sisters in another family decided to transfer from the University of Melbourne to Adelaide, and four more families were actively looking for jobs near us.

It was January 29th, and we were visiting a family in Mount Gambier. I called my accountant back after brekky regarding his urgent message. Early morning in South Australia was late afternoon the previous day back home, so he was in his office. “Hey, Stan, what’s going on?”

Stan Greenberg had been busy. “Vicki, do you remember that offer on the yacht I told you about?”

“Yeah, one-point-five if I paid cash by the end of January.” It was a good discount, but I hadn’t given him an answer yet because I’d been busy with other things.

“He called me today and asked if he could do anything to sweeten the pot. I told him it would cost us sixty grand to sail it to Adelaide and change the registration, so you were thinking about buying something down there instead. He panicked and offered to drop it to one-point-four if you paid cash by tomorrow.”

“Money problems,” I said.

“Worse. The owner has divorce problems, and the ex wants the money now.”

“Let me call you back.”

I had Nicholas in the room with me, and I set up a call with Amy and the twins, Ian, and my parents. After explaining what was going on, Mom urged me to buy it. “You like the boat a lot, and it’s going to be a year or two until your home gets built,” she said. “Then there is school; a boat in a marina could serve as an apartment in Adelaide if you don’t want to drive a hundred minutes each way.”

“Don’t worry about us; we can find a luxury apartment or two until the boys get their next orders. It’s not like we all can’t afford it,” Amy teased. “Our lawyer said the lawsuit settlement sailed through the Justice Department, and we should have our checks in hand next month.” Consuela Vespucci had set this windfall up with her lawyer and ours. The seized funds from Vespucci’s American account was going to the six kidnapping victims and Linda. She’d been added to the lawsuit because she’d witnessed the attack and the killing of our guide when he was feet away. The proposed settlement would give the six of us just over six million each, plus three million for Linda. The rest went to our lawyer. Naturally, the Government did nothing but was going to end up with half of it via taxes.

“I’ll bring it down for you,” Ian said. I looked at him in shock. “It’s not like I have much to do right now, and my brother would love to take his wife on a cruise. We could take a month and see the world on your dime,” he said with a smile.

“Could that work?”

“Sure, we’re both ship captains, and from the photos, you’ve got an indoor and a flying bridge with modern electronics. You cover the expenses, and we’ll get her here safe and sound.”

I looked at Nicholas, who just nodded. “We’re not just going to LOOK at the water, Vicki,” he said. “I’m sure you can dive off this yacht too.”

“I want it,” I said. Ian called back, saying his brother and his mate would do it, and I made one more call. “Linda, it’s Vicki. What’s your plan after Matt retires?” Nicholas and I had tickets to Perth tonight. We would film me diving and training with Matt’s unit, and then we’d stick around for his retirement ceremony.

“I have to go back to Los Angeles to close out my apartment and prepare my stuff for shipping,” she said. “We’ll do some traveling, I hope.”

“Do you know where you’re going?”

“Adelaide area,” she said. “Matt’s open to anywhere, and I figure Sharkbait Productions is moving there soon.”

She was right. “Have I got a deal for you,” I told her. They’d have a stateroom on my yacht, get to travel, and there was plenty of room for her stuff. She could even set her editing equipment up and keep working on the episodes in between ports.

“We’ll do it,” Matt said. “I commanded a Minesweeper years ago, and I can handle myself on a bridge. With three of us to split the bridge time, it will be easy.”

“OOOH!” Linda was practically bouncing in her seat. “What if you talked to Admiral Kirk and your SEAL team friends in Coronado and got us permission to film a day there with the other girls? We could make a whole episode showing you with the Aussies and the twins and Amy with the Americans!”

It was genius, and we made it happen.

Linda taped a day in Perth at HMAS Stirling as I spent a day with the dive team. We started with calisthenics and a beach run. For some reason, they insisted I run in front of the group with the Commander and Master Chief. After that, we boarded a rigid-hull inflatable and headed out to a training exercise just offshore. Linda and some volunteers filmed me as we walked through disarming a mine on the seafloor. In the next dive, we used rebreathers (think scuba without bubbles) to infiltrate the harbor and plant a limpet charge on the keel of a warship. It was fun, as was the retirement party on the beach they threw for Commander Rooney. The next day he was relieved of command, and they started the multi-flight trip to Los Angeles a few hours later.

Nicholas and I returned to the resort overlooking our new beach and didn’t come out for three days.

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