Waveborn

1

It was late afternoon before Cass got her first real look at Rodger's Island. She'd stationed herself on the Andiamo's foredeck to keep watch, one hand hooked around the forestay as they motored through the waves. Ahead, the sailboat's shadow streaked toward cliffs crowned with a gray-green mist of trees and shrubs. It looked pretty much like every other island in the San Juans. Pretty much like every other island in the Pacific Northwest, for that matter.

"Look familiar?" Jen called. Her adopted aunt stood at the sailboat's rear, one hand on the tiller.

"No!" Wind caught at Cass's hair, whipped red frizz across her face. She'd half-hoped this first sight of Rodger's Island would slot neatly into her brain, like a key, and unlock her missing memories. She'd been nearly five when her parents died. She should remember something.

Jen's laugh rose above the slap of waves against the hull. "Don't sound so unhappy. We aren't even in the harbor yet."

"I know," Cass said. She tried to keep the irritation from her voice. Jen was okay, most of the time-she just couldn't seem to understand why Cass thought coming back here was a big deal. The past was past, Jen liked to say, and no sense dwelling on what couldn't be changed. The important thing was that they were finally here, even if it wasn't for Cass's sake. If Jen had had her way, they would've stayed in Argentina, about as far from Rodger's Island as an orca research scientist could get without changing fields.

Something white flashed in the water off to port. Cass scanned the waves until she spotted the distinctive white oval of an orca's eye patch, then the faint outline of an orca's dorsal fin. The fin's size and shape told her it belonged to a male. It was probably the same one she'd spotted half a dozen times in the past hour.

She pointed it out to Jen. "There's still no sign of his pod. I think we should try to get closer, see if he's injured."

"Just keep an eye on him. Let me know if he gets too close. I don't want to be stuck trying to navigate this harbor in the dark."

The main island crooked out and up like a fat finger, so they had to circle around the island and enter the harbor from the northwest. That wouldn't have been so bad by itself, but Cass had forgotten Remembrance Rock. She could see it now, a black shape mounding from the water. Surrounded by shoals, the smaller island blocked half the harbor mouth. Currents around it could get nasty, complete with standing waves and rip tides.

Even on full motor, they'd be hard-pressed to reach clear water before the sunset.

With a sigh, Cass swung around the forestay to face forward again. The orca was still about three hundred yards out, so it was safe to keep the motor running. She wished they had time to get a closer look at him, though. It was weird that they'd seen him so many times.

She tracked the orca as the Andiamo carved its maddeningly slow path toward the harbor mouth. To her surprise, the animal drew steadily nearer. Maybe it was following them. Three hundred yards became two hundred, then one hundred, then fifty. If they weren't a research vessel, they'd have to cut their engine and wait for him to move on; as it was, Cass kept a close watch to make sure the orca didn't end up under their propeller.

Then he blew mist from his blowhole, clearing it, so close that Cass could hear the snort. The motor sputtered and died behind her.

About time, Cass thought. Softly, she called, "What do you think he's doing?"

Jen didn't answer.

Waves crashed in the sudden silence, louder than they should have been this far out.

Cass spun. The sun had nearly disappeared, turning the light strange and flat but still bright enough to show a series of dark stripes dappling the water's surface off their starboard side. Beyond, a rising bulk blotted out the sky. Remembrance, Cass realized. They were too close to the smaller island, far too close. The dark stripes in the water resolved into lines of wet rock, close enough that she didn't know why they hadn't struck one already. "Jen?"