Great Bear Rainforest (7 page)

The tail of a humpback whale

There were four or five humpbacks swimming together. I snapped several photos, as these 40-ton mammals came up for a breath time and again. When their slimy backs broke the surface, they looked like giant serpents slithering through the water. Soon after the dorsal fins rolled back underwater, their tails came up. The undersides of their tails were white and crusted with barnacles. A waterfall would cascade from the tail and then they were gone, a bubbling pocket of water the only evidence they had been there.

“The storm is coming in fast,” Liam suddenly yelled from the bridge, pointing west. “You can finish cleaning the bow later. There’s plenty of work to be done inside. Come on in and take a break. I’ll meet you in the galley shortly.”

Looking through the circular galley windows, all I can see are dark clouds. Princess Royal Island itself is completely socked in. On a ship as big as the Pacific Yellowfin, you only feel the motion of the sea when it’s really rough, and it’s rough. I can’t help but wonder how Captain Colin and Dr. Brezner are faring in these conditions.

AFTERNOON OF THE 20TH


Okay, there’s something strange going on and I need to stop everything for a second and get this down in my journal while it’s all still fresh in my head.

Not long after we ducked inside to escape the storm, Liam hit us with our next set of chores. Wyatt was to mop the kitchen and I was to clean the guest quarters. This was all to be done before the captain returned, Liam’s orders.

“Jeez,” I said quietly to Wyatt, “if I’d known we were going to have to work this hard to visit the Great Bear, I might have declined Captain Colin’s offer.”

“Oh, come on, Gannon,” Wyatt said. “If we get a chance to see a spirit bear, it will all be totally worth it.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Now, get going,” Wyatt said. “They’ll be back soon.”

I was going to start with my parents’ room, but my dad was in there working on some sketches and my mom was lying on the bed reading a novel and they said they were comfortable right where they were and weren’t moving, so I told them that’s just fine by me, they could clean the room themselves.

Next, I moved to Dr. Brezner’s cabin.

When I walked in, it reminded me of Wyatt’s room, annoyingly perfect, with all his clothes neatly folded and his shoes arranged in the closet and his books and paperwork all organized and stacked on the desk, but the nice thing about cleaning up after a neat-freak is that there’s really nothing to clean up. His bed wasn’t completely made, that was about it, so I thought I’d straighten it up and be on my way, but that’s when I came upon something interesting. It was a total accident, I swear. I wasn’t snooping or anything; it just so happened that my hand brushed against something under the mattress, so, naturally, I slid it out from under the bed. It was a stack of files that looked just like the ones I knocked out of his hands. The ones he’d been so protective of.

I checked the hallway to make sure no one was coming and spread the files out on the desk. There were several maps and salmon spawning routes and grids with numbers and formulas that I couldn’t understand and a report with the title:

AN ANALYSIS OF NATURAL RESOURCES:
PRINCESS ROYAL ISLAND


The report was organized into sections and each section had a title like, “Analysis of Salmon Populations,” and there was another one I remember called, “Economic Prospects of Timber,” which was from Halliman Timber, and then there was one titled, “Pipeline Proposal,” which I opened up.

Okay, at this point I’ll admit, I did kind of feel like I was snooping, but this stuff was way too suspicious to ignore, so I read a couple pages about Pacific Oil’s proposal to build a pipeline that runs from Alberta, far to the east, all the way to the western coast of Canada by way of the Great Bear Rainforest. Here on the coast, all the oil would be loaded into supertankers and shipped all over the world.

The thought of supertankers in these parts brings to mind all those catastrophic oil spills that have happened around the world and for that reason alone the plan seems off-the-charts nuts to me. I mean, why would anyone want to risk ruining this one-of-a-kind place?

Before I put the files away, I noticed a letter written to Dr. Brezner that was typed and unsigned. Looking over the letter as quickly as I could, I read the following:

“PER AGREED UPON TERMS, FOUR EQUAL PAYMENTS WILL BE WIRED TO SPECIFIED INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNT UPON COMPLETION OF EACH PHASE …”


Before I could finish reading the letter, I heard footsteps overhead and hurried to put all the files back where I’d found them. I straightened the bed sheets and moved on to the next room, wondering what the doctor was really up to. I just can’t ignore my gut, and my gut tells me something fishy is going on.

Anyway, I cleaned the rest of the rooms as fast as I could and ran to look for Wyatt and ask him his thoughts on what I’d found. He was rinsing his mop on the deck.

“Wyatt,” I whispered, “Would Dr. Brezner have any need for reports from oil, timber, and fishing companies?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Why?”

“I found some files under his bed.”

“Please tell me you weren’t snooping!” Wyatt shouted.

“No, I wasn’t,” I said. “Honest.”

“I can’t believe you, Gannon! You know you shouldn’t go through someone’s personal things!”

“I came across the files when I was cleaning, all right? Get over it and listen to me for a second! He has timber estimates, oil pipeline drawings, information on the area’s natural resources, maps showing salmon routes around Princess Royal Island, and all kinds of other stuff.”

“I’m sure there’s a logical explanation,” Wyatt argued. “Maybe he’s trying to disprove something that’s in the reports so that he can protect the Great Bear Rainforest.”

“The rainforest is already protected though.”

“But it’s a constant battle to keep it that way. The resources in the forest are worth a fortune.”

“Which brings me to the most suspicious thing of all. There’s a letter in his files that mentions wiring money to an international bank account.”

“Dr. Brezner gets paid for his research, Gannon. That’s how he makes a living. What’s so suspicious about that?”

“Go take a look at the letter for yourself.”

“I don’t think so.”

“The letter is unsigned. There’s no information that could be used to trace it back to anyone. It was obviously written by a person who wants to remain anonymous. I’m telling you. Dr. Brezner is up to something.”

“And I’m telling you, the doctor’s intentions are honorable. He’s spent his life protecting the environment. He’s one of the good guys, Gannon!”

Liam came onto the bow with a worried look on his face.

“Just drop it,” Wyatt said. “Here comes Liam.”

“Fine,” I said. “To be continued.”

“We’re all done, Liam!” Wyatt yelled into the wind.

Liam didn’t say anything. He was staring into the fog, a radio in his hand.

“Liam!” I said, “Is everything all right?”

Liam put the radio to his mouth.

“Pacific Yellowfin to Captain Colin. Captain Colin, do you copy?”

There was no response.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Liam paused and took a deep breath before speaking:

“I’ve lost radio contact with the captain.”

10:53 PM


Minutes have turned to hours and we still haven’t heard from the captain. Naturally, everyone is afraid. The front that blew through brought some high winds and heavy rains, but it wasn’t anything the captain hasn’t seen a hundred times. Liam is confident they took shelter on the island and waited out the storm.

That may be the case, though it still leaves certain questions unanswered. If they did wait out the storm, which passed through several hours ago, why haven’t they returned to the ship by now? It also doesn’t explain why we haven’t heard from them on the radio.

I hate to be pessimistic, but the outlook is not good.

We gathered in the galley with Liam, Joe, and my parents to discuss our options. Liam made it clear that as long as it was dark, the efforts of a search party would be futile. According to the weather report, another line of squalls is moving in from the northwest. These storms would make nighttime navigation difficult and extremely dangerous.

Bottom line, there is nothing we can do until daybreak. We’ve agreed that my parents will take the second tender and search the shoreline at first light.

I keep analyzing the situation, running it over and over in my mind. The fact that they have not communicated at all with the ship is strange. They left with two radios. That both radios would become inoperable is unlikely, but I guess not completely impossible. It’s also possible that the tender was damaged in the storm while they were on shore. Still, each of the tenders has a flare gun. I am sure we would have seen one streaking through the sky if they were in trouble.

With each passing minute I am more convinced that Captain Colin and Dr. Brezner are in grave danger. I wish there was something I could do. But anchored off the coast of a dark, foreboding rainforest, I am powerless to do anything more than wait and hope for the best.

SEPTEMBER 21
EARLY MORNING


All through the night I kept listening for the sound of a boat motor and I couldn’t fall asleep and just sat there in my bed hoping that the captain would come pulling up to the ship at any moment with some incredible tale of adventure. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

Everyone was awake and nervous and packing up the tender before the sun even came up. This is a search and rescue mission, nothing less. My parents took two radios and several days worth of food and water and a waterproof bag with sleeping bags, tarps, and all kinds of other survival gear. They aren’t planning to be out overnight, but neither was the captain.

As my dad revved up the motor and backed away we tested the radios.

“Wyatt to Radio One … do you copy?”

“I copy,” my mom said.

“Radio Two, do you copy?”

“Loud and clear,” my dad said. “We’ll keep regular contact. You boys help Joe and Liam take care of the ship. When we bring the captain back, you know he’s going to inspect it with a fine-toothed comb.”

“We’ve got it under control,” I said. “Please be safe out there.”

“You know we will.”

My mom blew us a kiss as my dad turned the boat and started slowly toward the island over choppy waters and the whole time I just stood there on the bow watching until they’d disappeared into the thick fog. Soon after, the sound of the boat motor trailed off and fell silent. Since then I’ve been a total wreck, just sitting here in the galley bouncing my leg and biting my nails and waiting to hear something.

SEPTEMBER 21, 9:12 AM


Overrun by nervous energy, I walked the ship, desperate for some positive news. Each time I passed the bridge I’d holler up to Liam: “Any word?” The answer was always the same. “Nothing yet!”

I have to be honest, Gannon’s discovery of what he felt were “suspicious” files in Dr. Brezner’s room is troubling and my curiosity is getting the best of me. With my parents away, Joe occupied in the kitchen, and Liam stationed on the bridge, I considered slipping into Dr. Brezner’s cabin to have a look. I even made my way to his room, but stopped just short of entering. It would be wrong. I know it. In fact, I just yelled at Gannon for doing what I’m anxious to do myself—snoop!

The thing is, I’m desperate to prove Gannon wrong. But to debunk his accusations, I need proof that Dr. Brezner’s intentions are ethical. For that reason, maybe I could forgive myself for violating the doctor’s privacy. Maybe I should take a look.

I’m torn.

Don’t know what to do.

Wait, Gannon’s yelling to me from above. Maybe there’s news …

My parents have trolled the shoreline and what they found is not good.

“Are you sure the debris is part of the captain’s tender?” Joe said into the radio.

“Yes,” my dad said. “We’re sure. We’ve found a large section of the aluminum hull floating offshore. It looks like the boat was smashed to pieces in the rocks. And there’s more.”

My dad was quiet for a minute before continuing. Liam paced the bow. I held my breath.

“We also found the captain’s hat.”

Joe closed his eyes and Liam ran his fingers through his hair.

“Okay,” Joe said, after regaining his composure, “but it’s possible that they swam ashore. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“It’s definitely possible,” my dad said. “We’re going ashore to search the coastline. Hopefully, we’ll find them safe and sound.”

“We’ll stand by for more news,” Joe said.

“Okay,” my dad said. “We’ll keep you updated. Over and out.”

That’s the last I’ve heard of my father’s voice.

About a half an hour has gone by and Joe’s tried several times to reach my parents on the radio, but there’s been no response. Nothing at all. Just silence on the other end. Again, I feel sick to my stomach. This time I might seriously throw up. My brain is being bombarded by all sorts of terrible thoughts and I’m totally panicked, about to flip out, really. I mean, my mom and dad have to be okay. They can’t be dead. They just can’t!

4:47 PM


Joe and I found Gannon outside.

“We have to find them,” Gannon said, his voice cracking with despair. “We need to get to the island right away.”

“So you can disappear, too?” Joe said. “I won’t allow it. It’s far too dangerous. Very few people have ventured into the interior of Princess Royal Island. And some that have were never seen again. It will be dark in four hours. Even in the daylight hours the forest can be so dense you can’t see the sunlight through the trees. It’s easy to lose all sense of direction. You can literally be a hundred meters from the shoreline and be completely lost.”

“But we can’t just leave them out there,” Gannon continued. “They need our help. They could be hurt. We might be the only ones who can save their lives!”