Dragon Bones

May 20th, 2022 | 8 A.M | Leith, Edinburgh UK

A bone-rattling boom from the ferry’s fog horn broke Ellie’s deep concentration. Peeling her dark green, blood-shot eyes away from the delicate papyrus pages resting in her sweating palms, she carefully closed the leather bound journal, wrapped it with a thick piece of brown cloth, then using both of her thumb prints, locked it inside of a stainless steel case.

Then the deep voice of the ship’s captain filled her cabin with fearful excitement.

“We will be docking in ten minutes! All passengers, gather your belongings and head towards one of the top deck exits. Due to the rising waves and encroaching storm, once the ship is docked, you will have only fifteen minutes to vacate. We highly suggest that you do not miss that window, for if you do, you will be forced to return back to the mainland, where you will then have to wait until tomorrow to take the next available ferry back.”

Knowing the importance of her expedition, Ellie could not miss that window. She began to pack her things, then quickly exited her tight, algae infested cabin, and made her way up the narrow staircase to the starboard exit.

Passing through the swinging doors of the top deck, salty and brisk ocean air converged all at once and attacked her flaring nostrils. The overwhelming scent of mackerel and herring churned her stomach, upsetting the ham and cheese sandwich she had eaten several hours ago, which had not yet fully finished digesting.

Hundreds of ocean trawlers were moored across the bay as they loaded and unloaded their expensive hauls from the depths of the North Sea. Thousands of fishermen haggled back and forth to each other about prices and territories as Guillemots, Kittiwakes, Great Skuas and other seabirds fought over their next meal.

Ellie walked down the starboard exit ramp, and followed the diverse procession of deep sea scientists, geologists and tourists.

Dr. Eleanor Ruth Ridley, an archaeologist with a passion for zoology, from Boston, had traveled to Leith on her own. Upon her arrival, she was scheduled to rendezvous with her star-studded team of four. A retired Oxford professor with multiple PhDs in geology, ecology and zoology, a renowned marine biologist from Italy, who had recently discovered a new species of shark, a weathered fisherman from a Scotland, who was also the captain of their scientific research trawler, and her best friend and roommate from Harvard, who had a PhD in both marine biology and geology.

As the soles of her black and brown Columbia boots kissed the hot English pavement, she heard an old, scruffy, prominent and friendly voice seep through the cacophony of booming boat horns, angry fisherman, and hungry sea birds.

“Dr. Ridley! I am happy to see that you made it all in one piece, and not covered in throw up like you were the first time we met,” Professor Sinclair said while balancing a wood pipe between his lips.

“It’s good to see you too, professor! You’re hairier than I remember, and fatter,” Ellie said playfully.

“The beard is for my wife. Well, ex-wife. We divorced last winter. She claimed I could never stay committed to anything or anyone. So for the past year, I have been growing out my beard as a testament to my dedicated commitment. The same goes for the belly. It also required my dedication, so I happily obliged. I must say, the beard provides me with distinction, don’t you think, doctor? Maybe even a little sexy.”

“Oh yes, professor, definitely sexy.I think I can see a few crumbs from your lunch still hanging around between the gray strands.”

“Like I said, dedication to the belly.”

“I am sorry to hear about your divorce. She was a nice lady, and a genius in her field.”

“Do not be sorry. Yes, she was a genius and a fine woman, but her love for mathematics and the chalkboards of her classrooms never appreciated my love for ecology, and my need to travel the planet, studying ecosystems and discovering new species of plants and animals. Plus, it was divorce number four for me, which means number five can’t be too far away.”

“One day you will find the right person, professor. Someone who loves adventure as much as you do.”

“You’re probably right, Ellie, as always. Although, as long as I have access to traveling and studying animals and their habitats, I will die a very happy, old man,” Professor Sinclair said, as he tapped the stale tobacco from his pipe, then filled it with a pinch of fresh, green leaves.

“Professor!” Ellie said, gasping, “Is that what I think it is?”

“Blue Dream, sativa, my dear. Prescribed by my doctor to help with my appetite and anxiety. Would you like some?”

Ellie laughed out loud at the idea and image of her old, fat, genius, bearded colleague smoking marijuana so freely.

“No thank you, professor. It doesn’t quite agree with me.”

Professor Sinclair shrugged, then reached deep into his button-down shirt’s chest pocket, and removed a packet of matches. Striking two, he brought the amber flame to the bowl of the pipe, and inhaled deeply. Exhaling a cloud of skunky smoke through his nostrils, he coughed and let out a bellowing laugh of euphoria. Ellie shook her head and chuckled while using her hand to waft away the sour cloud, as another familiar voice, with a soothing Italian accent, cut through the chaos of the pier.

“Professor Sinclair, I thought I smelled you. Fantastic beard. It provides you with an erotic aura of wisdom.”

“Aurelio Segreti, master of sharks! It is a honor to be in your presence,” Professor Sinclair said, as they embraced in a hearty hug, “I am so proud of you my boy, your discovery was groundbreaking and has opened the world to the idea that our planet is still filled with countless unknown species of wildlife, and you just say the beard makes me look sexy.”

“I like to believe I got lucky, but our team of scientists are the most dedicated and hard working marine biologists I have ever met. They are just as worthy of the discovery As I am.”

“I am sure of that,” Sinclair said as he patted the young man on his back, “And you remember Dr. Ridley, the esteemed archaeologist Harvard.”

“Of course, How could I forget,” Aurelio said, picking up her hand, placing it in his and offering it a soft kiss, “Dr. Ridley, it is truly a pleasure to see you again. How was your voyage across the North Sea? No throw up this time, I hope.”

Ellie could not keep herself from blushing by the overwhelming charm of the young Italian scientist.

“It is good to see you too, Aurelio. Only a little throw up this time. I made sure to bring a two liter bottle of ginger ale, and some peppermint candies. I also made sure to clean myself up before getting off the boat.”

“Please, call me Lio, we know each other well enough,” Aurelio said as he returned her hand to her side.

Knowing the attractive Italian wasn’t her type, she didn’t mind allowing him to have his moment of friendly flirtation. For the past forty-eight hours, she had been on three separate trawlers, surrounded by hard looking men, who stunk of fish and the sea. So having this clean cut, well-dressed, blue eyed scientist bat his eyes at her, was a refreshing release.

“Ever the romantic connoisseur,” Professor Sinclair said, as he packed himself another bow of Blue Dream.

“It is in my blood, professor. We Venetians thrive on romance. It’s what helped us build Venice, which of course you know just as well as I do. I believe your first two wives were from Venice, no?”

“Ever the smart-ass as well. I have missed your antics, Lio. They are truly refreshing.”

“I am happy to be of service.”

The three shared a well-deserved laugh of reunion and companionship. Three years ago, this same trio had been on a research mission in the Bay of Bengal, where they were studying the increasing population of Barracuda, and the impact their increased population was causing their ecosystem. That had been Ellie’s first ever sea expedition, and her first time on a boat.

During their time in the bay, she had thrown up too many times to count, which almost caused her to quit the expedition. But thanks to Professor Sinclair, and quick thinking by Aurelio, they were able to cure her sickness with ginger ale and peppermint candy, which was stowed away on the ship in case any of the crew members feel too ill to perform their duties.

“I will let the two of you catch up. I must go and speak with Tavish, to make sure he, and our expedition trawler are both ready for our Voyage to the Isle of May,” Professor Sinclair said, with blood-shot eyes.

“I cannot believe someone at his age is smoking that stuff,” Lio said.

“He claims it's clinically prescribed, and that it helps him with his appetite,” Ellie said.

“Well that is definitely accurate. I mean, did you see his belly?”

The two shared a hearty laugh at the image of their genius professor friend having the munchies and rummaging his kitchen for food.

As they continued to giggle and poke jokes at the fat man, the fifth member of their crew came buzzing down the road on a black Triumph motorcycle. Dr. Tara McManus pulled up next to the pair in all black leathers and a matching black, full-face helmet. She killed the engine, pulled the keys from the ignition, and dismounted the iron horse. She un-clipped the chin strap to her helmet, and pulled it up and over her head, exposing her long, jet black flowing hair and dark brown eyes.

She was an impressive specimen of human. The perfect combination of beauty and intelligence. No wonder Ellie had fallen for her back in college. Aurelio was also shell-shocked, as he had never seen such an impressive woman in his life. Tara stepped across the pavement and greeted her two companions with an ear to ear smile.

“Dr. Eleanor Ridley. I am amazed you actually made the journey. I heard about your time in India, and how the waters of The Bay of Bengal held you pretty much hostage to the restroom the entire time.”

“I have come a long way since then, Tara. There was no chance I was going to miss out on this trip of a lifetime. Plus, the company this time around is considerably better.”

Tara blushed at the sentiment, then poked a finger at the wide-eyed Italian boy standing behind Ellie.

“Who is this tall, dark glass of water?”

Nearly choking on his words, Lio spat out his name in an embarrassed panic.

“Aurelio. Aurelio Segreti. I am a marine biologist.”

“I know who you are. You are the one who discovered that new species of white shark off the coast of Lisbon. Very impressive work.

“Thank you, doctor. My team and I discovered the oddly scaled, lone white shark hunting turtles extremely close to the Sesimbra marina. We were lucky enough to apply a satellite tracking tag to its dorsal fin, where we then tracked it around the tip of Cabo Espichel, and up the entire coast of Lisbon. Thinking it would turn west, to hunt for bigger fish in deeper water, it continued its journey north, into the Bay of Biscay.

“It is odd for a shark of such size to stay so close to the shores and bays. A predator of such magnitude should want to hunt larger prey. Not just turtles and seals,” Tara said.

“That’s what we thought as well. What happened next shocked us. Once we tracked the shark into the Bay of Biscay, it exclusively hunted, killed, but did not eat, five twenty-foot great white sharks. We examined the bite marks and discovered yet another peculiar anomaly. The puncture wounds in the flesh did not reveal evidence of serrated teeth.”

The two women glanced at each other with shocked and confused expressions, clearly sharing the same concerned thoughts. They remained quiet, yet highly interested in what Lio was going to say next.

“After an extensive analysis of the bite marks, we were able to conclude that the animal’s teeth were three-four inches long and two-three inches wide. Rather than the five rows of serrated triangular teeth, which all white sharks are known to have, this animal had two rows of slightly curved, conical teeth, ranging its tooth count to be between one to two hundred.”

“It sounds like you’re describing the jaws of some massive, mutant crocodile, Lio,” Tara said, anxiously.

“That is exactly what our laboratory technicians thought upon their initial examination, then we showed them the photos and satellite images we captured of the animal. Clearly revealing a white shark.”

“How can that be? A white shark with crocodile teeth? Is that even possible? That cross between species has never been seen or documented in our history,” Ellie said.

A moment of silence hovered between the trio, then Ellie broke it with another question.

“You also mentioned odd scales? The shark actually had scales? Were they unique, or did they resemble the scales on crocodiles?” Ellie asked.

Lio’s face turned red and his forehead began to produce beads of sweat, as his response was forming inside of his brain, struggling to find its way to his mouth.

“The shark had three inch thick, black scutes covering its dorsal fin and were scattered across its back. Its belly was also covered in scutes, but they were only one inch thick and were a shade of light green. The animal’s reptilian traits baffled us for weeks, as we studied the samples we were able to pull from the creature.”

As the last sentence left his lips, his head fell into chest and his hands uncomfortably rubbed the nape of his neck?

“What‘s wrong, Lio?” Tara asked.

“The samples. They were not recovered without a cost,” Lio said, trembling, “My research partner, expert diver, and good friend, Eliot Kroom, was the one who had recovered the animals skin and tissue samples, as well as the one who observed the shark underwater in its habitat.”

Ellie and Tara both knew what was coming next, so they each remained quiet and allowed Lio to compose himself and finish his story.

“Eliot was killed by the shark while he was swimming back to our research trawler. The shark had latched onto his legs and ripped them from his torso. We were able to get the rest of his body onto the deck of the boat, but he bled out in a matter of seconds.”

Ellie placed a sympathetic hand on the young biologist’s shoulder, in a gesture to help lift the weight from his shoulders.

“We wouldn’t have any of our groundbreaking research if it wasn’t for Eliot’s efforts. He died doing what he loved, and his death will change everything we thought we knew about ocean life,” Lio said.

“I’ll drink to that,” Tara said, clasping her hand to Lio’s other shoulder.

The trio embraced in a three-way hug, with Lio in the middle. The moment of compassion helped mend his heart from breaking any further, also being sandwiched between two beautiful women didn’t hurt.

A booming ferry horn broke their hug with its unexpected shock wave. Lio used the base of his palms to wipe away the tears which had soaked his cheeks, while Ellie and Tara stepped back to give him a moment to compose himself.

“Lio, forgive me for prying, but the zoologist in me needs to know. After your tragedy in the Bay of Biscay, what happened with the shark? Was it killed? Did it flee? And if so, were you able to track it?” Tara asked.

“Knowing how incredible this creature truly was, we could not justify capturing or killing it. Even with Eliot’s death, we decided that further exploration and understanding of the shark’s habitat and intentions were what Eliot would have wanted us to pursue. So we did. After our time in the Bay of Biscay. We tracked the shark’s movements north. It rounded the Pointe du Raz, grazed in the Celtic Sea for a day, then it turned East and entered the English Channel.

Knowing how dangerous and unpredictable the shark was, we notified all of the local fisheries and both French and English port authorities of a massive, unknown species of shark that had entered the channel. Then something strange happened. The shark entered the Strait of Dover, then once it entered the North Sea, it disappeared. Our satellite tracker had been disconnected somehow and we haven’t been able to track the shark. That was six months ago.”

“The Isle of May? Ellie, isn’t that where you said those supposed dragon bones were found?” Tara asked.

“Yes. Three months ago, a research team of ten, from The University of Cambridge, took an expedition to the Isle of May to study the high rock walls and their unique formations. Of that team of ten, only two were found. A fishing trawler found them adrift on a life raft, two miles off of the Isle’s coast. One of them died in transit to the hospital, the other one slipped into a coma. On that raft, they found an unusual, and unnatural bone, along with a leather bound journal.

Two weeks after the two surviving team members were brought to the hospital, they had both passed away. The following week, that journal was sitting on my desk with an unsigned note, instructing me to follow the pages to uncover the truth behind the biggest secret of mankind. A month later, I reached out to professor Sinclair, and he took matters into his own hands and assembled our expedition, paying for our travel expenses and hiring a durable trawler and captain to take us to the island.”

“What are you two talking about? Dragon bones? Professor Sinclair told me we were going to the Isle of May to investigate the last known location of my shark?”

“We’re Killing two birds with one stone my boy,” Professor Sinclair said, abruptly, whacking Lio on the back for encouragement, “I’ve spoken with our captain, he will be ready for us to start boarding in two hours. In the meantime, may I suggest we find some breakfast? Preferably a buffet?”

Ellie, Tara and Lio each looked at one another with the same amused smile.

“Of course he’s hungry. He’s been smoking weed all morning, and now he has the munchies,” Tara said, chuckling under her breath.