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The Personal Aquarium

A shark story

By Adrian HollomonPublished 3 years ago 7 min read
1
The Personal Aquarium
Photo by Nariman Mesharrafa on Unsplash

The lady in black had to admit the personal aquarium contained an impressive collection of marine life. Her ex-boyfriend had created his own miniature ocean using high-end tech. There were coral and fishes of many kinds. Jellies and even a sea turtle or two. A pity there were no dolphins. With limited knowledge of the sea, she remained unsure if the sand-covered bottom resembled the actual seafloor or just replicated popular culture’s depiction. The ecosystem seemed to flourish. Maintaining the salt water alone must have cost a small fortune. Even with all the money spent, it lacked the space needed for a whale.

Of all inhabitants she watched swim in their new home, the lone shark caught her attention the most. Stripes gave away its youth. It was still bigger than she expected. Were baby sharks ever tiny creatures? She made a mental note to research the matter later when the job was done.

Boredom had already settled in but she had an objective at hand.

The dress she’d recently acquired served her well tonight, showing off her legs and shoulders. She hated wearing heels. If things went south, she’d have to take them off before running. The foldable flats in her purse were convenient even if they didn’t quite make her simple dress pop like the flashy stilettos on her feet.

“So majestic, isn’t he?” the man beside her asked.

She looked over at him, trying to recall if she’d been a part of his life when he’d developed a liking of aquatic creatures. “Yes. How did you come across him?”

“From the ocean, of course,” he said.

He was as she remembered him, possessing the same ego which had led to her leaving him in the first place. Now she was here for one thing. Well, a lot of little things. Did he know that? She’d never told him what she did for a living. As luck would have it, he’d never asked in the eleven months they’d dated. Considering how busy he’d been at the time, she only counted five of them.

He’d never been handsome. It mattered little to her. Money was much more important. Along with freedom. She wondered if the shark agreed with her when it came to the concept. Did the creature have awareness of its captivity? It swam onwards, disappearing from her eyesight and the rays of artificial light created by yet more money and tech.

A red squid and an orange octopus gave chase to prey in opposite directions.

The glass in front of her kept the fake sea and its inhabitants at bay.

Even sounds of the ocean itself played from both speakers in the walls and the tiny wave machine lodged far in the dark corner. More expensive things. As if having a space station wasn’t extravagant enough, he had to fill it with exotic things as well. Was that why she’d been drawn to him to begin with? It mattered little now.

“How did you pull it off?” she asked, as she watched nature take its course. “The Earth’s oceans have been protected ever since the World Government came into power.”

The feeding frenzy continued. As she watched, more creatures ate. He’d have to round up more creatures to put in it soon or the mightiest would starve. There were plenty of oceans in the universe. Only Earth’s had the sea life she was accustomed to.

He sighed, looked at her with still bright brown eyes. While not overtly attractive, he’d kept in shape despite getting on up there in years. The decade between them then didn’t seem like so much now.

He gave her the same smile she’d once found charming. “A simple donation.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “To whom exactly?”

“All the right people.”

“I see,” she said. “Why did you invite me over?”

“Why’d you agree to come?”

“Would you be offended if I said for a free meal?”

He laughed. She wouldn’t focus on how she still liked that about him.

“Not at all,” he said and offered her his arm. “I suppose we’ll move on to dinner then.”

She linked her limb through his and allowed him to lead her to the dining room.

The aquarium went dark behind them.

Once seated, she let him do all the talking and leisurely took a sip of wine. She almost wanted to thank him for his courtesy. He hadn’t drugged it. The poison neutralizing cap along her back teeth remained inactive.

The food was good. He’d spared no expense. Steak was pricier now than it had ever been.

“Tell me why you really agreed to be here,” he asked.

She drank in an imitation of delicacy. “Can’t I just want to know how you’re doing?”

“If that’s so, why’d you leave in the first place?”

She shrugged. “I like adventure.”

His brown eyes narrowed.

She took another smaller sip.

He followed suit. “You’re up to something.”

She fluttered lab-altered eyelashes matching her dark hair. She had his attention. Good. The goal was to keep it. For now. “This is supposed to be a date,” she said as if scolding him. “Do a better job of wooing me.”

Under other circumstances, she might have enjoyed herself with the overall romantic atmosphere. A low-lit room with scented candles enhancing the aroma of the food rather than overpowering it. Something soothing and classical played in the background.

She went back to eating.

Of course he’d opted for potatoes. She ate the vegetables of her salad. Compliments to his chef. The vinaigrette’s dressing was particularly tasty with its zest of lemon.

“Apparently when it comes to you, wooing was never one of my strong suits.”

“Not at all.”

“Care to tell me where I went wrong?”

She went back to nursing her wine glass. The time winded down. She couldn’t remember if what she’d bribed the chef to use was fast-acting or slow. Either way the fifteen-minute delay fast approached.

She was just about to give him an honest answer when his own wine glass slipped from his hand, staining the white tablecloth. He took his barely eaten steak with him when he fell out of his seat.

Sitting her glass down, she got up from the table. He’d live. And really if he was as wealthy as he’d led her to believe, he wouldn’t notice if a bit of money went missing. Besides, gold was so rare these days. Most of which remained in public circulation consisted of jewelry she planned on helping herself to at any given opportunity.

The rest of the crew should’ve already handled the security by now.

A click in her ear snapped the transmitter on. “Everyone’s in place.”

“Good. Move in.”

The band on her wrist hummed as her spaceship remained in stasis until it was time for departure.

She had plenty of time to take one last look at the aquarium.

The lights came back on at her reentry into the area.

A crack along the reinforced glass which hadn’t been there before caught her attention. In the next instant, it gave way as the not yet grown shark butted its head against its clear prison. It broke free and liquid spilled in waves.

The aquarium’s automatic water regulator reacted to the decreasing water pressure, pumping more sea into the room. She held her breathe as she was swept up almost instantaneously. Remembered technique from childhood swimming lessons kept her calm.

As if intent on escape through any means necessary, the shark shot past just over her head.

The security measures set in place kept the outer walls from releasing the water elsewhere.

She prepared for the shark to make a return pass.

With its escape temporarily delayed, it went after food instead.

She swam in the direction she was sure of as up.

Her lungs thanked her as she broke the surface to find the water regulator disengaged. No new ocean seeped in. Her crew had arrived. She sucked in air, ignoring the burn.

A familiar hand reached out. Her second-in-command stood perched on a rope ladder, dangling from the ship’s bottom hatch.

She accepted the help.

When she looked down, the shark still swam.

While he had not been able to smash his way into freedom, he had given himself more room to swim around in. She wondered if that had been the creature’s goal all along or if it knew it was being held captive and did what it could to protest against it.

Looking to the man beside her, she asked, “Do you think we can keep a tiger shark in the cargo bay? It’s not quite grown yet.”

“Temporarily. It belongs in the ocean, don’t you think?”

She agreed. They’d return the animal to its natural habitat. There might be room for the other captive marine life, too.

Until then, she’d enjoy swimming with a shark. Now all she needed was a cage. There had to be one in storage somewhere.

“Call off the looting,” she said.

“You serious, captain?”

“Well, I highly doubt we’ll have to evade the authorities if we’re returning what is likely Earth’s illegally purchased property.”

“Can we at least collect the reward money for the bounty on sleeping beauty in there?” he said, thumb pointed in the direction just beyond the enlarged aquarium.

She sighed. “Fine. Have at it. I’ll be in the bath,” she said and made her way into the ship’s underbelly.

Short Story
1

About the Creator

Adrian Hollomon

She/Her. Loves books. Writes mostly fantasy.

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