MEG: Nightstalkers Read Online Free

whales consist of one clan subdivided into three pods—about eighty individuals in all. That includes Granny, whose age is estimated at one hundred and two. The first person who spots an orca fin gets a pass on cookout clean-up duty.”
    Nic led them into deeper water, keeping the group about three hundred yards off shore. Ashley pointed to a whale-watching boat moving south through Haro Strait while Eric fastened two more clips on his life vest, keeping his eyes focused on the water.
    His pulse raced when Vicky yelled out, “I saw an orca fin!” She pointed fifty yards to the northwest where a series of black dorsal fins were rolling along the surface.
    Signaling for the group to stop paddling, Nic scanned the surface using a pair of high-powered binoculars. “Good spot, Vicky, only those are Dall’s porpoises. They’re black and white and look just like miniature killer whales, only they’re a lot smaller.”
    Ashley pointed to one of the whale-watching boats. “That boat just circled back; maybe they spotted something?”
    Nic aimed his binoculars. “Congratulations, Ashley, you spotted members of K-pod. Guess you’re excused from clean-up duty.” He passed her the glasses. “Take a look. You can’t miss the adult bull’s big dorsal.”
    “Can we get closer?”
    The Cunninghams chimed in. “Yes, let’s get closer.”
    “We’ll halve the distance, as long as there are no standing waves and the current cooperates. Stay together and be prepared to link up in case the whales want to get a closer look at us. Remember, adult males can weigh as much as six tons.”
    Eric felt the blood drain from his face. “Uh, exactly how safe is it to be kayaking so close to an adult male orca?”
    “In six years, I’ve never witnessed a single act of aggression against a kayaker or boater by a killer whale. That’s not to say they couldn’t cause a kayak to tip—which is why we link up. Like their dolphin cousins, orca can be playful. Usually they’ll just pass under the boats.”
    The group started paddling, their leader keeping the three double-occupancy kayaks on an intercept course for several dozen black specks moving south on the horizon. Ashley’s back muscles flexed with her increased effort. Eric eased up, fearing his girlfriend wanted to beat the rest of the kayaks to the whales.
    After a ten minute sprint, Nic abruptly raised his hand. “They’ve changed course. Everybody link up, you’re about to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience!”
    Eric’s heart raced as he reached out to the Cunninghams’ kayak. He managed to clip his bungee cord to their fast-line a moment before the British females’ boat abruptly rammed his left flank from behind, nearly sending him head-first into Nikki Cunningham’s ample cleavage.
    Nic Byron clipped his single kayak to Ashley’s bow and then all seven kayakers held their collective breath as the killer whales moved closer.
    And then suddenly they were all around them, passing under the boats before breaching the surface behind them with powerful blasts of expelled salty air tinged with sea water.
    Eric’s fear turned to amazement as a mother and her calf swam straight towards him before diving directly below his kayak. They reappeared on the opposite side of the flotilla, the entire pod racing for shore.
    And then something else passed beneath Eric’s kayak—something infinitely larger.
    Its head was bullet-shaped and pure white like the bald eagle’s, and it was followed by a lead-gray torso as wide and as long as the commuter plane in which he and Ashley had arrived twenty-four hours earlier. A rigid expanse of pectoral fins spanned the entire width of the flotilla; the tail seemed to take forever to appear as the creature completed its leisurely trek beneath their boats before disappearing into the depths.
    Eric’s throat tightened, rendering his voice box mute. An orca moves through the water in arching north-south bursts as it surfaces to breathe. The