Beyond Words, Poison in the Water

By Celia Bonaventura

Communication far beyond words links a lonely girl and a curious young dolphin. Together they trace the source of a dangerous poison to an old sunken ship. Powerful forces seek to destroy evidence of the toxic waste in the old ship - regardless of the environmental consequences. The entire Atlantic coastline is threatened.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alderon Corporation
• Release date: Feb 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088076460

Celia Bonaventura

Dr. Celia Bonaventura's creative talents are evident in the combination of fiction and fantasy of the Beyond Words Trilogy. Before embarking on this project, she worked at the Duke University Marine Laboratory in Beaufort, NC, where from 1972 to 2011 she carried out biochemical research and taught classes about the respiratory adaptations of marine organisms. Her academic career has combined basic and applied research and project-administration that involved leadership of an NIH-funded Marine and Freshwater Biomedical Center, generation of over 200 peer-reviewed publications, and authorship of seven U.S. patents. Some of her patents have been licensed and led to commercialized products. She enjoys painting and traveling and spends part of each year in Costa Rica.

Book preview

BEYOND WORDS

BOOK TWO

POISON IN THE WATERS

People change the seas.

Sometimes not knowing of harm,

sometimes not caring.

Celia Bonaventura

2023

This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, locations or events is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2023 by Celia Bonaventura

All rights reserved. Neither this book nor parts thereof may be reproduced in any form without permission.

ISBN-13:  978-1-0880-7646-0

Cover design and formatting by Sabertooth Books.

Praise

The Duke University Marine Lab has been the setting for many adventures that go Beyond Words. The author drew on this setting as she captured the fun of exploring ocean mysteries while imparting to readers the curious and friendly nature of bottlenose dolphins. I’m glad she did. It will encourage readers to help conserve these remarkable creatures.

–- Andrew Read, Marine Conservation Ecology, Director, Duke University Marine Laboratory.

Can fantasy and science coexist? Celia Bonaventura blends the two worlds seamlessly. Her credentials in the scientific world are impeccable, and her ability to create realistic and fantastical scenarios from that background makes for delightful reading. We learn more every day about the wondrous creatures that share our world, and the adventures Celia creates are perhaps just a slight stretch from reality. Who knows how far from science these stories are? Every volume is a rollicking good read!

–- Bob Brashears, The Wordsmith, Independent Literary Editor, Moderator of Costa Rica Writers Group

The Beyond Words books took my mind on a magical journey into the depths of not only the sea but of friendship, community, and love. It is an inspiring story for readers of all ages.

-- Kimberly Beck

Praise - Continued

Land and Sea connections go Beyond Words. A fun read! The author has the expertise and experience to make the marine environment and creatures come alive to make the science readily accessible and understandable to a large range of readers. Explore cool things about the ocean that forms the beaches you love as you read about a deep friendship between disparate souls.

-- Dave, Jane, and Claudia, Richardson Lab, Duke University Medical Center

Disabilities can become gifts. This thought is the message of this powerful and heartwarming story. Mo, a lonely girl who has lost her ability to talk, draws resources from being quiet that help her start a new life at a Marine Lab. She has strict parental home-schooling and no same-age companions but discovers that her disability has increased her awareness of the natural world. With increased awareness and only whistle-talk for communication, she and an injured dolphin discover the wonders of shared friendship that goes Beyond Words.

–- Helen Cummings, Advocate of Living in the Now

Praise - Continued

"As I read Beyond Words, I was reminded of Einstein’s famous quote, The most profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical.   It is the power of all true science. Mo and Duke drew on this power in their unlikely friendship as they used mental links as well as whistle-talk to communicate.  Beyond Words is a fun read and a wonderful exploration of the intersection of science and the unraveled mysteries of undersea communication."

–- Mike Cushman, Marine Biotechnologist

About 20 years ago, my mom started sending me snippets from her dreams that told of the adventures of a speech-disabled girl and a curious young dolphin she befriended. I recently read the books she compiled from those long-ago tales with delight. It seemed I could once again hear Mom’s voice as I did as a child, encouraging me to think about marine creatures and their interaction modes. I am happy with Beyond Words as the overarching theme; words can’t do justice to the depth and wonder of shared love between friends. Thank you, Mom, for sharing your dreams.

–- Marina Bonaventura, Glass and Metal Artist. Oral Surgeon

BEYOND WORDS, POISON IN THE WATERS is the second novel of the Beyond Words trilogy. The author invites you to begin Mo’s journey with book one, Whistle Talk:

A person sitting on a rock looking at a dolphin in the water Description automatically generated with low confidence

And concludes with A Secret Garden Under the Sea:

A picture containing text, book Description automatically generatedA picture containing text, clipart Description automatically generated

BEYOND WORDS

Praise

Praise - Continued

Praise - Continued

Prologue

CHAPTER 1

AMIGOS FOREVER

CHAPTER 2

MO’S THIRTEENTH BIRTHDAY

CHAPTER 3

WHAT ABOUT THE POISON IN THE WATERS?

CHAPTER 4

THE TOWN MEETING

CHAPTER 5

HOW THE IDA MAY

JOINED THE GHOST FLEET

CHAPTER 6

HOW JAKE

BECAME A TOWN HERO

CHAPTER 7

DUKE RETURNS

TO THE MARINE LAB

CHAPTER 8

DUKE MAKES A DECISION

CHAPTER 9

MO AND DUKE

LEARN AND PLAY TOGETHER

CHAPTER 10

TROUBLE WITH TIMING

CHAPTER 11

SAVED BY AN OLD HAT

CHAPTER 12

MO AND DUKE PLAY A GAME

CHAPTER 13

MUCH ADO ABOUT AN OLD SHIP

CHAPTER 14

MORE TALK AND STILL NO ACTION

CHAPTER 15

A PLAN TO FIND THE IDA MAY

CHAPTER 16

TROUBLE

CHAPTER 17

DUKE LEADS THE WAY

CHAPTER 18

PUZZLES AND WORRIES

CHAPTER 19

JAKE AND MATT

GO TO JAIL

CHAPTER 20

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

WHAT’S NEXT?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Prologue

A MYSTERIOUS BLUE SLIME in the cargo hold of a sunken ship nearly caused the death of Duke, a curious young bottlenose dolphin. His skin was dyed bright blue by contact with the slime. The dolphin’s pod brought the ailing dolphin to the Duke Marine Lab where Mo, a highly imaginative young girl who can’t talk, helped the dolphin recover. Duke and Mo developed an unshakable friendship. They created a whistle-talk language for communication and sometimes shared images and feelings with vivid mind-to-mind linkages.

Afraid that Duke would be held captive for research, Mo kept their remarkable means of communicating a secret. When the dolphin’s recovery was complete, Mo accepted the loss of Duke’s company so he could regain his freedom and rejoin his pod of wild dolphins. Mo hoped and believed he would return to visit her.

The toxic blue slime, slowly seeping out of leaky old drums on the sunken ship, poses a threat to people and wildlife all along the East Coast. Can Mo and Duke find the source of the poison in the waters before catastrophe strikes and the old drums burst? Every moment counts as evil forces seek to destroy evidence of dumping the toxic waste—regardless of the environmental consequences.

CHAPTER 1

AMIGOS FOREVER

Amigos for life

can’t always be together.

But friendship persists.

Summer brought an abundance of tasty fish to the dolphins in the coastal waters of North Carolina. A pod of dolphins swam in big lazy circles, diving to catch fish as they traveled slowly along the shores of the Outer Banks. Duke, one of the dolphins in the group, could be spotted easily due to his sapphire blue skin.

What a fabulous day, Duke observed. Too good a day to waste just catching fish. I’ve eaten as many as I want already.

Duke dove beneath and then leaped high out of the aquamarine sea. The water sheeted off his strong three-year-old body as he emerged like a rocket taking off. Unlike a rocket, he was spinning rapidly in the air as he leaped. He had learned how to make himself spin by careful positioning of his pectoral fins while exiting the water. Droplets of water danced around him in a diamond spiral, each droplet catching the sunlight and creating a prism-filled aura.

The bellyflop created as Duke splashed down heaved a healthy dose of salty seawater onto his baby sister. Her high-pitched squeak of surprise told him he had managed to delight and amuse her. Alarmed whistles and clicks came from their mother, telling him to be careful of where he splashed down.

Resigning herself once again to her son’s playful antics and forays in search of new skills and knowledge, his mother whistled that she wanted to go after some fish. Duke understood and whistled his agreement. He was to look after his sister for a while.

Duke’s little sister was a joy. She had grown a lot during the past several months. He hadn’t been able to swim or even send mental messages to his pod while he was sick and being cared for by Mo at the Duke Marine Lab. I missed seeing my sister grow. I missed Mom and my other dolphin friends too. I had never been away from them until I got sick. It was dreadful being separated from my pod.

Duke enjoyed making his sister squeak. He sent her a mental get ready nudge and dove. He quickly vanished into the depths. This time he came up right under his sister and pushed up with his strong tail flukes with his sister on his back. Duke’s leap lifted them up and above the surface for more than a meter. His sister chirped in delight as they splashed down together. They chittered joyful whistles as they played together.

Not all the pod members shared in their amusement. When Duke again lifted his sister into the air with a grand leap, their splashdown was very close to one of the pod elders. Both brother and sister caught a barrage of agitated whistles with mental images of retribution if they didn’t vacate the area.

Hey, Duke wondered, could I teach my sister to ride on my back? It would be fun! Our skins are a bit slippery, so she’d have to use her side fins to stay balanced. He sent his sister an image of what he hoped she could do, and again dove below her. This time he was careful to come up slowly, directly under her but angled so he could slide atop the water.

It worked. He surfaced with his sister on his back. He could glide along for a minute or more with his sister balanced there. The other dolphins of the pod were impressed and were soon trying out the trick to see who could do it, and who couldn’t.

Duke’s mother put a stop to the new game when he dove under her while she was fishing and tried to lift her onto his back. In hindsight, Duke saw that it was not a good idea. She was much larger than he was, causing her to splash down awkwardly. She lost the fish she was chasing and was annoyed at being an unwilling part of Duke’s new game.

That’s enough. Go find someone else to play with. Duke’s mother commanded. She was as playful as any other dolphin, but her son often got ideas that were either irritating or too hazardous for the good of the pod. She clicked and whistled her displeasure.

She sent Duke an image of his father leaping and smiling. The image was of a large offshore dolphin that had joined the group of inshore dolphins for a short but enjoyable time. You act just like your father. But he isn’t here to look after you. Please stop your troublesome pranks.

Duke slowly backed away from his mother. He realized he’d once again pushed a playful game a bit too far. But inside he was very pleased with himself and his new game. My friends won’t forget this new game soon. I’ll bet they’ll show it off to other dolphins we meet.

His mother steered his baby sister away from him, but he could tell his sister was reluctant to leave. My sister really likes to ride on my back. She’s like Mo’s furry land companion, Fetch. Fetch would always beg for more rides, even though he often fell off. Mo would like being here to play with me too. She’s a land-person, but she is also my very good friend. She wouldn’t have told me to go play with someone else like Mom did. I wish she was here with me.

A picture containing aquatic mammal, mammal, dark, mollusk Description automatically generated

Mo and Fetch, a big Labrador retriever, walked by the dining hall and boat house of the Duke Marine Lab and then out onto the boat dock. The lab’s large research vessel, the R/V Cape Hatteras, was there, being outfitted for another coastal expedition. Mo’s emerald eyes passed from bow to stern as the crew scurried from place to place. The crew was checking and cleaning the ship’s operational parts and getting food and research supplies loaded on board. There was a stir and a bustle of additional activity when one of the ship’s officers found fault with the arrangement of the sampling equipment the researchers would be using to dredge up sea life for anticipated studies.

Mo and Fetch passed by the big research vessel and stood for a long time at the edge of the area where Duke, their dolphin friend, had been kept while he was sick. We had lots of fun here together, Mo thought wistfully. I can so clearly remember Duke leaping up to surprise us with a grand splash to make us laugh.

The dolphin’s enclosure was empty. This morning there would be no whistle greetings, head rubs, swims, and jumps to share with Duke. The blue dolphin no longer needed Mo’s care and attention. I’m glad Duke is swimming free again, but I really miss him. I know our friendship is strong enough to endure this separation, but I hope he misses me enough to come back and see me soon.

Her chores were done, and the warm summer waters of coastal North Carolina were calling. Duke’s surely having fun with his pod of wild dolphins somewhere. No reason why Fetch and I don’t follow his example. He taught us lots of dolphin ways to play in the sea. She whistled a playful note that got Fetch to prick up his ears and prepare himself for what Mo wanted him to do. She