Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 16:28:07 -0600 (MDT) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Whale - ch 4 Message-ID: Chapter 4 Sam was discovering that, in leaping, he gained more than Gregor's Russian; he gained Gregor's insomnia. Sam spent the night roaming about the ship trying to keep his mind occupied. He had browsed through Gregor's journal, learning more in one hour than Ziggy had learned in twenty-four hours. Gregor Stawpahvich Roulier was actually an American named Gregory Stevenson, an anti-whaling activist. He belonged to an environmentalist group which, from what Sam could tell, was on the extreme radical side. The group believed that one must turn to violence to stop whaling. One member actually killed his own father for advocating whaling. Gregory, however, was about to break away from the group, having joined the group five years ago. Gregory disagreed with the group's policies but would not go to the authorities to speak out against them because he feared he would be arrested for some other crimes he had committed in the United States. There was very little in Gregory's journal about Alik Roulier. Roulier was already a member of the group when he convinced Gregory to join. Gregory "russianized" his name and took on Alik's surname, claiming to be Alik's distant cousin. The two had become very close friends quickly. Yet Gregory saw a side of Alik that he didn't like; Alik had no qualms about committing murder to stop whaling. Alik had been talking about killing Captain Rustov to stop the Captain's whaling. Gregory could not stand the fact that his friend could do such an act. He swore to himself that he would watch Alik at all times and would stop him from carrying out his plans. That was the last entry in Gregory's journal. *Nothing suspicious, huh, Al?*, Sam thought. Sam stared in awe at the man sleeping in the cot next to his. How could such a man, so amiable, be capable of murder for the sake of something that could not be stopped through violence? Sam sighed and shook his head. There was no use in worrying about it until tomorrow. He laid down on his cot and tried to get some sleep. Two hours passed and still Sam could not sleep. The Imaging Chamber door opened from somewhere close. "Can't sleep, huh," Al commented when he noticed Sam wide awake on the cot. Sam nodded in response. "That's okay. I've got some very interesting information for you anyway. You know that guy you leaped into? His name isn't Gregor Stawpahvich Roulier." Sam sighed. "His name's Gregory Stevenson and he's an American from New Jersey." Al's eyes widened. "How'd you know that?" Sam brought out the book. "Is that his journal?" Al pointed to the book. "Yes." "Sam, you've got to get rid of that thing! If they catch you with that, who knows what they'll do to you! You could be arrested for espionage!" "Al..." "I mean, we weren't exactly buddies with the Soviets in '88!" "Arrested on a whaling ship?" Sam pointed out. Al paused before he spoke. "Good point. What did the journal tell you?" Sam opened the book as he spoke, flipping pages while Al looked over his shoulder. "Mostly information about Gregory himself." "Nothing new there," Al muttered as if confirming what Gregory had told him in the Waiting Room. "But there is this." Sam flipped to the last three entries. "Apparently, Alik is going to try to kill Captain Rustov. I thought you said that the Soviets didn't find anything suspicious in the journal." Al frowned. "I guess the Soviets didn't think it was necessary to divulge that little bit of information. Not really a surprise, though. It took them almost a decade to reveal just how bad Chernobyl really was. Gawd, what a mess!" He paused. "You said Alik is going to try to kill Rustov?" He fidgeted with the handlink. "Well, Ziggy says you're on the right track. That little bit of information's giving her several theories as to why the Khrushchev disappears. At the top of the list is that Alik probably sank the Khrushchev after killing Rustov. The second is that maybe Gregory sank the ship to help Alik stop whaling. Either way, there's an 81% chance that the Khrushchev was sunk and never found." Sam chuckled. "Now, don't you feel a little silly about believing the Devil's Sea was responsible?" "No, I don't!" Al told him firmly. "How do you know that Alik isn't being affected by the Devil's Sea?" "Come on, Al! That's ridiculous!" Alik stirred in his cot. Sam noticed and pointed Al to the aft. Once they were both there, Al spoke up. "Oh, Sam! Look at this!" he said in a voice mixed with anger and pity. He motioned over the end of the ship's banister. There, hanging from a net on the side of the ship, was a dolphin which had been caught in the net and had failed to escape. "This is terrible!" Al exclaimed. "And what is worse is that you're not doing a damn thing about it!" He gave Sam a look which indicated how ashamed he was of Sam. "And what could I do, Al? We both know that I have to behave as if I were Gregor... Gregory." Al exhaled. "Okay. I know. I'm sorry. It's just that seeing all of this really gauls me." Sam smiled with understanding. "Yeah, well, I don't blame you." Al was about to speak when his facial expression showed that he was listening to something. "Not now. I'm busy," he said into the air. "How important?" he asked after a moment. He shook his head and opened the Imaging Chamber door. "What's the matter?" Sam asked, curious as to why Al was leaving. "Something's going on in the Control Room. I have to go," Al answered as he stepped through the door. "Keep an eye on Alik, Sam. I'll see if I can find out exactly what happens and how we can stop Alik." Sam nodded as Al closed the door, a bit concerned about what could have called Al out of the Imaging Chamber.