Chapter 7: Whacko Quacko
Samantha and the Child Protective Services man come out of a Miami airport and take a taxi to the docks. Yeah, they're out of state, coming a hell of a long way to take Samantha to her only other family. With her mom in a coma, she's going to be placed with a dad she hasn't seen in a long time. Captain Tithers' boat is parked there. Does that mean he'd left the Bimini islands to pick up Samantha? One hell of a dedicated ship captain, being very willing to do something like that.
Yeah, it was back in chapter 1, where her mom randomly said it and then defined it. But anyway, moving on.
They get on board the ship, and the CPS guy, Peter, asks where Professor Stone is. He's told that Prof. Stone had to work and sent Captain Tithers to pick up Samantha, to which Samantha snorts, "Typical."
Peter was also annoyed, but because he had to leave. Captain Tithers agrees to take Samantha aboard the ship and asks if she's ever been to Bimini.
Sam remarks that she tries to stay as far away from her dad as possible, and Tithers assures her that she'll love it, because "Bimini rocks!"
Samantha sees her dad, who is "busier than a one-legged jogger", making me wonder just where all these odd analogies come from. Are they unique to New Orleans?
Tithers tells Prof. Stone to check out his daughter, and he glances up at Samantha and says, "That can't be my daughter. Sam's a wee thing." Lol, Prof. Stone, you so British.
Sam points out that she was a "wee thing" a long time ago, considering she's ten, and her dad hasn't seen her since she was five. Sam glares at him, after his casual "Has it been that long?" implies that he doesn't really care about being involved in his kid's life.
Sam's dad pulls Peter aside and tells him that this is no place for a child. He has work, and there are hooligans and ruffians on the ship. Peter points out that Sam's mom is in a coma, and Captain Tithers gets pissed, telling Prof. Stone, "Hell's fury. She's your daughter. Stop acting like a donkey's behind."
Prof. Stone signs the paperwork and tells Sam not to get in the way of his work.
"Whacko quacko"? I assume she's not a fan of the Child Protective Services man, but what kind of nickname is that?
The captain offers to set Sam up in an inn, but this exchange happens:
"...five years," Sam interjected stiffly.
"I'm such a... a...," he began.
"Yes, you are," she finished.
Sam read her deadbeat dad's mind. He really is whatever he was going to call himself.
Tithers attempts to invite Sam to come with him instead, but Prof. Stone again says no.
Sam looks at her dad's charts and his laptop screen, and he shoos her away, saying that his career is very important and all this stuff is complicated.
The captain whistles, and Malachi the parrot returns. Sam is freaked to recognize the same parrot she saw in the hospital, but hides her recognition.
And Malachi bites Sam's dad's hand, but happily flies over to sit on Sam's hand when she puts it out. Proving that we have an Asshole Detecting Bird here, folks.
Sam looks at her dad's laptop's screen and sees an aerial view of rocks arranged as if to form an underwater road. Prof. Stone tells her that this is proof that Atlantis is real, and he's going to find it. He even shows her the jewel he found before, explaining that it and others like it were found inside craters from meteors, proving these jewels are from space. And this proves we've encountered visitors from space.
And I get the sense that we're getting a LOT of foreshadowing here.
Then suddenly, a Mordantaur appears! The same demon that put Sam's mom in a coma.
The figure ran toward the bow. Then Malachi flew toward it, pecked at its head, circling it, and squawking. All the while, Stone dug in the compartment, and Sam screamed, pressing herself backward against the point of the bow.
Then, just as suddenly, dozens of seagulls and pelicans appeared, pecking and attacking the Mordantaur who was quickly driven back over the port side and into the water.
Stone finally found a gun, pulled it out, saw the creature was gone, and collapsed on the deck. Wheezing, catching his breath, he panted, "My enemies. they'll go to any length to stop me. Publishing first, Sam. It's everything."
Uh... what? Just trying to picture this, it feels weird and random, and might make for a very surreal, meme-worthy movie scene if this were ever put to film.
A demon suddenly shows up, is attacked by birds, and Sam's dad says that his enemies will go to any length to stop him from publishing his findings. So, Prof. Stone has demon enemies? And bird allies?! Or were the birds protecting Samantha, like Malachi was? What on earth is going on here? Or space, if Prof. Stone was right about the jewel being from space... if that has any relevance to what's going on.
Umm... so this is weird. I told you this book gets weird. And even more so. I'm not mocking it (well, I am lightly), because I genuinely enjoy it, but damn is it weird.
