Lilith stops dead in her tracks. ‘I’m not into girls.’

‘That’s not what I heard.’

‘Yeah? And what have you heard?’

‘I dunno. It’s just … you know—you’re so pretty, and I never see you with any boys.’

‘Don’t believe everything you hear. I have a boyfriend, he just doesn’t live around here.’

‘Oh. Well, aren’t you even a little bi-curious?’

‘I have to go.’

‘Wait. Cut through the woods with me. We’ll share a quick joint, you know, as friends. Unless you’re in a rush to get home.’

Regina heads for the woods, Lilith in tow.

Longboat Key, Florida

Immanuel Gabriel is alone in the SOSUS lab when his Aunt Evelyn knocks on the open door. ‘Mind if I join you?’

The dark-haired twin doesn’t bother looking up. ‘Jake’s not here.’

‘Actually, I wanted to speak with you.’

‘What for?’

She approaches, using a cane to support her arthritic left hip. ‘What are you working on?’

‘I’m charting a new whale migration pattern.’

‘May I listen?’

Immanuel plugs in a set of headphones, then passes them to the old woman.

‘There’s so many of them. Such godly creatures.’

‘I’m not like him, you know.’

‘I know.’

‘He drives me crazy.’

‘Your brother can be … intense.’

‘He’s a nut job. Why do you humor him?’

‘Maybe I’m a nut job, too.’

Immanuel smiles. ‘Hey, wanna see something cool?’ Evelyn waits patiently as the teenager pulls up an image on screen of a four-legged oversize ratlike animal. ‘See this creature? It’s called a Pakicetid. It’s actually a prehistoric whale.’

‘That’s a whale?’

‘Well, it was the ancestor of whales. For some unknown reason, Pakicetids returned to live in the sea about 50 million years ago. They eventually lost their fur, which was replaced with thick layers of insulated blubber. Nature even repositioned their nostrils on top of their heads so they could breathe easier.’

Evelyn smiles at the teenager. ‘You really have a deep love for whales, don’t you?’

‘I suppose.’ He advances the page. ‘Look here. This is Rodhocetus, the first species of whale with a true fluke and blowhole.’

‘That is amazing. Whales have really come a long way, haven’t they?’

‘Uh-huh.’ Immanuel continues the program. ‘Modern cetaceans eventually split into two different suborders. Baleen whales, like blues and humpbacks, have no teeth. Toothed whales, like sperm whales and orcas, remained predators, developing a sense called echolocation.’

‘Echolocation? Is that those high-pitched clicking sounds?’

‘Exactly. My grandma says the clicks allow toothed whales to see things using sound. By listening to the returning echoes, the mammals can navigate through their environment, seeing things we could never register with our own eyes.’

‘Sort of like a built-in sonar, huh?’