by Laura Wylde
“Other dragons do it.”
“Yeah. Maybe it’s time, skipper.”
“Ay, captain. Could be.”
By the time I had finished eating, I felt almost too comfortable to stand up. I leaned back in my chair and let the food digest. Homey meant sometimes you felt like a king. A pair of feet slapped half-way down the steps and Kazan shouted into the shelter, “debris ahead!”
Homey flew right out the window. I leaped to my feet and took the stairs two steps at a time, nearly bowling over Kazan. I looked out over the bow. A few pieces of alabaster dreams, a curved hand, a leather-bound book. Hecles waved the stub of his cigar, tamped it out and tucked it into a pouch on his belly. I watched him paddle off to his next seaweed luncheon. Not a bad fellow, that Hecles.
Kauris carefully steered the boat around the upended corner of a pavilion. The water was dodgy with debris. He slowed the motors and glanced over at me. “You ready to take over, skipper?”
He was tensing. It had been easy following the poofy seal through a wide-open, calm sea. The wreckage of the great palace was like an obstacle course that became narrower, with more twists through larger clusters of the violated city. He turned the wheel nervously, his eyes fixed on the narrow openings between the litter.
“I’ve got it,” I said, trying to control the eagerness in my voice. I grabbed the wheel that had been abused by others for so long, and felt the engines purring under my hands. “There ya go, girl. I’ve gotcha now. We’re going to get through nice and easy.”
I sweet-talked the boat, keeping my muttering low while the others stood by the windows watching the city remnants float by. I wondered what the fate would be of this abandoned realm. Would the gods come back to reclaim it, or would it be left to seals, imps, and fish? In a strange way, I was almost reluctant to leave. It was a world starting fresh, becoming something new.
The Gigantic had drifted far from the wall of cliffs. He floated, bloating, near the last of the debris. The fish had nibbled away his eyes, his nose, his ears, his hands, and feet. If there had been birds, they would have picked the bones clean by now, but there were no birds. A curling, green vine was growing from the Gigantic’s mouth. Inching along it were several brightly colored caterpillars. “Now, that is interesting,” remarked Macy.
The sight didn’t look impressive to me. “Because a vine is growing from the beast’s mouth?”
“Yes,” she said. The corpse was spinning away from the wake created by the boat engines. “How rapidly this ocean absorbs new genetic material. It has fish when it had none until we threw a few sickly fish into the water. A vine grows out of the corpse of a Gigantic and feeds itself on the remains. It supports several caterpillars. I would like to bring a sample of this ocean back with us.”
She turned to leave the cabin and Kauris followed her, halting her before she reached the door. “You can’t do that. I don’t think you should do that.”
She looked at the hand on her arm, then into his face, puzzlement showing in her mild eyes. “Why not?”
“Because it’s god water.” He looked at me for confirmation.
“it’s god water,” I agreed.
“Meaning we’re not allowed to examine it?”
I could see the cliffs now, shimmering in the distance, but not the opening. I didn’t want to offend the gods; not when we were so close to home. “Probably better if you didn’t. Anyway, it would probably turn to regular sea water on our world.”
The dog barked. Stacy looked down and listened. She gave me a wide grin and slipped out of Kauris’ grip. “The dog says it’s okay if I take a small bottle but to use it wisely.”
I almost let go of the pilot’s wheel. “You’re going to believe a dog over me? How could a mutt know if it’s okay? Does she have a personal cell phone to the gods?”
“She was a companion to Aphrodite, so I think she would know.”
“If she was a companion to Aphrodite, why did she get left behind?”
The dog dropped her head to the floor and covered it with her front paws. “She doesn’t want to talk about it,” Macy said.
Macy got her vial of water. It didn’t cause any observable harm. She didn’t get struck down. The bottle didn’t boil over or dissolve. The ocean continued to ripple smoothly. What if taking a vial of water imprisoned us on Nautilus? The cliffs were looming, larger and larger, and we still hadn’t found the opening. I began to worry. The enormous walls extended as far as the eye could see in both directions. Once again, I was left without a clue.
I could go right, or I could go left. I wavered, trying to find a landmark. I felt a light thump against the boat, then another. I ordered Kazan to look over the side. He clamored down the stairs and leaned over the guard rail. “Fish!” He called back. “They’re moving toward the wall.”
The dog got to her feet and yapped excitedly. I chuckled. “Even I know what she said. Let’s follow the fish.”
I could see them in front of me now. I piloted into the school. They jumped and swam on both sides, giving the Dragon Queen friendly bumps and staying cautiously away from the boat motors. I saw what looked like an accordion crease in the rock face. As I angled toward it, the crease opened wider. The peach sky poured into it, leaving a golden path on the water. As we slipped through, I realized the wall was closing behind me.
The dog whined. Macy knelt to comfort her. “She says hurry. The gate is closing.”
She didn’t have to tell me. I saw the yellow shaft narrowing. As I sped ahead, I could feel the darkness closing in. The engines roared. The water shuddered as it splashed against the advancing wall. Darkness lay ahead, even greater darkness crowded in from behind. I gave her full throttle.
The boat cried in protest, the sound echoing off the towering wall. Rocks welled along the passageway like jagged teeth, ready to cut and rip our fragile craft. I swung around them, narrowly missing their grinding points, surf bubbling around them. My watch began to tick. I looked at my navigational equipment. Barometer readings, compass, sonar, all working. A triangle of lighter ocean glistened ahead.
As we burst through to the other side, I heard the great shudder of the walls slamming closed. Above us shone a brilliant moon. Stars twinkled merrily. A light wind blew in from the west. A dolphin leaped, water droplets glittering from its shining skin. I looked down. The water was filled with dolphins of all colors and sizes. While they poked up their heads, squawking and chittering, they opened a path between them for the boat to pass through.
We were traveling with an underwater rainbow parade, their colors slithering and sliding like ribbons. The salt air was rich with the smell of seaweed and decaying matter. It smelled delicious. I whooped out loud. I couldn’t help myself. Slowly, it dawned on the others we were free. We had cleared the gate that even now disappeared behind us and we were traveling home. Macy gave a little cry, danced around me, and began kissing me all over the face. “I’m trying to steer this boat,” I reminded her. “Do you want me to run over a dolphin?”
Yeah. She was making hearts pop out of my eyes and it was bad enough trying to follow a wave of multi-colored dolphins. According to the onboard computer, we had been gone for six days, twenty-two hours and thirty-seven minutes. It seemed longer. It felt we had been gone for weeks. Our food supply was nearly empty, and I had given my last cigar to a seal. There must have been a time distortion in the gods’ vacation resort.
The boat seemed to sail with the dolphins on its own accord. It bobbed up and down in the water and was carried forward by the sheer momentum of the leaping, playing, frivolous marine mammals. Then, the whales came! They arrived in droves, water streaming from their spouts. They carried us on their backs. It was like dropping off a stage and being passed through the crowd. I turned off the boat engines. We didn’t need them anymore. The whales were bringing us home faster than we could ever do on our own.
All night, we watched the parade, our arms locked around each other’s waist. We’ve never had a hero’s welcome before. Mos
t of the time it’s a notification that we had fucked up again. My chest swelled so much I almost took dragon form. Macy brought me back to earth. “How about some of those kisses, now?” One kiss, and I was sailing once more through paradise.
11
David
All night and all day, we sailed on the backs of the whales. Late in the afternoon, before the sun had set, we arrived in the Aegean Sea. The whales sank into the depths, leaving us to navigate on our own.
As soon as we were in range, I called the Director to let him know we were back. He instructed us to come in for a debriefing. The trident wasn’t mentioned. The secrecy wrapped around this mission was so tight, not a word of it was mentioned electronically. We had twelve hours to refresh ourselves in our apartments before visiting Athens. Twelve was fine. Twelve hours gave us enough time to shower, sleep in our own beds and eat our first hearty meal since leaving Aphrodite’s Hall.
It was strange, though. Once we were clean and full, we were awkward. On the boat, we had gotten used to Macy being a part of our lives. She brought a pleasant routine and a systemic way of caring for everyone equally. I don’t know how she did it. It was some kind of gift. I never gave orders unless they came from the Director. Chores were haphazard, duties lopsided. Macy was right. If we’re going the distance, we should all take turns at navigating the Dragon Queen. We should split up chores like cooking and cleaning. It worked on the boat, where quarters were confined and there was much to do to keep the boat ship-tight and our meals served regularly, but now we were home. Now, we could kick our dirty clothes into a corner of the room. We could call the pizza man when we were hungry. We didn’t have to think of anyone but ourselves…. for the next twelve hours, at least.
“Maybe I’ll do an analysis of the god water,” Macy finally said to break the silence. “I suppose everyone wants a little time to themselves.”
I agreed with her because it was probably what she wanted. She must be worn out from caretaking four lusty dragons and a rat dog. The rat dog looked at me with its one blue eye as though it knew what I was thinking, then followed Macy out of the room.
The television was flashing scenes of an out of control subway train, but nobody was paying attention. Kazan was busy painting his fingernails green and Kauris was reading an online book. Reuben had gathered all the silverware and began polishing it. He never has a reason; he just likes shiny things. I went out to the patio to drink in the sea breeze. I would never take it for granted again, nor the sun or the moon or the seasons. A revolving world was better than an immobile one.
What now? There was so much to figure out. Now that we had the trident, how would they decide who got to keep it? How many gods and demigods were direct descendants of Poseidon anyway? It seemed they were all pretty prolific at spreading around offspring.
How did Macy fit in with our lives now? This question nagged at me. She was an official team member, but she was also much more. At least, I wanted her to be more. I didn’t want her going off all by herself, studying worms or go hobnobbing with a bunch of science heads. I wanted her close. I wanted her safe. If she wanted to wander off, I wanted someone with her. And most of all, I wanted the feeling of family she gave us.
I didn’t want to lose anything. I would rather spend the rest of my life in that strange fish- bowl than give up what we had all felt together on that boat. I stayed on the patio deck a little longer, listening to the lonely sound of a foghorn and the cries of the circling seagulls. My mind tugged at me, begging me to follow those tanned, bare feet and swinging hips. If I left her too long, maybe she would decide she liked her solitary life better than our constant attentions.
My nose twitched suddenly, and I scratched it. If a rat dog could hang out with her, so could I. I wouldn’t demand attention. I would just enjoy her company. I strolled resolutely from the patio to the kitchen, then hesitated when I reached the long hallway. Maybe I was foolish. Maybe I was presumptive. Nonsense. I could just profess my scientific interest in her findings, which was true. Who wouldn’t want to know the composition of god water?
She was peering through a microscope at a slide, her bottom perky inside her tight shorts as she bent over the table. I looked over her shoulders but kept my hands to myself. “Did you find anything?” I asked.
She straightened and took off her gloves. “Yes.” She circled half-way around the table and picked up a few test tubes, two of which were tinged with color. “Chemical analysis is H2O, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, trace minerals and salt. But the microscopic slides – the slides! Oh, David. They show something else!”
The tremor in her voice drew my curiosity. “What did they show?”
She crooked her finger for me to follow her to the powerful microscope that allowed her to break into individual cell structure. “Do you see the wavy lines running through it? Focus on one.”
“Is that….?”
She nodded. “DNA strands. Packed as closely together as books on a shelf. You could spill a tablespoon of this on Mars and in ten years, you would have an inhabited planet. It’s like every possibility for life is encoded in this water.”
She marvelled over the potential. I thought about the human tendency to take gifts and turn them into weapons. A tablespoon of the god-water in the wrong hands could bring armies of mindless soldiers, or slaves for the already pampered and spoiled. Every possibility for life contained in a few drops of water! “Put it away, Macy. Put it away from everybody, including me. Never tell a living soul you have this. It’s a power not meant for humans.”
“Then why was I allowed to bring a vial?”
I had promised myself no physical contact, but I took her shoulders anyway. “Because you are worthy. You wanted knowledge and the gods found you worthy. But the rest of us are not. None of us are worthy.”
“I’ll put it away,” she promised. “But is it okay if I study it?”
“It’s your gift. You were trusted with it.”
“I’ll lock it up,” she promised. She took the tray of test tubes and the vial. “But why can’t I share my findings with you and the others?”
I looked down shamefully. “We’re blabbermouths. When we start mixing cocktails, we get careless with our tongues, and well… we’re popular at dragon parties.”
“Oh, David,” she sighed. “You need to quit going to parties where all they want from you are drugs.”
She was putting things away, locking up the box in front of me, despite asking her not to. “Maybe,” I said, hovering at her elbow. “We won’t have to go to parties anymore. We mainly went for picking up girls,” I added hopefully.
She chuckled. “Really, David? A gorgeous hunk like you? You don’t need to dope them up for that.”
She turned to leave but I stood anxiously in her way. “What if we don’t want to pick up girls anymore? Would you be comfortable with that? If you were the only girl we wanted to pick up?”
“Is that how you feel? All of you?”
I nodded wordlessly. She took my head in both hands and pulled it down so she could kiss me firmly on the lips. Her mouth was a plush plum with just a hint of her teeth behind it. I pressed against those lips, running my tongue along the ivory teeth. She pulled away slowly. “I think I would be okay with it if you didn’t pick up girls. I think I would worry less.”
That amused me. Hugging her close to me as we left the science lab, “You would worry about us if we were out with other girls?”
“Yeah.” She locked the door. Arm in arm, we walked down the hall, her little bare feet making no sound at all.
There must have been something in my face that answered the important question on all their minds. They quit pretending they had distractions and made room for her on the pile of living room cushions they had sprawled out on. We talked like we had never talked before. It wasn’t as much about us as it was about our feelings. We all had difficulty expressing them. Macy had removed hers for her career. We had removed ours because we were outcasts. Now, our feelings were wo
ven tightly together.
When we kissed her, we did so gently, worshiping her graceful neck, her soft curves, her shapely arms, and legs. Our hands brushed over her as a single unit, riding over the rounded breasts, the upright nipples. Four pairs of hands roamed over the hips and down the silky thighs, each pair opening them a little wider. I lowered myself between her legs and licked at the juicy opening, revealing the tiny, red joy bud.
I continued kissing her, down to her precious feet, thinking nothing about myself. This was for her. This was all for her. We didn’t tease her. We asked nothing from her. We cradled her in our arms and touched her in all the most pleasurable spots, kissed her breasts and her fiery mound when she heaved and thrust. She came slowly. She came gently. She sighed and stretched out, falling asleep. We surrounded her, shielding her like the world’s most valuable treasure.
We left just before dawn and flew to Athens with the Trident. We were five minutes early, but the Director was hopping around like we were forty-five minutes late. He hustled us quickly into one of those mysterious chambers of his, double-checked the seal and turned down all the lights except one. “Did you find it? Did you get it?” He whispered excitedly.
Reuben cut the ties and unwrapped the canvas tarp. A dazzling gleam of light shone underneath. The Director leapt back and rubbed his pudgy hands along his front, resisting the urge to touch the blazing trident. “And nobody knows at all?”
“Only the whales and the dolphins,” I told him.
“Then the whales have made their choice. They will side with the heirs of Poseidon.”
“Which heir?”
He covered the trident back up and turned away from it regretfully. “That’s yet to be seen. Your team must take this trident to the Eurynome. Macy will present it to them. They will take care of the rest.”
After all that hunting for a golden pitchfork, this was irritating. I felt we should have something to say about it all. “We’re just going to hand it over to the Eurynome and let them decide who will rule the sea? They are a small, weak religious sect. Someone will yank it right out of their hands.”