The warm water enveloped me. I allowed myself to drift to the bottom, then hurried to look around for the hidden scuba mouthpiece. I couldn’t see well with my blurred, underwater vision. I felt my way through one set of plant life, then another. I started to panic as my lungs grew tighter by the second. I couldn’t hold it any longer and let out all my breath. The bubbles rose from my mouth. Just as I despaired finding the mouthpiece and wondered what the guys outside the tank would think to see a mermaid push to the surface for air, my fingers brushed rubber within a thick, waving, purple-green plant.
I latched onto it and inhaled. Despite Walter’s instructions, it took me a second to get accustomed to it. Breathing underwater was a weird and uncomfortable sensation—huge bubbles came from my mouth as I gasped into the mouthpiece and coughed into the water. Finally, I relaxed and allowed myself to breathe. The air tank worked. I held my breath, closed my mouth, turned to looked up at Calder’s wavering form above the surface of the water, and gave him a discreet thumbs up. He backed away from the tank as I took another breath…and not a moment too soon, for on the other side of the glass, I saw the blurred outline of a man in a black tuxedo approach my tank, which sat on a stage. Wait, a stage? Weren’t they supposed to set it up under a skylight?
The man in a tuxedo spoke to Calder. I couldn’t hear what they said, nor did I care. Instead, I watched Calder hopefully, waiting for the moment Samantha would come into view. Several minutes and several covert breaths on the mouthpiece passed. Where was she? If Linnaeus lied about his end of the bargain…
At last, my apprehension and dread ended. The shapes of two men brought a slender figure with short, brunette hair in tow between them. I pressed my hands to the glass. She saw me and struggled against the men who held her. I could hear her muffled screaming as Calder held her by the shoulders and pulled her away. He faced me once before taking Samantha through a side door. I shook my head and turned away, needing another breath. But as far as the people outside the tank were concerned, I looked like a shy little mermaid hiding from view.
A few minutes passed as I continued to study the surroundings outside the tank. Round tables sat in the ballroom, with blurry centerpieces. Blurry chandeliers hung above them, the skylights around them dark. My tank sat far away from any of them. How was I going to get out?
I looked away and a soundless bubble burst from my mouth as I screamed out some of my precious air. Linnaeus startled me, his hands pressed against the glass, an expression of awe on his face. Marinus stood next to him. I hid behind the plant again and took another breath. I fluttered my tail a little bit and peeked around the plant. They stood so close that I had no trouble seeing them. Linnaeus spoke to me, but I couldn’t hear him.
Where were Uther and Eamon? Did the earpiece malfunction? Were they still getting rid of the two men from the outside of the hotel? What was I supposed to do now?
Linnaeus shouted some instructions I didn’t hear to someone I couldn’t see. Then he looked at me one last time, his manic smile visible. Marinus stared at me for a little while longer. He scowled in concentration and I heard something faint…almost like a whisper from an out-of-tune radio.
I apologize. You are a beautiful one. Had our world been a different place, I might have been your friend.
He looked away and the voice cut off. I let out a stream of air as I realized I’d just experienced merperson telepathy. I took a breath of air and when I looked back, he had gone. More men pulled an enormous, red silk drape over the tank, enclosing me in reddish darkness. I swam to the top of the tank, careful to keep quiet, and breathed.
Come on, Eamon.
I couldn’t see, but I looked down and felt where the fabric of my costume clung to my skin and pulled on it experimentally. I had to pull harder and harder before I got it to give just a bit. It stung, but I didn’t care. It would heal.
I lingered near the surface, holding on to the edge of the tank to keep my head above the water and waited, my earpiece nothing but a silent wad of rubber plugging my ear.
Where are you, Calder?
My eyes adjusted to the gloom of the water tank beneath the drape. I could see the shadows of the artificial plants swirling in the water as well as the shape of my tail as it waved below me. My skin wrinkled but the water never lost any of its warmth.
Blind to everything outside the tank, I listened with my head above the water as voices filtered into the room and a string quartet played its elegant melodies. I heard champagne glasses clink and occasional light and pompous laughter from the guests in the conference hall. I even heard a few bits of passing conversation.
“I’d bet my husband’s net worth she got that gown off the rack,” said one person.
“How’s the new sloop, Higgins?” said another.
“The wife and I are looking into a vacation home in Portugal.”
“It’s not plastic surgery anymore, it’s cosmetic dermatological rejuvenation,” said one woman.
“Doran has been very generous in his donations to the university over the years,” said another as she passed.
“What do you suppose he has under there?” someone just outside the tank asked. For kicks, I flicked the water to cause a light splash. Someone on the other side gasped at the sound.
“I’m sorry, but you need to step away from the tank,” came the voice of Marinus. He must have been standing guard.
“Ah, my friends, do not fret,” Linnaeus cooed to his guests. “All shall be revealed in due time. Have you had any hors d’oeuvres?” His voice faded as he ushered the people away. I wondered if Seidon and Cordelia were here. If they were, they would probably stay well away from the tank because of Marinus.
And still no word from my earpiece. Where were they? What was happening?
The talk and babble continued as my nerves built. My arms ached from holding myself up. I wanted to just pull off the tail, heave myself out of the tank, and make a run for it. But our task wasn’t done yet. Linnaeus needed to learn never to mess with merpeople again—or future marine biologists.
At long last, I heard applause. My anxiety shot through the red silk cover and to the roof where, I hoped, my friends waited to pull me to safety. Step two was about to begin. I took a long, shuddering breath.
“Welcome my friends,” said Linnaeus, his voice amplified by the microphone. I wanted to go into the water to rest my arms, but this was the only way I could hear what was going on.
He continued. “I am honored by your presence. I hope you have enjoyed yourselves thus far. I’d like to thank the US Grant Hotel for their hospitality, as well as your continued support, ladies and gentlemen. Truly, we are men and women of profound understanding, evolved creatures who reign over every other animal on this earth. We are learned, and we are sophisticated. We have reached the pinnacle of our civilization. Or have we?
“We all know there are wonders in our world we have yet to discover—the human race has limitless potential. There are revelations so great, only those who are ready to receive them will comprehend and embrace such breakthroughs.”
Get to the point, I thought to myself, my fingers joining my arms in the pain department. My heart pounded as Linnaeus continued his self-important speech.
“Many of you know I have dedicated my life to the development and study of marine life and the ways in which we as human beings can better preserve, appreciate, and enjoy the creatures of our planet’s oceans. At Oceana Marine Adventure Park, we strive to remain on the cutting edge of technology and are constantly active in the effort of discovering new species of aquatic life so we may continue to bring hours of delight and enchantment to our guests, as well as validate all the hard work and investments of our shareholders.”
I ground my teeth. His park wasn’t at the “cutting edge of technology.” It was a starving prison. A prickling flood of anger joined my foreboding. Where was the voice of reassurance in my earpiece?
“Ladies and gentlemen, our labors have been richly rewarded. Here, this day
, this moment, you shall witness history. For today, I shall reveal unto you that human beings, as we have so long been unaware, are not alone on this planet. We have discovered a new intelligent species.”
I quickly lowered myself into the water up to my nose. There were murmurs, gasps, and whispers throughout the conference hall. They quieted after a few seconds as Linnaeus continued.
“The newspapers have not yet received this information, but they shall after this night. That is why we have not allowed any photography or electronics into this room. I ask you now, my friends, to stay calm, so as to not frighten our main event—our latest, our greatest, our most unequivocal and unprecedented addition to the Oceana Marine Adventure Theme Park.”
I couldn’t hold on anymore. I pushed myself back under the water, the silence enveloping me, and took several deep breaths from the scuba tank. A second later, the silk drape covering the tank pulled away. I shielded my eyes from the brightness of the lights.
I wished I could hear what the flabbergasted crowd said. I gazed at the blurry scene: people in their finery around linen-covered tables stood, some clutching their hearts, and a few even falling to their knees. Two people near the back might have been Cordelia and Seidon. The man in the tuxedo waved but no one else in the room noticed. All attention fixed on me.
I needed another breath. As I searched the plant for the mouthpiece, something inside my ear hissed loudly. I recoiled from the noise, bubbles erupting from my mouth. At the same time, voices from outside the tank became clearer, though echoed.
“Is it real, Linnaeus?” someone from the crowd shouted. I fumbled for the mouthpiece and took a breath.
“Certainly. As real as you or I, my friend,” he replied from the microphone. “Magnificent, is she not?”
Someone else shouted something I couldn’t hear except for the words “how,” “fake,” and “proof.”
“You have watched this creature sit under water without taking a breath for about seven minutes now. Do you need further proof?”
I let out the air from my lungs and several people laughed. I flitted my tail and they sighed. I hid behind the plant—to breathe—and they began a standing ovation.
I had them convinced.
I sucked more air, but as I came away, the valve broke. Bubbles streamed from the tank. My lifeline drained away. I had no other choice: now or never. Either my friends waited to pull me to safety or they didn’t. I came away from the plant. In full view of the exhilarated audience, I clutched my costume and pulled with all the strength I had.
It stung, but I ignored the pain and yanked at the fabric until the costume slipped from my feet. I kicked my human legs and watched as the mood of the audience changed as fast as a flipped light switch. The former euphoria turned into confusion.
I bunched the tail into a ball, pushed off from the bottom of the tank, and using my momentum, threw the wet costume into the screaming crowd.
I gulped down some air from the surface, then plunged back into the tank. Maybe I could propel myself out again, then climb out. The crowd looked and sounded angry enough to keep Linnaeus busy. But the man himself had already left his podium and stormed toward the stairs to the stage. I needed to get out now.
Just as I bent my legs to push myself out, a long, thin bar attached to a rope splashed into the water above me. They’d done it. I grabbed the rope, pulled my legs over the bar, and held on tight. My stomach fell as I burst out of the water. As I rose, an eardrum-popping wail pierced the room, followed immediately by the screams of shattering champagne flutes and a really, really big fish tank. I looked down and saw Linnaeus recoil as a tidal wave of water flooded the entire room.
I held on for dear life as I entered the darkness above the stage, nearly hitting my head on a squeaking pulley.
“…a costume!”
“…a fake!”
“…ruined!”
“…how dare you!”
I heard the cries of outrage rising from the conference room as Calder, standing on some kind of metal stagehand catwalk, reached out. He lifted me off the rope and Eamon threw a towel over my shoulders. Uther released the rope and frantically beckoned for us to follow on the thin, rickety catwalk. Thick metal mesh ran the length of its floor. From here we hurried to a junction joining another catwalk, this one thinner than the last.
“Wait,” said Eamon, halting us in the darkness. He looked down. Linnaeus, soaking wet and standing near the wreckage of the tank, tried to calm a crowd of guests. Eamon beckoned. “Okay, come on!”
We had to bend double to avoid bumping our heads on the ceiling. I hurried along the metal beams, and tried to keep from ripping the soles of my feet on the uneven screw heads lining the slats. Water pooled underneath every step I took. Don’t look down. Soon we came to a tall utility ladder. Each of us climbed down, water still running off my body and dripping on Uther and Eamon’s heads.
“Go ahead, hurry!” said Uther, drawing a gun and opening a side door. He pushed Eamon, Calder, and me out, then followed after.
We were now inside a long, dimly lit room full of hot water heaters lining the walls like squat columns crowned in copper tubing. Uther pulled the door closed and tried to bar it with spare tubing.
“Leave it, we need to get out of here!” said Eamon.
I wrapped the towel tighter around me as I ran to keep up with Eamon. We came out of the hot water heater room through a metal door on the far side and entered a marble tiled hallway. I ran as fast as my slippery feet would allow.
Eamon led us down the hall in the direction of a sign labeled Stairwell. He threw the door open and flew down the staircase. I stumbled after him. Just as we were near the bottom, the sound of gunfire rained on us. I screamed. Eamon cried out and grabbed his chest. I screamed again, but Eamon continued hobbling down the stairs. Calder slung Eamon’s arm over his shoulder and helped him along. The shots continued as we half-ran, half-fell down the rest of the stairs.
We burst through the doors at the ground level, where Walter waited with the car, doors open and engine running. I jumped in. Uther threw himself into the front seat while Calder helped Eamon in next to me. Walter slammed on the gas before any of the other car doors closed. I looked over at Eamon and gasped. Beneath his hand covering a spot on his chest, a patch of blood soaked the front of his shirt. Popping gunfire came from behind. I squeezed my eyes shut and wrapped my hands around my head. The back window shattered. Glass flew everywhere. Broken glass dug into my skin.
“Hang on!” Walter said as he rounded the curve.
Linnaeus and some other men came into view ahead. One pointed a gun at us. All of us ducked our heads from the barrage of bullets. The passenger-side mirror broke and hung cock-eyed, a bullet-hole piercing its metal shell. Linnaeus, red in the face and hair flying, shouted like a psych-ward escapee. Walter hit the gas and the car roared toward the group. They scattered.
Calder in the back and Uther up front got their doors closed as the car raced out of the parking lot and dodged oncoming traffic. Once we were on the highway, I looked at Eamon again.
“Y-you’ve been shot!” I shrieked over the sound of the wind whipping through the broken back window. He looked down at his chest, breathing hard.
He winced. “It’s just a graze. I’ll see to it later.” Calder pulled Eamon’s hand away and looked at the wound while Uther looked on with concern.
Calder looked up at Uther, then at me. “He’ll be all right.”
I sighed and reached into my ear to pull out the earpiece.
“Why didn’t the earpiece work?” I asked. “I didn’t know when to take the costume off!”
“It must have picked up the signal from Linnaeus’s microphone,” said Uther.
“We kept trying to talk to you, but you wouldn’t respond,” Calder added. “Walter couldn’t get a hold of us to tell us that the water tank had been set up in the wrong place and we had to move the pulley.”
“I’m so sorry, Olivia,” said Walter. “I was too late
, but I couldn’t change anything without attracting notice.”
“It’s okay, Walter.”
“We decided to let you take the lead and drop the weight once the costume was off. Your timing was excellent.”
“No, it wasn’t. The air tank broke,” I said. “I either had to try and get out myself or drown.”
“Are you all right?” Calder asked.
“I’m fine. Where’s Samantha?”
“She’s safe,” said Walter. “We’re going to see her in a moment.”
“What about Seidon and Cordelia? And Natasha?”
“They’re meeting us shortly,” said Eamon. He shifted and cringed, holding on to his chest.
“Are we almost there?” I asked.
“Nearly.”
“You’re bleeding too,” said Calder, who pointed to the skin on my waist not covered by the towel. I looked down to examine the damage. Livid, red welts marked some of the skin and in some thin patches it had been torn away. I shrugged even though the pain of it was catching up to me.
“It’s nothing. It’ll heal,” I said, more worried about Eamon’s injury than mine. “I can put something on it when we get back to the hotel.”
“We’re not going back there,” said Walter. “I’m taking you to the Imbali so we can make a run for it.”
“The Imbali?”
“My boat. The Imbali de Mer.”
My eyebrows rose. “We’re leaving?”
“We’ve done what we set out to do, but we’ve got to get out of California in case Linnaeus seeks revenge,” Walter continued. “We’re going to travel up the west coast, drop off Seidon and Cordelia, lie low for a while, then send you and Samantha home.”
“Okay,” I said. Couldn’t argue with that.
We traded the battered sedan for my car in the crowded parking lot of a Walmart. I had to pick a few pieces of glass from my arms and legs before settling into the new vehicle. Shivering, I wrapped the sodden towel tighter around my arms, still in nothing but boy short bikini bottoms and Cordelia’s sark. Calder helped Eamon into the back seat. The front of his shirt was getting redder by the minute.
Fathom Page 23