“I am not—”
“I said do. Not. Come. Back.”
He opened his mouth to protest once more but he could see in the woman’s eyes that she’d never spoken words with more conviction. He muttered, “Whatever,” then put his hands in his pockets and disappeared around the corner.
“No one’s ever stood up for me like that before…” Delaney said with wide eyes.
“We’re not the smartest people in the world, sweetie. But we protect our own. What’s in the bag?”
“Uh…” She shook off her daze and looked inside. It was a basket of French fries and a can of soda. She smiled. “A little something for Sam when he wakes up.”
25
The White Whale
“Tell us another one!” begged a random patron of Neptune’s Galley as he and a group of three others listened to Evron’s wild stories at the bar.
“I dunno, don’t want the legends growing too large, my autographin’ hand might get tired after a while.” He shook an empty mug at the barman, who lazily filled it.
“Oh, come on! Please!”
“Well, if you insist.” He cleared his throat. “So there I was, in this huge tower in the desert. When all a sudden, the ground started shakin’ and quakin’ like it was ready to split like an egg. And this big snake, I’m talkin’ miles and miles long, shoots up out the ground and starts wrappin’ around the building, huntin’ for blood.”
Sam walked in just in time to see Evron’s fans gawking in disbelief. He sighed, leaned against one of the brass columns, and enjoyed the show.
“And so here it comes, this big friggin’ snake wanting to make me into a snack, and I grab my trusty knife,” he jabbed the air with an imaginary blade, “and gave it a quick slice in the artery so it bled to death before it even had a chance. Good riddance.”
“Wow! Tell us, Avenger, which artery?”
“Say what now?”
“Which artery? Was it the carotid? The aortic?”
“Uh…uh…” Thinking fast, Evron caught sight of Sam. “Sammy! Buddy, come on over here!”
“I think I’m good here, thanks,” he replied. “Which artery was it?”
“Eh,” Evron waved his hands, “that’s not important.” He turned back to his groupies. “Tell you what, I’ll indulge ya’ll with some more tales of my bravery later, but for now let me have a few private minutes with my best good friend, if you don’t mind.”
The patrons shrugged and went to their own table while Sam joined “the Avenger” at the bar. “I think you left out the part where you ran away,” he said.
“First off, I flew away. Second, there’s an old writer’s rule I like to go by. Never include any ancillary details that ain’t important to the overall story or character-eye-zation. It slows things down and you end up with five-hundred-page novels where only about a hundred pages worth of crap actually happens.”
“Well, I’m glad to see you know all about abridging your narratives,” Sam replied as the bartender gave him a thick mug of beer. “Thanks.” He took a sip, turned to Evron. “So what are you doing here, exactly?”
He was quiet. Reserved. He stared at the wooden countertop, which was decorated with seashells, model ships, dried starfish and shark teeth. Sam hadn’t seen him like this before. The Avenger wasn’t known for moping. “Just stuff, I guess.”
“Stuff? Hunting some random sea monster?”
“It ain’t just some random sea monster.” He spoke with a dark aggression he hadn’t yet shown. It was as serious as he’d ever been. “It’s the monster. The monster that made me who I am today.”
“Our choices made us who we are today. You know that because I know that.”
Evron laughed. A cynical, sarcastic laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Am I really getting lectured on destiny from a guy hanging out with make-believe friends in some magical kingdom at the bottom of an imaginary ocean?”
“I guess…”
“Listen.” He lit a cigarette, took a long drag, and blew smoke across the room. “Everyone’s got themselves a white whale. You spend your whole life chasing it and ain’t nothing’s going to make sense until you do. We all have things that eat at our mind. Abbot’s mine. He took my family from me…long time ago. So I’m going to take him from his. Won’t be no peace for me until I do. That’s how justice works.”
“No, that’s how revenge works.”
“Oh, don’t give me that high and mighty load of philosophical crap, trying to convince me that justice and vengeance ain’t the same thing. I wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for you. The only reason that I exist is because there’s a little part of you who won’t let me go.” He took another puff, calmed down. “And who are you to argue with yourself?”
There was a tense quiet. Many more words needed exchanged, but Sam didn’t know what they were.
From a far corner of the undersea tavern, Eleos coughed. “Mr. Pierce, sir? Queen Calypso has asked me to inform you that dinner has begun. She has asked me to escort you.”
“Thanks, one sec.”
“Have fun,” Evron mumbled under his breath. He sounded bitter. “Hopefully you’ll be able to ‘impress’ the queen. Maybe you’ll get lucky. She’s a little tall for my taste, but the longer you spend as a bachelor, the more open your mind becomes.”
Sam, having nothing left to say that wouldn’t have resulted in more bickering, patted his friend on the back and left.
A gold dining table decorated with oceanic carvings stretched the length of a long, narrow room. At the head of the table sat Calypso and behind her was a wall of glass, beyond which a pod of whales swam by in the distance. Sam entered with Eleos and took a seat at the front near the queen, Darwin sitting directly across.
“Ah, Sam Pierce of Washington, it is good to have you here,” said Calypso. “Darwin and I were just discussing you.”
“I’m sure it was a delightful conversation,” he replied as he questionably eyed the cooked fish before him on a silver plate. It wasn’t just a strip of meat, it was a whole fish. Staring at him. Judging him. Guilt tripping him. He cringed. Eleos, on the other hand, ate hungrily.
“Mr. Darwin tells me that your mission is to return to a young lady?”
“Not just her, I guess. But she’s a big part of it.”
“Understandable. Love is one of the most powerful forces in existence. It can drive one to do great things. Or,” she sighed, “terrible things…”
“I wouldn’t call it ‘love’ just yet. To be honest, I barely know her.”
“Fate doesn’t care about duration, Mr. Pierce.”
“That it does not,” said Darwin, staring at the rose-haired goddess with a dumb smile.
“Um, yes…” she gulped awkwardly. “Anyway Sam, the thing about love is that sometimes it is what makes us whole. A ying and yang, perhaps. Sometimes the ones we love are the ones we are not. But as one, you are everything.”
Sam didn’t respond. He poked his slimy fish. Contemplated trying a piece. If only the eyes weren’t so wide and terrified…
“What, may I ask, happened to this young woman?”
Darwin started to say something and possibly change the subject, but Sam answered anyway, “She was taken.”
“Taken?”
“By a dragon. Diakrino.”
The young boy stopped eating. His fork hit his plate with a clank. A silent tension.
“Ah, the great beast…” uttered Calypso with ominous reverence.
“You know him?”
“All too well. I have had my own struggles with Diakrino. Everyone will cross his path eventually. He is a monster that even Abbot fears.”
“What does he do, exactly? What’s his beef?”
“Diakrino exists solely to destroy futures. Potentialities.”
“And that’s why he took Delaney…”
“Yes, I would suspect. But, if you are going after him, he does have a weakness…”
“Which is?”
She took a l
ong time to answer. “Conviction.”
The elegant double doors veered open and Dr. Tam walked in, followed closely by Nedry, whose side had been bandaged up. The baby dinosaur jumped for joy and sprinted toward Sam, who welcomed his companion back with open arms, then proceeded to run right past him, leap onto the table, and start digging into the fish.
“Well, I see where I stand…”
“Hungry little fellow, ain’t he?” Darwin chuckled with that deep, throaty laugh of his as the reptile gulped down fish after fish in absolute ecstasy.
“The wound is healing…” said Dr. Tam, his hands behind his back. He didn’t sound enthusiastic. He looked at Sam. “But I must warn you…the injuries are severe.”
“He seems okay…”
“Yes. Your little friend has been blessed with a strong heart, if that means anything. Unfortunately…that is not always the case. If you want my honest opinion, I do not suspect that he will last much—”
“Will you be staying to dine, Dr. Tam?” interjected Calypso as she raised a goblet of wine to her lips.
“No, thank you. I’m afraid I have…other business to attend to.” There was gravity to his words. A subtle urgency.
She nodded. “Your service is most appreciated. Your grandfather would be proud.”
“Yes. Yes I’m sure he would.” And he took leave, exiting with haste.
“So…this monster…” Sam tossed his fish at Nedry, who ate it without question.
“Abbot has been around for quite a while now,” Calypso explained. “Since I was but a pintsized, five-foot-ten-inch little girl.”
“Average sized…”
“Atlas was built many, many years ago as a refuge for those who defected from Paradiso. We have lived here in peace ever since. Eleos,” she eyed her son, “would you kindly pass the greens to Mr. Darwin?”
“Certainly, ma’am.” The boy obediently took a bowl of algae salad to the giant, who accepted it gratefully.
“Alas, we have had our problems, like any city, but they have been minimal. Until Abbot arrived. Some years ago. At first, he was just a nuisance, occasionally stealing our fish stock. But then he grew more and more violent. And it was then that we made the collective decision to bring in the so-called ‘avenger’ to help us.” She rolled her eyes, obviously not convinced of Evron’s prowess.
“You don’t seem that determined…you almost sound sympathetic toward it.”
She sighed and twirled the tips of her hair within her delicate fingers. “Abbot is an ugly, horrifying creature. I have no sympathy for him. But I do understand his trials.”
“Trials?”
“He is alone, Sam Pierce. He is frightened in a cold world that does not accept him. As I said, I have no empathy for the monster, but as fish swim and birds fly, he cannot fight his nature. And for that, I do admit I have some pity, as an intellect mercies a man of ignorance.”
Nedry burped and wobbled to the edge of the table, his belly poking out. He plopped into Sam’s lap and was asleep almost instantly, purring like a kitten.
“I will not prevent Evron from slaying Abbot,” she said with little sincerity. “But I do hope that he does not let his passions cloud his morality. I would prefer that he be vanquished without death. This world does not need more bloodshed than it already has.”
“Don’t we all.” Darwin sipped his wine and shuddered at its bitter taste. Alas, he raised his chalice. “A toast…to Sam Pierce and his quest.”
Calypso smiled. “Yes. To finding one’s destiny.”
The music of the sea was dull. Sam lay in the bed of a guest room, staring out a wide window at the endless ocean outside. Nedry was nearby in a much smaller bed, more like a crib, but he wasn’t sleeping soundly. He had wheezed and coughed through the night. Blood was soaking through his bandage, which had already been replaced twice. He was shivering even though it wasn’t cold. It didn’t look good. In that moment, the reality that he could lose his friend to the claws of death was beginning to scratch at the back of Sam’s mind.
There was an electronic ring. He sat up, pulled out his cell phone and answered the mysterious number, “Hello?”
In the background, he heard the muffled sound of gusting wind and powerful rain. Then, through that, frightened whimpering. “Sam Pierce…”
“Delaney! Can you hear me? Are you alright?”
“Where are you, Sam?”
“I’m…I’m in some city…some underwater city…but I promise I haven’t forgotten about you!”
“Come back to me, Sam…come back to me, please…”
“I am,” he said with uncontestable determination. “I am.”
“Please, just come back to—”
The phone went dead. Sam tossed it against the wall in anger, the shattered pieces scattering in all directions.
“Come back, Sam. Come back…” whispered Delaney over the relentless beeping of the heart monitor. She was alone only a few minutes, as John Pierce suddenly—and unexpectedly—walked in. “Excuse me.” Del rubbed away tears as she moved past the burly man and into the hall.
John sighed and closed the door. Then, slowly and quietly, moved toward his dying son and gently touched his arm…
The room rocked. Sam nearly fell to the floor. The thick window cracked but did not leak, a spider web of fractures cutting across the surface of the glass. Nedry jumped from his slumber as if waking from a horrible nightmare. An alarm sounded and the door flew open, Darwin storming through at the ready. “It’s here, lad! The great sea monster has returned!”
26
The Sea Monster
Citizens scattered all about the plaza, fleeing to the safety of buildings. Sam followed Darwin into the chaos, clutching Nedry under his arm. There was a powerful thump, thump, thump from above as the silhouette of the sea dragon struck the dome, sending chunks of glass raining to the tile below.
“Time to have some fun!” shouted Evron, who came running out of Neptune’s Galley, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. He turned to Calypso, who was hurrying her people to shelter. “Where’re the guns?”
“Guns? We don’t have guns, you imbecile!”
He looked taken aback. “No guns?”
“We don’t need such things in Atlas!”
“What kind of place doesn’t have guns?”
“A place where there has not been a single gun-related crime in decades, you idiot!”
“Oh, right…hmm…” He looked back up at the monster, which suddenly became far more intimidating. Abbot eventually gave up on the nearly-impenetrable atrium roof and went underneath the city, knocking out the elevator tunnel and smashing into the bottom of the platform at the center of the plaza. A hill of metal grew with each smack. It was obvious that it would not last much longer. “Well, I’m stumped…”
“What do we do, Sam Pierce?” asked Darwin, who looked as panicked as he’d ever seen him.
“I…I don’t know…” Sam scanned the marketplace, looking for some kind of blade, or knife, or—
He suddenly got yet another one of his brilliant ideas.
“Hold on!”
The constant, violent hammering of the monster’s head on the city’s underside rang unbearably through the dome. Sam took Nedry to a nearby alley and set him down. The baby was shaking uncontrollably. Terrified beyond its wits.
“Shh, it’s going to be okay.” He petted his head.
Nedry whimpered and nuzzled Sam’s hand.
“You stay here until I come get you, okay?”
He looked up with lustrous eyes the size of saucers. The message was clear: Don’t go.
“You’re going to be okay. I promise.”
He gave the shivering animal a final pat then rushed back out into the plaza, which had been emptied of bystanders. He waved Darwin over to a nearby statue and the two worked together to rip the decorative trident from its grasp.
“Hey, that ain’t a bad idea,” Evron said. “Try and grab a couple of ‘em so we can—”
&nb
sp; Smash!
The elevator door finally exploded open, letting in a tower of water as the mighty Abbot squeezed through as far as he could go, his massive serpentine body—dark blue on top, light blue on the bottom—blocking most of the flooding ocean. Whiskers like those of a catfish hung from its jaws, a webby sail ran down its back and gills flared open and closed behind its ears. Its roar was higher-pitched than Diakrino’s, like the screech of a banshee.
Evron froze. Abbot whacked him with its head, which was the size of an elephant’s body, and he went soaring through the air. He slammed into a building and slumped to the floor, knocked unconscious.
The sea dragon then turned its attention to Sam and Darwin and hissed like an angry snake.
“Stay back, lad,” commanded the giant as he stepped forward, the trident clutched in his hands and wrath in his eyes. He let out a war cry, furiously charged toward the beast, raised the weapon…and then was thrown back against a nearby wall, falling to the ground in a daze.
Sam gulped. “Well…that’s not quite how I was expecting this to go down…”
Abbot bowed in and gazed at the tiny human, skewered fish still flopping at the ends of its teeth. It moved closer, and closer, and closer…all the while Sam found himself paralyzed with fear.
“You might want to consider doing something else besides just standing there.” The Mysterious Figure emerged from a nearby building. He was wearing a bathing suit and snorkel. He spoke in his usual overly-calm demeanor while casually chewing on the prawns of a shrimp cocktail. “Maybe stand up for yourself?”
“He’s bigger than me…” Sam replied in a stupor as the monster moved even closer.
“Well, in that case I hope you at least run.”
“Run?”
Abbot opened his mouth and lunged, snapping its jaws shut just as Sam leapt out of the way and took off around the plaza, feet sloshing through the ankle-deep water. Like a dog chasing a car, the dragon hounded the little morsel, always coming within inches of grabbing him.
Farewell from Paradise Page 18