The Neptune Project

by Polly Holyoke

  Lena turns her back on me. Gritting my teeth, I swim away from her. It’s so unfair that she’s giving me a tough time about being the leader when she wanted me to do the job in the first place. But nothing with Lena is fair anymore.

  I wonder if we’ll ever truly be friends again.

  WE MAKE GOOD TIME over the next several days. I worry, though, because we still don’t really trust one another. No one talks much to Dai, except Bria, Robry, and me. Thom hasn’t caused trouble with Penn, but he barely speaks to him, and Ree ignores him completely.

  Penn is quick to follow any orders I give him, but I think he feels that everyone still blames him for Kyel’s death. To make matters worse, whenever Tobin and I talk, Lena watches me resentfully. I try to ignore her because Tobin’s a good listener, and he’s one of the few people I feel like I can talk to at the end of a long, lonely day of trying to keep us all alive.

  Late in the eighth day after Kyel’s death, we run into a new danger.

  :Stop, everyone!: I tell the rest. :Sokya says there is a big jellyfish swarm ahead of us.:

  This isn’t good news. Ever since fishermen fished tuna, swordfish, and sharks, and netted sea turtles to the edge of extinction, jellyfish populations have exploded. Our seasuits will give us some protection from their stings, but in a dense swarm they could sting our hands and faces, and make us really sick.

  To make matters worse, we’ve been fighting a strong current that is carrying those jellyfish toward us. I have to make a decision, and I have to make it quickly.

  :We either have to head west, out to sea, or farther east, toward land, to avoid the swarm,: I tell the rest, trying to look calmer than I feel.

  :We’re near the edge of the continental shelf here,: Dai warns me.

  :I know, but every time we head closer to shore we encounter more boat traffic,: I reply.

  :I really don’t want to run into any more Marine Guard ships,: Lena declares.

  :Not being chased by divers has been nice for a change,: Kalli adds.

  I look at Dai. We both know predators like squid and the bigger sharks roam the area beyond the continental break, the place where the continental shelf ends. Beyond the break, the ocean floor slopes down to the abyssal plain, the deep, dark bottom of the ocean. But big predators are rare, unlike boats along the coast.

  :We’ll head out to sea,: I decide, :and hope we can get around this swarm pretty quickly. If we head west, though, I’m warning you guys, we may be swimming after dark for a while.:

  :That’s cool,: Ree says with a shrug, and the others seem to agree with her.

  Soon we start to lose the light. When the mass of jellyfish gets too close, I call the dolphins to come and give us tows. With their help, we’re soon speeding farther out to sea and staying clear of the leading edge of the swarm.

  I look uneasily into the black waters beneath us.

  :Mariah, how deep is it now?:

  :the bottom is farther than I can sense.:

  I swallow hard. That means we are probably past the continental break and swimming over the continental slope. I tell her I don’t want to turn north until we are sure we are past all of the stragglers along the edges of the swarm. Jellyfish are so translucent, they are hard for us to see at night.

  :it is safe to go north now,: Mariah says at last.

  Finally. :Let’s turn, and let me know when we can head inland again.:

  The dolphins continue to tow us because we’re tired, and I want to get us settled safely for the evening as soon as possible. We’ve only been heading north for a few minutes when the dolphins slow their pace and start clicking and sawing frantically.

  :What’s wrong?: I ask Mariah, cold shivers going down my back.

  :something big is coming up beneath us. it comes quickly!:

  I clench my speargun tighter and try to guess what could be under us. Maybe it’s just a whale.

  :squid, squid, squid!: Sokya cries.

  I struggle to control my panic. :Dai, everyone, the dolphins say a giant squid is coming up beneath us.:

  We’ve talked about this possibility before. Giant squid are fierce predators, and they are incredibly fast.

  :Spread out! We want to make it harder for it to grab more than one of us at once,: I call to everyone. I stare down into the black water. My heart is pounding hard against my ribs. Where is the thing? Maybe it won’t be a really big one.

  :Remember, the dolphins can’t help us outrun it, and they will be little help fighting it,: Dai tells us coolly. :Our only chance is to kill it with our spearguns before it can grab us and tear us with its beak.:

  Suddenly, a dark, roiling mass shoots up through the water beneath me. Fighting the urge to flee, I raise my speargun. I get a glimpse of wildly waving orange tentacles and arms. Then the monster reaches out. It grabs Thom!

  Thom shouts in pain as one of the squid’s tentacles wraps around his body. The sharp sucker cups on that tentacle must be slicing into his skin. I shudder when I catch a glimpse of an eye the size of a dinner plate and the squid’s diamond-shaped mantle. The creature is huge. Its head and mantle together are six feet long and its tentacles seem to stretch forever.

  :Aim for the eyes!: Dai and I yell. I watch for a shot. The squid’s arms are waving so wildly, they block any chance I have of piercing the creature’s eyes. Our group has spread out around it. Robry, Kalli, Lena, and Bria fire at the squid, but their darts only hit its many arms. Ree and Tobin try to move in closer, but the squid knocks them away.

  Thom yells and stabs at the squid as it pulls him toward its beak.

  Suddenly Penn is there, right beside Thom! He fires his speargun at point-blank range into the squid’s eye. The water around the squid fills with an inky, dark substance that makes it even harder for me to see what’s going on. Penn gets knocked away, but Dai swims in close and fires at the wounded monster. I blink when I see a small flash of light and hear a muffled bang. Does Dai have some sort of explosive spear dart? The squid shoots away from us, Thom still clenched in its tentacles.

  Dai motions to Ton, who races to give him a tow. I call Densil. I think he’ll be brave enough to help me go after the squid.

  :Everyone, stay together here,: I order. I won’t risk their lives when Thom may already be dead. :Check Penn and make sure he’s all right. Mariah, please ask the rest of the pod to stay here and keep everyone safe.:

  Then I call Densil. :We have to follow the squid. Can you sense it?:

  :it is not far.:

  :Will you take me to it?:

  :yes,: he says. I can feel his fear. Almost every species in the ocean steers clear of giant squid, for good reason.

  We race downward after Dai and Ton and the squid. As we approach, I see that the squid is still shooting out spurts of ink, but its arms are flailing about more slowly.

  :the squid is dying,: Densil tells me. :the tall boy shot something that made a hole in its head.:

  So Dai did use some sort of explosive dart on it. But the squid still has a tentacle completely wrapped around Thom. Densil pulls me near the squid as it quivers a final time. Then the dead monster begins to sink slowly toward the bottom, taking Thom with it. I watch Thom carefully, hoping for some sign of movement, but his body is as still as the squid’s.

  :Dai, we’ve got to get him loose.:

  :I know, but those sucker rings are incredibly sharp. We’re going to have to pull that tentacle away from him carefully, or we’ll slice Thom into hamburger.:

  I force myself to swim closer. Blue-colored blood trickles from the remnants of the eye that Penn and Dai destroyed with their speargun shots. I see a half dozen other cuts on the squid’s mantle. I slip between two of the squid’s arms and study Thom. His eyes are closed and his features are clenched in pain, but his chest is still rising and falling. My eyes burn with tears when I realize how much I’ve come to depend on kind, cheerful Thom. We can’t lose him!

  :Thom, a-are you still with us?:

  :I’m still here,: he moans. :But every
time I move, I feel like I’m wrapped up in barbed wire.:

  :We’re going to get you free.:

  :Good,: is all he says.

  :Steady him, will you?: Dai asks. I get a good grip on Thom’s big shoulders. Gently, Dai begins to pull at the tentacle that is wrapped completely around Thom’s body.

  Thom groans as Dai pries the tentacle loose. :Hang in there, tough guy.: Dai shakes his head. Then to me he says, :Somehow he got his dive knife out and stabbed this monster just about every place he could reach. Sea newbie or no, he put up an incredible fight.:

  :I think we should have squid for break—Argh!: Thom cries out as Dai tugs the last portion of the tentacle loose, and then Thom is free. Dai takes him in a lifeguard hold and starts kicking swiftly toward the surface.

  I realize from the pressure on my ears that the sinking squid has probably pulled us down at least a few hundred feet. I don’t know how much pressure my genetically altered body can take, but I don’t want to find out tonight. I follow Dai and Thom, and shudder when I catch one last glimpse of the mammoth creature sinking toward the ocean floor. Scavenger fish and three sharks have already appeared out of the darkness to feast on dead squid.

  I catch up with Dai and bite my lip when I see the small round cuts all over Thom’s torso. The squid’s sharp-edged suckers shredded his protective seasuit. It’s like the creature pressed a hundred razor-sharp bottle caps into his skin, and each of those cuts is bleeding now. With a shiver, I realize that pretty soon we’re going to be driving off sharks that want to feast on Thom, too.

  DAI CALLS TON, and the big dolphin gives both Dai and Thom a tow. I call Densil, who darts down from the surface, where he just went up to breathe, and he pulls me along beside Thom.

  :What’s happening, Nere? Are you guys all right?: Tobin contacts me worriedly.

  :We’re heading your way. The squid is dead, but Thom is pretty cut up. We’re going to have to find a safe place where you can treat him. How’s Penn?:

  :He’s a little bruised but otherwise fine.:

  When we reach the rest, they all crowd around while Tobin quickly examines him. Penn is hanging back, but Thom’s gaze finds him.

  :Hey, man, I owe you one,: he says. :That was some good shooting.:

  Penn ducks his head, but I can tell he’s pleased.

  Thom looks for Dai next. :You, too, dude. I don’t know what you shot into that sucker, but I think you blew up its brain.:

  :You would have killed the squid on your own eventually,: Dai tells him with a genuine smile. :You were doing a pretty good job of carving it into calamari with your dive knife.:

  Thom tries to smile at that, but his smile quickly turns into a grimace of pain.

  :What do you think?: I ask Tobin, fighting to stay calm.

  :I can wind two wide bandages around his body. That might help slow the bleeding, but I need to treat each of those cuts, and he probably has a hundred of them. That’s going to take some time.:

  :Okay, wrap him up as best you can for now. We need to get out of here.:

  Tobin gives Thom a sedative. Soon he has bandages wound around Thom’s chest, back, and stomach.

  We head out right away, Penn and Tobin carrying Thom while the dolphins take turns towing them. The rest of the pod swims in a protective circle around us as we head north, still trying to get past the last of the massive jellyfish swarm. My heart jumps when the first small blue shark appears. Densil chases it away, but the hungry shark returns and patiently follows us. Soon, other sharks appear, and the dolphins keep busy chasing off the smaller ones. Occasionally, Robry, Dai, or I have to shoot a larger shark, which triggers a feeding frenzy among the rest.

  :the water is clear now toward land,: Mariah finally says. With a relieved sigh, I tell everyone we can head toward the coast. We swim as fast as we can, but we’re all exhausted.

  :How is Thom doing?: I ask Tobin.

  :His pulse is strong but fast, and he’s still bleeding. I need to get those cuts cleaned out. Is there any chance that squid put some toxins into him?:

  :The beak of the giant squid is poisonous. We’ll have to see if it managed to slice him with that, and there’s a chance some of those cuts could get infected.:

  Tobin must have heard the worry in my tone. :Thom’s a strong guy. If anyone can pull through something like this, he can.:

  :If only I’d had the sense to take us inland,: I say bitterly. :This is all my fault.:

  :We all wanted to head out to sea rather than risk running into the Marine Guard.:

  :Dai didn’t, and I should have known better.:

  :Well, now you do,: Tobin says in a matter-of-fact way that makes me realize I made a mistake, but all I can do now is deal with the situation.

  Around midnight, Ton finds us a good-sized sea cave with an entrance so narrow that just one of us will be able to stand guard and hold off any sharks that come prowling in the night. We pile into the cave. I thank the dolphins for their help and send them off to feed and rest.

  We each volunteer to help Tobin treat Thom, but in the end he chooses Lena, saying she has the most gentle hands. I’m surprised that Lena volunteered, but then I guess that she probably wants to spend more time with Tobin. I assign myself to help, too, which earns me an irritated look from her. But Thom was hurt because I decided to take us beyond the continental break, and I won’t be able to rest until Tobin finishes caring for him.

  I tell everyone else to string their hammocks and get some sleep. I also assign sentry shifts throughout the night. Then I turn to help Tobin and Lena, who are gently pulling off Thom’s tattered seasuit. Tobin has given Thom another sedative shot, so now Thom is barely conscious and acting drunk.

  When Tobin starts cleaning Thom’s cuts, one by one, with that stinging antiseptic I remember only too well, Thom reaches out and grips Lena’s hand, and she lets him. Occasionally she even strokes his hair and forehead, which makes Thom smile blissfully despite his pain.

  While Tobin works on Thom, I glance around the sea cave. Dai seems restless. He keeps twisting around in his hammock. At last he sits up and puts on his fins and grabs his seapack and speargun.

  He meets my gaze across the sea cave. :I’ll make sure sharks don’t get too close,: he promises, and then he’s gone.

  I frown as I look after him. He must need to get some rest.

  :He never sleeps through an entire night,: Tobin tells me as he continues to methodically treat Thom’s cuts.

  :Are you sure about that?:

  :I’ve noticed him coming and going. He seems to only need three or four hours of sleep each night. The rest of the time he goes off prowling on his own.:

  :Why didn’t you tell me this before?:

  Tobin shrugs. :I figured it was pretty much his business.:

  :It’s our business if he gets himself killed.:

  :I think Dai can look after himself.:

  There’s nothing I can say to that, because it’s so obviously true. Still, there must be dangers in this sea too great for even Dai to handle on his own.

  :Be careful out there.: I reach out to Dai.

  :I always am.: At first he sounds annoyed, but then he adds, :I like that you’re worrying about me again.:

  :I can’t seem to help it. You were right. We shouldn’t have gone beyond the continental break. What did you fire at the squid, anyway?:

  :It was an explosive spear dart.:

  :That’s a handy thing to have.:

  :I only have three left, but this seemed like the right time to use one.:

  :Thom and I agree with you there.: I decide to push my luck. I’m getting tired of the mystery surrounding him. :Dai, why don’t you need as much sleep as the rest of us?:

  He doesn’t respond to my question for so long that I begin to wonder if he’s swum out of my mental range. :I guess someone spliced too many restless genes into me,: he replies at last with a bitterness I don’t understand. :I’ll be back in time to take my watch at four o’clock,: he adds, breaking off the contact.
/>
  By three in the morning, Tobin has finished treating Thom. The moment Tobin tells him he’s done, Thom sags back in his hammock and falls into a deep sleep. Lena volunteers to watch over him for a few hours more and keep small fish from nibbling at his cuts.

  :Do you think he’ll be all right?: I ask Tobin wearily.

  :It just depends on whether or not those cuts get infected and how strong his immune system is,: Tobin says as he packs away his first-aid gear. :He’s lucky the squid didn’t slice him more times with its beak. I only found one shallow cut on his chest.:

  :Dai says Thom was so busy stabbing it with his dive knife, the squid probably didn’t have a chance to attack the way it usually would.:

  :That squid definitely grabbed the wrong guy.:

  But what would have happened if the squid had grabbed Bria or Robry instead? One of them might be dead right now. Tobin must guess what I’m thinking, because he puts an arm around my shoulder. I feel so tired and frightened for Thom, I can’t help leaning in to him—even though I’m very aware that Lena is watching us both.

  :Hey, at the time, heading out to sea seemed like the best idea,: Tobin tells me. :And it’s what most of us wanted to do. This is your first mistake, and you’re just going to have to learn from it. Sometimes you’ll even go against what the rest of us want to do, but I trust your judgment down here. Everyone else does, too. That’s why we voted to make you leader.:

  :You don’t think I should resign after this?:

  :No way. You’re the only one who can keep us together and get us to your dad’s colony in one piece.:

  :I hope I start doing a better job, then,: I say, rubbing my eyes.

  :You’ll only be able to do that if you get some rest right now. By the way, we probably need to hole up here a day or two until Thom is stronger.:

  :That’s not such a bad idea anyway. I think everyone was getting worn out. Lena’s got those nasty blisters on her heels, and Bria’s hamstring is sore.:

  :See, that’s part of why you make a good leader. You are aware of each of us in a way that Kyel never was.: