The Neptune Promise

by Polly Holyoke

  ~~~

  The next morning a sharp rap on my door wakes me from a sound sleep. As I force my eyelids open, Dai swims just inside my cabin.

  :You all right?: he asks as I scramble out of my hammock. His tone is brusque, but he seems to be looking me over carefully.

  :Considering I’m a prisoner on a sub surrounded by rogue shredders and I’m stuck hanging out with a bunch of kids who hate my guts, I’m doing great.:

  For a moment, his mouth twitches as if he’s holding back a smile at my sarcasm, but then his frown returns full force. :You can mouth off to me, but if you want to stay alive, I meant what I said yesterday. Keep your head down and don’t make my friends angry with you.:

  :You know, all this concern almost makes me think you still care about me.:

  :I don’t care, but I also don’t want my dad angry at us again. Be in the mess in ten minutes,: he says and closes my door again, but he doesn’t lock it.

  Stifling my hurt, I re-braid my hair and take care of personal matters. I still have five minutes before breakfast, and I plan to use those to scout around the sub. If I try to escape, I want to make sure I don’t set off any alarms. I open my door and look up and down the long passageway. The others aren’t out and about yet.

  I slip out of my cabin and swim toward the stern, reading the labels on each door as I pass. The labels look old and sound a lot like military terminology. Now that I think about it, this sub seems old compared with Atlantea where everything was brand new. Here the gray paint is beginning to dissolve off the steel doors and bulkheads. I wonder uneasily where Kuron got the Ophion and what it was used for before he bought it.

  By the time I reach the end of the passageway, I haven’t found anything that looks like a control room. It must be located in Kuron’s section of the sub. When a cabin door opens down the hall, I hurry to the mess. I wait there until the others arrive, looking grumpy and tired.

  This time I don’t talk at all as we eat more stale tuna. Kuron’s kids seem so down about going back to the wreck again, they don’t talk much either. After we finish, Dai leads us to the equipment compartment outside the waterlock.

  As we wiggle into our heavy seasuits and plug in our heating packs, I notice Wasp pulls on a hood, too, but I’m smart enough not to comment on her new headgear. When everyone’s ready, we swim into the waterlock and Whitey pulls the hatch shut behind us. While we wait for the pressure to change, I can’t help remembering that hungry shredder charging at me out of the blackness. My gut feels like it’s twining like an octopus. I’m actually glad to see the others all have their spear guns loaded and ready.

  :Today we’ll search the forward salon and my family’s quarters again,: Dai announces into the tense quiet.

  :Bro, we’ve looked there two times already,: Sham protests, frustration radiating off him.

  :We’re going to look there again,: Dai says evenly. :Big guy, I have a different job for you today. I want you to place a light by the amidships top hatch. Hide in the hatch and if you lure in a shredder, close it fast, but if you manage to lure a squid, shoot it and we’ll have that for lunch.:

  :Now you’re talking,: Sham says, looking a great deal happier.

  The signal light in the chamber goes green, and the others raise their spear guns. I really wish they’d let me have a weapon. Dai opens the door, and Sham and Whitey go first and hover just outside the hatch, scanning the water between the sub and the wreck. I remember that Whitey’s shark DNA allows him to sense electrical currents and Sham’s orca genes give him the ability to echolocate.

  :That’s weird,: Sham says, looking toward the bow of the wreck. :There’s a rogue shredder just hanging out beyond the reach of our dive lights. I think it’s watching us again.:

  :I’ll tell my father to bring his shredder patrol to chase it off,: Dai says and keys his wrist computer.

  :How can you be sure one of those rogue shredders won’t follow us inside the wreck?: I ask Dai as we wait.

  :Because we’ve closed all the hatches and portholes,: Dai replies, :and all the bulkheads on the ship are still intact. There’s no way the shredders can get below deck on the Storm Petrel.:

  :But what about that big hole in her port side?:

  :Yesterday we left the hatch sealing off that compartment open because I sensed you were coming,: Wasp replies. :We hoped you Neptune idiots would wander right into our ambush, and you did.:

  Wasp turns to Dai, her amber eyes glittering. :I don’t think Nere should team up with you again today. If you do, I might have to tell the bossman you still like her.:

  :All right,: Dai agrees so easily that more pain shoots through me. He truly must not care about me anymore.

  Wasp’s smile is triumphant, which means she probably just read my thoughts. I’m dying to say something snarky to her, but I remember Dai’s warning and stare at my dive fins instead.

  :Here comes our back up,: Whitey announces.

  I look up in time to see six shredders swim past the waterlock in perfect unison. Their muscular arms drift below their torsos while their jaws, bristling with teeth, hang open. I reach out with my mind to touch their emotions. They’re still hungry and as angry as ever. I shiver as I watch them disappear into the blackness. Using starving shredders to protect us seems crazy dangerous.

  :The rogue sharkhead took off,: Sham reports. :I can’t sense it anymore.:

  :All right then, let’s move,: Dai says. He races across to the wreck and I follow hard on his heels. He cranks the circular latch and pulls the hatch open. Once we’re inside, Dai tells Wasp and me to search the forward salon. As he swims off to search his mother’s cabin, I bite my lip. This must be so hard for him.

  :Stop worrying about your ex-boyfriend and get to work,: Wasp tells me harshly.

  :He’s never been my boyfriend,: I toss back at her.

  :Which proves you’re even dumber than I thought,: Wasp says, shaking her head. :You never should have let Ice go.:

  She starts searching one end of the salon and I start on the other. Even though we move slowly and carefully, soon dense clouds of silt form in the water. I’ve just straightened up from looking under the old table when Wasp lunges at me from one of those clouds, her bare hands reaching for my face.

  I jerk backward and bring up my fins to hold her off. I don’t kick her in the face, afraid that if I hurt Wasp, I’ll just make her and the others angrier with me.

  She lowers her hands and laughs at me. :You should be afraid of every one of us. I was just making sure you’re staying alert.:

  :Shells, what is wrong with you?:

  :I’ll tell you what’s wrong,: Wasp swims closer to me, her eyes slitted in the beam of my torch. :We don’t have a home anymore, thanks to you and your darling friends. Now we’re stuck in this freezing, dirty wreck because your obsession with the c-plankton has made the bossman realize just how valuable it could be. Oh, and every time we head outside, we have to worry about being torn to pieces by out-of-control sharkheads.:

  :You could always leave Kuron, you know,: I can’t help saying.

  :Where would we go? The ocean isn’t the safest place, and we’re not welcome at your perfect, happy Safety Harbor, are we? You let sweet little Sunny and Shadow and Ochy and the sparkhead go with you, but the rest of us weren’t invited.:

  I stare at her, surprised at the bitterness and hurt leaking through her shields. I never considered whether she liked living with Kuron. But how could I take a girl who stings people when she’s angry back to Safety Harbor? She almost killed Tobin, and she and Whitey did kill Mako.

  :Everything all right in here?: Dai appears beside us.

  :Nere and I were just having a little girl-to-girl talk,: Wasp says airily. :Even though it’s seriously tempting, I still haven’t stung her.:

  :Good. Don’t. I don’t want to have to treat her. That would be a major time sucker,: he says, already turning away.

  Wasp and I both go back to our searching. Now I’m even more on edge as I try to keep an ey
e on Wasp. That doesn’t exactly help me focus on finding Idaine’s computer.

  Sometime later, a psychic shout rings out so loudly that I jump and my head rings. :Hey, I got one. We’re having Humboldt calamari for lunch!: Sham yells.

  :Nice job, big guy,: Dai calls to him. :Go ahead and carve it up and we’ll meet you in an hour.:

  We meet in the Storm Petrel’s mess at noon, and Sham hands out chunks of fresh squid to each of us. I have to admit, Sham’s squid is a big improvement on the old canned tuna we’ve been eating. Everyone seems a little happier after a good meal and we return to our search. Wasp jumps out at me again right as I finish looking through a big locker. This time I’m so startled, I jump back and slam my shoulder into a bulkhead.

  As she goes off into peals of laughter, I say nothing and go on searching, but my shoulder aches for the rest of the afternoon. After we finish examining every inch of the salon, I go forward to see what Dai wants us to search next. He’s still going through his own cabin. I notice there’s a small cabin right across from his with its door shut. I poke my head inside. The water is so clear, it’s obvious no one has searched it yet today.

  :Should I look through this little cabin over here?: I ask him.

  He erupts from his berth a moment later, his face twisted in anger. :No one goes in that cabin,: he yells at me.

  :Fine,: I say, closing the door and fighting back my tears. Between Wasp’s and Dai’s taunts and being exhausted from working in the cold, heavy water, I’m close to losing it.

  :Then where do you want us to search next?:

  :Go search the engine room,: Dai says tightly.

  Wasp swims up behind me in the passageway. :That was Maia’s cabin,: she explains without my asking, her face expressionless before she turns away to lead me down to the lower deck. Even though she’s shielding her emotions, I still can feel her guilt and sadness. Dai’s little sister Maia died after Wasp stung her in a fit of temper back when they both were young. Which probably explains why Wasp is so messed up. She sends me such a furious look over her shoulder, I concentrate on not thinking about anything after that.

  We’ve just started searching the big engineering area when I feel a different mind nearby. It’s so cold, angry and hungry, I must be touching the emotions of a shredder passing by the wreck. I shudder and go back to my searching. But my contact with that mind doesn’t fade. It keeps getting stronger and stronger.

  :Um, Wasp, do you feel that?: I ask her at last.

  :Yeah, I sense it, too,: she says. :The sharkhead must be hovering right outside the wreck. They do that sometimes.:

  But this mind feels so close and it’s getting closer. Uneasily, I shine my dive torch around the black compartment. They said a shredder couldn’t get inside the wreck, but I can’t stop myself from checking.

  :Keep that light away from me,: Wasp says crossly.

  I’m just about to shine it back on the engine I’m searching when the light from my torch plays across a long, pointed snout and dull gray eyes.

  :WASP, MOVE!: I yell at her. :There’s a shredder in here!:

  chapter fourteen

  Wasp looks up and spots the shredder just in time. Fast as a startled minnow, she flashes behind one of the engines right as the mutate reaches out to grab her.

  I back up toward the door behind me. If I duck through the doorway and seal it shut, I’ll be safe, but I’ll be leaving Wasp to be torn apart by the shredder. I can’t leave anyone, even her, to be killed so horribly.

  My blood racing, I look for something to hold off the mutate. I spot a length of old pipe lying on the deck, catch it up and shout, :Wasp, swim for this door!:

  She darts toward me, the shredder so close behind her that it grabs one of her dive fins. Desperately she kicks off the fin and keeps swimming. I raise the pipe. My timing has to be perfect.

  A second later, Wasp passes me and races through the door. The creature charges, its mouth open, its clawed hands reaching for my body. I slam the pipe down on its snout as hard as I can. The shredder rears back, and I twist about and sprint through the door.

  Wasp slams it shut and cranks down the latch. We stare at each other, panting and shaking. Deep booms echo through the water as the frustrated shredder rams against the heavy metal door again and again.

  :T-that was too close,: Wasp gasps, :but how did that thing get inside the wreck?:

  Before I turn away from the door, a flicker of movement catches my eye. The circular latch is turning.

  :That’s how,: I say, lunging for the door. :The shredder must have figured out how to open it.: My hands shaking, I use the pipe to jam the latch so that it can’t turn.

  Wasp and I stare at the latch. It turns another inch, but then the pipe stops it.

  :What if that shredder tries the other hatches?: she asks, her eyes wide with horror.

  :We’ve got to tell the others to fasten every working hatch that leads outside.:

  Whitey, Dai and Sham appear in the passageway moments later, their spear guns raised.

  :What happened?: Dai asks us.

  :I-I think the shredder that’s been watching us must have figured out how to open the hatches,: Wasp tells them. :It came after me in the engine room. Nere smashed it on the nose and we both got out through this door. But then we saw the latch turning after we cranked it down, which means that mutate was trying to open it.:

  Dai frowns at the latch. :They must be smarter than we realized.:

  Whitey’s looking at Wasp. :So, let me get this straight. You’re saying the Neptune princess here just saved your life?:

  Wasp shrugs. :Yeah, I guess she did. She was closer to the door and she could have gotten out and left me there to be shredded, but she didn’t.:

  Whitey stares at me like I’m a problem he’s trying to solve.

  :She rescues people, bro. It’s what she does,: Dai says. :Don’t let it throw you. We gotta get all the hatches fastened so we don’t have to worry about a freakishly smart mutate coming after us again. Wasp and Nere, you take all the hatches forward from here. The guys and I will take the rest. Let’s go.:

  Wasp and I hurry forward and start fastening hatches. I feel her gaze on me as we work together to find pipes and bars to jam the latches shut.

  :Why’d you do it?: she asks suddenly. :I’d think you’d want to kill me yourself after what I did to Tobin and Mako. You could have let the sharkhead do your killing for you.:

  :I don’t want to kill anyone. I just want to find those c-plankton notes and go home.:

  :Well, don’t think this changes anything.:

  :Don’t worry. I won’t,: I say bitterly.

  :Got here just in time,: Whitey shouts a few minutes later. :That mucker was trying to get in by the stern deck hatch.: The notion that a smart shredder might keep trying to find its way into this grim, black wreck makes me quiver.

  :I think we’ve done enough for today,: Dai calls to us all after we finish securing every hatch. He asks his dad to use the shredder patrol he still controls to clear the waters between the wreck and the sub. When they finish, we hurry into the waterlock.

  As we wait for the pressure to change, Whitey rubs his face tiredly. :Ice, you gotta tell your dad that a sharkhead got inside the wreck. If they can figure out how to open doors, they might figure out other ways to come after us.:

  :I know,: Dai says. :I’ll tell him.:

  :For all the good it will do,: Wasp says, her face paler than ever.

  After we strip off our heavy seasuits, we swim to the mess. No one talks as we force ourselves to eat the last of the squid that Sham shot.

  Even though I’m so exhausted that I just want to tie myself into my hammock and sleep for a week, I ask Dai to stay after dinner to talk. Wasp starts to protest, but then I stare at her and she slips away without saying another word. She said that my saving her life wouldn’t change anything, but she owes me now, and she knows it.

  :So, what’s on your mind?: Dai asks impatiently. :I’m tired and I still need to talk
to my father.:

  I cross my arms and meet his gaze. :This isn’t working. Looking for one small hydro-computer in that big wreck is like looking for a needle in a haystack.:

  Dai lifts one eyebrow. :I’ve never actually seen a hay-stack, have you?: he asks in his dry way, and for a moment, it almost feels like it used to between us.

  :You know what I mean.:

  :Yeah, I do know,: he says, running a hand through his hair. He does that a lot, which makes me wonder if he misses his braids. :The search is wearing us down, and sooner or later, a sharkhead is gonna get one of us. Wasp probably would have been killed today if it weren’t for you. So, what’d you have in mind?:

  I blink, surprised he’s willing to hear me out. After seeing Maia’s cabin today, it occurred to me that we’re going about the search all wrong.

  :You’re not going to like my plan, but I think it’s the only way we’re going to find your mother’s computer. We do have two witnesses who saw what actually happened when the Storm Petrel went down—your father and you. We need both of you to try to remember exactly where your mother went and what she did in the hours before her ship sank.:

  Dai swings away from me and places a hand on a nearby bulkhead. :You d-don’t know what you’re asking,: he says, his voice strained.

  I feel a tidal wave of guilt and sadness roar through him.

  :It’s bad enough that my dad is forcing me to go through her ship again and again. Now you want me to remember the worst day of my life?:

  :I’m so sorry,: I say, and I am. :But your father is going to make us keep searching until we find your mother’s computer or we all get killed by his shredders. If we can figure out exactly where your mother went on the ship before she died, we have a better chance of finding her computer. And if we do find it, you can let her ship and her memory rest in peace.:

  He’s silent for so long, I’m sure he’s going to say no. But then he takes a deep breath and turns to face me. :You’re right,: he says, his face stony, :but my father will never talk about that day with us. So I’ll tell you what I remember.: