The Neptune Promise

by Polly Holyoke

  I bite my lip and glance at Robry as he packs the radio away.

  “I’m sorry Dad said that—” I start to apologize, but Robry cuts me off.

  “It’s all right, Nere. I know my brother will be different,” Robry says quietly. “But I’m sure Cam would never hurt us. He can’t have changed that much.”

  ~~~

  At ten o’clock the following night, everyone gathers around one of the tows. Half of our group is going to escort Robry and me to our rendezvous with his smuggler brother. I’m touched because every member of our team volunteered to come with us, but in the end, Janni picked Shadow, Ree, Dai, Tobin and Rad—some of our most capable fighters. Thom wanted to come, too, but she ordered him to stay at the Alicante, much to his frustration.

  :Simmer down, Bigfoot,: Janni told him sharply when he protested her decision. :Remember our goals here. We need you to talk to Ty Rath. Our whole mission fails if you can’t get him to help us. We can’t risk you getting hurt or killed by a trigger-happy smuggler tonight.:

  In the end, Thom did accept her decision, but he still looks worried as we load up the tow with extra spear darts and Janni inspects our spear guns.

  :You be careful tonight,: Thom tells me gruffly on a private send. :Even up in our mountains above LA we heard about Scarn Kasporov and how ruthless he and his men can be.:

  :I promise we’ll be careful.:

  I glance at Tobin. I wonder if he volunteered because he knows how important Cam is to me. He doesn’t say a word as Rad settles himself in the pilot’s seat and we take our places around the tow’s pull loops. Instead, Tobin lays a comforting hand on my shoulder, and I smile at him.

  Dai, on the other hand, glowers at me, which he’s been doing ever since he found out this rendezvous was set for tonight. He grabs the pull loop next to mine. Anger and worry radiate through Dai’s mental shields as Rad starts up the tow.

  :Good luck,: our friends call after us as our tow speeds off into the black sea, Mariah and her family swimming all about us.

  I close my eyes and bury my face in my arm as the tow pulls us through the dark water. Dai has amazing night vision, and I don’t want him to see how worried I am. Will Cam bring some of his men to the rendezvous? Has he truly become as hardened as the rest of Scarn’s cutthroats? Has he thought of me at all this past year? I’ve often thought about him and hoped he was still alive. Why did he insist on seeing me again? As the tow pulls us steadily closer to the rendezvous point, my stomach feels like it’s tying itself into one big knot.

  Having Dai seethe silently beside me isn’t helping my anxiety. He knows, too, how much I care about Cam.

  :Just say it,: I tell Dai on a private send and turn to face him.

  :I’ve said it all before,: he bursts out. :I know you’re excited to see this guy, but you can’t ever be with a landliver, particularly one who’s a smuggler. They’re the worst sort of scum. He’s even more dangerous than I am.:

  :I’m just going to ask him to contact Ty Rath for us and try to convince Rath to come to the coast for a meeting with my dad.:

  :Can you honestly tell me that’s all you want from him?:

  I don’t know how to answer that question. Cam was my best friend in the whole world, and I was just starting to see him as something more when I was forced to leave Goleta. I’m not sure what I need from him now. Maybe I just want to know he was worried about me, or at least thought of me once in a while this past year. And I very much need to know he’s okay. Feeling Dai’s anxious gaze on me, I grow annoyed.

  :What I want from him is no longer any of your business,: I tell him coolly. :You lost the right to ask me questions like that when you broke up with me.: I turn away and face forward. I concentrate on feeling angry at Dai so I won’t feel so nervous about seeing Cam again.

  A half hour later we reach Forney’s Cove. We park the tow on the floor of the cove where we can reach it in a hurry if there’s any trouble. We all load our spear guns, and Rad checks the two small magnetic mines he brought. Robry and I didn’t want to bring those mines along because I can’t imagine we’ll need to blow up any boats tonight, but we were overruled by the others.

  I glance down at my wrist computer. Cam should be here in ten minutes. Just to make sure he’s not already here, I reach out with my telepathy but I can’t sense anyone nearby.

  :Sokya, can you and the rest of the pod spread out beyond this cove and listen for Cam’s boat?:

  :we go,: Sokya says excitedly, performing a barrel roll around me. :we will be happy to see him again.:

  Our spear guns loaded, Robry and I swim to the surface to look around. The cove’s rocky beaches are empty of boats. It’s a calm, hot night. The Milky Way shines like a glittering silver banner spread across a black sky filled with ice-white stars. The moon has already set, which is probably part of the reason Cam wanted to meet so late.

  We duck back under the surface to stay oxygenated until Cam comes. Mariah swims tight circles around us all, acting like a young dolphin.

  :What’s up with Mariah?: Shadow asks curiously.

  :Cam’s always been one of her favorite people,: I say, a lump forming in the back of my throat :She’s almost as excited as we are to see him again.:

  I jump when Densil contacts me.

  :a boat comes,: he says, sounding surprised. :it is so quiet and fast, we almost did not sense it.:

  As I look toward the surface, a boat glides into the cove, its propellers whispering through the water. Reaching out with my senses, I touch a familiar mind I haven’t felt in over a year.

  Cam is finally here.

  chapter twenty-five

  The propellers stop and the boat glides to a halt. The hull of the vessel is narrow and sleek. Beneath the water, it looks like one of the racing sailboats Cam used to design for rich Western Collective officials. I start to kick eagerly toward the surface, but Dai darts between me and Cam’s boat.

  :Before you rush up there, can you sense if there’s anyone with him? I think there are three people on that boat.:

  I want to argue with him, but the worry in his expression touches me. I close my eyes and concentrate.

  :I think there are at least two others with him,: I report to Janni and Dai.

  :I wish he’d come alone,: Janni says, her face tight. :All right, everyone, spread out, and keep your spear guns ready to fire.:

  :This isn’t a confrontation. It’s a reunion,: I say irritably.

  :Vival’s orders were clear,: Janni retorts. :We’re to keep an eye on both you and Robry throughout your talk with this guy.:

  :All right, but don’t wave your spear guns around if you surface. I’d be edgy and upset if I had five spear guns pointed at me.:

  I turn to Robry. :You ready, dartling?:

  :Oh, yeah,: he says. He sprints for the boat, and I hurry after him. We surface just off its stern, and I hear one of Cam’s crew swear in surprise.

  “Where did they come from?” he asks.

  “They left their scuba rigs on the bottom,” Cam tells the others, his voice deeper than I remember. I’m relieved to know he hasn’t told them that we’re genetically engineered to breathe seawater.

  “There’re more divers beneath us,” a female voice says, “but I can’t get an exact count because there are too many feffing dolphins racing around.”

  “Those dolphins are a good indication that these are the two we’ve come to meet,” Cam says.

  Moments later, he appears at the stern rail of the boat. Before Robry or I can say anything, Sokya leaps out of the water in a spectacular jump and lands flat on her side, dousing Cam and the young man standing beside him. Laki and Nika decide they need to show off, too, and more water ends up drenching the stern deck.

  Cam’s companions curse in surprise. He just wipes the water from his eyes, his face inscrutable.

  “Sokya and her sisters haven’t changed much,” he says, looking down at Robry and me.

  “I-I’m sorry about that,” I apologize. “The dolphins ar
e just so happy to see you.”

  “I’m glad to see them, and you two,” he says, but his voice is cooler than I remember, and more controlled.

  “Someone else wants to see you,” I say. Mariah lolls in the water beside me and cranes her head so she can see him better.

  “Hey, Mariah,” he says, and for the first time I hear emotion in his voice.

  Moving with the lithe grace I remember so well, Cam steps over the stern rail and lowers a small platform until it rests a foot off the water. Mariah moves closer, and he kneels down and reaches out to rub her favorite spot in front of her dorsal.

  “You are looking good for an old lady with so many grandchildren,” he says and then glances at me. “She used to watch us just as carefully as our parents did.”

  “She’s still that way,” I say.

  :he is all grown up now,: Mariah tells me, her tone wistful.

  :I know,: I say, wondering if I even know this cool, reserved young man anymore.

  Cam lowers the stern ladder. “Come aboard the Phantom,” he says.

  Robry scrambles up the ladder, but I hesitate. I notice that Cam is wearing a solar pistol in a holster as is the young woman standing behind the stern rail watching us suspiciously.

  Suddenly, our whole underwater team surfaces in a half-circle facing the rear deck. Despite what I asked Janni earlier, they’re all carrying spear guns and have them trained on Cam. Dai looks like he’s considering shooting him this very instant. Cam’s crewmembers swear angrily, draw their solar pistols, and move to stand beside him.

  Cam stays completely still and keeps his hand away from his pistol. “Friends of yours?” he asks me laconically.

  “You should know we’ve placed a small mine on your propeller,” Janni declares. “If you decide to take your brother or Nere from this cove, we’ll blow it, and your boat won’t be going anywhere.”

  Cam straightens up, and I feel the fury flooding through him. Anger surges through me, too. Before Cam can say anything, I turn on her.

  “Janni, even if this was Vival’s idea, it’s a really bad one. Rad, take your mine off that propeller right now, or I won’t meet with Cam and this mission is over.”

  “Rad follows my orders,” Janni snaps, “and my first responsibility is to make sure you and Robry stay safe.”

  :But tonight is all about establishing trust, and this is a lousy way to start,: I say fiercely to Janni and the others. :Their boat is the only way they can survive on this coast. You just threatened their very lives.:

  Janni is quiet while she considers my words. “All right,” she says grudgingly, “we’ll take the mine off.” She nods to Rad, and he disappears under the water.

  “You should know, though,” she warns Cam, “that we have other ways of disabling your boat if you try to leave here with Robry or Nere aboard, or harm them in anyway.” I wonder if she means Rad could short out his engines. I don’t ask. Instead, I sigh as the rest of our team slips beneath the water again. Dai goes last, after sending Cam one last scorching look.

  Cam clears his throat and his crew holster their pistols. Now that they’re all standing on the stern deck, I can see them better. The girl is slim but strong, with short dark hair and brown skin. She’d be pretty if she weren’t scowling at me. The lanky young man standing beside her is very fair and wears a scraggly beard. His cool blue eyes study me just as carefully as I’m studying him.

  “Some interesting friends you have there,” Cam says to me in a dry tone. “I swear you’ll be safe if you come aboard. I don’t trust most of Scarn’s men, but I trust Ara and Den here with my life. We were in the Bernadino Moral Improvement Camp together.”

  He turns and hugs Robry, and Cam murmurs to him in Spanish. When I reach the top of the ladder, I look around me in amazement. Above the water, this is the oddest sailboat I’ve ever seen. The sides are smooth and angular, flaring toward the water, and its short mast appears to be extendable. The entire boat is painted slate gray, probably to help camouflage it.

  Cam tells his two crewmembers, “Head back to your instruments and keep your eyes peeled for the Marine Guard.”

  Ara shoots us one more suspicious glance before she follows Den forward.

  “The dolphins will keep watch for you, too,” I say. “Remember, they can hear boats miles away.”

  “I forgot they are almost as good as radar,” Cam replies, “and probably better in some situations. Scarn and I could use a dolphin trainer if you ever get tired of the weather up north.” A shiver runs down my back at how casually he mentions Scarn’s name.

  Cam crosses his arms and leans back against the stern rail, watching Robry and me both. I feel my face heat.

  “You’ve both grown up,” he says abruptly.

  “So have you,” I murmur. I can see him well in the starlight. He truly is a young man now, with dark stubble shadowing his cheeks. He used to be strong from hauling nets and lines on his father’s fishing boat, but his chest and shoulders have filled out even more. He wears his dark, curly hair shorter, and his face has a hard, watchful look that’s new.

  “So, the transformation worked for both of you,” he says, and it almost sounds like an accusation. Is he angry with me for being part of the Neptune Project? It’s not like I had a lot choice in the matter.

  “It worked, all right,” I reply into the awkward silence.

  “Your mother said it would, but a part of me never truly believed her.”

  “How are Mama, and Papa and Carlos and Niko?” Robry asks impatiently. “We’ve gotten no news about them for months now.”

  Cam’s cool mask slips for just a moment as he looks at Robry. “I thought you knew.” He steps forward and grabs Robry in a hard hug. “Papa is dead.”

  Robry stiffens in surprise, and then he accepts it. He leans his head on Cam’s shoulder and starts crying in harsh, tearing sobs. I bow my head and cry, too, as I remember their father. Arturo Cruz was quiet man with a face weathered by the long days he spent on the water. As hard as he worked fishing, he still took joy in his boat and the sea, and he loved each of his children.

  When the first wave of Robry’s tears pass, he steps back from Cam and wipes his face on the sleeve of his seasuit. “How did it happen?”

  “When the government forced them to move inland, away from the sea and everything he knew, it was just too hard for him. Mama said he tried to be strong for Juan and Carlos, but one day while working out in the fields, he dropped dead. They said the heat overloaded his heart, but I think they broke it the day they burned the Sandpiper.” Cam’s voice vibrates with anger and hatred.

  “By the time I managed to escape from the Bernadino camp, Papa was already dead. I found Mama and the boys and smuggled them across the border to Mexico. People are poor there, but they are much freer than they are here. I see her every time I make a run down that way. She sews sails for us, and I take the boys materials to make boats. They live better now than they ever did in Goleta.”

  “I’m glad you’ve been able to do that for them,” Robry says. “I-I’m sorry I couldn’t help any of you.”

  “It helps Mama to know that you are alive and free in a way the rest of us can never be. But now we’d better get down to business. It’s safer for us if we don’t stay in one place for long.”

  Cam turns away from Robry to study me. “So, why did your father want you to meet with me so badly?”

  I take a deep breath and launch into an explanation of why we’ve come and how important the c-plankton is. Halfway through, I notice with a sinking heart that Cam is frowning.

  He interrupts me mid-sentence. “So, this is all about another crazy scheme to save the planet?” He shakes his head in disbelief. “I wish your dad had told me that up front. He could have saved us all a lot of time and effort. Crackpot scientists around the world have claimed they’ve finally found the solution to stop climate change, and then their solutions fail, every single bledding one of them, and the planet just keeps getting hotter.”

 
; “But this one won’t fail.”

  “Oh yeah? Spreading genetically engineered phytoplankton throughout the oceans sounds just as crazy as pumping carbon dioxide into space or into salt caves, and we know how well those plans worked.”

  “It’s not a crazy scheme,” Robry says. “I’ve run some of the tests myself, and the results are amazing. This strain of phytoplankton can and will pull the carbon dioxide from the air and sequester it at the bottom of the ocean when it dies. It’s incredible.”

  “Well, I’m not risking my skin or my business relationship with Ty Rath for such an incredible scheme.”

  “Maybe we should try talking with Scarn and see if he’ll contact Ty Rath for us,” I say, starting to get angry.

  Cam lets go a harsh laugh. “That’s a brilliant idea. Scarn doesn’t care about saving the planet. He just wants to make money. He lets me smuggle arms to Rath’s forces because there’s plenty of profit in it for him, and I know the weapons I get to Rath’s guerillas will be used to kill Western Collective soldiers.”

  “And many of those soldiers are just scared kids who are being forced to fight. I can’t believe that terrible camp changed you so much,” I say, searching his hard face for some sign of the boy I knew.

  “Seeing men, women and children get starved and beaten to death tends to change your perspective.”

  “I’m so sorry you had to endure that,” I say more softly.

  “Yeah, so am I, and it was all because I wanted to say goodbye to you.”

  I draw in a breath, pain lancing through me, and Robry glares at him.

  “I’m sorry, Nere. I shouldn’t have said that,” Cam says. I catch regret and longing in his expression before he swings away to look over the stern rail. “That morning at Tyler’s Cove, I wanted to see both of you and make sure you were okay before you left. I knew the risks.”

  When he turns back again, his face is composed again. “It’s too bad you came all this way for nothing, but I am glad to know you’re both all right.”