The Neptune Promise

by Polly Holyoke

  “I’ll leave you two in a moment,” I say. “But first, I want you to tell us what really happened the day your wife died. You killed her, didn’t you? And all this while, you’ve let Dai think he was to blame.”

  Dai stiffens beside me, but my words have an even more dramatic effect on Kuron. He glares at me, his chest heaving in anger. “How dare you!” he sputters, his face flushing as he pounds a fist against the window.

  :Dai, link with me. This may be your last chance to find out the truth,: I plead with him, and then I plunge into his father’s mind.

  Kuron’s thoughts form a maelstrom of anger, fear and guilt. Images flash through his consciousness so swiftly they make me dizzy. Still, I force myself to strengthen the mental contact as I struggle to make sense of what I’m seeing in his memories. Dai’s mind joins with mine, a warm, steady anchor in the chaotic flow, and suddenly it’s easier for me to sync with his father’s thoughts.

  Through Kuron’s eyes, I watch him place a magnetic mine against the outer bulwark of a ship that must be the Storm Petrel. Just as he finishes arming the mine, a beautiful woman with long, dark hair rushes into the compartment. She sees the mine, and shock and dismay spread across her features.

  “What are you doing? You’re trying to sink us? Oh, Ran, you truly must be insane,” Idaine cries.

  She hurries across the compartment and reaches for the mine. Afraid it might go off and injure Idaine, Kuron grabs her and they struggle. Frantic to save her ship, she wrenches free of his grasp and lunges for the mine again. This time when he grabs her, he pulls her away from the mine with more force than he intended. She trips and falls backward. Her neck strikes the hard edge of a metal box with sickening force, and her face tightens with pain and surprise.

  As the air leaves her lungs and the light fades from her eyes, Kuron watches in anguish. I tear myself free of his memories because I’ve seen enough.

  “You told Dai that he killed his mother,” I tell him furiously, “but that’s not true, is it? You wanted her back, and you thought if you could sink her vessel, she’d be forced to return to you. So, after you put Dai through the Neptune transformation and she was busy tending him, you went below and set the mine. But she found you, you fought, and she fell and broke her neck.”

  Kuron stops pounding against the window and drops his hands to his sides. His gaze meets mine, and the crazed look fades from his eyes. His shoulders slump in defeat.

  “I-I never meant for her to get hurt. I just wanted her to stay with me.” Kuron turns to Dai, his face lined with sorrow. “Dai, you must believe me. I didn’t want to lose you, too, and I knew if I told you the truth, you’d never forgive me.”

  “So instead, you let me believe for all these years that I killed her?” Dai shakes his head in disbelief. “I can never forgive you for that. You made me think I’m a killer.”

  “You aren’t a killer. I’m the only one here guilty of murder.”

  “And now you’re threatening to murder many more,” I remind him. “If you fire a nuke at our c-plankton nurseries, thousands will die.”

  Kuron rubs his face with his hands. When he lowers them again, he looks bewildered and appalled. “I threatened to fire a nuclear missile?”

  “And you threatened to torpedo the freighter that’s loaded with the first shipment of Mom’s c-plankton,” Dai says. “If you want to honor her work and her memory, let that freighter pass and we can start to reverse climate change.”

  Kuron frowns, as if he’s struggling to concentrate on Dai’s words. “Yes, of course… of course that’s what we should do.”

  :Um, Nere,: Rad contacts me, :I just overloaded the weapon control panel, but before it shorted out completely, it sent a signal to two of the torpedoes to arm themselves.:

  :The controls that open their bays are totally cooked, too,: Robry adds. :Ocho has found a way to delay their firing, but we think both torpedoes are gonna blow up inside this sub within the next thirty minutes.:

  As if to confirm Robry’s words, red warning lights start blinking on the control panel behind Kuron. My insides clench with terror.

  “What have you done?” Kuron cries and turns to the controls behind him where buttons and lights flash ominously. His hands fly across the panel, keying in commands, but the warning lights continue to blink. After an endless minute, he turns back to us, his expression grave. The manic look is gone from his eyes. He stands straighter and he appears to be much more in control of himself.

  “Something’s wrong with the firing controls. Two torpedoes have armed themselves. I can’t fire them, and I can’t keep them from exploding. I’ll drive the Ophion out to sea, and if I can’t shut down the firing sequence, I’ll dive the sub as deep as I can. All the torpedoes on this sub could explode, and they still shouldn’t set off its four nuclear missiles. But you and your friends need to leave the Ophion at once.”

  “But I don’t want you to die!” Dai says as if the words have been torn from him.

  Kuron smiles at him sadly. “The best part of me died the day I killed your mother. I realize now that I haven’t been well for some time, but by making me face the truth, you’ve helped me to find a sane part of myself again. I don’t know how long the rational portion of my mind will stay in control, but I refuse to let the sick part take over again. Use your mother’s c-plankton to stop climate change. That’s what she would have wanted.”

  “Come on,” I urge Dai. “The faster we leave, the sooner he can get this sub out of here.”

  “Go. It’s better this way,” Kuron says. “I’m sorry I wasn’t a good father.”

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t a better son,” Dai says, his voice thick with grief.

  Kuron is already turning back to the control panel. I take Dai’s hand and pull him from the compartment. As we sprint for the waterlock, I tell Ocho, Robry and Rad to meet us there and I broadcast to everyone, including James, what’s happening. The moment we all leave the waterlock, Kuron’s sub pivots to head out to sea, his shredder patrol swimming along beside it.

  Just as the vessel finishes its turn, two rogue shredders flash out from behind the sub’s large conning tower. They race straight for the rest of our team, Julita and Miguel and the other salvies.

  chapter thirty-five

  Petrified for my friends and the salvies, I swim toward them as fast as I can kick. Dai, Ocho and the rest follow hard on my heels.

  :Janni,: I yell, :you’ve got two shredders coming at you from two o’clock!:

  :We see them,: she cries. Raising her spear gun, she darts in front of Julita and the other startled salvies. Thom and Kalli flank her, and all three fire at the charging mutates.

  The first one stops and convulses violently, spear darts protruding from its eye and mouth, but the second keeps coming. Rohan and Tobin fire at it, and Miguel rams his tow into its body before the shredder can savage Julita. Two other salvies shoot darts into its gills. The water fills with dark red blood as both shredders sink, jerking and twisting, toward the floor of the bay.

  :Nere, watch out for the shredder patrol!: Dai shouts.

  Cold fear floods through me. I twist about in time to see the six shredders speed past. The scent of blood and their hunger must have overridden the chips in their brains. Four shredders dart downward and tear at the wounded rogue mutates. The last two charge Janni’s group. One closes its jaws on a salvie’s leg and shakes him violently. The other salvies frantically fire spear darts into its head and gills.

  The last shredder rushes at Tobin. My heart stops. He’s still reloading his spear gun.

  :Tobin, look out!: I cry even as I strain to reach him, but I can’t get there in time.

  His dolphin partner Mali flashes past me and rams the shredder in the side. But the mutate keeps coming. Tobin tries to fend it off with his spear gun, and the creature chomps on the tip of the weapon angrily. Shadow swims up and fires a spear dart into its mouth. Then, armed with only her dive knife, she coolly shoots ink at the shredder from a gland in her n
eck. As Shadow grapples with the mutate, they disappear inside a revolving black cloud.

  Panting, I stop just outside it. I can’t shoot. I’m too afraid of hitting Shadow. Tobin hovers on the other side of the cloud, his face white and his spear gun raised and ready to fire. The ink thins a little, and Shadow backs away from the shredder. Just as it lunges forward and rakes her arm, Tobin and I shoot darts into its gills. The wounded creature twitches and stares at us balefully as it sinks into the dark sea below. Tobin grabs his med pack and goes to work on Shadow’s torn arm.

  Twenty feet beneath us, Dai, Penn, Ocho and the others fight the last of Kuron’s shredder patrol. When one of the mutates turns on Robry, Densil rams it hard in the gills. Freakishly fast, the creature reaches out and tears Densil’s back before he can streak away.

  Just as Ocho and Wasp finish off the shredder that injured Densil, there’s an ominous rumble in the distance. I glance down at Dai. From the stricken look in his eyes, I know we both fear the same thing.

  Trembling, I reach out to Sokya. :C-could you, Nika and Laki go see if that sound was caused by the sub exploding?:

  :we go to see,: Sokya says and arrows away with her sisters.

  :Don’t get too close to it,: I call after them, afraid more torpedoes might blow. If the nuclear missiles had exploded, I think the shock wave would have crushed us by now.

  I swim up to Shadow. Her eyes are closed and her face looks paler than ever as Tobin ties a compression bandage around her arm. :Will Shadow be all right?: I ask him anxiously on a private send.

  :She’s got some deep cuts, but she should be okay,: Tobin replies.

  :She just saved your life, you know. She’s pretty amazing.:

  :Yeah, I’m beginning to figure that out,: he says, a smile lighting his green eyes, and then he turns back to treating her.

  I glance over at the salvies. Rohan put a tourniquet on the leg of the teen boy savaged by the shredder, and now Julita and Miguel load him onto their tow. After raising their hands to us in farewell, they hurry away with their wounded companion. James will fill them in on what’s happening when they surface. I hope the boy makes it, and I hope that I get to see Julita and Miguel again someday.

  The dolphins crowd around Densil. I rush to check on my friend. The shredder’s claws scored three long gouges along his back. They don’t appear to be too deep, though, and dolphins do have amazing capacities to heal.

  :How do you feel?: I ask, pulling a salve from my seapack that my mother used on dolphin wounds.

  :I am glad the shark people are all dead now,: comes his practical reply.

  As I gently smear the salve into Densil’s cuts, I contact James. :Tell Cam the sub is gone and he can head out to sea.:

  :Roger that. You all right down there?:

  :It got ugly, but I think we’ve finally killed the last of the shredders,: I reply. I pray I’m right and we never see any of those cold, tormented creatures again.

  The water around us fills with throbbing thunder as the freighter’s engines shift into gear. I smile as the Esperanza passes over us, heading out to sea. Dai swims up beside me.

  :I think my mother would be happy to know her c-plankton is going to be spread throughout the oceans at last,: he says with a wistful smile as he looks up at the freighter.

  I stiffen when I spot Ocho and Wasp approaching us. Ocho holds one of Wasp’s gloved hands between his own.

  :Nere,: Ocho says, his face turning crimson again, :please tell your dad I’m sorry the bossman learned so much about Safety Harbor and your plans through me. The doc was great about letting me build my omniphone and making me feel welcome. I never meant to put anyone from Safety Harbor in danger.:

  :It was all my fault,: Wasp says. :When he talked with me, Ochy didn’t realize how much information I was passing on to the bossman.:

  :What are you two planning to do?: I wish I could offer them a home at Safety Harbor, but for now my father would never let Wasp be around his other Neptune kids.

  :We’re not sure,: Ocho admits.

  :There are eleven other Neptune colonies around the world, and they are all working hard to grow c-plankton,: Dai points out. :Maybe you could get a fresh start at one of them.:

  :Or if you stick around here and help our teams growing the c-plankton,: I suggest, :maybe you could win yourselves a place at Safety Harbor eventually.:

  :We’ll think about it,: Ocho replies for them both, and they swim away together into the black sea.

  :Good luck,: Dai calls after them. From his intent expression, I can tell he has something important to tell me, but Sokya contacts me first. I hold up a hand to stop Dai so that I can concentrate on her words.

  :the sub must have exploded,: she reports. :the water above it is very cloudy, but we can sense the sub lies in many pieces now along the canyon floor.:

  :The fact it’s in pieces means none of the nukes went off,: I say with relief. :The sub would have been completely vaporized if they had. Can you sense any tows or survival pods in the area that Dai’s dad might have used to escape before the explosion?:

  :the seas are empty,: Sokya says, her tone tinged with sadness. :he was a bad man, but we are sorry for your friend.:

  :Come back to us now, and thank you.:

  :you are welcome,: Sokya says, and for once there’s no snarkiness in her tone.

  I draw in a deep breath and focus on Dai. Sorrow and worry churn inside him.

  :That rumble we heard was the sub exploding, wasn’t it?: he asks.

  I nod. :I-I’m afraid the dolphins couldn’t find any tows or survival pods in the vicinity.:

  Dai bows his head in grief. I swim closer and wrap my arms around him, and he lets me, a final gift from his father.

  chapter thirty-six

  When Robry and I surface in a quiet cove along the south side of Catalina Island, it’s a beautiful, starlit night. We’ve come to say goodbye to Cam before we begin the long trip back to Safety Harbor with the rest of our team.

  A few minutes after we arrive, the Phantom glides into the cove. I’m startled when Cam dives off the bow into the water beside us. The dolphins surround him in a heartbeat. He takes hold of Mariah’s fin, and the dolphins tow the three of us to shore. We race across the tops of the gentle waves, a warm wind blowing in our faces while the dolphins’ wake shines silver in the starlight.

  “I forgot how much fun a dolphin tow can be,” Cam says with a grin as we wade through the surf side by side. For a moment, he looks more like the boy I used to know. Robry comes to stand beside me on the rocky shore, and Cam’s expression turns serious.

  “I’m grateful to you both,” he says. “When I dumped that first barrel of c-plankton into Lucinda Bay, I felt good for the first time in a long while. I’ll still design boats and sails for Scarn, but I’m not going to smuggle for him anymore. Instead I’ll smuggle supplies for your dad’s c-plankton nurseries.”

  “Dad said he’s putting you in charge of managing all of the c-plankton production here in LA,” I say. “I guess that means you’ll have to continue coordinating between the Rathenistas, Scarn’s smugglers and the scroungers while keeping an eye out for government soldiers and ships.”

  “It won’t be easy,” Cam admits, “but it feels like the right thing for me to be doing.”

  “I’m glad,” I say simply, and I am. His new job will be dangerous, but smuggling for Scarn was dangerous, too. At least now Cam is risking his life for something worthwhile.

  “So you’re leaving now,” he says, his voice gone husky as he stares at us.

  “The doc’s decided to rotate teams of us down here to pitch in when we’re needed,” Robry says. “The water along this coast is so polluted, it’s tough on our bodies and lungs. But Nere and I should be back here again in a year or two.”

  “I guess this is goodbye for now.” Cam steps forward, his arms go around me and I lean my head on his shoulder. “I never liked those stories where some poor sailor or fisherman falls in love with a mermaid,” he say
s, his voice a deep rumble beneath my ear. “They seldom have happy endings.”

  My eyes burn with tears. “It’s hard when landlivers and mermaids exist in different worlds, but I hope they can stay friends.”

  Cam tightens his arms around me, kisses my cheek, and steps back. “I will always be your friend. If you ever need help, send for me, and I’ll come.”

  Looking a little impatient, Robry wades into the surf. “Laki and I will race you guys back to the Phantom,” he challenges us, and he and Laki win easily. By the stern ladder of the sailboat, Robry gives Cam a final round of messages to pass on to his mother and brothers, and they hug one last time. Just as Cam turns to climb the stern ladder, Mariah bumps up against him, asking for a goodbye rub.

  “You take care of yourself, old lady, and take good care of Nere and my little brother for me,” he tells her gently. Then Cam climbs up the ladder and stands at the stern rail.

  “And you take care of yourself, Cam Cruz,” I say as I tread water. I smile when Ara moves to stand beside him, and he puts an arm around her waist.

  “I always do,” Cam replies. Sokya, Laki and Nika leap from the water in perfect unison and land on their sides, drenching the back deck of the Phantom. Cam laughs as he wipes seawater from his eyes. Ara smiles, too, and they both wave to us as we slip beneath the waves.

  Robry and I kick for the mouth of the cove. Our entire team waits for us there with the tows loaded and ready. Dai swims to meet me.

  :You okay?: Dai asks, searching my face. I’m touched by the concern in his dark eyes.

  :Yeah, I think I am. How about you?:

  :I’m still coming to terms with everything my father did,: he admits, :but I’m doing better.:

  It probably will take Dai some time to absorb that he wasn’t responsible for his mother’s death, but already I sense more peace and less anger in him. I swim forward and take Dai’s hand.

  :Let’s go,: I say.

  Tisi swims around us in a tight circle. :let’s go, let’s go, let’s go,: he gleefully echoes my words and makes me laugh.