"Good," grinned the Ranger. "That makes this whole trip worthwhile. How do you plan to evade the army coming towards us?"
"We have already built hideaways in the desert," answered Garth.
"And they won't find us there?" the ranger asked skeptically. "You do realize that they won't give up looking after a day or two?"
"We have found a lost city under the sands," explained Garth. "It is well stocked with enough supplies to last four months, and it has a well. The Federation will not find us."
"Excellent," smiled Clint. "And after the Federation stops looking? Are we going to continue to strike out at them?"
"You know that we will," nodded Garth.
"Then those who died tonight have not died in vain," Clint nodded with sadness. "May we bring much more suffering to the enemies of Alcea."
* * *
Captain Gomery felt his body being catapulted off the deck of the Remora. He tried to wrap his arms around Haditha, but she was torn away from him as he splashed into the cold ocean water. He felt his body plummeting towards the ocean floor, but he could not halt his descent. He struggled with all his strength to rise to the surface, but he was so disoriented that he could not tell which way was up. Slowly his mind began to cloud, and his lungs began to ache for air. Eventually the strength fled from his arms and his legs, and his mind turned dark and empty.
In the darkness of that void was a tiny pinprick of light, and he concentrated on it as his last hope. Suddenly he felt lips upon his own and precious air was pushed into his lungs. He inhaled greedily, and the pinprick of light widened. Another breath, and another, and soon he felt strength returning to his body. His mind whirled uncomprehendingly, and he opened his eyes to gaze upon the face of an angel. The woman drew back from him and smiled at him. Captain Gomery stared in disbelief at the most beautiful face he had ever seen. The woman's face was perfectly proportioned, and the long flowing strands of her golden hair danced in the water as if in harmony to a tune of merriment and gaiety. She moved in close again and pressed her lips to his. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, feeling the rush of air invigorating his body.
The goddess withdrew again, and he thought he could almost hear her laugh merrily as she gently took his hand. She started dragging him through the water, and his eyes wandered down over her body. The woman was naked, but he saw that she wasn't truly a woman at all. Though half of her resembled the most perfectly formed woman he had ever imagined, the other half consisted of a tail covered in the scales of a fish. He shook his head as if to clear the image from his mind, for he knew that mermaids were merely imaginary creatures in the tales of drunken sailors. The mermaid halted and drew close again. She smiled warmly as her lips once more met his. Captain Gomery inhaled deeply and his mind began to turn dark once more.
* * *
Captain Gomery opened his eyes and immediately brought his hand up to shield them from the sun. He squinted at his surroundings and frowned in confusion. The captain was flat on his back on a large slab of stone at the water's edge. He sat up with great effort and squinted out at the sea. Not a ship was in sight, and the water was as flat as a lake. Slowly he got to his feet and turned around. The coastline he was on was a desolate stretch of land with large slabs of rock extending right down to the water's edge. What immediately struck him as odd was that the positions of the sun and moon showed it was early morning, but the water was to his north. If he had somehow been swept ashore after the destruction of the Remora, the sea should be south of him. Shaking his head with confusion, the captain decided to hike up the rocky slope to get a better bearing on his location. He had not gone very far when he heard a familiar voice.
"So you are alive," Haditha said cheerily. "I thought you were going to sleep the day away."
"Haditha!" grinned the captain as he turned and saw the water witch in the mouth of a cave.
He hurried over to her and embraced her. For several long minutes they merely hugged each other in silence. Eventually, Haditha broke the embrace.
"I am fixing some food for us," she said. "Come in and sit down."
Captain Gomery followed her into the cave and sat on the floor while Haditha added some seaweed to a concave rock filled with boiling water. He didn't think to ask what she was doing, for his mind was on another puzzle.
"How did we get here?" he asked. "And where are we?"
"We are on the Isle of Despair," answered Haditha. "Don't you remember how you got here?"
"Not really," frowned the captain. "I mean, I have memories, but I think they were merely dreams. I was hoping that you could shed some light on how we came to be here."
"What are your memories?" Haditha asked cautiously.
"It was a silly dream," shrugged the captain.
"I like silly dreams," smiled Haditha. "Tell me about it while I cook the meal."
"You will make fun of me," he said defensively. When the water witch did not respond, he continued, "I dreamt that I was rescued by a mermaid."
"A mermaid?" questioned Haditha. "What was she like?"
"She was incredible," Captain Gomery replied. "She was the most beautiful creature that I have seen. Everything about her was perfect. Her movements were graceful and fluid, her face and body were the very picture of perfection. It was a very pleasant dream."
"And you fell in love with her?" Haditha asked suspiciously.
Captain Gomery sat quietly for a moment reflecting on the question as he truly tried to determine his feelings. He had to admit that there were strong feelings in his dream, and he wanted to understand them fully. After a while he looked up at Haditha and smiled.
"I suppose in a sensual way I did love her," he admitted, "but not in the same way as I love you."
"Really?" Haditha asked in surprise. "What exactly do you mean?"
"She was the perfect woman," explained the captain, "and any man could easily fall in love with her, but only in a temporary sense of the word. My love for you is much richer than that. You are not the perfect picture of a woman, nor am I of a man, but I want to spend the rest of my days with you. The love I feel for you is not the makings of a dream, but rather the makings of a lifetime of happiness and joy."
"Interesting," Haditha grinned as she moved to the captain and kissed him. "And all these years I thought the lure of a mermaid could turn any man's head to mush."
Captain Gomery shook his head in confusion. With a great deal of suspicion, he asked again, "How did we get here?"
"It was not a dream," Haditha smiled with a twinkle in her eye. "Mermaids are real."
THE END
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Final Voyage of the Remora Page 57