Bonded by the Sea

by Victoria Mercier

  Lieutenants and the old man stopped their struggle. It was impossible to say who was winning. Gooseflesh spread all over Toggy’s body under their predatory stares. Something wasn’t right. They were glaring at him, instead of… Toggy’s head swiveled and horror gripped his heart.

  Riss was gone.

  His mouth gaped in a lame attempt to explain himself, but the punches connected with his jaw before a word could even form in his mind. The world went black.

  Chapter 20

  Ines

  She had been taken back to her cell where she spent the rest time of the voyage. The room had no windows and the lamplights outside were on all the time. The only sense of movement came from a gentle sway of the ship and the peculiar bond that formed between her and Pace. Ines knew that wherever she was heading, she was moving away from him.

  The interrogator hasn’t returned, but he didn’t need to. Whatever he’d done to her was enough. It felt like rape on her mind, and the wounds slowly healed. Ines had a vague feeling that in the middle of that terrifying experience Pace had appeared in her thoughts and guided her. Did he really show her how to repel pain? How to preserve sanity?

  It must have been him. Why my memories of his intervention corrode so quickly? Ines grappled every thread of his presence. If not for the bond, she would go mad.

  Ines guessed that five days have passed since the interrogation when the men in black came to collect her. They weren’t chatty or insolent, just indifferent. They had shackled her, then led her to the stairs that made her legs burn from exertion. When they emerged outside, her eyes squeezed painfully bombarded by the natural light.

  They stood on the deck of the largest ship she has ever seen. It didn’t have sails. Instead, three gigantic chimneys shot up into the sky. Looking up at them gave her vertigo. She broke away her eyes from the confusing sight and glanced at the horizon.

  A wall.

  In all directions, she could see a huge wall emerging from the sea. There was a gate too that now, was closing. These men had an island surrounded by the wall built in the sea? The sheer magnitude of the vision made her imagination stutter. What was the Government that wanted her? How could they manage to work on such a scale? Karu weren’t capable of building a house… Karu. The word tasted off in her mouth. She understood that her world wasn’t what she’d believed it to be. Whatever this government was doing there, it ruined the lives of generations of her people.

  Guards jerked her, bastards were careful not to touch her skin, as they docked to the port. A gigantic building in front was made of white and gold bricks. It towered even above the ship, and yet there were no windows. Only two-winged doors. A wide landing platform ran alongside the building and the ship.

  When Ines’ bare foot touched the patterned stonework of the platform, the heat was sucked out of her body. She gasped at the terrible feeling. As the rest of her warmth disappeared, her hope bent under the strange pattern on the floor. The only thing that gripped Pace in her mind was the bend. Gods, I’d be really screwed without that thing.

  The men who awaited her looked bizarre. They wore white suits, dyed their facial hair white but their teeth remained black. Not spoiled, just dyed as well.

  “Welcome to King’s Valley, hope doesn’t have purchase here. Make yourself at home.”

  She tried to stop the stream of tears. Ines couldn’t give them satisfaction, but the two men in the white didn’t react. Their manners seemed automatic and soulless. What kind of people were they? What was this place? Soon, she’d know the answers to these questions.

  The men turned back and headed for the doors. She was signaled to follow. Behind her, more people got off the ship.

  The manacles jolted her when the men in the white suits reached the doors and she still stood in place. She groaned trying to defy them.

  “Move,” a command came from behind. A shiver rose within her. And Ines finally stepped forward. Defiance almost drained out of her. Soon with her hope gone, her will to live would disappear, too. Maybe they would kill her. Maybe… I’m sorry Pace. I’m so sorry, but this place does something to me. Ines squinted and saw that other men weren’t affected by the strange patterns. Why they were destroying her emotions? No one would answer her silent question. She knew it.

  Dozens of steps sounded behind as she moved toward the doors. The entire procession followed her.

  Beyond the doors, she was stripped from the last sliver of will. The white walls, floors, and ceiling were patterned with gold. What is this place? She asked weakly in her mind. The procession arrived at the main corridor’s dead end. Suddenly, everything shifted. Some walls collapse, while a new one appeared. The two men in white seemed almost bored with the entire mechanical motion.

  “It’s the state of art labyrinth. It constantly changes. If you don’t know the pattern, you’ll die,” one of the men said in a chatty amused voice.

  Insane.

  “This is an insane level of protection,” someone voiced her thought. “They improved the algorithm, after Olonnais’ escape…”

  One of the men in white turned to the speaker, “that name has been banned by the Government. It’s a serious offense to disclose any details of King’s Valley in the presence of non-governmental entities.” Wasn’t he done the same a few seconds ago?

  “It’s a test subject that belongs to us! It’s not even a person,” a voice sounded shaken. “This one is the Government property.”

  “Shut up you two,” another voice sliced the heavy air. “These matters are of no concern of yours.”

  “Yes, Lord,” both men said in unison. Their heads dipped low.

  The word made her head turn, but she only noticed a red blur as the hand appeared out of nowhere and slapped her face.

  A bare hand.

  Whoever did it, didn’t enjoy his life any longer as his body dropped to the floor. People around scattered. The man lay dead.

  “Don’t touch him. He’s contaminated.”

  “How many times do I have to remind people that this test subject has an Ouroboros virus?”

  “What a bother,” the lord’s voice sounded weary. “Kimberlton, make sure the staff of this facility understands the nature of this subject.” Some parts of Ines had enough being called a test subject, but her defiance was dwarfed to almost nothing. She would never voice an objection.

  The man in white bowed down, “yes, my lord.”

  They left the body behind and followed Kimberlton and his companion. Despite stinging in her face, she felt a single strand of satisfaction when the man dropped dead. These people were rotten to the core. She wasn’t even a person to them? Screw them. She might have no hope, but the rage that ignited within her spread unintimidated by the gold pattern. A part of it belonged to Pace, she knew it. After a spike of despair that emanated from him a few days ago, she has now sensed waves of fury that came and went.

  Chapter 21

  Pace

  The crab’s claw tasted amazing. Captain didn’t lie, though figuring out how to get it out of the shell had taken them a better part of a day. The next day after the feast captain began training and it wasn’t anything like the casual spar with lieutenant. Pembroke pushed Pace to the limits and beyond. Instead of fighting, captain has been attacking him out of blue throughout the day as Pace followed absurd workout.

  It lasted five long days. Pembroke offered him a thousand black pearls if Pace landed a single blow. It wasn’t possible. That man was like a ghost. Each time Pave has known he got it; Pembroke evaded.

  On the fifth day, Pace’s stamina must have been negative because he couldn’t even raise his head when captain announced that their ship arrived.

  “I can’t move. You must carry me, cap.”

  Captain grabbed another hairy fruit and popped it into his mouth. Pace shivered at the memory of the horrible taste, though apparently, it possessed unmatched nutritional values. Pace didn’t care about any of these things. It wasn’t all because of his drained strength. Half of it was
caused by Ines. She had experienced something that tore out her hope and since then she hadn’t fully recovered. Perhaps, now Pace dragged her down. In fact, even if one of these gargantuan crabs would appear on the beach, he wouldn’t move. He couldn’t as he lay in the sand like a log.

  “You should eat properly.”

  “I hoped the yummy crab would appear again.”

  “That isn’t the right approach. If you wanted another bite at the cerulean crab, then you should hunt it down.”

  “And kill it with sweet words? No way, cap. I’ll wait.”

  “Now, the last part of our little training; we swim to the ship. It’s not farther than two miles from the island.”

  Pace eyes widened.

  “What? Why?”

  “Come,” captain said as he walked into the roiling waves. “And mind that these waters are full of crabs.” Bastard ignored me… wait, what?

  A splash of the cold salty water sent shiver throughout Pace’s spine. Pace squinted in the direction of the sea and found captain’s head slowly moving away. He can’t be serious. I can’t move and he expects me to swim to the ship? I can’t do it.

  Ines.

  Something stirred in the ashes of his soul.

  Ines.

  The first sparks went flying.

  Ines.

  A single flame came to life.

  Ines.

  The bond or not, the rage inside him exploded. A will, so strong that it filled his veins with pure fire.

  She waits there for you. She waits to be rescued! She must be saved! An inner voice spoke inside his head.

  Pace heaved his body to a sitting position. Every muscle screamed in agony. He ignored it all and stood up. His legs were so weak, but they must carry him to the sea, and then to the ship. They must.

  *

  Pembroke

  Captain climbed up the rope ladder.

  Everyone except doctor More stood in attendance. The old moody man rarely has come to the deck. Captain noticed a slight bruise on Mist’s cheek and purple eyes of the new recruit. Boys didn’t waste time while captain had been away.

  His own scrapes and bruises had healed already. Agent X upped his game, but he still was nowhere near captain’s level. Pembroke wished that doctor could see how Pembroke’s mental discipline outclassed the old man’s skewed medicine.

  “Where’s Pace?” a weak voice asked. Toggy Luc’s purple eyes shed tears. This one already thought me dead.

  “Somewhere behind me.”

  The orange-head ran to the ship’s railing but found nothing there.

  “Where? There is nothing here.”

  Kinson looked genuinely angry; Riss grinned the way she has always done when captain has returned from certain death; Mist, Mist seemed somewhat distracted. Did he look the way captain came from?

  Pembroke turned. There was no point mentioning Ed, Purp or John. They preferred to stay in the background.

  Forcing Pace to swim all the way from the island was a tremendous gamble, which captain wouldn’t risk if not the Soul Entanglement. But he had seen Pace’s fate. It wasn’t concluded yet. There were two paths. One Pembroke wished for and one Pembroke feared the most in the world. Soon we’ll put things in motion, Pace. Soon the world will tremble like never before. But you must do it. You must defy the odds and defeat yourself. Think of her. Think… of Ines. Pace.

  Pembroke didn’t possess telepathy and so he could only hope. It pained him, but the world was merciless. Captain approached the rail; his fingers embraced the cold wood in half embrace. He masked his worry. His crew knew him to the core, but if he slipped a sliver of his true emotions right now; Mist and Riss would be on their way to help Pace.

  “I can’t see him, captain,” Toggy Luc muttered. He truly cared about Pace.

  Riss approached them, but Pembroke stopped her.

  “I have the virus on me.”

  “The one that killed Blackport?”

  “The same.”

  She bit her lip, but questions bubbled on her face. Pembroke had spoken to Kinson through the contact sphere and explained to him the situation. It looked that commander didn’t pass much down. Riss teased and drove him crazy. It was his way of retaliating.

  “Captain, it’s good to see you back,” commander had grunted, then left to take care of the steering wheel. He didn’t trust other hands on it.

  “Cap, the kid isn’t even close,” Mist growled. “And these waters are infested with killer crabs.”

  Pembroke gave him a weak smile. “What happened to you?”

  “My fist happened, Pembroke,” doctor More grumbled. This was an oddity. Doctor More walking on the main deck was rarer than the solar eclipse. An old withered prune in gray hair who had used to walk naked in the moonlight in his hometown somewhere in beyond the first Seafall. Now, doctor stood wrapped in a plain, but stained blanket. Toggy briefly had glanced at him, blinked then his eyes returned to the water.

  “What brings you to the surface?”

  “Cap, we don’t have time for this,” Mist warned.

  “Can’t you dump the noodlehead into the sea? He and pink eyesore play on my nerves.”

  Riss snorted, though she, too, wasn’t in the mood to keep the banter going. Were they truly so worried about Pace?

  “I’m going in,” Mist said, but Riss’ grabbed his arm.

  “You don’t, idiot.”

  Mist didn’t know. Fuck. Commander should be more forthcoming with information.

  “Pace and I, we are infected with the deadly virus that kills anyone who’s older than twenty-one.”

  Doctor had immediately approached Pembroke and sniffed at him. “This stink of Pestilence. That’s his doing.”

  “That means—” Riss began.

  “For now, it means nothing,” captain stopped her. If Toggy knew, then Pace would learn eventually. Pembroke didn’t want it yet.

  “Why the fuck he come up with something so twisted?”

  “We can only guess.”

  Mist straightened; he stood on the rail. “You two, having a nice chat here, aren’t you? But somewhere there is Pace!” Mist looked on the verge of jumping into the water against captain’s order. Pembroke mused the possibility and consequence.

  “I need you to figure out an antidote.”

  “I thought you could cure yourself with that soul bullshit of yours,” doctor grumbled, while Riss gave Pembroke a concealed smile.

  Doctor didn’t understand the point here. It wasn’t about captain or Pace, it was about Karu. Their only salvation was an antidote. But More was a hard nut to crack and he could be stubborn as hell. So, captain didn’t have a choice but lose this little battle with the old geezer.

  “I can’t do it. I need your help.”

  Doctor grinned. “I’ll need you in my lab twenty-four hour a day until…”

  Pembroke had moved like a lightning, he grabbed Toggy Luc and placed him before doctor.

  “Now, you have one, who volunteered for experimentation.”

  “I-I-I…” Toggy Luc stuttered. “What just happened?”

  “You’re infected. Same as Pace and me. You must go with doctor to his laboratory and follow his every instruction. Don’t touch anyone. Understood?”

  “I…”

  “Good.”

  In the corner of his eye, Pembroke saw Kinson going back to him. Ed was back behind the steering wheel.

  “What’s the matter with the antidote?” Kinson had asked when Toggy Luc and doctor More left the main deck.

  Did Pembroke forget to mention it over the contact sphere? It must be.

  “Sooner or later we’ll visit Karu. I won’t leave people there in the hands of the Government.”

  “That’s risky, Pembroke,” Kinson said. Captain stifled a laugh. Commander would shit his pants when he would learn about King’s Valley.

  “Captain,” Mist growled. “Where the fuck is Pace?”

  Pembroke whirled around and found no sign of the boy. He extended his senses and
detected a weak will struggling beneath the surface of the water two hundred yards from the ship.

  “There is one more thing,” Kinson began. “What about the other passenger?”

  Captain frowned fighting his own battle with his memory. What other passenger?

  “It’s not the time for idle talks,” Mist hissed. Tendrils of mist snaked down into the water and formed to paralleled lines.

  “I will go,” Riss suddenly announced.

  “You’ll go nowhere, stupid girl,” Kinson warned her. “Your father wouldn’t even stand on the deck; he would be eating dinner now and enjoying his wine.”

  Riss grated but remained silent. Pembroke thanked her in his mind.

  “He has company,” lieutenant yelled.

  “I’m going.”

  “Wai—” Pembroke ordered, but the pink-haired beauty was gone into the dark swirling waters.

  “She too much like her father,” Pembroke noted contradicting commander’s words.

  Kinson gave his captain a blank stare. They stood there watching the sea double-slashed by two lines of a mist.

  For a second, Pace’s vitals dipped dangerously, which made Pembroke’s pulse spike with fear. If captain made an error in judgment, not only his subordinate would pay a price. The world was at stake here.

  And then, an explosion of rage that made his skin tingle came from Pace and he broke the surface a hundred yards from the ship. Pembroke felt determination and love. Love? Some theorized that the Soul Entanglement was linked to an extreme level of affection, but it made very little sense. Pace and the girl had known each other for a brief moment when they touched.

  Deeper, beneath the surface was Riss. She fought the crabs that found Pace attractive. She understood that Pace must do it by himself, but these crabs were too much for him to handle. Pembroke couldn’t dispute that.

  Despite the initial spike, Pace’s strength started to dwindle rapidly.

  Rage was a potent fuel, but short-lived. Pace must learn other ways of sustaining if he wanted to learn the Soul Release.

  John appeared with a gleaming contact sphere tucked in a cloth.