Charging a small cluster of stragglers, it snatched a woman floundering at the edge of the pool and crushed her in its jaws before tossing the body into the water. Ignoring the steeds jumping and dashing about the length of the pool, the gar-shark began swimming the perimeter. With its head and bloody jaws still held above the water and its eyes tracking the human prey scrambling about on the deck, the shark headed toward a low ramp at one end where an assortment of crates and wrapped packages were stacked to one side.
With one effortless lunge, the creature lumbered up the ramp on four stumpy legs and mounted the deck. The thick, muscular tail thrashed from side to side, knocking packages and crates into the water as it scuttled after the frightened people still trying to get out of the depot.
Deciding that the guards were more experienced and better equipped than we were to deal with these creatures, I grabbed Kelly by a hand and was hurrying after Jennie and Jake in the direction of the nearest exit when Kelly jerked against my grip, screaming.
“It’s got Ralph!” she shrieked. Snatching her arm free, she shrugged out of her backpack and was running back to help the frogg before I could stop her.
Snagged by the tip of the gar-shark’s tail, Ralph had been sent rolling across the deck in a tangle of fat legs. He came to a stop a few feet behind the shark, where, too stunned or frightened to get back to his feet and run, he’d curled up and lay motionless.
My throat was too tight with fear to even scream my sister’s name when I ran after, my eyes locked on her darting figure as she ducked behind a thick support pillar.
“Over here!” I shouted as I jumped into plain sight to draw the creature’s attention to me. It worked! I threw a quick look behind me as I darted across the deck away from the frogg and Kelly.
Kelly barely waited until the shark lunged after me before darting in and grabbing the frogg by one leg. She dragged him clear and into cover before the gar-shark even knew she was there.
I circled back, putting several pillars between me and the gar-shark before rejoining my sister. “Kelly! Are you out of your mind?” Taking her by an arm and the frogg by a wrinkle in its skin, I dragged them further away from the creature’s path and toward the opposite side of the building. I didn’t even bother to reprimand her when she reached for the straps of her pack as we hurried past, running for the relative safety of the door leading to the outside.
When I decided we were well clear of the gar-shark’s path, I pushed Kelly and my pack into Jennie’s arms. “Stay out of the way and let the guards do their job!” I warned my sister.
“Halie, no,” gasped Jennie when she realized that I intended to go back.
“I’ve got to, Jen.” I shook my head at her and held up a hand to warn her not to follow. What if Ben is hurt? And what would happen to our mission if Rainor were killed?
Careful not to attract the attention of the rampaging gar-shark, I eased in behind one of the support pillars where I could safely watch the two men as they joined the security police in their efforts to drive the creature back into the water. I nearly jumped out of my skin when Dusty slid into me from behind. Jennie pantomimed I’m sorry when I shot her an angry look. I really did not want the dog so close to the action. Patting her head, I pulled Dusty close to keep her quiet as I returned to watching the men.
Twice I saw Rainor close in, firing his weapon at the gar-shark’s head, but it was having only a minimal effect. The creature’s thick hide seemed to be providing some protection from to the electronic weapon fire. My back was to the pool and my attention on the men when the water erupted in another spout, drenching us in cold water. The temperature of the water was not what made my blood turn to ice—it was the sight of a second gar-shark, nearly as large as the first. Rising from the water, it ambled up the ramp only a few yards away.
Alerted by my screams and Dusty’s furious barking, Rainor and Ben both turned to face the new attack. They repeatedly fired their weapons at the gar-shark, but nothing seemed to slow its determined pace.
Seeing that the men were in deep trouble, the man called Graemer joined them, using his spear to stab at the beast’s side. Unfortunately, the razor-sharp tip left only a shallow cut in the shark’s tough hide.
Taking advantage of the distraction the other men were providing, Orin snatched a discarded spear from the deck and joined him, darting close enough to slash its soft underside. Enraged by the wound, the gar-shark turned and charged, managing to rake Graemer’s bare leg with its long claws before he could jump out of the way.
“Hey! Over here!” Ben shouted, jumping and waving his arms to draw the wounded shark’s attention. When the beast immediately responded, charging after his tormentor, Orin and Rainor grabbed Graemer’s arms and began dragging him out of range.
Distracted by the battle, I must have loosened my grip on Dusty’s collar. She jumped and twisted and she was free. Excited by the scent of blood, she darted across the deck to join the battle.
“Dusty! No!” I screamed, but she completely ignored my call. Darting in, she snapped at the gar-shark’s legs and underbelly before ducking away to return again. Terrified that she was going to be killed, I ran after her.
Employing the hit and run strategy that was natural to the dog, she repeated her attack, biting at the shark’s exposed legs before darting under the swinging tail and coming back on the opposite side. But this time the dog misjudged and the tip of the shark’s long tail caught her in the side.
Yelping in pain, Dusty was sent rolling under the gar-shark’s belly.
The scream of fear lodged in my throat felt like a chunk of ice, choking me, but the energy surging through my hands was causing sparks to fly from the white hot metal of the sword gripped between them.
Fortunately the gar-shark’s attention had returned to the wounded man being dragged away from it, and it didn’t see the dog, or me closing in on it. I was drawing the sword back to strike when, without so much as a snarl of warning, the shark turned and lunged, teeth and claws reaching for me. I ducked under its awkward, short-armed slash, and stabbed up, aiming for the dull black eye.
Putting all one-hundred and ten pounds of me and all of the terror I was feeling behind the strike, I drove the white-hot tip of my sword into the eye and pushed, hoping to hit the gar-shark’s pea-sized brain.
For one terrible moment, I was afraid that I had failed. The gar-shark twisted, trying to free itself from the pain, but I didn’t dare release my grip on the sword. I held on for as long as I could but it was jerked from my hands.
I jumped back and out of range barely in time to avoid the gar-shark’s blindly swinging head and claws. Exhausted, I tried to draw a breath but was brought to my knees, gagging and coughing on air permeated with the thick, rancid odor of the shark’s burned flesh. When Dusty slammed into my side, panting and licking my face, I grabbed her collar to keep her from returning to the wounded shark.
“Yeah, now you’re worried about me!” I rasped breathlessly. Wrapping my hand tightly in the dog’s collar, I staggered to my feet.
Blinded by pain, the gar-shark continued to stumble about for several minutes before it finally collapsed to the deck. I waited until its death throes had ebbed to mere tremors before daring to grab the hilt of my sword. Reluctantly I released the dog’s collar to free my other hand.
It took both hands and considerable effort, but I finally managed to jerk the blade free. I did not intend to be deprived of my only weapon.
“Good work!” Ben whispered in my ear as he put an arm around my waist. “Are you two okay?”
“Yes,” I croaked in surprise. He’d scared me half to death, sneaking up behind me like that. “I’m just fine, and so is she!” I nodded my head at the dog quietly wagging her tail-feathers at my feet. Embarrassed, I cut my gaze to his face. I was surprised to catch a flash of a smile and amusement in his twinkling blue eyes. Before I could say anything else, he gave me a quick hug and was gone to help the wounded guard.
“Graemer, are you goi
ng to be all right?” he asked as he helped him to his feet.
“It’s just a flesh wound,” the guard growled as he retrieved his spear. “We’ve got to kill the other one before it can make its way into the city.” He refused Ben’s help as he limped toward the battle still being waged with the first shark.
The guards had managed to slow the gar-shark down enough to allow most of the people to escape the building, but it was looking like their efforts to contain it were going to fail, until reinforcements finally arrived.
Rising like wraiths from a mist, the newcomers leapt from the water pool, propelled by the long fins that were part of their feet. They looked almost human until you actually focused on their features. Their eyes were large and bulbous and set too far to the sides of their faces and their mouths were too large, but that was only to contain the longer-than-human pointed teeth. Some had hair of a deep sea-green, others had dark, golden hair and all had a crest of iridescent turquoise rising from the center of their foreheads and running the length of their heads and backs. They each wore only a basic loin cloth that left the rest of their scaled bodies naked. The males had well-muscled torsos, legs and arms, and so did the women, who were distinguished only by their slightly smaller builds and small breasts. Best of all, they each came armed with spears and tridents rather than the useless taser weapons.
“Sil warriors. I was hoping they would get the call,” Rainor said with relief. “Stay back and give them room to do their job!” he warned us as he and the security guards also backed away from the gar-shark to give the new arrivals the space to deal with it.
Interpreting the sudden retreat of the humans as weakness, the shark closed in, its voracious gaze roving over us like a hungry man inspecting a steak dinner, until it encountered the tall Sil warriors. Unlike the sharks I was familiar with, there was intelligence and recognition in the dull, black eyes. The creature snorted water from its gills and nostrils and began weaving its great head back and forth, teeth gnashing and snapping. Gathering its feet under its belly, it spun around, lashing at us with its long tail in one last attack before making a desperate run for the water.
Unfortunately, Graemer’s partner had foolishly positioned himself between the gar-shark and the pool. Only his quick reflexes kept him from being trampled.
The humans were more than willing to give the creature the room to return to the water, but not the Sil. They had plainly come to fight and had no intention of letting their quarry escape so easily. With a speed and grace it was hard to believe from creatures with such long, webbed feet, they leapt into the gar-shark’s path, stabbing and thrusting with their spears and tridents.
Forced to fight or die, the shark reared back so that it was balanced upright on its back legs and tail. It slashed with deadly claws and teeth at them, but the Sil were fearless. They quickly closed with the beast. An expertly thrown spear struck the shark, the serrated edges of the head slicing through the hide and muscle under its exposed rib cage. Staggering, it roared in pain as the Sil moved in for the kill. The barbed prongs of their tridents easily pierced the thick hide.
When all that was left was a bloody carcass lying in a pool of blood and gore that covered the planks of the surrounding deck, the Sil warriors retreated.
“Princ-ccee Rainooor, it is goood to see yooou baack in the Ciiity again,” greeted one of the golden-maned men. “Weee haaave beeen traaacking this paaair of rooogue gaarrs for severaaal daaays. Weee are soorry thaaat they maaade it into the ciiity before we could neutruliiize theeem.”
“Commander Loren, it is always a pleasure to meet with the Sil.” Rainor clasped the tall warrior’s shoulder in greeting. “I am sure you and your warriors did everything possible to stop this pair before they became a problem.”
The Sil nodded his head in acknowledgement and signaled to his warriors. “Weee wiiill be on our waaay now.” He gave Rainor a quick bow before following the others to the edge of the dock, where each of the Sil warriors slipped gracefully into the lagoon.
Before the ripples left in the water by their entry had disappeared, the group of humans had gathered around Rainor, demanding an explanation.
“Who were those, uh, men?” demanded Jake.
When he seemed reluctant to explain, I stepped around Jake so that I could watch his eyes. I couldn’t let him continue to mislead us like this. “Rainor, we have a right, a need, to know who and what we will be dealing with if this merging is to take place.” I put one hand on his arm and made him face me. “We want to help, but you’ve got to be honest with us.”
Rainor looked away, staring down at the dead gar-shark for several moments as if he was trying to come to a decision before letting his eyes meet mine.
“The Sil warriors live in small underwater cities in the channels between the larger islands. We exchange land-raised crops with them for some of the deep-water plants and fish we are unable to harvest on our own. They also take care of policing the channels and controlling dangerous, sea-going predators like the gar-sharks,” he explained.
“It looks like there are a whole lot of things you haven’t told us about your world, Prince Rainor,” Jennie commented as she slid in between me and Jake.
“Yeah, she’s right,” Jake nodded in agreement. “This under-world is proving to be a much more complex place than we were led to believe, and now we discover that you’re not just an agent, you’re some kind of royalty.”
“Please, I know that I owe you all some explanations. If you will just give me a little more time, I will explain everything,” he pleaded.
“Prince Rainor, a word with you, if you please.” Graemer limped into the middle of our gathering, inadvertently interrupting our discussion. I noticed that he’d wrapped his wounded leg with bandages he’d retrieved from what appeared to be some kind of first-aid station at one side of the building, but the bandage was already stained a deep red. Leaning close to Rainor’s ear, he spoke in a tone we could not overhear for several minutes before stepping back. “Sire, it is always a pleasure when you return to the City, and, too frequently, an adventure.” He grinned. “But then, you always have had a flair for the dramatic.”
“Thanks, I think.” Rainor smiled back.
“Under different circumstances, I would escort you to the palace, but I need to stay here and supervise the clean up. If it’s any help, you are welcome to take the flitter I have outside. I’ll just pick it up at headquarters later on.”
“Thanks Graemer, your help is much appreciated. Make sure you take time out to see a medic about your leg.” Rainor clasped hands with his friend before turning to face the pool where Orin was walking up the ramp to join us.
The small pod of steeds that had accompanied us splashed and chattered softly in the pool behind him. “The steeds are shaken, but none were harmed in the rampage,” Orin told us as we gathered at the edge of the pool.
“That’s good,” Rainor said in relief. “Orin, I can’t thank you enough for your assistance today. Will the damaged tube be a problem on your return trip?”
“No. I’ve instructed the steeds to meet me outside the terminal in the canals. We’ll have to swim island to island to avoid the damaged tunnel, but it will certainly be safer.” He turned and frowned at the gory mess still covering the deck before looking to me and the girls at my side. “I’ll tell Misty that you are all safe when I get back to the village.”
I wasn’t sure if it was proper or not but I decided I didn’t really care, I threw myself against his big, wet chest and hugged him anyway. “Thank you Orin, we would have been in a whole lot of trouble back there without your help.”
Orin shook back his mane of russet hair and grinned. “It was my pleasure to assist you. If there is ever anything else I can do to help, you just call out.” He nodded at the dolphins watching us from the edge of the pool. “We’ll hear you, if you do.”
I was sorry to see Orin and the steeds leave us. Their presence had made this world seem just a little bit safer. With a final look at
the man and steeds disappearing under the gentle swirls of water, I joined Ben and, together, we followed Rainor toward the exit at the far side of the terminal.
Chapter Fourteen
Glad to get away from the rancid odor of the shark carcass, I followed the men through one of the many open doors leading to a wide passenger loading deck. I could see the flitter waiting for us in the nearby parking area, just as Graemer had promised, but suddenly I wasn’t in such a big hurry to move on. I slowed my steps and let the men move ahead of me.
“Halie, is something wrong?” Ben stopped and looked back when I didn’t follow.
“I’ll catch up in a few minutes,” I said with a shake of my head. He nodded in understanding before resuming his walk to the flitter.
Relieved to have a minute to myself, I made my way across the wooden planks of the deck to lean against the top rail of the waist high fence encircling it. Everything had been happening so fast that I just needed some time to collect my thoughts. I was also hoping for a chance to get Jake and Jennie alone long enough to get their opinion on a few things.
Kelly slid in beside me and stared out at the alien city surrounding us. The green eyes she turned up at me were wide with wonder. “What do you think, Sissy? This place doesn’t look that much bigger or safer than Misty’s village to me. I was really scared when those sharks attacked!” she rambled nervously.
“I think the kid is right, this place isn’t very safe at all,” agreed Jennie, “and who would’ve thought of sharks with legs?” She leaned against the railing at my side and turned to face me. “Halie, the fact is that I don’t see how this merging of the worlds that Rainor’s been going on about is going to help our world at all.” She lowered her voice to a near whisper, as if afraid that we might be overheard. “Maybe we should investigate a little bit more. There has got to be some way to prevent this collision.”
Cry For Tomorrow Page 23