Poseidia

by J. L. Imhoff

  “I have to go,” Roman yawned.

  “Don’t leave me yet,” I beseeched as I buried my face into his chest. “Thank you for—”

  “I get it,” he assured, smoothing his hand over my hair.

  “The knife. What should we do? I feel so stupid. Not to mention how much trouble I’m going to be in with the High Council and Lily.” My voice echoed against his chest.

  “I will take care of it. Trust me. But what you should do is take off your makeup.” He cupped his hand to my face and ran his thumb over my cheek.

  “Oh, I forgot about that.” I raised my hand to my face and touched his hand. Thank God he’s not mad anymore.

  “You’re forgetting a lot of things lately, you should get that checked out,” he chuckled, gazing down at me while he tilted my head upward with his fingers under my chin.

  I laughed and hit him affectionately on the shoulder.

  “I’ll figure something out to get my knife back, don’t worry,” he mused, patting my head.

  No, I’ll do it. Only I don’t know how yet.

  “I’ll see you later.” Unexpectedly, his lips were on mine, his tongue exploring my mouth.

  My knees buckled while he held me upright. I melted into him and when I went to wrap my arms around his neck, he pulled away and left.

  Frustrated and alone, I stowed the purse in my closet and went into the bathroom to fill up the tub. I needed a nice hot soak before I started the day. With no sleep, I was afraid I’d become a loud broadcaster again, if I had ever stopped, and Lily would know what an idiot I was—I didn’t know what Roman planned to tell them, but it wasn’t coming from me.

  I hate lying, but it’s not as if she’s the one who helped me. Roman understands.

  The adrenaline from our adventure still coursed through my body, making my senses extra sharp. I poured some essential oils into the bath, stepped into the hot water, and sank down. While I relaxed, I let the drama of the night replay in my head second by second.

  Seeing David again brought up many buried emotions. To me, now, it was a lifetime ago when I’d fallen over the balcony. Why was I so out of control there?

  I cleaned all the blood and makeup off. My anger got the best of me, controlling me so easily. Why? Was it simply being away from the Connective?

  Exhaustion surfaced as I relaxed in the heat of the bubbling water and I gave into it, shutting my eyes. When I opened them later, Lily was sitting on the edge of the tub looking at me.

  “Did you not sleep well last night?” she asked.

  “I, uh, tossed and turned a lot. I have a lot on my mind.” I brought my hand to my cheek in an attempt to hide any swelling. Then I sank down into the water up to my eyes.

  “I imagine you do. You should get dressed, and then we’ll get something to eat. I have something to show you.”

  Lily got up to leave the bathroom and didn’t seem to notice my face. Refreshed and clean, I got out of the tub, dried off, and dressed. In the mirror, I searched for any signs of bruising, but there were none. Not a mark on my face, but still a tad sore to the touch.

  We strolled to the common area and filled plates with fresh fish, seaweed, two peaches, and cups of steaming hot herbal tea.

  “Did Lucas do something to my nose?” I asked Lily.

  “No, why?”

  Soothed by the activity of the fish and sea creatures right outside the dome, a table by the glass wall was becoming my favorite place to sit.

  “I can smell things I’ve never noticed before,” I said, biting into my peach. The juice dripped over my hand and I wiped it away.

  “All of your senses will evolve, hundreds of times more sensitive than a human’s. In fact, humans tend to dull their senses,” she said, cutting up her fruit and carefully eating it.

  I laughed. “You’re right. They do that, don’t they?”

  “It wasn’t a joke.”

  “It’s kind of a joke. It’s weird to think I’m no longer human. I wouldn’t fit in there anymore. Not that I ever did. There I’m dead—I no longer exist. But here—I’ve never felt more alive.” Simply thinking aloud, it was almost as if I was talking to the fish as I stared out the wall. Seeing David had torn off the scab, revealing emotions I thought I was over.

  Assuming my mother’s locket was gone, I wanted to get Roman’s knife. Especially with integration so soon. What will I feel after integration?

  We finished and left, heading to the Healing Center. Passing all the patient rooms, the mudrooms, and the mineral baths, Lily took me down a tunnel I hadn’t explored before, eventually leading me through a hidden doorway in the wall. It went on for a long way, and then went down, seeming to curve back under the facility.

  “Where are we?” I asked, looking around at the small hallway, opening into a large room, a tad bigger than the patient rooms. In the center of the room was a small built-in heated pool. Rectangular drawers located about waist high, in stacks of two, lined both sides of the walls. An arched opening directly above each pair gave access to the contents. Two women stood on one side of the room, looking down into an open drawer.

  “We are in the nursery,” Lily whispered. “The few children we have are kept in another part of the city. It’s more secure and conducive to nurturing.”

  Nursery?

  “Why are we here?” I asked.

  “I don’t know if you remember, but I’m a scientist, and a healer. They call me The Mother. I manage all the procreation.”

  “You do what?” Is she a sex manager? Wait—I’m not sure I want to know.

  “Because of all the genetic modifications that have been made to us, more and more of our people are infertile, as am I. We don’t understand why. However we do have babies born, but many do not live beyond a certain age. I oversee their care.” She led me over to the two women and in the box, which was a built-in crib, was the cutest baby I’d ever seen.

  Genetic modifications?

  Lavender eyes looked up at me, followed by an ear-piercing cry. The caretaker picked up the baby, and it instantly hushed.

  “I’m so sorry. I had no idea,” I said, still unsure of why she brought me here. While making a mental note to myself to ask later about the genetic modifications, I experienced a pang in my heart, remembering my own loss.

  “Our people are in danger of becoming extinct one day if we don’t figure out a way to restore our fertility,” Lily continued, leading me to the opposite end of the nursery, where she opened a door, and passed into another room.

  The room was darkened, but Lily didn’t move to turn on the lights. Small cylinders full of glowing greenish water lined the far wall, providing the only source of illumination in the room.

  Lily strode over to one of the cylinders and placed her hands on it. The green cloudy haze of the liquid made it hard to see clearly, but I swore something moved.

  “What is it?” I asked

  “It is your baby, Anna.”

  Chapter 17

  My cheerful demeanor vanished as all the blood drained from my face. “My what?”

  “Your baby. I have a lot to explain, I know, but, this little one is your baby.”

  “How is that possible? It’s not. I died. The baby would have died. How could it survive?” I rambled.

  “It was uncertain for a long time if the baby would survive.” She smiled and for the first time tears glistened in her eyes.

  “How could you lie to me for so long, knowing how much pain I was in?” I asked, on the verge of hysterical tears.

  “When we woke you, you weren’t in a place with your emotions to handle the uncertainty. We didn’t want to give you false hope. You were already dealing with so much. The stress of not knowing if the baby would survive would have been a huge emotional burden. And worse, we truly didn’t believe it would thrive.”

  I nodded, at a loss for words. Don’t focus on the negative. Don’t judge. Listen.

  “But the baby would have been too immature to save. I was only a few weeks pregnant. It’
s impossible to save a baby only a few weeks old, isn’t it?” My feet feeling heavy as lead, I took several steps closer to the cylinder.

  “It’s not impossible for us. We have worked hard on fertility problems and keeping infants alive when they’re born premature. This is why I’m called The Mother.” She waved her hand in front of the cylinder and it lit up. “And you were more than a few weeks pregnant when we found you. Your body wasn’t able to change and endure the pregnancy.”

  My heart swirled with confusion.

  “This is an artificial womb. We synthesize amniotic fluid, all the sounds, and comforts a fetus would have,” she explained.

  I gazed through the watery haze and saw the baby stretch out, displaying a blue fin. What the heck?

  “The baby was dying, so without any other options we infused it with our DNA as well. This miracle has surprised us, even more than you did.”

  “My baby will be Mer? Is it still—David’s baby?” I closed my eyes, hiding my pain. David can never know. This baby is mine—mine alone—to love and protect. He forfeited all his rights when he pushed me off the ship.

  “Yes, the baby’s father is still your David,” she confirmed.

  “Do you know the sex yet?”

  “We can’t tell because the baby has been in Mer form since a day after we infused the DNA.”

  I can’t believe it—I thought I’d lost so much. Roman’s voice echoed in my head, “It is a gift.”

  More than he knew.

  Slowly, I blinked and smiled, touching the womb as the baby moved. A wave of gratitude for this tiny miracle washed over me and I put my head in my hands and cried. So indebted beyond words. Thank you, thank you.

  “I’m sorry we had to keep it from you. We wanted to be sure you would stay.”

  “I can’t leave now, can I?” I wouldn’t leave my child alone here. This is my home now. Now I know for sure. Nothing could drag me away.

  “That’s why I sent Roman to take you back to get your locket,” she said.

  Wait—what? “You knew? You sent Roman?” The old familiar feeling of betrayal slithered up into my heart.

  “Of course we knew. He had to clear it with us before taking you. After how much upset it caused the first time, the High Council had to approve.”

  “Why didn’t he just tell me? He acted so mysterious about it.” I crossed my arms tightly and took a step back.

  “He didn’t tell you?” She wrinkled her forehead and looked down at the floor.

  “No, Roman plays games with me.”

  “He adores you.” Her eyes twinkled with a glowing light of joy.

  “He has a strange way of showing it.” My hands went over my heart, as I stood there watching my little miracle, my mind numb. A gift though all this tragedy. “I can’t believe you knew I went back. I thought leaving was forbidden after my escape attempt.”

  “It was risky, but worth it, if it would give you some kind of closure. We are not villains. We want you to heal and have your locket.” She set her hands on my shoulder.

  “Why didn’t you talk to me about it?” I stepped back to the cylinder. The baby turned over and its eyes fluttered open for a second.

  “It’s a hard subject to broach with you. Roman seems to be the one you trust,” she reasoned.

  “Have you spoken to Roman at all since we got back?” Did he tell you how stupid I am?

  “No,” she said, tilting her head. “Roman doesn’t inform us of every detail. In fact, he reports the bare minimum. He’s the one who talked us into letting you go, it was his idea. Did something happen I need to know about?”

  So Roman doesn’t tell them everything and they don’t automatically know. That makes me feel better. Maybe my weak moment will be our secret.

  “I left a knife there. Roman’s knife. David… I dropped it on accident and forgot about it. I wasn’t thinking. I feel so stupid.”

  “Roman is well-experienced in these sorts of problems. He’ll take care of it,” she assured. “I’ll give you some time with your baby and meet you in fifteen minutes in the meditation room. We need to stay on track for the integration.”

  Lily left and I was alone with my baby. I stood there lost in the moment, unsure if I was even breathing. My baby entranced me, casting a spell.

  This is more important than my locket.

  The baby moved and stretched, displaying its fin. Round eyes opened a sliver and a hint of blue peeked out. After another stretch, the thumb found the mouth and a peaceful sucking commenced.

  Dumbfounded, I still didn’t understand how they did this. I was no scientist, nor was I familiar with genetic engineering. They were miracle workers in my opinion.

  The baby drifted off to sleep. I don’t understand how I knew, I simply did. Not wanting to leave but knowing I had to, I placed both of my hands on the tank, said goodbye, and blew the baby a kiss.

  In the Training Center, I became lost in the web of tunnels, an easy thing to do here. I looked around for a familiar site, when someone grabbed me from behind, covered my mouth with their hand, and dragged me into a side room.

  Furious, I elbowed the person in the stomach and then turned around. Ugh, Roman. Irritated for being startled, I said, “You scared me to death.”

  With his hand, he rubbed his abdomen where I’d hit.

  “I’m sorry, but it’s a reflex. You shouldn’t sneak up on someone,” I justified.

  “Don’t be sorry. I enjoyed it,” he teased. A devilish smile spread across his face.

  “Look, I’m lost. I’m looking for the meditation room.” Impatient, I crossed my arms and tapped my foot, feeling horrible for elbowing him, but he deserved it.

  “It’s down that hallway, and to the left. Or is it the right? I don’t remember.” He chuckled annoyingly.

  I didn’t believe him. “You don’t remember? Don’t you… work… here?” I asked.

  “Work is subject to interpretation.”

  “Lily told me she knew about you taking me back to… help me find my locket. I don’t understand why you couldn’t tell me.”

  “It didn’t come up,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

  “Are you kidding me? It did come up—several times!”

  “I’m not kidding. What’s the problem?”

  “I need to believe I can trust you. If you don’t tell me things, then how can I gain confidence in your word?”

  “You’re one to scold me about trust. But we’ll hash this out later. I still can’t find the knife.”

  I lowered my eyelids, knowing he was right. Then what he said struck me and I cleared my throat before venturing, “You went back?”

  “Yes, this morning I searched again, hoping we’d missed it. I only stayed a few minutes. He wasn’t there, and I didn’t find the knife. I was going to follow him, but he never showed up.”

  “You didn’t need to go back, we saw it wasn’t there.” And I want to be the one who goes back, not you.

  “I wanted to make sure.”

  “So you’re a control freak, too,” I accused, and then regretted saying it. Realizing I was being too harsh on someone who had helped me when no one else had, I apologized, “I’m sorry. Again, I’m screwing up. What should we do?”

  “I’ll speak with Lily and the security team. We’ll come up with a plan. You don’t have to worry we’ll deal with it. I was only keeping you informed.”

  “The integration is tomorrow, if you end up needing my help.”

  “I won’t.”

  “Don’t be too sure, I know how David thinks and his habits. You don’t. I can help predict his movements,” I retorted, taking a few steps. “I was on my way to meet Lily in the meditation room.”

  “I’ll go with you.” He hauled me by my hand after him, walking with purpose.

  I thought he said he didn’t know.

  In the meditation room, Lily was sitting on the floor with her eyes closed. As we entered, she opened them and glanced from me to Roman. “I got the security update. Did you
find the knife?”

  “No, I didn’t. I’ll need to track it down. Something is not right—I sense it,” Roman told her. “I want to dream-walk him to find out what he did with it.”

  “What is dream-walking?” I asked.

  “Exactly the way it sounds,” Roman answered. “The jewels on the handle would be worth a small fortune. He won’t be able to resist selling them.”

  “I say let him. There are plenty here. Maybe we’ll get lucky and David will only harvest the jewels and then forget about the encounter.”

  “Our bigger problem is my dried blood is all over the hilt,” Roman said.

  “I didn’t see any blood.” I glanced over at Roman and looked him up and down. I hadn’t noticed any blood on him, either.

  “From an intense sparring match with my apprentice. We can’t allow him to keep the weapon.”

  “All David will care about is the jewels,” I asserted, fearing I was wrong.

  “I want my knife back regardless,” he said with venom.

  Okay, he is still mad. “It’s only a knife. Can’t you get another one?” I asked, hoping we’d forget about it. Unable to concentrate with the news about my baby, my mind swirled, overwhelmed with information.

  “As your locket is special, so is my knife. It’s a memento from my human time.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know.” Now I felt even worse than before.

  “The knife itself is valuable, but the less information he knows about us the better. I can guess David would be vindictive. It’s a security risk and I have a bad feeling about it. Something feels off,” Roman maintained.

  I sensed his annoyance. Is he angry with David or me?

  “If Roman senses something is off, then there must be something wrong. We need to find out what it is, if anything, to make sure there is no threat. Roman is the expert at security risks,” Lily said.

  “Well—David’s smart enough, and has the resources to do a DNA analysis on the knife, if he thinks of it.” They both settled their gazes on me, obviously not expecting that answer. “Well, hopefully the jewels will be enough to distract him.”

  “I shouldn’t have let you go in alone,” Roman now fumed, pacing the room while running his hands through his hair. “Given the circumstances, perhaps stealth would have been the better approach.”