“A poster girl for the master race,” I say, feeling the harpoon nick my throat.
“Poster woman,” she corrects me. “You’re the girl.”
Air bubbles pop as seawater fills the capsized vessel. The empty metal ball sinks out of sight.
“What was that liquid?” asks the U-boat captain, joining her. “And where’s the gold? Our orders were to return to the Atlantic, but we followed that ship instead. Because you told us there’d be—”
“I lied,” my sister says bluntly. “Thank you for picking me up from England, captain, but from now on…”
Irene blinks. Her eyes remain shut for a full second. The sailors don’t notice it. Or her slight backward stumble. Did she experience a memory?
My sister gasps with delight. “You never told me the visions were so vivid. Listening to Johann’s whimpering. Dieter squirming as I tightened the noose round his neck. Slicing off that silly Greek woman’s hand. And the looks on their faces as they died… I’ll never forget them.”
Three different events, and possibly more she didn’t mention. How long did my sister spend in the past? Anything more than a brief visit exhausts me, but she’s showing no after effects at all. Her energy reserves must be massive. How often could she freeze time in a fight? What little advantage I had over her is gone.
The captain stares at Irene, bewildered. “I… don’t understand. Are you saying…”
“I’m taking charge,” she replies icily.
Irene turns and pulls back her spear arm. She thrusts the harpoon through the captain’s open mouth, lunging with so much power it skewers his head. He chokes, teeth gnashing splinters off the wooden pole.
Some Germans aim their weapons. Most stand and watch, stunned by the sudden turn of events. The dead man keels over, his impaled head twisted sideways by the scraping harpoon.
“Zennler trusted you!” the SS soldier shouts, aiming the Welrod. He’s one of the few Germans with steady hands.
He shoots, and doesn’t stop firing. Every bullet finds its mark. Irene walks calmly toward him, not faltering once. Rounds spit out of her body within a second of landing. My sister heals much quicker than I do. The soldier expends the entire magazine, but other than circular holes in Irene’s wetsuit, there’s no permanent damage.
Irene pulls the cutlass from her belt, and slashes her palm with its curved blade. “Does anyone else want to try killing me?” she shouts, displaying the rapidly sealing wound to the watching Kriegsmarine.
No dissenting voices, and the sailors with raised guns hurriedly lower them.
“Were you ever going to share it with us?” the SS soldier asks Irene.
“Share?” she says, closing in for the kill. “What leader… what goddess shares power?”
I’m able to wiggle my toes. Not that helpful, but it’s a sign the paralysis is wearing off. I apply pressure to my arms and legs. Nobody’s watching me, but if my sister continues her killing spree, I won’t have to worry about the Germans.
“Wait!” her latest victim pleads, dropping the Welrod. “I didn’t realise…”
“That I was stronger than you?” Irene knocks the cowering man down with a leaping kick. “What did you expect? You were beaten by a little girl and an old man. Shall we make it a fair fight? With no weapons?”
She back heels the Welrod in the lake, and tosses her cutlass after it. The sword skitters to the island edge, spinning to a stop with its golden hilt delicately poised above the water. The soldier picks himself up, looking to the sailors for help. Nobody dares to offer any.
My knee bends. Ever so slightly, but it definitely moved. I’m able to flex my fingers and turn my neck. I’m on the road to recovery. The question is: will I heal in time?
Irene still has the sailors’ full attention. She stalks her quarry to the same stalagmite where Kostis lies. Arms by her side, inviting the soldier to attack her. “Coward,” she says disdainfully. “I don’t know why they left you alive. I won’t.”
The panicked German trips over Kostis. Irene waits for him to regain his balance, then smacks him in the chin. He gulps, spewing out a vile mixture of blood and teeth chips. The soldier thumps Irene’s chest, stomach, and then her mouth. She’s an immovable colossus. The man is no weakling, but he can’t even begin to hurt her.
I crawl back. I’m far from full strength – whatever good that would do - but at least I can move again.
Irene lets the German land a few more ineffective punches, freezes time – I think she closed her eyes - and strikes back. She knees his stomach, locks her fingers around his throat, and lifts him three inches off the ground.
Irene holds position, skin-tight wetsuit emphasising her Amazonian physique. Beads of sweat trickle down her cheeks, but she her iron-strong grip shows no sign of loosening. Her captive gasps, kicking at her legs. Puny, glancing blows which Irene simply ignores. She could snap the soldier’s neck, and end this sideshow right now. The evil glint in her eyes suggests she’s planning something nastier.
“Are you watching, little sister?” I have a feeling she’s speaking to the Germans, too. “This is how I deal with my enemies.”
Irene tosses the soldier back - onto the stalagmite. There’s a drawn out squelch as the spike impales his back. Its pointy limestone tip bursts through the belly of his shirt, white rock stained deep crimson. He has time for one spluttered breath before he expires. My sister waits for the dead man’s arms and legs to stop swinging, then turns to face the U-boat. The cave is silent apart from lapping water and the continual echo of dripping blood.
“Get the diamond,” instructs Irene. A sailor hurriedly runs to obey. “My sister…” She stands over me, pausing to consider. “I was going to kill her, but… No. Bury her with the old man. Use their own explosives. She can spend an eternity trapped in this cave, remembering how I beat her.”
I’m feeling well enough to fight, but it won’t be much of a battle. Irene can utilise the machines in her blood far more effectively than me. And she’s backed up by a squad of Kriegsmarine. There’s no way I can win. It’s silly to risk everything on a single suicidal attack. But I’m a silly, impulsive girl about to be buried alive. I can’t wait for a safe and sensible option to present itself. I get ready to close my eyes.
A loud clang, followed by cracking stone. Everyone looks at the mermaid. She’s alive. Amber beams shine from her lenses, sweeping the cave. A sailor retreats from the diamond he just dropped, and draws his Luger pistol. Removing the object from the hole must have awakened the creature.
The mermaid swipes her claws, chipping away at the stalagmite that traps her. The limestone shatters into tiny chunks, and she’s free. White dust blows off her as she slithers toward the petrified sailor.
“Shoot her!” screams Irene.
The Germans open fire, all at once. The resulting noise is deafening: intense machine gun bursts mixed with slower, single-shot Mausers. And countless metallic clinks as rounds bounce off the mermaid’s black metal shell. Yelping in terror, the sailor shoots her point blank with his Luger.
The creature – seemingly immune to the hail of bullets – slashes the man’s face. Her claws tear off a large chunk of his flesh, exposing cheekbone. The next swipe slices open the sailor’s throat. He pitches forward, blood going everywhere. Except on the mermaid, whose body repels the droplets onto the floor.
The bullets keep flying. And bouncing off. Irene’s no longer the main threat. I get up to join the fight. My sister nods, realising that – for now - we have a common enemy. The mermaid goes after a German ten feet from us, slamming him to the ground before swiping her claws down repeatedly. The creature – or is she a machine? - slithers past his mangled corpse, amber beams scouring the cavern for a new target.
The noise gets quieter, with clicks of empty magazines replacing weapon fire.
“Guns are no use,” I tell Irene. “She’s slaughtering us.”
“I can see that! What do you suggest we do? Fight with our bare hands? I’m strong, but
not that strong.”
The mermaid finishes off a third man, literally ripping him in two with her claws. He was the last sailor on the island. Everyone else apart from me and my sister – and Kostis, who’s slept through all this – is on the U-boat. Their guns are all dry. The Germans flee, descending through hatches into the submarine.
A thick wooden stick snaps under the mermaid’s weight. There’s a crushed metal cylinder attached to one end. Fine grey powder seeps through a crack in the casing.
“Grenade!” I shout, looking round for one that’s usable. “There! By the sailor.”
He’s the first man the mermaid killed, the one who had the Luger. Me and Irene rush over together. I reach down. My sister drags me out of the way, unhooks the German stick grenade from the sailor’s belt, and pulls out the pin.
The mermaid’s gaze falls on us. Irene looks different in the amber light. Every part of her skin that’s exposed is dark blue: face, hands, feet, circles visible through holes in her wetsuit. I’m covered in cloth, but rolling up my sleeve, I see my arm’s blue, too. The creature directs her gaze toward the U-boat.
“The machines in our blood,” I say. “The mermaid’s only going for— Irene! Wait!”
My sister throws the stick grenade. Her aim is spot on. It explodes a second after contact, surrounding the mermaid in roaring, orange fire. Dust falls from cracking stalactites. Loose limestone scatters from the flames, coated black with soot. The mermaid slides out of the smoke, accelerating toward Irene. She’s made herself the target.
My sister shuts her eyes – a long, time-stopping blink. She’s able to jump over the creature’s swinging tail, and duck under a claw slash. Irene blinks continually, dodging swipe after swipe before one cuts into her lower thigh. The four parallel wounds seal quickly, but the impact has knocked her off balance.
“Be careful!” I warn her. “You’ll use up all your power.”
I move to intercept a claw swing, only to receive a nasty cut to the shoulder for my trouble. The mermaid’s elbow smashes me aside. That blow was intended for my sister.
Irene grabs the mermaid’s wrist with two hands, slowing one swipe to buy herself time to escape another. A sideways slash cuts her face, another her hip. Against a creature of solid metal, even she has her limits.
Irene strains to speak. “I’m not weak like you, Edith. I can deal with—”
A tail lash cuts the boast short, and sends her – my six foot Amazon of a sister – flying. She travels the width of the island and splashes into the lake. Irene sinks without a struggle. No air bubbles. Did that thing kill her?
The mermaid turns her head. Amber beams highlight me and continue rotating. The creature acts as if I’m not there, slithering right by me to focus on the U-boat. The two sailors still on deck scramble for the conning tower. A third reaches up through the hatch, closing off their escape route to save himself.
The mermaid slides into the lake, straightens her tail, and dives. Ripples shows her path: a perfect ellipse around the submarine. The creature is even faster in water. Her metal body must weigh tonnes, but she swims with the grace and agility of a fish.
“Edith…” croaks Kostis.
He’s awake! I rush across, helping the old man away from the bloody stalagmite. His dilated pupils focus on the impaled SS soldier above him.
“My sister,” I explain curtly.
Terrified cries draw our attention to the U-boat. The mermaid breaks the water’s surface, tail straight as she launches into the air. She jumps the width of the submarine hull, generating enough propulsion to climb above the conning tower. The marooned sailors freeze, caught in her amber beams. The mermaid spreads her claws, slashing both men’s throats at once as she passes between them. There’s a splash behind – tall enough to wet the cavern roof - and the creature resumes her underwater swim.
“We’ve got bigger problems,” Kostis says grimly. “She’s not a mermaid, any more than the metal woman was a goddess. What is she?”
“Some kind of machine?” I speculate.
The U-boat moves forward. No diesel fumes come from the exhaust, so it must be operating on battery power. The Germans are preparing to submerge, but the submarine is nowhere near quick enough to outrun the threat. The ripples change direction, veering toward it.
The mermaid surfaces and digs her claws into the submarine. Rivets pop out of a yawning section of its hull. She bends the metal plate back to expose the interior. Seawater pours through the breach, sweeping Kriegsmarine sailors off their seats. Electrical controls spark, and live wires turn the flooded room into a death trap.
“How do we switch it off!?” Kostis shouts over the Germans’ dying screams.
I’m too stunned to answer. His training didn’t prepare me for this. The mermaid swims through the hole, carving through dead and living indiscriminately. Unlike the sailors, she’s not affected by electrical currents. She acts with impunity, massacring the entire crew.
The sea around the U-boat is awash with blood. Severed limbs float away from amputated bodies. A torpedo – I think – explodes at the bow of the ship, blasting a second hole in the hull. It won’t be long before the submarine sinks.
“We can’t stop her,” I say, numb with shock. “Nothing can.”
“Did the metal woman leave a message!?” Kostis yells, shaking me out of my stupor. “Edith! Were there any more symbols on the Parthenon?”
What a stupid question! Of course there were no… Wait. I close my eyes and return to the Athenian Acropolis. I hang over the temple roof, and use the black metal ball to reveal the upside down squares. I move over and see… two symbols of a sequence! If it’s like the others, there should be five. But the rest are on a piece of the frieze that’s no longer present.
I return to the cave, utterly desolate. “Yes,” I tell Kostis. “But not all of them.”
The mermaid surfaces, rearing her head. Again the beams of amber light move past me. And onto Kostis. The fish woman swims to shore, digs her claws deep into the rock, and drags herself onto the island.
What am I supposed to do? Maybe I’m meant to enter the sequence on the vessel. I partly open the leather pouch so the symbols are exposed, and watch them change. The two from the Parthenon are there.
The mermaid bears down on Kostis. I have only seconds before she butchers him. Enough to enter one sequence, but there are too many possibilities. If I guess wrong – and I will – I won’t get a second chance.
“Stay back,” Kostis says, putting distance between us. “It’s me she wants.”
He moves so the stalagmite obstructs the mermaid’s path. That won’t save him. She’ll just go around it. Or straight through. We need some way to stop her, but I have no way of knowing what symbols to touch. Unless…
Kostis sees me look at the diamond – still four feet away, where the German sailor dropped it. Athena’s memories. Her wisdom. The information we need has to be stored in there.
“Edith, no!” Kostis yells. “It’s too dangerous.”
I sprint the short distance and make a jump for it. “I won’t be long!” I shout, reaching out with my bare hand.
The mermaid ploughs into the stalagmite, smashing it to pieces. I see the dead soldier fall, pointy spike still embedded in his belly. Then my bare hand touches metal, and I’m back under the purple sky, rinsing my – Athena’s – body in the waterfall.
I think of the mermaid. Her fishy tail. Claws. Amber lenses. There are too many distractions: splashing water, brightly coloured birds, animal noises from the jungle. Come on… Show me! I can’t spend long in Athena’s memory, otherwise I’ll be too tired to move when I return. Urgency makes me concentrate harder, and the image changes.
White lines on black. Another schematic - a diagram of the mermaid. Her shell is packed with components. I was right. She is a machine. It would take our best scientists years to understand how it works, and most people centuries. But I’m not interested in that!
What I need are the symbols to stop her.
I scan the image. Those squares in the tail… No. They’re part of a circuit diagram. I look again and see five patterns in the lower right corner. The first two match those on the Parthenon. These are the symbols! I memorise the sequence, and leave while I still have some energy left.
I fall on my knees, out of breath. The vessel clangs on the cavern floor, pouch chain taut. The mermaid slides around the dead soldier, slashing Kostis’ arm. I look at the metal ball, and see the symbols I need to press.
“Hold on!” I shout, dragging my hand across.
I lower my head, yanking the chain so the symbols rotate toward my fingers. I type in the sequence. Two presses in, the mermaid wraps her tail around Kostis. Between the third and fourth, her claw slashes his stomach. She’s about to strike a fatal blow when I touch the fifth.
Did I freeze time? No. But the mermaid’s stopped. Body stiff, eyes dark, claws an inch from Kostis’ neck. Blood pours down the machine’s metal shell, sticking to it.
“Kostis!” I cry.
He’s dying. There’s no way to free him from the mermaid’s crushing hold. Not without switching her back on.
“You have to… destroy it,” he gasps. “You’ve seen how dangerous… the technology is. Edith. Promise…” His mouth droops open. No more words of advice. When I hold my hand under his nose, the air is cold and still.
“I promise,” I say, closing Kostis’ eyelids.
The floor darkens. Multiple human shadows are superimposed in the flare light. Water drips behind me. Slippery rubber hands grab the pouch chain, yanking the links taut around my neck. Someone tall, strong, and female lifts me off the floor, quickly tightening her stranglehold.
“Another one you couldn’t save,” Irene says. “Only you and me left, little sister. In a few minutes, it’ll just be me.”
Chapter Twenty One: A Day to Remember
Steel links bite into my neck. I’m dazed after using the diamond, and it won’t be long until I succumb to the mounting pressure on my windpipe. With the mermaid out of the way, my sister has no reason to keep me alive. Our brief truce is over.
Edith Clayton and the Wisdom of Athena Page 25