Falling in Deep Collection Box Set

by Pauline Creeden

  I watched her smooth his ruffled feathers with well-spoken truths. Not adding to his upset, she managed his emotions and the information he brought with ease, letting him run himself down a bit before ensuring that she would be researching the rest of the day.

  “I hope so,” he said. “I would hate to think that anything or anyone was distracting you at this pivotal time. And of course, if you need anything, I am more than happy to help in any way.”

  “I know you are, Gregorio. But at this point, I just need to spend time with the data.”

  “Will you be heading out as well, Luke? We can walk together,” and while his voice was flowery and smooth, his eyes shot daggers at me.

  “Actually, I need Luke for a little bit. He is going to run some of his data against my own. But again, thank you for coming by.” As she spoke, she moved to the lab door, ushering him out. She had some impressive conflict avoidance strategies. I could learn something from her there for sure.

  Once he left, she turned to me. Now alone in the lab, she reached up to kiss me. “Good morning,” she said warmly.

  “Well, that was a far nicer good morning than good ol’ Greg received.”

  “Competing, are you?”

  “I’m not, but he made sure to let me know he is. He would love for me to leave right now.”

  “And how do you feel about that?” she asked, kissing me again.

  “I think I’d rather stick around a while and see how many of these kisses you’re willing to hand out.”

  We continued to distract each other with kisses until it was clear our choices included continuing the playful game and giving up on the day, or stopping where we were and moving forward with what actually needed to be done.

  “Okay, okay. Time out,” she interrupted breathy and flush. “If we’re stopping, you’ll need to remove your hand from my breast.” A large smile spread across her face.

  “And if we are going to research, your hands will also need to move away from my abs and chest,” I added.

  Coming down from our dreamlike state, she turned to grab her notes. “I do have things I need to share with you,” she urged.

  “What do you have to share?” I emphasized the double meaning a bit, laughing at my own immaturity.

  She laughed too, but she also swatted me with her hand and moved to the other side of the lab. I followed, giving myself enough space to cool down, and allowing her a chance to do the same. I knew if we found ourselves within grasping distance again too soon, the day would be shot and we’d be a heap on the floor. It was a great thought, but now wasn’t the time.

  “I found something interesting in the data this morning,” she called to me. “I think it’s a pattern, actually. It’s just not your typical pattern.”

  “What’s that mean here?” I asked.

  “Well, you know how most patterns move in one, maybe two directions? This one doesn’t.”

  She went on to explain the pattern showed that while the frequency was increasing overall, it actually detoured to show a decrease in three instances before increasing. And while they came more frequently, there wasn’t a pattern to the recurrence until the twenty-fifth incident. The intensity did increase each time, but only by a small fraction.

  After thoroughly explaining the predictions she made, I saw that the intensity would be noticeable to outside areas within the next few months. The folks sitting in Vero Beach, Florida would see the lights soon, and the people in Tampa would notice it mere days after that. This meant the only way to keep the world at large from knowing about the energy was to figure out how to control it.

  Anya explained that the few months we were granted to control the light would be cut drastically if anything dramatic was announced at the ebbing. Taking mer holidays into account wasn’t something I had figured into any of this, but as she explained the festival and its purpose, it became obvious that she had to consider it. She worried there wouldn’t be time to further research if a warring tribe got wind of the trench and energy. Chances are they would try to control the same force.

  As we talked, planning how to handle the next phase of the research project, a fax machine in the corner woke with a ring and hum, eventually spitting out one page. I hadn’t heard a fax in ages, but apparently mer communication was not done by sonar or email alone. She blanched as she held the page up for me to read:

  “1. Humans are a problem. 2. Trisanthians believe the light is a weapon. Feeling threatened. ”

  “What the hell does that mean?” I asked in confusion.

  “It means my father knows you’re here, and he isn’t happy. And when Nishan isn’t happy, the oceans rage. But worse, it means we’re in trouble, Luke.”

  “Who the hell are the Trisate-, Trisanth-, whoever he said? Who are they? Why would they think you created a weapon?” I shot the questions at her rapidly and with more harshness than I meant.

  “I told you about the festival, right. Well, the Trisanthians are the most aggressive tribe of mer, and they hold the least amount of land or power. They used to be quite a force, but they came upon some economic strife and basically fell apart for about a century.

  “They are often threatened by things they don’t understand or haven’t thoroughly considered. But when they are threatened, the entire mer society pays.

  “They’re working to restore their position in the mer world, and they’ve been doing really questionable things to do this.”

  “Questionable? What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Oh, things like working with some Middle Eastern oil barons to push the mer of that area out of the waters in order to continue drilling. Your basic bad mer stuff,” she said trying to be light-hearted.

  “Would it have been as bad if they had pushed the mer out on their own? Without humans?”

  “It would still be deplorable. We don’t turn on each other that way. We have rules to our behavior, and they have kept us around for centuries. And involving humans, well, that is against most of those rules.”

  “So involving humans is never supposed to be an option?”

  “Never a first option. But this possible war could be the ticket to your acceptance here in Orotava. If they know what we’re up against, they’ll be more likely to tolerate you and the team.”

  “Tolerate isn’t the same as accept, Anya,” I pointed out to her, finally realizing how tumultuous the situation was in her society.

  “I know, but they’ll need your help. They’ll see how dangerous it will be for the Trisanthians to get hold of this energy. No one will want that, mer or human, believe me.”

  Twenty-one: Anya

  “Why a weapon? That would mean we created it, wouldn’t it??” I growled after reading the fax again.

  “It’s just a fax.” Luke tried to soothe me, but he didn’t understand the issue.

  I wriggled away from him and paced out of frustration. “I suppose we could have weaponized a natural occurrence, but we’d have to know what the hell it was, or did. A weapon?”

  I could see the issue become clear in Luke’s eyes as he did his best to remain stoic. “Well, it is an idea. Just an idea,” he said.

  “It’s a bad idea. A horrible one. How did we supposedly take this unexplained phenomena and turn it into a weapon. They don’t even know how it works, or what it is, or what could happen as we study it. They don’t know if it would blow up all of Orotava, or the whole Caribbean, or the Atlantic for that matter.”

  “You’re right, they don’t know. Neither do we. But we can take the time to find out. And that’s what we need to do right now, make a plan as to how we will find out.”

  “I’ll need to call Corvan and Lucinda. Is there anyone on your team that can run data for us today?” I asked without thinking.

  The implications of involving more humans in our research efforts was something I could deal with later. However, I hoped what I explained to Luke about the tribe needing him was right. I hoped that when the tribe knew our situation, they’d also know how much
we needed the humans’ help.

  “Of course,” Luke replied in earnest. “I’ll go get them now. I’m sure they’ll be willing to do whatever we need.”

  And with that, he was out the door.

  I refocused and called the mer I needed to contact. The response overwhelmed me and the lab buzzed with voices within an hour.

  I tried to call everyone to order, but I fell short and couldn’t speak over those gathered in the echoing room. Instead, I urged Uncle Jinsen to grab their attention with his booming, room-filling voice.

  “Welcome to all of you,” he began. “It does my heart good to see so many of you willing to help out today and on such short notice. I’m sure Nishan will appreciate all you do here.

  “Anya has explained to me that her father is now officially acknowledging an environmental issue found in the ocean floor past our reef, the strange and somewhat unexplained light show we’ve been enjoying off the reef.

  “As you’re all aware,” he continued, “Anya has a plan at this point that we need to thoroughly explain and which will direct our efforts beginning immediately.

  “Please listen closely and direct all questions to her after her explanation. And as always, we remain strong by working together as the Obthalusians of Orotava, the ancient and respected mer tribe of the Atlantic and Caribbean Oceans.”

  With that the group broke into cheers and clapping. I wondered if we should really applaud our potential demise, but now wasn’t the time to wallow in that notion.

  As everyone quieted, I addressed the group, informing them of the research that I had completed and how Luke and his team factored into everything. I informed them of my father’s wish to use the energy force as a weapon, and how I was wary of that decision. There were few questions as they all listened eagerly. Maybe I had explained things well, or maybe they weren’t willing to think too far ahead and consider what already rolled around in my thoughts.

  Evening came upon Orotava and Luke and his crew had not yet appeared at the lab. The hum of equipment and voices filled my head, allowing little space for thoughts of my sailor. As helpful as that was, I could feel the frown on my face and the lines creasing my brow as I worked.

  Mer continued the tasks I had assigned, and Jinsen manned the fax machine and continued the stilted conversation with my father. Crossing the room, he brought a page to me.

  “Nereids talking. Rumor of war.”

  “What?” I exclaimed loudly enough to cause everyone to stop and turn toward me. “War? Over the light?”

  This changed everything. I figured the Trisanthians would want control over it at some point, but I figured they’d wait to see what it did first. I thought we’d have time to figure it out, learn to control it, maybe even extinguish it if that were an option. I didn’t think they’d come after us for it. I didn’t think it was ours to turn over.

  “Anya, keep calm,” Jinsen ordered in the authoritative voice of a mer used to being listened to. “This is not an official declaration. And the Trisanthians wouldn’t know what to do with the light anyway. They may know of it, but they surely don’t know more than you do.”

  As I opened my mouth to speak, Gregorio sidled up to my uncle and interrupted, “Unless they do know more.” His voice dripped with contempt.

  “How? How would they know more than we do? We’ve been researching for months and they’ve just heard about the light.”

  “So beautiful, but so naive you are, Anya,” he spat.

  I wanted to slap the glib look off his face.

  He continued. “What if they caused this situation, this light? What if they sent the humans? There is plenty we don’t understand, and the role of the humans and the Trisanthians is a large part of what we need to figure out.”

  “I’ve told you, the humans don’t mean us harm in any way. They were stranded. They didn’t look for the island, or us. They don’t even know what we are.”

  “Don’t they know?” Gregorio doubted. “I know Luke knows about us. Doesn’t he?”

  “Well, yes.” I tried to explain, but I couldn’t be heard over the objections of the other mer who had started listening. They stopped researching and were now an active part of our conversation.

  As individuals voiced their discontent with me, my head spun.

  “Now we’re not safe on our own island,” someone yelled.

  Another joined, shouting, “How could you, Anya?”

  “I know we’d rather not let humans know, but he needed help,” I retorted, defending my actions. “I couldn’t let him die on the reef. I thought he could help.”

  “You could have let him die, and you should have,” Gregorio added. “We don’t need them and they aren’t welcome here.”

  The crowd clamored in agreement, and I sunk into a chair wondering how we would ever handle all of this without Luke.

  Twenty-two: Luke

  ON MY WALK back to the guest house, I practiced what I would say to my team. I went over and over it in my head, but I kept questioning how I could ask them to stay when I knew there was danger. But I also knew they would be excited to hear about the research and that alone may sway their decisions. Maybe some would stay and some would return home. Regardless of their decisions, I wasn’t leaving.

  I found the group on the back porch chatting about the island.

  “I think we should delay those parts. This place is paradise,” Brandon said, stretching out in a rocking chair.

  Lucy caught my eye. “Hey, Luke,” she exclaimed. “Nice of you to come on back.”

  “Hey, guys. You look comfortable.”

  “No less comfortable than you,” Amir added.

  Kate dispensed with the civilities, cutting right to the heart of the matter. “Where were you last night? Wish you’d have let us know.”

  “Come on, give the man a beer before you interrogate him. But yes, Lucas, where were ya?” Norton chimed in somewhat defending me to the crew.

  “I’d love one. And I was with Anya last night. I’m sorry I didn’t let you know, but I have some important stuff for us to talk about.”

  “What’s up?” Brandon asked with interest. Always the most gun-ho of the group, he was up for anything that wouldn’t tip over a boat.

  Kate rolled her eyes and began a mini lecture. “Luke, seriously, what the hell were you thin—”

  Normally I’d have let her say her piece. I did leave them with no way to contact me, but seeing as how we knew only a handful of what they thought were people, I obviously was with one of them. The island wasn’t large, and if they’d asked after Anya anywhere, they’d have found me. Besides, I didn’t want to waste time on last night.

  Interrupting her, I started with my information. “I know, Kate, I know. I apologize, and you can feel free to harp on it later, but now we need to talk. I’m not sure where to start, so I’ll just jump in.

  “Anya’s research and ours intertwine. She took me out to the reef last night, well, just beyond it.”

  “Oh, a night dive. I love those. Sure wouldn’t have mind going,” Brandon admitted somewhat dejected.

  “It wasn’t like that, Brando. She needed to show me something. The ocean there, just past their reef, started splitting just a few months ago.”

  “Splitting?” Lucy asked.

  “Basically. Where there was what seemed to be solid ocean floor is now a trench, a shallow one, but a trench.”

  Amir brushed off my comments. “That’s not such a big deal. The ocean trenches all the time. It will probably cover up next storm cycle and fill back in. Tectonic shift, man. That’s all.”

  “You’d think, and I did at first. But then I realized the trench was glowing. The bright light that was floating around us and the Sea Star came from there. It came from the freaking trench.”

  “Okay, now that’s weird,” Kate admitted, not trying to hide her interest. “That’s really really weird.”

  “I know. And I watched the specks of light, the little pieces of energy float around in the water and gr
ow into larger balls. And I followed them up through the ocean to the surface, and they bounced around, coming together and separating. But when they reached the size of golf balls, maybe a little bigger, they zoomed through the air and BAM! They hit and shattered, raining light across the water. It was just like what we saw on the boat.

  “But it didn’t knock us out. We were in the water, and didn’t affect us at all.”

  Hours later the team stared at me as I finished answering their questions. I had explained Anya’s theories and how we may have an answer to our research question right in front of us. What I hadn’t mentioned was the fact that we were surrounded by merfolk.

  “Okay, we need to see the trench,” Kate concluded matter-of-factly. “Let’s go. There must be a boat somewhere.”

  “I’d love to show it to you, Kate, but there is something else I need to explain.”

  I was dreading this portion, but if I was asking them to stay, to put themselves in danger, they deserved to know everything I knew.

  “More?” Lucy asked. “A trench, energy and light originating from the core of the earth, and you say there’s more?”

  “Yes, and this is probably the most unbelievable portion of it all. Um, well, the Orotavans are not as they seem,” I managed to spit out.

  Norton spoke truthfully, swigging back the last of his beer and answering, “Who is, pal? Who is?”

  “Well, it is a bit more than you’d think. They, uh, they’re… I don’t know if you’ll even believe me, but they’re…” I couldn’t bring myself to say anything else.

  Amir, annoyed at my hemming and hawing, interrupted me. “Just spit it out. Damn, man.”

  “I know, it’s just that. Well, they’re mer.”

  “Mer?” Brandon questioned. “Mer what?”

  “Mermaids. Mermen. Merpeople,” I conceded. “Mer. They’re mer.”

  Kate, ever quick to recover, was the first to comment after a minute or two of silence. “Don’t be an ass, Luke. Mermaids? How much have you had to drink?”