Water Games

by Juliann Whicker

  “Miss?”

  I turned and saw the boy from earlier, the blond one.

  He smiled shyly. “I don’t mean to frighten you, but you’re being followed.”

  I turned to look back past the garden down to the bar way. The boy grabbed my hand and tugged me into the garden pushing me down behind an outgrowth of kelp that tickled my nose.

  I stayed there for some time until I saw a shadow pass by. I shivered as I saw the ominous figure, wearing a tight cap and loose cape that flared out from his shoulders. The way the cap came down on his forehead, he looked a bit like a vampire.

  I turned to tell the boy that it was only Spyguy, but I was alone in the blue kelp. I checked my wrist with my links. Yep. Gone. Seriously. I came out of the kelp and swam past Spyguy who didn’t look at me. At the next bright intersection I was almost run down by a girl on jet boots. Spyguy grabbed my elbow and pulled me back into the dimly lit high way.

  “This is a somewhat busy intersection,” he said in English, close to my ear. “Your apartment is directly across on the seventieth level.” He pointed and I stared at the bulging monstrosity of a building that looked like a cancerous coral reef in pale brown like mushrooms. I looked up and up and up and couldn’t see the end of it, then looking over, finally noticed the glittering, sparkling immense dome that had to be Gerveeg’s. I’d be working there.

  I got Goosebumps all over my skin as a streak of red light ran over the outside of the dome until it sparked into silver and gold at the top, sparkles dancing over the exterior in some kind of Las Vegas style light show.

  The thoroughway was more than busy. It was alight even at night.

  Spyguy calling it a somewhat busy intersection was an understatement. Apparently small ships were allowed on it, because the center way held small craft that weren’t entirely closed. They zipped along while the current pulled groups of laughing Soremni on their way to something I wouldn’t begin to understand. Unless it was music. How could I get across?

  Spyguy touched my shoulder and nodded up. I looked and along the side of the building was a way with jelly sides that curved around the throughway, like an overpass footbridge.

  I followed the curved way around the midway that flowed in perpendicular directions. On the opposite side, I looked back at the thoroughway and its bright lights before heading towards the mushroom coral. The closest doorway had a sign over the round entrance that I couldn’t read.

  “Go in.”

  I swam past a doorman into the lit interior, golden light on all the surfaces.

  A woman leaned on the counter looking sophisticated in her body-skimming pale pink suit. Clouds of dark hair floated around her creamy face.

  When she saw me she straightened and gestured me towards her.

  “Tera Gild?” she asked.

  I nodded and adjusted my goggles. For some reason I wasn’t entirely trusting of the woman.

  “She’s your guide here. You’ll go with her to the dome and meet Gerveeg along with all the other interns. After that fun, you’ll come back here. I’ll be right behind you.” Spyguy’s voice in my ear was giving me a headache.

  I smiled and swam over to her. She held out her hand and I shook it. She pulled away like I’d spit on her before signing, documents, please.

  Oh. I pulled my papers out of my inside pocket and waited while she looked them over very thoroughly, staring at me suspiciously before she finally punched a hole with her sharp pinky nail and handed them back. They were more plastic than paper so they probably wouldn’t dissolve very quickly.

  I put them away then followed when she turned and swam off, gesturing over her shoulder at me.

  We took a round elevator down. Apparently the monstrous building had a very complex transportation network, so we just had to hang onto the framework that shot through water tunnels until we came out across from the curved bell of Gerveeg’s dome. I couldn’t tell where the Chromodome was in relation to it.

  Meeting Gerveeg was slightly anti-climactic. He stood in the center of the glistening dome while the dozen or so interns sat in the auditorium seats closest the central stage.

  He sounded bored although he looked as devastatingly handsome as possible, his dark hair and glittering eyes reminding me of Oliver. Oliver. His accent was different from Oliver’s. That was something.

  “Welcome. You’re going to work hard. Most of you won’t make it through the first month. Those who do are probably masochists. I don’t like long introductions. They’re boring and I am never boring. Go get settled into your apartments. Do whatever thing you think encapsulates freedom from the bonds of home. You’ll be trading them for much stronger and more oppressive chains. Tomorrow, when you wake up, go through the rules. Sign them. Enjoy your last day of freedom. Monday we’ll begin to see if one of you has a musical bone in your body.” He turned and left. I was going through the sheaf of plastic pages and barely saw him before he was already gone.

  I applauded in spite of the weird looks I got because that was the least tortuous orientation I’d ever had. I’d thought we’d be there for hours and hours and hours when I was already wiped out.

  I headed back out. A few other kids stared at me and nudged each other, but I was supposed to look weird and awkwardly shy. That was my MO, soft Soremni female that couldn’t think of anything other than music, but ugly so no Soremni male would take pity on me and get too close.

  I focused on not looking at anyone and getting back into the elevator thing, not looking at the other two girls who came with me. When I reached the lobby from earlier, I went to the counter and got my room key from the warmly smiling clerk. I went into a different elevator, bigger with a mesh floor. The mesh made sense when after a few floors, the water fell down, leaving me in air, standing on the mesh with my hair flat around my face. The elevator was fast, and wind rushed around me. I was grateful for the goggles by the time it stopped and the doors dinged open. I stepped out into a dry hall, plush red carpet underfoot.

  I shoved my hair out of my face and walked until I got to #117. I put my key in the lock, turned it and there was Junie talking on the phone in heavily accented Soremni. She waved at me and gestured me to come in while she continued quizzing whoever was on the other side of the line about angles and setup.

  I closed the door behind me and looked around at the spacious room. The white leather couch sat on white shag carpet, which partially covered the sleek white stone floor. An enormous marble fireplace with afrateau blooming in it interrupted the curved wall. Opposite the fireplace was a bubble protruding out over the thoroughway kind of like a balcony made of impermeable spongy glass. Not just a tension bubble. I stared down at the way, all the lights in blues, pinks and gold. There was a shipway a few levels above, and the light show dancing over Gerveeg’s dome to the right.

  “Wow.” I was here. I’d actually got an internship with Gerveeg. I pulled off my overalls and walked over to the couch in my wet leggings and t-shirt. I crashed on it and put an arm over my eyes.

  A few seconds later, Junie sat right next to me, bouncing my head. I opened my eyes and couldn’t help but grin back at her manically happy expression. Her dark eyes were shining.

  “You looked like a depressed sunset in that jumper. It’s hideous.”

  I grinned back at her. “I know. You look kind of pulled together. Where’s the t-shirt and big skirt?”

  She wore a suit like the woman from earlier, but hers was a deep rich red that brought out the roses in her lips. “I’m your media specialist. That means I’m classy. Weird, right?”

  “So weird.”

  We started laughing for absolutely no reason.

  “So, I heard you crashed Dean’s lab. You about gave him a heart attack. He thought you’d start screaming and shatter all their samples or something.”

  “He looked kind of cute like a mad scientist. When did you see him last?”

  She shrugged and studied her nails like she cared about them. They were in surprisingly good shape. Maybe she
did. “After graduation. I’ve been here all summer. He’s been working in the lab.”

  I sat up and crossed my knees. “But you’ve talked?”

  She smiled kind of shyly before she looked down again. “Most nights we talk a little bit.”

  “Most nights?” I elbowed her. “That’s serious.”

  “It’s not serious. We’re just both alone and kind of drowning in these worlds we don’t belong in but are determined to make work.” Her eyes gleamed and I nodded.

  “You never lack determination. Your Soremni is adorable.”

  She straightened up and said in Soremni, “What do you mean? It’s perfect.”

  I forced myself to keep a straight face. “Of course it is.”

  She rolled her eyes and opened up her sleek little techno book. “So, your schedule tomorrow is pretty intense. You have a Soremni marriage custom first thing in the morning, visiting the ancestor’s wall and leaving metal chains together, and then an interview with the most popular gossip host, who you will despise, then a concert with Sean.”

  I frowned at her. “A concert?”

  She gestured out the window. “At the dome. Gerveeg’s concerts are pretty awesome. I went to one. I don’t really get into it, you know, it’s like watching credits at the end of a movie.”

  She wasn’t exactly musical.

  I picked at the weird fabric of my leggings, not quite goo, not quite fabric. “I guess if Sean thinks it’s okay. Is he coming tonight?”

  “Call him.”

  I shrugged. “I lost my phone.”

  She stared at me. “You lost it?”

  “It got stolen. And then someone stole all my money. I am a very generous tourist.” My stomach sank. Sean’s song was on boxie. I’d have to somehow convince him to make it again because I absolutely couldn’t live without it. Happy thoughts. Junie. Junie would be so fun to hang out with.

  Junie picked up her phone. “She’s freaking out. Can you find her bag?”

  I sat up, hopeful.

  She frowned while she listened. “Sure.” She hung up her phone and looked at me pointedly. “It’s at the Chromodome. In Sean’s room to be precise. If you go there tonight, you’ll be able to go out to dinner and get attacked by the media.”

  I stood up and fumbled with the hem of my shirt. “I’ll get lost.”

  She rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand, dragging me into my room. I could tell it was my room because there was my computer as well as Flop’s mom’s quilt on my bed. It looked so weird in the otherwise classy, modern space. That was me.

  “They put in a private chute that goes from your room to his in the Chromodome.”

  I stared at her. “What?”

  She went to a wall and hit a series of buttons on it. It was my home phone number. Nice. I’d remember that. The wall slid open and there was a cushy cocoon in pale blue.

  “So, that goes to Sean’s room in the Chromodome? How is that logistically possible?”

  “It was a hassle. Sean spent millions buying up apartments to make a clear route. You have the most expensive internship in the world.”

  I sighed and climbed inside. He hadn’t mentioned anything. She came with me, pulling up her knees as the door closed.

  Chapter 20

  “Chromodome,” she said in English. The capsule whooshed and I closed my eyes while my stomach was left behind. It was like a roller coaster. A really, really long roller coaster. When it stopped, my knees slammed against Junie’s.

  “Ow.”

  The door whooshed open and there was Sean in a black tuxedo holding a wine glass filled with green elixir. Probably full of kelp.

  “You made good time. Do you care where we eat?”

  He held out a hand and I took it, holding onto it while my dizziness faded. His room was a little classier this time. There weren’t the piles of engines just sleek black and bubbling lava, walls veined with the stuff while one entire wall looked out on the ocean.

  I crashed into his chest and tried to hold back tears. What was wrong with me? A special elevator wasn’t as expensive as rebuilding an entire province. “How are the stabilizers going?” I mumbled into his shirt.

  He wrapped one arm around me. “Good. Really good. Installing it is going to be the problem. Not a lot of people can work so low.”

  “I expected to see machine parts all over the place.”

  “I got a room across the hall to keep all of that. There’s a lot.” He sounded slightly embarrassed.

  I pulled away to stare up at him. “Sean, I missed you. I saw you this morning and I still missed you.”

  He kissed my nose before pulling away and shaking his head. He turned to Junie who was taking her time getting out of the cocoon. “Is everything set up for the media interviews?”

  She nodded and opened her sleek book again, but she weaved a little bit. “If you leave now you can have dinner before the horde descends. Otherwise, the media are waiting in the conference room and you can go down then out later. Whichever.”

  Sean took a long drink, emptying his glass before turning and setting it on the edge of the lava fountain. “What do you think?”

  I bit my bottom lip. Dealing with media wasn’t ever fun. “Is there any way that we could do the media thing quickly then come back here for some pizza and a movie or something?”

  He glanced at Junie. “I’m scheduled to do the press conference without Gen. Which do you think would be a better presentation?”

  Junie frowned and studied her book, scrolling up and down. “You’ve already prepped for it. Gen hasn’t. She should be ready for tomorrow’s interview, a lighthearted talk about experiencing Soremni customs in Terramore as a Vashni, but tonight’s interview will be about Terramore, about the monsters you’re bringing into the city, about integration, I hate to say this as a feminist, but Gen will distract them from the issues that they have to get out of the way before tomorrow’s interview.”

  I grabbed Sean’s hand. “I want to go. If anyone asks, I’ll be clear that it’s his interview and I’m only there to support him. I can do that, can’t I?”

  Sean and Junie gave me long looks. Sean leaned closer to peer into my eyes. “You want to go?”

  “I like watching you. Also, I need to get used to being the Cleaver Queen in a smaller role before tomorrow when I’m on all day. Are we really going to a concert? You think that’s going to be okay?”

  He brushed my hair back and kissed me, barely a touch, but then he caught me around the waist and pulled me against him. His lips were soft, tender and persistent.

  “Yeah, don’t mind me. I’m just the media person.”

  I pulled away from Sean. He reluctantly let go of me.

  “Sorry, Junie,” I said, turning to her. “We’re pretend Vashni married so we have to practice to get into our parts.”

  “What is pretend about it, exactly?”

  I glanced at Sean, at the tattoos visible above the crisp collar of his tux. “I better get dressed. Is Spyguy around to do my makeup?”

  “I’ll let him know he’s necessary for something truly important,” Sean said with a straight face.

  I kissed him again. I couldn’t help it. I’d have makeup on and couldn’t do anything. He tasted so good. His hard chest felt perfect against mine, buttons uncomfortable in a seriously good way until I pulled back breathing hard.

  “Right. I’ll get dressed. Red sheath dress, right? Is it in water or air?”

  “Air. Take your time. Calm down. You’re supposed to be too tired from jet lag for the interview, so any time you feel too much, you simply whisper in my ear and then someone will escort you away while I finish.” He kissed my hand gazing at me in the most consuming way before he dropped it and turned to Junie.

  I headed to his bedroom. I imagined that the enormous closet would be holding Cleaver Queen’s wardrobe. By the red lace bras, I knew I was in the right place.

  The interview was long and deadly dull. My job was to look mildly pleasant as I stood beside him
. I didn’t have to gaze adoringly at anyone, which was too bad because I was really good at that. Looking pleased wasn’t possible when they were asking about what happened to Terramore, whether the stabilizers had been sabotaged, if it was a mechanical, structural problem, or if the rumors of the mother of monsters coming back were true. He answered the questions with details about mechanics and design that humans would never put on news, but apparently Soremni had more tolerance for tech stuff. After that, there were questions about our Soremni marriage, but Sean only looked at me with a golden Soremni smile.

  “She’ll talk with Brenda during her interview tomorrow.”

  I smiled back at him a semi-demure Soremni smile with a hint of ice to it. Then the media started asking about the duet. When were we going to perform again? Would I perform on my own? Who wrote that arrangement of the classic piece? Sean had already released a statement about not singing in public again, not either one of us, and he repeated it almost word for word.

  “But what about the Cleaver Queen? Aren’t you a singer? You wouldn’t give up your career, your talent simply because a man told you, even if he were your husband,” the oily short, dark-haired reporter said, the first Soremni reporter I’d met.

  I gripped Sean’s wrist as I stepped in front of him. “I perform music out of love. Singing with my husband was the first moment of musical perfection I’ve ever experienced. You cannot improve on perfection. I will never sing without him again.”

  “You would give up your music for a man?” the irritating creature repeated.

  “What we do in the privacy of our own home is our business. I respect his decision to not perform publicly. I have chosen not to sing without him. I don’t see this as a conflict.”

  “Then what will you do?” he asked.

  Everyone went quiet as they waited for my answer. Sean’s dad’s words popped into my head about breeding and I’m pretty sure I turned bright red.

  Sean cut in. “To be honest, my wife hasn’t had time to seriously pursue her music for some time now. She’s been occupied with matters of state. While I’m rebuilding Terramore, I’ll rely on her for so many things that I couldn’t mention them all. She’s involved in charities and the constant need to establish representation for the underrepresented…” He turned to face me. “Her work will never be finished, however public it is.”