Fatal Tide

by Iris Johansen

  “I’ve changed my mind. I’m entitled.”

  She shook her head. “I promised you Marinth. I’ll keep my promise.”

  “Screw your promise. I’ll trust you, dammit.”

  She thought about it and then shook her head. “If you’d made the offer before I talked to Archer tonight, I would have taken it in a heartbeat. After what happened in Las Palmas it seemed crazy not to go after him first.”

  “But not now?”

  “The sooner we find Marinth, the sooner I can concentrate on finding a foolproof way to keep Pete and Susie safe. That’s my primary concern. Besides, he may be coming to us if he’s after the dolphins.”

  “That’s true. But what if there isn’t a Marinth? What if those tablets are all that’s left of the city?”

  “Marinth first.” She turned to face him. “Now, shut up about it, Kelby. There’s something important I want to ask you.”

  “I can hardly wait.”

  “Don’t be sarcastic.” She moistened her lips. “Will you let me go to bed with you?”

  He went still. “Now?”

  She nodded jerkily. “If you don’t mind.”

  “Hell, no, I don’t mind. You know better than that by now. I’m just curious. After that call from Archer I wouldn’t think it would be high on your agenda.”

  “You don’t understand. He’s so filthy, he makes me feel filthy too. I choke on it.” She tried to smile. “But it’s all lies. I’m not filthy. I don’t feel dirty with you. You’re clean, Kelby. Everything’s natural and right. I feel like I do when I’m swimming with the dolphins. I need to feel that right now.”

  He stared at her for a moment and then reached out and gently touched her cheek. “Nothing a man likes more than to be compared to a cold dip in the ocean with a couple of aquatic mammals.”

  “They’re very special mammals,” she said unevenly. “And it won’t be cold. I won’t be cold.” She took a step closer and laid her head on his chest. “I promise.”

  “She’s getting close, Pennig.” Archer smiled as he gazed out at the horizon. “I think I may have her soon.”

  “Good,” Pennig said sourly. “I want to see her hurting.”

  “You will. As a reward for that wound, I may let you visit her in the bordello I sell her to. There’s nothing like sexual domination to sweeten the punishment.”

  “I don’t want to screw her, I want her dead.”

  “You have no imagination. Death isn’t first, it’s last.” He tilted his head, considering. “But she may be feeling a little too safe. I shook her when I threatened the dolphins, but we have to keep the pressure high. She was actually quite insulting. It made me very angry. I think we may have to show her she can’t do that.”

  “How?”

  He picked up his phone. “By making sure she knows that there’s no place on earth or sea that she’s safe from me. . . .”

  Melis was still sleeping.

  Kelby very carefully and quietly got out of bed and quickly dressed.

  He paused at the door. She hadn’t stirred. It was unusual for her to sleep this soundly. She was ordinarily up at dawn and moving around with restless vitality. Now she looked like a weary little girl, all tousled and warm, and so goddamn beautiful it made his throat tighten to look at her.

  So don’t look at her. There were things to do.

  He turned and left the cabin.

  He found Nicholas on deck. He didn’t waste words. “Archer has a man close enough to know we’ve freed the dolphins. He’s threatened to kill them,” Kelby told Nicholas. “We need to know where he is and make sure he doesn’t get any closer.”

  “It’s a big ocean.” Nicholas grinned. “But I’m a big man. You’re smart to pick someone so exceptional for the job.” His smile faded. “He called Melis?”

  “Last night.”

  “Bastard. We’ve got to do something about that son of a bitch—soon.”

  Kelby nodded. “My thought exactly. We not only have to find the sentry, we have to find the mother ship. And as discreetly as possible. I don’t want Archer to know we’re zeroing in on him.”

  “You think he’s on the Jolie Fille?”

  “It makes sense if he’s staking out Melis. Wilson said his ship left Marseilles before we departed from Lontana’s Island.”

  “And we’re going to take out the Jolie Fille?”

  “Probably.”

  Nicholas smiled. “Thank God for small favors. Now, this is a man’s game. I was getting tired of baby-sitting dolphins.”

  “We’re all baby-sitting the dolphins.” He looked out at Pete, who had just surfaced. “Let’s hope they return the favor when Melis and I are forty meters underwater.”

  The dolphins were probably only toying with her, Melis thought. At first, they had seemed to have a purpose, but for the past hour they’d been swimming through caves and around rocks and coral reefs. She could swear they were playing hide-and-seek.

  Kelby swam up to her and signaled they should surface.

  She shook her head and swam after Pete. One more try. The dolphins had led them farther from the ship than ever before in the last three days. The water was murkier here than it had been a short distance away. It was difficult to see Susie, who was swimming ahead of Pete. They disappeared behind a huge rock.

  Melis swam around the boulder.

  No Pete. No Susie.

  Kelby swam in front of her and jerked his thumb upward. He was clearly exasperated.

  Well, so was she, but she wasn’t giving up until she tried one more time to locate the dolphins. Kelby could just be patient until she had her chance.

  She made the universal sign of derision with one finger and swam around him.

  Five minutes later she still hadn’t caught sight of Pete and Susie.

  That was it.

  She signaled Kelby she was going up and slowly started the journey toward the surface.

  She tensed as something brushed against her leg. She looked down to see a dorsal streaking away from her. Susie?

  Kelby was behind her with the shark gun in his hand. He shook his head as if reading her mind. Not a shark. He made a swimming motion with one hand.

  A dolphin. But it hadn’t been Susie or Pete. Through the cloudy water she could see that this mammal was bigger than either of them, and he was swimming with purpose toward—

  My God.

  Dolphins, hundreds of them. She had never seen a group this big.

  Kelby was signaling her, asking her if she wanted to stay and investigate.

  She hesitated and then shook her head. She kept going up. She broke the surface a few minutes later and waved at Nicholas in the tender some distance away. He waved and then sped toward them.

  “Where’s Kelby?” Nicholas asked as he stopped beside her.

  It was what she had been wondering. “I don’t know. He was right behind me.”

  Kelby didn’t come to the surface for another two minutes.

  She drew a sigh of relief. “So much for the buddy system,” she said as Nicholas pulled her into the boat.

  “I wanted to see them at closer range,” Kelby said as he climbed onto the tender. “They’re all big, really big. Aren’t males bigger than females? Could they all be males?”

  “Not with a group that large. Males do travel in their own subgroups once they leave their mothers, but we’re talking about a group of over a hundred males.”

  He shrugged. “Maybe I was wrong. I didn’t want to stay away from you long.”

  “Or maybe you were right.” She could feel excitement stirring as she thought about it. “If the subadult groups are that large, can you imagine how many dolphins are down there?”

  “Why didn’t you want to stay down and check them out?”

  “Males can be aggressive. They might have taken alarm and ganged up on us and attacked.”

  “Why haven’t they surfaced?”

  “I don’t know. They might have their own fixed behavior patterns. Maybe they’ll surf
ace miles from here.”

  “Are Pete and Susie safe down there with them?” Nicholas asked.

  “I hope. They must feel safe with them.” She shrugged. “I thought Pete and Susie were just playing, but maybe they wanted to introduce us.”

  “It would take a while to do the introductions to that many dolphins,” Kelby said dryly. “I might pass on it.”

  She shook her head, excitement growing. “I don’t think you would. Dolphins were the little brothers of Marinth. They were protected by the Marinthians, so naturally they would increase in population. These kinds of numbers are unusual. We’re looking for the unusual.”

  “But they haven’t been protected for a couple thousand years.” He added thoughtfully, “Once established, though, the basic numbers might stay close to the same.”

  She nodded eagerly. “And there’s a large amount of silt down there.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Nicholas asked.

  “If an entire island was washed away, wouldn’t there be a bigger silt factor?”

  “Works for me.” Kelby frowned. “Let’s go back down.”

  She shook her head. “Tomorrow. With Pete and Susie. I want to give them a chance to act as buffers for us. Don’t make the mistake of thinking all dolphins are like Pete and Susie. They’ve always been unusual. Dolphins can be as deadly as sharks in some situations. For all we know, those dolphins might have some ingrained genetic instinct to protect Marinth.”

  “Weird,” Nicholas said.

  Kelby’s brows lifted. “You claim you’re a shaman and it’s the dolphins that are weird?”

  “It’s not a claim. And I reserve the right to be weird.” He turned the tender. “And I also reserve the right to stay above-water while you’re playing with the dolphins. Thanks to Melis, I’ve already had an experience with Pete and Susie that’s unforgettable. I don’t need to be assaulted by a hundred or so.”

  They’d been back on board the Trina for two hours when Pete and Susie finally surfaced next to the ship.

  “They seem okay.” Melis’s gaze raked the two dolphins as they came up to the rail and clicked at her. “No wounds. No trauma. They seem perfectly normal.”

  “That’s good.” Kelby’s tone was abstracted. “I’ve been thinking. Maybe we won’t go down with the dolphins tomorrow.”

  “What?” She turned to look at him. “Why not? You were all set to go back today.”

  “And you said that the dolphins could be aggressive. Let’s make a try at letting technology determine if it’s worth our while.”

  She sighed. “The dodo bird.”

  “I paid a hell of a lot of money for that dodo bird. One day. It can’t hurt. It might give us an idea if there’s anything unusual on the ocean floor.”

  “And it might not.” Trust a man to be besotted by gadgets. She shrugged. “I guess one day can’t matter after thousands of years. Okay, we’ll try the dodo.” She saw Nicholas jump into the tender. “Where’s he going?”

  “Just a little reconnaissance. We don’t want to give Archer the advantage of surprise.”

  She had been so absorbed with the dolphins she’d forgotten about Archer. She wished with all her heart she could afford to do that permanently. “No, we don’t want to give Archer anything.”

  Golden fretwork.

  Drums.

  Kafas.

  She sat straight up in bed, her heart pounding wildly.

  “Okay?” Kelby was wide-awake. “Bad dream?”

  She nodded jerkily and swung her feet to the floor. “I’m going on deck.” She grabbed her robe. “I need air.”

  He got out of bed. “I’ll go with you.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “Yes, I do.” He slipped his robe on. “Come on. We’ll do some deep-breathing exercises and then go down to the galley and get some coffee.”

  “I’m fine. There’s no need—” He wasn’t listening. She turned and left the cabin. The night was cool and there was a slight breeze lifting her hair as she went to lean on the rail.

  “Nice out here.” He didn’t speak for a few minutes, then, “Same dream?”

  She nodded. “Kafas. I half expected it. We’re getting close to Marinth. I can’t stop thinking about it.”

  “I could try going after it alone. Pete and Susie know me now.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  She wearily shook her head. “I don’t know.” She thought about it. “Yes, I do. It’s one of the things I’ve been hiding from all these years. I was as excited as Phil when I first thought we’d found Marinth. Then I let Kafas poison it for me. I shouldn’t have let that happen. Hell, men have been sons of bitches to women all through history. Back in the Middle Ages, a council of noblemen even met to decide whether women were beasts or human. The only reason they decided we were human was that they didn’t want to be charged with bestiality. But we still managed to survive and gain our independence.”

  He smiled. “Because you learned to deal with it.”

  “In spades.” She turned to look at him. “So I’ll give you your Marinth, and you’d damn well better find something wonderful there. Wonderful enough to make up for those women who didn’t get their chance to overthrow those blasted male chauvinists.”

  “I’ll do my best.” His hand, warm and comforting, covered hers on the rail. “Are you ready to go get some coffee?”

  “Not yet. I need a little time.” But the terror was fading, she realized with surprise. It usually took much longer for her to come to terms with it. She gazed out at the water. “Archer didn’t call again tonight. It worries me.”

  “That’s probably what he wants to do. He seems to have mental torture down to a science.”

  She nodded. “He’s a terrible man and he must hate women.” She grimaced. “I bet he’d be lobbying at the council for the beast theory.”

  He chuckled. “No bet.”

  They were laughing at Archer. The knowledge stunned her. Yet letting in the possibility of humor made Archer seem smaller, less intimidating.

  “He’s just a vicious little man, Melis.” Kelby was studying her expression. “We can take him down.”

  She nodded and smiled with an effort. “Sure we can. I’m ready for that coffee now.” She turned and headed for the galley. “I’ll make it. You’ve been very self-sacrificing, listening to my lecture on women’s lib.”

  “Hey, you’re preaching to the converted. I’ve never run across any weakness in my experience with women. I’ve just tried to survive them.”

  His mother and grandmother. She had a sudden surge of anger as she thought of that child ripped between the two of them. “There’s independence and then there’s sheer bitchery.” She frowned. “And I don’t think I like the idea of you calling your ship the Trina. I know it’s kind of a twisted joke, but she shouldn’t even have that much place in your life.”

  “You’re angry.”

  “Yes, I am.” Angry and protective and scared that she was feeling this way. She drew a deep breath. “Why not? You were nice to me. Usually, I have to rely on the dolphins to keep me company when I have a nightmare.”

  “Here we go again. Just a substitute for Pete and Susie.” He opened the door of the galley. “The story of my life.”

  She stopped. “You weren’t a substitute for— I didn’t need Pete and Susie. Even when I was with them after a nightmare, I felt . . . sort of hollow. But I didn’t feel alone tonight.” She was stumbling and she was probably saying things he didn’t want to hear. She hurried past him toward the coffeemaker on the counter. “That’s all. I just wanted to tell you I don’t think you’d have given the beast vote at that council. And for the right reason, not the wrong.”

  “I’m grateful,” he said quietly.

  “You should be.” She turned to face him. “Where’s the coffee canister in this stainless-steel jungle? I expect it to—” She inhaled sharply. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “What?” He glanced
away from her. “Oh. Lust. Sheer unadulterated lust.” He sat down at the table. “But I’ll try to restrain myself while you make the coffee. It’s on the top shelf to your left.”

  “We’re within a mile of where we saw the dolphin band.” Kelby left the bridge and came down to where the screen was set up on the main deck. “Now we’ll see about dodo birds.”

  The yellow sonic imager was being dragged behind the ship, its huge extensions looking like a pelican’s wings.

  “Yes, we will.” Melis was beginning to be a little excited in spite of her doubts. She glanced at the graph. “It seems to be working okay. Maybe technology will triumph.”

  “It had better. The navy charged me a fortune for this dodo.” He shook his head. “Dammit, now you’ve got me saying it.”

  “Perhaps you’re not as machine-oriented as you’d like to believe.” Nicholas leaned on the rail, his gaze on the imager. “It’s really pretty stupid-looking. Would you like me to do a little magic to give it soul?”

  “No, I would not,” Kelby said. “All we need is one of your incantations to make this attempt a disaster.”

  “Incantation? I was thinking more on the lines of clipping a Stevie Wonder CD to the dodo’s neck.”

  Melis smothered a smile. “Good idea. But I prefer Aretha Franklin.”

  “Very funny,” Kelby said sourly. “We’re over the site. We’ll see who has the last— Shit!”

  Melis’s gaze flew to the dodo. “Oh, dear.”

  Nicholas started to laugh.

  Pete had erupted out of nowhere and rammed the imager with full force. The dodo swayed drunkenly before righting itself.

  Kelby was cursing. “Call him off. He’s trying to sink it.”

  Melis was afraid he was right. Pete was swimming away to where Susie was waiting, but it was only a matter of time until he’d turn and ram it again.

  “No, Pete.” She blew her whistle.

  The dolphin ignored her. He swam in circles, gaining momentum.

  She blew the whistle again.

  Nicholas was laughing so hard he had to hold on to the rail. “He looks like a bull pawing the ground before going after the matador.”