by Steven Welch
“Thank you,” said Elise.
Then the crab raised one of its pincers as if in salute and dropped below the waves.
The sea at night was dark, but if Elise could have seen through the murky water, she would have watched with a joyous heart as the rainbow crab descended gently toward the bottom, back to its home beneath the waves.
She shivered. The water was cold. Jules was barely breathing. His face was pale.
“I don’t know what to do,” she thought.
“Use the retrieve button,” Jules said quietly.
“What?”
His finger pressed a button on her Les Scaphandriers watch.
“Perhaps we can dream of one more impossible trick.”
CHAPTER FIFTY
SHE’S CHANGED
THE LIVING DETRITUS of a dozen technological worlds had brought about the evolution of The Shock Tide.
They had used the power of the enslaved Old One to merge with the old technologies, to become something new.
The detritus that had been scavenged from different worlds and brought to crude life by the power of the Old One wasn’t picky, however. The bits of shattered televisions and toasters, the cars, the blenders and computers and talking action figures, they didn’t care what or who they merged with, they just writhed about until they found something organic or just interesting in some way, and joined, merged, became new.
The warriors and slaves on the deck paid no attention to the scattered and burning wreckage of The Aquaboggin as they fought. If they had been watching those smoldering sheets of metal they would have seen something strange and wonderful happen just moments before The Ship of Dreams and her crew were dissolved into nothingness.
The Octo-Thing saw, though, and the little creature was quick to go along for the unexpected ride.
Jules Valiance had always considered his ship a friend, a companion, an honorary member of Les Scaphandriers.
To him, The Aquaboggin was alive.
The weird organic technology of I’Masma’s ship, or perhaps The Old One in a final act of kindness, must have thought so too.
A shark. Oh my God. A shark.
Elise thought her heart would jump out of her chest.
Something big had bumped her from below the surface.
Jules was bleeding and so was she. They’d attracted sharks.
They were going to die. They’d gone through all that and now they were going to be eaten by sharks.
Elise became angry then, furious, and she kicked out, thrashing the water with her feet.
“Stop it,” came a voice.
Zuzu was next to her in the water, her head barely above the swells.
Elise reached out.
“Careful, little one,” Zuzu said. Elise could see that the left side of her face was shiny and swollen. Her hair was gone in places and the revealed skin was wounded.
“You’re burned.”
Zuzu smiled but there was tremendous suffering in her eyes.
“Yes, and what amazing scars I’ll have to show for this adventure.”
There was a sound of water sloshing and an enormous shadow rose out of the deep beside them. Elise could see by the light of the volcano, the fires, the stars.
“Oh,” she said.
The Aquaboggin surfaced next to them.
The submarine of Les Scaphandriers was born anew, her shattered hull reformed and held together by the countless strands of copper and wire that had fused with her. There was more than that though, something new. There were pulsing ribbons of phosphorescent coral, of thick and living tissue; stitching that had put the ship back together, into one piece, almost as she had been. She sparkled here and there where her metal had been replaced with emerald star glass.
Elise heard the soft voice of Jules Valiance.
“Ah, my beauty. She’s alive, Elise, and she found us.”
Something terribly bright erupted then.
They looked off to where the Ship of Dreams had been.
The Old One had grown to tower over the Volcano of Ebon and the ancient god was emitting a radiant golden light, its tentacles stretching up to the stars.
The single eye, ancient beyond our time, stared down at them. It winked. And then, The Old One returned to the universe in a single burst of sparkling shimmer that reminded Elise of a Christmas tree. More light transformed the sea all around them, the portals opening once more in thousands of places along the sea floor of Orcanum and on Earth as well.
The sea began to churn.
“We must hurry,” said Zuzu.
“Yes, but the cloth, I want the cloth,” Elise said. The sails of the ship, the Fabric of Eternity, floated nearby and glowed an amber light. It had protected them and it had saved her.
Zuzu dove, knife in hand, but returned in a heartbeat. There were tears in her eyes.
“I can’t, Elise, it hurts. We must go.”
“Give me the knife. I’ll be fast.”
Elise dove into the blackness and pulled on the billowing sheet of white. The dive knife cut easily through the Fabric of Eternity and she quickly sliced away a long swatch of the cloth. She surfaced next to Zuzu, out of breath and with eyes that stung from the salt water.
“We really need to go,” Zuzu said through clenched teeth. The churning of the ocean was expanding around them and they could feel the tug of the tide.
The hatch of the Aquaboggin opened. Zuzu gasped in pain as she summoned the strength to lift Jules into the ship. Elise helped as best she could and in seconds they were inside.
Elise heard the sound of a tiny violin playing. The Octo-Thing sat in one of the seats with the safety harness strapped tightly around its mantle.
Zuzu collapsed on the floor of the sub next to Jules.
“The medical kit,” she said, her voice a hoarse whisper.
Elise quickly retrieved the kit and gave it to Zuzu.
“You’ll need to pilot her,” said Zuzu.
Jules was dying. Elise knew this. The wound in his chest was awful and his breathing was thin. Zuzu covered him with the sail cloth for warmth then wrapped a blanket around herself.
Jules looked up and smiled at Elise.
“It is time to return to the Hall of Les Scaphandriers. Autopilot and homing beacon,” he whispered with a smile, “little blue button next to the altimeter. It’s labeled in French, so there can be no mistake. If it still works, it will be a miracle, but today seems to be a day for miracles. And if not, what new adventures might await, eh?”
Then, the old Aquanaut closed his eyes.
Through the viewing glass Elise could see the night come alive with light as the portals to Earth opened and the ocean began to drain.
The water pulled them under and the Aquaboggin rode the maelstrom down, deeper and deeper.
“I’ve got this,” thought Elise, and she truly believed it.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
BE IMPOSSIBLE
DAD HAD ONCE taught Elise to surf.
She surfed again now, from the pilot’s seat of the Aquaboggin, pulled into the trough of a mile wide maelstrom of star light and pushed out at the crest of the wave.
They were enveloped as they rode the surging power of the portal’s relentless pull. The interior of the sub was the same but different, lit now by phosphorescent creatures. She had no power, her fuel was exhausted, but the gravity of the portal between worlds pulled her along faster than she had ever gone.
Elise didn’t know how long they rode the tempest but when they finally emerged from the pounding white wall of surf there was only a single, brilliant sun, and there were birds and a red sandstorm sky.
Uh oh. We’re really, really high, she thought.
The ship shot out of the portal at the crest of the wave like the front car on a roller coaster. Elise held tight as they dropped in and rode the force of the massive wall of water, everything white wash and thunder.
When the waters finally cleared the view screen, Elise saw gray stone seawalls to either side of t
he ship.
Where are we?
The portals were returning our ocean to us, to Earth. It would take days, but it would happen. Some of our whales and fish and sharks would be swept back as well as strange and odd things of Orcanum.
There were miracles too, on that other, distant world. Try-Ton survived. He couldn’t swim with broken legs but his arms were strong and he clung to the rocks at the shore of the volcano and would soon join his warriors once more.
His legend would grow until it went beyond Orcanum and into the stars.
Both worlds were being given a chance to heal.
The Aquaboggin rocked as she surfed along at the head of the storm surge and Elise looked out to the seawalls and the sand swept skyline beyond.
“Ah, she still sails. Good ship,” said Jules in a harsh gasp of a voice.
Paris.
They were surfing a wave down the Seine as the river returned to the city of light.
“Elise,” said Zuzu. Her voice cracked.
Elise St. Jacques went to Jules Valiance and knelt by his side.
“You are a good pilot, little idiot.”
“Thank you.”
“Now, you must promise me some things. There can be no argument.”
Elise began to cry.
“Play. Explore. Chase the stars. Be absurd. Be impossible. Do this and you will never grow old. You are Scaphandrier now. Protect your wonder with all of your might, Elise, because imagination…” he coughed hard and Elise was afraid that his breath would not come back.
There was a sparkle in his eye when he found the strength to continue.
“Imagination,” said Jules Valiance, “makes us beautiful.”
“You’ll be alright. Please. You’ll be alright.”
“Oh, I’ve been more than alright,” he said, “there are no perfect endings, my friend, but there can be good ones.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
GOOD NIGHT AND SWEET DREAMS
THERE WAS RAIN on the day Elise and Zuzu buried Jules Valiance.
This was the first touch of rain Paris had felt in ten years.
They stood in that wonderfully cool mist over the fresh mound of earth at the cemetery of Pere-Lachaise.
The coffin was the wood of old ships and Jules was dressed in a shroud of the Fabric of Eternity. The beautiful sail cloth did not glow that day but Elise could dream of miracles.
Elise said some things and her words were well thought out and composed. She also danced a silly dance as the Octo-Thing played a jig and she made an odd face as well, because Elise was certain that Jules would prefer it that way.
Elise St. Jacques created the tombstone of her friend from a slab of fossil rock she found in the Hall of Les Scaphandriers. She used an iron stake to engrave a few simple words.
“Jules Valiance Forever. He Brought Back the Ocean.”
Plastic flowers, a good bottle of wine, and a rubber duck were placed at the foot of the tombstone.
Strangely, several cats arrived and sat by the grave. Perhaps they were drawn by the music, or by the voices of kind humans.
Were they the cats of Jules Valiance?
Of course they were.
Elise cried that day in the rain.
Then, Zuzu escorted her back to her new home.
But there was one more adventure to be had that year.
There were books and magazines in the Hall of Les Scaphandriers. There were games and puzzles too. Elise had much to occupy her time there, but she was a child of the television age so she was drawn to their video monitor and their vast collection of old discs and tapes.
One night, Elise found a collection of old video discs that bore the label “Unreleased Documentary Films.”
She slipped the first disc into the player and sank into the plush recliner, nestled with pillows and blankets.
The grainy video began with a percussive soundtrack and fast moving images of the deep ocean, of exotic foreign markets, of mountain climbing and water-skiing and well dressed people in posh casinos.
“For one full year,” said a deep, rich voice, “the secret society of aquanauts known as Les Scaphandriers hired our film crew to document their adventures. We traveled with them around the world and experienced things beyond our imagination, things I would have sworn were impossible.”
Elise soared then, her smile so wide that it reached to the moon and back.
“The team has determined that these films will never be seen by the public. They will be the stuff of legend, just like this extraordinary, silly, and courageous group of men and women. Our crew was honored to work with them if only for a short time. And if for some reason you are watching this film and you are not Les Scaphandriers, please believe me. Every bit of it, every moment no matter how absurd or unlikely, is completely true.”
The film continued.
There was Jules, and Private Splatter, and Zuzu and North McAllister and the Guyanese mystery known only as Three John. They were young and fantastic.
Sister Viverette was there too, younger, not stern at all, laughing and adventuring with the rest. Oh, thought, Elise, oh my. The dive helmet medallion she wore, her insistence that Elise be tucked away in the blanket every night. Sister Viverette was Scaphandriers, and she had wrapped Elise every nightfall in the Fabric of Eternity. She had saved her in a blanket of time when the ocean had been ripped away.
But more and beyond all of that, there was the voice on the video.
The narrator of the documentary had a warm and familiar voice, one she had listened to every night before bed, one that weaved silly and scary and impossible stories.
So this was how he had known of Jules Valiance and Les Scaphandriers.
This was why he had placed her in the care of The Girl’s Garden and Sister Viverette.
Oh, that voice.
Elise laughed with joy until tears ran down her face.
AUTHOR BIO
Steven Welch grew up in Daytona Beach. The lucky cuss travels the world as an announcer for a professional water-ski show. He lives in Florida with his wife and daughter. “Elise and The Astonishing Aquanauts” is his first book.
Copyright 2015 Steven Welch
Epub ISBN - 978-0-9968014-1-6
Paperback ISBN - 978-0-9968014-0-9
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
Dad
CHAPTER TWO
Le Jardin de la Jeune Fille
CHAPTER THREE
Ten Years Gone
CHAPTER FOUR
The City of Light
CHAPTER FIVE
The Marionette Man
CHAPTER SIX
The Crab and Le Bat
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Graveyard of Boats
CHAPTER EIGHT
Watching The Girl
CHAPTER NINE
Candy Store
CHAPTER TEN
The Man of Many Eyes
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Not Today
CHAPTER TWELVE
Ozwold
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Renny and Robert
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Take the Blade
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Scynda
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
My Field of Slugs
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The Grand Ball at the Top of The Tower
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The Lost Old Man
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Hunger
CHAPTER TWENTY
The Silk Act
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The Death Tunnels
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Dinner Bell
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The Hall
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Exile
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Curious?
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The Nursery
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Monstrous
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
&
nbsp; To the West
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Praetor Agrunctus
CHAPTER THIRTY
Night Flight
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The Sheep and The Oyster
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Our Last Restaurateur
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
The Little Ship We’ve Seen
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
The Great Lady at The Bottom of The Empty Sea
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Into the World Below
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Wandering Haven
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
A Shotgun Blast to The Face
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
At the Peak of Ebon
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
So You Want to Save The World?
CHAPTER FORTY
Make Ready
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Choices
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
To the North
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
The Old One in a Jar
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Apparently There’s a Plan
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Raid on The Ship of Dreams
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Such Cost
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Destroyed
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Bloody Death and Rainbows
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Ancient
CHAPTER FIFTY
She’s Changed
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Be Impossible
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Good Night and Sweet Dreams
Author Bio