Scales of Justice

by Brett Humphrey

  The Sirenea could travel at fifty knots per hour which was over three times the speed the Brownlow was traveling. We were confident we would catch up to them before they reached port even though it would take us almost thirty-one hours to do so. Computer hackers on Josef’s team were able to tap into the navigational equipment of the Brownlow to track their progress giving us real-time updates. Josef had given us the go-ahead to take care of the slavers ourselves, rather than get the human authorities involved. We would transfer the captives to the Sirenea where they would be taken to a place of refuge run by Tionchar and given a chance at a new life.

  Our rescue plan was simple. Once we were within sixty miles of the Brownlow, Steve and Robert would fly the helicopter a half mile aft of the cargo vessel and Steve would jump out of the helicopter with Ishka and transform into his eagle form. Ishka was going to transform into his serpent form and Steve would drop him on the ship to be our eyes and ears. Brian, Jason and I would jump from the helicopter and transform before we hit the water then quickly swim up to the ship to wait for Ishka’s signal. Once we incapacitated the crew, we would release the captives and transfer them to the Sirenea, which would carry them away from the slave ship.

  We timed our arrival well since it was after midnight when we came in range of the Brownlow. There was heavy cloud cover so even the moonlight was blocked, aiding in our stealth run. Once Steve and Ishka left the helicopter, it was our turn to go. Robert lowered the helicopter close to the surface so we only had a thirty-foot drop into the black water. Brian jumped first since he’s the largest when he transforms, and I didn’t feel like getting squished.

  Before he dove out the side of the open helicopter, he turned to Robert and in his best Elvis impression told him, “thank you, thank you very much,” then whooped as he dropped towards the water.

  I smiled at Jason, rolled my eyes and pulled my trident from the pocket dimension on my necklace and leaned it against the interior wall before pulling out the trident I had crafted for Jason as a wedding present. Judging by the smile on his face and the kiss he gave me, he was pleased with the gift, happy to have a traditional weapon of the merfolk of his own.

  Would you two hurry up? I want to play with that ship, Brian sent.

  Keep your shirt on, I responded.

  Krakens don’t wear shirts, Brian sniffed, there aren’t enough arm holes.

  I laughed, waved to Robert then dove out the side of the hovering helicopter. The instant I cleared the doorway and transformed, I felt complete. There are so many things I love about being in my human form, especially In-N-Out, but my true home is in the ocean. My vision focused as if a switch were flipped and the dark of night came into sharp relief of black, white and gray. By the time I entered the water, my claws were extended and my wide grin expressed my excitement for the upcoming hunt. No one who saw this version of my mermaid self would ever confuse me with any cartoon princess. I was the ultimate oceanic predator, and I was after justice tonight.

  When Jason appeared beside me, I opened my senses to our surroundings and quickly located the sound of the ship, a half mile to the west. I knew Jason and Brian would follow my lead, but I sent them a mental command anyway and swam away at top speed. It took less than a minute for us to reach the Brownlow and we matched pace to wait. I sent Ishka a mental confirmation that we were in place and he could begin his exploration.

  So, what now? Brian asked even though he knew the plan as well as I did.

  Ishka will search the ship to make sure our intelligence was correct and then we’ll come aboard to round up the slavers and rescue the victims, I replied, annoyed that we had to wait for Ishka to sneak around. I swam closer to the ship and placed my ear against the hull and strained to listen, hoping I would receive some clue before Ishka gave us the go-ahead signal.

  I’ve made it below decks without being seen, but there are cameras everywhere. I’ll need to be cautious, Ishka sent, and I growled in irritation. If I weren't careful my anger would cause me to make mistakes, but my scales itched with my desire to see justice against these men.

  Cyndi and I will make our way to the bridge and subdue everyone we find there, then use the ship’s systems to get everyone else on deck. Once everyone is sorted, we’ll cut the engines and wait for the Sirenea to pull alongside. Once everyone is transferred to the Sirenea you’ll get your chance to play. Jason finished explaining to Brian and I could hear the hint of anger in his sending; he was incensed by these slavers, too.

  It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to drag a ship down to the bottom of the ocean, Brian chuckled darkly.

  That’s exactly what this company deserves if they take on human cargo—I was interrupted by the sound of a terrified scream reverberating through the hull of the ship I had my ear pressed against.

  That’s all the confirmation I need, I broadcast to Brian and Jason.

  At the same time Ishka’s voice sounded in our heads, we have the correct ship and there are captives aboard.

  Jason and I dove seventy-five feet below the ship so we could build up speed to blast out of the water once we reached the surface. We needed to make sure we were able to clear the forty feet to land safely on the deck of the ship. I felt myself grinning with fierce joy as I blasted out of the water, my trident held out before me. Once we were flying towards the deck, Jason and I transformed our tails back into legs to make landing easier.

  As a human I’m five-feet ten-inches tall and in my mermaid form, I’m over ten feet long from my head to the tip of my tail. However, I have a third form where I partially transform so I can stand on two legs and am over eight feet tall, have razor-sharp claws at the ends of my fingers, eyes as black as squid ink and my mouth full of shark teeth. No one looking at Jason or me would see us as anything other than the nightmares we are.

  We landed silently and I let Brian and Ishka know we were on our way to take care of the bridge crew. Underwater, I use a type of sonar, like a porpoise, and in my partial form I can use it on land, also. A quick sweep of the deck confirmed there weren’t any humans on our side of the cargo containers so we worked our way to the bridge where we would find the ship’s officers and other crew members. Jason and I made our way up the gangway, careful not to let our tridents bang against anything that could make our presence known.

  There were muffled sounds of screaming followed by boisterous cheers coming from the bridge as Jason and I reached the top. We stopped for a moment to make sure we were in sync before rushing inside the wheelhouse.

  I’ll go left and you go right as we pass through the door, Jason nodded then transferred his trident to his left hand so he could squeeze my arm in encouragement. We knew we were going to face some evil things in the next few minutes, and we were prepared to do whatever necessary to stop these men. We had to act quickly so the men on the bridge couldn’t raise the alarm to warn the others. The door was watertight, and it wouldn’t be easy to open it quietly. Hopefully, the sounds from inside would drown out the noise of the door being forced open.

  As Jason mentally counted us down from three, I transferred my trident to my left hand and Jason took a step back so we wouldn’t tangle our feet as we rushed through the opening. I placed my right hand on the handle, threw open the door, ducked and rushed inside when Jason finished his count. We were both in the room and in place quicker than the men could react. There were four men in the room clustered around a monitor with their backs to the door. Time appeared to freeze as I took in the scene before me. The men were holding money in their hands and were betting on what they were watching on the screen, and laughing.

  On screen there was a woman belligerently standing in the entrance of a cage, shielding people who were huddled behind her. She had blood running from her nose and her sari was ripped and hanging from her shoulder. She was holding a Taser in her hand in front of her body, holding off the two men who were reaching for her. There was a third man lying face down on the deck. Even though the woman was fighting valiantly, I knew
it was just a matter of time before the men rushed her, taking the weapon away.

  The frozen moment passed and one of the men reacted to the opened door. He whirled to face us but before he could cry out in alarm, I threw my trident at him. The others realized something was wrong when their comrade was pinned to the navigation console by my weapon. One of the men reached towards a red button to the left of where he’d been standing but Jason’s trident sticking into his back quickly changed his trajectory and he landed on the floor. Then I screamed.

  Just as I can use my singing to bring peace, comfort and to hypnotize humans, I can also use it to strike terror into my victims. Stories of sirens luring sailors to their deaths have long been part of sea lore and while there have been rogue mermaids who enjoyed causing destruction, most mermaids warned sailors away from dangerous places using their fear songs. I’d warned Jason before I screamed so he could brace for the onslaught but the rest of those on the ship couldn’t prepare themselves for my power.

  I glanced at the screen and saw that everyone had dropped where they were standing, paralyzed with fear. As I reached the closest cowering man, he cried out in terror as I picked him up with my left hand and held him at arm’s length from me, his feet dangling in the air.

  “Where is this feed coming from?” I snarled as I pointed to the screen with my right hand, the claw on my index finger reflecting the overhead light. “Answer me or die,” I said calmly as I brought him closer to my face and gnashed my teeth an inch from his nose.

  “Cargo Hold One,” he stammered. I sent a mental command to Ishka to rush to the hold and deal with the men there. He was still recovering from my scream, but he let me know he was on his way.

  “One last question,” I smiled, showing my sharpened teeth. “How many crew members are aboard?”

  He didn’t hesitate to answer this time and once he told me there were twenty I tossed him into the bulkhead where he landed in a heap on the deck, unconscious. I reached into my pocket dimension and retrieved the small device Josef’s team had created for situations like this. It was silver, the size of a small coin and magnetic; it also was more technologically advanced than anything on Earth. Once I stuck it to the side of the communication console a small green light flashed once indicating the device had control of the ship’s computer.

  I pulled my trident from the man pinned to the console then stood looking down at the last conscious man, who was wearing the captain’s insignia on his uniform. “On your feet, meat.”

  “My name is Captain—” he began.

  I cut him off with a growl, “Do you know the names of the women and children you have in that hold?”

  He flinched as I pointed to the screen where Ishka, in his serpent form, was going from man to man, biting them where they lay; they would never get up again.

  “You won’t get away with—” he blustered but I cut him off again.

  “Let me explain something to you. This handy, dandy device,” I pointed to the silver bump on the console, “transferred control of your ship to our hacking team in Dubai. At this moment they are downloading every scrap of information from the ship’s computers and every electronic device aboard. Not only that, but it will also be able to track every IP address associated with this ship. That includes anyone who ever carried a device on board and connected to the ship’s Wi-Fi network. Within hours we will have access to every secret you and your slimy bosses have tried to hide.

  “Of course, those secrets will be revealed to the public if any of them pertain to the vile business you’re conducting in Hold One. And, although you haven’t asked, I’ll tell you anyway. The tracking software that normally connects your ship to the GPS network has also been compromised so it will show this ship is still on course and on time, rather than dead in the water, as it will be when we gather the rest of the crew and free your captives.”

  The captain’s skin had turned ashy as I spoke to him and when Jason’s hand landed on his shoulder, he jumped. I think he was so overwhelmed he no longer was affected by my monstrous appearance.

  I pulled a card out of the pocket dimension and handed it to Jason. “Have him recite those words,” I asked as I sent a mental report to the captain of the Sirenea, who was close enough to communicate by thought-speak.

  “Done,” Jason said when the captain had finished his task.

  “TOPHER,” I called to the computer program that had taken over the ship.

  “Yes, Agent Zhaleh?” a male voice sounded through the speakers in the wheelhouse; a voice which sounded suspiciously like the artificial intelligence from the Iron Man movies.

  “Cyndi,” I muttered before continuing, “please signal all hands, along with the captain’s message, to gather at the stern.”

  “I will make it so,” TOPHER replied. There were seven short rings and one long ring on the ship’s bell which was immediately repeated then followed by a verbal announcement.

  “This is the captain, all hands on deck. Report to the stern muster station, this is not a drill. I repeat, this is the captain, all hands on deck. Report to the stern muster station.” TOPHER announced in a perfect imitation of the captain’s voice.

  “We don’t need you after all,” I said with a grin and took a step towards the terrified man. Watching my nightmare self must have been too much for the coward because his eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed.

  “That’s our cue to leave,” Jason said as he slung the captain over his shoulder. I retrieved the unconscious man I had thrown into the bulkhead and turned to follow him.

  “Thank you, TOPHER,” I called over my shoulder before I exited the room, “have fun hacking the rest of the ship’s systems.”

  “Please, this was merely child’s play. Give me a real challenge next time,” TOPHER answered as I rushed down the stairs so we could be at the muster station before the rest of the crew arrived.

  We quickly subdued the remaining crew members as they arrived on deck. Once the last man arrived, I could feel the change in the engines as TOPHER powered them down. Jason dealt with the filthy crew member who must have been the ship’s engineer. Jason had transformed into his more human form since it was difficult to fasten zip ties with such large hands.

  I was once again grateful that King Alister had created the pocket dimension for me as I pulled two hoodies from inside. I tossed one to Jason then transformed into my fully human form and donned mine, which was pink and had the words ‘Mermaid hair, Don’t care’ written on the front. I wasn’t cold but didn’t want to walk around the ship naked. After I slipped on the board shorts, I tossed a pair to Jason as he tossed me his trident.

  Brian, could you please give these a quick rinse for me? I asked and a huge tentacle rose out of the water and groped over the edge of the ship. The men screamed when they saw the tentacle because they knew what was under the water. I walked forward and rested my left hand on the tentacle and held up the tridents for Brian which he quickly wrapped and took over the side. I waved merrily at the terrified men and waited until Brian returned the freshly cleaned tridents. Once I grabbed them and patted the tentacle with my other hand, it disappeared over the side again. As I walked back to where the men were bound, I put the tridents back in the pocket dimension.

  We’re about two minutes out, Steve sent, and I could hear the roar of the diesel engines aboard the Sirenea coming from the port side of the ship.

  Why don’t you and Robert fly over to help Jason keep an eye on the crew while I join Ishka below deck to talk with our freed prisoners?

  I waited until they joined us on board before heading to Hold One. Steve shifted back to human just above the deck, so he landed on his two feet. He also had a thought medallion from King Alister so he arrived fully clothed. However, Robert landed in his wyvern form on top of the nearest stack of storage containers and roared at the men seated below. Based on the sudden smells emanating from the group, Robert managed to scare them badly enough that they messed themselves.

  “You’
re pretty proud of yourself, aren’t you?” I asked Robert. He didn’t answer but opened his mouth wide in a grin.

  “What are you going to do to us?” yelled one of the men as I turned to the door that led below decks.

  Turning back around to glare at all the captives, I answered calmly, even though I was seething with anger, “it all depends on what the women below tell me.” The way most of the men flinched I think I already knew what would be happening, but I planned to allow the women to face their captors before issuing justice.

  “If any of them give you trouble, throw them to the kraken; I’m sure he’s hungry," I said over my shoulder as I opened the door and started down the stairs.

  I could hear quiet sobbing coming from nearby as I made my way down the two flights of stairs before I came to the door leading into Holds One through Twenty. When I walked through the door, I could smell blood and death. There was also the smell of unwashed bodies, human waste and what I could only describe as despair. There was a cage in the middle of the hold, but it was too small to hold the number of people who were crammed inside. The door was shut, and the defiant woman was standing with her back to the closed door, brandishing the Taser at Ishka who was sitting in the lotus position about twenty feet from the cage.

  He had moved the bodies of the dead men away from the cage and was softly singing a song in Hindi. I didn’t know the words, but I could tell he was trying to offer peace and comfort to the captives.

  “Tum kuan ho? Kya aap vah hain jo naaga ko niyantrit karata hai?” the woman demanded. She had taken the time to reattach the top of her sari where it had been torn, the bright colors of the red fabric standing out in these dismal circumstances. The blood from her nose had dried on her face and she was baring her teeth in defiance.