Page 55 of Oceansong
A Coast Guard ship.
It sailed toward the horizon line, and disappeared.
Her initial shock subsided by the time Nick and Bàba arrived. The men had carried the dead worker to the edge of the deck, closer and safer inland. Bàba crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head, a glint of disgust in his eyes. Nick stood with his hands balled into tight fists, knuckles drained of blood, his upper lip curled into a disdainful sneer. Like Angie earlier, his shoulders and legs trembled, but she suspected it was out of anger, not shock. Or a mix of both.
Bàba knelt by the dead worker, pressing his hand onto his forehead. “I asked him to show Marisa the ropes.” Angie wasn’t sure if he was talking to himself, or to her and Nick. “They didn’t deserve this.” He stood. “How did they get past the blockade? It was meant to be out of the range,” he said with measured words.
“They have traps outside the blockade range. Must have army crawled up the beach between rotations or something.” Angie stood closer to Bàba. “I’m guessing when Marisa triggered the trap, it alerted the mer.” Bileburned in her throat when she thought back to what happened. “The seas were choppy. They must have been nearby, watching.”
“I will have their heads strung along the seaboard. They’ve gone far enough.” Nick growled his words, cursing under his breath as he stormed off, footfalls loud and deliberate and slamming onto wood and concrete ground.
“We’ll contact their families and call the coroner to come pick his body up. All our people they’ve taken. We’ll get them back. Find them,” Bàba said, downtrodden.
“The Coast Guard hasn’t found anyone yet? I just saw a ship go by, and it didn’t even stop. I don’t know how long it was there for, but it must have been close enough to see them die.” Angie’s pressure rose thinking about it.
“Beau and Emily told me that if we see ships here, they’re probably going to the bigger ports to investigate the fish issue.” Bàba kept looking at the ground and rubbed his temples. “If you want to know more, you can ask them yourself tomorrow.” Turning on his heel, Bàba began to walk away.
Angie trailed behind him, and he walked ahead without waiting for her to catch up.
To her left, a pearly glint under the sparse sunlight caught her eye, and she craned her neck and stood on her tiptoes.
Then, a splash.
Bàba was out of sight now, and Angie leaned onto the railing until she nearly toppled over. Squinting and searching side to side.
Before the horizon line, a dark-haired head appeared above the water.
A mermaid.
Her hair was gathered into tight braids winding around the top of her head, and sunlight gleamed off honey bronzed skin. Something about her rang familiar, but Angie couldn’t make out enough of her features to place her. The mermaid ducked underwater, but her dorsal fin stayed visible. She patrolled back and forth, as if searching for something beneath. Then she stuck her head back up, eyes locking on Angie.
Angie stepped backward. The mermaid held her gaze, but Angie couldn’t tell if it was a challenging or curious one.
The mermaid ducked underwater again and didn’t resurface. Was she swimming closer to her, watching her still? The thought gave Angie goosebumps.
She turned and ran after Bàba.
Twenty-Four
At eight o’clock in themorning, Angie sat in Bàba’s office, waiting for Beau and Emily to show up for their meeting. They arrived five minutes later, and after a brief greeting to Angie and Bàba, they took their seats to Angie’s right. She didn’t have her chance to talk until twenty minutes had passed.
Bàba gestured to her. “Beibei, was there something you wanted to ask them?”
Emily tilted her head, her expression soft, urging Angie to go on. Beau had his chin resting on his fist, lips pursed, his focus like a laser beam.
Angie jumped at the chance, having both Beau and Emily’s attention on her. “The Coast Guard situation? Two of our colleagues died yesterday, and I saw one of their ships pass by. It looked like it was just leaving, so they had to have seen what happened.”
Beau let out a slow exhale.
Emily sat straighter, and spoke. “We don’t know. The feds won’t send us help. Said they need to prioritize the bigger ports, but I can’t shake the feeling they’re hiding something.”
“What do you mean?” Bàba cut in. “Hiding what?”
Emily shrugged. “I don’t know. It could be anything. Secret experiments, protecting someone important—” Whatever she was going to say next trailed off as Beau shot her a wide-eyed look.
“Thanks for your time, Zixin. We should get going.” Beau stood. He put a hand on Emily’s shoulder, and she did the same.
“Wait, one more question. Please?” Angie couldn’t let them leave now, not without doing what she promised Kaden. To her relief, they paused at the door. “Would you consider stopping killing all the mer? At this point, I think we need to try diplomacy. We’ve lost so many people already.”Her voice shook as she asked, suddenly self-conscious of appealing to her town’s mayor for help. Though they were friendly with Bàba, Angie still saw him as an out-of-reach leader. She forced herself to continue. “They’re highly intelligent beings and not just animals. We could come to a truce. Make a deal.”
