Page 2 of Rainse
The cool water welcomed me like an old friend. I dove into the waves, swimming as fast as I could, away from the island, away from my brothers. I breathed in deep, my gills filtering the water, delivering fresh, cold oxygen into my lungs. My greenskin fluttered in the water, measuring the currents, keeping me steady. Schools of fish swam past me, ogling me curiously but without fear. I could sense larger animals swimming in the distance. Since we'd come to Peritus, I'd spent a lot of time in this ocean. I'd met huge beasts in its depths, but I lacked the knowledge of their names and species. The humans had told us about whales and sharks, but I was sure I'd seen other creatures down there, where sunlight didn't reach and the water grew icy cold. Creatures big enough to scare even a finman warrior who had been in the Finfolkaheem navy for a while.
A short while. Until I'd refused an order and had been thrown out unceremoniously.
I was tempted to dive down as far as I could. I was in the mood for a fight, even if it was with a sea creature ten times bigger than me. I no longer cared about my safety. I didn't care about anything. All I wanted was for the anguish in my chest to be extinguished. I wanted peace. But would I ever find it on this planet? I was starting to doubt it.
The droning vibrations of a motor made me come to a halt. A ship, a big one. Not many vessels travelled in these waters - one of the reasons why the Hot Tatties dating agency had bought the island. They wanted privacy, no prying eyes, no alien hunters, no governments who might want to experiment on us. For all anyone knew, this was a billionaire's playground, where the rich stayed in fancy beach huts and had their every wish catered to. In reality, this was the only place on this planet where aliens and humans could live in harmony. And soon, there would be a second island, not far from here, for permanent settlements. There was only one small ferry between the agency's island and a bigger one a few hours by sea, with a hospital and larger airport and other amenities.
But this ship sounded bigger than the ferry by quite a bit. What was it doing in these waters? Curiosity felt better than jealousy. I might as well spend this afternoon chasing a mystery.
I changed course, swimming with strong beats of my webbed feet while slowly approaching the surface again. I'd have to be careful not to be seen. My kind was the origin of humanity's legends of mermaid and mermen, but we hadn't swum in these oceans for centuries. By now, legends had become myths, fairy tales that only children believed in. I didn't want to be responsible for their revival. Humanity hadn't officially encountered other species yet. Most of them thought they were alone in the universe. I snorted, bubbles brushing against my lips. If only they knew.
The vibrations shuddered against my greenskin. I was getting closer. The water here was murky, full of tiny particles rising from the deep. Green strands of plant material moved in the current like dancing curtains. I passed a turtle, swimming slowly but steadily, flippers moving in an ancient rhythm. It had been Elise, Fionn's mate, who'd taught me the animal's name. I waved at the turtle. It stared back at me from old, wise eyes.
A dark shape appeared in the distance. The ship's hull. I slowed down a little, unsure of what instruments and scanners the humans would have on board. Would they be able to sense me beneath the surface?
I realised I didn't care. This was distracting me from the mess of emotions wreaking havoc inside my mind. I was going to be selfish.
I circled around the ship, approaching it from behind. Its huge propeller ploughed through the water, cutting it into pieces. I kept a safe distance from the metal guillotine. Beheading wasn't on my schedule for this sunpass. But I wouldn't glean information from down here. A few barnacles covered the hull, and there was a word painted on the side of the ship, but not in an alphabet I could read. If I wanted to know who this ship belonged to and what it was doing so close to the island, I'd have to surface.
From below, I watched the movement of the waves above me until I'd learned the pattern. Then I rose, my head breaking through a wall of water. Warm air hit my skin. I stayed low, only my eyes above the water, and hidden behind the waves. The ship was sleek and shiny, looking like it hadn't done many journeys yet. That matched the small amount of barnacles on the hull. Humans were moving around on the decks, waving their arms, shouting. Even from a distance could I see that something unusual was going on. Some kind of emergency?
I swam closer until I could hear their voices.
"... it's been too long..."
"... they were supposed to be here..."
"... not answering..."
I was glad for my translator implant. While I'd done my best to learn one of their Earth languages, English, the implant amplified the voices and erased all interference. It was clear they were looking for someone. Part of their crew? Or someone else?
One male lifted a strange apparatus to his eyes and slowly turned from side to side. When the device was pointed in my direction, he yelled something.
Time to disappear.
I dived far beneath the vessel until I was sure they wouldn't be able to find me with their primitive sensors. Finfolkaheem technology was far advanced to what they had on this planet, even after the no-tech movement a generation ago.
What to do now? I could swim back to the island. Or I could do something useful with my time and investigate the mystery of this vessel. They were searching for someone, or several someones. I would do the same. It would keep me out of trouble - and my thoughts from straying too close to yet more jealousy and self-pity.
I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the ocean. First, the engines of the ship above me, the propeller cutting through water. Then, footsteps echoing on metal. Human voices. Birds screeching high above them. I expanded my senses beyond my immediate surroundings. Air bubbles. Fish moving in large shoals. The turtle from earlier. And then, deep beneath the oceanic orchestra, a slow, sad song. I'd heard it before, sung by a creature as large as a star-eel, moving elegantly through the depths. They were majestic beasts, with large flukes that could easily knock a finman unconscious, and eyes that spoke of intelligence and awareness. They were singing in the distance, but their song was not the same melodic beauty I'd heard the last time I'd encountered the creatures. They sounded distressed.
I stayed in place for a moment longer, listening for anything else that could show me where to go, but my mind kept returning to that sad song. I didn't have any other leads. I didn't have to return to the island any time soon. So I swam, away from the ship, towards whatever awaited me in the deeps.
2
Verity
I was no longer scared. I no longer scanned the waves for the curved dorsal fins of sharks. I was spread out on my back, staring up into the cloudless sky, imagining I was floating in my bathtub back home. The lifejacket steadied me in the waves that pushed me from side to side. My ears were beneath the water's surface, erasing the sound of the gulls screeching high above. Float to live. I'd seen the sign on lifeboat stations back home in the UK. I'd never thought I'd have to use that advice myself.
My lips were dry and cracked despite the water all around me. I was thirsty, so very thirsty. The urge to drink was even stronger than the desire to sleep. Exhaustion pulled at me, the desperate need to close my eyes and surrender to the darkness. But I kept my eyes open and watched the gulls. They meant there was land nearby. I hadn't been involved in charting today's course, so I was unaware of any islands that might mean my survival.
Hugo would have known. But Hugo had swum away, unwilling to listen to me. I'd told him that they'd be looking for us at our last known location. If the Minerva came looking for us, they'd come in this direction. There was no point in wasting energy trying to swim to them. It was impossible. But Hugo hadn't listened. Now he was gone. At first, I'd watched his slow progress, his head bobbing between the waves. He'd turned and waved a few times, then he'd disappeared in the distance. I hoped he would make it. I liked the guy. He was funny, even if his humour was a little cringeworthy from time to time. His taste in music was atrocious. But he was clever, kind, a nice guy to be around. And he still owed me a round of poker. He better not die.
At least Jammie was still here with me, floating somewhere to my right. He was a PhD student from Birmingham. His thick Brummie accent made me laugh sometimes. He'd begged me to come along on the RIB today. I bet he regretted that now.
In the beginning, he'd asked questions. Would the Minerva find us. What if it didn't. What should we do. How could we survive in the middle of the ocean. At some point, he'd stopped asking questions. Whether he didn't like the answers or whether he wanted to conserve his strength, I didn't know.
Despite the silence between us, I was glad I wasn't alone.
