Into the Void (The Godhunter, Book 10) (14 page)

Kanaloa tapped my arm and nodded toward the opening. He led us inside and we all followed him through a small tunnel, our lights catching scurrying sea life on the tunnel walls, until we came out into a cave. There was a patch of pristine sand surrounded by walls of multicolored coral. We sent our lights scanning over the surface of the coral, finding several nooks and crevices. Within the dark of these nooks, eyes caught our light and reflected it back to us, like the eyes of a cat.

I flinched but Kanaloa motioned that it was okay. He made some hand gestures and merfolk started swimming out of their hiding spots. They came out fast and as one group, moving with the coordination of a school of fish. They gathered near Kanaloa, eying us with obvious distrust. Powerful tails swished beneath them, keeping them in upright positions as they began to emit whistles and pulses of sound that Kanaloa seemed able to interpret. He nodded and made some hand gestures to them, then waved to me, indicating that I should come forward.

I did so warily, eying them as they were me, and stopped next to Kanaloa. The male beside him(I determined sex only because some of them had breasts and he did not) lifted his huge webbed hand, palm up in between us. I frowned at it and Kanaloa nudged me, gesturing that I should place my hand on the merman's.

I gave the merman a little smile and put my hand over his. His hand was slick, like there was a layer of something coating his skin. A jolt of electricity shot through his palm and into mine, startling me enough to cause me to try to pull away but his fingers closed over mine and held me fast. I was on the verge of panicking when images started to fill my head.

I saw their homes, hidden deep within undersea caverns and protected by monstrous squid. Beautiful buildings of coral and carved stone. Thousands of merfolk lived in these communities, surviving on algae and fish. The feeling I had from the vision was that they'd lived this way for a very long time. Then the Navy had started to use sonar.

At first the blasts of sound were not so bad but they got progressively louder until they reached the point where they caused physical damage to any merfolk or mammal who happened to be in range. I was shown images of merfolk convulsing, blood pouring from their ears and noses. Some just got confused and would lash out violently at other merfolk or take off swimming in odd directions. Some of those were never seen again.

The merfolk had retreated, none of the young were allowed to leave the protection of the communities, but it had gone on so long that now they were getting angry. Merfolk had returned after beaching themselves and told tales of landfolk approaching them in threatening manners. They were scared and very close to becoming desperate.

I wanted to convey my sympathies to the merman, express how much I wanted to help stop this from happening to his people, but I didn't know how. I tapped my heart, trying to motion to him that I sympathized with him but I wanted to say more, I was so frustrated. I grimaced, not knowing what else to do and the merman smiled, revealing a row of pointed teeth, before he tapped our joined hands with his free one.

Duh, I just had to project the images back to him. But what to show him? Pictures said a thousand words but I had to find the right one for the job first. I ended up sending him an image of Pride Palace, of all my lions who lived there and the God Squad who would help me find out who was behind the amped up sonar. I showed him what I intended to do, infiltrate the naval ships to discover exactly what was happening. I showed him images of me standing between his people and the ships, trying to convey to him that I would do everything I could to protect the merfolk.

After a few moments, he nodded and released his grip on my hand. I pulled my hand back with a slight tingle and rubbed my fingers together experimentally. There was a gel-like residue left. Merman slime, how lovely.

The merman whistled and clicked through another conversation with Kanaloa until Kanaloa nodded. That's when I noticed Gruach. She had given up her human glamor and was out in all her fey glory. Her pearly skin practically glowed in the dark water and her matching hair shimmered with its opalescent highlights. Her blue eyes were huge, almost as large as the merfolk's, and when she swam among them, they looked on her like she was a goddess.

Webbed hands reached out and she reached back to them but what really surprised me was when she started making noises like they had, like their song. It seemed more haunting when she did it, more beautiful, but they understood her perfectly, if their demeanor was any indication. They swarmed her, the water filled with the pulsing sound of their communication.

I saw her hand sweep out toward me and the merfolk all looked in my direction. I swallowed hard, wondering what that was all about. It didn't take long though, Gruach spoke a little more with them and then they simply left, swimming away into the tunnel with such speed that it was almost like they had turned invisible.

Kanaloa smiled at Gruach and then motioned us forward. He started leading us back to shore and we raced after him. I was more than happy to get out of there, more than ready to be on dry land again, but it all seemed a little anti-climatic to me. Why did I even have to be there? Kanaloa could have told me what was going on without me having to face my fears of the water or do the slimy imagery exchange.

Yes, I was bitter.

“
They needed to meet you themselves,” Kanaloa explained. We were back in his airy(and boy was I enjoying the air) beachfront home. “To see who was championing their cause. As you saw yourself, the merfolk are a hands-on type of people. They have some light telepathic abilities, which was how you were able to communicate with them.”

“
I told them you're a Faerie Queen,” Gruach added, “that you are honorable and kind, even to the smallest of fey. I told them you would do everything you could to help them.”

“
Thank you,” I smiled at her, “but I have no idea what we should do. I thought you were doing research with the merfolk, Kanaloa. Have you learned anything beyond what they showed me? Anything that can actually help us?

“
Just that the decibels have gone up very recently and only seem to be coming from US Navy ships,” he said with seriousness. “There have been reports of high level sonar blasts near the Canary Islands, off the coast of Washington and North Carolina, and now here. A lot of the merfolk have retreated into their caverns but there have been echoes heard even there and they're afraid, Vervain.”

“
I know,” I sighed and took the mug of hot cider that Gruach handed me. “Thank you, Gruach. I know they're scared and I know that their fear can easily escalate into violence. We need to find out who's doing this and stop them. Fast.”

“
So we know the US Navy is responsible, knowingly or not, and Hawaii has one of the most important naval bases in the world,” Darius started. “Isn't that the obvious place to start?”

“
I would think so,” I nodded, “but Dare, have you ever been on a military base?”

“
No,” he shrugged. “What's the big deal? We go in under cover of invisibility. No one will stop us.”

“
That's not the problem,” I glanced at Trevor to see if he understood.”

“
Pearl Harbor has a lot of ships and it's not even the biggest US naval base,” Trevor explained for me. “Searching those ships is going to take forever.”

“
Not if I can narrow down the search,” Torrent said nonchalantly. He took a sip of his cider and then looked up to find us all gaping at him. “What? You do recall that I'm practically one with the Internet? I can access the naval records, see which ships have gone out recently and which are scheduled to. Do you know when the sonar blasts occurred in Hawaiian waters?”

“
Yes,” Kanaloa nodded. “The most recent was two days ago.”

“
Easy peasy,” Torrent shrugged. “All I have to do is see what ships were out on that day and then I can search those ship logs to see which one set off their sonar.”

“
Damn,” I huffed, “but sometimes you make me feel like an idiot, Torr.”

“
Was that a compliment?” He blinked at me.

“
And then you say something like that,” Darius laughed.

“
Yes, it was a compliment,” I shook my head at Darius. “Go ahead and perform that search, Torrent. We need to get going on this as soon as possible.”

Pearl Harbor doesn't let just anyone through its gates. You have to be military or a sponsored guest to get on but they were going to make an exception for us. They just didn't know it.

We went directly from Kanaloa's house, tracing straight onto the base itself. I've been to Pearl Harbor several times before, though I admit it was the first I'd bypassed the gate entirely. Kanaloa came with us but Gruach stayed back at his place, while Darius and Kirill headed home to Pride Palace. It just would have been too much people traipsing about invisibly and on a military base, that's asking for trouble.

I let Torrent lead because he knew where we were headed and he took us across the main road and then down a side street without pause. But then I guess finding places was a lot easier when you had direct access to map quest inside your head. He walked steadily on, holding my hand while I held Trevor's and he held Kanaloa's. Four little ducklings all in a row.

The huge naval ships were lined up as well, looming like metal beasts above us. Metal stairs were beside each one, the only way on or off the ships unless you could fly. I eyed them critically, giving serious consideration to the flying idea, but I didn't think I could carry more than one person. So we'd have to climb the stairs quietly and at just the right moment, two things which would be difficult to do. If someone started down them while we were heading up, it could be disastrous.

“Which ship do we want?” I whispered to Torrent

“
That one, with the nine-zero painted on it,” he whispered back and I had a feeling he was pointing at the ship even though we couldn't see each other. “It's the USS Chafee.”

“
Sheesh,” I looked it over. “Could it be any bigger?”

“
Very easily, yes,” Torrent missed my sarcasm completely.

“
Alright, let's go,” Trevor took my hand and I grabbed Torrent's. Hopefully he took Kanaloa's hand so we would all stay together. Infiltrating a naval ship was looking a lot like a family outing. Well, if anyone could see us it would.

We made it safely to the stairs but then had to wait awhile for the coast to be clear(no pun intended). Then we began the slow climb up the loud metal stairs. I made numerous stops and small shushing noises to my companions but it was difficult to walk on creaky metal without making noise. At least we made it to the top without someone attempting to use them at the same time.

The interior of the ship looked much the same as the exterior. Everything was painted in tones of gray. It was a bit depressing actually. Couldn't they paint a couple walls a bright yellow and liven things up a bit? You know, to keep up morale or whatever. Would it really hurt to have some artwork on the walls? But I digress, it was ugly and cramped, and that's pretty much all of it.

There were some tense moments when sailors passed by and we had to squish ourselves up against the wall. I did alright but it wasn't as easy for Trevor and Kanaloa. I saw a couple of guys bump into them but luckily the sailors just gave the wall a confused look and kept walking. I heard Trevor let out his breath and realized that he must have been trying to hold in his stomach even though his belly was all muscle. Those hallways were just not made to accommodate god physiques.

“They're due to be leaving any minute now,” Torrent whispered excitedly as we made our way to central, where the ship was controlled.

“
What?” I hissed to him, my heart starting to pound.

“
Yeah, isn't that lucky timing?” Torrent sounded like he was practically jumping up and down.

“
Lucky?” I was horrified. “We'll be stuck out at sea.”

“
We can trace off the ship, Minn Elska,” Trevor whispered in a calm tone.

“
Oh,” I deflated, “right. Sorry, too much water today.”

“
Here we are,” Torrent said as a door came into view, it was the same as every other door, gray and boring. Oh, and made of metal. It also happened to be open, which really was lucky.

We crept through and pressed up against the walls again. The room was crowded with terminals and there wasn't much space to spare. A man in a dashing white uniform walked behind men seated at monitors and lights were blinking everywhere. Things hung from the ceiling, off the walls, off the sides of terminals. Maps flashed on the wall and monitors beeped. I was a bit overwhelmed by all of it. I'd thought at least there, in the control room, they'd have a bit more space.

“You and Kanaloa need to trace out of here,” I whispered to Trevor.

“
What? Why?” Was his immediate response. “We just made it here.”

“
Do you see this place? Someone is going to bump into you guys, you're just too big to hide on a naval ship. Now I know there's all kinds of jokes in that but I unfortunately don't have the time to make them. So just go back to Kanaloa's and wait for us there. Me and Torr will find out what we can.”

“
Fine,” he sighed and Kanaloa must have agreed because a moment later I felt a displacement of air as they traced away.

“
The Navy doesn't have openings for seamen that big but there's probably a few sailors who would enjoy trying to squeeze them in.” Torrent whispered to me.

“
What?”

“
It's a joke,” Torrent paused like he was considering what he said. “You said there were a lot of jokes about their size and the Navy, so I thought I'd try my hand at one. You see it's a play on both the word seamen and openings.”

“
Yes, I got it, Torr,” I tried to muffle my laughter. “You just took me off guard.”

“
So it was funny?”

“
Very.”

“
Oh good,” he sighed. “Sometimes my humor goes misunderstood.”

Then the ship lurched and I realized that the captain must have given the order to embark while we were talking. I looked around the room and found one tiny nook between a couple of machines that I thought I could squeeze into with Torrent.

“Come on,” I reached out blindly until I found his arm and then pulled him over with me.

“
Where are we going?” He whispered. I think he was even more excited now that it was only him and me.

“
Just here,” I pushed him in first. “We need to stay out of the way. And make yourself comfortable because it's going to be awhile before anything major happens.”