The Neptune Project (6 page)

:ROBRY, WHAT ABOUT OUR
locater chips?:
I ask him in a panic.
:They might have tracking equipment on that boat!:
Instinctively, I touch where the chip is embedded. I wince because my left armpit feels so sore.

:That's why we're hiding under this rock. It might help block their sensors. Plus, there's easily fifty feet of water over our heads.:


:That was quick thinking, Robry,:
my mother says, breaking in on our mental conversation.
:But I removed your locator chips while you were sleeping. You'll need to keep an eye on your stitches. We designed you to heal quickly, but your wounds can still get infected.:


Her mental tone is awfully calm for someone with only a rock between her and a trip to a work camp.

:Are you all right?:
I ask her.
:What about your chip?:


:Mine is buried in the last heel of Alicia's bread in our kitchen, where Hycault is welcome to find and choke on it.:


I chew my lip. My mother has truly burned her bridges. Removing a locator chip is a serious crime. If they do find her, she's heading to a work camp for sure.

:I think they're moving on now,:
she reports, and moments later we hear the powerful engines start up.

I relax only when I can't hear or feel the vibrations from the cutter anymore. I glance at Robry and Lena. They are both pale.

:Do you think they were looking for us?:
Lena's mental tone is subdued.

:I bet they're searching for fisher folk who decided to try to run rather than move inland,:
I tell her, but I'm not sure my words make any of us feel safer.

After Densil reports that the Marine Guard cutter has moved on well to the north of us, we begin carefully working our way along the coast to Tyler's Cove. Lena and I travel beside Gillian's zode while the dolphins swim in a protective formation around us. Robry keeps darting down to the ocean floor to look at fish and shells. He flushes a large, harmless angel shark out of the sand and laughs when it startles us.

:This is so much better than swimming with a snorkel!:
he exclaims.
:I can't believe I can see everything so well!:


I'm glad one of us is happy. I've never loved night diving, even though my parents insisted that I do plenty of it. Under a dive torch, the colors of reefs and marine creatures become brilliant, but I can't forget that sharks and squid are constantly on the prowl in the dark.

:I wish you three would head straight out to sea right now,:
Gillian says, and I can sense the strain in her mental tone.
:Hycault may already have troops combing the coastal hills for us.:


:But I have to see Cam one more time!:
My chest tightens at the thought of heading off into this dark, dangerous ocean without saying good-bye to him.

Then an awful possibility occurs to me.

:Can I even talk to him now? How long can I breathe at the surface?:
I don't want to say good-bye to Cam if it's going to be like my nightmare where I became a monster that's half fish and half human.

:Your lungs can function for a brief time out of water, but then they will begin to labor.:


:You mean I'll be just like a fish out of water, flopping around and gasping for air.:
I can't bear the idea of Cam seeing me that way.

:No, your lungs should work better than that, but you may start to feel light-headed after several minutes above the surface.:


:We are close to the cove now. Do you think my parents will come?:
Robry asks me.

With a pang, I remember that Robry is about to lose his whole family. At least I'll see my mother as she supervises our “transition,” as she calls it, to our life in the ocean, and I can look forward to seeing my father again—if I can bring myself to forgive him by then.

:I doubt it, dartling,:
I reply sadly.
:I heard Gillian tell Cam to come by himself. At least you can see him one more time.:


Robry stops exploring. Instead he swims quietly beside me, his face set. We reach the entrance to Tyler's Cove at four thirty a.m., according to my marine watch, which means we have over an hour until sunrise. I'm tired, but I don't feel the least bit sleepy. I'm too worried about whether or not Cam made it past the Marine Guard.

My mother sends the dolphins ahead of us to check for boats. They report back that there's just one small dinghy drawn up on the cove's only beach. Gillian insists that we leave our fins, seapacks, and spearguns at the bottom of the cove, where we can retrieve them safely, just in case we have to leave here in a hurry.

After we surface at the entrance to the cove, I look toward the beach. A shadow detaches itself from the rocks beside it. Even from this distance I can tell it's Cam. I tense when I realize there are two more people with him. Lena's parents have come as well.

“I told them it was dangerous for everyone,” Cam says to Gillian the instant she beaches the zode, “but they insisted on coming.”

Lena hurriedly splashes out of the water. For all her talk of being angry with her parents, she throws herself into her mother's arms. I follow her out of the water more slowly. I'm trying to get used to breathing air again. My mother was right: I can breathe it, but it feels dry and strange, and there's not nearly enough oxygen in it.

Lena and her mother are crying now, and Lena is speaking angrily to her father. I turn away to give them privacy.

Cam is talking with Gillian. I hear the tension in his voice. “I don't think we were followed, but I can't be sure. There're soldiers everywhere now.”

“We have to make this quick, then,” my mother declares, even as she scans the steep hillsides around the cove.

“Robry, you can say good-bye first,” I say thickly. I need more time to pull myself together. Now that I'm here with Cam, I don't want to cry all over his shirt.

Robry looks at me and nods. I retreat back toward the surf so that they can be alone. Cam talks urgently to him, his hand on Robry's shoulder.

I think I'll always remember them that way: Robry standing there in a wash of moonlight, trying to be brave and looking like a smaller version of his big brother. Then Cam gives Robry a long hug. It's as if he's trying to pass on the love and caring of their entire family.

Robry splashes past me into the water, staring down at his feet, his face wet with tears. Suddenly, I'm facing Cam all by myself. I walk out of the surf to be closer to him.

All at once there's such a big lump in my throat that I have to struggle to speak. “What are you going to do?”

“I'm sailing south once I drop off Lena's parents. I might try to start a sail-making business with some of my cousins on the other side of the border.”

I frown, thinking of the armed patrol boats he must pass in his tiny sailboat.

“Promise me that you'll be careful,” is all I can think to say. I feel tears well up in my eyes. Gillian altered my body in so many other ways; why didn't she plug up my stupid tear ducts while she was at it?

“Nere, there's a chance I will see you again,” Cam says, his dark eyes intent. “If you ever need help, get word to me through the smugglers. I'll come.”

I can only nod, afraid to trust my voice. I must look miserable, though, because moments later, he hugs me. I bury my face in his shoulder, his arms tighten around me, and finally I feel safe.

“No matter what happens, I'll always love you,” he whispers in my ear. I close my eyes. Do I love him back? I just know Cam is more important to me than any friend I've ever had. I open my eyes and raise my face to him, and then he kisses me. I realize I've been waiting forever for this. Cam's lips are soft and he smells like salt water and fresh sea air. I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him back.

“There they are!” Hycault's exultant shout rings out over the little cove, and we freeze. I look up just in time to see dozens of soldiers charging down the hillside directly toward us.

I STARE AT THE SOLDIERS
stupidly until Cam shoves me toward the water.

“Run!” he yells. Then he turns to face the rush of men. He pulls a knife from a sheath at his belt and tries to block their path to me.

“Cam!” I shout.

Even as I watch, he's hit by a blast from a solar rifle. He staggers and drops his knife.

“No!” I cry, and struggle to reach him. But someone's holding my arms.

“Nere, there's nothing we can do!” Robry yells. He and Lena are there, dragging me toward the water.

“You've got to come with us. He'd want you to get away,” Robry insists, but I can hear the tears in his voice.

Somehow Cam is still standing. The soldiers are on him now. He punches the first one in the face and knocks a second one off his feet. But a third raises the butt of his rifle and slams it into Cam's head. He crumples to the sand.

Stumbling backward into the sea, I hear the hiss of solar shots hitting the waves all around us. It's hard for me to see past the tears that flood my eyes. Vaguely, I'm aware that the soldiers have surrounded Lena's parents. But where's my mother?

I see a soldier aim his rifle at me. His red sighting beam blinds me. I brace myself and close my eyes, expecting to be seared.

The red light against my eyelids abruptly disappears. I open my eyes. My mother has stepped between me and the soldier. She looks over her shoulder and sends me a motherly smile with no scientist in it.

Robry wrestles me down into the water. Before my head goes under the waves, I see the beam of killing light from the soldier's solar rifle slice through her.

I'm screaming and choking on bitter seawater as I dive for the bottom of the cove.

:We've got to swim deeper to avoid that solar fire and get back to our equipment,:
Robry urges Lena and me.

I barely hear his words while I swim after him. I can't believe my mother is dead.

We reach the equipment we stashed in a pile at the bottom of the cove. With shaking hands, I drag on the fins that Robry thrusts at me.

:the big boat is here. divers are jumping into the water,:
Densil warns us.
:they have spearguns and tows that pull them fast!:


:We've got to get past those divers and under that cutter. Our only chance to lose them is if we hide in the kelp forest outside the cove,:
Robry tells us.

Quickly, I relay his words to the dolphins.

:we will pull you to the kelp,:
Mariah declares, her mental voice remarkably calm.

:we can swim faster than their tows,:
Sokya adds, smug as always.

:your mother comes later?:
Mariah asks me. I realize the dolphins must not have seen what happened onshore.

:She's not coming later. They killed her.:
I'm careful to send her only the words and not the terrible image of Gillian's death. I know Mariah loved my mother, and I don't want that image to haunt her, too.

I sense the shock and grief erupting in Mariah's mind. She and five other dolphins appear moments later.

:little one, I am sorry.:
Mariah nudges me gently with her beak.
:but we have no time now to be sad.:


Robry hands spearguns to Lena and me.
:Clip these to your seapack,:
he orders.
:You're going to need both hands to hold on to the dolphins' fins.:


I'm amazed and grateful that he is thinking so quickly. My mind feels like it's full of sea sludge.

I look toward the mouth of the cove. The glow of the divers' powerful torches creates halos of brightness in the dark water. The divers are spreading out to cut off our only escape route. The cutter's search beam flashes across the waves over our heads.

Suddenly, Densil and his older sister, Halia, are on either side of me.
:grab hold,:
Densil orders, and for a change I obey him. Mariah and Ricca tow Lena, and Kona and Nika pull Robry.

As soon as I have a firm grip on their dorsal fins, Densil and Halia surge forward, their powerful tails thrusting against the water. It's a good thing that I've got a strong hold on them. Here beneath the waves, the force of the water pushing against me is much stronger than when a dolphin team pulls me at the surface.

We race forward and the deep bass rumble of the cutter's engines grows louder and louder. Now we are so close I squint against the brightness of the divers' lights. I can barely make out the dark shapes of the divers holding them. One jerks the light around to shine it on me. They've spotted us!

:Faster, Densil, Halia!:
I urge them. The dolphins sprint forward, aiming for the largest gap between the divers. I feel the rush of spear darts and hear their high-pitched whine as they slice through the water all around us.
Please, don't let
the dolphins get hit.

All at once we are past the divers. The dark hull of the cutter looms overhead, its propellers slicing through the water, and then we slip under it as well. Our dolphin teams race on toward the black waters beyond the cove. A few more spear darts hiss after us, but we're already out of range.

I glance back. Some of the divers are following us, and the tows they're using are faster than any I've seen before!

My shoulders and arms begin to burn from the strain of being pulled through the water by Halia and Densil, and my fingers cramp from holding on to their dorsals. The rumble of the cutter's engines grows louder and louder until it seems to fill the water all around us. The boat catches up and then keeps pace over our heads. Someone aboard must be tracking us with sonar. I keep seeing odd flashes of light along its black hull.

:They're firing solar rifles into the water, hoping to hit us,:
Robry informs me grimly.
:But I don't think their solar fire can reach us at this depth. If we split up in the kelp, there's a chance we can lose them.:


:But the dolphins have to breathe soon,:
I remind him.

:I know. I think we're almost there.:


I glance back. I can tell by the brighter glow from their torches that the divers are getting closer.

:We made it!:
Robry shouts.

Within moments, we're surrounded by tall, swaying stems. I've never been so happy to see a kelp forest in my life.

:Leave us here, and go breathe,:
I tell Densil and Mariah,
:but be careful to surface far from that boat.:


Seconds later, the dolphins are gone.

:Come on, we've got to work our way deeper into this kelp,:
Robry tells Lena and me.

We follow him down into the forest, swimming as fast as we can. I'm amazed at how well I can see my way through the dense plants. In the daytime, kelp forests shut out much of the light, and at night they are incredibly dark.

:Stay clear of the fronds,:
I warn Lena.
:You can't let your seapack get tangled.:


:We need to find a cave or an overhang along the bottom where we can hide from their sonar,:
Robry says as he swims swiftly along.

I look back and see a faint glow through the dense kelp fronds. The divers have reached the edge of the forest.

Robry follows my glance.
:At least they can't use their tows in here. Their props would get jammed with kelp fronds in no time.:


:Let's split up. They're less apt to detect our body masses that way. Swim north and try to find a good hiding place,:
I tell the others.

We head off in three slightly different directions, swimming fast. I head deeper into the forest until I'm skimming along between the holdfasts that anchor the towering kelp stems to the sea floor. After checking the compass on my dive watch, I head due north. Crabs scuttle away from me, startled by my presence.

It's eerie swimming through the silent black forest by myself. I've always dove and snorkeled with a partner before, particularly at night. Occasionally I scare up an orange Garibaldi fish that startles me as much as I startle it before it darts away into the depths of the kelp.

Just when I feel like I'm all alone in this vast, dark ocean, Robry's mind touches mine.
:I can't see the divers' lights anymore.:


:I can see three to the south of me,:
Lena reports.
:And they're moving fast even without their tows.:
Her mental voice sounds anxious and tired.

I pick up the pace and contact Robry on a private send.
:The sun's going to rise soon. We can see the divers coming now because of their lights, but they'll be able to turn them off in a few minutes. Then we won't have any warning before they get close.:


:I know,:
he says.
:We've got to find a hiding place soon.:


The sea grows lighter. Several long, low rock ridges cross the ocean floor below me. Daylight begins to filter down through the dense stems. The back of my neck tingles as I swim past kelp fronds. I can imagine a spear dart piercing me at any moment.

And then I see the dark gash of an opening under a rock overhang, mostly covered by kelp holdfasts. I dart forward and peer in carefully.

:I found a cave big enough to hold all of us!:
I tell Lena and Robry.

:Great,:
Robry says.
:But now, how do we find you?:


I send them images of the rocky ridges and the cave mouth. My heart lurches when I realize neither image is specific enough to help them find me in this maze of kelp.