The Neptune Project (5 page)

THE SECRET POLICE
are
chasing me down the
dusty road to Santero. I can't run fast enough because my lungs
are burning—I can't suck enough air into them. Suddenly, I'm
in my school classroom, and everyone is laughing as I gasp and
flop around on the floor because I have no legs. I've become a
monster that is half fish, half human.

Somehow I have legs and feet again, and I run from school
and dive into the sea. I see the
Sandpiper
in the distance. I wave
desperately. Cam is at the helm. He raises a hand and steers the
Sandpiper
my way. When the boat comes near, he smiles and
reaches down to help me aboard. He grabs my wrist, and finally
I'm safe. But then his eyes fill with horror at what I've become,
and he lets go of my hand. I fall back into the cold water, and
Cam sails away, leaving me to cry my tears into the empty sea.

The dream changes again. I'm four and I hate the life vest
my parents make me wear whenever we go out on the zode. I
wiggle out of the vest while they aren't watching. I see a pretty
orange fish deep beneath us. I reach for it and fall over the side.

I sink quickly through the cold, dark water. I open my mouth
to cry, and the burning seawater comes rushing into my mouth
and throat.

I sit up, instantly wide awake. This part of the dream is true. I'm drowning now, trying to breathe air! Gasping and panting, I rip off the oxygen mask. This is worse than my worst lung attack.

Dimly, I realize I'm sitting right next to the water, and the larger waves are actually slapping and pushing at me.

“Nere, it's time for you; you must go into the water and breathe!” my mother shouts.

I don't have enough air left in my chest to speak.

:I'm too scared!:
I cry mentally instead.
:I don't want to drown. You almost let me drown before.:


“I know, sweetling, but you have no choice now.”

She kneels and smiles at me tenderly, and the next moment she shoves me into the water. I scrabble at the slippery rock, trying to find a handhold, trying to climb out. I have to get my face out of the black water. I have to breathe oxygen
now
!

Her relentless hands grab my head and force it under the water. I hit at her with all my strength, but she's too strong for me. I try to rear back and swim away, but somehow she tied me to the rock while I was unconscious.

:You'll be all right, sweetling.:
I hear my mother's words in my mind.
:I promise you. Just relax and breathe in.:


My lungs are pure fire now. I have to breathe. I have no strength left to fight her.

I open my mouth and the water rushes in, and I'm dying. Black spots dance across my eyelids. Then I cough and choke, and I'm not dying anymore. I can breathe. I inhale and exhale, trying to get used to the incredible sensation of cold water rushing in and out of my chest.

I open my eyes underwater. Instantly, I realize my vision is different, too. I can see a carpet of purple and gray anemones growing on the rock floor far below me, small crabs scuttling about between them. Dozens of fish dart above the anemones, and clusters of starfish grow like strange orange flowers along the sides of the cave. I can see in the dark waters here better than I could before, even with a bright dive torch.

:Nere, are you all right?:
my mother asks me urgently.

:I-I think so.:


I'm aware that Lena is in the water nearby me, and she's thrashing and flailing about. Gillian is kneeling right above her, trying to hold her head in the water. While I watch, Lena lands a punch on my mother's cheek.

:Just relax and breathe in
—
you can breathe water,:
I call to Lena.

She lashes out at me so violently that I give up and leave her to her terror. Instead, I pop my head out of the water and look for Robry. He's on the other side of me, still sitting on the rock ledge, gasping for breath, his eyes dilated with fear.

:Robry, don't be afraid. I can breathe water fine now. You'll be all right.:


I strain against the harness holding me to the rock, and I reach out to him. I don't want his transition to be as terrifying as mine was.

:Take my hand, dartling.:


He grabs it and slides down into the water beside me.

:Just put your face in the water and breathe. It's easy as anything.:
I try to keep my mental tone light, even though a part of me still can't believe I'm breathing seawater.

Because he trusts me, it's easier for him. He puts his face in the water, and with incredible self-control, he breathes in. He chokes the first time, just as I did, but then he gets the hang of it.

:This is
so
amazing,:
he says.

:It gets more amazing. Open your eyes and look down.:


:I can see everything!:


I turn away from Robry to check on Lena. She is floating very still in the water next to me, her arms braced against the rock, her face in the sea.

:Are you all right?:
I ask her tentatively.

Lena turns her head and glares at me.
:Yeah, no thanks to your homicidal mother. She held my head under the water!:


:She did that to me, too. At least you punched her a good one.:


It occurs to me then to check on my mother. She sits slumped all alone on the ledge, her face deathly pale. That's when I realize just how scared she was for us. Even as I watch, she drags her sleeve across her eyes and seems to gather herself. She stands and walks up the tunnel toward our lab, the solar pistol back in her hand.

AFTER MY MOTHER CHECKS
to make sure the secret police aren't coming down the tunnel in the next few minutes, she helps us out of the harnesses that kept us anchored by the rock ledge. After we all put on dive fins, Robry darts back and forth, exuberant as a young dolphin in the water.

:Why can't we go out there right now?:
he says, looking toward the open sea.

:Because,:
my mother tells us firmly,
:first you need to realize that on land you were the top of the food chain, but in the sea, there are plenty of creatures capable of hurting and eating you.:


:I know there are plenty of dangerous predators in the ocean,:
I say, interrupting her lecture.
:That's why I still can't believe you've done this to us.:


:It's good that you're aware of the dangers, Nere,:
Gillian replies, back in her scientist mode.
:That awareness can help you stay alive. You must never forget how vulnerable you are, and you must never go anywhere in open water without the dolphins and a speargun.:


She tosses a weighted buoy into the water.
:I want you to practice firing at this target. Your life may well depend on how accurate you are with your weapons. As you practice, make sure you retrieve your spear darts. You probably won't have the opportunity to obtain new ones for a long time.:


Lena seems to take my mother's lecture about our lower place on the ocean food chain seriously. She grabs a speargun and a quiver and starts firing away at the buoy. At first she's rusty, but I'm relieved to see her old skill return to her. Robry and I practice as well, but I'm not sure it's necessary, because both of us have spent hours each week snorkeling through kelp forests shooting fish for our families' suppers, so…

While we're practicing, Gillian loads the zode with our packs and her own gear.

:That's enough for now,:
she tells us.
:Is anyone hungry? If you surface, you'll find you can still breathe air for short periods of time.:


Warily, I surface and take a breath. My mother is right. I can still breathe air, but now it feels dry and weird in my lungs.

Gillian hands us big thick ham sandwiches made with Alicia's wonderful bread. With a shudder, I wonder what I'll be eating in a few weeks. Somehow I doubt there's much fresh-baked bread where we're going. The idea of eating raw fish for the rest of my life, however long that's going to be, is beyond depressing.

“That's strange. I don't feel the least bit thirsty,” Robry declares after he's halfway through his sandwich.

“That's because your body needs less water now. It can filter out the water you do need from the fish you'll be eating, just the way dolphins do,” Gillian tells us.

When we finish the sandwiches, she checks her watch. “The tide should be low enough to get the zode out of here in another half hour. I'm going to come with you as far as Tyler's Cove just to make sure you get off all right,” she says, and her gaze lingers on me.

“In the meantime, I want you to put these seasuits on over the swimsuits you're wearing now,” she continues in her usual brisk way. “Both were designed by our scientists to function much like the slick skin of marine mammals, reducing drag as you swim. They also contain a light, strong polymer mesh that should protect your arms and legs from coral cuts and jellyfish stings.”

She hands us the suits. After I wiggle into mine, I find it's surprisingly light and comfortable.

Next she hands each of us two dive knives, one to wear on a utility belt at our waists, and one in a sheath we strap on our calves. Then we don seapacks and adjust their straps so that they fit snugly and don't interfere with our swimming. Our spear quivers buckle onto the side of the packs so we can easily reach more spear darts.

Even though I'm still furious with her, I'm impressed with the amount of thought my mother's obviously put into preparing each of us for travel in the open sea.

:It's past time we left here,:
Gillian declares with another uneasy look up the tunnel. Then her gaze goes distant.

:The dolphins say the north cove is free of boats. They're eager to see the three of you now that you can stay underwater longer than they can,:
she adds with a smile.

My mother goes first in the zode. She orders Lena to follow her, then Robry, with me bringing up the rear. We hold our loaded spearguns at the ready. The tide is just low enough for the zode to scrape under the craggy entrance to the cave. I realize it's a still, clear night when I surface on the other side. The pod is there, and the dolphins are overjoyed to see us.

Mariah heads straight for Lena and swims tight, happy circles about her.

:She missed me!:
Lena says.

:Of course she did,:
I say.
:She never understood why you stopped coming to swim with her.:


I never understood, either, but this doesn't seem the right time or place to get into it with Lena. We pause long enough to introduce her to Tisi. As he butts against her playfully, I see Lena smile. I'm glad the dolphins can distract her. I know she's just lost everyone she cares about.

My throat tightens when I remember that I will be saying good-bye to Cam soon. I don't know if I'll ever see him again. I don't know how long I will survive in the sea. I don't know how long he will survive living away from it, but Cam is strong and stubborn.

:a big boat comes.:
Densil's words break in on my thoughts.
:it sounds like the dark one with the big motors,:
he warns us from the mouth of the cove, where he's keeping watch.

It must be a Marine Guard cutter. A cold wave of fear surges though me, leaving me feeling shaky and breathless. My mother is the first to react.

:Right. The three of you help me get the zode behind that big rock. I'll hide with it, and then you are going to dive for the bottom and stay there until that boat goes.:


I hear Gillian issue rapid orders to the dolphins as well.
:Mariah, take the pod inside the cave. If they see you surface, they may guess we're nearby. Densil, stay where you are and don't let them see you.:


My heart is in my mouth as we push the black zode toward the large rock, kicking as fast as we can. Once it's hidden directly behind the rock, Gillian slips into the water and holds the zode steady.

:Go, and don't you dare surface, even if they find me. The latitude and longitude of your father's colony is marked on charts in each of your packs. Now dive!:


My pulse racing, I slip beneath the water and kick for the bottom of the cove. Robry and Lena have found a big rock slab to hide under, and I join them, keeping a wary eye out for eels.

I can hear the deep-pitched rumble of the cutter's engine and feel the vibrations from its powerful screws churning through the water. Then those engines cut back to idle, and the big boat glides into the cove.

Seconds later, a brilliant light dances across the surface above our heads. They must be using a searchlight to sweep the cove. Will they spot the zode? No matter how angry I am with my mother, I don't want the Marine Guard to take her away.