The Reef (33 page)

Santiago looked at him. ‘You’re unfit. We’ve lost them.’

Manolin lurched back up with a sharp gasp of air and stared, cold and hard at Santiago. ‘They went underwater. You want me to row underwater?’

Santiago stared at the sea, his foot up on the side of the boat. His head moved from side to side as he tried to see where they could possibly have gone.

A minute later, and Forb pulled his boat up alongside. Becq and Yana held their pistols uneasily.

‘I got one,’ the doctor said. ‘The ichthyocentaur’s still back there, a little dazed. I’ll head back and see what it was I hit. You see what they were?’

Santiago nodded. ‘Heard of creatures like this, but never thought I’d see one.’

‘What was it?’ Forb asked.

Santiago said, ‘A siren.’

‘A siren?’ Becq said. She looked at Manolin, leaned over the side of her boat. ‘You okay?’ He nodded, smiling with his mouth open, still catching breath. ‘Yes,’ Santiago said. ‘Thought they were myths. Still, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, as myoid lecturer used to say. I’d be very intrigued to see one close up, not that I’ve ever seen one before.’

‘A siren,’ Forb said, shaking his head.

‘I’ve never heard of them,’ Yana said.

‘Fishermen’s tales, usually,’ Santiago said. ‘Never known anyone to have actually seen one.’

He looked over the side of the boat, down into the water as the boats tapped each other with the water’s movement. ‘The water changes depths here, doesn’t it?’

‘Yes, by quite some incline. The reef follows the floor down a very steep fall.’

‘How far?’

Forb shrugged. ‘Can’t swim down particularly far. None of the villagers has ever gone deep. The ichthyocentaurs used to be able to go down for dozens of minutes at a time. Even an hour. They’re great underwater, but ever since they started being killed off, none of them went down that far.’

Santiago raised an eyebrow as he sat back down in the boat. ‘Really?’ ‘Yes. But they’ll hardly swim at all these days.’ Santiago said, ‘Well, that’s where our ladies went, so ... Let’s take a look at one then.’ Manolin looked back to see the ichthyocentaur had turned as was running up the beach then into the forest.

Forb hauled the body of the siren on to the beach. Manolin helped him by pulling on the siren’s other arm, and her body carved a trail through the sand. They couldn’t help but stare at her. She had a shot wound through one eye, and where the it had punctured, a thick, black liquid had leaked. Half her face couldn’t be seen. A group of villagers had gathered to see the spectacle. Yana and Jefry stood further back. Yana looked across at Jefry for some time. He never once looked her way.

Pain gripped Yana’s face. Becq walked up to her, took her hand. ‘Are you all right? Please tell me if something is wrong. I can help you.’

‘Oh, I’m not sure you can,’ Yana said. ‘I’ll tell you when we go to bed.’

Becq rolled her lips thinly in a smile.

A gasp went up from the huddle of villagers as Forb and Manolin lay the body down in front of them. The villagers muttered amongst one another. Santiago flicked open a small knife then walked up to the body. Forb, Manolin and Santiago crouched down next to it.

The siren was disturbingly beautiful.

Five feet long, she looked like a woman, up to her waist, where a thick, oddly-textured tail extended. It looked like half a giant snake, with two fins strapped on the end. Ribs contained thick flaps, like gills. Her breasts were firm, round. Her hair was long, black and slick, face was almost translucent.

‘You know, she’s quite an attractive creature, all things considered,’ Santiago said. He pulled back her remaining eyelid. A ghostly orb stared at him. The old man shuddered and he laughed awkwardly as he kneeled back, then dropped the knife as the lid closed.

‘You really think so?’ Yana asked. ‘I can’t see it myself.’

Jefry grunted. ‘Well, you’ve never had any taste, have you?’

‘I know what you mean,’ Forb said to Santiago. He looked up. ‘Mhuli, what say you?’

A tall villager stepped forwards, his slender limbs oozing forward. He had cropped hair and a wide, elegant face, and wore shortened breeches. ‘Thy speaks truths, Forb. A man could wonder greatly at her beauty. For why did thou ask of my opinion?’

‘You have different tastes than us,’ Forb said. ‘What you find attractive isn’t the same as me, usually.’

Mhuli stepped back into the group.

‘Gilli, and you?’ Forb said.

A plump, stout woman, who was considered beautiful by the islanders, bounded forwards. She was almost naked and her hair was tied back, revealing large, Iow-hanging breasts.

‘What say you, Gilli?’

‘She possesses no beauty. I pray you could do much better than this, doctor.’

‘Where’s this going, Forb?’ Santiago asked.

‘I find it peculiar that every man finds her attractive, but none of the women. Moreover, we’re men with differing tastes, yet we all find her pleasing to the eye. I think that’d very odd, that’s all.’

Manolin nodded thoughtfully, his vision bound to the siren. He picked up a strand of her hair and it felt gelatinous, almost like kelp. His eyes settled on her face with ease. She was indeed pleasant to look at and he felt sad that she was dead. It disturbed him to look at her wound. An inexplicable urge took him. He wanted to hold her. He wanted to take her with him. He didn’t know where.

Forb leaned over her, pressed her body to feel the texture. Santiago, too, touched her. All three of them were touching her, hunching over her, a primitive and suggestive display. They seemed lost and their eyes glazed over as they focussed on the siren.

Yana stepped forwards, shook each of them in turn. They looked up, confused at what she was doing. ‘You’re under some sort of trance, you idiots,’ she said. ‘Stop looking at her.’

Manolin couldn’t explain the deep sensation that had just filled him. Stunned at what was happening, he rubbed his face vigorously. Not only was there mystery here, but danger.

Forb stood up, followed by Manolin and Santiago. They glanced down at the body as they stepped away. Yana said, ‘You men are useless at the best of times. There’s obviously something in her make up that affects males.’

Forb nodded, rubbing his chin. He blinked rapidly. ‘I think you’re right. Incredible stuff. I’ve never seen anything quite like this. What about you, Santiago?’

‘Nope. Only heard of these things and seen drawings. This is something quite special indeed.’

Yana, with her arms out wide, steered them back. ‘I’m sure you think that, all right. But how about we focus on facts? This thing has some strange effect and tried to kill.’ She stepped aside as some of the villagers moved in around the body.

Manolin looked up as if he had been reminded of something he’d done whilst drunk. ‘Of course, yes, she did. Right, well what I want to know is how come the ichthyocentaur was stuck dead in his tracks. What was it this thing did?,

‘It had to be the sound,’ Santiago said. ‘We all heard that sound. It was gentle, like a song. I’ve noticed it before. The ichthyocentaur up there,’ he indicated the volcano, ‘were stirring, too. It didn’t really have an affect on us though, so I suggest it was outside of our hearing range. Too high, or something.’

‘I think you’re right,’ Forb said. ‘Question is, where did they come from?’ ‘They’re obviously local, else these killings wouldn’t be frequent,’ Manolin said.

Santiago turned and looked out to sea. It was night, and he couldn’t see where the horizon was. He could hear the water lapping against the shore. ‘What’s the other side of the reef, Forb?,

‘Depends how far you go. Islands further up, as you know.’

Santiago said, ‘What about down?’

‘Come again?’ Forb said.

‘The other side of the reef, and down,’ Santiago said. ‘What’s there? The sea floor drops steeply, you say.’

Forb shrugged. ‘As I said, don’t really know. Can’t dive particularly deep. Don’t have the equipment to go down that far anyway. And don’t know of the technology to do so. All the diving equipment I’ve known only takes you down so far. After a while, the air from the surface becomes toxic, doesn’t it?’

Santiago nodded, smiling. ‘We have the technology.’

Forb raised an eyebrow. ‘Really? How?’

Santiago leaned closer to the doctor. ‘Relics.’

Forb smirked, then laughed. ‘Where the hell did you get one from, and what is it?’ ‘You know ‘bout relics?’ Manolin said. ‘Course. I was involved with government when I was in the city. I know about stuff the public doesn’t.’ Forb turned to Santiago, respect suddenly in his eyes. ‘So, what’ve you got?, ‘Submersible. Seats up to six. You can get gas mixtures in Escha, just had to get them in the right containers. We can follow the reef as far down as it goes. And more. Just have to be careful we do it slowly, else it isn’t pretty.’

‘Where did you find it?’ Forb asked.

‘Money can get you anything in that city,’ Santiago said. ‘Too much. So it wasn’t difficult, if you know where to go. And I do.’ ‘We’ll go tomorrow, if you want.’ Calyban and Soul barged through the group, and the villagers muttered annoyance as the two approached Forb. The two agents paused to look at the siren.

‘So, that’s our killer then, eh?’ Calyban said.

‘Indeed,’ Santiago said.

Manolin couldn’t read their faces in the dark, so he trusted them less. Calyban said, ‘Why didn’t you tell us you were after one tonight? We should’ve seen this.
It
all needs to be recorded.’ Santiago shrugged, turning his back. ‘Really? I could’ve sworn I did.’

‘Where did it come from?’ Soul asked.

‘Not sure, but possibly the other side of the reef, in the deep,’ Forb said. Calyban nodded. ‘You’re going to see what’s down there then?’ Forb nodded. ‘We’re coming with you. Whatever you find, we want to know. Okay?’

Santiago said, ‘Why? Why must you?’

‘Keep telling you, Mr DeBrelt. Whatever you see, we also need to see.’ Santiago smoothed down his moustache, then rubbed his face. ‘Fine.’ ‘Good,’ Calyban said. The two of them turned and joined the group of villagers that were huddled around the siren. Santiago walked away with Manolin and Forb. Yana, Becq and Jefry followed.

‘We’ll have to bury the siren, you know,’ Manolin said.

‘Sure,’ Forb said. ‘It’d be a shame to let the beauty decompose out here. We’ll do it when all the fuss has died down. I did think that Santiago expressed an interest in keeping one. For use as a specimen. Either that or one of the ichthyocentaurs. I can’t keep up with him at times.’

‘You and me both,’ Manolin said.

Yana and Becq took a stroll along the edge of the forest.
It
was late, but neither felt tired. The tide was ebbing. Yana was silent for most of the walk, although the quietness wasn’t awkward. She seemed content merely to listen to eh sounds of the island. Occasionally, she would laugh to herself.

‘Amazing thing, the siren,’ Becq said.

‘Yes, very,’ Yana said.

‘You wouldn’t think something like that could kill, would you?’

‘I guess not.’ Yana looked at the patterns in the sand, and at the thin strips of detritus that marked the changes of the tide. She walked with one foot either side of a line.

‘What’s on your mind, Yana? Come on, we’re close aren’t we?’

Yana sighed, stopped walking to sit on the sand. Becq crouched down beside her. To their right, the island curved out slightly, a knuckle of rocks protruding, slowing down the water.

‘A lot’s going on, Becq. My life is changing.’

Becq was silent, fiddled with a strand of her dark, blonde hair.

‘Jefry and I are having some major problems.’ Yana’s eyes focussed somewhere in the distance. ‘I had an affair, Becq. I slept with someone else.’

Becq looked across at Yana. ‘You had an affair?’

‘Jefry and I are very much over. Have been for ages. Oh come on, it’s not like I felt anything for him. It’s been over for months and months and the very sight of him makes me sick. D’you hear me? Sick.’

Becq said, ‘When did all this happen?’

Yana held her head at an angle whilst she drew her knees to her chest. ‘When?’ Becq said again. ‘Since we left Escha?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Who? Who did you sleep with? It wasn’t my father was it?’ Yana laughed. ‘Hell, no. Not him.’ ‘Manny?’ Yana’s face creased slightly. It was a mixture of pain and relief, as if she were about to throw up the admission. ‘Yes.’

Becq choked a gasp, wanted to be sick. She felt desire to strike out at her. She wanted to scream in the woman’s face. Instead, her head quivered and she looked down. A sense of betrayal filled her. Yana knew how she felt about Manolin.

‘I’m sorry, Becq. It’s not how it seems.
It
was nothing, just one night. I regret it was with him.’ She rested her hand on Becq’s arm.

Becq said, ‘Please let go.’

Yana released her grip. ‘I know you like him. I’m sorry.’

‘Did you enjoy it?’

Yana looked across. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Did you enjoy it?’ Becq said. ‘Was it good? No. Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.’ ‘I’m really sorry. We were drunk. He would’ve slept with anyone the way his mind was.’