wrath of the Sea Queen (35 page)

"
Ok.
"

"
Lean closer.
"

The little boy motioned with his hand so that he could whisper in her ear.  C
a
eli glanced up at Apela who shrugged to indicate that he
did not know
what Max wanted to say.  C
a
eli leaned close to the boy who cupped his small hands around her ear and whispered a few words. 

When he finished, C
a
eli stared at him for a minute with her eyes wide open.  How could this young boy know
such details
about her and where did he get such a wild notion about the origin of her gift? 
And what kind of
uncle discuss
es
such topics with a child anyway? 
C
a
eli shook her head as if to clear a haze. 

"
I am not one of those characters Max, but I will make you a promise.  After you and your
P
apa get home, Vin and I will come for a visit.  I would very much like to hear the whole story about th
is
S
ea
Q
ueen
and her
S
ea
G
oddesses.  It sounds fascinating.
"
  She smiled sweetly at Max and
hugged
him
briefly
.  C
a
eli
completed her trek to the end of the line
and then found her own spot
in front of the pilot
, all the while disturbed by what
Max said to her.  He couldn't possibly know such things.
  He shouldn't know them.
  She would ask Vin to visit Apela's hotel with her to see if he could help her resolve th
at
mystery.  Of course, in order for Vin to be of any significant help, she would have to tell him her secret first.
  It was looking more and more like that was going to happen sooner than
she originally
planned.

C
a
eli asked Apela to keep an eye on Salma
because of her injured leg
.  Of course, she first had to convince him t
o permit her to remain at a position
near the end of the line. 
C
a
eli
explained that she had been a competitive swimmer and would be better suited to help anyone who might have difficulty once the water
began to fill the plane
. 
She
assured Apela that helping Salma reach her
waiting
husband on the ship was the best thing he could do for her. 
The preparations were
accomplished in less than ten minutes.  Now
,
they
were waiting
to hear from Ben.  Salma would let the copilot waiting by the door know when to open it.  Both the pilot and copilot carefully avoided questions regarding the method by which Salma
could
communicate with the people on the ship.

As they waited
, C
a
eli slipped out of line
once more
and moved toward the pilot's seat at the front of the plane.  She casually glanced up as she walked beneath the damaged
hull
. 
She
found that her earlier work still h
e
ld. 
The rest of her plan was simple.  She would maintain the barriers around the torn ceiling and the broken wing until everyone
could exit
the plane.  As soon as she and the pilot were safely on the ship's cargo net, C
a
eli would release both
barriers
, allowing the plane to be pulled down to a
watery
demise.

C
a
eli knew that as long as she held onto the rope, even if
utterly spent
by her continuing exertions, she could still be pulled to safety.  She counted on Vin for that. 
K
nowing
he
was near helped ease C
a
eli's anxiety.  Vin never let her down.  She looked forward to getting safely on board the ship where she could rest wrapped in
his
arms.  It sounded quite nice in her mind until another voice intruded on her
private
thoughts.

"
Do you really think it will be that simple?  You
a
re already tired and not feeling well. 
Plus, you
a
re injured. 
L
et me show you a little bit of what I can do to help.
"

The pain in
C
a
eli
's
stomach
suddenly subsided and a vaguely familiar, tingling sensation began and
lasted
for
about thirty seconds.

"
There.  Your wound is closed.  It will not pour forth your precious blood any longer.  Go ahead, check for yourself,
" Rika offered
a
display of her power.

When C
a
eli furtively pulled back a corner of the bandage beneath her shirt, she did not feel an open hole in her stomach and the
blood
was no
t
fresh.  She could still feel a slight ring around the place where the hole had been, but Rika was as good as her word.  She had closed the wound.  It made C
a
eli wonder as she completely removed the adhesive squares and let them fall to the floor unnoticed.

"
Why don't you let me help you maintain the work you
ha
ve already set in place?
  Let me ease your burden.
"

"
I believe it will
hold
long enough
.  I'm not worn down
to the point of
need
ing
a
dditional
help
.  We will be leaving any minute now
, but thank you
again
for the offer
and for what you did. 
Your gift is
incredible
.
"

C
a
eli was still apprehensive about Rika
, but also impressed with her skill
. 
Unfortunately, C
a
eli
still
knew nothing about this lady other than t
he fact that she was persistent
.

"
As you like
; w
e will
talk again once this is behind you.  I
ha
ve been waiting
a long time
for you
to
return.  Someone like you is a rare find. 
We still have time
to discuss it further
.
"

"
Like me?  You mean because of my ability to control water?
"
  C
a
eli asked
silently
.

"
To
start
, yes
; b
ut you are
so
much more interesting than that.  The water merely alerted me to your presence
once again
.  Granted, there have been
a
few who have found their way to me. 
N
one of them have been
quite
like you.  You have two other very important traits that make it worth my time to
seek you out and
talk to you.  That is why I
am
offer
ing
to help.  It is not something I would normally do.
"

Before she could ask what Rika found so intriguing, C
a
eli heard the loud sound of metal bending and ripping. 

"
The wing!  It's giving way,
"
the pilot shouted from behind her.

"
Ok, now this is the sort of thing you could help me with, Rika.  Please, tell me how to fix it.
"

Rika's voice was silent.
  C
a
eli had already refused her aid.  C
a
eli
frantically tried to replace the barrier around the wing, but
found it
difficult
to regain
her concentration
after being distracted by Rika
.  Just when she thought her last reserves of strength were depleted, a steady inflow of energy
momentarily
boosted her stamina.  The addition helped her regain her focus and secure the wing. 
Could that have been Rika's unannounced aid?

"
Now
,
Salma!
"
 
Vin
called
to
Salma.