Where on earth were the pirates? They’d come and gone like phantoms, disappearing into weak points and shaking us off without any apparent effort. Of course, nobody had told me this, but I was good at eavesdropping on officers.
And if we ever actually found the pirate fleet, what could we expect once we’d recovered our shipmates? What did they want from them? Certainly not ransom, or we would’ve been contacted already. Perhaps skills? They’d taken Dot, and the whole of the navigation team. In fact, they’d taken nearly everyone on the ship. The only people who’d been left behind had been in the city, like myself, or had hidden, like Peggy. They’d probably meant to take the entire crew, regardless of usefulness.
But why?
Someone else sat across from me, interrupting my thoughts with a plate loaded with a hot dog, fries, and apple slices. I looked up. It was Wayne.
“They let you out of the dungeon, did they?” I said, laying my head back down.
“Naw, the brig is the dungeon. The laundry is more interesting than you’d think. I charge people money for extra favors. Silver gets you express service. Gold gets your clothes folded and brought straight to your rack.”
I snorted and brushed my bangs out of my face. “You’re such a… such a…”
“Enterprising businessman, ma’am. That’s the term you’re looking for.”
“Try ‘layabout,’ Wayne.”
“You’re the one actually laying down right now.” He poked my arms.
“I’ve got a lot on my mind. Go bug someone else.”
“Are you worried about crossing the straits? If you are, you should be. Captain Harebrained wouldn’t know how to navigate the wild sea if his life depended on it, and it most certainly does right now.”
I sat up. “What?”
“Oh, you haven’t heard?”
“Wayne, if you don’t cut to the chase, I’m going to take that hot dog and—”
He held up his hands. “Okay, okay. Sheesh. I overheard some of the other officers talking a few minutes ago. Apparently, the good captain thinks the pirates have gone beyond Gibraltar. He wants to follow, but he’s never sailed in those waters. Basically, we’re screwed.”
“Why?” I asked sharply. “What’s out there?”
“Pfft, what isn’t out there? Scylla, the kraken, the triangle, everything.” He lowered his head and leaned toward me. “Even the old ones.”
I leaned toward him. “The who?”
“We’re not supposed to talk about them by name,” he whispered. “It summons them. We probably even shouldn’t talk like this.”
“Describe them,” I whispered. “Quick.”
“I won’t describe them, but I will say one name, just once.” Wayne looked around, then beckoned me closer. He held up a hand to cup his whisper. “Poseidon.”
The word lingered between us as I pulled away, almost as if it had substance beyond that of an idea in my head. My memory flickered back to my previous life in Virginia Beach, which had erected a massive statue of King Neptune—Poseidon by another name—that reigned over the boardwalk. Massive and austere, the majestic god of the ocean commanded respect even as a statue.
Could he truly exist?
“Hey, knock it off!”
The shout came from the dinner line. One of the human sailors shoved a fairy, who crashed to the ground. His tray clattered loudly to the side.
I jumped out of my seat and rushed to the fairy’s aid, putting my arm around his shoulder and hoisting him up. When we were both up, I glared at the offending sailor, a third-class petty officer named Fox. “Back off,” I said, sizing him up. “If you’re so stupid that all you can do is get physical, then you’re too stupid to be on this ship.”
Fox and his buddies were crowding around, while other fairies had come and were standing behind me. The fairy who’d been shoved, Mountain Echo, was dusting himself off.
“He grabbed food with his hands,” Fox said. “That’s disgusting. That’s how diseases spread.”
“You’re already dead, dumbass.”
“And you’re going to get messed up if you keep befriending their kind,” Fox said, pointing to the fairies behind me.
Well, this conversation had gone straight out the window. Time to pull out the long toms.
“Did everyone else just hear Petty Officer Fox threaten me?” I said, raising my voice to near-yelling. “If you did, say ‘aye.’”
Half a dozen fairies, and a few humans, said ‘aye.’ Fox’s scowl faltered a bit.
“Let’s see,” I said, tapping my foot. “You started a fight in the galley, and now you’ve threatened your superior. That’s not a good way to end the day, Fox. So what are you going to do?” I leaned in. “Are you going to sit down and shut up, or are you going to find out what the next step is for me?”
There was a beat.
“I don’t have time for this,” Fox muttered. “Come on, guys.” He retreated to the other side of the galley with his friends, all of them throwing me furious looks occasionally.
I kept my stony expression in place, but inside, my dead heart was beating wildly. I was going to have to be very careful when I walked around the ship for a while. Maybe I’d ask Bickley to escort me from the engine room to my berthing after my shift.
Mountain Echo placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Thank you. You are very kind.”
I turned around and took in his appearance. He looked like every other fairy I’d seen, all pale skin, greenish hair, and sparkles around the eyes. “Sorry you have to deal with this. I know what it’s like to be the different person in the lunch line.”
He cocked his head. “What do you mean?”
“When I was alive, I was… well, there are different kinds of humans, I guess. I was in the minority at my school.”
He stifled a laugh. “That’s ludicrous. Your differences mean nothing, you know. You all look the same to me.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What side of the war were you on?” I didn’t even know what the fairy war was over, but I knew he’d have a side.
“The General’s side, of course.”
“And who were the others?”
“Those who sided with the northern tribes.”
“Are there any northern sympathizers on this ship?”
His face darkened. “They work on the flight deck. Don’t talk to them. They can’t be trusted.”
I rocked back on my heels. “Really? Your differences mean nothing, you know. You all look the same to me.”
He paused. “Oh. Well… I see your point.”
I clapped him on the shoulder and went back to my table, which Wayne had vacated. My food was cold, yet I appreciated my dinner all the more for the conversation I’d just had. I took a bite, then reached for my glass of water.
I froze mid-chew. The water wasn’t vibrating anymore.
The engines were off.
I stood, looking all around. People were eating as normally as ever… but an officer had just sprinted down a passageway.
Three more followed her, hushed and frantic.
I leapt up and ran out of the galley, toward the engine room. Had there been an accident? Had someone attacked Bickley or Torres? Was I too late?
The captain’s whistle rang throughout the ship, followed by the click of the intercom turning on.
“This is Captain Hollander. All hands report to berthing immediately. Do not speak to each other. Not even one word.”
The intercom switched off, and the whistle rang again.
I exchanged a what-the-hell glance with another sailor in the passageway. “Battle stations” meant we were under attack. “Power hour” meant we needed to start cleaning the ship bow to stern. But our berthing? We were being sent to our rooms, and on top of it, we’d been told to shut up. Something very serious was going on.
Still, what was I going to do about it? I tried to edge down the passageway against the crowds of sailors who were trooping past, since my berthing was on the other end of the ship. After a minu
te of going nowhere, I sighed and opted to cut through the flight deck. He’d never said I couldn’t do that.
I ran down a side passageway and pushed open the door to the outside. I froze. There was no way I was seeing what I thought I was seeing.
I rubbed my eyes.
No, I was seeing this.
The ship was stationary in the air. Something had lifted up the ship out of the ocean without anyone in the galley noticing.
I slowly walked out onto the flight deck, my feet numb. What were we dealing with now? What could possibly overtake an aircraft carrier like this?
I looked up, and suddenly I was back in Virginia Beach again, standing on the boardwalk and holding my mother’s hand, looking up at the massive statue. Looking at King Neptune.
Looking at Poseidon.
Poseidon was a being of unfathomable size. Made up of the sea, all swirling water and leaping fish, he rose up out of the ocean in a clear male figure. However, he wasn’t all water—the crown on his head glistened as the setting sun caught the jewels there, and his trident was very real, possibly of gold.
He stood at least two hundred feet high, and around him the sea bowed away from his form, as if he were emanating an invisible force. Near his waist, which was at ocean level, mermaids and mermen swam around him, calling to each other in their language.
From my position on the flight deck, I could see Captain Hollander run out onto the bow of the ship. He took off his cover, revealing his disheveled brown hair.
“Who dares summon me?”
I pressed myself against the steel bulkhead, too scared to breathe. The voice of Poseidon was scarier than his image. His words had cut right through me, a knife in the center of my being. Such authority.
Captain Hollander’s voice was too far away to hear.
“A mortal aboard your vessel uttered my name.”
“Oh, crap,” I breathed to myself. “That was me and Wayne. Oh crap. Oh, so much crap.” Wayne had warned me, and I’d insisted. I was just as culpable as he was. More so even, because I was supposed to be smart.
Captain Hollander replied.
“First you sail through my sea intent on war, and now you lie to me. A woman summoned me. I will not suffer your disrespect.” His trident lit up with electricity, far more than was necessary to “smite” Captain Hollander.
No! “It was me!” I shouted, running toward the bow and waving my arms like I was on the Jumbotron at a Norfolk Tides game. “Don’t smite him! It was me!” Don’t smite him. Yeesh. I wasn’t so scared that I couldn’t feel stupid for my word choice.
Poseidon drew back slightly, clearly surprised that a tiny little mortal was making such a fuss. “Who are you that commands me to withhold judgment?”
I ran straight to the tip of the bow and stared directly up at him. “I’m EMN1 Rachel Goldstein! I was the one who said your name! Don’t kill Captain Hollander!”
He sighed. “You are not the one who said my name.”
“I made the guy tell me, so it’s my responsibility! You hear me? I’m taking responsibility!” I wasn’t selfish. I wasn’t going to throw Wayne under the bus—ship?—and get him in trouble.
Captain Hollander grabbed my hand and jerked me away from the bow. “Petty Officer, get. Inside. Now.”
Boy, he sounded pissed. If I made it through the next five minutes without dying again, I’d skip going to my berthing and just head directly to the brig.
“Be silent, mortal. The woman is speaking to me.” A hand made of water came toward me, then encompassed me gently. He picked me up and raised me to eye level. “Why did you summon me, woman?”
“I didn’t mean to. I was speaking with another sailor and he was telling me about the old ones. He was warning me about the wild sea.”
“He should’ve warned your captain. I do not allow ships to sail through my waters with hostile intent.”
“Forgive him, please. We’re all new to this, including him. We’re sailing to catch pirates. They kidnapped half the original crew.”
“I do not care about the trifling of lesser beings. I should destroy your ship for breaking my law.”
“No!” The shout left my mouth before I gave it thought. I lowered my voice. “Your Majesty, do you consider yourself a good ruler? A being of justice?”
“I am the benevolent king of my domain. All will know justice within my realm.”
“Well, if you let the pirates free, but destroy the Rickover, you’re colluding with pirates in act, if not in intent. Every being in your domain will know, because the actions of the leaders are always known.” I narrowed my eyes. “I dare you to put that to the test.” For I am Rachel Goldstein, righteously stupid and stupidly righteous.
He tutted. “Your arrogance is—”
One of the mermen swam up Poseidon’s torso just then, spiraling in long arcs along with the water. He wiggled along the arm, then popped out of his wrist and gave his long hair a good shake.
My mouth dropped open. It was my merman friend, and his collar was gone, replaced by a jeweled necklace bearing a pendant of breathtaking beauty. The pendant was a crystal ball that contained a glowing, ethereal substance that produced tiny lightning strikes within the ball.
“My son, go back to your siblings.”
Son! Merboy was Poseidon’s son. That explained the circlet on his head—I’d saved a prince. My, my. Who was his mother? Gaia? Was there a Gaia in this world?
But the merman just reached for me and pulled me into his embrace, giving me a long hug that I returned. When he was done, he looked up at his father and said something in a language I did not recognize.
His father replied, his tone arching to make me think it was a question.
The merman turned back to me and tapped his chest. “I am Jordan.”
“Hello, Jordan,” I said, breaking into a wide grin. “I am Rachel.”
Two mermaids swam up Poseidon and joined Jordan. They popped out of the water and shook their long hair just as he had; all of them were wearing circlets. They both beamed at me.
“I am Potomac,” one said, her voice lilting and lovely.
“I am Mersey,” the other said. “You save our brother.”
Their brother was still holding me. “You come to palace,” Jordan said, a hopeful glint in his eyes. “Live with us. We make you mermaid.”
“Son…”
“Rachel save me from Scylla!” Jordan shouted. “We are friends!”
I’d never felt so relieved to have done a good deed in my entire existence. I cupped Jordan’s cheek, and he leaned into the gesture, smiling with true affection. “I can’t go. I’m sorry. I have to stay here and rescue my shipmates, and I promised the ship I’d sail on her for a long while more.”
His large eyes grew wide with sadness, but he nodded. “Still friends.”
“Oh, yes. We’ll always be friends.”
“Friends,” Mersey and Rhine said together. They both swam up and pecked my cheeks. “Tank-oo for save our brother.”
With a flip of their long, green-blue tails, they dove back into their father’s arm. They disappeared back into the sea via their father’s torso. Jordan, on the other hand, lingered and stroked my hair. After a few seconds, he carefully removed his necklace and placed it over my head. “Keep. Gift.”
The pendant was remarkably heavy. I rubbed my fingers over it, enjoying its warmth. “Thank you. I’ll treasure this.”
Jordan rubbed his nose against mine, then gave me a long kiss that I returned.
Poseidon cleared his throat.
Jordan shot a naughty smirk at his father, then backflipped into his arm and swam away. I was still in Poseidon’s grasp, seawater whirling around me like a jacuzzi. Poseidon brought me back up to his eye level.
“My son interceded for you. I will let your ship sail through my waters unharmed.”
I inclined my head. “Thank you. That’s very generous of you.”
“Take warning, Rachel Goldstein. There are forces at work that even I
do not understand. The walls of the worlds are thinning under the stress of the fairy war. I cannot watch all that happens in my domain.”
“I understand. Can you put me down now, please?”
Poseidon lowered me down onto the flight deck again, where he let me go with a gush of water that knocked me down. Other officers from the bridge had joined Captain Hollander there, and some rushed forward to help me up.
Poseidon sank beneath the waves without so much as making sea foam rise up. After a second, the ship shivered to life as the engines turned on.
I put a hand on my chest to steady my heart. Captain Hollander parted the crowd around me, staring at me in blank shock.
I swallowed. “I’ll, uh… I’ll see myself into the brig. No need to call Chief Buntin.” My ego couldn’t handle another tour of the ship while in handcuffs.
“Petty Officer, what in the name of hell just happened? How did you know that merman?”
I was excruciatingly aware that I was surrounded by people who outranked me by about thirty-seven thousand ranks. I shrank back. “I saved him from Scylla, sir,” I muttered through stiff lips. “Right before I saved you.”
Maybe I’d been sassy with Captain Hollander before, and maybe we had a personal connection where we grew up, but he was now surrounded by his command team. The very least I could do was make him look better by showing due deference. I stood at attention—though with weak knees—and said, “Sir, I’m very sorry for disobeying your order to go to berthing. I was on my way there when I overheard him talk about the person who’d summoned him. I… I hadn’t meant to—”
“Oh, at ease, Petty Officer,” Commander Tremblay said, shaking his head and smiling. “Captain, he was going to kill you. This sailor just saved your ass, and probably the entire ship. Let her go. It seems like she’s good at saving people, so you might want to keep her around.”
The group laughed, though Captain Hollander was still looking at me like he couldn’t quite figure out what I was made of. “What did you talk about up there?”
I could feel my blush. “Prince Jordan asked me to move in with him. He said he could make me a mermaid.”
A lieutenant junior grade crossed her arms, nodding. “Well, if we ever need a liaison when we’re dealing with merfolk, we know who to call. We could’ve had a mermaid princess on our hands.”
Sea of Lost Souls Page 13
