Riptide

by Jessica Gunn

  “We’re going to go right to the first place the Atlas Cache was rumored to be, but there’s no way to tell what sort of resistance we’ll meet once we’re there,” I said. “Be ready.”

  There were various nods of acknowledgement.

  The four of us Atlanteans teleported our group along with a few other soldiers that’d been lent to SeaSat5 and TAO for this mission right into the center of Atlantis. And holy. Freaking. Shit.

  Every building, every house and temple and all of it, had been created from the most beautiful white and light blue stone I’d ever seen. Smells of salt and sea air filled my nose and settled my nerves. Sunlight danced across the surfaces of the buildings and over the topaz cobblestones beneath our feet. The city stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction. I spun around, taking it all in, this sense of I’ve been here before overwhelming every single cell in my body.

  Home. This is home.

  Green spaces had been dotted along the roads and walkways, with trees and flowers of colors I could scarcely recall the names of. In fact, I wasn’t sure some of these were colors I’d seen before, period. Waterways of crystal clear water ran along each green space, large enough for a boat as if the city was Venice and not Atlantis, and a myriad of different fish species swam within. Lampposts had been created every few yards, but they had no bulbs or holders for torches.

  “Solar powered,” my father provided. “At night they glow a brilliant blue and the waterways become inundated with bioluminescent creatures. It is a wondrous sight.”

  “Sounds like it.” Regret washed over me. I’d never get to see that sight or much else of the city. After today, I might never return, and I didn’t remember my time here as a newborn at all. For all the time in college I’d spent researching Atlantis for my thesis, I’d be here but briefly. That was more than most got, I supposed.

  “Shit,” Josh cursed. “Major!”

  “What?” Pike asked, spinning on heel toward Josh with his weapon drawn.

  A kid and his mother stood ten yards away from them, staring wide-eyed. The mother looked at each of us in turn before shrieking at the top of her lungs, grabbing her child by his arm, and running away.

  “So much for stealth,” Valerie said.

  “Move,” Pike ordered. “Now.”

  And we did. Hurting or, god forbid, killing civilians and innocents was not on the agenda. But whoever got in our way of the Atlas Cache absolutely was.

  We moved quick and sure, following my parents to the location where the Atlas Cache was rumored to be, in an underground, abandoned temple underneath the center of the city.

  We stopped in front of a large statue of—“Holy hell,” I exclaimed. I stared up at Poseidon’s chiseled marble body, the words of an ancient Greek philosopher echoing in my head. “Guess that answers that question.”

  “What question?” Sophia asked.

  “If Plato really was right,” I answered, pointing up at the statue. “That’s Poseidon.”

  “Indeed,” my mother said. “And gods help us if he knows we’re about to deface this.”

  My father slipped his fingers up the base of the statue, a hunk of that white-blue stone easily the size of a massive mini-van. Bigger still. “Come on. I know you are here,” he whispered to the stone.

  “Hurry,” Major Pike ordered. “We’ve got company.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Freddy said, readying his weapon. “We’ve got no way to block ourselves in if they follow us.”

  Josh unzipped his backpack and withdrew a chunk of C4 explosive. “Yeah we do.”

  My eyes widened. “You want to blow us up.”

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “I want to blow the entrance so they can’t follow.”

  Major Pike snatched the material right from Josh’s hands and tucked it in his vest. “I’ll do the exploding and I’ll be the last down the hole.”

  “A-ha!” my father exclaimed. Something clicked and the front of the statue gave away. A door. My father clapped his hands together. “Onward!”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Pike said. “Go before these guys get here.” He had his attention glued to a pack of men encroaching on our position with laser pistols, like the kind Germay’s people had used.

  “Go,” I told the others as I crouched and aimed my weapon. “I’ll stay with you, Major.”

  The others filed past us, moving quickly to stay out each other’s way.

  Major Pike didn’t bother looking back at me. “No way in hell, Chelsea. Get moving.”

  “I can teleport you to them if shit goes south. I am not leaving you, Pike.” I smirked. “Besides, I still owe you one.”

  His shoulders rose with the slightest hint of a chuckle. “As long as you aim past me this time, fine.”

  “Aye, aye,” I said and pulled the trigger of my weapon.

  The Atlanteans moved swiftly, dodging the bullets or splashing them out of the way as they approached. Only three or four of the mob of fifty actually fell.

  “Dammit,” Pike cursed.

  “They grew up with powers,” I reminded him. “They’re all masters. We knew this would happen.”

  “Get in the door,” he said.

  “Chelsea!” Trevor called to me from the entrance.

  “Inside!” I heard Valerie scream at him. “Keep going, Abby,” she shouted.

  There were sounds of someone being dragged away and I knew that Valerie had taken care of Trevor. For all the times I hadn’t trusted her, I was immensely grateful that she’d decided to join this mission. Only she could keep Trevor in line if I wasn’t around.

  Emotion caught in my throat and I allowed only one thought through. Would she take care of him if I died here today?

  Someone shoved me backward.

  Pike. “Go!” he shouted. “Now!”

  I lifted my finger from the trigger and followed orders, stopping only when I was two yards from the entrance so I could cover Pike. He crouched into the narrow passage, set the C4 charge, and hurried behind me.

  We sprinted to catch up with the others and to stay out of the explosive’s range. Dirt and stone sprinkled onto our heads as we ran. I brushed the debris out of my face. Light lit the end of the tunnel and for a brief moment I wondered if this was the best idea in the world.

  “Keep moving,” Pike ordered. He must have read my thoughts the way only a commander could. “Light is good. Means we might have actually found it.”

  No such luck.

  The dirt and stone passage way gave way to marble stairs that ended at a massive underground lake. It glowed in the darkness, more of those bioluminescent animals. What were they? Plankton? Fish? I couldn’t tell anything from here other than that damn lake looked at least a half-mile deep.

  I didn’t stop running until the stone ended and the water was inches from my feet. No sand or any other barrier. The stone just stopped at the water’s edge. “What’s the hold up?”

  “It’s a lake,” Valerie announced, voice thick with sarcasm.

  “No shit.” I pointed to the other side and glanced at Sophia. “I’ll make a bubble or something and surf across, then you and Valerie can teleport the others to me. Easy peasy.” I bent down to stick my fingers in the water and made sure it was, you know, actually water and not just bioluminescent fish slime. “Or my parents can help me get them across.”

  “No, don’t!” Josh shouted, grabbing hold of my arm and yanking me back.

  I pried myself from his grip and back-peddled away from him. “What the hell!”

  “Fan-freaking-tastic,” Valerie said, dropping into a stance. “You’re gonna piss it off more than we already did.”

  “It?” I asked.

  “What’s going on?” Major Pike questioned.

  “The Nari,” said my mother. “We always thought it was a myth.”

  My father’s gaze slid across the surface of the water. “However…”

  “There’s no way we can ferry everyone over yet,” Sophia said. “There are two dozen of us a
nd one giant… something. This ‘Nari.’ We can’t make it across without distracting or attacking it.”

  “It what?” Major Pike demanded. “If I have to ask again someone’s getting shot.”

  Okay there, Mr. Temper Face. “Everyone calm the hell down.”

  Valerie leveled me with a look that said “Take your own damn advice.” I narrowed my eyes her way. Trevor crept in between us, a referee dinging the bell and urging us back into our respective corners. At exactly the same moment Trevor opened his mouth to speak, a mighty roar soared through the air around us. Only, it sounded muffled.

  My eyes darted to the lake’s now turbulent surface. Shit, shit, shit!

  My parents stepped backward, faces turning into pale sheets. My mother’s eyes widened as she said, “This is a hindrance to our plan.”

  At least I know where I got my unhelpful sarcasm from.

  Major Pike aimed his gun at the surface of the lake. “Someone give me info!”

  Abby stepped away from the water. I couldn’t believe she was actually here on this mission with us, that she’d gained as much control as she had with her powers. “We didn’t really see it.”

  The surface rippled and spun to the tune of two dozen pistols and assault rifles cocking to the ready.

  “No!” my father yelled. “It’s a sacred beast!”

  “You can’t just kill it!” I shouted. What was wrong with me? It stood between our goal and us. What was one creature compared the entire world if the Atlas Cache managed to rupture space-time? Even still, it was wrong. The creature wasn’t guilty of doing anything other than existing here.

  “We can if we need to in order to get across,” Major Pike said, ever the hard-decision-maker. There were various degrees of agreement in the group but no one spoke up enough to be heard by Major Pike.

  “I don’t think you quite understand what we’re dealing—”

  Another roar sounded, cutting off my mother as its volume increased. The mighty creature breeched the surface of the water and—

  Holy mammoth. Er, leviathan. Whatever it was, it was huge. It surfaced, roared, and fell sideways like a whale. With a massive body and four arms, a head, and a tail, it sure as hell looked familiar. But it glowed and its head and teeth were massive.

  “You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Freddy said, taking aim.

  “It’s Nessie,” Trevor said. “A plesiosaur.”

  If only.

  “Don’t think so,” Valerie said. “Nessie doesn’t glow like a freaking Christmas tree and have teeth the size of eighteen wheelers.”

  “Exaggeration.” How in the world were we going to get past this thing? I swung on my parents. “Can’t you tame it or something? You worked in the Archives building; you can’t tell me you’ve never heard of this thing before.”

  “Only as myth,” said my father. He pulled water up in front of him and my mother like a shield.

  The monster charged—fast—a tidal wave preceding its massive body, growing as its speed increased. Sophia and I jumped ahead of the others and tried our best to redirect the sudden onslaught of waves around our companions. Everyone remained drenched despite our efforts.

  “Aim and fire!” Major Pike ordered. Those with guns and no powers did as he ordered, releasing waves and waves of bullets upon the charging creature, who was now halfway across the lake to us.

  “Stop!” my father yelled.

  Pike spun on them, rage surging in his eyes. “This is my mission. You’re here because we need you. I don’t give a fuck about some ancient beast Atlantis holds captive as a watchdog. It’s between us and our object, so it will die.”

  My mother’s eyes hardened, anger and determination squaring her jaw. “Or you will die fighting it, a much more likely course.”

  “Alacia,” my father said, laying a hand on her arm. “We are on the same side.”

  “Against Atlantis’s elders, yes,” she said. “Against our ways that are as ancient as the city itself?” She shook her head, a look of disappointment falling over me. Like I was the least of what she expected in a daughter. It was enough to make me realize that these two, as much as I wanted to get to know them and the family we were, they would never replace the Dannings, the family that raised me.

  My father nodded my way, as if he’d heard every word in my head. “We will fight alongside you. I promise you that.”

  My mother scoffed, but I wasn’t given much time to think about it or respond before the beast lunged again, more waves rushing toward us. Sophia and I jumped in, trying to form a water wall between the dinosaur and us. Odds were this thing could break through it no matter what we did.

  Valerie ran past us, stood at the edge of the stone, and summoned a mighty burst of fire, much bigger than anything I’d ever seen her create. She grunted, teeth gritted together, as she unleashed it. The flame burned blue in transit.

  “No!” I screamed as the fire blast hit the water, scorching everything inside. We were at war and I was worried about some damn fish.

  No, it wasn’t me. It was her, the super soldier. The part of me that originated here and never lost track of who she was. She was mad about the death of this guardian.

  “It’s not enough,” Valerie shouted over the gunfire.

  The creature stopped in front of us, another tidal wave rushing our way. Sophia and I redirected it again. The creature swung its mighty neck, teeth chomping on air as it went. We teleported out of the way of its massive teeth and eyeballs, taking others who were too close with us.

  Shouts and screams of agony filled the air—we’d missed some of the soldiers! Shit!

  Their cries died quickly along with them in the creature’s mouth.

  “Abby!” Valerie yelled, running toward her.

  “No,” Abby said as she cowered away. Her face was drawn and deathly pale, her chest rising and falling quicker than a jackhammer. “I can’t. This is too much. This—this thing! I’ve been here and it almost killed me!”

  “What?” Trevor asked. “They brought you here?”

  Tears streamed down Abby’s face as she shook violently. “An-and tortured me. Oh my god, Trevor. That thing. It feeds on Lemurians and criminals. It’s their version of a torturer and the death penalty.”

  Valerie ran her hands through Abby’s hair, trying to sooth her. “Abby, I need your help to kill it.”

  Abby fought Valerie’s comforting gestures. Major Pike still led the men, Josh, and Freddy in their siege against the monster that just kept on swinging its head at us.

  “What are you going to do?” I asked Valerie.

  “Get rid of all the water,” she said. “You, Sophia, and your parents should shove all the water up into the tunnel. Drown our pursuers while you’re at it.”

  Good plan. I turned to Sophia who nodded in understanding. She tapped Weyland on the shoulder as I ran to my parents.

  “Hurry, please help us,” I asked them. “Valerie, can you distract the beast? Fry it maybe?”

  Valerie nodded and pulled Abby toward the edge. “Come on,” she told her. “Let’s beat it together. I know you can do it. You’ve grown so strong.”

  Abby’s eyes focused and she stopped shaking. Nodding slowly, she said, “Okay.”

  Valerie created massive, blue-burning blaze in the air in front of us. Abby joined in, turning the blast into a raging inferno that gave the fires of Hell a run for their money. The blaze grew until it was easily half the size of a football field and the rest of us had developed a thick sheen of sweat across our brows and necks.

  Valerie’s and Abby’s faces were wrinkled in concentration and exertion, their muscles bulging. A vein on Valerie’s forehead throbbed. I stood at the ready in case they lost control, hoping I would be able to douse it at any moment, as my parents, Sophia, and Weyland gathered at the edge of the small lake. They started pulling waves of water from the pool, draining it a little at a time. The wave slid up from the surface of the lake and followed their commands to the tunnel entrance, pouring inside. Wey
land stood at the end of the line, his brow creased. So much power he was using on such short a training period.

  As the creature swung again, this time not eating anyone, Valerie and Abby let their inferno loose, directing it at both the creature and the small lake itself. Water sizzled and the creature cried out as it was scorched.

  A tightness closed around my throat, but I didn’t move to stop them or save the creature.

  Trevor appeared beside me, pale as hell. Why was he so damn pale lately?

  The soldiers kept pounding the creature with bullets as I joined Sophia and the others in draining the lake over long moments. Atlantean soldiers cried out from the tunnel. The force of water flying into them started to resist, pushing back against our power. How many soldiers were on the other side? Could we hold them back?

  The assault behind us died down as the lakebed dried up.

  “It’s done!” Major Pike yelled.

  I risked a glance over my shoulder and saw the half-burned bodies of fish and other creatures, including the leviathan. Valerie and Abby had burnt it up, too. The air was dry as hell now and the smell—oh god, the smell. I lifted a hand to cover my nose like everyone else had.

  Valerie’s breathing was labored, as was Abby’s, and they collapsed on the stone floor. Trevor bent to check on them but Valerie waved him away.

  “We’re fine, just tired,” she said.

  “We need to get across. Now,” Pike said.

  As if to reinforce the urgency, blue waterfalls of Atlantean teleports started forming in front of our water wall at the entrance of the tunnel.

  “Go!” Pike said.

  My parents pulled their arms back and water platforms appeared in front of us. “Climb on,” my father said. “Hurry.”

  We did and I helped my parents ferry us across the space as Sophia and Valerie volleyed fire and water-powered attacks at the soldiers emerging from the tunnel. Josh and Freddy reloaded their weapons and fired on them too. Laser shots crossed the distance between us, barely whiffing as they soared past our water platform. I ducked down, my palm to the water platform to hold it in place, and used my body to shield Abby.

  Once we’d made it to the other side, Major Pike and Josh ran ahead.