The Neptune Project

by Polly Holyoke

  :Thanks,: I say, and I mean it. Talking with Tobin always makes me feel better. Reluctantly, I ease away from him because I know he needs to rest as much as I do.

  Lying in my hammock waiting for sleep to come, I keep seeing our fight against the giant squid in my mind. Finally I force myself to picture the summer constellations instead, and recite them one after the other.

  As I drift off to sleep, I feel the vast weight of the ocean pressing down on me, and the weight of the job I still don’t know if I can do.

  THE NEXT MORNING, Thom is running a fever. Tobin gives him an antibiotic and some meds, and the rest of us lounge around and rest. Kalli, Ree, Tobin, and Bria, who all know how to sew, take turns mending and patching the many tears in Thom’s tattered seasuit.

  Kalli has put herself in charge of our supplies and equipment. She comes to me at noon to discuss an issue that’s been troubling us both. :Nere, our spear-dart supply is running seriously low.:

  :I know,: I admit. :And I’m not sure how we’re going to get more.:

  Our spear darts are long, straight rods made from a light and strong titanium composite. We’ve been careful to shoot the fish we eat for food with spear darts attached to lines, which means we usually get them back. But we couldn’t use lines when we had to fight off big sharks or Marine Guard divers, and those conflicts cost us dozens of spear darts.

  :Maybe we can buy some from a scrounger,: Kalli suggests. :We’ll be traveling past San Francisco soon, and there must be hundreds of sea scroungers working those waters. If they’re willing to risk free diving inside old buildings and sifting through floating garbage, they shouldn’t be afraid to sell spear darts to some kids.:

  :I’ve met a few scroungers who worked the area around San Diego Bay,: I tell her. :They’ll do anything if the price is right. The problem is, I think some of them would turn us over to the Western Collective in a heartbeat.:

  :Maybe we can come up with another solution, but we need to find it soon, or the next time we’re in a big fight, we’ll have to throw rocks.:

  That afternoon we all take sand baths wearing just our swimsuits. Dai showed us this trick back at the Alicante. We don’t sweat anymore, but it still feels good to rub our skin down from time to time with clean sand.

  The dolphins, who are curious about everything we do, come down to watch, and before I know it, Mali snatches a rag that Tobin was using to rub sand on himself. Then Ricca steals it from her, and Robry steals it from Ricca.

  Soon we’re teaming up with our dolphins to play a wild game of keep-away. We spread out across the rocky bottom outside our cave, skimming over ledges and ducking behind rock pinnacles. Even Ton and Dai, who at first seemed puzzled by our play, join in this time. Dai makes a big show of letting a giggling Bria steal the rag from him when I know he could have caught her easily.

  I call a halt when a small anemone stings Robry. Reluctantly, we finish our sand baths and climb back into our seasuits, but the game was good for morale.

  Late in the afternoon, Thom’s fever has broken and he sleeps more peacefully. By midmorning of the next day, he is so tired of lying in his hammock that he insists we let him get up for a while. That’s when I call a group meeting to determine how close we’re willing to travel to San Francisco, and whether or not we want to risk buying spear darts from a scrounger.

  :We’ll be better off staying as far from San Francisco as we can,: Dai says flatly. :The continental shelf is wide there, which means we can travel forty miles off the coast without crossing the continental break. This time of year, there will be a huge dead zone by the bay, thanks to all the fertilizer your idiotic government keeps putting on its farm fields.:

  :It’s not my government anymore,: Penn points out quickly.

  :Well, thanks to someone’s government, so much phytoplankton will have bloomed and died near the city, there will be little oxygen left in the water. Dead zones are bad news. On the edge of one you can breathe fine one moment, and the next you’re suffocating.:

  :Then we’ll make sure we give the entrance to the bay plenty of sea room,: I say. :But I still think we should consider contacting a scrounger. We’ve got to get hold of more spear darts somehow.:

  :Then we can all have fun when that scrounger hands us over to the Western Collective,: Dai declares.

  :So, what’s your brilliant suggestion for replacing our spear darts?: Ree turns on him.

  :Don’t lose any more,: Dai replies.

  :You want us to pull the darts out of every shark you shoot?: Lena says sarcastically.

  :If we have to, yeah. That’s safer than dealing with scroungers. Most of them are slime who would trade away their own kids for a profit.:

  :I knew some scroungers back in LA,: Ree says with a shrug. :They weren’t so bad.:

  :So, we’ll stay well off the coast as we pass the bay,: I say, concluding our meeting. :And we’ll watch out for a good, safe chance to trade with a scrounger. In the meantime, we’ve got to be careful to retrieve the spear darts we have left.:

  :I think Penn should go back and dig out those two spear darts he put into that mongo squid that tried to eat me,: Thom says with a straight face, and everyone cracks up.

  As they leave the cave, I notice Ree and Tobin patting Penn on the shoulder. Clearly the group is giving Penn the credit for killing the squid, when Dai’s explosive spear dart really finished the monster.

  :What troubles you now, oh fearless leader?: Dai asks me with an ironic look. :C’mon, don’t I get points for being polite and asking for a change, instead of reading your mind?:

  I decide to tell him the truth because I want to reward his good behavior, and because I have a hunch he’ll probably be able to tell if I lie to him. :I’m happy that everyone seems to have finally forgiven Penn for Kyel’s death, but I’m sorry that you aren’t getting more credit for killing the squid.:

  Dai shrugs. :You’re worrying about me again. Face it, they’re never going to accept me as one of them.:

  :Robry and Bria like you fine. I can’t see why the others don’t trust you more.:

  :I’m just too different, and I don’t know the right things to say or how to make jokes like Thom,: he says moodily, looking away from me.

  The bitterness I hear in his tone makes me want to reach out and touch him. But I keep my mental shields up and force myself to concentrate on our conversation. :It helped that you joined in the game yesterday.:

  Dai smiles wistfully. :I liked that game. I hope we play it again soon.:

  :Knowing Mali, Sokya, and Laki, they’ll probably get another game going this afternoon,: I say, even as I wonder if Dai ever had much chance to play, growing up with a research scientist who dragged his son around the oceans of the world.

  In the afternoon, Sokya does come to us wanting to start up some kind of competition. Robry suggests we try a form of capture the flag, so we divide into two teams, and each team hides their own flag deep in their own territory. Then the dolphins and their human partners have to find each team’s flag and steal it; but only a human/dolphin pair working together can actually move the flag.

  The game is such a hit that we end up playing several rounds. Even Thom and Densil participate, but we just let them guard their team’s flag. Bria and Robry are by far the best players, clinging like limpet fish to their dolphins while Nika and Ricca dart and zigzag through the water. Dai and Ton could make a team of their own, but as they go charging fiercely after their opponents, we have to remind Dai several times that it is only a game.

  I call a halt after a few hours so we can rest up and eat dinner. People are smiling and joking with one another as the two teams come back to the cave. I even overhear Ree telling Dai that he played a good game.

  Lena and Penn go out to find food, and return with a large yellowtail. As we eat, Penn tells everyone how Lena bagged the big fish.

  :This sucker must have dragged her for a quarter mile before she managed to kill it, but she was not gonna let go of her line.:

  :Who
oee, big fishies, you better watch out, or Deadeye Lena’s gonna spear you,: Thom teases her.

  Lena blushes, but I can tell she is proud that she’s caught our dinner.

  In the morning, Tobin declares Thom strong enough to travel, and we head north at first light.

  WE TRAVEL STEADILY, but for Thom’s sake, not too quickly. We take a longer break than usual at lunch, and I insist on the dolphins giving him some tows in the afternoon. He looks pale and tired, but he never once complains.

  Late in the day, I start noticing a difference in the taste of the water in my mouth. It’s becoming bitter and oily.

  :That’s what the water around LA tasted like,: Ree tells me. :And I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better.:

  We spend the night in an old wreck, and none of us sleeps well. My head aches and my eyes burn when I wake up in the morning. I lead us farther from land, and yet the pollution in the water only gets worse. We also start encountering more boat traffic as we approach San Francisco. Big sailing vessels and solar-powered skiffs ferry cargo up and down the coast of the Western Collective, and diesel-powered Marine Guard vessels are more frequent here.

  Every time we hear a boat we split up and travel in pairs. If a boat comes too close, we scramble to find hiding places.

  Around midday, Kalli and Penn, who are traveling closest to shore, contact me in a panic. :We think we’re in one of those dead zones Dai was talking about! We can hardly breathe here!:

  :Stay calm and head straight west if you can. I’m sending the dolphins to tow you out of there.:

  The dolphins quickly find Kalli and Penn and tow them farther out to sea, where the water is better.

  :That dead zone really was bad news,: Kalli reports in a shaken voice. :One moment we could breathe just fine, and the next, there was no oxygen left in the water. We were gasping like stranded fish.:

  We head even farther away from the coast after that, hoping to avoid more dead zones. By midafternoon, we start encountering big rafts of floating garbage—mounds of trash bags, plastic fencing, gallon jugs, bits of furniture, and pieces of junk all twined together.

  :we do not like the water here,: Mariah tells me uneasily. :it makes our skin itch.:

  :We don’t like it, either. We’ll get past this area as fast as we can.:

  Late in the afternoon, we manage to reach the northern end of the bay. As the dolphins search for a safe place for us to spend the night, Densil contacts me. :you asked us to watch for small boats. there are many tied near here just off a point.:

  :Okay. We’ll check them out after we get settled.:

  Once we find a good cave to spend the night, we eat a quick supper. I ask for a volunteer to come with me to see if the boats nearby are part of a scrounger community. Ree’s hand shoots up before Robry’s and Tobin’s, and I nod to her. I’m glad she wants to come because she seems to know more about scroungers than the rest of us. Dai doesn’t volunteer, but I’m not surprised when he and Ton end up coming along anyway.

  As we start off into the black sea, I’m glad for Dai’s company even though it’s clear he disapproves of our mission. Soon we start seeing dark masses beneath us. I shudder when I realize we’re swimming over drowned piers and buildings, the lowest portions of old San Francisco that were claimed by the sea a hundred years ago.

  Densil leads us straight to the circle of boats. We surface thirty yards out and study it. The circle is made up of a colorful assortment of rafts, houseboats, and small wooden sailing craft. Many of them look like they’ve been cobbled together from old oil barrels and other sorts of trash. There are men, women, and children walking back and forth among the various vessels. Several are lit by solar floodlights, and the smell of food cooking makes my mouth water.

  :They’re scroungers all right,: Ree says. :They often make floating villages like this.:

  :I’m surprised the government lets them live out here.:

  :I’d guess they don’t cause the government any problems.: Ree shrugs. :And local agents of the Collective probably collect some sort of tax by taking the best stuff they scrounge.:

  :I think we should try to trade with them,: I decide. Seeing women and children has reassured me a little.

  :They’re going to think it’s pretty strange if I just swim up and ask to buy thirty spear darts. We need a boat of some kind,: Ree says.

  In the morning, we divide into patrols to find a boat or raft we can commandeer for Ree. By noon, all patrols report back to me that each raft and boat they’ve found is securely chained or locked.

  :Why don’t we just make a raft for Ree?: Kalli suggests. :It sounds like some of those scrounger rafts you saw are just piles of garbage roped together.:

  :Kalli, you’re brilliant!: I say.

  I call in all the patrols, and after we eat, the dolphins lead us to the nearest garbage raft. After I send the dolphins out to watch for boat traffic, we start cutting pieces of garbage loose that we can use to build our own raft.

  Penn—who turns out to be very clever with his hands—and Kalli quickly take charge of the project, but everyone pitches in. By late in the afternoon we’ve managed to build a long, narrow raft from plastic jugs, an old truck tire, and sea floats. Penn and Robry finish making two paddles just as the sun starts to set. I think we would have enjoyed the project if the water around the garbage didn’t taste so horrible.

  Kalli christens our homely raft the S.S. Neptune. The excited dolphins help us tow it back toward the scrounger colony and the sea cave where we slept last night.

  We figure out that the raft can actually support the weight of three people. In the end, I choose Penn and myself to go along with Ree. I wish that Thom could come, too, since he’s the better fighter. But he’s still recovering from his cuts and is probably too heavy for the raft anyway.

  :Is it really necessary for you to go?: Tobin challenges me, his eyes worried. :This group needs you.:

  :I’m our strongest telepath,: I reply, avoiding Dai’s gaze. We both know he’s actually the strongest telepath in our group. :I want to go along so I can get a reading on what the scroungers are thinking, and give Ree some warning if there’s going to be trouble.:

  After dark, the dolphins help us tow the riderless raft as close to the colony as we dare. My pulse is racing as Penn, Ree, and I climb aboard and take turns paddling it toward the circle of boats. The rest of the group follows along beneath us in the water with their spearguns loaded, ready to help if there’s trouble.

  REE, PENN, AND I paddle as quickly as we can, because we know we only have a half hour or so before we start getting light-headed. As we approach the colony, I concentrate on any stray thoughts I can pick up. Our arrival causes curiosity but no real excitement.

  A wiry old man catches the rope Ree tosses him and helps us tie up next to his own sailboat. It’s actually a trim-looking wooden vessel that reminds me of James’s Kestrel.

  After looking us over carefully, the old man introduces himself as Crab. He’s clean-shaven, his skin is wrinkled and tanned dark by the sun, and his long white hair is caught back in a ponytail. Smiling, he raises his left hand. I try not to wince when I realize it’s frozen in a twisted claw. When Ree asks him where we can buy some spear darts, he says he’s actually a trader and invites us to sit on his foredeck. Ree and I climb up onto his boat while Penn stays with our raft. Crab hustles into his tiny cabin and returns shortly with a basket of bread.

  Finally I get to eat something that isn’t fish or kelp! But I’m surprised that the bread feels so dry and strange in my mouth. The longer I chew, the more the bread nauseates me. I stare at the rest in my hand. I want to tear it to pieces and fling it into the sea. I glance over and see that Ree has only taken one bite of her bread, too.

  “Just how many spear darts would yeh be wanting?” the old man asks us.

  “Thirty that are three feet long and five-sixteenths of an inch in caliber,” Ree says bluntly. “If you can get ahold of that many. And they need to be made from a titani
um composite or stuff that’s even lighter.”

  I sense Crab’s surprise as he studies us out of his shrewd brown eyes. I wonder if we would have been smarter to contact more scroungers.

  “My friends and I make good money from spear fishing up the coast from here,” Ree adds with a shrug. “But we lose our rigs sometimes when we go after the bigger fish.”

  Crab has strong natural shields that keep me from hearing his specific thoughts, but I can sense his eagerness to make a good sale.

  “I’d like to know yeh can pay. It’ll take me some time to gather up that many darts for yeh.”

  Ree pulls a small round discn of real gold from her pocket. Each of us has two of these sewn into our seapacks. Shielding it with her hand, she passes it to Crab. He takes it, bites it, and then gives it back quickly with a nod.

  “Aye, I’ll take six of those for thirty spear darts.”

  “That’s robbery, you old bandit. You can have just one gold discn and count yourself lucky to be making such a good trade.”

  I stare at Ree. :Are you crazy?: I ask her telepathically.

  :He expects us to bargain. We’d make him suspicious if we didn’t,: she replies quickly.

  “It will take me all day tomorrow to come up with such a stash of spear darts, and it will cost me, too. I’ll take five discn, and no less, yeh young gouger.”

  Trading insults, the two bargain back and forth until my chest aches from the effort I’m making not to pant.

  :Ree, you better finish this up. I’m getting a little dizzy here. He’s bound to notice there’s something strange about us if we start gasping like fish.:

  Reluctantly, Ree agrees to pay him three gold discn for thirty spear darts, and the two shake hands. Crab invites us to stay for supper, but Ree turns him down politely.

  “Well then, come back this way tomorrow night.”

  “We will, and thanks for the bread,” Ree tells him as we climb back aboard our raft and he casts us off.

  As soon as we have our backs to him, I drop the rest of the bread I hid in my palm into the sea. I finally allow myself to start panting as I struggle to get more air.