by Noah Harris
“No one’s abandoning ship,” Captain Seawolf snapped. “If we do, they’ll just bombard the island and then send a shore party to hunt us down like dogs. Those ships of the line have a good three hundred men aboard, many of them Royal Marines. We can’t fight them and win. I say we take our chances by trying to break out of here.”
Maggie only shook her head.
Another cannon fired, and once again hit the little islet on which Thomas had first sampled merman lovemaking.
That gave him an idea. He turned to Maggie.
“Could you rig up a bomb that could be set below their waterline and made to explode?”
Maggie gave him a confused look. “Certainly, but how would you set it? Ah, with the mermen!”
Thomas shook his head. “They could never be made to understand. I will set it myself.”
Radbert snapped his fingers. “Of course! They can make us breathe underwater!”
“Rig the bomb a quickly as you can,” Thomas said as another cannonball splashed into the water of the bay. He started to strip off his clothing. Maggie ran off with Fanny and a couple of the gunners for the armory.
“But how will you set it?” Radbert asked. “In order to breathe, we had to be holding hands with the mermen, and we can’t see or move about very well.”
Thomas gave him a kiss, his decision made. “In a minute, I’ll be able to move around underwater just as well as they do.”
Radbert’s eyes widened. “You don’t mean…”
Thomas walked off before his lover could dissuade him. He went up to the nearest merman, who he thought was the one who had saved him—although he couldn’t be sure—took his hand, and made swimming motions underwater.
The merman smiled and squeaked something in his own language.
They dove overboard.
Once again, Thomas felt that strange choking and then was miraculously able to breathe. Thomas turned and kissed the merman full on the lips, one hand stroking his manhood and feeling it spring to life.
Thomas spread his legs and pulled the merman towards him.
The shifter cocked his head and looked at him curiously. Thomas nodded.
The shifter smiled and said something, then entered Thomas with a smooth, quick motion.
Thomas arced his back with the joy of being penetrated. This was no domination like with werebears or werewolves, but rather a true sharing of pleasure. Thomas held him close, and the merman built up a rhythm, their tongues exploring each other’s mouths, their hands roving over each other’s bodies as they pirouetted beneath the sea and schools of bright tropical fish darted by.
The merman began to thrust faster, its member pushing deeper inside Thomas.
The sailor tensed, knowing the merman was close. If he wanted to back out, now was the time…
No. He wanted this. Not only did he want this in order to save the ship, but he wanted this for himself. He had always been a man of the sea, he had always felt a connection to the ocean, so why not take a step that perhaps no man had ever done before? Why not be one of these strange, friendly creatures?
It was the time of the full moon, and he had been told that even if the moon was set and it was broad daylight, to take the fluid of a shifter into his own body would make him one, himself. As he gave himself to this merman, he knew that he wanted it more than almost anything else in the world. Now he knew his true attraction to the shifters he had met—he had desired not only their bodies, but to have such a body himself.
His eyes went wide, and he shook all over as he felt the merman tense in his arms and a warm flood of semen shoot deep inside him.
He gasped. He had been seeded.
A glorious blue glow suffused the water. Thomas’s breath caught with joy and wonder as he realized it came from his own skin. He held a hand before his face and saw the fingers had become webbed. Looking around, he could see much farther than before, and the underwater sounds of the ocean came to his ears much more clearly. His merman lover chattered something, and while Thomas still couldn’t understand, he could now make out what were obviously words and sentences.
The merman laughed, let go of his hand, and shot down deeper through the water.
Thomas followed, reveling in the speed and maneuverability he now had. He had thought it would take time to adjust, to get accustomed to his new body, but it all came naturally, as if he had been born to it.
Even better, he did not lose his faculties like the werebears and werewolves did. He could enjoy every moment of this wondrous transformation.
They swam all around the bay, chasing brightly-colored fish and weaving in and out of waving beds of seaweed. They kicked their powerful legs and shot straight out of the water like dolphins, laughing into the sea once again. They made love a second time, leisurely, on the quiet seabed, the cares of the surface world forgotten.
At last, Thomas remembered himself. Maggie should have been done with the bomb by then. They had a battle to win.
They swam back to the Manhunter and climbed aboard. Everyone gasped to see him.
“You’d do this for us?” Captain Seawolf asked, stunned.
“I’d do a lot more than this. You’ve done so much for me,” Thomas said as he focused on turning back into a human. It took some time, but he soon learned the trick. He just had to picture it in his head.
Once he did, he looked around. The Atlantic Lion had made two more hits, snapping off the forward spar and punching a hole in the middle deck. Luckily, no one had been injured. Yet.
“Is Maggie done yet?” he asked.
“Just finished,” she said, coming up to him. Two of her assistants lugged a large keg of gunpowder between them. It had a pair of wooden handles and a bronze tube sticking out one side, its end sealed with a cork covered in wax. She put her hand on top of the barrel.
“I’ve modified this. One end contains a cannonball, backed by a heavy charge of powder. Behind that is a layer of thick wood to direct the blast forward. I’ve thickened the sides, too, as much as I could. See these clamps I’ve put on the side where the cannonball is? I’ll give you four screws to put through them and screw into the hull of those bastards over there—”
She had to stop, and everyone ducked. A cannonball whistled low overhead, cutting a bit of the rigging before splashing into the water. She stood back up and went on.
“Make sure to set the barrel just below the waterline so the top of this tube sticks up,” she continued.
“It’s the fuse and is filled with powder,” Thomas said.
Maggie did a double take. “How did you know that?”
“Works on pipe stems and coconuts, too,” he replied with a smile.
“Stop playing around, you watery cocksucker, and listen up!”
“My apologies. Do go on.”
“Here’s a smaller keg and a bag with the screws. Inside the keg, there is some tinder that is already alight. I’ll seal it well before you go overboard. Make sure to hurry to the ship before the tinder runs out of air and snuffs out. Use it to light the fuse and then get the hell out of there. I’ve strengthened the sides and end of the barrel, but some of the explosion will still come out rather than into the ship. If you set it right, it should punch a hole right through their hull.”
“I’ll do the best—”
Everyone had to duck again as a cannonball shattered the far railing, slightly injuring a man standing nearby.
“—that I can.”
“Then get your ass into the water and do it then!” Maggie shouted.
“Thank you, and let me just say that I think you’ll make a fine mother.”
Maggie grinned. “If it’s a boy and you get us out of this, I’ll name him Thomas. Let’s just hope he isn’t a cocksucker. I want grandkids.”
“I want to see tomorrow’s sunrise,” Captain Seawolf cut in. “So quit lollygagging and into the drink with you!”
“Where’s Radbert?” Thomas asked, looking around.
“Probably went below with most of
the rest of the lads to take cover. Now get moving,” the captain ordered.
There was no time for goodbyes. Thomas and the merman dove overboard and treaded water as Maggie and her crew lowered the bomb and the smaller keg holding the tinder down to them.
Thomas made motions to the merman trying to explain what they planned to do. While the shifter did not seem to completely understand, he grasped one of the handles of the makeshift cannon Maggie had fashioned. Maggie had lashed a length of rope around the tinder keg with two loops in it so that Thomas could wear it like a backpack. Strapping it on, Thomas grabbed the other handle of the barrel and, with a final wave, he and the merman dove underwater. They kicked out with their legs, Thomas reveling in the feel of his webbed toes pushing back so much water, and they went deep before heading for the Atlantic Lion.
They heard a thud above them and felt a vibration in the water. Above them, a cannonball sank down towards them. The water slowed it, and they were able to dodge out of the way before it sank to their level.
As they swam, the barrel between them, Thomas looked at it uncertainly. While it was obviously a better-made contraption than the one he had come up with outside the treasure cave, he wasn’t at all sure it would work. Besides, he’d have to put it just below the waterline, with the powder tube sticking up and visible. How could he do that without being seen?
He also wasn’t sure of the exact location and direction of the ship. While he had learned to swim quickly enough, being underwater still disoriented him. His companion seemed to know, so he let the merman lead.
A series of squeaks and clicks cut through the water. The merman made his strange laugh and emitted a reply. Within a minute, Thomas saw a distant blue glow closing in. Good, another merman would help.
But there were two mermen. Where had they found another?
Then Thomas nearly dropped the bomb in surprise. The second merman was Radbert, glowing blue and with webbed hands and feet!
The German youth swam right up to him and planted a kiss on Thomas’s lips. Thomas felt overcome with joy. Radbert really meant it when he said he wanted an equal relationship!
I do. That’s what he had said in the longboat. For men and women, that meant for life. It would mean for life for the two of them, as well. They kissed again while the other merman swam quick circles around them in celebration.
Then Radbert grew serious. He pointed to the bomb and then in the direction of the ship. Thomas nodded. If they wanted a life together, they first had to get out of this alive.
They continued towards the Atlantic Lion, the other merman leading the way. As they did, they increased their depth. It would not do for the naval crew to spot their phosphorescence.
The sea grew darker. They were in the shadow of the ship, which was just visible as a wavering silhouette above them. Thomas’s heart started beating fast. They stopped for a moment and stared. The ship looked so huge. Could this bomb even break through such a thick oaken hull?
Thomas pointed to the port side of the ship, the one that lay away from the Manhunter. All eyes would be to the starboard, where the heavy naval guns pummeled the Manhunter, and with luck, no one would see them if they surfaced back there.
They swam up to the side, stopping just below the surface of the water. Thomas cursed his glowing blue skin. Why would these creatures have such a thing? As beautiful as it looked, it would give them away to anyone who bothered to look down.
What was he thinking? Even if they weren’t glowing, there was the brass tube sticking out of the water as clear as day. They had to get this work done quickly.
Radbert and one of the mermen set the barrel against the hull below the waves that lapped against the side of the ship. Even below water, they could hear the dull boom as each cannon fired and feel the vibration through the water. The bombardment seemed to have quickened its pace, and that could only have meant one thing—the gunners had found their range and were now dropping shot after shot onto the Manhunter. If Thomas and his friends didn’t hurry, there would be no ship left to save.
Thomas pulled out a bag with the screws and iron bar that was tied to his tinder keg. The screws were long spirals of brass with a loop at the end. All one had to do was put the bar through it and twist, which was easier said than done. On the ship, he had a deck to stand on, and things with which to brace him. In the water, he had nothing. While Radbert and one of the mermen kept the keg steady enough, he couldn’t get enough strength to twist the screw into the hard wood. He kept turning himself in the water. After one fumbled attempt, the screw and bar slipped out of his hands and sank into the depths.
The second mermen shot down and came back in a minute, holding them up triumphantly.
Once again, Thomas tried to place the screws, and once again, he failed. The merman grasped him by the middle. Thomas tried to shake him off. This was no time for lovemaking! The merman started pumping with his legs and Thomas understood. He would steady Thomas as he screwed in the bomb.
It was still an awkward job, even for a creature of the sea. Getting even one screw in took an agonizing amount of time. Thomas began to worry that they had taken too long, that the tinder in the waterproof keg would have run out of air and expired, or that the Manhunter had sunk.
The steady cannonade from the Atlantic Lion told him that his second fear was for the time being unfounded. It did little to calm his nerves, however. Once Thomas had gotten the second screw firmly in place, he had run out of patience. To hell with the other two screws. It was now or never.
He surfaced, bringing the tinder keg with him. Wiping his eyes, he looked up. To his profound relief, no seaman was looking back down at him. Treading water, he pried the waxed cap off the fuse tube and peeked inside, relieved to see the powder appeared dry. Then he popped open the seal of the tinder keg, holding it above water to ensure that no stray wave lapped over the rim to douse the flame.
A puff of smoke came out of the keg as he opened it, but then no more. The tinder—a bit of straw and some wood shavings—looked half used up with not a single thread of smoke or red spot to indicate it still burned.
Thomas blew on it again and again, but it did not spring to life.
Radbert surfaced beside him.
“What’s taking so long?” he whispered.
“The tinder has gone out. We haven’t any flame.”
Another cannon aboard the Atlantic Lion roared.
“Then we must get some from them,” Radbert said.
Thomas blinked. What a terrible, suicidal idea. That meant climbing on board a naval ship completely unarmed.
But what else could they do?
The fuse tube stuck out of the water, ready to be lit or ready to be spotted. Cannons kept going off one by one aboard the ship. They had to act now.
Thomas scanned the side of ship. Not far overhead, all the gun ports stood open, not because they expected any fighting from that direction but because it was best to have all ports open and to air out the ship. While only the top deck guns were firing, since only they could be set at forty-five degrees, the crews would be manning the lower guns in case the Manhunter made a break for it. That meant they would have their slow matches lit. One of those was all Thomas needed.
But the gun ports were too high above the waterline to reach.
Thomas went under and fetched the mermen. He sent Radbert and one of the mermen to the stern, with instructions for the merman to give Radbert a boost so he could get through the sternmost port hole and distract the seamen. Thomas would get a boost from the second merman to the gun port nearest the prow.
Once they were in their respective places, Thomas gave the signal.
Radbert went up first. He swung his legs inside the port hole and tossed his wet, golden hair.
“Hey, boys!” he shouted. “Why have a mermaid when you can have a merman?”
The triton beneath Thomas gave a great kick of his legs in the water and pushed Thomas up and almost through the gun port. Thomas continued his forward
momentum, landing hard on the lower deck and rolling until he ended up standing.
All he saw was the backs of about two dozen astonished navy men, staring at the beautiful apparition of Radbert shaking his naked hips in the gun port.
“What a lot of seamen!” the German said. “It looks like I came to the right place.”
The sound of Thomas landing on deck made some of the sailors turn.
“What the—?” the nearest one shouted.
He didn’t get a chance to become more eloquent than that, for Thomas hit him in the jaw and knocked him flat. Running naked across the deck, he plucked a slow match from a gunner who was too surprised to react, ran back to the gun port, and leapt out.
At the last moment he realized he was going to go underneath the water and douse the very flame he needed.
He was saved by a friendly mate from the deep. The merman caught him and just managed to keep Thomas’s extended arm above water. Thomas swam for the fuse tub, saw Radbert execute a beautiful dive back into the sea, saw every gun port fill with shocked faces, and then touched the slow match onto the fuse.
The gunpowder sputtered, sparked, and lit.
Thomas dove underwater, realizing that despite all of Maggie’s stern instructions she hadn’t told him one important detail—just how long the fuse would take.
It didn’t matter. Swimming as fast as he could seemed the only sane option.
He angled down and away from the ship, trying to put as much water between himself and the explosion as possible. He strained every muscle, lungs heaving with water that he could now somehow breathe. Every nerve was on edge.
And then the sea rocked.
A terrible concussion, more felt than heard, sent him tumbling head over heels. His insides seemed to shake within him, and for a moment, he blacked out.
He came to, unsure where he was or even which way was up or down. Blearily he saw a blue glow to his left and a fainter one to his right. He tried to get his arms and legs to swim, but his body wouldn’t cooperate with his thoughts.
After a time, the closer merman approached and took him by the arm. Together, they swam and found the other merman. Of Radbert, there was no sign.
