Vanessa said something in the mermaid language, all squeaky. The lobster let go of me and went and hid back behind the tub. She picked him up and squeaked something else, then dropped him back over the side of the boat into the water.
She knelt on the deck and examined my foot with cool hands. "Are you okay?" she asked with a sniffle.
I flexed my toes. "Yeah, I guess," I replied.
She stood up and smiled ruefully. "I just seem to get deeper in your debt. Maybe one day I'll find a way to repay you what I owe."
Just stay with me. Stay, and don't ever leave me. I stared back at her, but didn't dare say the words.
She looked away. "We better get moving, if we want to be back before Skipper heads out. I'll never hear the end of it if I deprive him of his best deckie for the start of the season." She eyed me thoughtfully. "You know I won't let you in the house if you smell of rotten lobster. Make sure you stay out of the way when he's throwing them."
I was indignant. "I haven't caught a dead lobster since my first season out," I protested.
She dropped the pot over the side. Over her shoulder, she said, "You are the best deckie I ever had." Her eyes were on the pot sinking into the depths.
"How many deckies have you slept with, then?" I blurted out, instantly regretting it. Don't tell me. I don't want to know.
"Two," she said quickly, before she hurried into the cabin to shift the boat to the next buoy.
Shit. So she did get raped by Skipper's last bastard of a deckie. I'm going to hunt him down and kill him slowly.
"What happened to the other one?" I asked cautiously.
She glanced at me, then looked away. "He drowned, a long time ago," she said shortly, hooking up the next pot to the winch. She didn't say any more.
I felt a sudden chill. I didn't need to kill him. She already had.
Shit. That's what I get for opening my stupid mouth. Answers I don't want to hear.
32. Laila
"It is time for a breeding event. Would you like to take part?" Elder Zelia addressed Mother.
Mother stated her reply gravely. "I have borne my child for my people, at great cost. I will not willingly choose to bear another."
The Elder turned to me. "How about your daughter?"
"I have not yet been called to do my duty for my people..." I began before I realised the question had not been directed at me. I had spoken out of turn in a Council meeting.
I had angered all of the Elders by my outburst, I saw clearly, and Mother in particular. Mother was the diplomat, the Elder. Answering difficult questions such as this were her province, not mine, and I was going to pay dearly for my words in disrespect. "Then you may do it for the people of the Atlantic, in preparation for doing your duty for your own people at home."
I opened my mouth in horror – no one had ever been called to do their duty twice, except Elder Sirena. Her bitterness had known no bounds. I did not have the courage to seduce humans twice in my lifetime. Mother's warning look silenced me, for I knew she had it in her power to order me to bear a dozen children, if she chose, for my disobedience. I curled up in consternation at the very thought of such repeated violation of my body by those I feared most.
Elder Zelia smiled, pleased that I was going to join them in what I was certain was my worst nightmare, a nightmare my own mother had promised to make a recurring one. "Then you must join us now. We hold to traditional ways in this, for they are still necessary."
Mother could feel the tension in the water and even her sympathy for me would be sacrificed to diplomacy. "I am sure that my daughter would be honoured to do her duty alongside her sisters in the Atlantic. It will differ so much from my own experience. When I was called to do my duty, I was alone and overwhelmed. I was forced by a number of humans, without my consent. I am pleased that my daughter will not be alone, when facing such dangers."
Elder Zelia laughed. "She faces few dangers in our ways. The humans will be sung into submission, before the breeding sisters are close enough to touch. I am surprised that you did not use a song to similar purpose."
Mother frowned, as she always did when thinking of humans. "The humans forced me to close my mouth and damaged my throat, so I could make little sound, let alone construct a powerful song."
Elder Zelia looked thoughtful. "Perhaps you would like to accompany the breeding sisters, including your daughter. Many of us will be needed to assist once breeding is complete. We are very traditional in this respect."
Mother smiled, which was a frightening thing to see. "I would be delighted to assist. It is a pity my people are not similarly thorough in ensuring our safety."
Elder Zelia clasped her hands. "I will send one of our teachers to instruct your daughter in behaviour during a breeding event. Whilst she is trained, I would like to hear more of your people and their modern breeding. How is it possible that your people venture on shore?"
Elder Zelia led Mother away and I was approached by another Atlantic sister.
"If I am to train you before the event in two days, you must listen to every word I say. Two days is hardly enough to train a girl..." she said, gesturing for me to follow her.
In two days, my worst nightmare would be realised. I would be required to join with a human, or risk a diplomatic incident. I resolved to sing the human to sleep and inform the Atlantic elders that the man could not be roused so I could not join with him.
In my mind, I envisioned this happy outcome, yet I dreaded the worst, for I would be required to repeat this until I had conceived and borne two children for my people. It was enough to make me want to remain a child forever, but a child could be ordered to obey in this.
The sooner I birthed my first child, the sooner I could refuse to come into further contact with humans, after I had conceived the second. If only Mother did not insist on more than two children between now and the birth. I resolved to ensure my behaviour was impeccable, from this moment on.
If it felt intrusive to be examined by Elders who had the right to do so, how much harder would it be for me to permit a human inside me? Or even two? I shrank in fear at the very thought.
When the time came, I did not know where I would find the courage to do my duty and I dreaded the day.
33. Joe
I woke up in shock, my body still curved around Vanessa's in sleep. It sounded like some fuckwit had cranked his stereo up real loud at the wrong time. I waited a moment, hoping he'd realise his mistake and turn the shit down, once it had woken Vanessa up. Then maybe she'd agree to…
"What is that?" Nessa asked, sitting up and pulling away from me.
Her boobs were suddenly out of reach. Fuck. "The 'Gurge," I mumbled. "Fucking plumber."
Vanessa stood up and crossed the room to the window. "The what?"
"Regurgitator," I replied, getting up and looking for some shorts to pull on. "I'm going to fucking kill him before someone else gets to him first."
"What?" Vanessa sounded confused.
"It's Dean," I said grimly. "He's finally come to fix the plumbing and he's the only person stupid enough to play Regurgitator that loud when there's fishers asleep."
Vanessa had my toolbag in her hands. "Fine, I'm going to go kill his power." She pulled out my biggest hammer.
Shit no. I just fixed the power in Skipper's deckie camp. I don't want Vanessa to pound the shit out of it so I have to do it all again. Gently, I tried to pry the hammer from her fingers. "Let me do it. I won't have to spend as much time fixing it if I break it." Especially not if I just flip the master switch off.
I marched outside and found the switchboard, killing the power with one stroke of my finger. Then I headed back to my veranda to watch.
"Shit!" came Dean's voice from inside the dark shack I used to live in. He threw the back door open and barrelled out the back toward the generator. Then he let out the most unearthly, high-pitched scream I'd ever heard. He stopped for breath. Then he did it again.
He slapped at his face and shoulders as he ran blindl
y toward our place. He raced up the steps and sounded desperate, his voice still helium-high. "Joe! You gotta help me, mate. The power's gone out."
He was out of breath and his eyes bugged out of his head. A shredded veil of spider web clung to him. The orb spider herself sat calmly on his chest. She looked like the huge one Marina had named Charlotte.
I shook my head. "Maybe in the morning, mate, after I'm done fishing." I jerked my head toward the house. "Vanessa's waiting for me inside."
Dean managed a smirk. "You mean that hot chick I saw you with yesterday? I'll fuck her for you while you fix my generator. She's got the biggest fucking tits I ever saw…"
I decided not to tell him about the spider. The words I did say came more easily than I'd expected. "Fuck off, Dean. That's my wife you're talking about. You can think what you like, but you say anything like that about her again and I'll hold you down so she can rip your balls off and feed them to the sharks."
I turned my back on the bastard and started to walk away.
"Not game to take me yourself, mate?" Dean taunted.
I turned. "Nah, mate. I just don't want to touch your balls and I wouldn't want to deprive my wife of the pleasure of tearing them off."
I strode back inside, locking the door loudly behind me.
I had my lips and my hands on Vanessa's beautiful breasts, to her evident enjoyment and mine, when I heard another scream from outside.
"Isn't that your friend? Aren't you going to help him?" she murmured, moving closer to me.
I let her nipple pop out of my mouth so I could reply. "He can sleep with Charlotte tonight and scream 'til he loses his voice. Stuff him."
She laughed, which sent her boobs moving. "Poor Charlotte. Well, now we're up, would you prefer sex or sleep, Joe?"
I didn't hesitate. "Both, in that order?"
"Sure," she whispered, moving closer still. Oh, yes…
34. Sirena
Fishing at the Abrolhos was over too soon. Before I felt truly ready for it, we returned to Perth. It was time for me to commence my work in earnest.
Joe wished me luck as I headed off to my first day at work. I'd signed up to teach at the Ocean Discovery Centre, the public bit of the State Fish Research department. I'd be in the same office as the researchers who studied changing ocean currents and the sea floor. I would be working with a combination of sea creatures and children – things I was very familiar with. Or so I thought.
I reported to the front desk, which was also the counter for a gift shop full of t-shirts and toys. There was a huge, stuffed, albino lobster mounted on the wall behind the desk. I wondered how old he was before he became stuffed.
"Can I help you?" The woman before me looked cheerful so I returned her smile.
"I'm Vanessa Fisher – I work here, as of today?" I made my answer its own question, hinting at a request.
"Oh, we've been waiting for you! Wait 'til I tell Fleur." The woman leapt up from her seat and dashed into a darkened room to the left of the counter. "Fleur," she called.
A tired-looking young woman wearing a smile on her face appeared from the darkness. "You must be Vanessa. I'm Fleur. You'll be shadowing me today, helping me out with a school group." She held out her hand to shake mine and I took it.
"Leave your handbag with Sue here and come have a look," she said, heading back into the darkened room. I left my bag with the lady at the counter and followed Fleur.
The room turned out to be a museum gallery of information, pictures, words, videos and exhibits. I saw an old pearl diver's helmet and wondered about it, before another stuffed lobster caught my eye. "Plenty of lobsters around," I commented, touching the plastic housing around the large crustacean.
Fleur laughed. "With the rock lobster industry making more money than any other fishery in Western Australia, you'd hope so."
"Really? We make that much money? Good to know," I replied. It had not been the case when I started fishing for them, many years in the past before my husband was even born, but times had changed, as I had noticed when the lobsters we caught at the Abrolhos were sold this year. "Maybe I can afford a new TV up at the Abrolhos next season."
Fleur looked impressed. "You have a fishing camp up at the Abrolhos? You must be rich."
I felt uncomfortable discussing this, so I changed the subject. "What will we do with the school children?"
Fleur smiled. "We usually do some activities with them in the activity room and take them in small groups through to the touch pool. Here, let me show you." She unlocked a blue door set in an equally blue wall and let me into a small laboratory. In the centre of the room was a waist-high pond with a large number of sea cucumbers and sea stars, some marine plants and a sea urchin.
The algae moved. "Oh, a bamboo shark! Isn't he sweet," I couldn't help saying, reaching out to touch the tiny shark's tail.
I heard the noise of lots of children outside, but Fleur didn't seem to notice it yet.
"You just need to get all the kids to wash their hands and make sure they don't kill anything," Fleur instructed. She turned her head as she, too, heard the noise. "Oh hell, they're here. Good luck!" She vanished.
The first group of children were small, loud and didn't listen. They washed their hands and kept lifting the sea stars and sea cucumbers out of the water. The sea cucumbers screamed shrilly, making me wince, but the children didn't seem to notice. Perhaps it was outside their range of hearing.
The second group were no better.
The third group contained all small boys. Two of them began throwing the sea cucumbers across the pool to each other. I was ready to cry at the screaming, but the children didn't seem to notice. I managed to get them to put all of the creatures back in the water eventually, except for one sea cucumber that had landed on the floor. I dismissed the children quickly and searched for the lost one. By the time I reached it, the poor creature was piping in exhaustion, but even that sound died with it. I felt tears slip down my cheeks at the senseless loss.
Fleur came in behind me. "Time to clean up in here and then we break for lunch. So, what's the damage? How many sea cucumbers did we lose today?"
I held out the casualty I'd cried over. "Just one."
She whistled. "You're a miracle worker. I've never had so many survive a morning full of little shits like those ones. You're on touch pool duty all day!"
I gave a sad smile.
"Come on, time for lunch. I'll introduce you to the researchers." She led the way out of the darkened gallery and up some stairs, using a security pass to gain entry to a bright lunchroom.
She introduced me to the researchers in a blur, though I tried to remember names. Some I had met and corresponded with in the past, so these I smiled at with feeling. These were the people I needed to interrogate for information. Once I knew all they did, I would use my influence to ensure their research followed the path I chose.
After a half-hour conversation with the familiar researchers, I learned that they had done little more in three years. They lacked funding, they lacked interest and they lacked any inclination to follow my gentle persuasion to do more research in my area of interest. I felt dejected and it was time to watch children kill sea cucumbers again.
I sighed as I followed Fleur out to the room with the sea creatures. I vowed to try and save them all from the horrid children.
But, of course, I did not succeed. The little shits had more energy and desire for mischief in the afternoon. One tried to stuff a screaming sea cucumber into another child's pants. The screaming child was less traumatised than the creature, but the child's teacher cooed in sympathy to the child as the group exited my domain.
I leaned on the side of the touch pool, exhausted, after the last of the children had left. I could still hear the poor creatures screaming in my head, though they had all survived. Just.
Partly to calm myself, but more to comfort the stressed sea creatures, I started to sing as quietly as I could. Fleur came in with a mop and a terribly stressed expression as she
started to deal with the water on the floor, but she said nothing so I kept singing, too low for her to hear.
I saw the little shark start to swim, then the sea stars relax, before the stressed trepang started to calm. I finished my song as I saw the last one start to feed.
Fleur finished with the mop. She dropped it in the bucket and looked up at me. I was surprised to see her expression now held a smile, for mine felt far from it.
"I'm really glad that's over. I felt like I was going to cry, those kids were so horrible – spoilt little brats. Then I came in here to mop the floor and suddenly I feel better. It must be you." Her smile beamed at me. "See you tomorrow, for more of the same."
I made myself smile in reply. "See you tomorrow."
I collected my things and returned to my car for the long drive home. I wondered if my singing or my presence had really had any effect on the woman, or if she was just being polite. After the little control I had over the horrible children, I suspected the latter.
"How was work?" Joe asked me anxiously when I got home.
I looked at him and felt my heart lift. No matter how badly my work had gone, how little I had affected the human researchers, this delightful man would love me and offer comfort. The smile I felt on my face was his doing and not mine.
"Fine," I replied lightly. "What would you and Marina like for dinner?"
Thinking about my heavy task and how I dreaded making another attempt on the morrow to change the behaviour of both bratty children and stubborn researchers, I missed Joe's reply.
"What?" I asked, shaking the sad thoughts from my head.
"Let's get takeaway pizza," Joe said with a smile.
I heartily agreed.
35. Joe
I woke up in the dark, alone. I could hear the storm raging outside. Heavy rain or hail clattered on the tin roof. The fierce wind rattled the windows and whistled around the house. The thunder cracked and rolled, while the lightning made the curtains glow.
Ocean's Infiltrator Page 9
