The Neptune Promise

by Polly Holyoke

  I look at Robry helplessly. :I don’t know what else to say to convince him.:

  :I do,: Robry says, straightening his shoulders.

  “So,” he says aloud to Cam, “it’s clear that your main goal, besides making money to support our family, is to hurt the Western Collective as much as you can.”

  “You’ve got that right, mi hermano. I’m no fighter, so I’m using what skills I do have to fight our rotten government the most effective way I know.”

  “So, use the brain inside that thick skull of yours and think for a moment. Why does the Western Collective hold so much power over everyone? How did it gain that power?”

  “I don’t have time for a history lesson from my little brother,” Cam sneers.

  “We just traveled fourteen hundred miles, dodging Canadian depth charges and Marine Guard vessels to get here. You can make time to listen to me.”

  I can tell Cam is surprised to hear the steel in Robry’s tone, and his sneering expression fades. My heart twists as the two brothers face each other in the starlight.

  “So how did the Western Collective come to power?” Robry asks again.

  “Because people were starving and they were killing each other over food and water as the planet heated up,” Cam admits grudgingly, “and the Western Collective promised them order and stability.”

  “So what if we can change the climate back to the way it used to be? What if it starts raining again and people can feed themselves? It won’t happen today or tomorrow, but over time, the crisis that gives corrupt governments like the Western Collective so much power will disappear. The very best, most sure way to defeat them is to reverse climate change and take away people’s fear.”

  Robry pauses and clears his throat. “Besides, this is what Papa would have wanted you to do. He loved the seas, and I swear to you on his memory, this genetically engineered plankton could save the oceans and our world.”

  Cam searches Robry’s earnest face for a long moment, and then he lets go a long, shuddering sigh.

  “I promised myself if I survived Bernadino, I’d look out for myself and my family first. But you’re right. You’re both right.” He straightens up, and I finally glimpse the boy I used to know. “This is what Mama and Papa would want me to do.”

  Then he frowns again. “The problem is, I don’t know how I’ll get near Ty Rath. He never sleeps in the same place two nights in a row. I’ve been smuggling weapons to him for four months now, and I’ve never met him in person. Plus his followers are insanely loyal. If I break their security protocols, they may slit my throat before I ever have a chance to talk to the man.”

  “We have a token that might help you,” I say. “Thom, the boy I told you about who was friends with Rath’s son, knew that reaching Rath could be a challenge, so we brought a necklace that Kyel Rath wore when he was a boy. If you take that to Rath, Thom thinks he’ll hear you out.”

  “Yeah, if his guerillas don’t kill me first. For sure I can’t pull this off by myself. I have to talk to Ara and Den and see if they’ll help me, and if we can come up with a plan that gives me half a chance of reaching his camp alive.”

  My lungs are getting itchier by the moment. They definitely dry out much faster in this heat.

  “All right then,” I say. “We’ll go back to the water to re-oxygenate while you talk with your crew. Slap the side of the boat three times when you want us to surface again.”

  He nods and strides forward to talk to Ara and Den while Robry and I dive back into the water. Now we have to wait and see if Cam will help us contact Ty Rath.

  chapter twenty-six

  The rest of our team cluster around Robry and me eagerly as we dive for the floor of the cove. I breathe deeply, relishing the feel of cool water slipping down into my parched lungs.

  :How did it go? Will Cam try to contact Ty Rath for us?: Janni asks.

  I notice she doesn’t apologize for threatening to blow up Cam’s boat, but I decide to let that go for now. Instead Robry and I tell them that Cam is considering helping us.

  :He has one wild-looking sailboat,: Tobin says, shaking his head. :I’ve never seen one with so many straight lines and edges.:

  :I’m pretty sure the Phantom is shaped like that to confuse radar,: Robry says.

  Leave it to Cam to design a stealth sailboat. He always loved to design sails and rigging to make his father’s fishing boat faster. He wanted to build boats, too, but a poor fisher boy from Goleta didn’t have access to expensive boat building materials. Evidently, now he does.

  Janni hands us some flounder that Shadow shot, but I’m too wired to eat much. Instead, I distract myself by playing with the dolphins who are still so excited about seeing Cam.

  Just seeing his familiar face has unlocked a torrent of memories in my mind. I remember spending sunlit days on the water with him and Robry, the three of us helping my mother to train the dolphins. We used to explore and spearfish up and down the coast on Cam’s tiny sailboat before he had to drop out of school to help his father full time on the Sandpiper. Cam didn’t like fighting, but he made sure the bullies in town never bothered Robry and me. He was the most generous, cheerful person I knew.

  Mariah sidles up beside me. :he is different than he used to be,: she says sadly. :he is very angry now, but I think he is still Cam inside.:

  :I hope you’re right.:

  A very long forty-five minutes later, we hear three slaps on the side of the boat.

  Robry and I exchange worried glances and head to the surface again. I’m first up the ladder this time. When I reach the stern deck, Cam and his crew are waiting for us. Den appears watchful, Ara looks sullen, and Cam’s expression is unreadable.

  “I’ll do it,” he says. “We’re supposed to be dropping off a load of supplies and weapons for Rath the day after tomorrow. Usually we just hand the goods over to the Rathenistas and leave, but this time, Den and I are going to try to follow them.”

  “And if Den and Cam get their throats cut,” Ara says, eyeing me balefully, “it will be all your fault.”

  “So, where’s that necklace?” Cam asks. “I’m hoping it will keep me alive long enough to get to Rath. He cares so much about his own people, I’m gambling he will want to hear how his son died.”

  I reach into my belt pouch and pull out a leather thong with a broken fragment of silicon dangling from it. Wordlessly I hand it over to Cam. I feel like I’m giving away a piece of Kyel. I hope he would have approved of what we’re trying to do.

  “I bet it’s his old locator chip,” Cam says, staring down at the small tab of silicon in his hand. “I think I would have liked this Kyel guy.”

  “I know you would have,” I say. “He was a natural leader, a fierce fighter, and crazy brave. He died blocking a spear dart a Marine Guard diver aimed at a ten-year-old girl in our group. But that’s a story Thom wants to tell Rath himself.”

  “Right. Well, we’ll try to convince Rath to meet with your dad near old Malibu,” Cam says, pulling up a chart on his boat’s computer. “We’ll rendezvous in this sheltered cove southeast of Point Dume. No people live out there now, so there’s no reason for the Marine Guard to patrol it. But it’s close to the Santa Monica Mountains where Rath has a base.”

  “Isn’t Malibu where the movie stars used to live?” Robry asks.

  “Yeah, but they’re long gone,” Cam replies. “Their fancy beach homes got flooded when the seas rose, and the film biz, what was left of it, moved up to San Fran after the tyrox epidemic hit LA.”

  “We should get going,” Ara says, glancing out to sea. “We’ve stayed here too long as it is.”

  “Thank you for doing this,” I say to Cam, Ara and Den. I wonder if I’m ever going to see Cam again.

  “I think I deserve more than that. How about a kiss for good luck?” Cam says in that harsh, cynical tone I’m coming to hate.

  “If you truly want one,” I say. My cheeks burning, I step forward and place both hands on his shoulders. Maybe this will help to
answer some of the unasked questions between us.

  He lowers his head and his lips press hard against mine, and I feel the bitterness and rage in him. But then his lips gentle, and I smell salt water and fresh sea air, and I remember the sweetness of the first time he kissed me, moments before he stepped in front of government soldiers to save my life.

  He sighs and the angry tension slowly leaves his body. His arms go around me, and I break off the kiss and lean my head on his shoulder. He turns his head and rests his cheek against the top of my head. An ache rises in the back of my throat. If only I hadn’t been engineered long before I was born to be a part of the Neptune Project. If only I didn’t have to ask Cam to do something so dangerous.

  I hug him tighter, and then I step back. “Please stay safe.” Blinking back tears I don’t want anyone to see, I walk to the stern ladder and dive back into the sea.

  ~~~

  The next two days pass with relentless slowness as we wait to hear from Ara. We spend most of the first day hiding some of the c-plankton barrels from the Carly Sue on the Alicante, just in case the old trawler gets boarded or captured by the Marine Guard. We hear nothing from Ara the night they were to rendezvous with Rath’s men, or the following day, either. Finally, around midnight, we receive a clipped radio transmission from her.

  “Meet us where we met before, over,” Ara says and signs off before we can ask her any questions.

  When we arrive at Forney’s Cove around 2 AM, the Phantom is already there. This time Janni lets Thom come with us because he knows Rath and his men, and if something’s gone wrong, we may need his input to make plans. When I climb up the ladder, both Den and Ara are there, but Cam is not. My dread grows when I notice that Den’s right eye is swollen shut and his lip is split. Someone beat him badly. Thom and Robry climb the ladder and come to stand on either side of me. A slim silver moon, sharp as a curved dagger, hovers above the rocky hillside.

  “Well, I hope you’re happy,” Ara says, her hands on her hips and her dark eyes flashing with anger. “Rath’s men caught Cam and Den following them and beat them both to a pulp.”

  “I-s Cam still alive?” I ask, unable to keep a tremor from my voice.

  “Yeah, but barely, and probably not for long. Rath’s bringing him out to Point Dume, but if you don’t show up with a good explanation for how Cam got that necklace, he’s going to let his men torture Cam to death.” Beneath all her bluster and anger, I sense Ara is truly terrified for Cam.

  “And if you do show up,” Den adds, “Rath promised to kill Cam anyway for breaking so many of their security protocols. He only let me go so I could bring you this message.”

  I fight to keep my face calm, even though a hundred panicked thoughts are rushing through my brain. “When does Rath want to meet?

  “At midnight.”

  “Are you the guy that knew Rath’s son?” Den asks Thom.

  “Yeah.”

  “I hope you can figure out how we might get Cam out of this mess alive,” Ara says, shooting him a burning glance.

  “Maybe I can,” Thom says, frowning in concentration. “Rath must not have believed that necklace came from me. He probably thinks we’re government agents or a rival smuggling gang using his dead son to get to him, and that’s enough to make the Chief raging mad.”

  “Is there some way we can get Cam away from Rath before we meet with him?” I pose the question to everyone, but Ara seems to think it was directed at her.

  “You want us to just waltz into a camp full of seasoned guerilla fighters and snatch Cam from under their noses?”

  “No,” I fire back at her. “I was thinking members of our team would be going in, and they wouldn’t be waltzing.”

  “The camp I saw had some sort of laser perimeter,” Den warns us. “Even if you manage to sneak up on them, the moment you cross that, they’ll know you’re coming and shoot you dead with their crossbows and solar rifles. These guerillas have been combatting the Western Collective for decades, and you can bet Rath will be bringing some of his toughest fighters with him.”

  “Rad could short out that perimeter system for us,” Thom muses, “and Sunny could create a diversion and blind them while Shadow, Ocho and I sneak in and get Cam out of there.”

  “Maybe that could work,” I say, hope stirring inside me for the first time.

  “We’re not going to just stand around and let you get Cam killed with some half-baked, stupid rescue plan,” Ara says furiously.

  “According to you, he’s dead anyway,” I say. Ara is starting to annoy me. “Do you have a better idea?”

  After a long moment, Ara purses her lips and looks away.

  “Look,” Thom says into the awkward silence, “I know Rath. He values loyalty and bravery. Going after Cam will show him that we have guts, and that we care about our own. I understand the way he operates, I know what our team can do, and I think there’s a chance we can pull this off. Give us half an hour to talk it over, and we’ll get back to you.”

  Thom strides toward the stern platform, and Robry and I follow him.

  “You and your team can use our boat if you don’t want to do your talking underwater,” Den says, obviously warming a little.

  “Thanks, but we’re more comfortable down there,” Thom says with a straight face before he dives in.

  :Thom!: I scold as I dive in after him.

  :Hey, I had to say something. One of these days Den and Ara are going to wonder why we spend so much time in the sea.:

  Janni isn’t happy about our plan, but it helps that Thom thought it up. He’s become one of her most trusted Sea Ranger officers. They argue back and forth until I lose my patience.

  :Look, it comes down to this,: I interrupt them at last. :My friend Cam risked his life to contact Rath for us. Now Rath plans to kill him, no matter what. We have to get him away from Rath’s men, and then we can try to negotiate with Rath himself.:

  :All right,: Janni says reluctantly. :I’ll go along with this operation, but I’m not ordering anyone to participate. It’s way too dangerous for those who go up on land. Remember, if you’re caught and you can’t get back to the sea in time, you will suffocate slowly as your gill filaments dry out, and believe me, suffocating is a rough way to go.:

  We all glance at each other, sobered by Janni’s words.

  Rad straightens his shoulders. :I’m in,: he says. :Nere’s friend put his life on the line for our mission, and I think we should try to save him.:

  Shadow and Ocho exchange glances. :We’re in, too,: she says.

  :I want to help, and you need me,: Sunny says, and soon every member of our team has volunteered to help in one way or another. Dai volunteers last, looking even less happy about the plan than Janni does. Surface missions are frustrating for him because he has to remain in the water.

  :All right, then,: Janni says in a resigned tone. :Nere, you head topside with Thom and tell Cruz’s crew we’re going to try to rescue him. Then we’ll all head back to the Alicante, contact the Carly Sue and get some rest. We’ll pack up first thing in the morning because it will take us most of the day to reach the rendezvous point.:

  As I swim for the surface, I hope that our plan works and that Cam manages to stay alive long enough for us to free him.

  chapter twenty-seven

  We arrive with our tows at Point Dume around four in the afternoon. A big pile of rocks protruding from the water off the point makes a perfect place for us to spy on the beach. We hide behind the rocks and keep a lookout for Ty Rath and his men. Thom and I are on watch when they arrive at dusk and set a perimeter up on the point about two hundred feet above the beach.

  “They aren’t going to make this easy for us if they keep your friend up there.” Thom sighs. “But then again, I didn’t think they would.”

  I bite my lip when two men appear dragging Cam between them. He stumbles as he walks, his hands tied behind him and his shirt spattered with blood. I wish we could rush in and rescue him now. Hang in there, Cam, we’re comin
g!

  Thom sends me a sympathetic glance. “Hey, at least your friend is still alive, and the Chief must want him that way, at least for now.” We slip back into the water to re-oxygenate and let Penn and Janni take the next shift watching Rath’s fighters.

  It’s dark by nine-thirty. Thom and I are on watch again, and Rath’s people have settled into their positions around their camp. From our vantage point on the water, it now appears only four fighters are watching and waiting near Cam, but we know at least ten are more hidden about their makeshift camp. All are armed with powerful crossbows or solar rifles.

  “It’s time,” Thom says softly and touches my arm. “Remember to fire a foot to the right and a foot below a sighting beam if you see one.”

  My stomach churns as we slip back into the water and swim to join the others down by the tows. I want this operation to be over, and I want Cam and my friends all safe. Janni hands out fish tranquilizer pistols to Rad, Ocho, Shadow, Thom, Ree and me, and keeps one for herself.

  :Are we sure the dosage in these darts will knock them out?: Ree asks, looking dubious as she loads three darts filled with fish tranquilizer into her pistol.

  :Oh yeah,: Rohan says with a grin. :Doc Iharu tried it on Captain Gonzalez’s big first mate, and he says the man went out like a light, and he’s still out.:

  :I still think you’d be safer using real spear guns,: Dai grumbles.

  :If we kill or injure a bunch of his men, Rath isn’t going to want to deal with us,: Janni says. :We’ll stick with these tranquilizer darts. Shore team, you ready?:

  We all nod and swim for the rocks beneath the point. Why did I think we could possibly infiltrate a camp of hardened guerilla fighters? I’m so scared, my teeth are starting to chatter. Afraid the others might hear, I clamp my jaws shut.

  :You be careful up there,: Dai says fiercely on a private send as he swims by my side. :Usually I don’t mind not being able to breathe air like a landliver, but tonight I do.: