Curse of the Sea

by Joni Parker

  “So, nothing can be proven?”

  Tyler shook his head. “No, and she’s not talking.”

  “That’s a sign, Inspector. She’s a trained killer. Whatever happened to that Ecstasy fellow? You know, the wizard.”

  “We don’t know. He’s probably a fraud, too. We were watching his flat, but he’s disappeared. We can’t do anything more—at this time,” Tyler said.

  “Scotland Yard failing?” Admiral Collins smirked.

  “Never fear, gentlemen. We’ll get to the bottom of this. It just takes time.” Tyler adjusted his collar. “That’s all I have for now. Have a good day, Admirals.” The Inspector shook hands and left.

  “Collins, get back to work,” Admiral Teller said.

  Collins bit his lip and lowered his head as he headed back to his office. Working for Admiral Teller was going to be a bear. He didn’t agree with the Admiral’s assessment of this young girl. He was too soft on her. How did these blacks end up in his country, anyway? He stewed in his anger. But he had to hide these thoughts to protect his own career.

  Chapter 22

  THE SECRET PLAN

  In Eledon, the Rock Elves sailed to the north side of Nexus Island, finding wide expanses of mud, soft and gooey. The coastline was so shallow it was hazardous for ships, so they stayed out in deeper water, sending rowboats of soldiers ashore to explore the land. The reports were grim. The soldiers couldn’t march in the mud and returned to the ship, covered in muck.

  Land builders were sent in to evaluate the situation. Authorized to use magic, these individuals could dry out the mud and prepare the land, ten square yards at a time. The process was slow and there were less than fifty land builders left. Most had already passed their prime and the process was taxing to their minds and bodies. The Rock Elves had stopped training new land builders when they left Nexus Island over a thousand years ago. There was no time for them to train more, but an immediate call went out for volunteers.

  Lord Fissure received these reports. Seething with anger, he pounded his fist so hard on a table he broke the top. “They won’t get away with this!” He blamed the Mentors and the Council for giving them unsuitable land and called in his general to prepare a battle plan to take over the south. His general, however, balked.

  “My lord, the Water Elves will destroy us. They’ll sink our ships and kill all of our soldiers who set foot on their land. The Prince will protect his shipyard with everything he has.” General Shale knew the capabilities of all Elf forces and the Water Elves presented the greatest challenge because they could fight both at sea or on land.

  “His shipyard, yes. But what about the land to the east? Will he protect the mortals as vehemently as his own?”

  “They have a small army, but all of them are well trained and disciplined. The Prince has come to their aid before.”

  “How large is the mortal army?”

  “Our latest intelligence suggests two thousand men.”

  “So, we send a diversionary force against the Water Elves and crush the mortals and take their land. It’s their land we want, anyway. We must have that port!” Lord Fissure clenched his fist.

  “There’s one other issue, my lord.” General Shale held up his hand. “The Tree Elves.”

  “Why would Lord Odin--?” Lord Fissure paused and straightened. “Oh yes, he’s married to Lady Lestin. How large is his force?”

  “Intelligence reports as many as a hundred thousand.”

  “My stars!” Lord Fissure gasped. “Would he fight for Nexus Island?”

  “I believe so, my lord. His lady holds the claim, so it’s now partly his.”

  “Then we need a plan to divert the Water Elves and the Tree Elves while we move against the mortals. Can that be done?”

  “Yes, my lord. We’ll find a way.” General Shale bowed and left the room.

  “General!” Lord Fissure called after him. “We must get this done as soon as possible. Do not delay. And no one must know.”

  Chapter 23

  JAIL

  In London, Alex sat in the back of a van with blackened windows. Her wrists were no longer handcuffed behind her, but in front of her. She was shackled to the floor of the van with a long chain and cuffs were placed around her ankles. She didn’t plan on going anywhere anyway. The trip seemed to take an eternity and was made worse because she couldn’t see where she was going. Her stomach felt like it was on a voyage of its own and she swallowed hard to keep from vomiting. As the walls closed in, she stared out the front window.

  Traffic was heavy through town with a lot of vehicles, large and small, stopping and starting again. Her ears hurt from the loud music, but she said nothing, appearing to be calm. Her eyes stung from car exhaust and a tear dripped down her cheek. She wiped it away with her finger. Inside, her heart beat fast and her mouth went dry. Her neck and shoulders ached from stress and anxiety. Her training had taught her that if captured, she should try to escape, but after her last attempt, she wondered if it would be wise. They’d come after her with guns again and she didn’t want to end up dead.

  When the van stopped, she was inside a garage. The door slid open and one of the women guards unlocked the shackles. The chain was pulled away so she could get out without tripping. As soon as she was out, she was handcuffed with her hands behind her back. The officer pulled on her arm and led Alex to the door, which slid open automatically.

  The inside of the building was unlike any prison she’d been in before. The walls were made of concrete and painted white. The linoleum floors were spotless and shiny. Cool air provided ventilation out of a hole in the ceiling, which was also covered with squares of light. The bluish light strained Alex’s eyes. Of even greater surprise was the lack of men. All the other prisoners and guards were women.

  Alex was shoved before a camera where a light flashed—she was turned to the side and the light flashed once more. Then she was pushed on to the next station. The right side of the handcuffs was removed and her right hand placed on a piece of glass. After a few seconds, the other hand was placed on the glass and the handcuffs returned.

  “What’s this for?” Alex asked.

  “Fingerprints. It’s required. Now, open your mouth,” a guard said.

  Alex opened her mouth and the woman used a cotton swab to wipe the inside of her cheek. “What’s this?”

  “DNA. Move on.” The officer marched her down the hall to a room where she was told to stand in front of a machine. A woman stood nearby and looked at a video monitor of her body to detect any unusual items.

  “Did you bring other clothes?” the guard asked.

  “No, the hospital destroyed them.”

  “You’ll have to wear what you have on. How much do you want in your account?”

  “What account?”

  “You can buy things like soap and toothpaste.”

  “How do I set it up?”

  “Minimum is twenty pounds.”

  “You mean money? I don’t have any.”

  “Call a friend or relative to borrow some.”

  “I don’t know anyone here.”

  The guard sighed. “Another charity case. Have this.” From a bin, she handed Alex a plastic bag, filled with small bottles of shampoo and conditioner, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a comb, and a small box of laundry detergent.

  “Thank you.”

  In the next room, Alex stood before a large computer screen. The guard touched it and a man’s face appeared. He was an older man with gray hair and a stern face. His dark eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed. His eyebrows were long and hairy. “My name is Magistrate George Godfrey. You are in my court to enter a plea. State the prisoner’s full name and number.”

  “Alexin Catherine Dumwalt, 3627910W.” The guard read her name from a computer tablet and entered her number on the screen.

  “Alexin Catherine Dumwalt, 3627910W,” the man continued, “you are charged with one felony count of destruction of government property in excess of one million pounds and six felony c
ounts of murder. How do you plead?” Two round dots appeared on the screen—one read guilty and the other not guilty. Underneath was the word, help.

  Alex pressed help and a typed message appeared, narrated by a woman. “If you admit to the charges presented, press guilty and you’ll be scheduled for sentencing. If you don’t admit your guilt, press not guilty and a hearing will be scheduled within ninety days. Any time served in jail for these offenses will count towards your total time served. Enter your plea at this time by touching the screen.”

  Alex pressed not guilty. She couldn’t have caused that much damage, a million of anything was too much money and she only killed those people in self-defense, a legitimate reason anywhere.

  “You pressed not guilty. Verify your entry by pressing yes or no. A yes answer will confirm your plea. If you wish to change your plea, press change. If you press no, this video will start over.”

  Alex pressed ‘yes.’

  “Your plea is not guilty. Bail is not authorized for your charges. Good day.” The screen went black and the guard pushed her out of the room.

  Down the hall, Alex sat in a room with several other women when a guard, known as the rules lady, came in and stared them down. She gave them a quick briefing on the rules, times for meals, and their assignments. Her accent was so strong that Alex had difficulty understanding it, but she got the gist. The guard pointed to the four women in the front of the room and assigned them to the same cell. Alex was assigned with the three women around her. She exchanged glances with them. None of them smiled, but they all nodded. As soon as that was done, more guards arrived and they were taken to their cell.

  There were four bunks on metal frames with thin mattresses covered in blue plastic. Sheets and blankets were stacked on the bottom bunk. Before Alex had a chance, the girls selected their bunks.

  One of the women pushed them away from the stack of linens. She had dark hair and heavy black make-up around her eyes and had the bunk below Alex. “Let’s get something straight from the beginning. I’m in charge of this cell and none of you better talk back to me. Got it?” She pointed her finger at their faces.

  “Why you?” Another woman placed her hands on her hips.

  “Because I’ve been here before. I know this place. You won’t survive if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

  “I don’t care how many times you’ve been here. I ain’t following no druggie.”

  “I’m telling you for your own good.” She pushed the woman.

  “Bollocks!” The woman pushed back and they were soon in a pushing contest which escalated quickly to hair-pulling.

  Alex, the tallest in the group, stepped forward, pulling the two women apart. “Stop it! We need to work together to get through this.” She held them apart as the two women breathed heavily, but they backed down when they felt Alex’s strength. “My name’s Alex. What’s yours?”

  The woman who claimed leadership pulled away. “Zelda.”

  “You?” Alex pointed to the second woman.

  “Esther.”

  “And you?”

  “Mary. You can be the leader. You’re the strongest.”

  “I don’t want to be the leader. I’ve never been here before, so if Zelda does know what’s going on, we should listen to her.”

  “Right on. Hey, are you a Yank?” Zelda asked, pointing a finger at her.

  “A what?”

  “Ohhh, yeah. You’re a Yank all right.” She turned to the others and laughed. “The Yanks are sending their bitches over.” She cackled. Then she strolled over to Alex and held her hand close to her face, her fingernails inches from her eyes. “If you don’t do what I tell you, I’m gonna gouge out your eyes, Yank.”

  Alex understood the threat and grabbed her hand, bending it back until the girl squealed. “Stay away from me,” Alex said between gritted teeth.

  “Oooo, she’s a strong bitch, ladies.”

  “Why’re you in ‘ere?” The words flowed out of Esther’s mouth in one syllable and Alex barely understood her.

  Alex shrugged. “Does it matter?”

  “Hey, hold on. You’re that girl—I recognize you from that picture,” Mary said. Her green eyes widened. “The one who damaged the government building. They had a big search for you. But they shot you, didn’t they?”

  Alex nodded, understanding Mary clearly.

  “We got us a star, ladies.” Zelda laughed.

  “They said that you murdered some people.”

  “Self-defense.” Alex shrugged and made her bed as the girls talked about her. She climbed into bed and closed her eyes, dozing off until a buzzer sounded. She sat up alertly, hitting her head on the ceiling.

  “Don’t get too excited, Yank. It’s time for supper,” Zelda said. “Let’s go.”

  To Alex’s surprise, the door to the cell was unlocked and they shuffled downstairs to the dining hall. It was a large room, filled with tables, eight chairs to each one. Alex thought it resembled the dining hall at the Nyla Army Garrison at home. She stood in line behind the others as they picked up plastic utensils and a plastic cup. At the first station, she got a bowl of salad, made of lettuce, a slice of radish, two slices of tomato, and a single cucumber slice. At the next station, a woman asked her if she wanted chicken or fish. Alex said fish. Then she was asked what kind of vegetables she wanted. Alex pointed to her selections and the woman filled her plate and handed it back. She filled her cup with water and followed Zelda to a table.

  “Look at this crap.” Disgusted, Zelda held up her piece of chicken. “They haven’t improved it since the last time I was here.”

  Alex chewed her food, pleasantly surprised that she’d been given a choice. At her last stint in prison, she had watery soup and a piece of bread. This was a feast by comparison. Mary and Esther joined them and they talked as they ate. Alex learned more about the women—Zelda had been arrested for possession with intent to distribute cocaine, Esther for theft, and Mary for shoplifting. Their court dates hadn’t been set.

  After supper, as Zelda led them back to the cell, they were confronted by a gang of women. Zelda stopped in her tracks. “Get out of the way!”

  “No way, Zelda.” One of the women stepped forward and folded her arms across her chest. “You owe me.”

  “I don’t owe you shit!” Zelda pointed her finger at the woman’s face.

  The next thing Alex knew, the two women were pulling at each other’s hair and tumbling to the floor. The women on the other side started shouting, “Fight! Fight!”

  It was clear that Zelda was getting the worst of it, so Alex stepped in and tried to pull her away. The other woman’s friends joined in and so did several others. Within seconds, it escalated to a free-for-all. The hall filled with guards, blowing whistles and waving batons. Alex pulled Zelda clear of the pack, but the other women were still fighting. The screaming and shouting were so loud Alex didn’t hear the words:

  “Taser! Taser! Taser!”

  Even if she had, she wouldn’t have known what it was. Alex screamed as two electrodes struck her in the chest. Pain shot through her body as fifty thousand volts of electricity pulsed, nineteen times a second for five long seconds. The initial jolt knocked her against the wall; the continuing pulses made her body convulse and go limp. She was awake, but her mind went blank except for the feeling of pain. The guards dragged her by the arms to the infirmary, throwing her on a bed.

  Gradually, feeling returned to Alex’s arms and legs, but her thoughts were jumbled, out of order, and downright confusing. She couldn’t make sense of what happened.

  The medic checked her pulse. Then she pulled the electrode barbs out of her chest and covered the wounds with Band-aids. “Just relax.”

  A few minutes later, two female guards stepped in the room with the rules lady who stood at the foot of the bed. “What did I tell you about fighting?”

  “I wasn’t fighting; I stopped it.” Alex touched her chest and looked up at the rules lady.

  “It’s called a T
aser.” The rules lady smirked, turned to the medic, and raised her eyebrows.

  “She’ll be fine,” the medic said.

  “A week in solitary.” The rules lady pointed to two guards who pulled Alex from bed and handcuffed her. They pushed her down a hall to a private cell where the cuffs were removed and the door locked behind her. Alex didn’t understand what a Taser was, but it was enough of a jolt to know that she never wanted to experience it again.

  As Alex lay in bed, she felt confused. Why was she punished for stopping a fight? It didn’t make sense to her, but then again, very little was making sense on this visit to the mortal world. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Focusing on her blue light healing energy, she sent it through her body to heal it as she had done before in the hospital. Feeling renewed, she sat up to survey her little room.

  It took her five steps to walk from the door to the back wall, where the sink and toilet were located and three steps from side-to-side. Behind her, the metal door had a small opening through which her meal tray could be passed. A single cot stood on one side of the room with a plastic covered mattress, which made noise every time Alex moved, but she’d slept on worse. Two sheets and a wool blanket were stacked at the foot of the bed. She made the bed and curled up and fell asleep.

  The next morning, Alex woke up to find her breakfast sitting in the slot on the door. She was ravenous and ate everything including the beans on her plate. She’d never had beans for breakfast before, but it tasted good even though it was cold.

  After a while, she searched the room for the telly’s remote, but didn’t find one. Instead, she turned it on with a wave of her hand, a trick she devised while in the hospital. To her dismay, she only found one channel with an educational program. The class was about English grammar. Her first inclination was to turn it off, but listened instead. What else did she have to do?