Chapter twenty-one
Astrid peered up at the bright sun. Rune sat beside her, reading a novel out loud.
“Alton looked over at Sapphire and smiled, ‘You're so wonderful, Sapphire. You always care about others more than yourself.’
Sapphire smiled back and said, ‘You're pretty nice also.’ Sapphire felt her face go red. He leaned over and kissed her. Sapphire had never felt so wonderful in all of her life.
As he drew back, touched her cheek, and looked into her blue eyes he said, ‘I love you so much, Sapphire. You are so amazing and beautiful.’
‘I love you too,’ she whispered.
Then they kissed.”
Rune set the book down and looked up at Astrid, his eyes laughing.
“I know that’s supposed to be a serious moment, but it just strikes me as amusing instead. Surely they could’ve said something better than, ‘You’re amazing and beautiful...I love you.’ It’s much too vague. He might as well have said, ‘You like noasé and I like noasé. We’re made for each other,’” he said in a deadpan voice.
Astrid laughed so hard her stomach hurt. Finally she choked out, “Yes. Surely they could’ve said something a little deeper like, “I love the feeling of your hand in mine. I’ve struggled with my feelings knowing that we could never be together, but now we can.’ That would have been much less cheesy.”
‘“I love the feeling of your hand in mine?’” He was just barely keeping his smile from bursting into full-fledged grin. “Deeper?”
Astrid grinned. “Yes. Absolutely!”
“‘But, ‘I love the feeling of your hand in mine?’” he asked again, his grin breaking loose.
“Alright, alright. Writing isn’t my strong suit! What can you come up with?” she asked playfully, raising her eyebrows in challenge.
“Hmm, what about... ‘Within this world of darkness, you give me a light. I desperately need you. You’ve shown me that darkness can be defeated. It’s not everlasting, and it won’t continue to reside in me if I push it out. You’ve made me a better person.’”
She looked thoughtful for a second, “I will admit that’s much better, but it’s still…”
He gave an exaggerated sigh. “How about this?” He took a breath and then proceeded to rush through everything he’d already said. ‘Within a world of darkness, you give me a light. I need you. You’ve shown me that I can defeat the darkness. I can push it out. You’ve made me a better person...I love the feeling of your hand in mine.’”
Astrid burst into laughter, “Much better. Maybe you should become an author...you have that...poetic streak to you.”
“You think so?” he asked, raising his eyebrows with a grin.
“All I can say is that you wrote that scene much better than the author did.”
They both sat there laughing for quite some time.
Astrid slept through the night restlessly, waking up every hour or so. Even the calming dream didn’t help very much. The high commander’s death bothered her. It kept playing over and over in her head. There was another reason Cipher was carrying out his plan...other than what he’d told her. There was more to it. Something was very wrong, but she didn’t know what and she couldn’t guess.
Finally she got up, changed into one of the dark red, Cover Rebellion shirts, and brushed her hair. After pulling it into a side ponytail, she brushed away the salt that had gathered on her tail overnight.
As she looked in the mirror, she realized that today was her birthday. I’m seventeen. So much has changed. Another year older. She stared at her reflection for a couple of minutes thinking of all the things she’d experienced in life, and what she had yet to experience. There were so many things she was grateful for, and so many things she had yet to do.
Astrid left the mirror, sat on the bed, and forced herself to think through the plan day by day. She sat clutching the precious compact that held such unique knowledge. Today was a day of training. A day of practicing, and everyone learning their parts in the plan.
She filed into the main room with the other merpeople. The room was ripe with tension. Everyone could sense that something major was happening. They’d all been summoned on their devices for the assembly that morning.
Ten minutes later, Rune swam above the rest of them and, after glancing around, began to speak, “As some of you have heard, the cadence of the melions is off, and Dalanda will explode in only six days. Therefore, we must evacuate the planet. Astrid, our newest member and trusted friend, has come up with a plan. I’ll let her explain.”
She gulped with worry as she swam up next to him. Looking out over the cluster of faces made her heart beat faster than it should have. Public speaking is not part of my skill set. It’s alright though. I have to do this. She stuttered at first as she showed her plans and began to explain, but after a few moments she fell into a rhythm. She barely saw the serious, concentrated faces of the outcasts anymore as she poured herself into relating her ideas through words. She told of the plan, and also of the schedule. Finally she finished and recalled her audience. Silence filled the water.
The different expressions reflected the feelings that pervaded the water. Tension. Anxiety. Hope. Fear. Love. Foreboding. Hurt. Nobody knew what to say, but they knew what they had to do.
“Like Astrid said, we’ll begin training today. If you look on your handheld devices you’ll see that you have been assigned to a group and a specific task. You’ll practice your tasks today. Everything depends on exact timing. You can’t be five minutes late or early pushing a button, or setting out to travel. Let’s get started.”
Astrid swam back down into the comforting mass of confident people who were dispersing to work on their assigned tasks. Among them she felt invisible, which, as strange as it may seem, reminded her of home. Of Effie’s comfort. She closed her eyes. She would soon know Effie’s fate. Despite what her sister said, she had to go after her, and it was on her way anyways. Uneasiness for Effie ticked like a clock inside her bones.
A sharp beeping sound drew her attention to her tablet. A screen popped up telling her the task she’d been assigned and detailing timing, even though she had it memorized. She and Rune had taken most of the previous night to assign everyone tasks according to their strong suits.
She watched all of the action. One mermaid with a bright green tail was firing a stun gun at a target. It beeped twice telling her that she’d hit dead center. The grey cave was full of collective hope. Desperate longing. Everyone aching for a better world. Everyone wishing to succeed.
Her heart rose with the inspiration of possibility.
~
Astrid glanced at a timepiece on the wall. Only one hour until I set out. It was time to rescue Effie and send the message. Time had gone quickly because she was caught in a never ending stream of planning and adjusting plans.
She quickly ate, then gathered supplies. The hour flew by with ferocity. Finally she was at the door, a bag over her shoulder. Tucked safely within it was the compact. Astrid hadn’t told Rune about Effie’s note yet. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, it was the fact that she didn’t want to put him in danger. It was her personal mission. She would see her sister safe.
“I’ll see you soon,” he said, nodding at her grimly. With that, the big stone door closed with a scrape.
Astrid was once more completely alone in the vastness of the planet.
Chapter twenty-two
The voice coming through the communication device was clear and sharp, “We’ve tortured the prisoner, we’ve tried to bribe her, but she won’t tell us anything.”
Cipher growled in frustration. If he was able to time-travel, he would know things no one else did. He could change history. The desire held him firmly in its grip. He already had power, but he wanted more. He wanted to control any element that might give him leverage, another tool in achieving his deepest wishes. The Akaytans wouldn’t have told him about it in the first place, but he had informants. They would have to learn they couldn’t trick him.
/> “So torture her more. She has to give in eventually. You’ve searched her computer, her home, everything, correct?” Cipher asked into the communication device.
“Of course we’ve searched everything, sir,” the voice replied begrudgingly. The man continued offhandedly, “As for torturing the prisoner, we’ve put her through the worst kinds we have, but she’s stubborn. I don’t think it will help to do any more. I guess being a troublemaker runs in the family. Just a few weeks ago her sister escaped off to who knows where right before being arrested. She’d been doing illegal experiments and was going off about the end of the world. We gave the prisoner a harsh warning after she helped her sibling escape, but that’s all. She’s a firstborn after all. It’s a pity that she’s stooped to her sister’s level. A red-and-black. I can’t even imagine.” Disgust trickled through his voice.
Of course you can’t, you’re too busy abusing us, Cipher thought with bitterness. His Akaytan contacts knew nothing about his origins. All they needed to know was that he should be feared.
Then he froze in his seat as he realized the rest of what the man had said. End of the world...a few weeks ago… a red-and-black leaving Akayta. Suddenly the pieces clicked. Astrid. Astrid’s sister is the one who knows about time-travel.
He suddenly knew where that information was. Astrid has it.
But how? She’d only brought a few basic things with her when she’d come to the Star. Or Rune brought her...but he didn’t want to admit that to himself. She hadn’t come of her own will, she ran away, and now she was with his brother. He cringed. He thought Astrid would understand his reasoning, but she didn’t. Anger crashed through his heart uncontrollably.
Anyway, he’d checked her messenger bag himself. It only contained a coordinate director, a strange compact, a...wait, the compact, it must have contained something other than what he’d seen. That’s the only explanation I have. He was sure that Astrid’s sister wouldn’t have completely destroyed her findings, and none of them were in Akayta. That left only one option. Astrid and the compact.
“Alright, then,” he whispered through clenched teeth.
The communication device went silent, the person on the other end waiting for him to say something.
“Don’t torture the girl anymore. In fact, don’t concern yourself with this matter any longer.”
“What?” The man sounded surprised.
“Goodbye,” Cipher replied as he ended the call. He pressed the buttons that would connect him with the two scouts tracking Astrid. He’d sent them to follow her from the moment she left. Cipher wasn’t stupid. He didn’t want to lose her and, unfortunately, his instincts proved correct.
She abandoned me and now she has something I need.
He would do anything it took to get that tool. Time-travel? The possibilities were endless.
His gaze brimmed with ire as his call was answered.
“Hello?”
He paused. Hesitation stopped him for a moment, but then he made his decision. The desire for control overruled everything else.
“Move in on your object. She has a silver compact that contains important pieces of military information. Do whatever you must—just get the compact.”
He ended the call and crossed his arms. He wanted Astrid to love him, but he wanted power more.
Chapter twenty-three
Astrid dug out a coordinate director and set it for Akayta. Then, staring at the waving blue ocean in front of her, she set off.
It was lonely as she swam along at a steady pace, but she was used to that. Her mind swirled around time-travel, Effie, Rune, and Honor. Finally, it came to rest on Cipher.
Pity filled her heart. He could have been a good man, she knew it. But he decided to take revenge instead. I still don’t know what his plan is. There is more to it than it seems. That thought made her uncomfortable. There was a missing piece, and she knew it was somehow vital.
Cipher’s face flashed through her mind, provoking her curiosity about his earlier years. She remembered what Rune said to him in the video. “I know that you won’t harm Astrid because of the soft spot you’ve always had for her. I believe it’s the only soft spot in that cold heart of yours.”
Astrid remembered the crashing emotions that had come upon her when she heard Cipher’s views on the world. Even though she now knew it hadn’t been Rune, it still affected her. The fact that someone could truthfully believe that way. Maybe the thing that scares me is that I can understand how he would arrive at that position. It just reminds me not to let myself slip.
The hours passed tiredly at she continued swimming. She thought she felt strange waves running through the water...almost like an earthquake. The core really is going to explode. I just hope these people listen to us. She glanced at her timepiece, One hour until I reach Akayta. Time felt like it was running through her body and slipping through her fingers like liquid. She couldn’t control it, and it was running away from her. She quickened her pace.
At that moment she felt something in the water...like an inaudible sound. A vibration. She whipped around. As soon as she did, arms encircled her neck with the intent of choking her. The bag slung over her arm was yanked. No. The compact! She bent her elbow to try and keep the bag from falling into her attackers’ hands. Can’t breathe… Her water supply was cut off as she tried to force the hands off her throat with her own.
Then she remembered something. Maybe Cipher’s training will come in handy after all. She took one short moment to steady herself, then she dropped, yanking herself from her attackers’ grasp at an angle and rolling away, the bag still in her possession. She faced them, sucking in deep gulps of water, her eyes showing her panic. She didn’t feel prepared for this, but then again, who would?
Astrid barely caught a glimpse of the two, masked figures before they rushed her again. She flipped then used that momentum to barrel into their stomachs, making them stumble. Then she fled. Not even glancing back, she darted away as fast as she possibly could. Her heart pounded and her adrenaline rushed. She knew that the slight stumble she caused them would only last for a few seconds. Please. Her hand tightened even more around the string of her bag as she looked back. They were already in pursuit.
Up on the right rose a tall, waving kelp forest. Just what she needed. She dove into the mass of green, swaying stalks. Astrid looked up and could see nothing but kelp, just like in front of her. They won’t be able to swim overhead and spot me. She drew breaths rapidly as she plunged easily through the plants, their soft leaves brushing against her in a comforting, quieting way.
She paused after a few minutes, letting the quiet, mysterious vegetation settle around her. There were no noises that indicated the continuation of the pursuit. They wouldn’t be able to find her in this vast forest. Her breathing evened out, and her heart slowed. It was darker here than out in the sunlight, but she could still make out the deep green colors around her.
Something squishy brushed past her arm and she jumped. Her mouth changed into a smile.
It was a pleddy. The animal moved slowly as she sat down to watch it. She needed to rest anyway. The brownish-gold head sparkled with scales, and its wide fish eyes didn’t blink. Instead of its head closing off in a neck, the sides continued, changing from scales to a smooth substance with seven tentacles. The translucent bits lit up with every color imaginable, and the colors pulsed like they themselves were the animal’s heart.
Astrid had scared away most animals when she burst into their forest home, but now they were coming out again since she was sitting still. Fish of all sorts swam over her head. The volume of life and color and quiet made her smile.
She spotted a group of tiny fish. Five could fit in her hands at once. They lit up with a pulsing golden color. Lightning fish. She and Rune used to go to another kelp forest near Akayta to catch them. The fish darted fast, which made them a challenge to catch, then they would always release them after they were done. She sighed with contentment and closed her eyes. Astrid knew she had t
o keep moving, so she reluctantly got up and used her coordinate director to guide her out of the forest and into Akayta.
Her temporary contentment was soon gone, replaced with the urgency and fear pulling her back toward her torturous home. She kept a close, weary watch on her surroundings as she continued on, securely tying the string of her bag to her arm instead of just carrying it. I have to make it to Akayta so I can warn them, and I can’t let this compact fall into anyone else’s hands.
Astrid nearly cried when the lights of Akayta came into view. She had experienced so many bad things there, and she had no wish to visit again, but she had to plant the transmitter to deliver the message.
More importantly, she had to discover Effie’s fate.
Astrid glanced down at the bag that held the compact and untied it from her arm. She donned a hooded black cape. She pulled the hood over her head. It obscured her face. With that, she hid the bag under her cape, took a deep breath, and entered Akayta.
Chapter twenty-four
Unfortunately I know where to start. The Imperial Prison. If Effie is anywhere, she’s there. Astrid’s heart quickened as she made her way through the back alleys, avoiding any public places with cameras. She only had a loose plan, and she knew it was risky, but she desperately needed to know.
Finally she reached the gate that led into the prison. She stared at them from across the street wondering how to get in. There has to be some way, she thought as she watched the guard swim back and forth. The building that held the cells was a medium-sized, square, white brick structure. It was covered by a clear dome. She would have to disable the cameras inside.
The black gate was the only entrance, and it was guarded by a disgruntled merman. Well, a distraction might work. What do I have that could draw his attention elsewhere? She snapped her fingers. Astrid knew exactly what to do, but she had to be careful. She took the transmitter she’d rigged to send the message out of her bag and quickly programmed another instruction. She carefully hit send on her new program, double-checking to be sure it wasn’t the message. Water seemed to ignore her lungs in the few minutes she waited. Then it happened.
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