Falling in Deep Collection Box Set

by Pauline Creeden

  Tonight my father would hold the festival’s opening ceremonies, making his speech to the tribe before heading to the ebbing. And as always, the festival began in the sea.

  As the tribe gathered at our reef, Nishan appeared, ready to address our colony and scanning the crowd. Regal with his long white beard, he held court on the deck of the sunken ship. Searching, his eyes found their target — me.

  “Alavay,” he began, using our traditional welcome. “Mer of the Obthaluse tribe, tonight marks our 700th Festival of the Fourteen Seas, a chance to pay tribute to our past, our tribal history. Tonight marks our continuation, as well as a chance to go beyond our past. As we rejoice and come together, let us not forget those who have changed our current and shifted the tides of our tribe.”

  At that point the tribe cheered. I joined them. The festival, always a favorite of mine, was kicking off nicely.

  Nishan continued, “Tonight we feast, we revel, we remember. We thank the seas. We celebrate our unity. We pray peace continues between the tribes. And we welcome. We welcome our futures, embracing the unforeseen opportunities that lie before us.

  “In three days’ time, the Coalition will convene. We will sit together with the Nereids asking them to bless the declarations we make. As the tides turn throughout the lunar cycle, all tribes will ebb. But tonight, tonight the Obthaluse rejoice.”

  He pulled a strand of strung shells and a rainbow of small seahorses swam about, swirling upward in waves of color and motion.

  After shaking hands and accepting general congratulations, Nishan sought me in the crowd. His robust torso, complete with broad shoulders, controlled a powerful ebony tail. Stippled with scales, it caught the sun with a metallic shimmering effect. An imposing force and monumental presence, others offered him respect by bearing alone, and thus he expected it. I learned to respect him as a leader, but I loved him as my father.

  I nodded goodbye to Phoebe and Fiona. We had spent every opening ceremony together since our birth, and I planned to enjoy the festival with them later. Drudgingly, I swam in my father’s direction. He noticed and excused himself from the crowd.

  “Anya.” He addressed me stoically. No one overhearing us would think he was speaking to his daughter as his formal tone erased any familiarity.

  “Alavay, Father.”

  “It seems this boat, these people, are measuring the currents, their speeds and distances. They may be taking temperatures, as well. While it appears there was nothing malicious, nothing out of the ordinary in their equipment or actions. You are to remain hidden. If this means a pause in your research, so be it.”

  “Father, I can’t do that. This research is too important. We still don’t know why this is happening, where the energy is coming from, and whether any of it is detrimental to Orotava, to the tribe.”

  “This is not a debate. They are close, far too close. This is not something I can tolerate right now. And I’m not asking you to avoid them. I demand that you do.”

  “But they aren’t headed towards Orotava. They have no business here,” I tried to explain, already defending a man I didn’t know.

  “Can you be sure of that?” he asked, visibly unnerved.

  I took a moment to answer. “Well, no, but they’re researchers, not cartographers. Not a mining company. They aren’t tracking animals that would bring them to the island. I think they’re okay. Really.”

  “I’m not so sure, and I’m wondering how you know so much about this boat.” He shook his head in frustration. “But for now,” he replied far more gently than I expected, “you and your friends enjoy the festival.” He bent and brushed a kiss on my forehead before rejoining the group of lingering mer.

  Confused by the exchange, I turned to see if Phoebe and Fiona were anywhere close. Not seeing them, I swam away from the Vengeful Dane. I needed some time to process the conversation and what I’d do next.

  Four: Luke

  I VIVIDLY RECALLED the tail and eyes as I woke the next few mornings and many times throughout the day. I dreamt of her at least three times that night. Her beautiful tail gleamed in the sun and it matched her bright eyes. The eyes. The eyes shared nothing with any aquatic creature I knew. The color belonged in a jeweler’s case. The shape was human, or at least mammalian. Blue eyes. No, green eyes. Neither was right. Eyes the color of my mother’s birthstone, aquamarine maybe. I’d figure that out when I decided to face reality. Eventually, I’d have to admit I had seen a mermaid.

  I knew I wasn’t insane and had seen something in those waves. It did everything but wave at me. And if it, she, had waved, I could at least consider it a delusion. But people see things in the ocean. The water creates mysteries or there would be no stories of the Kraken or Atlantis. So how did one awkward vision leave me dreaming and questioning? The dream was the same and the most realistic dream of my life. A blur of sea foam and ginger hair, all yellow-gold and honey hued.

  “I have the latest reads. I know you hav-,” Brandon started, entering the monitor room. He stopped, seeing the flustered look on my face.

  Startling me out of my memory, Brandon pulled me back to the world and what was left of my sanity. Confused, I stared, part scowl, part “Huh?”

  “Great. Anything?” I asked, pulling myself together.

  “Nothing big. A few bumps here and there,” Brandon went on, reading the data. “Well, that’s weird. Look.”

  He handed me the readout. The graph contained one series of large spikes far higher than the others.

  “Whatever it was got close to the boat,” I explained. “Not too large though.”

  “Like turtle not large or small whale not large?”

  “Probably dolphin-sized,” I said, putting Brandon at ease. Brandon had a fear of being capsized. Anything bigger than a dolphin rolling around the boat, toying with it, would certainly leave him with nightmares. Granted, I’d rather he think a megalodon was eying us for dinner than admit to being followed by a mermaid.

  “Thank Posiedon for that,” Brandon joked. “Got anything else for me, Mac?”

  “Nothing, man. Nothing. Time to take a break.”

  “You coming up?” he asked. We sometimes grabbed a few beers on deck on clear nights. Nothing but the sea, the stars, and the suds.

  “I’ll be up. Give me a few.”

  As Brandon left, I considered the readings again. Something about six feet long had interfered with the equipment’s readings. I based my career on the idea that data couldn’t lie. It didn’t make judgments. It couldn’t manipulate.

  So.

  She must exist. She must have come back and disrupted the readings again.

  But, that was impossible.

  I found it difficult to think about her as “her”. But she clearly was. The golden hair, pale breasts, and curve of her back all led to that conclusion. But since she wasn’t real, whatever I thought she was didn’t matter.

  I sat at the computer, watching the monitors, the radar. I stared at the cursor as I debated a simple Internet search. Knowing that the searches on board weren’t saved — we had limited memory and didn’t care if what the crew searched in their down time — I held my breath and typed M-E-R-M-A-I-D-S. Google spit out more than 100 million results. Videos and pictures, web sites and items for sale. Where to go from there?

  I scrolled through the pictures of anime-style mermaids, doe-eyed females with long hair, large breasts, and green scaled tails instead of legs. I saw lifelike mermaids drawn to resemble tailed women without the cartoon quality enhancements. I looked at the real, live mermaids who inhabited swimming and diving shows throughout Florida. None of them looked like her.

  I shut my eyes, envisioning her beautiful hair. The golden hair the colors of ginger. Pale and sunny yellows blended with beige and darker browns. It created a shimmering web I pictured floating around her. Her shoulders were the same pallor as mine when I spent too much time in an office with a shirt on. And her face. So delicate that I could see the pink blush on her cheeks when she spotted me.
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  I had seen far more of her than I initially thought. As she twisted to dive, after we locked eyes, I glimpsed red gill openings below her ribcage. The water fluttered past them and her breasts rose and fell. I noticed the scales scattered on her arms and torso, not like the clearly half-fish-half-women online. The transition from woman to fish with her was clear, but not abrupt. Her hips, while part of her tail, were clearly woman-like in form and emphasized by the shadowing of scales. A leg outline could be seen beneath the tale as if the scales had grown over a human form and joined legs together. And there was a small, blue-black star on her tail. The shape was made up of dark scales that almost glittered in the sun.

  While I quickly acknowledged my memories of her, I still eagerly dismissed her existence.

  When I joined the crew, our conversation focused on the day’s sudden data changes. Seeing temperature shifts was normal, but they had been far more gradual than those recorded in the last two days. The current shifts showed a large disruption, but as Brandon and I figured, it was most likely an animal.

  And as I figured, a mermaid.

  “I think we should focus on the temperature spike,” Kate, another researcher on the team, offered.

  Amir nodded in agreement, grabbing a soda from the mini fridge. I motioned for one too and caught the can he tossed.

  Kate continued, “How the hell did we go up more than eleven degrees in two minutes?”

  We all sat, thinking, until Lucy bounded into the room. It seemed the entire crew needed a cold caffeine fix at the same time. She was grabbing for the mini fridge door and listening as the conversation continued.

  “We’ve seen increases before. But this was drastic,” I answered as I reached out with my foot and shut the fridge for Lucy.

  “I figured you’d have brought up the data variances before now,” she commented with a slight smile. “You guys must have been busy.”

  Amir flipped her pony tail playfully, a big brother gesture. “We have. It’s that damn chore wheel you make us use. I was doing dishes.”

  “Not my fault you can’t multitask, O’ Tall One,” she stated while bowing regally to Amir.

  Brandon interrupted their fun, interjecting, “The tracker’s placement may have upset the data a bit, but that shouldn’t be any different than any other day. What were you thinking, Kate?”

  “Well, there are pockets of temperature shifts. We know that. We’ve seen that data. But those recordings look different.” She pulled out a record of our findings. “If you look at this, the previous shift, the one four days ago, was gradual, over seven minutes, and it hit a full eight degrees higher. But that was at a 20 foot depth, not 75.”

  I poured over the paper with Amir and Lucy moving in to see it well. Studying the chart did nothing for me, though. I knew what changed the temperature. I saw the cause. But there was no way I was admitting to it right now.

  “What about the current shift? What do we think caused that?” Brandon said.

  “Weren’t we close to that manatee breeding area?” Lucy asked frowning, her brows getting closer together. “I know it is miles away, but it could have been a manatee, or more than one.”

  Kate considered the question before answering, “No, we weren’t close enough for that. And there isn’t any land mapped, so they weren’t coming from a marina somewhere else. This is just too deep for most of them since it isn’t migration season.”

  “Well, dolphins have followed us before,” Amir affirmed. “I’m sure they could screw with the current pattern like that. Maybe with the temperature if there were enough of them.”

  “Dolphins don’t screw with things,” Lucy interjected fiercely. “They may alter the data, but they don’t screw with it.”

  Her dolphin obsession didn’t make her the most unbiased researcher at times, but since we didn’t research dolphins, it was more of a charming idiosyncrasy than a threat to our findings.

  I thought for a few minutes and then offered a theory. While I knew it was wrong, I figured at least it would delay their frustration a bit. “What if there was an issue with the tracker? Maybe it is a false recording.”

  “Two of them at the same time?” Kate questioned.

  Amir shook his head. “Nah. That can’t be it. Too much of a fluke.”

  “We did have that surge last night,” Brandon threw in.

  The power surge was small, but it had taken us all by surprise, but I hadn’t given it much consideration after seeing her. I did need to look into it, though.

  As far as I was concerned, a few questions still existed, but I was willing to give up a day of research to testing the equipment in order avoid saying what I knew.

  “So now what?” Lucy asked the group.

  “Time to test,” Kate said, nodding at the research. “Again.”

  Five: Anya

  AFTER THE CEREMONY, we reveled in the sea for two more days, as was our custom. On the fourth day, we swam below to a dark opening in the caves. The water broke around the sharp edges, camouflaging an entrance to those who didn’t already know of its existence.

  The inside of the cave had a high ceiling only half filled with churning sea water. The water pressure lessened as we swam through the cave into a larger one with less water. The series of caves allowed our bodies to adjust to life on land. The caves allowed our lungs to expand and become useful, our gills to close, and our legs to develop. The final cave included only a tidal pool and exited on a tree-lined beach. The transitioning beach, ensconced by trees, gave us a chance to practice our land legs before we got into town.

  Orotava is a small island, only about 3,000 square miles. Smaller even than Puerto Rico. The reef on the southern side offers shelter from approaching ships, and rocks climb up the Eastern side, silvery black and slick. We are protected in a number of ways from outsiders and generally at ease.

  As I walked across the beach, hot sand stroking my new toes and sun caressing my naked skin, I wasn’t at ease, however. I was focused on my research, worrying about the trench and what might have changed in my days celebrating. I stumbled a bit and fell into a tall merman I hadn’t seen in months. Gregorio, a friend of mine for many years, had been away on ambassador missions, working with the Garceaenians. He caught me quickly, traipsing along without issue. He walked beside me using lengthy strides. I watched the small scales on his upper body, a bright, deep blue, minimize as we crossed the beach. By the time we reached the vegetation line, neither of us had scales showing anywhere and my footing was solid.

  Hidden amid the trees at the beach line were small changing cabanas, offering transitional clothing to mer heading out of the sea. Naked, we slipped into the cabanas; groups of us emerged in bright, summery clothing, ready to once again participate in life on land.

  Gregorio met up with me as I exited my cabana. We walked down the cobblestone path catching up on his travels.

  “Anya, you would love the Norwegian and Aegean Seas,” he said. “The parties are amazing. Gorgeous mermaids and plenty of lavish dinners where the vodka flowed through ice. You’d fit in beautifully. And the hours I spent in Istanbul, sitting around the raki table. If I could only remember the things I did on those nights.”

  He laughed at his own joke, and while arrogant, his travels still intrigued me. They sounded glorious, something straight out of a fantasy. He even offered to bring me with him at some point. And that surprised me almost as much as my consideration of the idea.

  Traveling those distances was something I had often considered, but Gregorio was never a part of my future plans. Friends for years, I never saw him that way before. But the sea was changing, and maybe that meant I should change a little too. Besides, thinking of the hunky merman could only help me avoid thoughts of Luke.

  As we walked, I noticed how salt coated every surface. The sun baked it into the surrounding facades bleaching them. The buildings appeared water colored compared to the vivid shocks of colored fabric we wore. The breeze lifted gulls high above us and blew through the palm
etto fronds, lifting the smell of tropical flowers — hibiscus, gardenia, and jasmine especially. He reached out into the green leaves, snapped off a dramatic fuchsia hibiscus blossom, and tucked it behind my left ear.

  “Beautiful,” he remarked. “The perfect touch. You are captivating. I’m glad to have come across you today, Anya.”

  “Thank you,” I replied, not knowing what else to say.

  “We should catch up. I have plenty to share with you about my visit to the Indian Ocean. I think you’d be interested. I know I’d be willing to do it over dinner if that works for you.”

  Was he angling for a date? I didn’t have time to consider a life-long acquaintance as a love interest at this point. I had research to do.

  “Oh that does sound great, but I think I’ll head to the lab now. No need to walk with me. I know you’re a busy mer,” I assured him. Maybe I was too abrupt.

  He shook off a sudden look of confusion, asking, “Why is that? There are still weeks left in the festival. No one will be at the lab.”

  “I just need to look in on things. I’m sure it’s all fine, but I’d feel more comfortable checking in.”

  Gregorio nodded as if he understood.

  “Beautiful and brilliant,” he said smoothly, leaning forward, surprising me with a soft and purposeful kiss.

  With my cheeks suddenly flush, I looked away. Taken aback by the kiss, something felt odd. It didn’t seem the time nor place for a first kiss.

  Sensing my embarrassment, he shifted the topic. “Tomorrow is another day, Anya. Why don’t you wait and I’ll accompany you to the lab after the party tonight. Rowan has opened the tavern, my brother’s band is playing, and everyone will be looking for you there.”

  He smiled as we turned down a smaller lane, my lane. At the end of the short avenue stood my quaint cottage. Covered in aged siding, the grayed exterior was a splendid backdrop to a yard of flowering shrubs. Small, bright blooms dotted dark green bushes that seemed to hover above the sandy ground. Yellows, pinks, oranges, and whites seeped from the foliage and clouded the air. Flowers were my favorite part of being on land, so I made sure to surround my home with them.