SeaChange

by Cindy Spencer Pape

  Leta showed off her room—a strange mix of girly and early cave-dweller, and then the room that had been Jake’s. There wasn’t much in that one but a sandy floor, a single sea chest, and some shells on a bookshelf. Three hand-carved spears hanging on one wall and a carved stone chair were the only other things in the small stone chamber. It wasn’t hard for Heidi to understand why Jake had wanted so badly to live among humans. Not just for the comforts of civilization, but for the intellectual stimulation. There was very little color down here, and almost no art, except for things scavenged from shipwrecks. It was a very Spartan existence.

  By the time she and Myrrine returned to the boat, leaving a grumpy but resigned Leta behind, Heidi had a much greater understanding of why Jake had bartered his magic for the chance to live as a human. She knew he’d regretted it since, but she understood. Her resolve to help the merfolk win their chance to adapt was only strengthened.

  * * * * *

  The next day Brad was transferred from the hospital under the care of Heidi, Steve, who’d claimed the move was for security reasons, and his “home nurse”, the merman healer Darius. Once in the limo, with Jake driving, Darius performed a limited healing, enabling Brad to walk onto the new boat. During the course of the day, as supplies and fuel were loaded on, they spent several sessions finishing the healing task. By evening, Brad was fully restored to health and following Steve and Niko around to learn the ins and outs of the Folly’s operation.

  “Nice scenery around here,” Brad murmured to Heidi later that night as they sat on the deck of the Folly eating pizza. “I mean, you may have nabbed one of the best ones while I was out of the action, but there appear to be plenty more where he came from. Think any of them swing my way?”

  Heidi shrugged and giggled. “Well, their culture is primarily Greek, and I don’t think they were known for being particularly homophobic. No luck with the healer, huh?”

  “Nope, that boy is straight as can be. Besides, he’s only what? Nineteen, maybe? Way too young.”

  Heidi shook her head and explained a little about merfolk life spans. It felt so good to be able to sit and laugh with him again, when only a few days earlier she’d thought she’d lost him forever.

  “So all the years we’ve spent studying marine biology, and come to find out, there were whole species we never even knew about,” Brad mused. Darkness had fallen and now Jake and Steve were overseeing the loading of the “special” cargo—the guns, ammunition and explosives. Communications equipment and a couple extra computers had already arrived. Fortunately, the Folly was already equipped with a satellite internet uplink.

  Reluctantly, Heidi and Brad had agreed to be the on-board coordinators during the actual raid on the island. Jake was right—they weren’t trained commandos or warriors. And if worse came to worst, between the two of them, they could get the boat and any wounded back to San Diego. Myrrine and Darius would stay behind as well, of course, since neither of them were fighters at all.

  One thing Heidi did do was make sure the hand-drawn map of the island and the diagram of the temple grounds that Dionysus had sent them were uploaded into the mapping software she used for charting dolphin movements. The program was set up so Brad and Heidi could keep track of the merfolk during the raid, using the communicators Wen had provided, similar to the one Heidi had used in Mexico. The group was gathered, the boat was fueled, stocked and loaded. They were as ready as they were going to be. Now all they had to do was get there.

  * * * * *

  The trip from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas seemed to take forever, though it was really just a three-day run. They didn’t stop overnight, just for fuel, which meant they didn’t have to push the engines to a high rate of speed.

  Jake and Heidi rotated with Steve and Brad in six-hour shifts manning the controls. After the first two days, they were sure that if necessary, any one of the four of them could manage single-handedly. The merfolk soldiers had set up a watch rotation, so at least two men were always up on deck and two or more dolphins were in the water. Heidi figured that was less a necessary watch function, and more a function of them needing to spend time in their flippered forms. Even the queen swam alongside the boat for part of each day. About halfway down the Baja peninsula, they stopped altogether for several hours, mid-ocean, so that all the merfolk could shift and swim. Only Jake did not, and Heidi could see the longing in his eyes.

  “Maybe after this is over, you can ask Dionysus to reverse the spell on you, as well,” she suggested. It was early evening, and they’d reach Cabo sometime the next morning. Heidi and Jake sat alone on the bridge, within sight of the mermen sentinels, but not within the range of casual hearing. Jake had been staring out at the waves, that wistful look on his face—again.

  He turned to her and smiled. “I’m not worried about it,” he lied.

  “Don’t try to fool someone who’s got an inside link,” she reminded him, shaking a finger in front of his nose. “I can feel it when you lie to me, Jake.”

  “You know,” he teased back, rubbing her lip with his thumb. “I’m not so sure this bond is always going to be a good thing. Promise to never ask me if something makes you look fat?”

  Heidi laughed. “Promise. I suspect though, that once we get the hang of it, we’ll be able to shield when we want to. Otherwise, Christmas is going to lose a lot of its excitement.”

  “I’m looking forward to spending Christmases with you, Heidi. And birthdays. Maybe even anniversaries.” He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

  “I know,” she whispered. She started to say more, maybe even agree with him, when the radar started to beep. “Oops. Ship coming in.”

  “I’ll go make sure there aren’t any merfolk in the water,” Jake said, striding from the bridge. “We’ll talk later.”

  Heidi was sure they would.

  Jake didn’t come back right away, even after they’d passed the other boat—a catamaran full of teenagers heading north. Heidi was still worrying about what to say to him when Wen came onto the bridge.

  “We’re testing the communicators,” he told her, handing her one. “Make sure this fits properly and that the settings are right for you.” He sat down in the seat Jake had vacated.

  Heidi took the headset and clipped it over her ear. “Testing one, two…”

  “I read you, H. How’s the volume?” Steve’s voice was perfectly clear over the device.

  “Maybe just a little loud,” she told him.

  “How’s this?” The volume of his voice went down just a touch.

  “Perfect. And I’m coming through okay on your end?”

  “Absolutely fine,” Steve replied.

  “Good then. Over and out.” Heidi handed the headset back to Wen. “Works like a charm.”

  “Thank you for agreeing to coordinate,” Wen told her. “Miguel and his three men are meeting us, so you’ll be overseeing them as well.”

  Heidi shrugged. “It sucks, but Jake is right. I’m not a trained commando.”

  Wen’s smile was elusive, but Heidi had learned to read his normally stoic features. Wen was probably as overwhelmed by the constant crowd of merfolk as she was. “If you had been trained, my dear, you’d have been a formidable opponent. If we had a little more time to get you ready, I wouldn’t hesitate to trust you at my back.”

  “Thank you.” Wow, coming from Wen, that was a huge compliment. Heidi couldn’t help but preen a little. “You trained both Jake and Steve, didn’t you?”

  Wen nodded. “And a number of others over the years.”

  “And you’re from China, originally, aren’t you?”

  “That’s right.” He lifted one neat black eyebrow. “And…?”

  “I just wondered how you ended up working for the Americans in World War II.”

  “Ah.” Wen shrugged. “Actually it was before that. I came to your country during what’s now called the Civil War. I’ve lived mostly in San Francisco, as you might guess.”

  “Is it considered impolite
to ask what you are?” She’d racked her brain, trying to figure that out. “I know you’re not aquatic, like Jake. You’re not a wizard like Steve, not exactly. But you definitely have a lot of power, and you’re more than one-hundred-and-fifty years old.”

  “A little impolite, if we were strangers,” Wen answered. The corners of his almond-shaped eyes crinkled just a little in amusement. “But I think you’ve earned the right. Look closely.”

  Heidi watched as the air around him seemed to shimmer, like heat waves rising off asphalt on a hot summer day. His shape didn’t change—his body stayed perfectly still in the captain’s chair, dressed in black trousers and a gray button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

  His skin however, did alter. Where before his complexion had been a smooth golden tan, now it seemed to roughen, forming what looked like a scale pattern. His face lengthened and his eyes widened, then glowed a vivid shade of gold. His pupils though, took on the greatest change. They narrowed and elongated until instead of circles, they were thin vertical ellipses.

  Projected behind him, whether in the air or just directly into her mind, she didn’t know, was a larger image—that of a large, smiling golden dragon.

  “Ho-ly shit,” she whispered. Heidi blinked and the image was gone. There was just Wen sitting in front of her, smiling. “So you don’t teleport like Steve. You fly.”

  He nodded. “I also have the ability to become invisible to the human eye. Unfortunately, I can’t cast that on others. My actual magical power is somewhat limited.”

  “Gee, I can see where that would be such a hardship,” she teased. “Must suck being just a dragon.”

  “Actually it has a lot in common with being a covert agent,” he admitted somewhat grimly. “Both are pretty much solitary existences, living in the shadows.”

  Heidi raised one eyebrow. “Not a lot of dragon family reunions, then?” The fact that Wen was here, just out of regard for Jake, would have endeared him to her even if he hadn’t helped rescue Brad. For that, she’d be his friend for life.

  “Not of the Asian variety, anyway. We’re very territorial, and damn near extinct. The Celtic dragons are a little more social, and they’ve survived into this millennium in greater numbers, from what I hear. But the only other Chinese dragons I know are in Tibet, Hong Kong and one up in British Columbia. And no, we don’t tend to get together on a regular basis.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know I’m not a dragon, but once this is all over, if you ever need a place to hang out, somebody to talk to, maybe a home-cooked meal, you’re welcome, wherever I’m living. Consider yourself invited.”

  Wen smiled openly then. He glanced down at the ring on her finger and his eyes actually twinkled. “You would have made a most magnificent dragoness. Delos is a very lucky man.”

  * * * * *

  Cabo San Lucas was beautiful.

  Though the marina area was horribly crowded and touristy, there were still elements of the Mexican fishing village it had once been, along with a decidedly tropical flair. Heidi had never been this far south and she really wished she had more time and energy to enjoy it.

  Unfortunately, they only stayed in the town itself long enough to top off the fuel and water tanks and buy fresh fruit and tortillas at the market. Myrrine and Marcos accompanied Heidi and Brad on the shopping expedition, while Jake stayed back with the boat. Heidi had to admit, it was fun seeing the human world through the queen’s eyes, even if it was just a small snippet. She understood that Myrrine had spent less time on the fringes—say the Catalina beach resorts—than many of the younger merfolk, so she was more than a little overwhelmed by the crowds, the explosions of color in the market, and the sheer volume of the conversation and music that filled the air. She did pick up a few skirts and tops, along with some rope sandals. Finally, she purchased a gorgeous pearl necklace for Leta, to ease the sting of being left behind.

  To Heidi’s surprise, the queen insisted on buying one for Heidi too, the same style as Leta’s but in natural black pearls. “You’re my son’s mate,” she said, when Heidi objected. She glanced pointedly at the ring Heidi still wore. “I’ve waited a long time for another daughter. Indulge me.”

  A lump formed in Heidi’s throat. She hadn’t expected that kind of sweetness from the queen. And she felt like a fraud. Things between her and Jake were still so far from being settled. “But we haven’t…” She broke off, having no idea what to say.

  She almost fell over when Myrrine put her arm around Heidi’s shoulder and squeezed. “I know you haven’t decided on anything. But believe me when I say there will never be another woman in his life like you. The kind of bond you share—it doesn’t happen more than once in a lifetime, and only rarely then. I loved my husband dearly, but we were never linked like you and Che are after only a few weeks. Even if you decide not to stay together, let me enjoy having an extra daughter while I can. The fact that you love him is enough for me.”

  Tears leaked out the corner of her eyes as Heidi let herself be hugged by Jake’s mother. “Thank you,” she sniffled. “Your son is a pretty amazing man. You did a good job. Leta too. She’s got a little growing up to do, but she’s a great young woman. She’ll be a big asset to your people as you adapt to living among humans.”

  “I think she will,” Myrrine acknowledged. “Though perhaps if I hadn’t made so many mistakes as a parent, neither of them would have felt the need to run away.”

  “But if they hadn’t, you wouldn’t be where you are today, with the resources to lead your people into a whole new life,” Heidi reminded her.

  Myrrine squeezed her arm. “You are right. I also have an exceptionally perceptive daughter-in-law. Thank you for that.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  That night they moved the Folly out into the open ocean, headed toward the blank spot on the map where Isla des Delfínes was supposed to be, though using the GPS system, they stayed well out of radar range of the island itself.

  While Heidi, Jake, Darius and Brad set up the fishing gear on deck, just in case one of the pirate boats happened to spot them, six of the mermen, led by Marcos and Niko, went out in dolphin form to do reconnaissance. So did Wen, though not in the water. Heidi hadn’t shared Wen’s revelations with Jake yet, but she had the feeling Wen wouldn’t mind if she did.

  One other thing that Steve had figured out, and Jake had confirmed via email, was that since they’d been told about the island by Dionysus himself, the aura of forgetfulness wouldn’t apply to them. That was handy. Steve had even come up with a counterspell that would work short term for Wen and the others who hadn’t been in the god’s presence. When Miguel and his men arrived just before dawn in a pair of inflatable boats dropped by a cruiser well away from the Folly’s position, their team was complete. Now all they had to do was collect information tonight, then go in under cover of darkness the following evening.

  Heidi immediately recognized the three men who’d been involved in the raid on the drug dealer’s hacienda. She introduced them to Brad, who was happy to have the chance to thank them in person for the rescue. Since they didn’t even blink at his miraculous recovery, just as they hadn’t at the mention of shifters, werewolves, or wizards that night, Heidi figured they were part of the supernatural community as well. Sometimes it felt like she and Brad were the only two normal, mundane people left in a paranormal world.

  Oh, I don’t know about that, Freya, came Jake’s voice across their mental link. You’re a psychic who talks to dolphins and is mated to a merman. How normal is that?

  Just shut up and finish cooking the bacon, she thought back as she dumped a skillet full of scrambled eggs onto a platter. The troops were gathering for the day’s final strategy sessions, Wen had returned from his reconnaissance flight, and the merfolk scouts, he reported, were nearly back to the boat. With a crew this size, it required a good bit of food to keep them running. And since most of the merfolk didn’t know how to operate the appliances, that left those who did on perma
nent kitchen duty, though to everyone’s surprise, Myrrine had donned an apron and taken charge of the dishwasher, after making Jake show her how to use it.

  Once the scouts had returned and everyone had been fed, it was time for the debriefing session in the main salon. Niko had taken a digital camera in a waterproof bag around his neck, so they had some actual photos to supplement their handmade maps, which Heidi had printed and passed out to everyone.

  “Most of the activity seems to be in the actual temple grounds,” Wen informed them. He handed Brad the memory stick from another camera, which Brad promptly uploaded to his laptop. A few seconds later, the printer was spooling.

  Wen continued. “The buildings in the temple area itself were originally stone, based on actual Greek architecture rather than the Spanish colonial on the mainland. They must have imported the tile for the roofs, but it has held up remarkably well.”

  “The village was not so lucky,” Marcos added. “Most of the buildings were wood and stucco, and have fallen into ruin. Two seem to still be in usable condition—a warehouse on the docks, and what was probably a tavern or inn, also right by the marina.”

  “There was activity there, so we couldn’t get too close,” Niko added. “I saw three large yachts moored in the harbor. One is on the list you gave us of those missing and presumed to have fallen to the pirates last year. There were also a few smaller fishing vessels and the four fast craft you called ‘cigarette boats’ tied near the warehouse.”

  “I recognized two of the men working on the docks,” Marcos continued. “Ajax and Yannis. Both followers of Phaeton.”

  There was a long silence as everyone digested the fact that the rogue merfolk were actively involved in the piracy operation.

  “Did you get any idea how many people were working or living on the island?” Jake asked. “Are there women and children living in the village as well, or just the pirates?”

  “I saw women in the temple compound but no children,” Wen answered.

  Marcos nodded. “The same in the village, I think. One or two women—primarily wh—uh…” He broke off when he glanced at the queen. “Errr—camp followers.”