All The Mermaids In The Sea

by Robert W Cabell

  Pearl’s breath caught in her throat, not at the thought of diving into the pool, but at the sight of Mark’s torso. He was cute and buff! He had sculpted muscles like a competitive swimmer. “And he’s on a date with me! Jenna Ambers, you’re such a loser!” Pearl giggled then dove in after him.

  Through the Shimmering Mirror

  Helmi had finally healed. Her body felt full of warmth, and her mind suddenly cleared. All the memories of the past few years clicked into place with remarkable clarity, and all those pictures of clarity gave her one urgent message: swim! swim now! swim through the Mirrors of Atargatis to the palace in the Bahamas!

  With a snap, Helmi released the kelp tethers her selkie handmaidens had woven to hold her in place as she floated in the sea, regenerating. Her body had completely recovered from the stony state she’d drifted into in her despair.

  “How long have I lain here healing? Where is Adara now?” She opened her mind to the songs of the whales and heard the answers to her questions. The princess had left the sea and was currently on a ship crossing the great man-link between the two oceans.

  “No!” Helmi cried. “She is putting herself in danger again. I must get to her at once.”

  So the queen of all the oceans dove deep and swam back to the entrance of the Summer Palace to reach the portal. She activated its magic and passed through it, coming out a thousand miles away in the Sacred Grotto of Poseidon in the Aegean Sea.

  All nine of the Mirrors of Atargatis were still in place. This was where they all stood, and their power protected the grotto from intrusion by mortals. They had been arranged in a crescent, tilted up so Poseidon could gaze down upon them from

  his high throne and look upon the faces of his daughters at any time.

  That was also one of the mirrors’ powers; a mirror that glowed with light revealed to the King and Queen of the Oceans that a corresponding life source also glowed. But now, only two mirrors glowed—Helmi’s, and Speio’s, which had filled with light again at the birth of Adara. For a moment, the sight of Miranda’s darkened mirror threatened to throw her back into despair. But, for the love of her granddaughter, she could not allow herself that luxury.

  Helmi commanded the mirror to show her an image of her granddaughter, but it remained clouded. That meant Adara was alive, but not within the waters of the ocean. She must have taken legs and hidden aboard one of the man-boats to sail across the great water links! The child was even more brazen than her mother had been.

  Helmi could wait no longer. She sped toward Eulilmene’s mirror, which would take her to the coral palace in the Caribbean. She concentrated on the image of the Bermuda sea palace throne room. Once the image was clear and steady, she dove through, and with a flash, came out the portal on the other side, halfway around the world, into the warm waters of the Bahamas Coral Palace lagoon. The power of the open mirror portal had summoned the palace builders of Poseidon, and dozens of elated corylians began to swarm her, all of them calling to her.

  “Queen Helmi!” the first one to reach her cried, “how we missed you!”

  “I’m sorry, dear cousins,” she said soothingly. “I cannot stay, for my granddaughter is in danger, and I must reach her at once. I promise to return to you again as soon as I can.” Then without another word, she surged up and over their heads, out through the palace to the open sea.

  Helmi needed speed, so she wove a command that pulled the water in and forced it out behind her, propelling her forward at an amazing pace. As she sped through the depths of the oceans, her passage tripped all sorts of warnings and alarms on ships throughout the area. Sonar and radar screens began to flash, oceanographic equipment dials and needles flipped and spun. But the moment people turned to look, she was off their scope or screen like an electronic ghost.

  Once more, Helmi reached out with her mind to her granddaughter and found a soft grey wall she could not pierce. She threw her mind out wider, drawing from deep within herself for more power to pierce through the veil.

  Instead of finding a way through to Adara, another door flew open. His. The image of his face burst into her awareness like a lightning bolt. She saw him clearly. He was in the water. He was younger, with no beard. His hair was shorter, but it was him. But how? How could it be Valdemar?

  But it was, and he was in the ocean searching for Adara … and for someone else. He was searching for her.

  Suddenly joy burst through her, released after more than a century of sadness, and propelled Helmi through the sea faster than any torpedo as she rocketed toward her king, and her granddaughter.

  Diary of a Sad Man

  Holger found Halder’s personal journal in the desk drawer of the Oceanus yacht’s master suite. It was a terrible thing in some ways to read the private thoughts of someone you love after they’re dead, but it answered a lot of questions and healed some old—and some not-so-old—wounds.

  Holger had gone through a lot of pain and guilt over the death and loss of Halder. The cover-up to keep his escape secret had certainly cost Halder as much. Halder constantly wrote about Holger in his journal. Holger was never far from his thoughts:

  I miss Holger desperately, even though I’m in heaven here with Miranda. I want to call him and tell him I’m alive and share all this amazing stuff with him, but Miranda is convinced it isn’t safe yet. Holger, you’ll forgive me when I give you and little Hal some Lichen of Poseidon and bring you to live in the sea with us. You can’t imagine how fantastic it is, Bro.

  Another entry was a list of the top 150 male and female scientific minds that he’d wanted to approach with an initiation to convert into merfolk. Halder had made a medical file of test reports he’d completed on himself in merman form and in human form, and he had analyzed some of his own tissue and the properties of the Golden Lichen of Poseidon.

  He had created an in-depth, sophisticated report on the biological makeup of a mermaid and merman with diagrams and pictures of their gill systems. There were reports on how their legs transformed back and forth, along with photos and charts that recorded body temperature and diving ability, including the unlimited depths they could swim to. He had measured and explored the electronic field generated around the body of a mermaid and explained the mental telepathy shared between a mermaid and sea creatures.

  Halder had planned to invite all the doctors and divers on his list to a three-day convention in the Faeroe Islands, all expenses paid by Oceanus, and offer everyone there the chance to transform into merfolk. He seemed pretty sure that eighty percent of them would chose to do it, and Holger was pretty sure he was right.

  Holger’s phone rang, which could only be Hal, so he snatched it up by the second ring and closed the journal.

  “Hal, is everything all right?” Holger asked.

  “Everything’s fine, Dad. We’re at the canal, but it’s going to take a couple of days to get listed to sail through it. Meanwhile, Lina drew a new series of pictures, and we’re pretty sure that Pearl is already on her way through on a ship called the Panama Princess.”

  “Good work, Hal. I want you to fax me all the pictures Lina has done, and I’ll have Mr. Bruun talk to someone who can get you pushed to the top of the list. I want you through that canal as soon as possible. I love you, son. You’ve done a terrific job, and I have a lot to share with you when you get here.”

  “I can’t wait to see you too, Dad. Christmas and New Years are going to be beyond awesome this year. They’re going to be ‘mythic!’” Hal laughed.

  Holger laughed too. “You don’t know the half of it, son. How are Lina and Ivan holding up?”

  “They’re doing great. And I have to tell you, Dad, they really love Pearl, and she really lucked out getting them as her adoptive parents.”

  “Considering the ones she lost,” Holger said sighing heavily, “I’d say that was only fair.”

  He looked down at Halder’s journal and realized he’d be showing Hal, and hopefully Pearl, several of the entries in which Halder had talked about how excited h
e was to be a father. At least she could read how much he was looking forward to loving his child, though he’d ultimately only had a few hours to do it.

  “I miss you, son,” Holger added suddenly.

  “I miss you too, Dad,” came the answer, and they both hung up, smiling.

  A Fish Out of Water

  Pearl—aka “Miranda”—and Mark spent the next two lock passages diving in and out of the pool, leaning over the rail, and drying off in their lounge chairs. Every time they got to a lock, they stood up and snapped pictures of it and of each other.

  “For the last lock we should switch to the upper pool deck,” Mark suggested. “It has the best view, right at the prow of the ship.”

  “It looks pretty packed up there now,” Pearl said as she glanced in that direction.

  “Yah, it is.” Mark smiled. “But not if you’re with me. The front of the pool is right at the edge of the prow, next to the railing, and there are two metal columns that block the deck access so no one can stand there. That is, unless you dive in, swim across the pool, and get up there that way, which is exactly what we’re going to do.”

  “It sounds nice, but won’t a lot of people do that? We do have a great view from here.” Pearl shrugged. She was so comfortable she really didn’t want to get up, and they did have a great view from where they already were.

  “Trust me on this, okay? We’ll be the only ones, and the last lock should be seen from straight on. It’s amazing to see that giant wall pull back and let the water rush in with nothing between you and the horizon. You can see all the ships lined up to come in for miles and watch the way the colors of the water swirl together. There is really nothing like it.”

  “Okay.” Pearl sighed.

  “Well then, on your feet, Miranda, because we’ve only got a couple of minutes.”

  They strolled to their destination hand in hand. This time it was a real stroll, walking around the pool and up the steps to the next deck. Just as they got to the top of the stairway, they felt the ship rumble, which signaled the opening of the lock wall.

  “Come on, Miranda,” Mark said, racing ahead of her and laughing over his shoulder. He raced to the edge of the pool, dove in, and swam for the opposite side by the prow.

  “All right.” Pearl sighed as she swung her mesh bag back around to the middle of her back and dove in after him. As her body arched toward the water…she suddenly realized she was in danger.

  Eternal Love

  “I am one with the water,” Holger thought as he used the power of the ring for the first time. He drifted under The Miranda with the total freedom of a true sea creature. He was able to breathe without a snorkel or an air tank.

  They were off the southern end of Cuba headed at top speed toward the canal, but had come to a full stop briefly to make a few crucial repairs. Hal had faxed over Lina’s latest pictures of Pearl that identified the cruise ship she was on.

  After checking with the company, they learned the ship was halfway through the canal and heading toward the Atlantic Ocean. Holger had to manually adapt the sonar speakers on the bottom of the ship to be able to broadcast and communicate with Pearl as she exited the canal.

  He was just finishing the final adjustment when he felt a mental snap! He could see her again, but it wasn’t Pearl. He could feel her near, and somehow he knew it was real! Holger didn’t even realize he had let go of the ship and slipped down deeper into the water.

  The Ring of Atlantis pulsed on his finger and kept him safe and breathing as she called out to him. He felt a power surge and somehow knew she was racing toward him. He closed his eyes and opened his mind as he floated in the ocean and called out to her. He sensed her coming closer and closer.

  Helmi surged through the sea, mile after mile at blinding speed. He was there, somewhere ahead. She could see a glow in the water. He was floating beneath a large ship, glowing with a circle of light above him like a holy vision. It was as if the sky had opened up a hole in a dark cloud to let a column of light create a beacon in the deep.

  “Valdemar!” she cried and barely checked her speed in time to keep from slamming into him. As it was, when Helmi reached for him, passing slightly to his left, it carried them into a spin as she wrapped her arms around him, trying desperately to hold on as they spun to a stop.

  The moment she touched Holger, who had floated frozen in time watching her torpedo toward him, a dam burst open in his mind, freeing centuries of memories of her. They were memories of her with him, yet it seemed more like someone else that he once was … or once was him. He didn’t understand it, but he knew for certain that she was his, and he would always belong to her.

  “Valdemar, how have you come back to me?” Helmi clung to him in desperation and joy.

  “I don’t know. I can’t be him! He was my ancestor, yet I know you. I have always known you, since the first time I ever dreamed a dream.” He wrapped her in his arms, and without another thought, he swam upward, taking her through the moon pool into the ship.

  “Where are we and why are we not swimming toward the great link?” Helmi asked as he swept her up in his arms and pulled her out of the water to the ledge of pool.

  “I’ll tell you everything, but first we must get back underway,” Holger told her as he closed the bottom of the moon pool and flipped the intercom switch. “Captain, resume top speed for the canal.”

  “What is this ship, Valdemar, and how is this all happening?” Helmi reached for him again and nestled against his mighty chest.

  “I don’t know, Helmi.” There, he’d spoken her name out loud as if he had said it a thousand times before, and in his heart, he knew he had.

  “This ship belonged to Halder and Miranda. Halder was my brother.”

  “But that is not possible.” Helmi looked at him.

  “It’s true. I never really thought about reincarnation, but I think that’s what happened to me. I am descended from the bloodline of King Valdemar the first of Denmark, and I’ve seen you in my dreams since I was a child.”

  “Father said that is why humans have a soul,” Helmi whispered, “so they can be born again and again until their journey is done.”

  “Apparently my journey isn’t over.” He smiled and kissed her. “So I’ve come back to you again.” And he kissed her again.

  “Then you must help me save our granddaughter, Adara,” Helmi pleaded as she tried to pull him toward the water.

  “We are sailing to her now,” he reassured her. “She’s aboard a cruise ship called the Panama Princess, and we should reach the mouth of the canal well before she does.”

  “How can you know all this?” she asked anxiously.

  “Let’s get you some legs,” he said with a laugh, “and I’ll show you.”

  Half an hour later, Helmi was looking at dozens of sketches of Adara’s journey that Lina had drawn and Hal had faxed to Holger on the yacht.

  “As you can see, the last drawings are of her on the cruise ship talking happily to a young man.” He pointed out the two of them sitting together sipping a drink and chatting. “It’s the same young man in these earlier drawings who was taking her picture. And as you can see here, she’s walking down the stairs, and most of the women around her are wearing exactly the same bathing suit she is, so she’s not attracting any attention. I’m sure she’s fine, and as soon as the ship she’s on clears the last lock and is out in the harbor, she’ll find a way to slip off the ship without being seen and swim toward the Bahamas.”

  “I will be waiting for her then.” Helmi stood up resolutely.

  “No,” Holger said firmly as he took her hand and pulled her gently back down next to him. “And just listen to what I have to say before you argue with me,” he told her and cut off her response. “We’ll be watching and waiting for her, as will several agents that your clever Mr. Bruun has arranged for, spread out along the canal.

  “Thanks to Disney’s ten-million-dollar reward, everyone is searching for the Little Mermaid. The sight of you waiting in
the water will start a feeding frenzy that will only endanger Pearl. No one will notice a man like me swimming in the waters or treading water. Pearl knows me, and if she sees me, she’ll come to me for help.

  “I need you down in the moon pool to help me get Pearl out of the water as quickly as possible, without attracting any attention. That’s the best way to help her. Can you do that for me? For all of us?” he asked as he reached out to gently stroke Helmi’s cheek with the back of his hand.

  “Yes, Valdemar.” Helmi smiled. “I am so glad you are back with me. I will do as you say.”

  “Once she is on this ship, she’s safe from the world in many ways, and so are you. There is a lot I still need to explain.”

  “We are approaching the canal, Your Highness and Your Grace,” the captain called out over the intercom. “The escort ships are in place and waiting for us.”

  “Escort ships?” Helmi asked.

  “Bruun & Gottorp have been very busy taking care of everything.” Holger smiled and then pressed the intercom button to reply. “Thank you, Captain. Signal me when we’re in position, please,” he said, then released the button.

  Holger turned to look at Helmi. “This mad race is almost over. We need to take our places now, my love.”

  Helmi sighed and struggled not to cry. “I never thought I would hear you say those words again.” Then she took his hand and followed him back down to the moon pool.

  The Final Wave

  Pearl’s world had clicked into slow motion. She had been so eager to keep up with Mark, who had already pulled himself up out of the water and was waiting for her, that she had adjusted her bag and dived in after him without paying attention to her new heightened senses.

  The minute she was airborne and arching over the water, her body flushed with anticipation from the vapors of the rising condensation. Pearl knew, even before she hit the surface, that this was a saltwater pool.