East of the Sun, West of the Moon

Chapter Thirty

Megan was done being frightened.

She had only spent a few years in the harem, after all, and it wasn’t like she hadn’t seen the sky the rest of her life. But she’d found, after being inside four stone walls for five years, that the outside world had become a frightening place.

And space was ten times worse. She was on the underside of the ship, now, in darkness and cold with nothing around her but the curving hull and space. It frightened her so bad that she’d been walking with her eyes shut and when she opened them she realized she had no idea which way the lock was.

“I will overcome this,” she muttered, staring at the smooth hull that stretched in every direction and then out to the stars. “I will.”

She took two of her thigh magnets and then slowly lay backwards, holding herself in place with her boot magnets and outspread arms. Her full armor was more than proof against the interplanetary cold of the hull, so she lay there, drinking in the light of the stars. So many stars, so many planets. And humans confined to just the one, trying again to wipe themselves out. If the ship impacted, they would wipe themselves out.

She felt a slight shudder and a pulling motion and realized that the main engines had started. But after a moment, they shut off again, and the stars hadn’t changed one iota. They didn’t care about humanity, about its survival or its fall. But she did. So she reached for the power, grappling with it, eyes open to the stars. And felt it… change.

“Mother,” Megan said. “Are you doing this?”

“Yes, Megan,” Mother replied. “You’re inside geosynchronous orbit. I can now affect your systems and aid you in what you’re trying to do.”

“Can you give me any power?” Megan asked.

“Very little,” Mother admitted. “Reyes just used the full power of the Samarian reactor and the Net is… chaotic. The power battles that had been going on shifted, dramatically, but they are ongoing. You must use the power of the engines if you wish for humanity to survive.”

“Will it be that bad?” Megan asked.

“You’re currently going nearly fifteen kilometers a second,” Mother noted. “On its present course, the ship will pass the Earth just outside of the atmosphere, circle outward and then do a nearly direct reentry impacting in the northern Po’ele Ocean. Given that entry, it is likely that the vast majority of the mass of the ship, and the fuel, will survive to impact. The impact will transmit through the water to shatter the crust of the planet and send the equivalent of the entire water in the Terrane basin into the atmosphere, shutting off light for at least two years, not counting exgassing from the continent-sized volcano that will form. It will be that bad.”

“How do we stop it?” Megan asked.

“Follow me,” Mother replied, bringing up an orbital schematic. “The power is still tied to you. You need to shove the ship to the right and forward, speeding it up on its trajectory past Earth. That will bring it around into a long elliptical orbit. Each time we come around, we’ll impact the atmosphere, lightly I hope. That’s what’s going to slow us down, but if we go in too steep, I won’t be able to hold the shields against the reentry heat. It’ll be a long process. And we can’t start until the shuttles that are preparing to dock are attached.”

“Megan, honey,” Herzer said. “You okay?”

“I am now,” Megan replied in a distracted tone. “I’m on the underside of the ship. We need to start evacuating.”

“The shuttles are just about to dock,” Herzer said, looking at one of them coming in. “We’ll reactivate some of the other shuttles, fuel them and then get out. I don’t think there’s much we can do to stop the reentry.”

“Yes, there is,” Megan said, looking at the void of stars. “Get everyone out of here. I’m going to be riding the ship down.”

“Disable the shuttles,” Satyat said, shaking his head as he unbolted the top of the fusion plant. “Enable the shuttles. When does it end?”

“Now,” Linda said, handing him the injector. “We’ve got to get out of here. Fast. The ship’s about to hit the atmosphere. We’ll pass through it, but it’s going to be unpleasantly spectacular. And we won’t want to be outside.”

“Well, this one’s up,” Satyat replied, sliding the injector into place. “Let’s slide up front and get out of here.”

“Shuttles two, three and six are scheduled for Alabad, Penan and Taurania,” Herzer said, looking over the remaining Blood Lords. “The four with crew are full. You guys go down on those on autopilot. See you on the ground.”

“Where are you going to be?” Bus asked, curiously.

“Megan has to ride the ship down to control the reentry,” Herzer said. “I’m going to ride it down with her.”

“You are alive,” Tur-uck said, grinning at the Dark One.

The elf shook his head and looked around the room. It appeared to be a small control room of some sort. And it wasn’t under gravity. And he hurt. Badly. Burns all over his body and electric shock from the feel of it. He had been tortured.

The last thing he remembered was fighting an orc just like this one, one of hundreds that had ambushed him as he was trying to penetrate the scout screen of Chansa’s main continental force in Ropasa. At the moment, he was far too weak to fight it, so he bided his time, hoping that he would recover enough to do battle one last time.

But there was no memory of the torture. Just an aching… black feeling in his mind. He felt a rage he didn’t understand. It was not in the way of the elves to feel rage. He closed his eyes and leaned back.

“Get it over with,” he said. “Torture me. Or kill me. I care not.”

“Why the hell should I torture you, Tragack?” the orc asked, grinning. “Hell, I saved your life and dragged you here when everyone else thought you were dead. I’m hoping you know something about space you weren’t letting on to the Great One. Otherwise, we’re fisked.”

“I’ve got the grav field engaged,” a thickly accented voice said. “And main power’s on to the engines. This thing’s a might rickety, though. And it’ll ne’er survive reentry.”

“Fly it I will!” The voice was high and shrill and sounded half mad. Probably a goblin Change form. At least three of them, but the orc form was the main fighter. He reached for the power, for the gaslan, and found both areas… empty. He felt only half an elf at the moment, less, nearly human. To lose the gaslan. Nothing could take the gaslan. There was no future to feel. He was riding on the winds of fate, half dead and not even half alive.

The elf felt another of those odd spasms of rage. He wanted to kill the damned orc, kill everything in the ship. And he couldn’t even move his arms. His right one felt so fried it might never be useable.

“Where is this?” he asked as the gravity slowly came on. It was still less than Earth. They were in orbit. “How did I get here?”

“You don’t remember?” the orc said, backing away. “What do you remember?”

“Fighting ones like you,” Sildoniel said, honestly if hoarsely. “Arrows. Many arrows. Too many. Falling.” He lifted his left arm, slowly, it was as fast as it would go, and ran it over his face. The hand when he drew it back was taloned instead of having finely manicured nails and the face was… broader, the nose flatter. “What has happened to me?” he asked, trying to rise, his anger getting red hot. “What have you done to me?”

“What’s your name?” the orc asked, drawing his sword.

“Wait,” Sildoniel said, rolling to sit up and feeling queasy with even that much motion. His right arm wasn’t just useless, it was gone just below the shoulder. “Just wait. Stay your sword, orc. If you are to kill me, tell me at least why I am come here.”

“You’re back,” the orc said, his eyes wide. “It’s you. What is your name?”

“Sildoniel a tor Melessan,” the former Dark One said, looking the orc in the eye. “What’s yours?”

“You shouldn’t be here,” Megan said, distantly, as the void began to fluoresce. The ship was hitting the very upper edges of the atmosphere, mostly monatomic oxygen, and she was having to shunt the power to form a protective field. Where the oxygen was hitting the field, the results were… energetic.

“Neither should you,” Herzer said. “The radiation is going to be a nightmare.” The ship was also passing through the Van Allen belt, the magnetic belt that prevented much of space’s radiation from hitting the Earth. But the belt concentrated that radiation, making it hot enough to cook eggs.

“The shield’s holding it,” Megan replied as the ship shuddered from the launch of seven shuttles. “I’ll be fine. And I’m the only one that has to stay.”

“Whither thou goest,” Herzer said, squatting down next to her.

“You’re so corny,” Megan replied with a smile in her voice.

“So, you getting used to the view?” Herzer asked. The ship’s “down” side was actually pointed away from the Earth, with nothing above but stars. The Moon would be coming up, soon, though, at the rate they were going.

“Looks pretty good,” Megan said, shifting slightly. The ship began to rotate and Herzer quickly got out a hand magnet and clamped it down to keep himself in place. The ship spun on its axis until the Earth came into view and then stopped.

“That was pretty nice,” Herzer said, carefully. “You do that?”

“Mother and I,” Megan replied. “We’re sort of… one in this.”

“Great,” Herzer said. “Look, let’s get someplace where I can at least hold onto something.”

“I need to be out here,” Megan said, distantly.

“Fine,” Herzer replied, putting a hand on her arm. “There’s a nice docking bay not far from here. We can sit in that while you do… whatever you’re doing.”

“Wait,” Megan said distantly. “Look.”

Herzer realized that the… shape of the fluorescence had changed. Where before it had been a cigar shape extending out from the ship about seventy meters, now, along the “bottom” and “top” it had flattened and extended out to either side. It now formed…

“Are those wings?” Herzer asked, blinking rapidly at the ghostly halo shapes.

“Yes,” Megan said, standing up carefully and holding out her hand. “I need the shield, anyway, to keep the ship from disintegrating. But with the wings I can reduce our speed by atmospheric skipping. At least, that’s what Mother says.”

“Maybe we should just let it disintegrate,” Herzer pointed out. “If it broke up in the upper atmosphere, it wouldn’t destroy the Earth.”

“I’d much prefer to live to see home again,” Megan pointed out. “I think I can get it, and us, to the ground intact. You didn’t know that?”

“No,” Herzer admitted.

“Then what in the hell are you doing here?” Megan asked, angrily.

“Whither thou goest,” Herzer repeated. “If you were going to commit suicide bringing this thing down, I was going to be right there by you. Besides, I figured you might have a survivable plan. I figured it was a low-order probability, though.”

“Well, Mother does,” Megan said, sighing. “I think. It’s going to take some work, though. We’re going to be orbiting for about ten hours.”

“Our suits won’t last that long,” Herzer pointed out.

“There are spare air bottles in Engineering,” Megan said. “When the ship’s not on a close fly-by I can drop some of my concentration. Then it’s just a matter of light steering and drive.”

Herzer settled her into the docking ring, which had a lip that made for a comfortable seat, and settled down beside her.

“Nice view,” he said as the Earth slid by.

“Looks like a hurricane in the Po’ele,” Megan said, pointing.

“They call them typhoons for some reason,” Herzer replied. “How you doing?”

“Fine,” Megan said. “We’re outbound, now. We’ll swing out, beyond geosynchronous orbit, then back down. We’re going to do that about a half a dozen times before we’re in a close orbit. When we get down there, I’m going to be busy.”

“And you really want to do it all from out here?” Herzer asked.

“Yes,” was all Megan said.

“So you’re telling me I’ve been a servant of the Dark for the last three years?” Sildoniel asked.

“Yeah,” Tur-uck replied.

“And we’re in a fueling shuttle, which is about to crash into the Earth?”

“Yeah,” Tur-uck said. He was holding a sword on the one-armed elf but the damned thing was recovering so fast he wasn’t sure it was worth it.

“And all the reentry shuttles are disabled,” the elf continued.

“That’s the case,” Tur-uck said. “The rest of those Durgar fisks were out on the hull when we went through the outer atmosphere. I think they all got fried.”

“Good,” Sildoniel said, stretching. “Is there any food in this thing?”

“Replicators,” Gomblick said. “The food’s bland but it’s hot.”

“And water, of course,” the elf said. “So, we can crash with the ship, or battle to the death, or we can take this ship, which is more than capable of interplanetary distances, and try to find a habitat that survives.”

“Yeah,” Tur-uck said.

“Find a reentry capable ship would be nice,” the kobold added.

“You are a Change,” Sildoniel said, cocking his head to the side. “You must obey the orders of your Masters.”

“I’ve been known to ignore them,” Tur-uck replied, tapping his head. “Celine, she’s the one that Changed you by the way, she said that I’m a bad product. I’ve got a plate in my head. It gives me a headache sometime but I don’t have the same binding as most orcs. Yours are, what, gone?”

“As is much else,” Sildoniel said with a sigh.

“Your arm was crisped,” Tur-uck said. “We had to take it off.”

“I was not speaking of my arm,” the elf replied, softly. “There is… brain damage. I presume it was from the… Change that Celine forced upon me. It would be very hard for me to even speak Elvish at the moment. Very well. A truce, servant of the Dark. We shall go in search of a reentry capable ship. And when we return to Earth, I shall permit you and these to go, unmolested.”

“Nice of you to say that,” Tur-uck said, dryly. “Seeing as I’m the one holding the sword.”

Sildoniel cocked his head to the side and his left hand blurred out, snatching the sword out of the orc’s hand and flipping it around to grasp it.

“And now I am,” Sildoniel said. “Goblin. Detach from the ship now that we are out of the atmospheric effects. Let us go try to find a habitat that survives.”

“I think I can control from in here,” Megan said. She was lying on the deck of the maintenance bay, her eyes closed. “But when we get in the atmosphere, we’re going to want to be on the outside.”

“Why?” Herzer asked. He’d figured out how to bring up the navigation plot and was watching the little ship figure move through the degrading orbit. It was hypnotic. And, okay, terrifying.

“I’m going to aim for a water landing,” Megan replied distantly. The ship was currently on its closest approach to the atmosphere and Herzer could feel a deep rumbling through the structure. Part of that was the fusion generators running at max, but the rest was a touch of the atmosphere hitting the shields. “We’re not going to want to be inside.”

“Gotcha,” Herzer said. “We going to be able to breathe? Out of the suits, that is, since we don’t want to hit the water in them. Armor and all that.”

“We’ll have to find out,” Megan replied. She paused and winced.

“You okay?”

“Gravitational loading,” Megan said and took a deep breath. “The ship’s not designed to handle gravities like this so I’m having to use some of the power for structural integrity fields. It just tried to break in half.”

“Nice image,” Herzer said. “And if it breaks in half?”

“We’ll try to ride the rear portion down,” Megan replied. “Give me a second here, honey.”

“You go, girl,” Herzer said, softly, so as not to disturb her. He clicked his prosthetic slowly in thought, watching the blinking cursor.

“Herzer,” Megan said, after a moment, “could you please quit that?”

They’d taken the time to get a bite of ship’s replicator food, which was awful, recharged their air bottles, emptied their catheter gaskets and filled their water bottles. Megan from time to time would have to stop and concentrate as the ship made close approach. But as the last orbit began, they exited the airlock for, hopefully, the last time, and made their way to the docking bay.

The Earth was noticeably closer as they approached. Herzer clamped his prosthetic on a projection and wrapped his arm around Megan’s waist as he watched the rapidly approaching ball of blue and white. He could see that Ropasa was coming over the horizon. They’d pass over it, and Hind and all the rest, finally crossing the Po’ele and then, hopefully, Norau for a landing somewhere near Bimi Island.

If the ship held together.

“You comfortable?” Herzer asked as the void around them began to burn.

“I’m in your lap, aren’t I?” Megan asked coyly.

“So you are,” Herzer replied. The previous touches with the atmosphere had been light, but this one was much brighter and hotter. The atmosphere was actually being blown into plasma along the leading edge of the field-wings, flaring like a pale sun.

“This is very cool,” Herzer said as the ship began a slow turn to the right.

“Yes, it is,” Megan replied.

“And I never want to do it again,” Herzer continued. “What are we doing, anyway?”

“S turns,” Megan replied as the ship continued a radical turn. The light began to blaze all along the notional bottom of the ship, actually the starboard. “It’s a braking maneuver. I’m trying to get us down to a speed that won’t kill us when the ship hits.”

“I see,” Herzer said and he sort of did from flying dragons. This was rather different, however. Dragons only burned through the air if their napalm racks detonated in midflight. It happened.

“Where are we?” Megan asked.

“You don’t know?” Herzer replied, surprised.

“Not really,” Megan said. “Just be my eyes, okay?”

“Past Ropasa,” Herzer said after a moment, picking out the land forms through the clouds. “Headed to Hind across Taurania, I think.”

“Right on,” Megan muttered. She did another bank to the left, then winced as there was a shudder through the ship that lifted them off the deck.

“Whoa, horsey,” Herzer said, pulling her back down.

“We lost the port corridor member,” Megan said, tightly. “Right at the juncture with the midline circular support.”

“That’s not all we lost,” Herzer said, looking to the side. “We’re streaming something. Probably helium.”

“I can feel the shift in mass,” Megan replied. “We probably should have vented most of it anyway. I’ve got more than enough for the engines.”

“It’s pretty,” Herzer said, shifting to watch the helium stream past. As it hit the shield, and the atmosphere, it fluoresced in all the colors of the rainbow.

“I’m glad,” Megan said. “Where are we?”

“Hind,” Herzer said, definitely. The shape of the subcontinent was distinctive and mostly uncluttered by clouds. It was getting hard to see, though, through the waves of plasma around the ship.

“There,” Ishtar said to General Komellian, pointing up into the sky.

“The last spaceship, Greatness,” the general said sadly.

“There will be more when we win,” Ishtar promised, watching the massive streak of fire cross the sky.

“There,” Aikawa said, pointing to the south.

“A great omen, Your Worthiness,” Minister Chang replied, nodding. “A great omen.”

“Omen be damned,” Aikawa snapped. “Let’s just hope she can hold it together until it’s no longer a threat.”

“We’re over the Po’ele,” Herzer said. The plasma fire had died down but there was a deep rumbling through the whole structure that felt ominous. “Klicks and klicks of damn all but water.”

“Rachel told me a friend of hers was power skiing off Fiji when the Fall hit,” Megan said. “If we fall down there, even if I can slow us, we’ll drown in the ocean.”

“Better drop us somewhere close to land, then,” Herzer said.

“I’m heading for the Bimi Deeps,” Megan replied. “There’s enough area there that if I lose it, the waves won’t destroy much. And there’s a fleet exercising down there at the moment. Hopefully, we’ll land close to them.”

“Not too close,” Herzer said, imagining the tsunami from the impact. “Or we won’t have any ships to get to.”

“Not too close,” Megan agreed. “Close, but not too close.”

“You’re not banking anymore,” Herzer said.

“No, we’re mostly gliding,” the councilwoman said. “We’ll start banking again over Norau. Should be quite a sight.”

“They should be overhead,” Edmund said, shielding his eyes. “They should be in view.”

“I don’t see anything,” Colonel Jackson replied, looking up. The Navy rep had come out to the Frisso yards to examine the new cargo ship design and had liked what he’d seen. The Frisso yards were already doing a booming business in coastal ships and some of their work was directly useable by the Navy. He’d already recommended upgrading the Po’ele fleet. Just because New Destiny was concentrated on the Atlantis Ocean, didn’t mean that the UFS should ignore the Po’ele. Especially with yards, and trained seamen, at the ready.

“We’ve dumped every scrap of available power to keeping it from coming apart,” Edmund said, frowning. “I guess they’re just low enough and slow enough… wait. There,” he continued, pointing.

The ship had slowed enough that it was no longer making a burning trail across the sky. But it was a kilometer long. Even at two hundred thousand meters it was visible.

“Awesome,” Jackson said. “Simply awesome.”

“Norau passing under now,” Herzer said. “How high are we?”

“Too high,” Megan replied, banking to the right. The leading edge started to burn again as they entered thicker atmosphere and Herzer distinctly felt something give under his butt.

“I think we’re losing it,” he said calmly.

“Ya think?” Megan replied. “That was the port corridor cracking entirely. I’m holding it together with energy I can’t spare.”

“You’ll do it, honey,” Herzer said, pulling her more firmly into his lap as the ship began to shudder from the deeper atmosphere. “You’ll do it.”

“I can see Flora,” Herzer said a minute later. “We’re going really fast.”

“Too fast,” Megan said. “Too high. And I think we’re coming apart.”

“Well,” Herzer said, smiling tightly. “It’s a… little far to jump, dear.”

“No, it’s not,” Megan said, struggling in his arms. “Get ready.”

“You’re serious?” Herzer asked as the peninsula of Flora flashed by below them.

“Deadly,” Megan said.

“You promised you wouldn’t tell me to jump off the ship,” Herzer said.

“I lied,” Megan replied.

Herzer felt ghostly hands pluck at him and his armor was pulled apart and jettisoned to either side. A wind was evident for the first time. It felt… strange. Fast but… thin.

“We’re leaking,” Megan said, her own armor coming apart in sections and flying away to disappear over the side of the ship. They were left in only their suits and helmets.

“I don’t have any air,” Herzer pointed out. The helmets should have sealed when the armor and their support packs went away but that meant he was rebreathing his own breath. “Neither do you.”

“We’ll be fine,” Megan said as his helmet flew away.

“It’s way too thin up here…” Herzer started to say and then stopped. He could breathe normally.

“I’m holding a bubble around us,” Megan replied. “Just hang on for a second…”

They were coming down fast, now, no longer flying but dropping like a stone. Herzer could see the water getting closer and closer. It was still a long way off, but it was coming up fast. Much faster than free-fall.

“Megan,” he said, less calmly than usual.

“I’ve got us below reentry speeds,” Megan said, “but that’s the best I can do. This thing doesn’t have enough power to stop us from dropping.”

“We passed the Deeps,” Herzer said. He had the map of the Bimi chain memorized from long experience. “Hell, you missed the whole Bimi chain!”

“I said close,” Megan replied, tightly. “I didn’t say how close. Think planetary here.”

“It’s gonna be a long swim,” Herzer said. “But we won’t have to worry about it if we fall this fast. Is there any way you can slow us down?”

There was a deep shudder in the ship and the forward section broke free, spinning off to the side.

“No,” Megan said to another shudder that seemed to speed their downward fall. “That was fusion three blowing out. That’s all I can do. Jump.”

“Now?” Herzer asked.

“NOW!”

Herzer nodded his head and took Megan by the arm. The ship was in virtual free-fall, anyway, so picking her up wasn’t that hard.

“What are you doing?” Megan shouted as the shield around them failed and the wind hit full force.

“Saving your life,” Herzer muttered. He swung her back and forth for a moment and then threw her as hard as he could towards the rear of the ship.

As soon as Megan hit the vortex of wind around the ship, she curled into a ball, fighting to keep control over the power fields. She formed a field around herself and Herzer to reduce the buffeting and keep a bubble of breathable air. She could feel Herzer, now, and he was nearby.

“Spread eagle!” Herzer shouted, tracking towards the falling councilwoman. “Megan, damnit, listen to me! Spread eagle!”

Megan clamped into a tighter ball at his words, panicking at the demanding tone.

“Leave me alone!” she shouted over the screaming winds. She was being buffeted by the track of the monstrous ship, but even more so by dark memories.

“Megan,” Herzer yelled, fighting his way through the turbulence to approach her. He could feel the support field she had up, slowing themselves and the ship as much as she could. And there was a protection field that was, presumably, concentrating oxygen. They were still above forty thousand feet, at least, and he shouldn’t have been able to breathe. But with her in a ball, she was falling faster than she had to. “Spread your arms and legs,” he shouted. “It’ll slow you down!”

Megan gritted her teeth and threw her arms and legs out, sharply. She had been spinning over and over in her ball but this left her stable for the first time. And looking up. It felt very much like being in a position to accept Paul Bowman, who almost always did it missionary style.

“There,” she yelled, looking over at Herzer who was in much the same position but facing down and about five meters away and above her. “Are you satisfied?”

“Eminently,” Herzer yelled, grinning playfully. “Nice free-fall we’re having, don’t you think?”

They’d drifted away from the ship about fifty meters, but it was still far too close. And at the speed they were falling, hitting the water would be terminal.

“Megan,” Herzer said. “You have to speed us up. Make us fall faster.”

“Are you crazy?” Megan shouted back.

“No, I’m not,” Herzer said, tracking over to hover by her. “We need to get down fast, then slow us just before we hit the water. We need to hit the water before the ship, or we’ll lose power.”

“You’re right,” Megan shouted. “Again. Hold on.”

Herzer suddenly felt as if an enormous hand had gripped him, pulling him down and to the side. The ship flashed by, seeming to climb upwards like a rocket. Even with the field around him, the wind whipped into his eyes to the point that he had to close them. But through his slitted lids he could see the ocean approaching at blinding speeds.

“How long are you going to hold this?” Herzer asked. He couldn’t even maneuver with the field that was gripping him. He was completely in Megan’s hands.

“Until we’re right down to water level,” Megan shouted. “And I’m steering towards the islands to the north. We’ll still be about sixty klicks out. But that’s better than right by the ship when it crashes!”

The blue water came up fast and Herzer recognized the area as somewhere around the Jama island chain. He could see a volcanic island to the north, but sixty klicks… wasn’t going to be a survivable swim. Not with his prosthetic. And the minute the ship hit, all Megan’s extra power was going to go away.

“Slowing down… now,” Megan shouted as the water approached like an oncoming train.

Herzer again felt that magic hand and they slowed to a near stop, no more than a hundred meters off the water. He looked up and saw the shattered ship still a few thousand meters above them, twisting as it fell through the atmosphere.

“Going down,” Megan said, floating over to face him as they began to gently drift towards the water. “Like a flower pet—” She stopped and blanched as they suddenly sped up.

“The fusion plants just cascade failed!” she shouted. “Lost all power! Hold your nose!”

“It’s a good thing my dad taught me to swim, or you’d have drowned,” Megan said, breast stroking to the north. They didn’t have anything for flotation; it was impossible to get the suits off with the waves from the ship still lapping over them. So they were trying to swim to the islands. And not doing too well.

“Very funny,” Herzer replied tiredly. Swimming with only one hand, wearing a suit that was not particularly buoyant, was difficult to say the least.

“Did I just see a dolphin?” Megan gasped, spitting out a mouthful of water. She kicked up to look around and slid under the water for her troubles.

“Maybe,” Herzer replied. “But wild dolphins usually ignore swimmers.”

“Maybe they’re delphino,” the Key-holder said, hopefully.

Herzer looked around at the vast empty sea and shrugged.

“What’s the chance of that?” he said. He felt something brush his leg and decided not to mention it to Megan. He’d hated sharks ever since a bull shark had nearly made him a part of the food chain in Bimi. There was another brush and then a head covered by black hair popped up out of the waves.

Mer Captain Elayna Farswimmer flipped her hair back, took a breath of air and blasted the water out of the slits in the side of her lungs, creating a cloud of bubbles.

“I told you to stick with me,” she said, grabbing both of the failing swimmers, her powerful mermaid tail sculling back and forth lightly to support them. “You get involved with strange women and bad things happen.”

“Another old girlfriend?” Megan said, laughing in relief. “How many are there?”

“How’d you find us?” Herzer asked, ignoring the jibe.

“Queen Sheida called me just before the Net crashed,” Elayna said. “And I hurried over as fast as I could. Of course, I didn’t know exactly where you were going to land. Sorry it took so long.”

“You’re not going to be able to do much by yourself,” Herzer noted. “And I’ve got this whole negative buoyancy problem.”

“Who says I’m by myself?” Elayna replied with a grin as mer heads started popping up and a large delphino slid in to support his weight. “I brought my whole strike company. Lucky for you, we were checking out Port Crater as an expansion to Blackbeard.”

“You’ve got a company?” Herzer snapped.

“Of course,” Elayna replied. “Some people can be trusted with the responsibility of command…”