The Turning Tides (Marina's Tales) (35 page)

“
A trick?
” she asked.

I wondered how to explain it to her, “
They copied her voice… They were pretending to be her
.”

“
But…why?
”

“
To make you come closer, so they could catch you
.”

Nixie’s seaweed green eyes sprang open wide, surprised that such subterfuge was even possible. She spoke solemnly, “
They are much badder than the sisters know
.”

“
Yes
,” I said sadly, thinking about the poor dead mermaid on cold storage in the laboratory, “
They are
.” The thought of them doing anything to Nixie filled me with fear.

“
Are they going to cut us up too?
” Nixie asked solemnly, having just been treated to the image in my memory. I was surprised she was so matter of fact about it, but it made sense
;
I imagined that the wild nature of the mermaid’s life at sea didn’t involve much sentimentality
.
M
ermaids were fundamentally predators, hunters who dealt with bloody death every single day of their lives.

It only pointed out the utter ignorance and arrogance of Nathan Edward’s approach. He had no idea what they were capable of, and his false assumption that they were merely mindless creatures made his plan t
o use them certain to fail.
They were as
alien to him as he was to them–
humans and mermaids were two very different species, with markedly different sets of values and morals...
N
ot that Edwards had any morals at all.

I was unused to having to censor my thoughts, and I supposed there was no use trying to sugar-coat things, but I decided I should try and guard against conjuring up negative images for her sake.

“
No Nixie, I’m afraid they want to keep us in here as long as they can
.”

I tried to clear my mind about what they had planned for our future.

She sat up suddenly, her face brightening, “
I know! Summon your good person! He can help us!
”

I shook my head sadly
.
“
People can’t summon each other like the sisters can
,” I explained. “
He doesn’t know we’re here
.”

Nixie sighed, settling back down. She yawned, and I curled around her, trying to sleep. I managed to doze on and off, dreaming of Ethan.

~

We were walking through a farm field,
and
the smell of freshly turned soil mingl
ed
with
the scent of newly mown
grass
in
my nostrils. He took my hand and led me down a golden path to a little tent set up in a sheltered spot at the base of a slope. He stopped walking, bending to kiss me with a smile.
I was so sublimely happy I could barely believe it was true.

~

I woke with a start to the sound of men’s voices rising in anger. I turned to see Paul arguing with the doctor about shift rotations. Doctor Neuman wanted to send Jones for some plumbing parts, but Paul was forbidding him to go, “
I want
two
men
here at all times,” he said arrogantly, “And I’m due for a break.”

Doctor Neuman glared at Paul, “Thanks to your carelessness, we need to make some repairs.”

Paul stepped closer to the doctor,
looking down on him menacingly.
“It can wait,” Paul
growled
, “Until I get back.”

Jones and the doctor exchanged a glance, “Have it your way,” Neuman hissed, watching as Paul turned to leave. When the two scientists were alone they started griping about having to deal with Paul, planning on complaining to Edwards about his hotheaded incompetence.

“The man’s a Troglodyte,” Neuman complained, glancing up at us in the tank
.
“They’re not going anywhere. Go ahead and take a break. Pick up what you need, and you can take over here in the morning. He’ll be none the wiser.”

Jones left, and I sat up to watch Doctor Neuman working. I swam in slow circles around the tank while Nixie slept, watching the fish swim to avoid me. Something winked at me from the bottom of the tank, and I swam over to look down at my engagement ring. I held my hand before my eyes. Fine shimmering webbing had formed on it, rising halfway up my fingers to terminate just past the knuckles;
it must have forced the ring from my finger.

I picked it up, thinking of Ethan once again. The ring was a symbol of his sacrifice, and I remembered how hard he had worked to get it for me. He’d
picked
a beautiful white diamond, the hardest substance on earth, symbolic of eternal love. It was flanked by two blue-green aquamarines he had chosen just for me, and I remembered how sweet he could be with a twinge of heartache. Then it struck me.

The hardest substance on earth.

I swam to the corner of the tank, taking the ring firmly between my fingers and scraping it across the spot where the two acrylic plates were joined. Flakes of acrylic shaved away, fluttering to the floor of the tank. It might be a futile gesture, and it could take hours or even days to cut a hole, but at least I had something to do other than sit and await my ultimate fate. I went to work with single minded determination.

Scratch, scratch, scratch
.

Nixie woke up and swam alongside me, hovering above me to watch what I was doing with curiosity. “
Can I try?
” she asked. We took turns shaving the acrylic panel down millimeter by millimeter, and soon, so many little flakes floated in the water that the corner started to look like a snow globe.

Scratch, scratch, scratch
.

Doctor Neuman looked up from his microscope, scowling in our direction. He got up reluctantly, setting his work aside meticulously before pulling out his stool. When he got close enough to see what was going on his eyes flew open wide.

“What are you doing?” he banged his fists on the aquarium, “Stop it at once!”

I glanced up at him with a smile.

Scratch, scratch, scratch
.

He pressed his face close, and I could see his bloodshot eye roll down to see the ring. It rolled back up to meet mine. Now he really started to panic.

I started back in with glee, amused at the way he paced back and forth with his hands on his head. I knew
what
he was thinking; Paul would be back soon, and his mistake would be revealed. Edwards would be livid when he learned that his genius scientists overlooked my ring, and I smiled up at him again. 

Scratch, scratch, scratch
.

“Stop it!” he screeched, “Give me that ring at once!”

I bit my lip, smiling broadly. I was enjoying his distress.

I handed the ring to Nixie, first waving it back and forth in front of Neuman to taunt him. His eyes bulged, and his face grew red. He shook with anger, practically jumping up and down. If he was a cartoon character, I’m sure that steam would be pouring out of his ears.

Scratch, scratch, scratch
.

Nixie looked at him, and back at me in surprise, “
Why is he so mad?
”

I hugged her, smiling as she went back to single-mindedly scraping away at the acrylic. Doctor Neuman started banging his fists on the glass and cursing us, spittle flying. I stuck my tongue out at him, driving him into a blind rage. After a few more minutes, the groove we had carved breached the seam, and I saw a few drops of water roll out, trickle down the side of the tank, and pool on the ground.

Neuman saw it too, and in a fit of panic he climbed up the ladder, looking frantically through a rack of tools mounted on the wall next to the big door. I could see his feet from my vantage beneath him, stalking across the top of the tank purposefully. He brandished a long, flexible rod, feeding it down into the water pipe until the tip of it poked out. There was a hook on the end.

“Give me that ring!” Neuman screamed down at us, his face contorted.

I made a great show of taking the ring from Nixie, holding it up to see it sparkle, then starting right back in on the wall of the tank.

Scratch, scratch, scratch
.

The doctor went berserk, running back across the top of the tank towards the ladder. He slipped on the smooth surface in his haste, nearly sliding off the side and down to the hard concrete floor below. He caught himself at the last possible moment, reversing his momentum. He would have been better off if he had fallen.

Doctor Neuman stumbled backwards, stepping square in the middle of the trap door, and plung
ing
straight down into the tank. Our eyes locked in horror.

I swam to the trapdoor, helping him as he desperately tried to pry it open. It was as immovable as before, and when our eyes met, we both knew that he was going to drown. He grabbed me,
clenching my wrist in a death-grip while still clawing frantically at the seam with one hand. When he ran out of air, his body convulsed, shuddering and shaking. Finally, after what seemed like a very long time, he was still.

I floated there,
shrinking back in
abject
horror as I watched the light go out of his eyes. He went limp, drifting around in a circle while I peeled his hand off my wrist, finger by finger. I swam to Nixie, who was again cowering in the corner, quivering in terror.

She looked up at me in misery, “
What is he going to do to us?
”

“
He can’t hurt us anymore,
” I told her in a shaky voice, “
He’s dead.
”

She looked around me to where the doctor’s corpse was floating, starting back to hide from it. “
Come on
,” I took her hand, leading her back over to the corner. It may not get us very far, but Nixie needed something to focus on besides the dead man. I picked up the ring and handed it to her, “
Let’s get back to work
.”

Scratching sounds filled the tank for the rest of the night.

~

C
hapter
T
wenty-F
our

RING

~

I kept Nixie focused on scraping the gouge deeper, wondering how much time we had before Jones returned. The water started to trickle out faster, and the puddle on the floor widened and spread, wetting the entire cement floor of the lab. We’d still only managed to bore a pencil-thin leak, and I could barely fit my fist in the groove we’d made. I realized it would take much longer than we’d have to carve out a hole big enough to crawl through.

I looked up, wondering how long it would take for enough water to drain out so I could breathe air. Even if I managed to transform back, I’d
still
be trapped naked in
side
a cold wet tank, and then have to watch poor Nixie undergoing the same painful and terrifying transformation. It was a lose-lose proposition.

Nixie was having a difficult time ignoring the floating corpse of the doctor, so I tried distracting her, teaching her how to play patty cake, and acting out the elephant song I’d learned as a child in Thailand. She looked mystified when I mimed a trunk and great flapping ears. I tried to make it into a squid song, but she started to look at me like I was losing my mind, so I gave it up.

I rubbed my temples, trying to think. The confusion was already starting to set in, and I remembered what Jones had said about the mermaid brain. He was right, I thought, struggling to hold onto my ability to make a plan, to think ahead more than a few steps. Clearly, chess would not be a mermaid strong suit
.
I remember
ed
the game with my father, and wonder
ed
how he would take the news about me running off with Paul. I tried to hold onto my logical mind as I struggled to imagine what
my next move should be
.

I lost all track of time, and eventually
the door to the lab creaked open.
Jones had returned, hauling a tool box and a bag from the hardware store.
He
called out for Doctor Neuman when he noticed the wet floor. He traced the leak to its source, finally looking up to see the doctor’s lifeless body suspended in the tank. He dropped the bag he was holding and stood slack-jawed, frozen in
disbelief.

He reached into his breast pocket slowly, lifting his phone to his ear in a daze, “Houston… We have a problem.” He groped for a chair, clearly rattled, “He’s dead… Neuman’s dead… I have no idea– I just got back…” His voice raised, “Jesus! He told me to… You took off too! Listen! You need to get back here right away…”

He put the phone away and slumped in his chair, mopping his forehead with a
handkerchief
. Within a few minutes Paul came barreling in through the door, grim faced and serious, surveying the scene in the laboratory with dismay.
I slipped the ring as far down my finger as it would go, turning the stone towards my palm again.