Two Moons of Sera (19 page)

“I guess.”

We eventually came to a black square on the floor at the end
of the hall. I stood in the center while Kit punched in the code that would
take us down to the Hub. The ground dropped beneath me, and we rushed toward
our destination.

Once we stopped on another identical floor with white walls
and gray walkways, I started to wonder if the entire building had only one
floor and everyone was just playing a huge practical joke on me. Maybe we weren’t
even underground.

At the end of the short hall was one door with one panel.

“Thanks.” I grinned at her before punching in my code.

“Bye, Sera. It was nice to talk to you.” She turned and
strode away.

“Wait!”

Kit turned but didn’t step closer.

“Aren’t you coming with me? I don’t know where to go!”

“Oh, me? I’m not allowed in the Hub. You’ll figure it out.”
Her smile was sincere, and I wished this were another world where she could
have been a friend. A world where she wouldn’t hate me if she ever found out
what I was.

The Hub was massive. And loud. It consisted of one huge room
with instruments, computers, and other technology I’d only read about in books.
I’d never seen so many screens and buttons in my life, and the idea that all
the information of the entire Erdlander culture had been stored within these
machines terrified me.

Everyone seemed to be speaking all at once, either in
Erdlander or their mangled version of Sualwet, which I was growing to despise.
Recorded voices rang out as well, intermingling with spoken words to create an
overwhelming din. People stood at the middle of the Hub, alternately talking
and then listening to some device in their ear. One man even had papers spread
out on the floor and appeared to be studying them among the chaos.

None of this meant anything to me. I only had eyes for the
glass wall on the other side of the room. It covered the entire length of the
chamber and held back a massive underground river. Looking at the rushing
water, I could almost feel it cascading across my skin as I imagined myself
diving in and absorbing the moisture I craved.

Drawn by the majesty of my mother’s genetics, I walked
straight toward the transparent barrier. Ignoring the man on the ground, I
moved like a starving person drawn to a feast. In the middle of the wall was
something I couldn’t quite see, but before I made it closer, Dr. Vaughn stepped
in front of me.

“Amazing isn’t it?” he asked, having no understanding of
just how astounding it was. “The small springs all pull from this underground
river. We discovered it when we built this camp. We have been able to infiltrate
the Sualwet communication systems by sending beacons down this river. Plus,
access to it gives us better conduction for listening to their intelligence.”

I nodded, trying to get a look behind him, barely
registering the information he rattled off. My admittance into the Hub was
risky, but if given enough thought, it posed important questions. Why was I
here? Why was I allowed this level of access? The moment snared me, and I
became too lost in it to stop and consider the implications.

Vaughn gestured to the glass wall without moving out of the
way. “This area is caged in, which allows water to flow through it, but nothing
can get in or out. This lets us keep our friend contained in his preferred
element.”

Vaughn stepped aside and swept his arm to show me his prized
possession. The object in the water was a young Sualwet, perhaps only eight or
nine years old. I swallowed my horror, unable to look away.

“He’s quite a find. Too young to fight us but old enough to
possess valuable information. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about him yesterday.
When you mentioned having studied with Dr. Rhine, I knew instantly we could
pull you in on this project, Security is very tight, so I had to get the
correct signatures before you could be allowed to know. Perhaps you will have
more luck than us in getting him to talk about his people. Your accent is so...
authentic.”

My body shook as I stared at the imprisoned child before me,
his tight-fitting Sualwet clothing ripped and flapping in the water behind him.
His hairless head lowered above the river’s surface and tucked against his
chest. The boy shed a tear into the water, a drop of liquid into the
sea—another molecule among many.

Hot tears of anger and outrage pooled behind my eyes.

As Vaughn spoke, the boy looked up, and his oversized black
eyes searched me. He recognized me unconsciously, our genetic similarity
stronger than the differences he saw when he gazed into my strange eyes.

“Where did you find him?” I was finally able to say, my
voice dispassionate. I looked away, breaking the connection with the boy. I
could
feel
him all around me, his senses reaching out to touch me, as if
his isolation and fear were licking at my flesh and leaving goose bumps in
their wake.

“He was swimming alone in one of the outlets from the springs.
The warm water of the underground river must have drawn him to the area. The
Coastal Guard was able to lure him close and net him. We kept him in Science,
along with the other specimens, but this one reacted much worse to being on
land than the others. We had this glass wall already, so the Council built him
an enclosure where we could observe him. It’s proven to be surprisingly
helpful, actually. He reacts when he hears communications long before our
sensors pick them up, so just by observing him we’ve been able to track
significant intelligence.”

“Amazing.” I shuddered, bile rising into my throat. Every
cell in my body wanted to break that glass and free him, drowning the
Erdlanders trapped so deep in the earth. They deserved to die by the souls of their
enemies. They deserved worse. How could Kit, Traz, even Lace, be the same as
Vaughn? One day, would they be as cold and disconnected to their hearts as he?

“How do you feed him?” I ventured.

Vaughn ushered me to the perimeter of the room while he explained
the mechanics of the boy’s enclosure. The Erdlander quickly bored of the topic
and shifted to my training. He focusing on the myriad of objects in the room:
listening devices, recording devices, even a machine that would print out
words. Usually I would have been fascinated, absorbing every piece of
information he gave me. My whole life I had dreamed of a world where such
technologies were available. But all I could focus on was the small figure
behind the glass.

Vaughn had me read over documents collected during the last
Erdlander invasion of Sualwet sea. The paper was no longer the smooth material
used underwater; it had dried out and become brittle, flaking away at my touch.
I took pleasure in accidentally chipping off corners or flaking off a word here
or there. My small subterfuge was irrelevant in the larger picture, but it was
mine nonetheless.

As I read over the course of the day, I unconsciously
migrated closer and closer to the water, its song seducing me even behind the
thick wall of glass.

Hours passed, and soon it was time for everyone to head
home. On the floor near the river, I had spread out all the materials Vaughn
had given me about their research and communications with the captive Sualwet.
I faced away from the boy while reading, knowing that if he were in view, I
would be unable to look at anything else.

Before returning to his office, Vaughn had given the staff
instructions to answer any questions I had, content my assignment would keep me
busy. Few spoke to me. Everyone focused only on finishing their tasks and
getting back to their homes.

Finally, the last of them filtered out, and I was alone. As
soon as the door slid closed behind the last of the Hub staff, my eyes locked
on the boy in the cage.

~
Mintoch.
~

The name flowed into my mind as soon as I placed a hand on
the glass. Desperation and an infectious hope dripped from the boy’s voice.

Cool moisture embraced my palms. I stood face to face with
the young Sualwet boy, alone at last and able to acknowledge the connection
between us. He was tall and slim, built like a typical Sualwet teen. Webbing
showed between his splayed fingers as he hovered before me. I would have given
anything to be in the water with him for just a minute, to feel the cool brine
welcome me home.

The empty room of the Hub filled with the thudding of my
racing heart. If I were caught speaking to him, how would I explain my
behavior? Would mere curiosity be enough of a defense against the treason the
Erdlanders would surely presume?

~
Mintoch, my name is Serafay. Are you hurt?
~ I
breathed the words more than spoke them, allowing the tone to flow through my
body and into the water.

The boy’s eyes widened at the sound of my voice. ~
You are
Sualwet?
~

~
No, but my mother was.
~

Confusion warred on his face as though he debated whether I
was worthy of his trust. I had been told the same bedtime stories of Erdlanders
who feigned friendship only to enslave Sualwet. My mother was a victim of that
same methodology, as this boy.

Before he could decide if I was friend or foe, I rushed on. ~
I
lived with my mother by the sea until Erdlanders killed her and I had to run.
She was captured, just as you were, and I was the result of their cruelty. I
have come here only to survive. I’m not one of them. I want to help you.
~

~
Help me?
~ The water bubbled around Mintoch’s face as
he snorted, punctuating his disbelief.

~
Yes.
~

Mintoch looked away from me, examining his cage for what had
to be the thousandth time this hour, and shook his head. The offer swam between
us, and his lips grew tight as he considered it, unsure if my willingness to
help was born of the air or the water.

~
You cannot help me.
~ His rebuttal echoed his defeat.

I examined him. His young body was not muscled the way
Sualwets typically were. Instead, the outline of his ribs and the skinny
weakness in his arms, the result of his confinement, gave him an almost sickly
appearance.

~
I can. I can find a way into the underground river and
swim to you. Perhaps I can get you free from the outside.
~

~
No. There is a gate. Look.
~

Following the direction of his gaze, I made out a wall of
metal grating farther up the river. Another bookended the enclosure downstream.

It was an impossible cage; they had trapped his body and
mind within his own world. He was on display before his enemies, his mere
existence betraying his brethren. They fed him through a grate below the glass,
an unceremonious event meant only to keep him alive. There was no other way in.

~
How long have you been in there?
~ I asked.

Mintoch shrugged and turned away. Pain was etched in his
young features. Loss swam in his large black eyes.

~
I’ve only been here two days and I can’t stand it,
~
I went on, hoping to relate to him. Perhaps if we could connect, if he could
see I meant him no harm, he would find the will to save himself. I was out of
ideas, and whether he liked it or not, he knew more about these people than I
did. What else was there for him to do all day but swim and observe his
captors?

~
Do they smell?
~ Mintoch swayed in the water, his
body undulating from side to side as he rode the current of the underground
river. His figure had evolved through generations to manage the pull of the
tide to the point where now, he didn’t even realize he was resisting it.

~
By themselves they don’t, but a room full of them....
~
Glancing around the Hub, I wrinkled my nose and shook my head, eliciting a weak
smile from him. I returned my focus to Mintoch. ~
How old are you?
~

~
I was eleven when they caught me. I think I’ve been here
long enough to be twelve, but it’s hard to tell without the moons.
~

Living without the open sky above struck me as a form of
torture. Isolated and having no one with whom to relate—well, that was a state
of existence I was well versed in. I pitied his imprisonment—the terms of it
were too much like my entire life for me to think it insufferable—but to live
without the stars and moons...? That was surely a version of hell the
Erdlanders had orchestrated.

~
Mintoch, I have an idea. I may have a way to get you
out, but I can’t do it until tomorrow.
~

~
Serafay, don’t leave me here. I... I hate it so much.
~

~
I won’t. I promise. I won’t leave without you. We’re
going to get you out and go to the mountains. When we’re far enough, you can
make your way back out to the water, but....
~

~
What?
~

~
The Domed City was destroyed. This war has killed
thousands of Sualwets and at least as many Erdlanders.
~

~
Who cares? Erdlanders should all rot in the sun!
~

I nodded, but inside I couldn’t agree with him, not
completely. The Erdlanders had done and continued to do horrible, terrible
things. My existence proved that as much as the boy trapped before me. But was
their fear and hatred any less reasonable than the Sualwets’? Neither side was
right. No one would ever win this war.

~
How will you get me out?
~ Mintoch asked.

~
We’re going to break the glass.
~

~
How will you break it? I’ve tried over and over, and
nothing I do even cracks it. I’ve done everything I can think of. And where
would I go if it worked? In any case, I’d love to watch those Erdlanders drown.
~

I feared his anger. Such hatred was justified, though, and I’d
probably feel the same were I the one in that cage, but so much hate came
through, it seemed that alone could crack the dense glass. This kind of
vengeful anger couldn’t possibly help end the war.

~
I have an idea,
~ I said. ~
Something that may
shatter the glass.
~

~
You can’t. The water will fill the room.
~

~
I can breathe underwater.
~

~
The pressure of the river flowing in will injure us
both. It might kill you.
~ The boy closed his obsidian eyes, and the gills
on his neck quivered.

~
It might. But I won’t leave you here, and I don’t see
another way.
~

Tor could break it. I knew he could. Enough fire and anger,
and he could bring this whole wall crashing around us. And if anything could
inspire Tor toward destruction, it would be the sight of this imprisoned child.

~
I have a friend who can do it. I have to tell him about
you, and then he’ll help.
~

~
Is he your mate?
~

I paused, unsure how to explain the state of my relationship
with Tor. Instead, I smiled with the knowledge that one day he would be my
mate, and nodded.

~
All right. Tomorrow.
~

~
Yes. Tomorrow. I promise.
~