The Seadragon's Daughter (27 page)
Read The Seadragon's Daughter Online
Authors: Alan F. Troop
Jessai swims by in pursuit of another dolphin, and I mindspeak to him,
“Jessai, join us! Together we can kill more.”
He pauses and stares at me, just as I see a large, almost pure white dolphin racing toward my side. I twist my body and drop, glad at least that Derek has prevented it from ramming me from the rear.
“Jessai, join us! Together we can kill more.”
He pauses and stares at me, just as I see a large, almost pure white dolphin racing toward my side. I twist my body and drop, glad at least that Derek has prevented it from ramming me from the rear.
The dolphin only manages to strike my head a glancing blow as it passes. Still, as large as the beast is, the blow stuns me. I float, not reacting, as another, larger dolphin shoots toward me and takes my throat in its jaws. The pain of its teeth digging through my scales brings me back to awareness. I jab at it with my trident, slicing its side, drawing blood, and the beast releases me and darts off.
“That was Notch Fin,”
Jessai mindspeaks.
“The other one—the albino one that first attacked you—we call Ghost. We think he’s one of Notch Fin’s lieutenants.”
The Pelk joins me at my side, calling others over to fill in defensive positions on the sides and to our top and bottom. We take turns, swimming up in pairs to take breaths.
Jessai mindspeaks.
“The other one—the albino one that first attacked you—we call Ghost. We think he’s one of Notch Fin’s lieutenants.”
The Pelk joins me at my side, calling others over to fill in defensive positions on the sides and to our top and bottom. We take turns, swimming up in pairs to take breaths.
Dolphins swarm around us, ramming and biting. We slash and stab back at them.
“Got the bugger!”
Derek mindspeaks, driving his trident deep into the midsection of one of his attackers, making the first kill. Jessai kills the next. When he blurts out,
“Got the bugger!”
too, Derek and I both lose air laughing into the water.
“Got the bugger!”
Derek mindspeaks, driving his trident deep into the midsection of one of his attackers, making the first kill. Jessai kills the next. When he blurts out,
“Got the bugger!”
too, Derek and I both lose air laughing into the water.
Mowdar finally recognizes our success and forms a defensive ring of his own. The water turns a pale red all around us as one dolphin after another dies.
Notch Fin races by me, Ghost just behind him, both clicking and whistling, the rest of the dolphins breaking away and following them.
“No!”
I mindspeak, shooting after them, Jessai, Derek and the rest following me.
“No!”
I mindspeak, shooting after them, Jessai, Derek and the rest following me.
I swim faster than I ever have. I want Notch Fin. I’ve yet to have my first kill today. My neck stings from the beast’s bites. I grin as we close on him and his pod.
Notch Fin realizes they can’t outrun us and wheels his pod around, the dolphins racing toward us, Notch Fin in the lead, as we speed toward them. This time there is no time for strategy, no way to plan defense—just the pending impact of large creatures racing toward an underwater collision.
I drive my trident into Notch Fin’s underbelly with my right arm just before he rams me in my right shoulder. My arm going numb, I keep forcing all three prongs into him even as he tries to turn away. The beast batters me with his flippers, twists us around with strokes of his powerful flukes, but still I dig my trident into him.
Notch Fin cracks his head against mine. I almost fall away, but somehow I manage to continue my attack. He cracks his head into mine again and I look around for help. I see Jessai approaching out of the corner of my eye and I hope he’ll arrive before Notch Fin batters me to death.
“Peter! Peter, are you all right?”
someone mindspeaks. I assume it has to be Jessai and I glance toward him, wondering why he would ask such a thing. But the Pelk has stopped his approach and stares at me with wide eyes.
someone mindspeaks. I assume it has to be Jessai and I glance toward him, wondering why he would ask such a thing. But the Pelk has stopped his approach and stares at me with wide eyes.
“Peter! Answer me. Are you all right?”
Notch Fin twists again and I feel the trident begin to pull loose. I realize who’s called out to me. {
Later!
} I mindspeak, masked, {
Later! But masked!
} I drive the trident into the large dolphin with all my force.
Later!
} I mindspeak, masked, {
Later! But masked!
} I drive the trident into the large dolphin with all my force.
{
Yes, Peter, later
.}
Yes, Peter, later
.}
Jessai finally joins my attack, plunging his trident into Notch Fin’s throat. Together we hold the shafts of our tridents, pushing, shoving them in further as Notch Fin tries every move he can to escape us and together we feel him grow weaker until he finally falls still.
“We got the bugger!”
Jessai mindspeaks.
“We killed Notch Fin!”
“We got the bugger!”
Jessai mindspeaks.
“We killed Notch Fin!”
But I say nothing. My mind is too full of the sound of Chloe’s words.
27
Long after Lorrel stills beside me and her breaths turn slow and regular, I lie staring into the dark, listening to her and to the faint rustle of our drapes. As gorged with dolphin meat and as flooded with Dragon’s Tear wine as I am, I yearn to sleep too.
Instead, I shake my head and sit up. Somewhere, Chloe sits awake too, waiting to hear from me. I have put her off too many times already today. She’d tried to contact me three more times during the day. But I’d been too surrounded by celebrating Pelk—all demanding I retell the story how Jessai and I had finally killed Notch Fin. I couldn’t risk their suspicion over any silence or detachment on my part.
Finally, when she contacted me in the evening during Mowdar’s toast to me and I curtly put her off again, she mindspoke, {
You contact me when you can. I’ll wait up.
}
You contact me when you can. I’ll wait up.
}
I sigh. We’ve been married long enough for me to picture the annoyed look she surely had on her face when she mindspoke those words—not that I blame her.
Listening for any signs of activity outside our alcove, I nod when I hear none. After hours and hours of feasting and celebration, I’d begun to worry that the last of the Pelk revelers would never retreat to their nests. Careful not to disturb Lorrel, I sidle away from her and slip out of our nest. I have no desire to communicate with my wife while lying with the warmth of another female pressed against me.
It takes only a few moments for me to feel my way in the dark to the alcove’s drapes. I part them and sit on a nearby seaweed seat. Here and there a few glowpools still give off some dim glimmers of light, barely enough to let me see through the dark that now blankets the cavern. A dozen yards away from me a Pelk couple, either too tired or too drunk on Dragon’s Tear wine to put up their tent, lie in their nest, entwined in the throes of sex, oblivious to my stare.
I smile and watch them couple, my mind more on Chloe than on their rutting. As glad as I am to hear from her, I worry about her reaction to my infidelity. I know I had no choice. Still, I wonder if I can make her understand.
The Pelks have a final spasm of movement and then grow still, lying with limbs and tails interwoven as they fall off to sleep. I shake my head and sigh, wishing Chloe and I were that couple. Taking a deep breath I mindspeak, masked, {
Chloe. It’s Peter. Can you hear me?
}
Chloe. It’s Peter. Can you hear me?
}
No answer comes and I try again. {
Chloe, please answer me.
}
Chloe, please answer me.
}
{
Are you sure you have time? Or would it be more convenient for you if we spoke tomorrow or the day after?
} Chloe mindspeaks.
Are you sure you have time? Or would it be more convenient for you if we spoke tomorrow or the day after?
} Chloe mindspeaks.
I frown into the dark. {
Please, Chloe, this is difficult enough.
}
Please, Chloe, this is difficult enough.
}
{
Difficult? Claudia tells me I have to rush home because you’re gone and it has something to do with the Pelk and the Bahamas. So I arrange for my parents to take care of the kids—believe me there was nothing easy about that—and I come home to find your boat gone and someone else’s scent in our house
and
on my sweatshirt and my sweatpants. And then when I finally can contact you, you’re too busy to bother with me—five times! You think that’s not difficult?
}
Difficult? Claudia tells me I have to rush home because you’re gone and it has something to do with the Pelk and the Bahamas. So I arrange for my parents to take care of the kids—believe me there was nothing easy about that—and I come home to find your boat gone and someone else’s scent in our house
and
on my sweatshirt and my sweatpants. And then when I finally can contact you, you’re too busy to bother with me—five times! You think that’s not difficult?
}
{
You have to understand. . . .
}
You have to understand. . . .
}
{
Understand what? You missed your deposition. Ian’s in the stratosphere, he’s so pissed at you. That rag,
The Weekly Dish,
has been screaming for your arrest. Pepe Santos’s attorney finally got the district attorney to get a court order for it. So many patrol boats have our island under around-the-clock surveillance that I couldn’t even fly here from home.
}
Understand what? You missed your deposition. Ian’s in the stratosphere, he’s so pissed at you. That rag,
The Weekly Dish,
has been screaming for your arrest. Pepe Santos’s attorney finally got the district attorney to get a court order for it. So many patrol boats have our island under around-the-clock surveillance that I couldn’t even fly here from home.
}
{
Where are you now?
}
Where are you now?
}
{
Bimini. Claudia brought me over in her boat. I tried to contact you as soon as we checked into the Blue Water Marina but you were too busy for me. . . .
}
Bimini. Claudia brought me over in her boat. I tried to contact you as soon as we checked into the Blue Water Marina but you were too busy for me. . . .
}
Gnashing my fangs, I resist the urge to slap my tail on the cavern’s stone floor. {
Damn it, Chloe, I was fighting for my life! Will you calm down a minute and listen to me?
}
Damn it, Chloe, I was fighting for my life! Will you calm down a minute and listen to me?
}
She says nothing and I pour out the story of Lorrel’s attack, the poison she injected into me, our trip to Andros, Derek’s presence there, my father’s involvement and Mowdar’s desire to keep me with his srrynn—leaving out only Lorrel’s attempts to bed me and our eventual coupling.
{
When you tried to contact me I was in the middle of a fight with the largest dolphin I’ve ever seen. It was part of a battle the Pelk were having with the dolphins. After one of the Pelk and I killed the dolphin and we won the fight, everyone was so busy celebrating that they wouldn’t leave me alone for a minute. You know how strange people seem when they’re mindspeaking masked—like their minds are off somewhere else entirely. I didn’t want any of the Pelk to think I was communicating with anyone.
}
When you tried to contact me I was in the middle of a fight with the largest dolphin I’ve ever seen. It was part of a battle the Pelk were having with the dolphins. After one of the Pelk and I killed the dolphin and we won the fight, everyone was so busy celebrating that they wouldn’t leave me alone for a minute. You know how strange people seem when they’re mindspeaking masked—like their minds are off somewhere else entirely. I didn’t want any of the Pelk to think I was communicating with anyone.
}
{
And all this started because of something Derek said and something Don Henri did?
} Chloe mindspeaks.
And all this started because of something Derek said and something Don Henri did?
} Chloe mindspeaks.
{
Yes.
}
Yes.
}
{
I don’t understand. If they’re angry with you, why didn’t they just kill you? Why do they want you or Derek there so much? Why did they want to keep Don Henri prisoner in the first place?
}
I don’t understand. If they’re angry with you, why didn’t they just kill you? Why do they want you or Derek there so much? Why did they want to keep Don Henri prisoner in the first place?
}
I take in a deep breath and explain about the Pelk’s problem with inbreeding and their need for outside blood. {
Don Henri’s wife had died. He bedded a Pelk woman willingly, but they wouldn’t let him leave after that. Same thing with Derek . . .
}
Don Henri’s wife had died. He bedded a Pelk woman willingly, but they wouldn’t let him leave after that. Same thing with Derek . . .
}
Chloe mindspeaks, {
But you’re mated. What use would they have with you?
}
But you’re mated. What use would they have with you?
}
Stretching my body, I search for the words, for any way to make this less painful. Chloe speaks before I get out the first word. {
Peter, you didn’t, did you?
}
Peter, you didn’t, did you?
}
I sigh. {
I didn’t want to. But I couldn’t help it
.}
I didn’t want to. But I couldn’t help it
.}
{
Oh, Peter, we were supposed to be better than those stupid humans on Jerry Springer. We mated for life. How could you?
}
Oh, Peter, we were supposed to be better than those stupid humans on Jerry Springer. We mated for life. How could you?
}
{
I tried not to. I refused her every time, but they have this strange way of singing that penetrates your mind. After we came to Andros they had this gathering called a li-srrynn, and fifteen of their females all sang to me. They took over my mind. . . .
}
I tried not to. I refused her every time, but they have this strange way of singing that penetrates your mind. After we came to Andros they had this gathering called a li-srrynn, and fifteen of their females all sang to me. They took over my mind. . . .
}
{
It’s what your body did that bothers me!
}
It’s what your body did that bothers me!
}
If we were together and speaking, I’m sure those words would have been snarled. {
That’s unfair, Chloe. It would be like my being mad at you for being raped. There’s a poison in my body that will kill me if I don’t drink a temporary antidote every three days. I’m held prisoner here. Had I had any control over it, I never would have bedded that female.
}
That’s unfair, Chloe. It would be like my being mad at you for being raped. There’s a poison in my body that will kill me if I don’t drink a temporary antidote every three days. I’m held prisoner here. Had I had any control over it, I never would have bedded that female.
}
{
So take control. Kill her! That way you won’t have to fuck her again.
}
So take control. Kill her! That way you won’t have to fuck her again.
}
I let out a breath. {
Chloe, you don’t mean that.
}
Chloe, you don’t mean that.
}
{
Don’t I?
}
Don’t I?
}
{
She’s carrying a child of mine—a son.
}
She’s carrying a child of mine—a son.
}
{
And I carried your daughter, and my sister carried your son. How many other Pelk do you plan to screw? How many other babies do you want to be responsible for?
}
And I carried your daughter, and my sister carried your son. How many other Pelk do you plan to screw? How many other babies do you want to be responsible for?
}
Lorrel mindspeaks,
“Peter, where are you? It’s cold beside me.”
I wince at the strength of her mindthought. Hoping she’ll go back to sleep, I say nothing. Even as loud as Lorrel is, with any luck Chloe is too far away to pick up on her mindthoughts.
“Peter, where are you? It’s cold beside me.”
I wince at the strength of her mindthought. Hoping she’ll go back to sleep, I say nothing. Even as loud as Lorrel is, with any luck Chloe is too far away to pick up on her mindthoughts.
{
Is that her?
} Chloe mindspeaks. {
Did I hear that right? You sleep with her each night?
}
Is that her?
} Chloe mindspeaks. {
Did I hear that right? You sleep with her each night?
}
“Peter?”
Looking back to the drapes, I groan. {
Only sleep, nothing more,
} I mindspeak.
Only sleep, nothing more,
} I mindspeak.
{
If that’s all you’ve done, how did you make a son?
} Chloe mindspeaks.
If that’s all you’ve done, how did you make a son?
} Chloe mindspeaks.
The drapes rustle and Lorrel mindspeaks,
“Peter?”
and steps through them.
“Peter?”
and steps through them.
I groan again and then mindspeak, masked, to Chloe, {
I am mated to you for life. I want no one else.
}
I am mated to you for life. I want no one else.
}
Lorrel walks up to me.
“Peter, why are you ignoring me? Why will you not answer?”
“Peter, why are you ignoring me? Why will you not answer?”
Glaring at her, I mindspeak,
“In a minute Lorrel!”
and turn my face from her.
“In a minute Lorrel!”
and turn my face from her.
{
Chloe, please!
} I mindspeak. {
I love you.
}
Chloe, please!
} I mindspeak. {
I love you.
}
{
I love you too, Peter. But I’m glad I don’t have to see you just now.
}
I love you too, Peter. But I’m glad I don’t have to see you just now.
}
{
Chloe!
}
Chloe!
}
Lorrel sits besides me.
“Something is wrong, Peter. What is it?”
“Something is wrong, Peter. What is it?”
I shake my head and mindspeak,
“Just go away please.”
“Just go away please.”
The Pelk girl moves closer and strokes my tail with hers.
Ignoring her, I mindspeak to Chloe. {
You’re being unfair. I was forced. I don’t deserve this.
}
You’re being unfair. I was forced. I don’t deserve this.
}
{
I don’t deserve it either. I don’t want to talk to you anymore now, Peter. Contact me tomorrow—sometime when your girlfriend isn’t around.
}
I don’t deserve it either. I don’t want to talk to you anymore now, Peter. Contact me tomorrow—sometime when your girlfriend isn’t around.
}
{
Lorrel isn’t my girlfriend!
}
Lorrel isn’t my girlfriend!
}
{
Lorrel . . . what a pretty name,
} Chloe mindspeaks. {
Now leave me be, Peter, please.
}
Lorrel . . . what a pretty name,
} Chloe mindspeaks. {
Now leave me be, Peter, please.
}
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