wrath of the Sea Queen (29 page)

"
Now you understand.  So, will
you let them
all
drown
when you have the ability to save them
? 
Should
Salma die
because of one man's greed for her work
?  What about Max?  He
i
s just a child. 
Does h
e
not
deserve a
chance at life? 
Their fate i
s
in your hands
.  You can choose to save them. 
All you have to do is let me help you. 
Will you accept my help?
"
  As if Rika had been listening in on her thoughts, C
a
eli heard her voice in her mind once again.

"
I think the pilot
is making good progress stopping
the leak. 
A
ll we have to do is wait for help to arrive.
  I'm not sure that we need any help beyond that.  I think it would be best to wait.
"
 
C
a
eli
realized she could answer Rika silently,
as she did with Vin and Salma.

She
did not approve of the way
Rika
attempt
ed
to
plac
e
the burden on her shoulders by
suggesting that she alone was res
ponsible for everyone
on the plane
. 

"
Help will not arrive soon enough. 
The craft's wing is damaged and will soon break away.  What will you do when the plane tilts and water rapidly begins to fill the cabin?  Everyone will drown before
anyone can be rescued
. 
Trust me. 
It is a horrible way to die. 
Do you really want to take that chance?
"

Perhaps Rika was right.  If C
a
eli could, shouldn't she at least try to help?  Rika's offer seemed genuine.  What harm could come from letting Rika show he
r how to actively use her gift? 
Yet
,
C
a
eli sensed more to the offer than what she was hearing
,
and she was wary
. 
First, because
Rika was able to
speak to her
in this manner.
 
Who was this woman? 
C
a
eli did
n
o
t believe that Rika
to be
one of the
few
angels Vin
knew
.  Rika
seemed
different
from the way Vin had described Michael and Raphael
.  For the time being, C
a
eli did not think it would be wise to accept her help or to ask what that help would cost.

She
looked out at the huge waves.  Thankfully, they did not threaten to drown the plane, not yet.  The clouds above were dark and threatening.  The pilot told them that he
sent
out a mayday call as the plane was going down.  With any luck, the
Coast Guard
would
arriv
e
before the storm got any worse. 
The
waiting game
had begun
. 

C
a
eli
peeked over at Salma across the aisle. 
Amazingly, Salma
had
dozed off.  Max, sitting on his father's lap, was pointing at C
a
eli and whispering something into his dad's ear. 
C
a
eli
smiled at
Max
as the man gently nudged the boy's hand down and mumbled something about fairy tales and
how im
polite
it was
to point.

"
But papa, don't you see the light?
It
's
Uncle and
the
S
ea
Q
ueen
!
"
T
he boy said
excitedly
this time a
s he
pointed again.

C
a
eli turned, out of curiosity, to follow his gesture.  Sure enough, she could see a pale, white light out
side
the window on her side of the plane.  It seemed to float near her window a moment before it disappeared beneath the water.  C
a
eli had a vague idea
of
what she
saw and was
more than curious about the arrival. 

"
See Papa!  She is a
S
ea
G
oddess
, like Mama
. 
I was right. 
She
talked to the
Sea
Q
ueen
earlier
, and the
S
ea
Q
ueen talked to her.  I heard
them
, Papa.
"

"
Nonsense
!  That i
s just an old tale. 
Please s
top
pointing at her.
"
  Apela quietly chastised the boy and then turned to C
a
eli.

"
I
a
m sorry again, C
a
eli.  He
i
s young and doesn't mean any harm.  It's an old bedtime story his mother used to tell him. 
It's a
ctually quite sad, but
Max is
fascinated by the characters.
"

"
It's ok.  A gal could be called a lot worse.
"

C
a
eli smiled at the man and his boy and let the matter drop.  She did
n
o
t want to draw any more attention to that light than necessary.  She was already concerned that Max
had seen
it, hoping it did not foretell things yet to co
me for the innocent, young boy. 
C
a
eli
leaned back in her seat to relax and wait.  She could feel the water about an inch deep around her feet.  Rather than pulling her feet up as most of the other
passenger
s
were doing
, she kicked off her shoes and let the coolness of the water seep into her.  C
a
eli felt the water as if it were rushing through her, becoming a part of her. 
As s
he
concentrated, she began to feel
connected to it. 
A
n odd sensation
came
first, and then it
became
comforting, like a long
-
time friend.  She didn't know how long she
sat that way
, but when she opened her eyes, C
a
eli knew that
Rika told her the truth. 
C
a
eli
could help
,
and
she would not need Rika's
assistance to do so
.

She reached over and pulled a blanket out of a small compartment above Salma's head and placed it over her legs and feet as if she were cold.  C
a
eli leaned back again, pretending to be asleep and immersing herself in the connection with the surrounding water.  It call
ed
to her.  From what Vin told her about
his control of
the wind,
C
a
eli
attempt
ed
to perform a similar feat with the water inside the plane. 

Somehow,
now
,
when
she needed it most,
C
a
eli found
the
active link to her elemental
gift,
and it respond
ed
to her need.  The flow of water leaking down from the ceiling
and
slowly fill
ing
the plane suddenly stopped
,
held at bay by a
barrier
that
C
a
eli managed to create using the water itself.  After about thirty minutes, C
a
eli began to feel a drain on her strength as she continued to use her new skill
to maintain th
at
b
arrier
. 
The
con
tinuous
effort
was
greatly
tiring her
.