“A child’s fantasy.”
“Maybe. But it worked for me. There were times when I needed to get away from all the bullshit happening around me and I’d focus on Marinth. It was a great escape hatch.”
She shook her head. “Not for Phil. It was El Dorado.”
“Perhaps that’s the most alluring thing about it. It fulfills all needs. It means different things to different people.” He paused. “But you said you were excited about Marinth at first too.”
“The search turned Phil into a fanatic where Marinth was concerned. He almost killed Pete and Susie.”
“That’s not all, is it?”
She was silent a moment. “No. The tablets . . .”
“What?”
“The Marinth described in the tablets was everything a man would want it to be. A democracy like the Greeks’. Freedom to work and worship as they pleased. Which was unusual considering they listed an entire hierarchy of gods and goddesses. They encouraged art in all forms and deplored warfare. They were kind to their little brothers, the dolphins.”
“So what’s not to like?”
“It was everything a man would want it to be,” she repeated. “Including a society that used women as breeding animals and toys. No marriage. No equality. No freedom for women. They were slaves or whores depending on their desirability and strength. There were houses throughout Marinth where women were kept for entertainment. Beautiful houses to please male citizens, who were encouraged to appreciate the finest art forms. Silk cushions and fine tables with bejeweled ornaments.” She looked at Kelby. “And what do you bet they had panels of golden fretwork?”
“You identified it with Kafas.”
She nodded. “After I read the translations I had nightmares about it. I kept getting the two confused in my head.”
“And that was one of the reasons you wouldn’t help Lontana. I can see how you’d feel like that, but you wouldn’t forbid studying the Renaissance because politically it was rife with corruption.”
“Maybe it wasn’t reasonable. Maybe you and Phil are right about the good outweighing the bad. But I didn’t want to have anything to do with it.”
His lips tightened. “Until I forced it on you.”
“Until Archer forced it on me. Carolyn would say you should watch that tendency to blame yourself. It’s not healthy.”
He smiled. “Okay, I’ll watch it.” His gaze shifted to the sea again. “And I’ll watch out for your dolphins. Dawn?”
“I hope.”
His smile faded. “Me too.”
The dolphins didn’t come back at dawn. Two hours later there was still no sign of them.
“You don’t know how far they had to swim to meet with their groups,” Kelby said. “Maybe the dolphins moved their territory in the last six years.”
“Or maybe they were thrown a hell of a welcome-home party,” Nicholas said. “I’m never up early on the morning after.”
They were doing their best to make her feel better, Melis knew. It wasn’t working, but she forced a smile anyway. “Stop trying so hard. I’m okay with this. We’ll just have to be patient.”
“You’re not okay with it. You’re holding on by your teeth,” Kelby said. “We’ll give them another eight hours and then start to track them.”
“Tomorrow.”
He shook his head. “I’m not watching you sit vigil through another night like last night. I know you want them to come back on their own, but they’d better get a move on it.” He turned on his heel and headed for the bridge. “Four o’clock we start after them.”
“He means it, Melis,” Nicholas said. “If that whistle you wear will do any good, you’d better start using it.”
She shook her head in despair. “Nothing will do any good if they don’t want to come.”
“You want me to do a little shaman magic?”
“No, but a prayer might help.”
“No problem. Christian, Hindu, or Buddhist? I don’t have any influence in any of the other religions.” His hand touched her shoulder in comfort. “You should remember that old saying about as the tree is bent, so it will grow. The dolphins have affection for you. They won’t forget.”
“They’re not here.” She shook her head. “But they will be. I just have to be patient.”
At noon the dolphins had still not come.
Nor had they shown by two-thirty.
At three-fifteen a huge explosion of water broke five feet from where Melis stood at the rail.
Pete!
He clicked loudly and rapidly as he backpedaled and then dove into the sea.
“Where’s Susie?” Kelby had run to stand beside Melis. “I don’t see her.”
Neither did Melis. But Pete wouldn’t have left Susie.
“Over here.” Nicholas was on the opposite side of the ship. “Is that a dolphin or a shark out there?”
Melis ran to the rail. A dorsal fin was homing toward them, a dorsal with a V in the center. “Susie.”
Her head jutted out of the water and she clicked furiously at Melis as if trying to tell what had happened to her.
Then Pete was beside her, urging Susie closer to the ship.
“It’s about time you got here. I’ve been waiting for—” Melis broke off. “She’s hurt. Look at her dorsal.” She dove off the ship into the water. As soon as Melis’s head broke the surface she was calling to the dolphin. “Closer, Susie.”
“What the hell are you doing?” Kelby asked. “Get back on board and suit up.”
“I want to take a look at it first and see if we need to get her out of the water. If it’s bleeding, it’ll attract sharks.”
“And you’ll be dinner.”
“Hush, I’m busy.” She examined the dorsal. “If it was bleeding, it’s stopped now. I think she’s okay.” She swam around Susie, checking her out. “No other wounds.” She patted Susie on the nose. “See what happens when you go honky-tonking out on the town?”
Kelby threw her a line. “Get out of the water.”
She caressed Pete’s nose, then grabbed the line and headed for the ladder. “Nicholas, get them some fish, will you?”
“Right away.”
He was tossing herring into the water by the time she reached the deck. She took the towel Kelby handed her and stood drying off while she watched Pete and Susie devour the fish. She couldn’t stop smiling.
“It’s good to have them back,” Kelby said. “I never imagined I could become so attached to a couple of dolphins. I was beginning to feel like the father of a delinquent teenager.”
“What a concept.” Melis went back to the rail and stood looking down at Pete and Susie. “Maybe they had reason to be delinquent. I think that was an abrasion, not a bite, on Susie’s dorsal.”
“And that means?”
“Other dolphins often express their displeasure by rubbing against invaders. They’re not gentle. There’s a possibility Pete and Susie weren’t welcomed enthusiastically. It could be that they had some interaction problems to work out before they felt comfortable about leaving the band.”
“They’re here now.” His gaze lifted to the sky. “But they only have four or five hours until sunset. Will they leave again?”
“I think so. Unless they had a really rough time and are scared. But they don’t look scared. They’re blessedly normal. And if they came back once, they’ll do it again.”
“How do you know?”
“They remember the pattern we formed six years ago.”
“And they like you,” Nicholas said over his shoulder.
She grinned. “Hell, yes, they like me.”
“So what do we do next?” Kelby asked.
“As soon as Nicholas finishes feeding them, I suit up and let them get used to swimming with me in these waters.”
“I said we. They’re going to have to get used to me in the water too.” He raised his hand when she started to protest. “I’m not going to be like Lontana and harass them. You call the shots. But you know damn well
it’s dangerous to swim without a buddy.”
“I have two buddies.”
“Well, now you have three. And I’m the one with the shark gun.” He turned and headed for the cabins. “I’ll go suit up while you have a discussion with Pete and Susie and tell them to be nice to me.”
It was just before sunset when Kelby reached down a hand to help Melis back on the Trina. “They didn’t range very far from the ship.” He took off his goggles. “Maybe they are afraid.”
“We’ll know soon.” She took off her compressed-air tank and moved over to the rail. Pete and Susie were still playing in the sea. “I couldn’t have asked for a better partner down there. You’re very good in the water, Kelby.”
“What did you expect? This is what I do for a living.”
She smiled. “Besides clip coupons?”
“Wilson does that for me.” His gaze went to the dolphins. “It was weird being down there with them. It’s their world. It makes you feel kind of inadequate.”
“How do you think they feel when they’re beached?” She shook her head. “Only with them it’s life or death.”
“It could be life or death for us in their domain too. But we have all the apparatus to keep us alive.”
“Unless it goes wrong. Then we could freeze to death in minutes. Their bodies just make the adjustment to furnish them with more heat. They’re incredibly well suited for the sea. It’s almost unbelievable that they originated on land. Almost every part of their body is— There they go.”
The dolphins had gone underwater, and only a dull gleam of silver showed beneath the surface as they swam away.
No use lingering here, staring after them. “That’s it.” She turned and headed for the cabin. “I’ve got to strip down and get in a shower.”
“Would you like to see the sonar imager first?”
She stopped. “What?”
Kelby gestured to a cumbersome tarp-wrapped bundle in the middle of the deck. “I had Nicholas get the crew to bring it up from the hold. I wasn’t sure we were going to get cooperation from Pete and Susie. It’s pretty cool.”
He reminded her of an eager little boy. “By all means, show me.”
He swept the tarp off the long yellow metal machine. “It’s the latest technology. See, it’s attached to the back of the ship and we pull it behind us. The sound waves bounce off the bottom of the ocean floor, and they’re measured and transferred to the graphs on the machine. It can even tell us what’s several feet under the bottom down there. It’s much more sophisticated than the one they used at Helike. That one they called the fish, but this one they nicknamed—”
“Dodo bird?”
He frowned. “Dynojet. And why the hell are you laughing?”
“Because it’s funny. Those extensions on each side look like little wings.” She went around to the head of the imager and started to laugh again. “Oh, my God.”
“What’s wrong?” He followed her to look at the head. He muttered a curse. “I’m going to kill Nicholas.”
Two eyes had been drawn on either side of the head, complete with sweeping long lashes.
“Are you sure it was Nicholas?”
“Who else would defile a fine machine like this?”
“You have a point. It looks like a pelican or some weird cartoon bird.”
He scowled. “Maybe it does. But dodos are extinct, and this is the latest technology.”
“I think you said that,” she said solemnly. “Sorry. I called it the way I saw it.” He appeared so disappointed that she added, “But your dodo is a nice, cheerful color.”
“Thanks for those patronizing words. At least I won’t have to coax the imager into helping us, like you do Pete and Susie.”
“I’m afraid I’d rather rely on the dolphins.” She turned away. “I’ll see you at dinner.”
“Billy will be pleased,” Kelby said. “He was developing a complex about you avoiding his meals.”
“We wouldn’t want that.” She smiled at him over her shoulder. “There’s little enough that’s normal around here.”
“I like this norm,” he said. “Even though you laughed at my imager. I’ve not seen you smile this much since I met you.”
“I’m happy,” she said simply. “Things have been bad lately, but these last hours were good. And I refuse to feel guilty for letting myself enjoy them.”
“By all means.” A smile softened his face. “Enjoy.”
Archer phoned an hour later, as she was going out the door of her cabin.
She stopped and looked at her phone on the nightstand. Jesus, she wanted to ignore it.
It rang again.
Bite the bullet. She turned and went back to the phone and answered it.
“You were very naughty,” Archer said. “And you know how naughty little girls are punished.”
Her hand tightened on the phone. The ugliness washing over her was almost overpowering. She’d hoped that the period of freedom from Archer’s venom would permit her to regroup, but it hit her with the same force. “Did you expect me to just let you pull me into that car?”
“I admit I expected you to freeze like a rabbit. I certainly had no idea you’d shoot poor Pennig.”
“I hope I killed him.”
“You didn’t. You grazed his neck, and he bled quite a bit. He was very angry with you. He begged me to let him have the privilege of chastising you, but I told him that I couldn’t bear to relinquish you. I have far too many plans.”
“You weren’t too eager to execute them after you failed at Las Palmas.”
“It was discreet to stay out of sight for a while. However, don’t think I didn’t have someone keep an eye on you. At the moment you’re near the lovely island of Cadora.” He paused. “And you’ve freed the dolphins. Don’t you think that’s risky?”
“Are you going to go after them with a harpoon? I’d like to see Mr. Peepers in a wet suit.”
There was a silence. “That’s not the first time I’ve been compared to that weakling. I don’t believe any comparison makes me angrier. Yes, I’ll kill the dolphins. I was planning on waiting until you’ve been in a house like Kafas for long enough so that you won’t care what I do. But I’ve changed my mind. You need to be punished now. I can’t think of anything that would hurt you more than killing your fishy friends.”
Fear knifed through her. There was a note in his voice that was dead serious. She’d been too defiant. It was so hard to remember when she was so filled with anger. It was time to backpedal. “The dolphins?” She didn’t have to fake a tremor in her voice. “I didn’t think you meant it. You’ll hurt Pete and Susie?”
“You’re frightened? I warned you. You should be more obedient. If you’re very good and give me the research right away, I might reconsider.”
“I . . . don’t believe you.”
“I’m being pressured to turn that sonic weapon over to my friend in the Middle East. That’s why I pushed a little hard myself in Las Palmas.”
“Pushed,” she repeated. “A good man died there.”
“And you got scared and took your dolphins and ran away.”
“Yes, I was afraid. Why shouldn’t I be? You keep at me. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat.” Her voice was uneven. “And now you tell me you’re going to kill Pete and Susie.”
“Poor child.”
“I’m hanging up.”
“No, haven’t you learned I’m in control? We’re going to talk a little longer about Kafas and what I’m going to do to the dolphins. Then I decide when we hang up. Are you listening?”
She waited a moment and then whispered, “Yes.”
“That’s a good little girl. Now we’re going to pretend we’re back at Kafas and I’m just coming into your room in the harem. . . .”
Chapter Thirteen
“You took long enough,” Kelby said with a smile when she walked into the main cabin. “I’ve had to pacify Billy for the last ten— Jesus.” His expression turned grim. “Archer?”
“
He was in very good form.” Her lips tightened. “But so was I. I convinced him I was on the edge of breaking. I was really pitiful. A few more times and he’ll think he has me.”
“It was the usual bullshit?”
“As ugly as usual, but he’s added something new to the mix. I think he’s decided to change his focus. And there’s something you should know. He told me that he has someone keeping an eye on us. He knew we’d freed the dolphins.” She paused. “And he said he’s going to kill them. It’s my punishment for what happened in Las Palmas.”
“He’s threatened to hurt them before.”
“I don’t think it was a threat this time. I think he meant it.”
“We won’t let it happen.” He met her gaze. “But if you want to take Pete and Susie out of the area and pen them, I won’t object.”
“They wouldn’t be any safer. He’ll go after them wherever they are. They’re probably at less risk with the whole ocean to hide in. With all those hundreds of dolphins swimming around, how is he going to zero in on Pete and Susie? If we can keep him away from the ship and watch Pete and Susie like a hawk when they’re with us, it may be enough.” She shook her head. “God, I hope so.”
He nodded. “And I’ll have the crew keep watch on the water whenever they’re near.”
“I was just going to ask you to do that.” She looked at the beautifully appointed table. “I don’t believe I’ll have dinner. I’m not in the mood. Explain to Billy, will you?”
“Explain that son of a bitch is making you bleed inside? That’s hard to believe and harder to understand.” He rose to his feet. “Come on. Let’s get some air. Unless you’d rather go lick your wounds.”
She shook her head. “I’m not bleeding. I won’t give him that satisfaction. At first, listening to him was terrible. Now it’s still bad, but I’ve learned how to handle it.”
On deck now, she moved out to the rail and drew a deep breath. “It’s good out here—fresh, clean. Lord, it’s so blessedly clean.”
He didn’t speak for a moment. “Let’s scrap Marinth for the time being. I think we should go after Archer.”
She looked at him in surprise. “That’s not what you said on the island. I didn’t have collateral, so it was Marinth first. Then Archer.”