After our frightening encounter with the Canadian destroyer, we spend the night in a sea cave near Cape Scott, the most northwestern tip of Vancouver Island. The next day we experience a few close calls, but we manage to safely race across the busy shipping lanes west of Vancouver and head out to sea. We still want to stay over the continental shelf because larger predators like giant squid roam in the deep beyond the continent break. Once we’re beyond most of the boat traffic, we turn south.
We still see and hear plenty of warships in the distance, and on the third night when we surface briefly to radio the Carly Sue, we see flashes illuminating the night sky along the horizon.
“Is that an electrical storm?” Rad asks curiously. “I don’t see any clouds.”
“Those flashes are probably shells exploding over the besieged city of Vancouver,” Thom replies.
“I’ve always wanted to visit Vancouver,” Sunny says wistfully. “From the pictures I’ve seen, it looks like a beautiful place.”
“It used to be, anyway,” Penn says, his expression grim. “I visited family there when I was little. Their mountains and skyscrapers were amazing and their parks were full of trees and flowers, but the Western Collective is probably going to pound it all to rubble unless the Canadians surrender soon.”
“All to grab their fresh water and northern farmlands where it still rains once in a while. So much war and misery goes back to climate change,” Kalli says soberly.
We’re a quiet group as we slip back beneath the waves. That night Kalli slings her hammock next to mine. I’m just drifting off to sleep when she says sadly, :Even with all the danger down here, our world is a more peaceful place than the poor surface world right now.:
:We have to find a way to grow the c-plankton,: I say, :and get it spread throughout the seas before it’s too late for all of us.:
Once we travel south of Vancouver and Seattle, we see fewer Marine Guard vessels. Maybe most of their ships and manpower are needed for the fight against the Canadians. As the days pass, I see that Dad was right. In the past year, we have become better at staying safe in the sea. Our group is full of seasoned travelers, and the kids from Atlantea know how to handle themselves in dangerous situations.
Just like during our long trip from the Southern Sector, each of us takes on different chores. Penn and Ocho keep our tows and equipment fixed, and Rohan and Tobin keep our bodies healthy. Ree, Rad, Shadow, Sunny and Dai do most of our hunting while Kalli finds us good sea plants to eat. Robry runs communications with the Carly Sue, Janni keeps an eye on all of us, Dai and I share navigation responsibilities, and I look after the dolphins when they aren’t looking after us.
Once again Mariah and her family help to protect us every day, and they often make us smile, too. During our travel breaks, our dolphin partners cheer us up by coaxing us into games of tag and capture the flag.
I haven’t had a chance to be with my dolphin friends like this since I left the Southern Sector. When we get back to Safety Harbor, I’m going to do a better job of spending time with them. As we swim along, Mariah often stays close and shares stories about my mother. Her tales about their adventures and the scrapes they got into when they were young make me smile. I’ve never felt like I knew my mom well, but Mariah’s stories help me picture Gillian when she was a mischievous girl, long before she became the cool, driven scientist I remember.
Three weeks after we leave Safety Harbor, we arrive, tired but safe, in the Northern Channel Islands where we’re supposed to meet up with Cam.
~~~
We reach the wreck of the Alicante just before nightfall.
:So much has happened since we were here last,: Penn murmurs as we hover above the wreck of the old freighter. It looks much the same as it did a year ago, still covered by sea fans, barnacles and seaweed. The big, long vessel sits upright, leaning against a black rock reef, with a forest of kelp growing near its stern. We used to have strategy meetings in the Alicante’s raised wheelhouse and keep watch from there.
I glance at Thom. From his sad expression, I guess he’s thinking about his friend Kyel, who led our group during the two weeks we trained and sheltered here, hoping that other Neptune kids might join us for the journey to Safety Harbor. But no other kids came, and hours after we finally left the shelter of the Alicante, Kyel was killed when he blocked a spear dart the Marine Guard fired at Bria.
Robry and I head to the surface with the radio to try to contact my dad on the Carly Sue. The others descend to the Alicante to make certain that nothing dangerous lurks in the main salon and crew cabins where we’ll be sleeping.
“It feels weird to be back here,” Robry says after we pop our heads out of the water and glance around. Above us rise the steep hillsides of Santa Cruz Island, dotted with gray-green brush and yellow grass that has managed to survive decades of heat and drought. “It reminds me of home, at least a little.”
“It’s certainly as hot as Goleta, even out here on the water.” Although it’s October now and the sun is about to set, the air feels hot as an oven. Santa Cruz does look like the hills around our old home, but I think the Channel Islands are much more beautiful in their harsh, wild way.
Robry pulls our compact marine radio from his seapack. Because the Western Collective monitors all radio frequencies, we have to keep our transmissions short and partially coded.
“Papa Sue, are you there?” I radio Dad right at 7:00 PM, the time we try to schedule our calls.
I hold my breath, hoping the Carly Sue has made it to the islands as well. We haven’t contacted the old trawler for three days now, and I’ve been worried by the increasing boat traffic.
“We’re here, safe and sound,” Dad’s voice crackles over the radio, and I sigh in relief.
“Glad you made it. Any news?”
“Rendezvous with the package is set for 1 AM tomorrow off the cove where we saw the bottlenose dolphin calve. Over.”
“Understood. Over.” Dad means Robry and I should meet Cam at Forney’s Cove on the northwestern side of Santa Cruz. My family used to sail out to the Channel Islands to do research, and one day we watched a bottlenose dolphin give birth in that cove.
“Cam will be different than you remember,” Dad warns me. “He’s been through a lot, and make sure you bring plenty of backup. I think we can trust him, but I’m not absolutely certain. Good luck. Over and out.”
I bite my lip and glance at Robry as he packs the radio away.
“I’m sorry Dad said that—” I start to apologize, but Robry cuts me off.
“It’s all right, Nere. I know my brother will be different,” Robry says quietly. “But I’m sure Cam would never hurt us. He can’t have changed that much.”
~~~
At ten o’clock the following night, everyone gathers around one of the tows. Half of our group is going to escort Robry and me to our rendezvous with his smuggler brother. I’m touched because every member of our team volunteered to come with us, but in the end, Janni picked Shadow, Ree, Dai, Tobin and Rad—some of our most capable fighters. Thom wanted to come, too, but she ordered him to stay at the Alicante, much to his frustration.
:Simmer down, Bigfoot,: Janni told him sharply when he protested her decision. :Remember our goals here. We need you to talk to Ty Rath. Our whole mission fails if you can’t get him to help us. We can’t risk you getting hurt or killed by a trigger-happy smuggler tonight.:
In the end, Thom did accept her decision, but he still looks worried as we load up the tow with extra spear darts and Janni inspects our spear guns.
:You be careful tonight,: Thom tells me gruffly on a private send. :Even up in our mountains above LA we heard about Scarn Kasporov and how ruthless he and his men can be.:
:I promise we’ll be careful.:
I glance at Tobin. I wonder if he volunteered because he knows how important Cam is to me. He doesn’t say a word as Rad settles himself in the pilot’s seat and we take our places around the tow’s pull loops. Instead, Tobin lays a comforting hand on my shoulder, and I smile at him.
Dai, on the other hand, glowers at me, which he’s been doing ever since he found out this rendezvous was set for tonight. He grabs the pull loop next to mine. Anger and worry radiate through Dai’s mental shields as Rad starts up the tow.
:Good luck,: our friends call after us as our tow speeds off into the black sea, Mariah and her family swimming all about us.
I close my eyes and bury my face in my arm as the tow pulls us through the dark water. Dai has amazing night vision, and I don’t want him to see how worried I am. Will Cam bring some of his men to the rendezvous? Has he truly become as hardened as the rest of Scarn’s cutthroats? Has he thought of me at all this past year? I’ve often thought about him and hoped he was still alive. Why did he insist on seeing me again? As the tow pulls us steadily closer to the rendezvous point, my stomach feels like it’s tying itself into one big knot.
Having Dai seethe silently beside me isn’t helping my anxiety. He knows, too, how much I care about Cam.
:Just say it,: I tell Dai on a private send and turn to face him.
:I’ve said it all before,: he bursts out. :I know you’re excited to see this guy, but you can’t ever be with a landliver, particularly one who’s a smuggler. They’re the worst sort of scum. He’s even more dangerous than I am.:
:I’m just going to ask him to contact Ty Rath for us and try to convince Rath to come to the coast for a meeting with my dad.:
:Can you honestly tell me that’s all you want from him?:
I don’t know how to answer that question. Cam was my best friend in the whole world, and I was just starting to see him as something more when I was forced to leave Goleta. I’m not sure what I need from him now. Maybe I just want to know he was worried about me, or at least thought of me once in a while this past year. And I very much need to know he’s okay. Feeling Dai’s anxious gaze on me, I grow annoyed.
:What I want from him is no longer any of your business,: I tell him coolly. :You lost the right to ask me questions like that when you broke up with me.: I turn away and face forward. I concentrate on feeling angry at Dai so I won’t feel so nervous about seeing Cam again.
A half hour later we reach Forney’s Cove. We park the tow on the floor of the cove where we can reach it in a hurry if there’s any trouble. We all load our spear guns, and Rad checks the two small magnetic mines he brought. Robry and I didn’t want to bring those mines along because I can’t imagine we’ll need to blow up any boats tonight, but we were overruled by the others.
I glance down at my wrist computer. Cam should be here in ten minutes. Just to make sure he’s not already here, I reach out with my telepathy but I can’t sense anyone nearby.
:Sokya, can you and the rest of the pod spread out beyond this cove and listen for Cam’s boat?:
:we go,: Sokya says excitedly, performing a barrel roll around me. :we will be happy to see him again.:
Our spear guns loaded, Robry and I swim to the surface to look around. The cove’s rocky beaches are empty of boats. It’s a calm, hot night. The Milky Way shines like a glittering silver banner spread across a black sky filled with ice-white stars. The moon has already set, which is probably part of the reason Cam wanted to meet so late.
We duck back under the surface to stay oxygenated until Cam comes. Mariah swims tight circles around us all, acting like a young dolphin.
:What’s up with Mariah?: Shadow asks curiously.
:Cam’s always been one of her favorite people,: I say, a lump forming in the back of my throat :She’s almost as excited as we are to see him again.:
I jump when Densil contacts me.
:a boat comes,: he says, sounding surprised. :it is so quiet and fast, we almost did not sense it.:
As I look toward the surface, a boat glides into the cove, its propellers whispering through the water. Reaching out with my senses, I touch a familiar mind I haven’t felt in over a year.
Cam is finally here.