Daughter of the Deep(21)

Considering Caleb’s broken nose and the fact that he was recently body-slammed by a dolphin, he looks pretty good. The only torture he’s endured is Harding-Pencroft’s trademark form of humiliation. Around his biceps are children’s inflatable water wings, bright yellow with pink duckies. A matching inner tube circles his waist. This is how upperclassmen treat chum-year kids who prove inept at their assignments. They’re forced to wear pink duckies for an entire day. Many kids never get over the shame. Why we had some inflatables on board, I’m not sure, but I’m also not surprised.

Caleb scowls when he sees me, but he offers no snide comments. The duckies must have broken his spirit.

Hewett leans towards the prisoner. ‘Mr South, tell Miss – tell Prefect Dakkar what you told me.’

Caleb curls his lip. ‘This boat is going to end up at the bottom of the sea.’

‘Not that part,’ Hewett says wearily. ‘The other part.’

‘The Aronnax is coming.’

‘Your submarine,’ I say, remembering my conversation with Gem.

Caleb lets out a broken laugh. ‘The Aronnax is a submarine the way a Lamborghini is an economy car. But yes, genius, it’s our ship. You’ve got maybe an hour if you’re lucky. They sent us to take you alive …’ He spits a flake of dried blood from his lip. ‘Since we failed and never reported in, they’ll follow. They’ll torpedo this hunk of junk and confirm the kill afterwards.’

Confirm the kill.

I feel a coldness in my belly that’s as sharp as the edge of a fillet knife. I wonder if the Aronnax crew talked about Dev and me this way before they destroyed our school, as if we were nothing more than impersonal targets.

I want to slap him. I hold back the urge. Linzi’s presence is a calming reminder: That is not who we are. We don’t stoop to their level.

‘Why the attack?’ I ask Caleb. ‘Why me? And why did they send a bunch of students who couldn’t do the job?’

He shakes his head in disgust. ‘You just got lucky with that stupid dolphin. LI doesn’t coddle their students the way HP does. Destroying HP …’ He gives me a bloodstained grin. ‘That was our senior project, and I’d say we aced it.’

Dru steps forward, raising the butt of his Leyden gun, but Gem stops him with a stern look.

Caleb watches the exchange with obvious amusement. ‘As for why you, Ana Dakkar … You really don’t know anything, do you?’ He glances at Dr Hewett. ‘I guess the professor hasn’t told you the truth about HP. Were you even trained in Leyden guns until today? Did you even know they exist?’

An uncomfortable ripple goes through our group.

‘That’s what I thought,’ Caleb says. ‘At LI, we aren’t afraid to use our knowledge. How many world problems could you cowards have solved if you just shared?’

Behind me, Gem says, ‘Shared what, exactly?’

‘You had two years.’ Caleb sounds bitter, even regretful. ‘You could have cooperated with us. You could have negotiated.’

I can’t tell if the ship is pitching or if it’s my own lack of equilibrium. Two years since my parents’ death. Two years Hewett has been fearing an attack. Two years in which Caleb says Harding-Pencroft could have negotiated.

I fix my eyes on Dr Hewett. ‘What happened two years ago?’

His gaze is sadder than Top’s when he begs for dog biscuits. ‘We will have that conversation soon, my dear. I promise.’

Caleb snorts. ‘You aren’t really stupid enough to believe Hewett’s promises, are you? He promised us a bunch of stuff, too, when he was at LI.’

Hewett’s knuckles whiten as he clenches his fists. ‘That’s enough, Mr South.’

‘Professor, how about you tell them what you were working on for LI back when I was a freshman?’ Caleb suggests. ‘Before you lost your nerve. Tell them who had the idea for the Aronnax.’

He might as well have thrown another flash-bang grenade. My skull rings like a struck bell.

Gem takes a sharp breath. ‘Professor, what is he talking about?’

Hewett looks more annoyed than ashamed. ‘I did many things I wasn’t proud of at LI, Prefect Twain, before I knew what they were capable of.’ He returns his glare to our prisoner. ‘And today, Mr South, Land Institute proved why they can never be trusted with advanced technology. You destroyed a noble institution.’

‘Noble institution? You were protecting the legacy of an outlaw.’ Caleb squirms in his pink-ducky inner tube. ‘If you’re going to kill me, go ahead and do it. This thing is uncomfortable.’

Dru and Kiya stare coldly at Dr Hewett. Even Linzi looks shaken. Maybe, like me, they didn’t know before today that Hewett once worked at Land Institute. But it’s worse than that. Dr Hewett had the idea for the Aronnax. He helped create the weapon that destroyed our school and killed my brother.

‘We don’t execute prisoners,’ Hewett announces. ‘Dru, Kiya, throw him overboard.’

Caleb’s arrogant expression crumbles. ‘Hold on –’

‘Sir,’ Linzi protests.

‘He’ll be fine,’ Hewett assures her. ‘He has his buoyancy-control vest, his wetsuit, his water wings. Guards, proceed.’

Dru and Kiya look like they’re tempted to dump the professor instead, but, after a glance at Gemini Twain, the Sharks follow orders. They untie Caleb from his chair, then drag him thrashing and cursing to the port side and chuck him into the sea.