Daughter of the Deep(27)

He doesn’t need to remind me of Caleb South’s warning. The Aronnax will send us all to the bottom of the sea. In the last twenty-four hours, I’ve heard a lot of things I had trouble believing. Caleb’s threat wasn’t one of them.

Hewett’s face is a map of pale blue veins and liver spots. I want to curse him for having medical issues now. He should have taken better care of himself. But, of course, that isn’t fair of me to think.

What would Hewett want me to do? I know the answer. Keep going. Find this secret base. But how far would that be? And is it worth him dying?

‘Can you keep him alive?’ I ask Linzi and Franklin.

Franklin shrugs helplessly. ‘We’re freshmen, Ana. We’ve had medical training, but –’

‘IF IT’S LATE-STAGE PANCREATIC CANCER,’ Ester breaks in, making everyone except Hewett jump, ‘his survival odds are bad no matter what. Even a state-of-the-art hospital won’t be able to do much for him.’

Her blunt bedside manner makes Linzi’s jaw drop. ‘Ester, we’re Orcas. We can’t just –’

‘She’s not wrong, though,’ Franklin says.

‘I don’t believe this,’ Linzi says. ‘We have to turn back!’

‘The base,’ Gem says. ‘Hewett mentioned it has our most advanced tech. They might have medical supplies. Stuff that’s better than state of the art.’

Nelinha clicks her tongue. ‘That’s a huge long shot.’

‘What base?’ Franklin demands, hope kindling in his eyes. ‘How far is it?’

Everyone looks at me for guidance. I wonder if Gem has shared the news that I am now an Important Person. I don’t have any guidance to offer. I don’t even have shoes on.

But there’s a map in the captain’s cabin that might help.

‘Do your best to keep Hewett stable,’ I tell Franklin and Linzi. ‘Gem, Ester, Nelinha – come with me. Let’s see if we can find some answers.’





Since when do my classmates follow my orders?

Without further protest, Franklin and Linzi go back to monitoring their patient. Ester and Nelinha fall in behind me like an honour guard. Even Gem seems content to join the parade as we head down the corridor to the captain’s cabin.

I still can’t call it my cabin. That feels wrong and scary …

I make Gem wait outside while I change into proper clothes.

Socrates has returned to his tank. He chatters at me as if to say, Hey, human, where’s my squid? I make a mental note to find him one soon.

Top stands on his hind legs and sniffs the dolphin. He doesn’t seem terribly concerned about our new room-mate, though I get the feeling he’d prefer to sniff Socrates’s tail for a formal introduction. I’m glad he can’t do that.

Once I’m dressed, we bring in Gem. We gather around the conference table.

Ester twists her fingers like she’s playing incy wincy spider. ‘I just want to point out that I am not a prefect, and neither is Nelinha. We don’t have seniority. Tia and Franklin should be here instead.’

‘It’s fine, babe,’ Nelinha says. ‘I told Tia I’d keep her in the loop. And you saw Franklin. He’s kinda busy.’

Ester doesn’t look reassured. ‘Okay … I guess that’s okay.’

Gem eyes the robot-eyeball paperweight as if it might attack us. ‘Do you know how to work that thing?’

‘Hey,’ Nelinha chides him. ‘Don’t question my friend’s abilities.’ She squints at me. ‘Do you know how?’

‘Only one way to find out.’ I grip the paperweight.

The metal is warm, like a phone that’s been recharging. I press my thumb against the impression at the top. A mild electric tingle goes up to my elbow, but I resist the urge to pull away.

The map ripples. The paperweight rises, hovering just over the grey surface, and begins to move around. I’m reminded of the time we tried a Ouija board in our dorm room. Nelinha screamed as soon as the pointer started drifting. I got an attack of the giggles. Ester launched into a long lecture about ideomotor effects and involuntary muscle impulses. We never did find out what the Ouija board predicted for our futures.

This time, nobody screams or giggles. The paperweight shifts to a point off the California coast. Our current position? How the robot-eye thing can know this, I’m not sure.

A glowing line extends from the base of the paperweight like a sunbeam, stretching across the surface of the map, past latitude and longitude lines, numbers for sounding depths, and gentle curves indicating the ocean current patterns and underwater topography. The line stops at a point in the middle of the Pacific Ocean where nothing is marked, just open water.

The thumbprint reader starts to hurt. The electric charge is building.

‘Ester,’ I say with a clenched jaw, ‘can you memorize those coordinates?’

‘I ALREADY HAVE,’ she says. She’s excited. I get that.

I release the paperweight. The glowing line winks out of existence.

Nelinha whistles. ‘Okay, what we just saw? I can only guess how it might work. DNA activation releases some kind of encoded electric signal into the paper – or not-paper, whatever that material is. It shows you the encrypted route. Leaves absolutely no trace afterwards. Like, wow.’