Under a Solstice Sea (Tinsel and Tentacles 3.0 #12)

Prologue

Kaius

“Father, we may have a problem.”

“Another one?” My father smiled crookedly, turning from the section of reef where he’d been removing barnacles and placing them in a net bag my mother, Rana, had woven from kelp.

The little parasites were a constant threat, burrowing into the coral to feed on the tender polyps.

We all took turns scouring the reef for them and for certain starfish, as well as keeping destructive species of fish in check.

The reef was the lifeblood of our community, and keeping it healthy occupied much of our time.

I swam up next to him and began helping him remove the barnacles.

“I suppose we’d all hoped the surface humans would lose interest in the area, but apparently not.

Cormie picked up some transmissions from another ship, the same type that was lost in the storm.

They don’t think it’s here to look for the wreck, either, since it’s bearing straight toward the reef, not to the area where the ship went down. ”

I still felt bad about that wreck, but it wasn’t our fault the ship succumbed to the powerful storm.

There may have been a mechanical problem with it, since it had been blown off course and foundered quickly in the cyclone.

We’d even done what we could to save the sailors, though few had even made it into the water before the vessel sank.

Although we certainly didn’t want the ship in our area, we wouldn’t have harmed it.

We didn’t take lives if we could help it.

He paused in his task, seeming to consider all options.

My father, Archon, was wise and very old, despite his youthful appearance.

He’d also spent time in the surface world, back before what those above had caused to happen, melting the ice caps and throwing the world into chaos.

When that occurred, my people had been stretched thin, trying to do everything possible to save us all from the massive amounts of waste that had been swept into our oceans by the rising water.

That had been before my birth, but the elders still talked about the brave people who had been lost in that decades-long battle.

We were still dealing with problems where the old cities lay under meters of water, but that was slowly being remedied as nature reasserted her dominance.

Life changed, but life continued. It was the way of the sea.

Finally, he reached a decision. “We’ll wait and see what they do. If they are researchers, like those Cormie came with, then they will be allowed to see what they can see and leave in peace. But we will not tolerate invaders. If they learn too much, they must be stopped.”

“Yes, Father.” His reaction is honestly exactly what I had expected. “I’ll let everyone know.”

He smiled and gave me an affectionate pat on my shoulder before turning back to his work.

I swam away, my powerful tail driving me quickly through the water, heading back to our underground city, built in the caves located below the massive, ancient reef.

My people had been in this location for countless generations, and we’d formed a cozy community as we worked tirelessly to preserve our portion of the ocean.

There were many other communities like ours around the world, though also many that had perished in the wake of the surface changes.

We mourned them and vowed to keep going despite the odds being so badly against us.

The closest entrance to our city was near an old wreck that had been lodged there over a hundred years, and I went past it with a grimace of dislike.

I always felt a bitter resentment toward the hulk, one that I couldn’t reveal to anyone.

It was this wreck that had cost me the man I’d grown to love, my beautiful Michael.

I could never tell anyone, not even my parents, that I’d violated all our laws and revealed myself to a surface dweller who didn’t know about us.

Michael had been different, a scientist, a man who loved the sea as much as any of us, not one of the exploiters who, having destroyed their own world above, now looked to move into ours.

The few weeks of his sojourn on the reef had bonded us in the same way my parents were bonded, and I felt his loss every day.

As it was, I had no idea if he was alive or dead, and I suppose it was stupid to hold out hope he’d someday return to me.

That he’d somehow survived the horrific injury he’d suffered when part of the old wreck had collapsed and pinned him.

I’d not been able to rescue him, since more humans had come quickly and I’d had to flee.

I’d watched as they had taken him, bearing him away to an unknown fate — and leaving me to mine, alone and bereft.

Surely he must be dead, since it had been six long years, and he had never returned.

I turned my eyes from the wreck, not wanting to think too much about what it had felt like to love and to lose.

I had a message to bear, and we all needed to prepare for what was to come.

Solstice was approaching, our time of yearly celebration for what we had and what might be, and the presence of a human ship above us would put a definite damper on the festivities.

We’d have to hide ourselves rather than partaking in our normal entertainments, and we’d have to hope that danger would, once again, pass us by.

No doubt many would make their Solstice wish for us to once again survive a threat brought by the world above.

I remember once, long ago, making a Solstice wish to find my true mate.

Then when it happened, it was not the happy ending I’d dreamed of, so I’d learned to be as content as possible with what I had.

Six Solstices had passed since Michael had been taken away from me, and time hadn’t lessened the pain and loss.

But only children wished on the Solstice night for things that could never be, and I was no longer a child.

Gaia gives, and Gaia takes away. That too was the way of the sea.