Dragon Song

Chapter 5

FIVE

Eva sat in the cool damp submarine with Denis, making nervous small talk as they approached Atlantis. Neither had visited the abandoned mariculture farm since the day they’d rescued her mother from Julian’s ticking bomb not so long ago. She twisted the St. Raphael bracelet around her wrist, a nervous habit.

Denis pulled up the controls on his tablet. “I’d better deploy the radio antennae,” he said. “We’re getting close.”

Soon after, Oliver’s scratchy voice came over the sound system, with a cacophony of whistles in the background. “Brace yourself, Eva. It’s not good.”

The clear water in the tablet’s view window became cloudy, and Eva gasped when the net of the first enclosure came into view.

It was full of dolphins.

They swam listlessly in circles, looking confused and depressed at their confinement.

A sudden rage engulfed Eva. “This must be Romeo’s pod,” she said. “Who could do such a thing?”

Denis shook his head as he tapped controls to slow the submarine and hover beside the enclosure. “Well, at least we know who couldn’t have done it—Julian.”

That was for certain. Julian was dead, having met his demise at the hands—or rather the teeth, both rows of them—of one of his own genetically engineered creatures. But who else would have captured the wild pod and used Julian’s old enclosures to imprison them? And why?

Eva ran through the possibilities: entertainment venues, whalers, militaries, private collectors… even other researchers. A wave of guilt washed over her at the last thought. She’d garnered significant media attention for her breakthroughs in dolphin communication, and she’d encouraged more researchers to enter the field. But she would never have wanted it to happen like this.

She took in a deep breath. “For now, it doesn’t matter who did this or why. What’s important is getting those dolphins out—ASAP.”

Denis surfaced the Denise 2 and popped the hatch open. Eva climbed over to the RMP boat, which was tied to one of the poles of the enclosure, and conferred with Oliver. To open the nets, they’d have to go underwater, and Oliver had two sets of gear. They quickly decided he and Eva would dive, while Denis would take the submarine back to West End. The submarine posed a risk to the dolphins, since it was transparent to their sonar, meaning they could easily run into it and injure themselves.

Oliver also called for backup. But instead of summoning his own staff, he called Eva’s stepfather Mel, an ex-Navy SEAL diver who’d helped them out of more than one pickle, and told him to bring Dr. Flores, the veterinarian who cared for the RIMS dolphins.

“I want to keep this on the down-low for now,” he explained. “And besides, I’d like Mel’s insights.”

It was only when they were gearing up that Eva noticed several dead dolphins floating on the surface at the far side of the enclosure. She didn’t know if they’d died of starvation or from the stress of their capture. Either way, there were undoubtedly many more sick and injured dolphins here, and she was relieved Dr. Flores would soon be on his way.

When they had given each other’s equipment a final check, Eva and Oliver rolled off the sides of the RMP boat into the swells of the royal-blue ocean. The deep water out here was much cooler than the shallow water of the reef just off Roatán, and Eva folded her arms against her chest for warmth. As she hadn’t been expecting to dive, she hadn’t brought her wetsuit and wore only her bikini.

As they descended, Eva observed that the enclosure’s openings were now closed with modern locks. Someone had been restoring Atlantis. But Oliver, apparently anticipating this, had brought surgical scissors—he kept them on board to cut off venomous lionfish spines—and began to cut an opening in the net.

Dolphins gathered on the other side, watching with restrained curiosity, and Eva hoped the dolphins sensed that she and Oliver were there to help. She expected they did; dolphins had often demonstrated empathy for humans and were known for helping stranded swimmers.

Yet Eva regretted not having her research team present to talk to the pod using Delphi Imago to explain what was going on. After their capture, the dolphins might not trust people anymore. Why should they?

I wish I’d brought Taffy. She could tell them it’s going to be okay.

When Oliver had made an opening several feet in diameter, plenty large enough for several dolphins to swim through, Eva motioned for the dolphins to swim through to her. But they remained motionless, hanging limp in the water, peering at her with their dark liquid eyes. Eva turned to Oliver, who looked as surprised as she was at the dolphins’ behavior.

Why won’t they leave?

Eva kicked her fins, propelling herself forward into the enclosure, but Oliver grabbed her arm, pulling her back. He shook his head, motioned at the enclosure, and made an ominous hand gesture.

Eva remembered her mother being trapped inside one of these enclosures, sitting on top of a ticking bomb. Does he think it’s rigged?

Oliver led her in a swim around the outside of the soccer-field-sized enclosure, inspecting it. They didn’t see any signs of explosive rigging or even an invisible fence or barrier. It was a long swim, and they’d used their air instead of their snorkels. Eva told herself to remember to check her air level when they got back around, but the dolphins still hadn’t left, distracting her. She signed to Oliver that she wanted to try one more time to get the dolphins to leave the enclosure, and he nodded in response.

Many of the dolphins still hovered a short distance from the opening, watching the two divers. Eva felt a vibration in her body, then heard clicks. They were echolocating on her. Then they exchanged whistles.

Eva beckoned to the dolphins and swam through the opening toward them. This time Oliver didn’t stop her. But the dolphins skittered away from her, clearly scared, and Eva’s heart sank.

Unexpectedly, she found herself rising toward the surface. She tried to manage her breath to control her buoyancy, and let some air out of her BCD, but still she rose. She checked her air level and saw that she was almost empty. With an almost empty tank she floated better.

Which meant she had to leave now, or she’d be trapped in this enclosure. The last thing she wanted was to leave the dolphins, but she knew she must if she was going to mount an effort to help free them.

She swiftly kicked her fins, swimming back toward Oliver and the opening.

She had one thought on her mind.

How are we going to get them out?