CLORAL
Theseawasnowcalm. Thethreeofussatonthebubbleof the floating hauler, staring at the reborn city of Faar. None of us could say anything for the longest time. There were no words that could truly describe the spectacular sight we had just witnessed. Well, maybe there was one.
“That was… cool,” I said, knowing it was the biggest understatement of all time.
The three of us exchanged glances and started to laugh. It was an incredible moment. We helped the city of Faar complete its destiny and probably saved Cloral at the same time. If there was a lesson here it would have to be that you should never, ever lose hope. We had given up. Thrown in the towel. The fat lady had not only sung, she had left the stage. Saint Dane was already doing his victory lap. But we pulled it out. Unbelievable. The only way we could show our disbelief was to laugh. It felt great.
We watched as the Faarians swam toward their city and tentatively crawled up on the shore. One by one they emerged from the water, gathered together, and stood looking up in awe at their mountain city. It was the first time the sun had touched their buildings in centuries. Water still poured from the beehive of tunnel openings that dotted the mountain. The transpire was complete.
As we sat, watching this wondrous sight, we heard the sound of waves slapping against a hull. All three of us turned to see that the black submarine was cruising toward us. My first thought was to jump back in the hauler and get the heck out of there, but a closer look told us there was no reason to be afraid. The deck of the submarine was lined with aqua-neers. They were all staring at Faar with the same look of wonder. Just as Spader had predicted, his mates had won. They now commanded the raiders’ sub.
Stepping from out of the control tower was Wu Yenza. She walked out into the sun and stood with her hands on her hips confidently, watching as they drew closer to us. She was very much in charge.
“She’s good,” Uncle Press said.
“She’s better than good,” I added. “If not for her…”
I didn’t have to finish the sentence. We all knew where we’d be right now if Yenza hadn’t gone for help. I turned to Spader and said, “Maybe you’ll get a promotion for this.”
An odd thing happened. Spader didn’t smile and make a clever comeback. He just watched the approaching submarine intently. His mind was somewhere else. Even though we had just pulled out an incredible victory, there was now a dark frown on his face. Without a word, he dropped back down into the hauler and powered up so we could rendezvous with the sub. I looked at Uncle Press. All he could do was shrug.
As Uncle Press pulled off his swimskin, Spader guided our hauler right up alongside the sub. An aquaneer tossed us a rope so we could tie on. Spader handed me the two air globes and water sleds and I tossed them up to the aquaneer. We then all climbed aboard the sub and were reunited with Yenza.
“I guess you found Faar,” she said with a wry smile. Another understatement.
“What made you leave?” asked Uncle Press.
“A hunch,” she said. “When you didn’t surface, I assumed you had found the city. And if Zy Roder was right behind us, I didn’t want to take him on myself. I’m good, but notthatgood.”
“Where is he?” asked Spader with no emotion.
Uh-oh. Now I knew what was in Spader’s head. The sight of the sub approaching had reminded him of Saint Dane. I was afraid that he would still be looking for revenge.
“He’s in the brig down below,” answered Yenza. “I won’t let him get away again.”
Spader walked past us toward the control tower.
“Spader, let it go,” I called.
But Spader kept walking. What was he going to do? Uncle Press and I followed him.
Spader entered the control tower. He grabbed an aquaneer by the shirt and demanded, “Where is the brig?”
“Below, halfway to the stern,” answered the aquaneer, a little intimidated.
Spader pushed him aside and headed for the ladder.
Uncle Press called, “Spader, stop. Take a breath.”
Spader wasn’t listening. He slid down the ladder. We were right behind him. We hit the main deck and had only taken a few steps when we heard a scream come from the back of the sub. It was a horrible, pained howl. Without a word we all began running toward the sound. Spader was a few feet ahead of us and glancing into each doorway as he passed, looking for the source. Finally he saw something and entered a doorway. We followed right behind.
This was the right place. The room was split in half. We had just entered the front half. The back half was closed off by prison bars. On the floor in front of us was an aquaneer. Another aquaneer was behind the bars of the cell. Roder/Saint Dane was nowhere to be seen.
“He killed him!” shouted the aquaneer behind the bars. He was all sorts of excited and out of breath.
Uncle Press immediately went to the fallen aquaneer.
“Who did?” demanded Spader.
“Zy Roder! We were putting him in the cell when he suddenly turned on us. The guy is strong! He threw me in here and closed the door, then grabbed him and choked him and — I think he’s dead.” The guy was out of his mind with panic.
Uncle Press checked the aquaneer’s pulse.
“He’s not dead, but he needs help,” said Uncle Press. “I’ll get Yenza.” He blasted out of the door and turned left to get back to the control room.
“Where’s Roder?” asked Spader.
“I don’t know! He ran out. Let me out of here. We’ve got to find him!”
I pulled a set of keys from the belt of the fallen aquaneer and threw them to Spader. Spader unlocked the door to the cell and the other aquaneer ran out.
“I’ve got to report this to Yenza!” he shouted, then ran out and turned to the right.
“Help me,” I said to Spader, and the two of us moved the aquaneer into a sitting position so he was more comfortable. His eyes opened slowly and focused on me.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“Roder…” the guy gasped. “I got too close to the cell. He grabbed me.”
“We know,” I said. “Your friend told us.” The aquaneer focused on me and frowned. “What friend?”
“Roder locked the other aquaneer in the cell after he attacked you.”
The aquaneer shook his head and said, “Roder was already in the cell. He reached out and grabbed me. Nobody else was here.”
Spader looked at me with confusion, but I knew instantly what had happened. Saint Dane had transformed himself again. That wasn’t an aquaneer in the cell, it was Saint Dane, and we had just freed him.
“He took a right,” I said. “The control room is to the left.”
“He’s going for the launch chamber,” shouted Spader.
“Let him go,” I begged.
Spader wasn’t listening. He bolted from the room, hot after Saint Dane.
“You okay?” I asked the aquaneer.
He nodded and waved for me to get going.
“Spader!” I shouted. “Spader, stop!”
I ran after my friend, but there was no stopping him.
Moments later we both got to the door of the launch chamber that had once held the hauler. Spader pushed on the door, but something was keeping it closed from inside. He pushed harder and the door finally gave way. Someone had put a barrel against it. We both jumped into the room in time to see Saint Dane about to make his escape.
He had transformed back into his normal self. His steely blue eyes flashed at us as we tumbled into the room. He was on a skimmer, like the underwater skimmers we used to sabotage his battle cruiser. We saw him a second before his head went under the water. His long, gray hair billowed out, like a spiderweb in the water around him. Our roles had reversed. This is how Saint Dane had seen us as we made our escape on the hauler.
