Authors Note:
I don't own this it's purely for fun.
Couldn't sleep so I went and wrote the second chapter immediately. Yay for insomnia.
Chapter 2: Mako investigations!
I swam down under the ship, checked the seams, gave the turbines the once over, poked, prodded, and knocked on the hull. Took me a good thirty minutes but I'd been practicing to increase how long I could hold my breath. If Denman's math was right then for every minute I could hold my breath on dry land I could hold it for fifteen as a mermaid. I'd be good for about another ten minutes give or take but I didn't need it to complete my inspection. Everything was in good shape down here.
I swam out to the back of the ship, I think it's called the aft or something, and surfaced. "Everything's clear under the water line. So we should be all set for travel out of the marina."
"That's good. We didn't have time to check last night when we got in. It was almost midnight local time and we all wanted to get to sleep." Denman walked over to me and offered her hand to help pull me out of the water.
"Lovely!" I drawled, heavy on the sarcasm, as I took her pro-offered hand and the help out of the water. "As if I need more jet lag? How many time zone's did we cross this time? Actually never mind I really don't want to know."
Denman just chuckled a bit as she walked back to the work area to get ready for out trip out to Mako that we planned for today. I just shook my head as I pulled my self fully clear of the water then held out my hand fingers curled but palm up this time. I tensed the muscles in my arm as if I was going to lift something and started drying off. It took a while. My powers worked slow. It made precision easy in the small term but made going to the extremes take a bit of time. So it was about a good two minutes for me to get fully dry, ok so it was closer to three, I rounded down. Sue me.
I walked over to the work area and started a fresh pot of coffee. I'm addicted to the stuff and no I don't need an intervention. "So what do you think we'll find?"
"No idea, really." Denman answered. "With some luck we might find out why that pool in Ireland isn't doing anything anymore. I just need to see it and get a GPS reading."
"If you're right about the locations that is."
"Hence why we're going there. That's why it's called a research trip."
I held up my hands in surrender. When I heard the gate to our privet marina area get kicked open.
"Hey! You sheilas think you can come up here and lend us blokes a hand with all this stuff" I heard a voice I immediately identified as belonging to Aaron, the only native Aussie in our crew. I swear I'd listen to that man read the phone book just for his accent. Uh... Just forget I said that please.
Denman and I hurried up to the top to help carry down a lot of diving gear, none of it for me obviously, as well as some food for lunch, and a box with the underwater motion cameras that we were going to place later in the week. Even with all seven of us it took a few trips to get it all on board and stowed.
"So," Aaron asked me. "What do you think of my home? Nice isn't it?"
"Don't know yet," I answered honestly, "So far all I remember seeing is the inside of my eyelids."
He gave a good natured laugh and told me that the best is yet to come. I just smiled and nodded, I'd been looking forward to this stop in our world hoping research trip since we agreed to take the survey job. Especially after our last stop in Ireland two months ago on a full moon when nothing happened. Literally nothing. No glow in the pool, no bubbles, no nothing. It had been the first full moon since the comet was supposed to have passed near earth. Denman though there was a connection, hence our planned trip to the Mako pool.
We'd just needed a good reason for her to come back here. When several local and international organizations needed someone to see if the local marine life and fish lanes were returning to their normal locations we'd jumped on the opportunity.
"Ok, we've got everything we need for today so let's head out. We can pick up the scanners and sonars later. Kenichi take us out to Mako." Denman began giving orders. "The rest of you start doing safety checks on your dive gear. Laura take the map up to the helm so Kenichi can get us moving."
"Oh, and here I was about to offer to race him there." I fake gripped as I grabbed the map in question and headed up to where the steering wheel thing was.
Denman just rolled her eyes at me. I couldn't help but laugh, It had taken me the better part of eighteen months but I'd finally managed to impart a sense of humor to her. Go me. I came to a quick stop just before the stairs to the upper level made a quick back track and got my a fresh cup of coffee. I do have my priorities straight.
I unrolled the map and pointed out the mark Denman had made near the dormant volcano on the island. Ken just nodded at me and stuck his head out for a quick check to see that all lines were clear and then took us out into open water.
"Need me for anything else here?" I asked. He just shook his head and motioned that I was free to head back down if I wanted.
I took him up on the offer, and I needed a fresh coffee anyways. This one hadn't even made it up the stairs with me. Yes I know, I really should cut back, blame Jack he's the one that got me hooked in the first place. I came back down only to find the pot empty and everyone with a full cup next to them while going over their gear. And the worst part, that was the last of the fresh coffee too.
I flopped down on the bench when I was promptly handed a water proof camera and GPS tracker and told to get them ready for the trip into the pool. This in truth consisted more of setting up a wireless sync to the laptop here on the ship then it did anything else. Larry had to talk me through it in a few places but that's why he was here, to keep all our techno gear working right. Once that was done Denman dragged me away for one more quick job. I had to help her into her wet suit. I didn't need one personally, and she was just glad she had another woman on the ship to help her out. Guess why.
By the time all that was done we'd arrived, and Denman gave us the usual safety brief. Stay in pairs, don't stray too far, so on and so forth. I mostly didn't listen. Other then the stay near the team part, none of it really applied to me as I don't use dive gear.
"Alright let's get in the water and follow my lead I've been here before so I know what I'm looking for and where I'm going. That goes for you to Laura." Denman gave me a knowing look. I deserved it too, I tended to wander off when on a dive if I saw something interesting to look at, or a dolphin. They loved to play.
We hit the water and Denman led the way. I mentally groaned. All the gear made them swim so slow. I know I should show some patience but that's kinda hard to keep in mind when you can out swim most water craft, without trying hard! But I did it and we got to the cave in about twenty minutes only to find that the entrance was partially blocked by a minor cave in. I could fit in but the others would either have to clear some rocks or leave the air tanks behind.
We ended up moving rocks. Oh. Joy.
When we finally did get in the place looked like a war zone. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and bet you 50 bucks American that this didn't look like this last time you were here." I was looking at Denman as I made this offer.
"Do I look like a sucker to you?" was her answer.
I just laughed. So did the guys, none of whom would take my bet either, not that I honestly expected them to, and we go to work. Denman pulled out the GPS and took a reading on the location, I started taking pictures and sending them to the lap top back on the ship. Aaron, Jack, and Alan began looking over the wall to try and assess the extent of the damage and figure out what caused this. We all left everything alone on Denman's instruction beyond that, she didn't want anyone to know we'd been here beyond the rocks we'd moved to enter.
"Ok. I've got a good grid reading here. What's your take on what happened here?" Denman queried us.
"Looks like an explosion boss," Alan said. "Looks like it was well done too."
"So you think this was intentional?" Aaron asked.
"I think he's right," Jack said from over by the wall. "And judging from the spread I'd say this was the point of origination right here."
"So someone came in here and blew this place sky high and shut the whole thing down you mean?" I asked from in the water.
"Basically, yeah!" Alan nodded.
"Well if I"m right," Denman began. "Then the pools are linked like the two poles of a magnet. You have to have both a north and a south pole for it to work. Destroy one and you've got just a lump of metal with no polarity. If the grid reading match up the way I think they do then when this place got damaged and rendered inactive so did the other pool."
"So if the pools don't work how do we get more mermaids?" I asked dreading the answer.
Denman didn't disappoint. "You have kids."
"Whoa, I'm only nineteen here little young to be thinking of that. Besides I don't even have a boyfriend yet!"
I was answered by a general chorus of laughter.
"Well I've gotten all I need from here let's head back."
Once we got back on the ship Denman went straight for the laptop and started checking the two grids. Soon as I was dry I joined her and started to dry her off while watching her run the figures. The answer confirmed what we both feared. The pools were almost on a perfect opposite to each other. They were linked much like the poles of the magnet Denman had used as a metaphor earlier. When the pool here on Mako had been damaged beyond it's ability to do what ever it did it had shut down the pool in Ireland too. Unless what ever powered the pools could self repair, and we had no way to observe if that was possible, I had just become the last mermaid in the world. If the race of mermaids was to survive it all fell to me. No pressure right? How little I knew then.
