Dust Thou Art
by Jeanne Rose
Part 11
Lindsay stood on the upper deck of the cargo ship and turned a slow circle, scrutinizing every inch of the harbor through night vision binoculars. Payton sat beside him in a deck chair, upending a cold bottle of beer.
"You know, I'm starting to think you're paranoid," he said to Lindsay between swigs.
"Just a healthy sense of caution," Lindsay replied. "Something you'd better develop in a hurry if you expect to survive in this business."
"But there's no sign of him, right? And there won't be. It's a beautiful night. Why don't you pull up a chair, grab a beer, and enjoy it?"
"Because I know better than to quit before the job's done." Finishing a full sweep, Lindsay put down the binoculars to rest his eyes for a minute. It was only an hour past sunset, the world lit by the deceptive light of dusk before true darkness fell. If Payton wasn't taking the job seriously, did he dare trust him to a watch? If not, it was going to be a long night.
He stared out reflectively at the vast ocean, imagining the unearthly sea dragon he had glimpsed briefly when this job began, winding its way through the dark water. The earth was full of amazing things, all the more amazing because someone who knew how to play the game could control them, harness that vast power, add it to his own.
His eye was caught by a tiny speck moving slowly across the water. What would a small boat be doing out past the breakwater at this time of night? He searched through the binoculars, curious. Finally he found it, bobbing gently among the waves.
"Oh, shit," he said softly.
"What is it?"
He didn't answer, and finally Payton got out of his chair and joined him at the railing. "What are they doing?" Lindsay wondered aloud.
"What are you talking about?" Payton asked. He sounded gratifyingly worried.
"So much for your sure-fire magic amulet. He's out there with the other two in a boat. It looks like they're performing some kind of spell." He put down the binoculars and strode to the ladder. "Whatever it is, we've got to put a stop to it right now."
Angel sprinkled the last of the powdered fish eyes into the water as Wesley finished the Latin incantation. His accent seemed to be improving over the last time Cordelia had heard it. They drifted in silence.
"What happens now?" she whispered.
"Now we find out if the spell is going to work," Wesley replied.
They waited. The sea was calm, the gray darkness of the sky unrevealing. The only sound was the sloshing of the waves and the hum of a motorboat in the distance.
Then suddenly all around them the sea began to boil. Huge bubbles came belching from the water, rocking the boat and making the air stink of rotten eggs and dead seaweed, which was even more unpleasant than the powdered fish eyes.
"Is this supposed to be happening?" Angel asked Wesley.
"I don't think so . . ." Wesley trailed off. He was staring out at the water.
The sound of the motor boat grew loud enough to be heard over the bubbling of the sea. Cordelia looked up and realized it was headed in their direction. "Great," she muttered. "This is going to be a little tough to explain to the harbor patrol."
Suddenly she jumped as a deep, unfamiliar voice arose right beside her. "My gold . . . all my beautiful gold . . . they're taking away my lovely gold . . ."
She stared at Wesley, from whose mouth the sounds were coming, but it certainly wasn't him speaking. She shifted instinctively away from him as shivers ran up and down her back.
"Wesley!" Angel said sharply, shaking him. "Snap out of it!" Wesley didn't respond, but slowly the sea stopped boiling. The slight breeze began to take the edge off of the sulfurous odor. Then without warning Wesley slumped forward – Angel caught him before he fell into the water.
The motor boat was nearly on top of them. It didn't seem to be slowing down and for a moment Cordelia was afraid it was going to smash right into them. Then it veered around them and shots rang out as it passed by. She dove for the scant safety of the bottom of the boat. Angel joined her, pulling Wesley down beside him.
"Just a guess but I don't think that was the harbor patrol," she said tightly.
"It's got to be Wolfram and Hart," Angel replied. "They must have noticed that we're trying to uncage their pet sea monster." He peeked briefly over the gunwale. "They're coming back. Stay here and keep an eye on Wesley. I'll deal with them."
At any other time Cordelia would have accepted this without question, but all at once she found herself horribly uncertain whether Angel was up to it. But there was no time to argue. As the other boat stopped along side them, Angel leaped up and jumped across the gap.
Cordelia kept her eyes glued to the other boat but it was hard to see what was happening, even silhouetted against the city lights. She heard the sounds of flesh hitting flesh interspersed with grunts of pain and hoped not too many of them were coming from Angel. As long as the sounds of conflict continued, she supposed he must still be alive. She shook Wesley's shoulder, but he didn't respond. She started to reach for the crossbow he had brought, but realized that she didn't dare use it for fear of hitting Angel.
The two boats were beginning to drift apart. She grabbed an oar and tried to narrow the gap, but the boat kept going sideways. She redoubled her effort when she saw two men pin Angel against the side of the boat. Did they mean to stake him?
She nearly dropped the oar when suddenly an enormous shape pushed its way out of the water only a few yards away. It took her a moment to recognize it as a huge coil of sea dragon, just like the picture in Angel's book. She stared as it moved diagonally through the water like an undulating snake until the loop curled around the front end of the motorboat.
The sea dragon's sudden appearance gave Angel the distraction he needed to break free. Shots rang out as the occupants of the boat tried to ward off the monster, but they didn't seem to have much effect. The coil tightened and began to flip the boat sideways.
Angel stumbled toward the back of the boat and started to heave himself overboard. Just as it was about to overturn, Cordelia heard a final shot followed by a sharp cry of pain and saw Angel fall backwards into the water. Then the boat flipped, dumping the remaining occupants into the sea.
The sea dragon uncoiled itself and disappeared.
"Angel!" Cordelia cried out as loudly as she dared. There was no answer. The sea was dark and terrifyingly deep and wide. A bullet wouldn't kill him and Angel couldn't drown, but if he were too weak to swim, how would they ever find him?
Wesley stirred, finally coming to his senses. It was about time. Cordelia shoved an oar into his hands and started rowing in the direction of the capsized boat. "Come on," she said. "Angel's out there and we've got to find him."
With both of them rowing, at least the boat went straight. It was really too dark to see, and she couldn't hear anything over the muted sound of the waves and the lawyers splashing around and cursing. Then a few yards from the overturned boat her oar hit something solid underwater. Then something nearly yanked it out of her hand. Praying that it was Angel, she tightened her grip and pulled. Finally she saw a white hand reaching out of the deep, clamped to the end of the oar.
Wesley reached out and grabbed Angel's wrist and dragged him over the gunwale. He lay sprawled across the bottom of the boat, coughing up seawater.
"I'm OK," he gasped. He pulled himself up onto one of the slats, then suddenly doubled over in pain and nearly fell overboard again.
They both grabbed him. "Well, sort of OK," he amended. They didn't let go, even when he tried to sit up.
Cordelia eyed the hand he held pressed against his side. Blood was leaking through his fingers. "You're shot," she said.
"Yeah. Parting gift." He looked up Wesley. "You all right?"
"Yes, I believe so," Wesley answered. "Though it was a unique experience to catch a glimpse into the heart of a sea dragon." He glanced over at the two lawyers clinging to the side of their boat. "But I think we'd better go now, before the port authorities really do show up."
"No argument here," Cordelia said. She and Wesley propped Angel against the side of the boat and took up the oars.
"Just remind me again why spells have to be done out of row boats."