Chapter Twenty-One: Dolphins and Kraken
AN: Hey all- sorry for the long delay. I've been busy (traveling) and a bit distracted… Here's the next chapter!
Four days of travel had taken the Nautilus to the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. The weather in the more southerly latitudes was warmer, and several League members were taking advantage of the sun.
Jekyll climbed out onto the observation deck, a book in his hand. He'd been intending to sit and read it, but after nodding a greeting to Sawyer, movement from what seemed to be a massive pile of bronze feathers caught his attention.
"Daria, what are you doing?" he asked the currently gryphon-shaped Tau'ka.
Daria raised her head off of her foreclaws. "Ssunning," she said. She yawned, a complicated procedure involving opening her beak, squeezing her eyes shut, and making her feathers fluff up. "A lot of Tau'ka have difficulty making an enzyme that putss calcium in our boness," she explained once she'd accomplished this feat. Her beak made her words slightly more difficult to understand, but Jekyll had learned to manage. "Ssunning helps us to produce it- our skeletonss can sstarrt to go brrittle otherwisse."
"Oh," he said. "Like rickets in children?"
She nodded. "The name of the condition translates to 'ssoft boness'. It'ss common among uss. Sssadly, I am one who iss rather predissposed to developing it."
"Osteomalacia," Jekyll said, finally recognizing her description. "That's what we call it- the adult version, that is. That's how you prevent it? Sitting in the sun?"
She nodded again. "And it feelss nice," she added. "Care to join me?"
Jekyll pulled over two of the chairs that were brought up to the observation deck when the Nautilus cruised the surface of the ocean. The Tau'ka shifted to her own form and sat on one chair while he took the other. "Will you read aloud?" she inquired.
He smiled lightly. "Anything else while I'm at it, my dear? Tea? A fan to cool yourself with, perhaps?"
Daria rolled her eyes. "Very amusing," she said, her voice dry with amused irony. "No, thank you. I enjoy reading, but I still have difficulty with English."
"You speak it well enough," Jekyll pointed out.
She smiled at the compliment. "But reading it is entirely a different matter. I do well enough to get by- reading reports and signs and so forth. It's just that since I spend half the time trying to figure out how to pronounce the words in my head that I never get anywhere with a book! And my spelling is atrocious."
"We'll work on that," he assured her with a faint smile. He settled back in his chair and opened the book in preparation to read it.
"Hey, Daria!" Sawyer called from where he stood further down the observation deck with Skinner. "You should come see this!"
Daria smiled apologetically. "Sorry," she said. "Our glorious and noble leader summons."
The tall doctor laughed. "You should go see what he wants then," he told her. She nodded and headed for the other end of the deck.
Jekyll returned to his book. He hadn't thought about it before, but it made sense that Daria had difficulty reading English. He himself had noticed that the translators she'd given to the League on Verris did not seem to work on written Goa'uld. She would have had to learn the hard way.
"We'll work on it"? Hyde quipped with a dark chuckle. Henry, you don't want to work on her reading skills, you want to-
"Shut up," Jekyll muttered, knowing immediately where that was about to go.
Why don't you just take her already? She is a pretty little thing. And she likes you- God only knows why…
"Shut up," Jekyll repeated. His alter ego only laughed at him.
Why don't you just-
The physician hummed loudly in an attempt to ignore Hyde.
Or better yet, let ME do it, Hyde finished, bemused at Jekyll's efforts. The doctor was about to retort when he heard a panicked scream from the other end of the observation deck, followed by Sawyer's startled "No!"
Jekyll bolted towards the end of the deck. Sawyer stood frozen, his expression unreadable- whatever it was, it wasn't concern- while Skinner clutched the rail, staring over the side of the submarine. "Daria- I think Tommy was pointin' somethin' out t' 'er and she leaned too far-!"
Jekyll could have sworn his heart stopped in that moment. "Daria- fell?" he repeated blankly. Before that statement sank in, Sawyer was running back to the conning tower.
"Man overboard!" he shouted as he hauled the heavy hatch open.
The Doctor's brain finally caught up to the situation. He stood frozen at the rail, frantically searching for any sign of the Tau'ka. "Tom, I don't think she can swim!" he shouted, remembering what she had told him. She was terrified of water- a result of her brother's cruel joke many years ago. Beneath him he felt the Nautilus's engines strain to slow and turn the great vessel. "God, where is she?"
He heard feet pounding up the tower ladder. An eternity a few seconds long passed as first Nemo, then Jason and Mina scrambled out onto the observation platform.
"What happened?" Nemo demanded. "The Nautilus is coming about and my exploration pod is preparing to launch. Who went over?"
"Daria," Sawyer said as Jason pushed his way to the front. The mage was drawing something from the pocket of his waistcoat.
"What are you doing?" Sawyer demanded. Jason waved the white-faced American off.
"No time to explain," the young man said. He flung a clear glass vial- one that reminded Jekyll of the ones he used to contain his transformative elixir- against the desk. It smashed on the metal plating, spilling an inky black liquid as the mage shouted something incomprehensible. There was a flare of blue-green light, then silence.
Jekyll returned to scanning the water's surface. "I d-don't s-see her…" he stammered, heart pounding frenetically in his throat.
"Wait," Jason said calmly. The doctor glanced at his younger colleague. His eyes were closed, but Jekyll could see movement behind the lids. How could the man be so calm? Daria was out there somewhere!
"Look!" Mina exclaimed a moment later, pointing down at the water.
The League clustered around, trying to see what she'd indicated.
Skinner yelped as a massive tentacle burst from the water. It was more than massive, it was nearly as long as the Nautilus itself- and that was just the part of the tentacle they could see. More than one person on the deck blanched at the thought of how big its owner must be. Even worse, the serpentine appendage was coming towards the ship.
But the end of the tentacle was gently curled around a small figure. Jason shouted something else, and the tentacle approached, gently laying its prize on the deck.
Daria, soaking wet and coughing up seawater, staggered and collapsed on the metal flooring. Jekyll immediately went to her side, helping the half-drowned Tau'ka to sit up and pounding on her back to clear her lungs. She clung to him desperately, shaking with terror.
"Is she alright?" Mina asked, kneeling next to the pair to see what she could do to help.
"I think so," Jekyll said as he wrapped his arms around Daria, not caring that he was getting soaked in the process. "Let's get her inside, get her warm… shh, it's all right, you're safe, Daria…"
The vampiress nodded, and the pair of them left, taking their wet colleague inside.
Meanwhile, the others were watching the immense tentacle. Nemo had drawn back, his sword in hand. "Explain yourself, Mr. Fisher," he ordered curtly. He recalled the giant squid that had attacked his ship years ago. However, that cephalopod had been like a kitten next to a mastiff in comparison to the monster looming over him now.
The unseen creature was now running the very tip of its tentacle over the Water Master gently. Jason smiled and patted it. "Thank you, Great One," he said.
"My debt to you is discharged, Mage," said a deep 'voice' that echoed in the minds of all present. It seemed to hold the crash of surf on stone, over the deep, echo of the ocean's bottommost depths. If haunting, tomblike silence could be made a sound, the voice would have embodied that as well. It shook the very bones of the human listeners as they froze in fear and awe. "Trouble me no more."
"I will not," Jason promised.
The tentacle came towards Nemo now. The captain tensed, raising his weapon.
It seemed as if the owner of the voice chuckled. "How amusing." The tip of the tentacle wrapped around Nemo's sword, plucking it neatly from his grip. It deposited the weapon on the ground, then ran caressingly over the captain's arm. He watched, stock still, as suckers- easily the length of his thumb in diameter, seemed to 'taste' the sleeve of his uniform.
"Mr. Fisher…" he said warily. It was all too easy to tell that if the creature decided, it could snap the Nautilus in half, much less its captain.
"So, you are the tiny human who braves my realm in the metal fish," the voice said, like a great ruler who'd been momentarily entertained by some odd bauble. "You intrigue me, little Captain. No longer fear that you or your metal fish will be hampered by my offspring, so long as you accord the proper respect."
With that, the tentacle withdrew… and vanished beneath the waves.
It was a long time before anyone spoke. Skinner finally broke the silence.
"God, what the 'ell was that thing?" he cried, voice cracking slightly. He was dead white- and not just from the grease paint that made his features visible. That thing was too big to be allowed.
The League members as one turned to Jason.
"That?" he said. "That was a Kraken."
They stared at him. A Kraken? The monstrous octopus-like creature of mythology that preyed on ships? Jason had summoned that?
Sawyer stared over the side of the ship, his face as white as Skinner's from the memory of the thing. Nemo's expression, however, turned dark. He know of the Kraken from legend. He wasn't happy to find out that the monster ship-killer was real.
"You summoned that thing to my ship?" he demanded.
Jason nodded hurriedly. "Yes sir," he said. "It was the fastest way to save Miss Noclaf. The Kraken owed me for a favor I'd done it a few years back."
Nemo was furious. "You brought that thing to my ship?" he thundered angrily. "Putting us and my crew at risk of destruction?"
"It would not have damaged the Nautilus," Jason tried to assure him. "It was under my control the entire time-"
"And what if you had lost that control, Mr. Fisher? Would it have listened to you then?"
"I-, well, I don't know, but-"
"Exactly. You do not know." Nemo narrowed his eyes dangerously at the younger man. "You will refrain from summoning such monsters while you are onboard my ship." He turned on his heel and stalked off, going inside to call back the nautiloid.
Jason bit his lip as the captain stormed away. "I was just trying to help," he said apologetically.
"You scared him," Sawyer replied.
The mage sighed, kneeling to pick up the shards of glass from the vial he'd broken. "I did, didn't I?" he said. "I guess that's what comes when you're reminded you are not the sole ruler of your realm."
The American nodded. "That's probably it," he said, coming over to help Jason. "What was in this?"
"Kraken ink," he told him as he tossed a handful of glass pieces over the side. "It allowed me to summon it- the Kraken's one of the more powerful Elementals of the sea- I need something connected to it to bring it to me."
"I don' think I want t' know what you did t' bring that big squid," Skinner said. "'E's too big for my taste."
"Didn't Nemo have a run-in with a giant squid a while back?" Sawyer asked. "Maybe that's why your Kraken scared him so bad."
"Maybe." Jason shook his head. "How did Daria go over anyway?" he asked the American, changing the subject.
"Leaned too far out," he replied. "I was pointing out some dolphins to her- thought she might like to see 'em."
Dolphins? Jason frowned slightly. He got on well with most sorts of cetaceans and made a point of visiting with them whenever he could. He hadn't sensed any dolphins since they'd left the English Channel. "Are you sure they were dolphins?"
"Yep," Sawyer said, apparently not noticing the mage's expression. "Ridin' the Nautilus's wake. Daria was lookin' for 'em and lost her balance."
Odd, Jason thought to himself. Both that Sawyer would lie about the dolphins- because I certainly haven't noticed any- and that Daria would fall over a guard rail like that. She's smart, got good balance- and didn't she say she was a shapeshifter? Why didn't she turn into a bird or something? Granted, he did not know exactly what her abilities and limits were- perhaps she'd been too frightened to transform, or was unable to take a shape with wings. He shrugged. If the League's leader wanted to be less than all-revealing with someone not officially a member of his team, then that was his business. Jason wouldn't pry.
"I'm gonna go down and see if she's okay," Skinner piped up.
The thief clambered down the ladder into the depths of the submarine craft. Idly, he wondered why Jason had looked so suspicious. There had been a slight- but very definite- frown on the mage's face when Sawyer had mentioned the dolphins. But maybe he was looking too much into it- maybe it had been harder to control the Kraken than he'd been letting on.
Skinner hoped that if that were the case, Nemo never found out about it.
He found the three he sought in the Nautilus's infirmary. Jekyll was giving Daria a thorough examination, his concern overcoming his usual shyness. For her part, Daria had changed into dry things and was protesting the need for the examination in irritated Goa'uld.
Skinner grinned. The lovely Fenix Asopiram had taught him just what a few of those words meant. A fine girl, that one, at once as coy and flirtatious as any man could want. He'd spent a pleasant evening with the amethyst-eyed Tau'ka trader. Very pleasant.
"Yes, Skinner?" Mina asked from the sideline, where she watched the proceedings with a bemused expression.
"Just comin' t' see 'ow our girl was doing," the thief replied casually, leaving that train of thought for later. He joined Mina and asked in an undertone, "She is alrigh', isn't she?"
She nodded. "She's got some fairly minor injuries, and she inhaled some seawater, but we think she got it all up. It's mostly shock- Dr. Jekyll has been trying to convince her to rest, but she won't hear it."
"I don't like people fussing over me!" Daria snapped.
Skinner grinned. "Didn't your cousin ever tell you not t' argue with a 'Ealer?" he said.
"Daria, you hit your head when you went over- you should not be standing-"
There was a moment's silence, then Daria said, "Well, tell him I'm certainly not taking that advice!" as Jekyll went bright red.
"I don't think I want t' know…"
"You probably don't," Mina replied. Jekyll went redder and mumbled something about having to put some medical implements away. He scurried off to do just that as Skinner hid a laugh.
"Will you at least rest?" the thief asked the Tau'ka. "You were pretty wet when Fish-boy pulled you out."
She shot him a withering look. "Skinner, I am perfectly capable of-" Daria halted in mid-sentence, swaying a little in sudden exhaustion as the past hour's events caught up to her. "On second thought…"
Jekyll caught her as she slumped back. "I did warn her."
The thief grinned wryly. "She alrigh'?" he asked. Jekyll nodded.
"Exhaustion and fear, I think. She's terrified of water."
"If things like tha' Kraken are 'anging around down there, I'm not surprised."
Mina helped Jekyll get Daria's limp form onto one of the cots. "What happened, exactly?" she wanted to know. "All I heard from the inside was her screaming."
Jekyll looked at Skinner. "You were there," he pointed out.
Skinner shrugged. "Tommy said there were dolphins 'anging around behind the boat," he replied. "I didn't see for certain, but I think she leaned to far over the side. She did seem a bit odd around Tommy though."
"What do you mean?" Mina asked sharply. Her green gaze was slightly suspicious.
"Well, I don't think they were flirtin', if that's what yer on about, Mina." He grinned rogueishly. "Though if you're done with Tommy-boy…"
"No."
"What do you mean, 'odd'?" Jekyll cut before things could get out of hand.
The thief gave Mina another cheeky smirk before getting back to business. "She was actin' like 'e made 'er nervous," he told Jekyll. "That's the only way I can describe it. 'Course, I might be wrong- it was pretty bright out there." He shrugged. "Maybe she thought 'e was gonna call 'er out on something."
"Maybe," Jekyll said slowly.
"Tom has been acting a little strange lately," Mina said. "I haven't asked him why…"
"Ask, will you?" Jekyll asked.
She nodded. "Let's hope there are not any further accidents."
The doctor nodded in reply.
If it were an accident.