Chosen
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Chapter 17: Lagoa Preta
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Dinner was indeed a special occasion. Dusty set up a buffet on the side table of the salon, and everyone helped themselves to pizza, grilled fish, grilled squash, green salad, and seasoned rice. Dr. Delaney came with his son, Virgil Delaney, his son's Dutch wife, and their three children. To Maria's and Scott's delight, the two youngest children were twelve and nine, and the four soon became fast friends and ended up leaving early to go over to the houses to play.
The evening passed pleasantly and there was much talk at the tables. Trakker and Sector listened carefully for any hint in the conversation about the fishpeople, but found none. But that was of little consequence, for soon the fishpeople were about to make their own entrance.
There was much splashing outside the boat, and then came the sound of footsteps on the stairs...heavy footsteps.
If it had been a horror movie, everyone would have screamed and knocked over their chairs in a mad panic to get away. The buffet would have tumbled over and someone would have drawn a gun.
But no one screamed. The only noises were a few gasps of astonishment and the melody playing on the ancient stereo. Melusine and two taller fishmen stood in the open doorway of the salon, dripping and looking in.
Burns rose first, and Melusine beckoned him forward. As everyone watched he went to her, where she wrapped her arm around his shoulders happily, but also somewhat possessively. The two creatures beside her reached in to touch him gently, studying him closely. The rest of the people present all sat in silence, staring at each other and at the three new arrivals.
One of the fishmen standing beside her, a creature nearly seven feet in height and muscled like an Olympian dream, then looked at the Delaneys and began croaking and clicking at them.
To everyone's further shock, Tom Delaney stood and began to croak and click back to him in the same inhuman language. Melusine jumped in and spoke with them as well. From her gestures she appeared to be introducing Burns to the fishmen and then the Delaneys. Old Dr. Delaney rose and spoke back to her in the same guttural language.
And then he looked over at Trakker. "Mr. Trakker, Dr. Sector, I think at this point it is safe to assume that you and I have been hiding quite a bit from each other. Shall we dispose with the secrets and cut to the chase?"
Trakker nodded. "I think that would be most prudent. I'd like to know what other cultures you're protecting here besides those of the four indigenous tribes you've told us about."
"And likewise, I'd like to know how it is that your associate has come into the acquaintance of one of our...shall we say...our locals."
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Trakker, Sector, and Dr. Delaney went up to the observation deck and sat at the smaller table, and from their vantage point they could see the Lagoa Preta stretching far into the distance.
"As requested, I'll cut straight to the chase, Doctor," said Trakker, setting down his gin and tonic and leaning back comfortably into his chair. "My associates and I were undertaking a salvage operation for the PNA near Macapá when we first encountered the fishwoman. Mr. Burns—Calhoun—was operating a small submarine when it became trapped in some underwater debris. While he was waiting to be rescued, she found him and seemed to have developed quite an attachment to him in just that short time."
"Ah," Dr. Delaney chuckled. "A submarine. She mentioned some 'water-beetle boat' and now it makes sense. She called him 'the Beetle-Guide' and now I understand why."
"Yes. We ran into some difficulties in the operation, but were able to enlist her help by means of Maria, the little girl with us."
"The girl has a psychic connection?"
Sector's eyes widened. "You know of the connection?"
"Most of the men-of-water have this psychic ability, but please, go on with your story."
Trakker took a sip of his drink and set it back down onto the table. "Well, we were able to enlist her help, for which I offered her payment. And she decided to take Calhoun as payment once the job was completed."
"She did!? What did she do?"
"Kidnapped him and kept him hidden from us for over two weeks, until we were finally able to locate and rescue him. But at this point we understood her situation and her history and so we were able to make a deal with her."
Sector continued. "According to what Maria had told us, the River Princess—her name for the fishwoman—had been dragged far downstream by a boat. We offered to take her back upriver to find her home if she would relinquish her mate."
"And so you have found it. And yes, that is how Empty Sky's second child was lost some years ago. He was the older of the two men that arrived with her tonight."
"How long ago?"
The old man paused, looking up into the canopy. "Hmmm...twenty, twenty-five years ago maybe. I'd have to look it up. It would be in my journals.
"She's been excited since we turned off of the Amazon yesterday and onto this tributary. We knew her home had to be close by."
"So, those two fishmen with her, they are her relatives," said Trakker.
Delaney nodded. "Her father, Empty Sky, and her brother, Cold Rain. We all thought she had been lost forever."
"Interesting names."
"Well, that's what they translate to. The sounds are all croaks and clicks, which you wouldn't understand. Her clan all uses sky names. Ironic really."
"It is. The little girl with us, Maria, always calls her the River Princess or the fishwoman. Calhoun named her Melusine after she kidnapped him. But what is she called here?"
"Pink Sky."
"There's a pretty image," said Trakker.
"So please Dr. Delaney. Tell us about your involvement with these men-of-water. How did you come to be involved with them?" asked Alex.
Delaney sighed. "I came here forty-two years ago, a young scientist with a brand new doctorate in my hand and big dreams of making some huge discovery that would astound and change the world. A friend of mine had turned up a mummified four-fingered hand of strange proportions while on an anthropological expedition about a hundred miles from here. The hand was a ritual object for a shaman of the tribe he was studying. While he couldn't send the hand itself, he sent me plenty of documentation and photos. I'm sure you can guess what the hand originally belonged to."
"Of course."
"I came down here ready to find the missing link and go home with a Nobel Prize." The doctor sighed. "I'll spare you the long story of my failures and the tragedy I encountered here. And I cursed it at the time, long ago when I was an impatient young man. But I realize now that I would have made a horrible mistake had I succeeded. Forgive the cliché, but man was not ready then, and still is not ready today, for the existence of another sentient race sharing their planet.
He leaned forward at this point. "They're a beautiful race of people. They value grace and strength and loyalty above all else. On the downside, they can be aggressive and fiercely territorial. If they feel they have been intruded upon, expect trouble."
Trakker's hand went to his shoulder, his hand stroking the spot where Melusine had taught him this lesson first hand. It had healed over, but he knew he would be feeling the wounds for quite some time.
"But if you're on their good side, you'll find them very generous and loving and overly eager to please."
"And how long have they been here?"
"Millions of years. We've theorized that their ancient ancestors lived in the great lake that once covered this continent. But then as the South American plate tilted and the lake drained they became river dwellers, evolving from advanced fish into men. But their species has been in decline and this may be their final population here, these three tribes. I've watched for evidence of them elsewhere, and they have no memory of other groups outside of their area."
"I see."
"Tomorrow, I'll take you out on a tour of the area, and I'll show you my workshop. You'll find it particularly interesting, Dr. Sector."
"Please, call me Alex, and I'd love to see it. I've been studying Melusine—Pink Sky—ever since we left Manaus and I feel like there's so much more to learn about her.
"I suspected you had, and you're welcome to learn all you wish. With the way our own race is destroying the world, these people may soon become extinct, and another record of their existence would be of great value to future generations. However, until their presence needs to be revealed, I must ask you for complete secrecy regarding the very same.
Sector nodded. "Of course."
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The next morning, after the others had gone of with Dr. Delaney on a tour of Lagoa Preta, Burns, Lopez, and Tom Delaney went out to one of the islets within the huge sprawling lagoon. With them were Melusine and also Orchid, Tom's fishwoman wife. "We were married at thirteen, in secret because I didn't want my parents to say no. None of us had married a local before and I was the first," he told them.
"Thirteen?" Burns choked. "You wanted to get married at thirteen?"
"Young marriages are common enough here, especially when it's cross-species since biology isn't really a factor. Intermarriage with the fishpeople is either for love or for politics."
"Politics? What politics?" Lopez questioned.
Tom chuckled, seemingly far older than his twenty-two years. "There are four human tribes whose territory borders Lagoa Preta. And in the lagoon are three distinct groups of fishmen, and within each group are several clans. So there's a lot of politics in paradise. My grandfather spends half his time trying to keep the peace here, and mostly it's through his efforts that there isn't open warfare. The intermarriage helps a lot though."
"So did you marry for political reasons, trying to do your part?"
Tom shook his head with another chuckle. "I married my best friend. But, as it turned out, she's the daughter of a clan chief, like Pink Sky. Here, I'll call her." He focused on the water, and soon she came out onto the sandy beach, giving the two agents their first good look at the youngest Mrs. Delaney. Her colors were different from Melusine's, her scales being brownish but her fins and eyespots a rosy lavender. Her stripes and markings were dark purple. Like Melusine, Orchid was taller and far more muscular than her mate, and like Melusine, she loved him dearly. She walked up to Tom and kissed him enthusiastically before leading him into the water to swim with her.
Burns and Lopez watched him play with the two fishwomen, a game of "keep-away" with a stick as the desired object. And after a while, Melusine came out of the water and drew them down to join in the fun. Before the long the men had the stick and turned the tables on the two ladies.
When worn out, the three humans went back up onto the islet and unpacked the lunch Hayes had sent with them, and they were delighted to find leftover pizza from the night before, pasta salad, and bottles of cola. Meanwhile Melusine and Orchid watched them from the water, sometimes flinging nutshells at them playfully.
Halfway through the meal, Tom suddenly paused and his eyes got the same faraway look in them that Maria sometimes got when talking to Melusine. The others paused and watched quietly on recognizing the look.
"Calhoun..." said Tom gently.
"Yes?"
"Pink Sky...Melusine...has requested that the Ceremony of Rain be performed," he said.
"The Ceremony of Rain?" Lopez asked
"Yes... an important ceremony for the people of Lagoa Preta."
"A ceremony for what?"
"A wedding ceremony, between a man-of-land and a woman-of-water, or vice-versa. When there is a heavy rain, it is thought of as the mixing of water and air—a state of both substances—a mingling of the water and air."
"I see. But...I'm leaving. I'm not staying here in Brazil. She knows this. If she thinks marrying her will make me stay, she's only deluding herself," Burns said as he shook his head. "We brought her here so I could go home to the States."
"Yes. She knows that. And that's when she requested the ceremony." Tom set down his fork and walked into the water where Orchid and Melusine rose to meet him. Burns followed the young man.
"Actually it's quite the opposite. She accepts that you are leaving, but wants the ceremony as a final statement of her love for you...and of yours for her."
Burns sighed. "I see...but why?"
Melusine let go of Orchid and clung to her mate instead.
"Calhoun, Pink Sky loves you dearly, and she wants to always be reminded of that love, even though she has returned to her own kind. And even though tomorrow she will be married to a man-of-water from her own tribe, she still wants this ceremony with you."
"What?!" She's already hooking up with one of her own kind?"
"An arranged marriage...one that should have taken place years ago. As a daughter of a clan chief she was engaged at a very early age to another man-of-water."
"So she wants to marry me? And then tomorrow it's off to marry someone else?"
Tom put his hand on Burns' shoulder. "I know this all seems so strange for you. But because of her lost time, they want to hurry. And also you got her all...well...into her breeding colors. Her body is very ready to turn out a clutch of eggs. The men-of-water won't let this opportunity go to waste."
"It all comes down to sex in the end, doesn't it."
"Biology...the great ruler over us," said Lopez, having come down to the water to be in on the conversation himself.
Burns sighed. "How long do I have to think about this?"
"Not long because of the wedding tomorrow. If you will agree, and I highly recommend you do, the ceremony will be performed at sunset tonight.
"Tonight? All right. Let me think about it a bit first."
Tom nodded. "When you decide let me know or send word to the house." He left the water and went back up the beach to finish his lunch.
Burns turned immediately to Lopez. "Julio, what am I going to do?" he whispered. Melusine was pressing her cheek to his, and Orchid had followed after Tom.
"I guess you and I are in the same situation. We both have a girl down here that wants to marry us."
"Hey, but at least you could take yours home to meet your family. Me? It would be like: 'Fill up the bathtub—I'm bringing the fish home with me...oh, and could we have raw salmon for Thanksgiving instead of turkey? It just wouldn't work."
Lopez chuckled. "I see your point." He stretched his arms over his head and looked out over the water. "Tom thought it would be a good idea, even though it is just a temporary thing."
"It seems kinda pointless if it's just for one night. I mean, why bother?"
"Why not bother?" He reached out to touch Melusine's face, eliciting a smile from her. "Get married, give her something to remember, and go home and forget it all happened."
Burns sighed. "Just like I wanted to in the first place." He looked back at the boat. "But I just couldn't avoid it. Fate decided we were to be together." He put his arm around Melusine's waist, suddenly feeling emotionally very close to her
Lopez patted his fellow agent on the shoulder. "I know. But maybe this would bring some sort of closure to the whole matter."
"That would be nice."
"I'll be your best man if you'd like."
Burns looked over at him. They had become pretty close since his rescue. "You really think I should?"
Lopez nodded. "It would be a good ending to this little adventure."
"All right. I'll do it." And then he gave Lopez a bit of a wicked grin. "But now you'll have to marry Márcia and take her home with you."
Lopez rolled his eyes. "We'll see."
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Chosen continues in Chapter 18: "For Love or For Politics"
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M.A.S.K. and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of DIC Enterprises, Inc and Kenner Toys. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.
This fic is dedicated to Ben Chapman (1925-2008), Ricou Browning, and Tom Hennesey (1923-2011)
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