For better or worse Marina jerked upright the moment the lift stopped with a little 'ting' noise. As such it went unnoticed or mistaken.
Normally, debriefs were in the tower main control room or the conference room. So, Marina was rather confused when the doors opened instead on another floor, and they took her into the standby lounge.
"Thought you'd be more comfortable here." The commander explained, parking up his hoverchair. Marina nodded, gratefully. Phones was rearranging the furniture to drag the coffee table to the centre of the space.
"John- Er Fisher and Atlanta will have had to return to the control room though." The commander added, stretching in his seat.
"Commander Shore must be tired too. If he was calling Fisher by his first name." Marina thought distractedly. She didn't sit down, however.
The lounge was just as nice as she had left it. She always liked the colours, and the fish tanks that were built into the walls. But, as always, it was the bay windows that drew her attention. They were open a little just enough to let in a small breeze. one that still carried the taste of salt on the ocean air. The late-in-the-day but not yet evening sunlight was streaming through the glass. Although she didn't sit here either, her usual chair was still there too. Marina slipped the blanket from her shoulders and stood one hand on the glass, breathing it in and looking out. At the sea in the distance. The Land. The Sun. All on one horizon. In front of her. A few clouds rolled over 'the other big blue' sky. She was even happy to see one of the smaller planes flinging itself down the runway.
Marina felt like she was taking it all in as if it was new again to her.
"Oh, that I never thought I'd see this sight again-!" She smiled.
This view always dazzled her. Even after the electric lights that had lit the lift and Stingray's docking pen; and the ones that came on at night. This was a different kind of light.
Late spring they'd called it here. And 'nearly summer'. Marina liked it. And the way it made the land looked. Marina liked it and the way that it made the land look. All the colours! The green fields and trees. The fierce yellow California desert sprawling one way, the coast the other. The silvery tones of the ocean beyond. Her ocean. Her only home before Marineville.
And sunlight, endless sunlight. She didn't like to bask and bake in the sun like her friends did. But the sunbeams through the windows were nice right now. Marina let it warm on her skin where it touched all the way down to her webbed toes. And felt everything just fade away for a moment…
"Marina?"
Marina blinked. Then reluctantly left the view to turn around, to go where she was called. To join Phones and the Commander at the table.
The moment she sat down on the edge of her seat, Phones placed a boxed sandwidge and one of the poppy seed muffins from the vending machine in front of her. He gave Marina A hot sweet tea too. Or at least what the autoserv labelled as tea. It woke her up as she took a sip. But that might have just been the taste.
"For the shock." Phones said, before seeing to his and the commanders' own refreshments.
Shock.
"Troy had said that earlier… Where is he anyway?" Marina frowned. "A second lift wouldn't be that long of a trip, would it? Even if he was seeing Atlanta off to control first? Or had to take the stairs? Right? Troy was alive. Right?"
Marina suddenly felt agitated again. Like the room was tilting inwards. Doubting herself and what she knew to be true, Marina was unable to hide the jitters of her hand. Worried she'd spill it, she put the cup down. The tea slopped a little anyway.
"Careful." The commander said. "Say, you haven't burnt yourself?"
Marina shook her head. She wiped her dress just in case but used the little accident as an excuse to excuse herself a moment. She headed to the bathrooms outside across the hallway. Finally, alone as the door closed, Marina allowed herself to drop the mask a little, shaking out her hands and tried to get her breathing back to normal. Alone.
"The first time on my own since the beach," she realised. With nausea. King Titan hadn't trusted her to be left unsupervised. His aquaphibians had monitored her all hours. Even if they had their back to her. And Marina had to hold the bathroom sink to stay upright. The protein bar and water she'd previously consumed were threatening to make a reappearance. And even when that had passed, when she looked up to the mirror, the guard's fishy eyed faces loomed in her vision.
Marina growled back at them, defiant now.
"They're not real. They're not here. Stingray won." Marina told herself. Turning on the taps she splashed water on her face hoping it would help. It didn't.
"Stingray won." Marina sighed, and looked over her dress. The tea spill wasn't going to stain. But Marina felt grubby and unclean, despite the careful washings in her cell. She'd been unable to change her clothes properly though for the past few tides too. And while it had gone unnoticed while busy with chores and the escaping, Marina now felt unpleasant in it. Every seam was pressing at her skin. And every bit of grit and dirt under her nails.
"No, don't focus on that."
Marina took a breath. And let it out. And washed her face and neck; trying to get rid of some of this awful feeling, letting the cold sooth her. She took another deep breath and then cursed Titanica with her whole hearts. It wasn't fair! Even before she'd been captured as his slave, she had put up with the king and his actions for years.
"Why can't he leave me alone? Why did everything feel so much now? Just a week they had said."
Maybe Titan had broken her spirit all over again. It had been so much easier...
"No! You can't let him win. This is Marineville. Far away for Titinaic!" she reminded herself. "You are- well not home exactly. Home in Marineville. But still safe."
Perhaps she should return to Pacifica for a little while. If only to see her father again. "But not like this though." Marina thought grimly, looking at the colours blossomed on her face. The light in here was not as harsh as the one in the lift. Though it did leave a long shadow on her face. Here, the injuries could be like the little terrain flowers, the sort that climb up walls so prettily.
"Not like this. Not while bruised. Not while Titan is enraged. It wouldn't be safe for the city for me to go there. And besides, Troy and Phones are sick and hurt too. I'm sorry father, you'll have to wait…"
There was a tentative knock at the bathroom door. Marina jumped. Then knocked back once for yes. Then let herself out thinking someone wanted to use the bathroom. She was surprised to Phones was waiting for her instead.
"You doing okay?" He asked.
Marina lied and nodded. Phones frowned and made to say something, but changed his mind and took her back over to the standby lounge. Inside, again Phones went say something. But was interrupted.
"Guess who's here?" Troy suddenly yelled, opening the door with a bang, startling the whole room.
"Hey now!" Phones started. But something barrelled past him, knocking Phones over and tackled Marina into her seat with an "oink oink!" Marina was stunned, winded, and overjoyed to be reunited with her pet. Even if the commander wasn't to best pleased.
"You had to bring this furry beast to a meeting?" He grumbled.
"I thought Marina would like to see him. Absolute menace aren't you, Oink." Troy cooed, scratching the seal's furry head.
"Don't worry Marina, we've been making sure he's been fed and looked after." Phones said.
"Alright, fine. But are you here for debrief or not, Troy?" Shore asked. "I want to get it and as much of the paperwork out of the way before the med team comes look at you three." Troy sat down and the meeting finally got started.
The debrief was honestly a bit of a blur. It wasn't brief either. They never were.
At first, she'd been sharp and keen as the fellas ran through the mission. Marina also cuddled and snuggled Oink, letting him ' steal' bits of her food she'd tear off for him. She even felt up to join in the discussion by signing and writing a little.
But it seemed to go on for hours, not terrain minutes. And soon Marina's mind was drifting like the tide. She sat between the two fellas feeling warm and numb. Oink curled up next to her hip, his heart beat a balm on that particular aching muscle he rested against.
It started to take a lot of concentration as Phones pointed out what happened in her absence. Marina did her best to follow despite struggling against the now too bright electric lights of the lounge and the creeping ebb of her energy.
The more she tried to stay awake, the more Marina felt her eyelids droop a little again. But the bubbling chatter of aquaphiba made her bolt upright in fear.
"That's how we got in." Phones chuckled. And did his impression again, with Troy blowing bubbles into his soda.
"I guess you hadn't heard that part of the story huh?" Troy grinned.
"I guess my translation was okay enough?" Phones smiled. "I only copied what I remembered being said from when we were taken the first time and studied bits we've picked up over radios."
Marina blinked, again tried to reel in her heartbeats and panic.
"Must have worked swell if you were able to fool Marina there." Shore smirked. Marina laughed too despite herself. She knew guards could be a bit pufferfish brained at times. But did they really let the humans by by saying such a mish mash of words? With Phones' accent?!
As funny as that was, then there was talk. And more talk. The boring kind too with numbers and fuel. Well, it wasn't normally boring. But Marina started to wish they'd wind things up. Especially as things got more serious.
At some point the commander was asking her questions searching for any new information about Titania. About the guy the guys said was there. What happened after she left Marineville. About how she'd gotten that bruise on her face.
When answering these questions, they'd had to stop the meeting twice. One because both Troy and Phones had both become angry. Not at her, but what (in their limited communications) she was telling them. Troy had to go take a walk to cool off. Again, Marina felt nauseous, pushing away what was left of her vending machine food. As well as flinching at every sound and shadow. It didn't help that two of the humans had lit up smokes either. Phones a cigarette and the commander on one of his well chewed cigar stubs.
The second time, they had to stop because Marina was unable to continue.
"This is abuse. You were a prisoner for crying out loud!" The commander had said. Phones and Troy agreed as he continued.
"I don't care what laws Titan goes by. But by thunder hitting an unarmed woman is out of order in my book."
And Marina wasn't quite sure why it did, but those words made her close like a clam. But they did. Her mouth pressed into thin lines like his. Marina couldn't even get her writing to work, even at a slow pace. And resorted to the tapping code she and Shore had worked out for the radio. Till finally, Troy at least got the hint.
"Marina. Do you want to stop? You're kinda struggling there?" He asked. Marina nodded.
"Like a break?" Phones clarified. "Or completely."
Marina nodded again.
"You sure?"
"Yes. Please. Stop." Marina said, in the few signs they shared. Phones and herself could manage simple asl conversations, and the others had varying degrees of understanding her. But right now, it was all Marina could manage. It was taxing just to remember those three words.
The commander didn't seem pleased to be ditching work, but he let it slide for once.
"Well... Alright. If you're sure Marina. But while I remember? Where is-? Ah. This came in not long after Troy and Phones set off. You'll all be glad to know the World Security Patrol's medical core has been working with some school of medicines in London?" He told them, reading off another file.
"Both the poison from Troy's diving suit and the canister from the missile have been sent over. They recon they can replicate the antidote so Titan can't pull that trick again. At least not with that purple liquid. Even so, we must be more careful to ensure this sort of thing, or any kind of sneak attack, doesn't happen again. Agreed?"
"Yessir."
Marina didn't know what Lon-dawn was. But she was indeed glad to hear.
"Such a master plan should not be rehashed." She agreed.
"Heck they even think they might have discovered a new type of urchin." Shore said, puzzling at the bit of paper. "Bit weird, they say. Considering that family branches are normally only in oceans of Australia."
"Destroyers, sir. Titan's pets." Marina, though unheard, nodded. (Then winced again, regretting doing so.) "They line the border of the city. A gift from Teufel. Their bards are not normally so deadly. But the poison from them? In such a concentrated dose as it was, Troy never stood a chance."
The moment he'd come in from the ship Marina felt something was wrong with Troy. It was only when he fainted at the control's, did she realise he was in real trouble. And she'd felt so useless having the vaguest of vague ideas it might have been but no way of explaining to the doctor looking after Troy…
"Marina. Marina look at me." And then speak of the sea-devil the doc was there. With a nurse taking notes and a beeping machine wheeled in behind them. Shame he was asking questions too.
Doc started checking Marina over, shining a bright light in her eyes that made spots pop up in her vision. Asking things like "where does it hurt". Making her stand up. Feeling her limbs. The sore shoulder. Along her nose. Marina tried not to wince too much when he poked a tender spot.
Troy and Phones were checked over too.
"Tempest's quick recovery is remarkable, considering how close to death the poison brought him. But I would advise you to no longer push yourself and rest." The Doc said with a flat no nonsense voice, while the nurse marched Marina back to the bathroom to get a look of that shoulder under her dress. Marina shuddered and tried not to think about the same voice delivering Troy's death sentence -!
Being undressed, even just taking the material off her shoulder, felt vulnerable and horrible, despite the nurse being kind and quite sympathetic. It was still a stranger. It was worse when she started circling Marina with a camera like contraption, taking pictures of the bruises. Then repeated the process doing whatever a portable 'x-ray' setting was. And with that stethoscope that Marina found intrusive. She had to correct the nurse to where to find her first heartbeat again, moving the cold disc from left to right.
"You were right to clean the cut, lieutenant." The doc was saying as they came back into the room. Phones nodded, sitting in his shirt sleeves. A proper dressing was now fixed in place. Marina's own sleeve was rolled up again. And the injuries there were covered with little paper stickers and more stinging cold antiseptic goop. And the nurse showed him the print outs from the machine.
"Anyway. I can't say for certain given the girl is from undersea and there are biological differences. But my diagnosis is nothing broken. And nothing bedrest and a few good meals won't sort out."
"You're a hardy one Marina." Troy beamed in a way she assumed he meant in a compliment.
"I don't feel it." Marina thought. But smiled back weakly all the same. His arm was around the back of her seat, and it made her feel a bit safer again.
"What about that smack on her face, doc?" The commander frowned.
"Again. Hard to tell given the biology. But not a lot I can do about that." The doctor said. "The colour of the bruises are slightly different from what I'm used to dealing with. You see here, this abirritation?"
The doc pointed at Marina's face, highlighting the yellow area but thankfully not touching it. Instead, he pointed it out with his pinkie.
"They have a more bluish tinge to them at the edges; where most we encounter are purple."
"The eye isn't damaged at least. It has been swollen and may be slightly red for a few more days yet. But it's healing nicely on its own." He continued. "I suggest some Anicabalm and a cold compress every so often. Given the size and colour of that bruising- assuming it's only a superficial colour difference rather than timing- I'd say it's a few days old and it happened not long after she disappeared. Two days old at least, and maybe a week at most."
The scene flashes in Marina's vision. And suddenly the doc was in front of a green privacy curtain telling them all, "Only a few hours at most."
But then Marina swallowed. Blinked. And it was gone.
"It feels tender too which is actually a good sign, Marina. It means its healing with no bleeding under the skin." The doctor told her. He even smiled at her. (She wished he hadn't. He seemed like a very good doctor. But some people look scary when they smile.)
"There's signs of possibly her having had a mild concussion as well from the knock. But I feel as sleep deprivation, shock and a sudden drop in nutrition is more the issue and explains her weakened state. I can prescribe something to help that along if necessary. But I'll know better once we get her to the hospital. The automatic nurse can monitor what we can't see so we'll be able to keep an eye on her once we get her into a ward?"
"NO!"
That, Marina did fight against. At the mention of that dreadful place something in her snapped like rope binding. So far, since being on land, only bad things had happened in that place!
Marina did not want to stay in the hospital. First the indignity of a medical on her first arrival, being poked and taken blood. And worse being made her bare her teeth by the den-tast with his rubber glove fingers.
Then that dark lonely night? When Atlanta, Fisher and several others had been lying in a strange trance-like state all at once. Scared and unable to break the door open, Marina had been awake alone in the whole of Marineville. Save for Atlanta's unconscious shallow breathing, staring form. Oh, and creepy Thomson wandering around.
Then Troy had died. No, Troy had lain dying in hospital. Troy was hooked up to a machine and looked dead.
"No. No I don't want to go back." She thought shaking her head hard, headache be damned.
"If you say so doc- Huh? Marina, what's wrong?" Shore asked.
Troy had died. Troy had died there. Troy had died.
No, he hadn't. Titian had saved him. Only as a trap sure but he hadn't killed him outright. Troy hadn't died, he was right here. Titian had saved him and lied to her about it to further toy with her. She'd been the reason he'd hurt Troy; to get her to return to Titania. She could hear Titan laughing at her imprisonment now. Marina didn't want to go back. Back to Titaninca. Back to the hospital. Troy had been dying. a machine breathing had been for him. Grey-purple blotches under his eyes, looking as though he was visibly wasting away in front of them, antiseptic clinging to her nose and in the air. Metal. Tiles. Machines. People crying. She didn't want to go to the hospital. Absolutely not. No. She couldn't possibly lie in a bed there.
Fear washed over her. And Marina felt all paralysed up inside, as if caught by anemones' poison herself.
"I don't want to go there. Back there. I don't want to go back. I can't go don't make me go back, please, don't ask me to go back, I don't want to go back not again."
"Marina?"
"I don't want to go."
"Hey? Marina!"
"Calm down would you-! Please?"
"I can't go. I don't want to go back."
"Nurse, call an ambulance." The doctor said, "She's hyperventilating."