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A room full of artifacts. Spears. Tools that surely were only used by Imber and his people. Strange looking skeletons that she quickly realized were one of the undines. The tail was so long, though. Longer even than Imber. There were so many creatures in here as well. Deep-sea species that she had never thought to see in her life.
There were even art pieces. Woven tapestries and necklaces like the one she hid underneath her thick sweater. So many pieces of his people’s life, all held up in storage.
“What is this?” she asked. “Have you known about his people for a long time?”
“A very long time,” her father replied. He strode into the center of the room, his hands tucked behind his back. “This is why the General wants to clear out everything around Alpha. He wants to make sure that none of them can get close to the city without him knowing.”
“They aren’t violent.”
“Oh, but they are.” With pursed lips and a furrowed brow, he turned his back to her and instead faced a spear that waslonger than she was tall. “They have attacked us before. Most of the attacks were on the subs that have been scouting out an area for us to live. There are certain areas that they are much more protective of.”
“Probably because that’s where they live,” she said. “Dad, can’t you see this is wrong? We can’t just move into where they have their homes and families. I don’t care if Alpha’s location is perfect. We can’t build there.”
“You cannot stop progress, Alys.”
“Progress?” She felt nauseous even thinking of the word. “It’s not progress, Dad. It’s displacing a group of people who have never given us any trouble.”
“We need a place to live. We need to go under the sea, and if we don’t, we will all die.” Her father’s expression remained troubled, though. She knew he was bothered by this choice. “If we don’t do this, then we may be the last humans alive on this planet. We will all be wiped out.”
“There has to be another way.”
“It’s too late.” Her father’s shoulders rounded in, and she knew he would not change anything that he was doing. Not for her. Not for the undines. Not for anyone. “The plans have already been designed. I’ve already approved all the safety measures, and there is nothing I can do to stop it now. The General has what he needs to continue forward, with or without my help. But if I continue to help, then at least I can be assured that the city will be safely built. No one will cut corners. It won’t flood or crack as we have always feared it would.”
“You’re going to destroy their homes,” she said one last time. Tears dripped down her cheeks, and she tasted salt on her tongue. “These are people, Dad. They have a language, intelligence and kindness. Imber is...”
He interrupted her. “Imber?”
“That’s his name.”
“It is a good name. I hope he has been kind to you.” Her father turned around, and she saw there were tears in his eyes as well. “Tell him to run, Alys. Or whatever it is that they do. Swim far away from here, because if he doesn’t, then his people will die. The General will stop at nothing to get what he wants. You have little time left to convince them of that.”
“Dad,” she whispered, begging him to tell her this would not end the way she thought it would.
“When you see them, tell them I’m sorry.” He shook his head after the words, as if he couldn’t quite believe himself either. “If I could do something, I would stop it. Maybe if I had the foresight to see where this would have ended up. I know... I knew who the General was and what he would expect from my work. But this was the greatest design of my life and I got caught up in it.”
“Dad, you have to stop them.”
“I can’t.” A single tear dripped down her father’s cheek. “Even if I tried, lovely girl, there is nothing I can do. I could rip my designs out of their hands and burn them, but that wouldn’t stop them from building the city. It’s too late. I was blind, and now I will hold this guilt for the rest of my life.”
She took one step back. Then another. Another. Until there felt like an entire ocean between herself and her father.
He watched her movements with sad eyes and a heart that broke just like hers. “You’ll tell them I’m sorry. Won’t you, Alys? Warn them and then tell them that I am so, so sorry.”
She didn’t have it in her to say that she didn’t think apologies meant anything when their homes were going to be destroyed. They would have to share an entire ocean with a species of creature that wanted to kill them, and she didn’t know that Imber’s people were equipped to handle people like hers. People with guns and technology that far outpaced their own.
Swallowing her tears, she bolted away from the building. She left her father in that treasure trove of discoveries that had ledto this moment they both knew that there was no coming back from. As she slipped into her submarine, uncertain if anyone had seen her flee from that place, she couldn’t get the General’s face out of her mind.
“Beta?” she asked, waking up her droid to help her pilot the ship. “Take me to him.”
Chapter
Eight
“Imber!” The shout echoed through the water.
He was curled up on his small spiral of stones, worn soft and warm by the sea and his scales. He’d been dreaming about her. Alys. Because he was always dreaming about her.
Shaking the trailing fingers of the dream off, he sat up even as his gills flared around his neck and chest. He could smell it. The blood in the water that would soon draw predators to their home.
