Page 103 of Daughter of the Deep

Franklin tells me that theNautilusseems to have ideas about how to treat pancreatic cancer. He isn’t sure what compounds the med-bay machines are producing, but they are slowly flushing the cancer cells out of Hewett’s body.

Since Nemo understood DNA 150 years ago, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. But as I lie in bed I have time to think about what Dev said – about how HP could have used Nemo’s technology to save the world a hundred times over.

On the other hand, I’ve seen what Land Institute’s hunger for power did to my brother. Humans arestillnot ready for allof Nemo’s advances. I don’t know what Land Institute’s school motto is, but I want it to beThis is why we can’t have nice things.

As for Gem, he stays in the sickbay with me probably longer than he needs to. Even when Franklin clears him for duty, Gem says, ‘Maybe I’ll rest here a bit longer. Head injuries can be tricky, right?’

Franklin frowns at him, then at me. ‘Yeah. Sure. Tricky.’

I laugh, which hurts my newly stitched side. ‘Gem, you don’t have to be on bodyguard duty any more. I’m fine.’

He glances towards the corridor, which may be the first time I’ve ever seen him take his eyes off a target. ‘Not a bodyguard. Maybe I could just, you know, stay as a friend.’

A warm feeling spreads out from my sternum. I remember what Gem told me days ago, in Lincoln Base’s sickbay:I don’t have many connections. So the ones I do have are important.

I realize I am now included in that very small group of important connections, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

‘Of course,’ I say. ‘I’d welcome your company.’

Franklin starts to protest, ‘But Gem’s injuries aren’t even –’

‘Franklin,’ Gem and I say in unison.

‘Right,’ grumbles the medic. ‘I’ll go get some lunch.’

Our other casualties from the battle are, fortunately, minor. There were no deaths on either side, which in itself is a miracle. Thanks to the Orcas’ quick efforts, the entire crew of theAronnaxwere rescued. Many of them were wounded. Some nearly drowned. Most will have chapodiphobia for the rest of their days, but they will all live. Battered and shocked, they offered no resistance as my crew herded them into Lincoln Base’s improvised holding cells.

On the fourth day after the battle, I feel good enough to go diving.

I find our giant friend Romeo tucked away in a cosy abyssjust south of the island. He comes up to say hello when I play my keytar. I do my best to convey our gratitude. I also try asking if he wants us to give him a ride back to where we met him, but he seems content to stay with us.

Over the next few days, whenever Ester and Top take a walk around what’s left of the atoll, Romeo surfaces and watches them, while Top barks happily and goes into his ‘play bow’. I have nightmares about Romeo learning to play fetch with the dog, throwing a ball all the way to Fiji, and Top trying to swim after it.

As for Socrates, he doesn’t seem sure what to make of the giant octopus. Socrates likes his cephalopods small and tasty, not big enough to eathim. He and the rest of his adopted dolphin family give Romeo a wide berth, but otherwise they seem happy. I feed them many delicious squid and thank them for their help in the battle.

When Socrates asks about my brother – doing a little flick of his fin that I’ve learned to translate asDev– I don’t know what to tell him. At least underwater I can cry as much as I want. The ocean doesn’t care about a few more drops of salt water.

Once theNautilusis back up and running, Tia Romero oversees our recovery efforts on the wreckage of theAronnax. It will take weeks to complete, but we need to understand how far Land Institute has come in their research. Also, we don’t want all that junk littering the ocean floor on our front lawn.

On the fifth day, we set our prisoners free – all of them except Dev. It’s not a popular decision. They’re still our enemies, with too much blood on their hands, but we aren’t set up to run a prison camp indefinitely, and there’s no easy way to bring Land Institute to justice or to prove what they’ve done in any court of law. The best bad choice I have is to let them go, knowing that we may face them again in the future. I give them theVaruna, though it hurts me to do so. We stock the boat withenough food, water and fuel to make it to the California coast. We strip the ship of anything dangerous or valuable – weapons, LOCUS, dynamic camouflage. We even remove the books from the library.

Honestly, our hostages shouldn’t complain. We’ve been treating them well and feeding them Jupiter’s baked delicacies. They’ve all put on a few pounds. They’d never admit it, but I suspect they will miss the gâteau mille-feuille d’orang-outan.

Caleb South is indignant when I give him command of theVaruna. ‘Why would you do this? You’re just letting us go. And we know where your base is.’

‘Yes, you do,’ I say. ‘You also know what happened when you tried to take us on. Twenty of our freshmen beat your entire senior class. You want a rematch, come on back.’

His eye twitches, but he says nothing. A few minutes later, I watch my first command ship motor out of the lagoon.

‘You think it was smart to goad him like that?’ Gem asks.

Nelinha makes a face. ‘It wasperfect. Let them come back if they dare.’

I suspect that’s mostly bravado on her part. Nobody wants a repeat of what we just went through. But Nelinha has earned the right to boast a little. We won a hard victory. All my friends should feel good about what we’ve accomplished.

The next day, Dr Hewett is able to move around with the help of a walker. I take him to the pier in the cavern, which he has never actually seen. We admire the glowing green robo-bugs zipping overhead, and the luminous phytoplankton festival in the water. Most of all, we admire theNautilus.

Hewett is dressed in an old blue dressing gown and pyjamas. His face is still haggard. His white hair is like a greasy tuft of cotton just burst from the pod. But he’s alive, and he doesn’t stink. I take those two things as signs of progress.

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