Ocean's Justice

Part 22

Twenty-Two

"Sciarra!" a voice shouted. "The ship's sinking, man! Get into the lifeboat before you drown! We'll swing around and pick you up!" I stared at the ship, now sitting far too low in the water. Waves were already washing across the deck – the Trevessa wouldn't remain on the surface much longer. Yet as I watched, a figure staggered and splashed to the remaining lifeboat. Sciarra. If he reached it, he'd survive.

NO.

I tensed, readying my muscles for flight. I could remain in the lifeboat with William and the non-hostile crew, perhaps even helping them to safety, or I could ensure the violent bastard died for his crimes. Bitterness and bile or fleeting hope?

Men started shouting about cutting the boat free before the ship dragged us down with her. Panic ensued as several men sawed at the ropes holding us to the sinking ship and I saw my chance.

William grabbed my arm. "No, lass. Stay with me so I can make amends to you for last night. You don't owe the man anything. He'll reach the lifeboat and have as much chance as any of us. Don't risk your life for him."

I melted beneath his cold fingers, wishing I could simply sink into those welcoming arms and forget all that had happened since they had last held me. But I did not forget, nor forgive. The violent human had hurt me and he would pay the highest price the ocean could offer. I sprang, clearing the distance between the lifeboat and the sinking vessel, and grabbed the rail. Laboriously, I hauled my aching body aboard to the sound of William shouting himself hoarse. A wave crashed over me, filling my mouth with seawater as it knocked me flat. I coughed up a lungful of liquid and felt a searing pain in my scalp.

"I knew you wanted me. Now we'll have a boat all to ourselves until we reach land. You're going to learn to please me, bitch, or I'll let you drown like Barrett," Sciarra said as he dragged me across the deck, his hands knotted in my hair. He threw me into a lifeboat and the impact made me expel all my breath in one hit, so I could neither breathe nor respond. It didn't matter – he needed to cut the lifeboat free from the ship before he could hurt me again. This time, I'd be ready. I pulled a breath into my searing lungs, followed by another. Quietly, I began to sing – a different song to the one I'd sung in the hold. This one had teeth and blood lust to boot, for this song had sunk the Emden.

The keel bumped across the railings and I saw the ship loom above us as she tipped on her side, hiding William and the rest of the crew from me – and us from them, I realised. It was now or never. I struggled to stand, surveying the swell. Did I imagine it, or did a fin cut the water of a wave? No, there was another…and another. Sharks and shipwreck – a duo Sciarra would not survive. Not to mention me.

Sciarra sawed through the last of the ropes and sank to the bench seat before he saw me. "Get down, bitch." He brandished a knife. The blade glinted in a flash of lightning.

I shook my head and smiled at him. Moving my weight from one foot to another, I started to rock the boat. He clung to the sides, shouting at me to stop. I shifted faster, letting the gunwales touch the water before moving my weight to the other foot. I raised my voice, singing loud enough for him to hear me over the storm. He slashed at me with the knife, but I dodged and he overbalanced. He landed on top of the blade, skewering his hand. He gave a roar and leaped to his feet, charging at me.

I jumped, landed hard, and felt the boat tip beneath me, throwing us both into the waves. Cold water kissed my skin as I pulled off my ripped pants so that I could shift to my true form. I clothed myself in my own skin – the shallow-water blue of a Maori wrasse – and opened my gills to take a life-giving breath from my ocean home. Behind me, the sound of stressed steel screeched beneath the surface as the ship sank. I breathed deep, letting the draught of dissolved oxygen cool my instincts to those of the killer I knew myself to be. I blew spent water out of my gills, taking another gulp before I searched for my prey.

 Heedless of the sharks, Sciarra swam for the boat, trailing blood behind him like burley. I darted toward him, overtaking the human easily, and seized his foot, dragging him down to where he couldn’t breathe. His face showed his panic as his arms clawed wildly for the surface.

I raised my voice and sang a command to the sharks, which started an intricate, spinning dance around their supper. He screamed sweetly as they shredded him, piece by piece until the screaming ceased.

Blood swirled in the turbulent water as the sharks churned it further, looking for more to eat. None were frenzied enough to approach me, but my pants were not so lucky. Two sharks fought over the floating fabric, thrashing the water into foam so that I didn't see the boat approaching until it was above me.

"Maria!" William's anguished cry smote my heart.

Oars scattered the sharks and one carefully lifted my shredded clothing from the water.

"Those were Maria's," I heard William's voice say. "The sharks must have…oh God, I hope she didn't suffer. She saved us all – even tried to save Sciarra. She was an angel sent to save us all."

I itched to surface and show them that I still lived, but caution stayed my fins. I'd need to shift back into my human form without them seeing my tail and that took time. It would be dangerous for them, too, with hungry sharks still swimming nearby. I was safer beneath the surface and lost to them.

"God rest her soul," said another man. "The ocean takes her own. Always has."

Yes. The elders of this ocean might reject me, but the ocean herself never would. I was one of the people of the ocean's gift, after all, and this was my home.

"Time to set sail. If we mean to survive, we must make Madagascar or Mauritius. Land is to the north-west and a long way from here. The men who take first watch may have the first cigarette ration when the storm is over. Volunteers?"

My mangled pants landed in the water above me and something golden-brown slipped from the pocket. My comb – the gift from William. The only thing I owned and it was sinking. I dove after it, snatching it from the water. This wasn't my home any more – home was with William. I surged to the surface.

The boat was gone. I rose to the crest of a wave, searching the ocean for my love. A glimpse of white in the trough between waves, far from me, told me I was too late. I could never catch up to them now. The boat sported a tall mast and a white sail caught the gale, driving them in the direction of land. I farewelled William with my eyes, not daring to say the words aloud as he sailed away with my heart.

I wondered what to do now. I couldn't return to my people, so my choices were a solitary existence out here or attempt to reach land and make a life among humans. Men like Sciarra and Barrett – but men like Giuseppe and William, too.

If I hadn't stupidly pursued my trinket, I might have shared the lifeboat with William and I'd be winging my way to a human life with him. Instead, I had the open ocean and an overturned lifeboat all to myself. Wearily, I sent a wave to tip my boat upright as I shifted my tail to legs and hauled myself over the gunwale. I tucked the precious comb into my hair.

The bottom of the boat was awash, so I opened one of the footlockers, searching for a bucket. Instead, I found a sail and some tins of condensed milk. Further scrabbling unearthed a can opener, so I pried the milk can open and drank the lot. The sweetness made me gag, but it seemed wasteful to pour the milk over the side. Using the empty can, I bailed water from my boat until my arms were too tired to lift the tin any more. I wrapped myself in the sail and stretched my aching body along the bottom, letting exhaustion and sleep claim me. At least I had a boat to sit in while I awaited rescue from the next passing ship – far better than the raft I'd borrowed last time.