The Stranger

Part 2

Galen makes the familiar journey around the tip of the Long Land and into the warms waters of what his only human friend, Dr. Milligan, calls the Gulf of Mexico. He’s eager to show Dr. Milligan his find. He decided that it would be best to show Dr. Milligan the necklace than to tell Romul about it. After all, Dr. Milligan is a human. He should know what the markings on the necklace mean. Why risk raising Romul’s curiosity—or worse, suspicion—with incriminating questions?

Just as Galen assures himself that he’s being terribly clever, he hears the approach of a boat on the surface. From beneath, he can see the deep dips and tall swells of the waves topside. The boat is moving dangerously fast, especially for its size and especially this far from shore where the waves can be punishing. Sometimes the belly of it disappears altogether, then crashes down hard on the surface. These humans are in a hurry.

Right when he thinks the boat will pass, it slows, then stops altogether. Galen presses himself into the murky sand, spooking a few crabs and a hiding flat fish in the process. Galen doesn’t have to wait long before the humans reveal their intentions.

And they do the unthinkable.

The splash is a big one, not caused by an anchor or a net or a crab cage or the chum they throw overboard to attract fish. It’s the splash of a human. Not a diver. Not a swimmer. Not a surfer. A human who is tied to a big chunk of square rock. A human who has a silver patch of something over her mouth to muffle her screams.

A human who has been thrown away.

The hum of the boat starts up again and it speeds away. It disappears as quickly as it arrived.

Galen watches in horror as the human female wriggles like a caught fish, sinking further and further and further. Her arms are tied behind her back. Her legs tied together. She can’t kick, she can’t flail. All she can do is scream and squirm and scream some more.

Which is exactly what she shouldn’t be doing. Dr. Milligan said the average humans can’t hold their breath very long. He remembers when he first met Dr. Milligan. The big metal thing on his back gave him air so he could breathe underwater.

This human does not have a big metal thing on her back.

This human is going to drown.

And Galen can’t let that happen. Won’t. He knows the law: It forbids contact with humans. But he’s broken that law countless times already. He was about to break it just now, when he showed Dr. Milligan the necklace.

So, he surges toward her, leaving the murk swirling in his wake. He gives his immediate attention to the patch on her mouth. If she speaks the same human language as Dr. Milligan, maybe she can help him figure out how to save her.

He tears it off and she cries out. She looks as if she’s going to say something, but stops herself. Then her eyes get very, very wide. Galen wonders if he’s made a mistake in helping. By showing himself to this human whom he doesn’t know. But the last time he helped a human—Dr. Milligan—it turned out for the good.

But for the good or for the bad, he can’t watch this human die. Not if he can help it. He pulls at the knots binding her. They’re strong, tight. His skin is not yet as thick as an adult Syrena, so the flesh on his fingers starts to seep blood from pulling too hard.

For her part, the human holds still. She seems to understands he’s trying to help. And she’s going to let him. In fact, she seems to have calmed down. That’s when Galen realizes that she’s not calming down at all.

She’s losing consciousness. When she does, her body will forget how to breathe. And she will drown.

Galen wraps his arms around her, hugging her to him. Then he heads for the surface. The power of his fin he normally uses for speed is now pushed to its limits just to move because of the rocks tied to her feet.  Progress is slow, but they finally make it to the surface.

The human’s eyes are closed.

Oh No. Without thinking, Galen gives her cheek a stout slap. This revives her. She coughs salt water into his face, which is possibly the most unpleasant thing he’s ever experienced. He figures they are even now, since he did slap her, after all.

“Are you drowned?” he asks.

She answers with more coughing.  It’s difficult to keep her head above the waves with the added weight tied beneath them. “I have to get these knots untied,” he tells her.

Finally she speaks. Her voice is hoarse, faint. “I have a knife in my boot.”

Galen blinks. “A knife?” He’s not sure what that is. Or, for that matter, what a boot is.

She seems to understand his lack of understanding. In fact, she seems very calm about everything that’s happening to her now. As if being saved by a Syrena were a normal occurrence. “It’s with my feet. It can cut through the rope.”

Galen nods. “We have to go back under. I can’t hold you up and get your knife at the same time.”

She nods. A piece of her dark hair is stuck to her cheek and in the corner of her mouth, making her look like she’s been hooked. “Let me take a big breath first.” She proceeds to take several big breaths. “I’m ready,” she says finally. But before he dips under, she says, “Thank you. Just in case this doesn’t work out and all. Thank you for trying.”

It will work out, Galen wants to tell her. But he doesn’t know if it will.