Chapter 4
The glass-and-metal dome was no bigger than a good-sized garage. Beyond the now-sealed circular pool, there was enough space for benches and a few storage bins. A shallow alcove contained what looked like a rubber-wrapped mattress. Everything seemed damp and forgotten. There was enough room for Ben to stand, but he wasn’t steady enough for that yet. Even the effort of climbing onto a bench left him dizzy.
There wasn’t anywhere he could go, anyway. Not without her help.
The mermaid – Tilikee – lay on the concrete floor, propped on her arms, watching Ben. Out of water she seemed larger, and more sea creature than human. The greenish light had turned her blue skin ashy and the scales covering her fish’s tail looked almost black. She didn’t say anything else, just watched.
As the silence dragged on, he looked around, hoping for clues. “So, what is this place?”
“Sex pod.”
“…”
“WHAT?”
Her bare arm waved at the chamber. “Grown-ups bring humans to pods like this for sex. Mom used to use this one.”
Tilikee’s careless replies raised a dozen more questions. Ben tried to pick harmless ones. “She used to? Not anymore?”
“Before they left.”
Ben frowned. “Your parents left you?”
Tilikee shook her head. “Everybody left. The whole city. Too much noise from your ships.”
He tried to imagine difficulties that would force an entire population to pack up and leave their home. “You mean the military ships? Yeah, I remember reading something about SONAR testing in school…”
A shrug wriggled though her body. “Sure. I don’t know. Lots of arguing about it. But eventually everybody just moved further out from the shore. They left.”
“Why didn’t you go with them?”
“Didn’t want to.”
Ben stared. This mermaid girl didn’t look any older than him. “Your parents didn’t make you go?”
“Why would they? I can take care of myself.”
Tilikee was speaking perfectly good English, but Ben struggled to follow her words.
“How…what do you eat? Where do you live?”
“In the old city. It’s still there, just empty. Or wherever. And food’s everywhere. Just have to catch it. I can’t cook, though. Are you hungry?”
Ben’s stomach lurched. He was still too unsettled to eat anything, and raw fish didn’t sound especially appetizing. “Not…just now.”
“Do you want to have sex?”
“What?! …no!”
“Why not? We could.” Tilikee hoisted with her arms and started heaving herself toward the mattress in the corner. Her tail, so powerful in the water, dragged against the concrete floor as she strained against her own clumsy weight.
“I don’t…I mean, I’ve never…why would you even ask that? Stop, please!” Afraid that the mermaid was hurting herself, Ben was grateful when she paused to look back at him. “Is that why you brought me down here?”
“No. Maybe?”
Ben sagged back on the bench. “You really were kissing me when you pulled me down here!”
Tilikee nodded. “I think so. Never tried that before.”
“Do you even know how to have sex?”
“Do you?” She rubbed at a scraped hip. “We could figure it out.”
“I…
“Don’t you like merpeople?”
“That’s not it! I mean, I guess I like you fine. We learned about merfolk in school, about your cities offshore. I never really expected to meet one.”
“Why not? We’re all over the ocean.”
“I don’t live in the ocean, OK? We never had any demi-humans in my school.” Ben looked around the green-tinted habitat that separated him from the seawater. “I had no idea anything like this was down here.”
Tilikee had rolled back onto her side so she could face him. “There’s a lot of things in the ocean that humans don’t know about. It’s fun to go find them.”
Ben fumbled for words. This was the longest conversation he’d had with a girl his age since…well, ever. Much less a naked one. He pictured her swimming smoothly through darkened streets, alone and fearless. It was easy to imagine.
“So let me get this straight. You’re a runaway…”
Tilikee glanced at her body, then back at Ben. “I can’t run.”
“Yeah, OK, a swimaway. No money, no family and no job. You live alone in an empty city, feeding yourself with whatever you can catch in the ocean. In the last four hours, you’ve saved a person’s life, stolen your first kiss, kidnapped a boy you liked, and – I guess – you tried to seduce me?”
“I’m sorry. Do you hate me?”
“I absolutely don’t hate you. I just wish I had a tenth of your guts.”
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