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Authors: Mary Janice Davidson
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here?"
"No, I live on the other side of the planet. Some of our folk were in the area and reported what they sensed. When word reached my father the High King, he set me this task."
"So the royal palace or coral reef or whatever is in the Black Sea?"
"Yes."
"I wonder why word took so long to—"
"There are only a million of us on the planet."
"Oh. Ah. Hmm. And with the planet being mostly water—"
"Exactly."
Exactly indeed. It explained why Fred had never bumped into another of her kind, though at one point she'd swum along the entire eastern sea shore. Telepathy, she supposed, could only reach so far.
"Then how—"
"You know, I just did this with Jonas not half an hour ago," Fred broke in. "You two run along and get acquainted."
They both frowned at her. "What are you talking about?"
"The question of my lodging has not yet been settled."
"Yeah, but now you have someone new to settle it with."
They frowned at each other, then turned their sour expressions back on her. She elaborated. "Uh… you guys team up, like Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy. Or Owen Wilson and everybody. Solve the case. And I'll—"
Get back to my life
, was her thought. Her nice, boring, controlled, uncomplicated life.
Why didn't it feel as appealing as it had this morning?
"But you have to help us," Thomas said at the exact same moment Artur commanded, "It ill becomes you to set aside your duty."
"Aw, no… not both of you at once…"
Thus followed a lecture, from both of them at once, about the sanctity of the seas and her duty as a scientist as well as a mermaid and how three heads were better than two and how her duty was to her prince and her career, yak-yak, until finally she was almost shouting, "All right, all
right
, I'll help, just cut it out!"
Thomas sat back and smiled. " Alrighty then."
Artur was also smiling, which wiped Thomas's smile away. "Yes, well said."
"So it's settled."
"Indeed; and well said."
Fred briefly toyed with the idea of leaping into the harbor, striking out for the horizon, and never looking back, not once.
Chapter Seventeen
"So here it is," Thomas announced , zipping his key card through the slot and throwing open the door to the Presidential Suite. "It's not home, but it's much. I stole that," he added cheerfully, "from Olivia Goldsmith, God rest her lipo'd soul."
Fred, raised by far-from-poor parents, and Artur , son of royalty, were both impressed, and said so.
Thomas shrugged. "Well, like I said my first day… You remember," he said to Fred. "I write romance novels."
"Of course I remember. It was—" She looked at her watch. "The day before yesterday."
"Right. Has it really only been two days?"
"Tell me about it," she muttered.
"Well, when I'm running around doing this stuff, I try to pay for my own lodging. It's not much to me, but sometimes it helps them. You know how the water programs…"
Fred nodded. At Artur's puzzled look, she elaborated. "A lot of the programs for water fellows got their government funding slashed. Or don't have much to begin with. Not just the water fellow programs, either. Just about every aquarium in the country depends on private contributions."
Artur's mouth thinned. "I was not aware, but I am not surprised." In unison, they said, "Bipeds."
"Now cut that out," Thomas said, tossing his key card on the eight-foot-long mahogany dining room table. "We're not all like that. I'm the one who came out here to try to fix the toxin problem, remember?"
"Congratulations," Artur said silkily, wandering around the suite. "One out of a thousand bipeds maintains awareness that the planet is not yours to ruin."
Fred snorted and Thomas said, "Now you're just being mean . Uh, the other bedroom is back there, on your left. There's another bathroom back there, too." As Artur disappeared from sight, Thomas beckoned.
Curious, Fred walked over to him. He put his warm hands on her shoulders, leaned down and whispered, "There's plenty of room for you, too."
She grabbed
"No, I live on the other side of the planet. Some of our folk were in the area and reported what they sensed. When word reached my father the High King, he set me this task."
"So the royal palace or coral reef or whatever is in the Black Sea?"
"Yes."
"I wonder why word took so long to—"
"There are only a million of us on the planet."
"Oh. Ah. Hmm. And with the planet being mostly water—"
"Exactly."
Exactly indeed. It explained why Fred had never bumped into another of her kind, though at one point she'd swum along the entire eastern sea shore. Telepathy, she supposed, could only reach so far.
"Then how—"
"You know, I just did this with Jonas not half an hour ago," Fred broke in. "You two run along and get acquainted."
They both frowned at her. "What are you talking about?"
"The question of my lodging has not yet been settled."
"Yeah, but now you have someone new to settle it with."
They frowned at each other, then turned their sour expressions back on her. She elaborated. "Uh… you guys team up, like Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy. Or Owen Wilson and everybody. Solve the case. And I'll—"
Get back to my life
, was her thought. Her nice, boring, controlled, uncomplicated life.
Why didn't it feel as appealing as it had this morning?
"But you have to help us," Thomas said at the exact same moment Artur commanded, "It ill becomes you to set aside your duty."
"Aw, no… not both of you at once…"
Thus followed a lecture, from both of them at once, about the sanctity of the seas and her duty as a scientist as well as a mermaid and how three heads were better than two and how her duty was to her prince and her career, yak-yak, until finally she was almost shouting, "All right, all
right
, I'll help, just cut it out!"
Thomas sat back and smiled. " Alrighty then."
Artur was also smiling, which wiped Thomas's smile away. "Yes, well said."
"So it's settled."
"Indeed; and well said."
Fred briefly toyed with the idea of leaping into the harbor, striking out for the horizon, and never looking back, not once.
Chapter Seventeen
"So here it is," Thomas announced , zipping his key card through the slot and throwing open the door to the Presidential Suite. "It's not home, but it's much. I stole that," he added cheerfully, "from Olivia Goldsmith, God rest her lipo'd soul."
Fred, raised by far-from-poor parents, and Artur , son of royalty, were both impressed, and said so.
Thomas shrugged. "Well, like I said my first day… You remember," he said to Fred. "I write romance novels."
"Of course I remember. It was—" She looked at her watch. "The day before yesterday."
"Right. Has it really only been two days?"
"Tell me about it," she muttered.
"Well, when I'm running around doing this stuff, I try to pay for my own lodging. It's not much to me, but sometimes it helps them. You know how the water programs…"
Fred nodded. At Artur's puzzled look, she elaborated. "A lot of the programs for water fellows got their government funding slashed. Or don't have much to begin with. Not just the water fellow programs, either. Just about every aquarium in the country depends on private contributions."
Artur's mouth thinned. "I was not aware, but I am not surprised." In unison, they said, "Bipeds."
"Now cut that out," Thomas said, tossing his key card on the eight-foot-long mahogany dining room table. "We're not all like that. I'm the one who came out here to try to fix the toxin problem, remember?"
"Congratulations," Artur said silkily, wandering around the suite. "One out of a thousand bipeds maintains awareness that the planet is not yours to ruin."
Fred snorted and Thomas said, "Now you're just being mean . Uh, the other bedroom is back there, on your left. There's another bathroom back there, too." As Artur disappeared from sight, Thomas beckoned.
Curious, Fred walked over to him. He put his warm hands on her shoulders, leaned down and whispered, "There's plenty of room for you, too."
She grabbed
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