Scudi looked at Brett, who blushed.
Nakano guffawed.
"Oh, my," Gallow taunted, "love nests get more elaborate every year. Yes, yes."
"Disgusting." Nakano laughed, and clicked his tongue.
"There's a watch-alert out on this foil, Scudi Wang," Gallow said. His manner sobered too quickly for Brett's comfort. "You stole it. What do you think, Nakano? Looks like the Green Dashers have captured a couple of desperadoes."
Brett looked at the grotesque green dive suits on the two Mermen. Blotches and splashes and lines of green spilled over from their suits into patterns painted on their faces.
"Green Dashers?" Scudi asked.
"We are the Green Dashers," Gallow said. "These suits are the perfect camouflage underwater, particularly around the kelp. And we spend a lot of time in kelp, right Nakano?"
Nakano grunted, then said: "We should've let the kelp finish us. We -"
Gallow silenced him with a flicking gesture. "We secured our outpost with one sub and a handful of men. It'd be a pity to waste such talent in the kelp."
Brett saw that Gallow was one of those types who love to hear themselves talk - more, he was one of those who loved to brag.
"With one little sub and this foil," Gallow said with a sweep of his hand, "we can make sure there's never any more land than we can control. You don't have to be in charge to run the show. Just ruin it for those who do. People will have to come swimming up to me soon enough."
Scudi took a deep, relaxing breath. "Is Kareen one of you?"
Gallow's eyes shifted and almost met Scudi's. "She's ... insurance ..."
"Safe deposit box," Nakano blurted, and both men laughed in that loud way men have when they crack a crude or cruel joke.
Brett realized from Scudi's deep sigh that she was relieved at Gallow's bragging. Were her doubts about her father's involvement with Gallow finally laid to rest?
"What about the doctor?" Nakano asked.
Darkness had settled over the ocean and the cockpit was illuminated only by the red telltales and instrument lights on the console. A macabre red glow filled the space around the two Mermen. They stood near the control seats, put their heads close together and whispered while Scudi and Brett fidgeted. Brett kept eyeing the hatchway where the Mermen had entered. Was there a chance to escape down there to the main hatch? But Guemes had been destroyed by a sub. These Mermen had not swum here from the Launch Base. Their sub lay nearby, probably directly beneath the foil's hull. And they needed a doctor.
"I think you need us," Brett said.
"Think?" Gallow asked with a patronizing lift of his eyebrows. "Mutes don't think."
"You have an injury, somebody needs a doctor," Brett said. "How do you intend to get help?"
"He's quick for a Mute," Gallow said.
"And you're not strong enough to go in and take a doctor from Launch Base," Brett said. "But you could trade us for a doctor."
"Ryan Wang's daughter could be traded," Gallow said. "You're fishbait."
"If you hurt Brett, I won't cooperate," Scudi said.
"Cooperate?" Gallow snorted. "Who needs cooperation?"
"You do," Brett said.
"Nakano will break you two into small pieces if I give the order," Gallow said. "That's cooperation."
Brett went silent, studying the two men in that blood-red light. Why were they delaying? They said they needed a doctor. Twisp had always said you had to look beyond words when dealing with people who postured and bragged. Gallow certainly fitted that description. Nakano seemed to be something else - a dangerous unknown. Twisp liked to probe such people with outrageous questions or statements.
"You don't need just any doctor," Brett said. "You want a particular doctor."
Both Mermen focused startled glances on Brett.
"What have we here?" Gallow muttered. The smile he flashed across the dark cabin did not disarm Brett in the least.
Nervous, Brett thought. Keep looking. He knew the Merman fear that Islanders had mutated into telepathy, and played on it.
Nakano said, "Do you think -"
"No!" Gallow warned.
Brett caught a bare flicker of hesitation in Gallow's face, which did not show in the voice. The man had superb control of his voice. It was his tool for manipulation, along with his ready smile.
"That other foil should be along soon," Nakano said.
A particular foil with a particular doctor and a particular cargo, Brett thought. He glanced at Scudi. Her tired face was clear to him in the dim lights of the cockpit.
"You don't need us as a trade, you need us as a diversion," Brett said. He held his fingertips to his temples, repressing an excited smile.
One of Gallow's eyebrows lifted, a dark ripple in the smeared green of the camouflage.
"I don't like this," Nakano said. There was fear in the big man's voice.
"He's thought something out," Gallow said. "That's all. Look at him. Almost normal. Maybe he has a brain after all."
"But he's hit on -"
"Drop it, Nakano!" Gallow kept his attention on Brett. "Why would we need you as a diversion?"
Brett dropped his hands and allowed the smile. "It's pretty simple. You didn't know we were the ones on this boat. It's dark out there and all you saw was a foil. Period."
"Pretty good for a Mute," Gallow said. "Maybe there's hope for you."
"You had to go forward and look at the identification plate on the control console before you realized this was the foil on watch-alert."
Gallow nodded. "Go on."
"You hoped it was another foil, a particular one," Brett said. "The other one will have a Security force aboard. You came in armed and ready for that."
Nakano relaxed, visibly relieved. Obviously, this reasoning had eliminated his fear of telepathy.
"Interesting," Gallow said. "Is there more?"
"So now we're waiting for the other foil," Brett said. "Why else waste time with us? If the Security force jumps aboard to capture Scudi and me, that's your opportunity."
"Opportunity for what?" Gallow's tone said he was enjoying this. Nakano returned to his fidgeting.
"You want someone in particular on that other foil," Brett said. "A doctor. And you want the cargo. Now, you see the opportunity to get not only that but two foils intact. And you would've had to wreck the other foil to stop it because all you have is a sub."
"You know, I might be able to use you," Gallow said. "You want to join up?"
Brett spoke without thinking. "I'd sooner swim in shit."
Gallow's face tightened, his body went rigid. Nakano snickered. Slowly, Gallow's face returned to its political best. But there was a mad light in his eyes, a red reflection that made Brett sorry he'd spoken at all.
Scudi edged away from Brett toward the command seats, moving as though she feared the consequences of his comment.
Nakano moved closer to Gallow and bent to whisper something into the Merman's ear. Even as he whispered, Nakano shot a kick at Scudi's hand, which had moved toward the eject lever between the command seats.
Scudi leaped back with a cry of pain, holding her wrist tight to her chest.
Brett started to step toward Nakano, but the big Merman put up a warning hand. "Easy, kid," he said. "I just stung her. Nothing's broken."
"She was going for the eject lever," Gallow said. There was genuine surprise in his voice. He glared at Scudi. Both men stood on a light seam that divided the forward part of the cabin from the rear.
"It would've cut us to pieces when it blew," Nakano said. "Not nice."
"She's Ryan Wang's daughter, all right," Gallow said.
"Now you see why you need our cooperation," Brett said.
"We need you tied up and gagged," Gallow snarled.
"And what happens when that other foil pulls alongside for a look?" Brett asked. "They'll be very cautious if they don't see us in here. One or two of their Security will come aboard while the others wait in their own boat."
"Are you proposing a deal, Mute?" Gallow asked.
"I am."
"Let's hear it."
"Scudi and I stay inside in plain sight. We act like our foil's disabled. That way, they won't suspect anything."
"And afterward?"
"You deliver us to an outpost where we can get back to our people."
"Sound reasonable, Nakano?" Gallow asked.
Nakano grunted.
"You have a deal, Mute," Gallow said. "You amuse me."
Brett wondered at the insincerity in the man's voice. Didn't he realize his intentions were that transparent? A greased smile couldn't hide a lie forever.
Gallow turned to Nakano. "Go take a look outside. See if everything's secure."
Nakano strode through the rear hatchway and was gone for several minutes while Gallow hummed to himself, nodding. His expression was filled with self-satisfaction. Scudi moved close to Brett, still clutching her wrist.
"Are you all right?" Brett asked.
"Just bruised."
"Nakano's getting soft," Gallow said. "He pulled that kick. He can crush your throat, just like that!" Gallow snapped his fingers to illustrate.
Nakano returned, dripping more water. "We're in kelp and it's holding us pretty steady. The sub's stabilized directly under us and the foil's shadow should hide it until it's too late for them to do anything about it."
"Good," Gallow said. "Now, where do we keep these two until it's time for their performance?" He thought for a moment, then: "We turn the cabin lights on and put them in the open hatchway. They'll be seen right away."
"And we wait beside the hatch," Nakano said. "You kids understand?"
When Brett did not respond, Scudi said, "We understand."
"We'll run forward and turn out the lights," Brett said. "That'll make sure the Security people have to come aboard."
"Good!" Gallow said. "Very good."
He sure likes the sound of his own voice, Brett thought. He took Scudi's arm, careful of her wrist. "Let's get those lights on and go back to the main hatch."
"Nakano, escort our guests back and see that they're in plain sight," Gallow said. He moved to the command console and flipped a series of switches. Lights blazed all over the foil.
Brett suddenly hesitated. Open hatch? "Dashers," he said.
Scudi tugged him along toward the corridor into the rear of the foil. "Our chances are just as good with the black variety," she muttered.
Survival is staying alive one breath at a time, Brett thought. That was another of Twisp's sayings. And Brett thought if he and Scudi survived this, Twisp would have to learn how his teaching had helped. It was a way of studying things and reacting truly - something that could not be taught, but could be learned.
"Hurry it up, you two!" Nakano ordered.
They followed him down the long passage to the open hatch, its lip washed in a blaze of light. Brett stared out at a dark flow of kelp-littered waves slapping against the hull.
Nakano said, "You two wait right here. And you better be standing in plain sight when I come back." He sped up the passage.
"What's that guy doing up there in the cockpit?" Brett asked.
"Probably disabling the starting system," Scudi said. "They don't intend to let us go."
"Of course not."
She glanced behind her at the storage locker where Brett had found the survival kits. "If it weren't for the sub under us, I'd take off right now."
"There's nobody in the sub," Brett said. "There's just these two ... and maybe one who needs the doctor. That one won't be able to do anything about us."
"How do you know?"
"It was obvious from what they said and the way they're acting. And remember what Bushka said? Three of them."
"Then what're we waiting for?"
"For them to disable the starting mechanism," he said. "We can't have them dashing around in this thing looking for us." He moved to the storage locker and lifted out two more packs, tossing one to Scudi. "Have they had enough time?"
"I ... think so."
"I do, too."
Scudi slipped a length of line from an outside pocket on her kit and fixed one end to Brett's belt, the other to her own waist. "We stay together," she said. "Let's go."
Far up the corridor, Gallow's voice suddenly bellowed, "Hey! You two! What're you doing?"
"We're going swimming," Brett shouted. Holding hands, they leaped off into the ocean.