Strangers in Atlantis Read online

  “Might that have been Gentleman Jim?” Ronan asked.

  Mookergwog snapped his fingers. “That was it. Gentleman Jim. How did you—”

  “I knew it!” Ronan smacked Dean on the shoulder. “He’s alive. Alive!”

  “Blow me down,” Dean said. What next? “How did he end up here?”

  “You’d have to ask him that,” Mookergwog said. “He came through with a theater company, months ago. I only remember him because they let him stay down there, the lucky devil. You know him?”

  Ronan nodded. “We know him.”

  “How’s that for luck?” Mookergwog laughed. “Not only do you three get to visit Atlantis, but you’ve got a friend inside the city to boot.” He nudged Waverly. “I reckon you feel better about making the trip now, eh, love?”

  Waverly put on a fake smile. “You have no idea.” She could tell it was no use arguing now. They were going to Atlantis whether she liked it or not.

  “How do we get there?” Ronan asked. “How soon can we leave?”

  “And what kind of a ship is going to get us there in five minutes?” Dean wanted to know.

  Mookergwog wagged a finger. “It’s not the ship that does it. It’s the Waterways. I told you, Atlantis is special. A place where all the wonders in the deep blue sea come together. You surface-dwellers don’t know it, but there are secret currents down below that lead all around the world. The Waterways are like enchanted rivers, flowing under the sea, and this castle’s right on top of one.” Mookergwog pulled the tarp off a large iron sphere with a hatch built into the side. “Your chariot awaits.”

  Dean peered through the heavy glass pane covering the porthole hatch. Inside, he saw four tiny seats covered with velvet and secured with thick leather belts. He tapped on the pod’s metal hull. “You’re sure this thing won’t leak?”

  “Not a chance. I built that ship myself and triple-checked every bolt. She’ll hold together.”

  “It looks like a giant mine,” Waverly said.

  “No.” Mookergwog shook his head, smiling. “I designed those to come apart dramatically. This ship? Tight as a drum.”

  “I’m satisfied,” Ronan said.

  “I’m not.” Waverly backed away. “I’m not getting in there. No way.”

  “I wouldn’t send you down there to drown,” Mookergwog said. “Honestly, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

  “I’m not afraid,” Waverly said. “I just don’t like tight spaces.”

  “It’ll be over before you know it,” Mookergwog assured her. “The ride alone is worth the trip, and once you reach the city? Your eyes will pop out of your head!” He caught himself. “That’s another figure of speech, you understand . . . I’m not doing a good job of explaining things, am I?”

  “You’re doing fine,” Ronan said, patting Mookergwog on the back. “Don’t be difficult, Waverly. I followed you to St. Blanc.”

  “You complained every step of the way, if I recall.”

  “We still went, didn’t we? It’s time to even up the scales. Come on, Seaborne, let’s get this ship in the water.”

  Dean looked at Waverly as if his hands were tied and went to help Ronan rock the pod off its base. Together, they rolled it to the edge of the platform, where Mookergwog hooked it with the chains that hung down from the ring overhead. Once he had steadied the ship, Ronan wasted no time getting in.

  “We’re leaving already?” Waverly asked.

  “No time like the present,” Ronan called back.

  “No time to waste, either,” Dean added.

  Mookergwog offered a hand to help Waverly get on board. “Come on, lass, it’ll be an adventure. You might even enjoy it.”

  Dean could tell Waverly wasn’t pleased with the impression Mookergwog had of her. She didn’t like being thought of as some jittery jitterbug. “I don’t have a problem with adventure,” she said. “I told you, I just don’t like—”

  “Tight spaces, I know. Just close your eyes and pretend you’re sailing ’cross the sea instead of under it. Before you can count to ten, you’ll have a whole city to stretch out in.”

  Waverly reluctantly climbed on top of the pod and went in feet first.

  Dean entered the pod last. Ronan had settled in the back row, strapped in and ready to go. Waverly was in one of the front seats, struggling with a belt and looking very uncomfortable. Dean sat down next to her and assessed the panel in front of him. Save for a single wooden handle, the ship had no controls. “How does this work?”

  Mookergwog stuck his head in the window. “Nothing to it. First, buckle up. All of you. Those belts will keep you in your seats no matter which way the tides take you. I’m going to go outside and chain an anchor to the ship to pull you under. Once you’ve submerged and hit the current, pull that lever to drop the weight, and away you go.”

  “How will I know when we hit the current?” Dean asked.

  Mookergwog grinned. “Don’t worry. You’ll know.”

  “Why don’t you come with us? There’s room for one more.” Dean thought, if nothing else, Waverly might feel more comfortable with Mookergwog at the controls. The green man shook his head sadly.

  “I wish I could, lad, but I’ve got a job to do up here. Now, Godspeed.” He rapped his knuckles on the outside of the ship. “Enjoy the ride. I expect to hear all about your trip upon your return.”

  With that, Mookergwog closed the hatch and sealed them in. Darkness filled most of the pod. The porthole admitted only a narrow beam of light. Dean looked over at Waverly. She was holding her breath. It didn’t matter how much of a thrill-seeker she was in every other aspect of her life. Whenever Waverly got stuck in some place too restricting, she became a different person—paralyzed by fear. She could even be a danger to herself and others. Dean had seen it happen. He tried to reassure her, but the slightest touch made her skin crawl.

  “Don’t. Just . . . don’t.”

  He realized she must have been feeling like this the whole time Skinner had them locked up. Confined to quarters on the ship for days, and they’d only been out a couple hours. Now here she was, boxed in again.

  “Waverly, I know you don’t want to be here, but trust me, this is the right thing to do.”

  “Because you’re all about doing the right thing, aren’t you, Dean?”

  Dean sat up in his seat. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You’re risking Verrick’s life for a pirate,” Waverly said.

  “Hey!” Ronan said from the backseat. “We used to be pirates too, don’t forget.”

  “And we’re not going down there to help Skinner sack the city or steal a single gold coin,” Dean added. “This is the best shot we have at saving Verrick without anyone getting hurt. And I realize you don’t know Gentleman Jim, but if there’s even a tiny chance that he’s down there, we have to take that chance. This is the right choice. It’s the only choice.”

  “It is now that we’ve backed ourselves into a corner,” Waverly said, her voice bitter. “I blame myself for that.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I should never have gone to sea with you in the first place.”

  Dean felt as if Waverly had just punched him in the gut. “What?”

  “This is wrong. Everything about it. When we left Zenhala together, I thought I knew who you were and what to expect. It was supposed to be fun and adventure. Now we’re at the mercy of Skinner and his pirate crew, you’ve fallen right back into life as a spy, and we’re hopping from one lie to the next. Verrick’s got two days to live, but your main concern is saving your old pirate captain.”

  “That’s not fair,” Dean said.

  “Don’t talk to me about fair. None of this is fair,” Waverly replied. “This isn’t my life. I don’t belong here.”

  Dean was lost for words. It wasn’t supposed to be his life either. Not anymore.

  Ronan leaned in over Dean’s shoulder. “I told you this wouldn’t end well.”

  “Shut up, Ronan.”
<
br />   An uncomfortable silence fell over the pod, broken only by the loud clink-clank of chains being dragged along the dock. They couldn’t see Mookergwog anymore, but they could hear him working to latch something onto the front of the pod. He gave the hull of the ship a tap and called out, “Bon voyage!”

  With a heavy metal scraping sound followed by a splash, the pod lurched into the water. Waverly yelped as they flipped around to face the ocean floor. Strapped securely into their plush velvet seats, she, Dean, and Ronan hung there suspended as the anchor pulled them down. They were sinking fast.

  A phosphorescent strip of water came into view down below the ship. Just a glowing line at first, it grew larger with each passing second. After the first minute of the pod’s steady descent, the water’s cool, blue light entered its cabin. Dean leaned forward, getting as close to the window as his belt would allow.

  “Look at that,” he said, marveling at the luminous path ahead. It had an eerie, supernatural quality, like the tail of a sea serpent or the wake of a ghost ship.

  Waverly was breathing in short staccato bursts. “Let go of the anchor.”

  “We’re not there yet. If I drop it now, we’ll float right back up.”

  Waverly made a face that said, fine by me.

  “You’re going to miss it,” Ronan told Dean.

  “I’m not going to miss it.”

  “Hard to starboard, now!” Ronan shouted.

  “Is it your understanding that I’m somehow steering this ship? We’re sinking, Ronan. That’s all.”

  Dean waited until the bright streak of water was upon them. As soon as they hit the Waterway, an incredible force took hold of the vessel. Dean detached the anchor and the current carried them off. They weren’t sinking anymore. They were flying—under the sea.

  deep cover

  Chapter 12

  Getting There Is

  Half the Fun

  The Waterway sucked Dean, Ronan, and Waverly deep into the ocean at a speed that Dean would never have thought possible. The acceleration was amazing. In mere seconds, they had gone from a standstill to traveling faster than the wind. Faster than Dean had ever gone before, even on his kiteboard.

  Deeper and deeper, faster and faster, the ship swirled around as it advanced. The topsy-turvy craft flipped them every which way until the words up and down lost all meaning. Dean took deep breaths, trying to pull himself together despite the endless rotations. The constant spinning made him feel sick. He wasn’t alone.

  “I feel sick,” groaned Ronan.

  “Don’t you throw up in here, Ronan. Don’t you dare!”

  Ronan leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He looked greener than Mookergwog. Dean and Waverly traded looks that were equal parts revulsion and fear. The thought of Ronan losing his lunch on the way to Atlantis was too horrible to imagine. Dean would have rather seen the ship spring a leak.

  Thankfully, the pod stabilized a minute later, locking into place within the current, oriented right-side up. Dean breathed a sigh of relief when everything stopped spinning. A fresh headache replaced that sensation. Having found its groove in the water, the pod surged forward like a ship being boosted by a strong tailwind. Soon they were going so fast Dean couldn’t move. He struggled to breathe normally, feeling his face flatten as invisible forces pushed him back into his chair. From the corner of his eye, he saw Waverly’s cheeks trying hard to touch her ears.

  The pressure was intense as they raced with the current, following the greedy pull of the Waterway. The pod took turns hard and fast, spinning them around to face backward, sideways, and every odd angle in between. Everyone let out yelps and whoops as the snakelike underwater channel took unexpected dips and rounded unseen corners.

  Dean began to wonder how far they had traveled. How many fathoms? How many leagues? He wished he could see where they were going. He had a limited view through the porthole, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime view just the same.

  They hurtled past sharks, whales, and all manner of sea life. The water changed color, growing darker as they moved deeper into the ocean. As the light faded, glowing crystals on the interior walls of the pod lit up. Until that moment, Dean had assumed they were purely decorative. He had only noted them as something to possibly steal. Old habits. Like it or not, his life as a pirate spy was all coming back to him. Dean tried to reach out and touch one of the glimmering gemstones, but the ship was still moving too fast for him to lift his arm.

  A layer of frost appeared on the porthole window. Dean shivered and saw his breath freeze in front of his face. The vapors, rising like smoke in the air, shocked him. Does it get that cold down here? he wondered. What’s it going to be like at the bottom? We’re going to freeze to death!

  But the depth of the water was not to blame for the drop in temperature. The Waterway current led the pod climbing back up toward the surface, and Dean spotted icebergs above them. They were skirting the coast of the South Pole—the very bottom of the earth! Or maybe it was the North Pole. Dean couldn’t tell. He couldn’t believe it. Could they really have gone so far, so fast?

  Warm water soon banished the arctic chill, as the pod rocketed back toward the equator at impossible speeds. Things got tropical again as they approached their final destination. They had to be nearly there. Mookergwog had said the whole journey would only take five minutes.

  The pod took an abrupt drop straight down, and Dean’s stomach jumped up into his throat. It was as if they had fallen into a deep, dark pit. The soft, crystalline glow returned to light up the interior of the pod as they fell. Through the window, Dean saw another far-off light outside the pod. It started out like a distant star but grew larger and more brilliant the closer they got, until Dean had to shut his eyes. The pod swooped down and up like it was exiting a ramp. Everyone was thrown forward as the pod came out of the Waterway with a jolt.

  Able to move once more, Dean stretched out his arms, rubbing his eyes to shield them from the blinding light outside the window. A gentle current carried them forward, and the pod turned away from the intense white glare. As Dean’s eyes adjusted, he saw where the light was coming from. Whole mountain ranges of luminescent crystals, just like the ones inside the pod, lit up the sandy bottom of the sea. The ship weaved slowly around their jagged peaks and sharp edges until Dean saw it. Atlantis. The legendary underwater kingdom was right in front of them.

  The city sat under a transparent dome of running water. Spouting from a central point above the city, it fell in continuous waves like a waterfall under the sea. Dean, Ronan, and Waverly were awestruck. Dean felt half-delirious from the trip.

  “I’m not the only one seeing this, am I?”

  Ronan leaned forward. “I see it, but I don’t believe it.”

  Glowing rock formations spiraled out from the city’s base, bathing the whole area with a radiant luster.

  “These must be the Magic Mountains,” Dean said. Smaller rocks and minerals littered the ocean floor all around them, sparkling like diamonds. He saw people swimming around in the water outside the city, both mermen and mermaids. Some of them swam on their own while others coursed through the water on the backs of giant sea horses. Mookergwog had spoken the truth. The Atlantean seascape was breathtaking. The full sprawl extended past the edge of the city to a bustling reef town with coral towers, but the bulk of Atlantis—and the most impressive structures within it—all stood under the dome. Dean could make out tall buildings, stately temples, and a castle that rivaled the Aqualine Palace of Zenhala.

  A slow, twisting current carried the pod forward. Dean and his friends enjoyed the view and the new relaxed pace until they drew even with the ocean floor. Dean put them at half a league away from the city. The path ahead was bounded on either side by statues carved from the same incandescent minerals that were strewn about everywhere else. Sculptures of what must have been Atlantean warriors lined the path.

  The guiding current brought the pod toward the aqua-dome that surrounded Atlantis, but at the last second, somet
hing shadowy and strong pulled Dean and his friends off course. Whatever it was carried them around to the other side of the city and swung the pod through the watery barrier there. The vessel hit dry sand and rolled on like a cannonball tumbling across the deck of a ship. When at last the pod came to a stop, Dean unbuckled himself and opened the door. He stood up, poking his head out through the hatch. Dizzy and overstimulated, he made a conscious effort to not fall over.

  When Dean finally steadied himself, the first thing he noticed was the welcome committee. A platoon of soldiers in heavy black armor had them surrounded, weapons out. Nice to meet you too, Dean thought.

  Ronan was the first one to greet them in turn, clawing past Dean and throwing up all over the outside of the pod. Dean patted Ronan’s back as he wretched.

  “Way to hold it together, Ronan. Good job.”

  Chapter 13

  Welcome to Atlantis

  “Don’t move,” one of the soldiers ordered. He was a big man, over six feet tall.

  Dean replied with a wobbly nod of the head. Works for me. At the moment, his goal was to move as little as possible. The journey had turned his bones to jelly. Now that it had ended, he could barely stand up straight. Every time he turned his head, the world swung around violently. Dean closed his eyes and waited for the vertigo to pass. Ronan remained slumped over the outside of the pod, looking like he might get sick again.

  Waverly squeezed her way through the door to get a look outside. The front line of soldiers rushed the pod when she emerged.

  “What is this? What’s going on?” Waverly’s voice was just above a whisper.

  Dean eyed the soldiers uncomfortably. “No idea.”

  This was not the greeting that any of them had expected to receive. The soldiers before them were nothing like Mookergwog, either in manner or appearance. They had charcoal gray skin, bright red eyes, and suits of armor that had been crafted from the shells of giant crabs and lobsters. They were armed with claw-shaped gauntlets and swords edged with jagged, uneven teeth. To a man, they all sported the same menacing look on their faces. It was highly unlikely that any of them could be reasoned with, but Dean tried his best.