Mermaid and the Flier will come out in late November...
Here is an except...
As we huddled against the small coral reef, I couldn't drag my eyes
away from him. He was gorgeous, his body a mass of muscles working
in hard concert as the sun shot into them, turning them a darker
bronze every second. He was working hard to bury the other human who
had died as a result of our arrival.
For reasons I couldn't understand, my heart just went out to him for
being so noble. What creature had we ever encountered did that?
Shouldn't he be running around the island—his personal prison,
exploring the boundaries as his thoughts turned to the consuming
desire to find a way to escape? He could never leave here, his whole
world was gone He was as trapped as a fish in those despicable nets
humans used, but he had the decency and respect we showed for our own
dead. This was not at all what I expected, we were taught these
humans that dominated earth, trying to destroy this beautiful world
they lived on, were a self centered, savage species. Supposedly,
they cared for nothing but their own survival, but my eyes were
showing me that everything I learned was wrong. He seemed to be like
us. How could such supposed monsters be destroying their oceans and
endangering all the wonderful creatures that lived there? The very
creatures we came here to observe and try to protect from these
humans?
I looked to my sister, I could see her licking her lips in an
anticipation I was having problems sharing. I tired to remind myself
that he couldn't end up as anything but a delicacy for us. While he really didn't know anything, his existence, his survival, had
doomed him. His aircraft had accidentally blundered into the exiting
of the last expedition, caught in in the vacuum of time and not
restored until our arrival, and the rules on that were clear. If
that chance encounter happened and there were survivors, they were
not allowed to live long, and they were not allowed to go back to
their fellow humans. We didn't really know what they saw, but we
couldn't take that chance. This guy, this really good looking human,
was dead, it was just a matter of time.
It was worst knowing we didn't have to eat him. We had plenty of food
stored in our ship, and we could always beam down more whenever we
needed it.
But these humans, the same humans who threatened the balance of the wonderful oceans of creatures we had come to observe and preserve,
were suppose to be the ultimate delicacy for us. Which was strange,
considering they shared a bi-pedal form like us, in fact, they were
like us in many ways. We were a compatible species with them which
was a rarity my people had never come across before. A delightful
food source, that looked like us, at least in certain forms. I had to
wonder if their similarity to us made them so compelling.
“He is a prime specimen,” my
sister gnashed her teeth together, hungrily. She was always the bold
one of us, always daring to do what I could not.
“The council and our parents have
yet to approve,” I reminded her, hoping she wouldn't disobey them
as she usually did, for she could ruin everything by being too
impetuous.
“You're no fun, and are you even
looking at him?” she exclaimed. “He looks delicious. I'd like to
go eat him now.”
“We have to have permission,” I
reminded her again, knowing it was useless to try and convince her
when she set her mind to something. “We are not even suppose to be
here.”
“But he looks so good, and what
are they going to do? He has to die and you know the rules. They'll
want to look him over first. Why should they have first choice?
It's not like there aren't plenty of humans on this world. Besides,
you know old Sayfraymus is against eating them anyway, and he has
convinced most of them, including our parents, to abstain.”
“And as our expedition leader and
the one can send us back in a moment's notice, we should heed him.
Plus, we don't want to embarrass our parents. Don't you want to stay
here and observe?” I tried logic, knowing it wouldn't work with
her. My sister did what she wanted.
“The sea life is amazing, I know,”
my sister sneered. “But there is nothing wrong with the sea life
on our planet. I didn't want to come here, but since I had to, I plan
to sample this delicacy I have heard so much about.”
“Well, I wouldn't sample this
particular one, if I were you. If you're that desperate, you can
always seduce one off the sea vessels like our ancestors did before
us.” It was shear desperation on my part, but my sister seemed to
heed it. We could do exactly that and there was a good chance no one
else would discover it. I didn't know why, but I didn't want her
feasting on this human. There was something about him, I wanted to
protect him...
“True,” she murmured. “
Sayfraymus may want to question him before they kill him, but he does
look so delicious.” She gave me a sideways glance, I couldn't
ignore. My hope on this was slim indeed.
“Exactly,” I said and then our
left wrist bands lit up in a bluish light, signaling it was time to
return back to the ship. “I really hope he doesn't find a way to
escape this...”
“Don't worry sis, humans can't swim
far, remember our lessons? And then there is always Bruno...” her
eyes went to a dark shadow in the water circling the island. One with
much larger teeth than us.
