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Peter waited next to Razan on the couch. Nop was still, listening to something only she could hear. Finally she hopped, turning towards them.
"They've decided to not penalize you for having half your group bail, as both were legitimately in need of medical assistance," she announced. "Also they bailed with just under half an hour left. If it had been over half an hour, that would have affected the decision."
"So all our shells count?" Peter asked.
"Yes. The number of points your team collected was… 208. In the ranking, that currently puts you… first! There are three teams who haven't been entered yet, but you're first!"
Razan clapped his hands, leaning back. "Very nice!"
Peter grinned. "Great! Unless those teams are taking longer because they have so many shells."
"No," Nop said. "On one team a man is colorblind, and collected every shell he saw, not sure which ones counted. We're still sorting through them. Another team brought in a large octopus to cook, and it is extremely unhappy to be here. It has destroyed two birds. The third team was simply the last team to return."
"Who brought the octopus?" Razan asked.
"Team 15, the Seabirds."
"I might have to ask Keiko for a tentacle," Razan said.
"Didn't you bring four octopuses back?" Peter asked.
Razan looked at him like he was crazy. "No, I brought squid."
"Oh, sorry." He shrugged, thickening his accent. "I'm from a desert, I ain't never seen squiggly things like that 'afore. Now a hognose an' a rattlesnake, them I c'n differentiate. But slimy o'shun things, well, them be a mystery t' me."
Razan gave a deep, annoyed sigh. Peter grinned as Marie came out of Sophie's room.
Marie was wearing her fuzzy nightgown thing. She still held herself like someone in command, but she looked like a typical grandmother.
"Any news on how we did?" she asked, watching them.
"We might win," Razan answered. "There are three teams left to tally, but at the moment we are in first."
Marie smiled. "Excellent."
"How's Sophie?" Peter asked.
"She'll be fine, no thanks to those idiots," she said, scowling briefly. "I've seen worse but only barely."
"What happened?" he asked.
"She got too cold. Doesn't matter how hot the sun is, water can freeze you."
"But… none of us froze."
"Sophie is the smallest in the group," Razan said. "She moves the fastest. She's the youngest and isn't used to pushing herself physically."
Peter frowned. "She did just fine on the mountain."
"We had rest on the mountain," Marie reminded him. "We had food and water. Those things make a difference."
He couldn't argue with that. "Well, I hope next week we get sent somewhere warm."
"And dry," Razan added.
Nop snickered. They looked at the bird.
"Yes?" Marie asked, raising her eyebrows.
"You'll see Sunday," Nop told them. "All I can say is, your wishes will come true."
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Sophie woke up starving. She also woke up naked, wrapped in a strange blanket.
She sat up, checking if she was in her own room or not. It looked like hers; the blanket was the only thing she didn't recognize. Rubbing the gunk out of her eyes, she tried to remember how she'd fallen asleep.
No memories came.
The last thing she remembered was the contest. Razan told her she was tired, and then… Had she fallen asleep there?
"Nop?" Sophie called, a yawn escaping when she opened her mouth.
A section of the wall went up, and the bird hopped out. "Good morning!"
"What day is it?" she asked.
"It is 7:49, Saturday morning," Nop reported.
"Thank you. How did I get here?"
Nop sat next to her on the bed. "You fell unconscious during the contest. Razan bailed you, and shortly afterwards Marie bailed to take care of you. She removed your clothes and wrapped you in the blanket."
Sophie looked at her in surprise. "Marie put me to bed?"
"Yes. She was quite insistent. She stayed with you until you fell into a normal sleep."
"Huh. I didn't think she cared that much," Sophie muttered.
"She requested I call her as soon as you woke up. Shall I call her now?"
"Yes please." She moved to the edge of the bed and swung her feet to the floor. Every muscle felt stiff and sore, and her bones ached. She wanted to get her fuzzy nightgown on before Marie arrived, but wasn't sure she could stand.
Before she could attempt it, the bathroom door opened and Marie walked in. The older woman looked Sophie over critically.
"What's your name?" Marie asked, focusing on her eyes.
"Sophie?"
That didn't please Marie. "Full name."
"Sophia Elizabeth Cadbury."
"There we are. What's my name?"
"Marie LeFleur."
She nodded. "Where were you born?"
"In a house."
Marie lifted an eyebrow but moved on. "What's the month and year?"
"March 1850. Or is it April already? I haven't been keeping track of the date," Sophie admitted.
Finally Marie smiled. "Your mind's all here again, that's good," she said. "Can you stand?"
"I was about to try," Sophie said. She clutched the blanket and pushed herself up. "Ow."
"Any sharp pain?" Marie asked.
"No, I'm just sore all over."
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"That's to be expected. Not in top form myself," she said. "Drop the blanket, let me see you."
Sophie shrank slightly. "No?"
"Don't be shy, I need to check for damage. I won't touch you."
"I'm fine," Sophie said weakly.
Marie gave her a flat look. "You nearly died yesterday. I'm the one who got your clothes off to make sure you didn't, meaning I've already seen what's under there. It don't impress me."
Extremely reluctantly, Sophie turned and put the blanket on her bed. She blushed, turning to face Marie again.
Marie looked her over quickly. "Lift your arms all the way up. Deep breath. Let it out. Any sharp pain from that?"
"No."
"Good. Turn. Stop. Lower your arms. Lift your hair. Wobble your head. Any pain there?"
"Slight headache, but I think that's because I'm thirsty," Sophie reported.
"Nothing unusual?" Marie asked.
"No, normal headache."
"That's fine then. Let me see your hands."
Sophie turned back towards her, holding her hands out.
Marie squinted at her fingernails. "Normal color." She knelt down and squinted at Sophie's feet. "You have marks around your right ankle. Shake your foot a bit."
"Oh, that's where I was bitten by a shark," Sophie said, lifting her foot and shaking it. "It's sore but no sharp pain."
Marie stood up, then reached over and handed Sophie the blanket. "You got bit by a shark?"
"It startled me, and I kicked it. Razan pulled it off," she said, wrapping the heavy blanket around herself again.
"I see," Marie said, eyebrows raised. "Well, your mind's straight, your speech is clear, no sharp pains, fingernails are good, eyes are normal, and no unexplained markings. I give you a clean bill of health."
Sophie smiled. "Thank you. Were you a doctor?"
Marie snorted. "I'm a black woman. I'd have a better chance at being named governor of Barbados than becoming a doctor. But I've helped enough of them to learn the basics. I don't know why fingernails turning blue is bad, only that it is."
"Well… I'm glad you know. I'm not sure how I'd feel about getting a medical examination from a raven," Sophie said.
"Don't tell anyone, but you're far more useful than the men in this group," Marie said. "They're good at following orders, but Peter lacks initiative and Razan lacks motivation. If either of them had fainted I would have left them to the birds. But you I need."
Sophie sat down. "I'm… needed?" No one had ever told her that before. Her father barely acknowledged her, her mother found her tiring, her sisters thought she was weird, and everyone else called her unique.
"Of course," Marie said casually, sitting next to her on the bed. "You collected the most shells out of any individual yesterday. They told us that. And on the mountain last week, you were the only one able to scale the cliffs without help. Without you Razan would still be up there, glued to the rock where he nearly fell, and our team would have come in dead last. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Your strengths happen to be extremely helpful to me. I want you in my group. I have to make sure you're all right."
Sophie was sore and tired and hungry. That's why she burst into tears and hugged Marie. It certainly wasn't because that was the first time in her life she'd been called wanted, or told she had strengths.
"You'll be fine, girl," Marie told her softly, rubbing her back. "You'll be fine…"
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Razan watched the pictures on the wall. They showed people's fights in the water and other interesting things. One person swam out past the reef and was attacked by a sailfish. Another accidentally let her fresh airbag go when changing them, and after failing to grab it for a few seconds had to bail.
Razan studied everything. He took note of who was strong, who was fast, and who was smart. The rostari didn't put anyone in harm's way, but they didn't offer help to those who wandered into it, either. Common sense seemed to be the greatest asset here.
People came and went from the area. Most were more interested in seeing themselves than others, but a few stayed. One person who stayed was a stunningly beautiful woman in a cream dress with bright orange embroidery. She had a notebook, and was occasionally writing things down. Razan debated getting a notebook.
Halfway through the afternoon, Marie walked over and sat next to him.
"Learning a lot?" she asked.
"Yes. There are two groups with yellow and grey colors. The Bees are competent. The other group, who attacked you and Peter, are… less so."
"Maybe they were just at a disadvantage because of the water," Marie suggested.
"Perhaps."
The beautiful woman heard them, and turned in their direction. "Wasps," she said, smiling apologetically. "The yellow and grey teams are the Bees and the Wasps."
"Thank you," Marie said, nodding.
The woman got up and walked over. "The Wasps mostly do things for fun. They don't take contests seriously. They're nice. The Bees take everything too seriously, and aren't nice."
Marie looked her over, then held out a hand. "Marie, leader of the Drifters. Nice to meet you."
"Oh!" The woman fumbled with her notebook, stuffing it into a pocket. She took Marie's hand with both of hers and shook it, her bright gold eyes sparkling. "Innoka. I'm in the Foxes."
Razan bowed, then held out a hand as well. "Razan."
She gave him a strong handshake, her smile making a single dimple appear. "We- My team got here last year. You replaced us as the newest team. That's why I'm still studying. This is the first truly underwater event in a while."
"How would you feel about selling your notebook?" Marie asked.
Innoka shook her head, pulling the notebook out. "It wouldn't do you any good." She opened it, revealing words in a language Razan had no chance of guessing. "If you want me to read it to you, I can do that."
Marie glanced at Razan. "I hereby name you Information Gatherer. Buy the girl dinner and go over her notes."
Razan bowed, trying to hide his joy. "Yes, ma'am."
Innoka smiled again. "Dinner wouldn’t work. The review is still going on, and later there's the ranking announcement," she said. "But tomorrow we could meet up and discuss things without worrying about time."
Marie gave a curt nod. "Very well. Razan, tomorrow buy Innoka lunch and learn all you can from her."
"Yes, ma'am."
Innoka laughed softly, brushing a strand of long black hair behind an ear. "I'll go to your area, then? We're neighbors."
"That would be perfect," he said.
"Perfect," she echoed. "I look forward to it." She nodded to them and went back to her seat.
"You owe me, samurai," Marie said under her breath.
He looked at her, trying to portray innocent ignorance.
She raised her eyebrows. "You've spent the past half hour watching her rather than the wall."
He sighed. "How obvious was it?"
"Well you weren't drooling, but every time she moved you took notice. So you're better than Peter."
He grinned. "If I were as obvious as Peter I'd ask you kill me now."
She patted his shoulder, getting to her feet. "You wouldn't have had to ask."
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Sophie watched the wall as an announcer talked about the contest.
"In fourth place we have: the Diamonds!" The picture on the wall changed to a team dressed in a very light blue and cream. "They didn't get into any epic battles, but their sharp eyes helped them find every shell they passed!" It showed a series of pictures of the team grabbing shells.
"Getting into the top three now," the announcer said. "In third place are the Stars!" A handful of people clapped, and Sophie joined them as Rani appeared on the wall, ripping a bag off a man's belt. "They didn't find many shells on their own, but this group of wild fighters stole more than enough to make up for it!" The pictures changed, slower than before, showing each of the Stars fighting or winning a battle. It showed all four of them twice before the announcer moved on.
Sophie held her breath. They hadn't been announced yet. Drifters were either first or second place.
"In second place…" The picture changed to show the Seabirds on their platform, and more people clapped. "...The Seabirds! No one is surprised this team did well. As has been said before, they knew what they were about when they chose that name." This time the pictures that flashed on the wall all had blood in them. "Who can compete with this? Well, turns out one team can!"
Sophie grabbed Marie and Peter's hands. This was it.
"In first place, for only their second contest, are the Drifters!" The crowd around them clapped, and a few people cheered. Sophie bounced in place as she and Razan appeared on the wall. "That's right! This new team isn't playing around! They've got speed. They've got sharp eyes. They've definitely got fighting experience. And they aren't afraid of anything!" The pictures showed Marie, Razan, and Peter winning fights, then finished with Sophie kicking a shark. It cut off just before the shark turned and chomped down on her foot, which she appreciated.
There were a few closing words, with a few random pictures to accompany them, but Sophie couldn't focus on that. She was too excited. Nothing in her life had ever been this exciting.
"Are you all right, girl?" Marie asked, her amused voice cutting through the parade in Sophie's mind.
"We won!" Sophie told her unnecessarily, then tackled her in a hug.
Marie patted her on the back.
Sophie let go of Marie and spun around to hug Peter. He took half a step back to steady himself when she crashed into him, laughing. She released him after a moment and turned to Razan.
"No," he said flatly.
Thankfully Rani came running up, so Sophie hugged her instead.
"Hey, not bad!" Rani laughed, hugging her back. "We have to get something to celebrate."
"Yeah, congrats on getting third!" Sophie said, releasing her friend from the hug.
The Seabirds walked up to the group, Grace in the lead. She held out her hand to Peter, grinning.
"I should have let those Wasps take you," she said. "Lesson learned. We'll win next time."
"Next time, absolutely," Peter agreed, giving her a firm handshake.
Marie and Fael exchanged congratulations as Louis and Ebba wandered over.
Rani tugged on Sophie's arm. "Everyone on the ship is going to talk to Marie now. Let's get out of the crowd."
Sophie nodded, took a step, and stopped. She debated giving Razan a surprise hug, but decided against it. Instead she followed Rani to the food area.