Ivy scratched her head and yawned. Her hair was messy, her face’s skin greasy and her breath was, as a nice way of putting it: uncomfortable. There was no time for a morning shower, and that infuriated her.
Em’s banging on the door didn’t help to ease the mood. “Wake up, kid! How many times do I have to say it today!” Em used to call her ‘pumpkin’. A nice nickname for a five-year-old girl. When the old man was upset, he used to just call her ‘kid’. Maybe he believed it was a way to punish her emotionally. But truth be told, she was now a woman, and ‘kid’ seemed like a more acceptable option.
The morning had started well. it didn’t matter that her uncle was punishing the door incessantly. Ivy had dreamed that she was walking in her hometown, holding the hand of her parents, and when she remembered the dream in the morning, it was a gift.
Of course, her dream was not real. What she imagined being her native town was just the white flower-filled streets of Helsios. her favorite place. And her parents, like always, were random people with blurred faces.
Em smashed the door again. She changed and tied her hair in a ponytail. She passed Em’s cabin and entered the head. There was no force of nature capable of stopping her to at least brush her hair and teeth.
“You overslept, kid,” said Em when she reached the bridge. He was leaning on the wheel, sight fixed on the window. He wasn’t sailing, just ignoring her. Ivy had lived almost her entire life in the Ballerina, and she knew perfectly well when the ship was at anchor. Without having gone outside, she also could know that it was a gray, cloudy day, with almost no wind and hardly any waves.
She signed with her hands ‘I’m sorry,’ but Em didn’t look. Ivy crossed the bridge with loud footsteps, aggrieved at having to apologize a second time, and tapped her uncle’s arm with the finger repeatedly. “I’m sorry. It will not happen again.”
Em growled like a dog. It was his way of saying ‘you always say that, do you?’. Instead, he turned to the navigation table. “We have work to do.”
He handed her a chart of whalers’ rock. “Last night I reached the Cape of the dwarf lion and got light-words from one of Chan’s ships.” Em squeezed some tobacco into the pipe chamber. Ivy frowned. He knew how much it annoyed her.
Em put the pipe in his mouth and cleared his throat. “Well, It seems some idiot was smoking inside the hold and made a fire.”
Ivy crossed her arms and raised one eyebrow.
He moved the pipe’s tip over his lips slowly. “Anyway, they requested recovery from the wreck.”
Suddenly Ivy remembered that Lew, Chan’s grandson, used to work in the area. She wanted to ask who's ship had sunk, but she knew Em would annoy her for over-caring about Lew. He’d done it before, and it was exasperating. “Any losses?” she signed.
“Nay. Just pride and expensive material.” He pointed to a part of the map. “We are here, There’s another whaler anchored right over the wreck.”
Ivy was hoping Em would explain all the details, so she’d not have to put on her ugly glasses. She was not lucky. With the thick glass, she saw the details of the area.
“Coral parches and sandy bottom. Ten fathoms. Easy. I can go myself with bladders and the-”
“Nay,” cut Em. “You will descend with the bell.”
“But it will be faster if-”
“We will use the bell and marked ropes.”
Ivy bit her lip. Em was incredibly annoying when upset and that got her out of her mind. She had done that type of job hundreds of times and although it was only she who risked her skin, she could make no decisions on the matter.
Ivy checked the chart again. “We are forty leagues sou-est from Ya Yan!”
“And?”
“Are we going to make up for lost time by cutting back on our stay in Wei-le?”
“Possibly, why?”
Ivy clenched her teeth and stormed away.
“Rob does the first survey! It may be murky down there if the oil barrels had spilled!” Yelled Em from what was now the other room.
Lim was, as always, in the kitchen. Ivy took a quick look at the table. Fortunately, the pillock was not there. Happy to not have to see his liar’s face, she sat down to eat a couple of filled buns. As usual, the meat ones were the best.
“He is sleeping.” Lim stirred the stew with the spoon like it was the best thing she could ever do. Her aunt really loved to cook and, watching her doing so, put a smile on her face. ““I can see you don’t like him, but I have the feeling he is a good person.”
Ivy’s simper vanished. “He is a pirate!” she signed with abrupt movements. Lim was extremely smart. With a simple look, she’d discover someone’s personality, where they came from or even what they were thinking. That she trusted the boy was something to keep in mind, but for Ivy, it was difficult thing to do. Everything pointed he was a sea dog. Em said he was too soft for that life, that maybe he was a smuggler. Whatever it was, the boy had lied, and that was bad enough.
“He doesn’t have the hands of a pirate, Em told me.” Lim said, with one of her smiles of hope on her face.
“That isn’t the hands of a fisherman, either,” snapped Ivy.
“Your idea about the pearls was good, don’t listen to your uncle.”
Lim had seen through her, of course. She noticed her anger but this time she failed to recognize the reason. The kid didn’t take any pearls, but luckily Em hadn’t boasted of being right. Yet. Ivy was indeed, angry, but not because the failed trick. It was because of everything else.
She only needed a puff to end the conversation. Lim understood. With little more delay, Ivy finished her breakfast and rushed outside. The bell was already hanging from the poles and the floor hatch was already open. Rob was checking that all the joints were sealed, something she would check herself later.
“Isn’t that lovely Ivy?” shouted someone from abeam. Next to the Ballerina, there was one of Chan’s whaler ships. Ivy recognized Lew’s Red dragon immediately and felt like a ton of weight was being lifted off her.
The crew, all familiar faces, waved all with broad smiles and Ivy raised her hand timidly in return. Whalers were people she usually despised. Killing any life for another reason that was not food or self defense was a sin to her. But Chan’s fellas were, most of them, good people struggling to bring food for their families and, although she didn’t approve of that way of life, she had learned not to hate them.
Secretly, she searched for the young captain.
Lew was the only reason she loved to stay in Wei-le for as long as possible. Chan’s grandson was a charming boy who always took her to see the most beautiful places on the island and, most important of all, he did not treat her like a freak. He had even once confronted his group of friends for having spoken ill of her behind her back.
Lew was engaged. His family had arranged his future with an upper-class girl, a fantastic option for the Chan to climb socially. But Lew didn’t want an arranged marriage. He always said that he wanted to marry for love, and sincerely, Ivy had dreamed more than once of the possibility that she was the one. She’d love to stay in Wei-le. Now she was a woman, and the Ballerina was smaller with each passing year.
“Lew Isn’t here Ivy, we’ll tell him you ask, nah?” shouted Perng, a young jolly fella with the voice of a hundred-year-old man. Ivy blushed and began to inspect the hood. With her hearing more acute than normal, she heard the sailors chuckle.
“Sealing rings are in optimal condition,” said Rob. “Hoses attached and secured. The mill is rolling, the battery is charged, and the air pump is performing at a hundred percent.”
Ivy gave him the sign of ‘Thanks’ and the robot bowed his head to enter the bell. Rob could understand sign language, as well as common. He also understood the code language used with the telegraph, semaphore lights, and bells. It didn’t mean he was smart. Lim, the one who made him, was the brain.
“Are you going to dive with those clothes?” Em’s question spooked her. The old man was sneaky sometimes.
She was still wearing her shirt and shorts. It was Perng’s fault, she thought, for making her lose concentration with his comments.
For some reason she couldn’t understand, Ivy thought of Lew’s friends as she made her way to the hull’s store room. Comments, whispers and gossip from them always made her feel small, a freak.
Some sailors also looked at her like a little monster. it was no secret she was different. And while some believed her abilities to be a blessing from the gods, others viewed it as an aberration.
The storage room was small and messy, filled with gadgets everywhere, although Ivy knew where all her things were exactly located. The rubber suit was her talisman. When she put it on, the diffident girl disappeared. Now she was self-confident, brave, and powerful. She was sea-born.
Before returning to the foredeck, Ivy could already smell the stench of tobacco. Her uncle, blowing smoke like a chimney, was chatting with the whalers. “Ye-neh! It’s a midget!” Perng said, drawing a laugh from his mates and a little chuckle from Em.
“Next time at Wei port, you have my permission to board and check yourself,” said Em, his eyes drifting towards her. “Oh, Ivy, these fellas need to recover the try-pots from the try-work. They are big and heavy. We can help them lift it up with the bladders.”
Ivy stopped abruptly, hands on her hips and gaze fixed on the airhead man. Em’s eyes looked around, confused. He took the pipe and raised his hand in a sign of peace. “I will not throw the ashes in the sea, I promise.”
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Ivy snorted and stormed into the bell. She loved her uncle, but lately the old man only made her angry. Ivy was no longer a scared child, taking her first strokes in the sea. She was an experienced diver who could do the job better than anyone. Lim had understood her right away, but the old curmudgeon seemed not to have noticed yet.
“Light on, air pumping at three point three.” said Rob from inside. Ivy checked the bladders and gave a thumb up to Em. The old man raised the heavy bell using a complex system of pulleys and gears powered by the steam engine of the ship. Before the bell turned towards the opening on the floor, Ivy attached the chained weights to the sides of the round base.
The bell raised and the clicking of the chains mixed with the squeezing of the wood.
Ivy had to make sure that when she descended, the bell did not touch the edges of the platform, since, being such a heavy object, a minor blow could destroy the floor. The swell had increased, and the bell swayed gently.
She was distracted for a second when a large wave made the bell brush the side. The sound, muffled by the rubber protection, made Em snap his teeth.
She pushed, and the gears screeched. Any other human would not move that massive structure, but she was stronger than anyone.
When the bell was a few feet under the water, the rocking of the ship no longer affected the structure. Ivy jumped into the water and swam towards the whaler. They handle her ends of the ropes, color painted to know which one to use at all times.
A sailor spoke to her, although she did not hear. It was possibly a joke or some compliment. Now she was focused. Her thoughts, isolated. Only the diving and the precious loot from the bottom mattered.
The sea was clear and raindrops splashed the surface over her head. The bell, visible from a good distance.
“Raise the air flow at four point five,” she said when entering the dive bell. Pulling some small strings connected to the surface by hose, she requested Em to descend. “I’m going first. Vis is not bad and we may gain some good time.” she signed to Rob, who stared at her with his lenses hidden behind his porthole.
“Uncle said I do first survey-”
“I’m the one in charge now, correct?”
“Correct.”
“Good boy, I will be back before you bottom out.”
The bell was descending slowly, and she was a fast swimmer. She plunged into the deep and soon reached the bottom. Around two fathoms before she touched sand, the visibility dramatically worsened. Even with her vision, with which she could focus underwater even better than on the surface, she couldn’t see beyond her feet.
She started an expanding square pattern but found nothing, only sand and patches of hard coral. More dead than alive. The area was filled with crown of thorns, a sea star that fed on coral, and there was a significant amount of sea urchins, an indicator that the water was not healthy.
The ship was supposed to be there. But there was nothing. Frustrated and gasping for air, Ivy reached for the rope that connected her to the bell, but it was not tied to her belt.
Convinced that it had been loose, Ivy swam to a shallow area. ‘Double check every knot!’ Em complained inside her head.
Almost at the surface, she had a visual of the big bell chain. In shallow waters she was exposed. That was an area with abundance of marine mammals, and with them there were a large species of shark that prey from the darkness of the depths.
She needed to use her special sense more than ever. Like some marine life, Ivy could perceive other beings underwater. It was a feeling in her guts. A sensation that would tell her if a predator was close.
Luckily. her guts said nothing.
She reached the chain and followed it down. The bell had already hit bottom, with the anchoring weights crushing the coral.
“Why didn’t you wait for me? You smashed the corals below!” snapped her.
“You were not here. I requested orders from the surface.”
Ivy rubbed her face. “Go out and survey the area.”
The robot obeyed without complaint. Rob didn’t have the ability to question decisions.
Soon after, Ivy was only accompanied by the gloom of the lantern and the hiss of the air pumped from the surface. She felt irritated and burdened. Was it because she had to stay in a small boat her entire life? Was it because Em treated her like a child every day?
With an abrupt movement, she closed the light. The flame consumed oxygen, and she did not need it. Her eyes soon adjusted to the darkness. For her, that depth was like a sunny day.
‘You should have been with Rob and helped anchor.’ the words of his conscience sounded too much like her uncle. It was maddening.
The rattle bells shook, making sounds that formed words for those who could understand. Em was asking for updates.
“Rob is still searching,” she replied, pulling the strings.
Em responded with a laconic ‘all right,’ and asked again soon after.
“I will inform you when we find it!” Luckily for him, the bell system could not reproduce her rage.
Rob climbed the structure to enter the bell with difficulty but, as usual, without taking any misstep. “Wreck is further than expected. I recommend bell relocation.”
Ivy informed Em, who raised the bell without wasting time. Now, using the steam engine, Em would move slowly but with precision to the new location, a place Rob had marked with a buoy attached to the sunken ship.
During the long wait, she had time for a bite. Lim had made fried rice with Parni sauce. Spicy, as she liked. Meanwhile, Rob had his lens fixed on her, terribly still, an creepy behavior she was already used to.
“Who told you to call Em, uncle?” she asked, after the meal.
“Aunty allowed the variable.”
Ivy shook her head from side to side, gnawing her lip. She knew Lim would do something like that, eventually. For her, the robot was one of the family and for years she tried to make him appear more human with each update.
The bells rang, and Ivy jumped into the water. This time, she would not let them smash the coral. Putting her arm inside the bell, Ivy showed to Rob, who at the same time showed to Em the course rectifications necessary to rest the bell on a sandy bottom.
After a series of loud thumps, the weights stabilized the bell, leaving enough room for Ivy to exit.
This time, she tightened the safety rope firmly and attached the bladders to her belt.
The visibility didn’t improve. Locating the ship later than she desired, Ivy returned to the bell for some air. Resting, she could hold her breath for a good half hour, although on the move, and especially if she had to do heavy work, the time was reduced by more than half.
To speed up the job, Ivy used to run small colored strings from the bell to the important parts of the wreck, to make it easier for her to travel in poor visibility. In addition, she used small balloons made of skin filled with air so that she could breathe without having to go back to the bell.
With all ready, she just had to attach some bladders filled with air to the heavy pots and tie the rope of the whalers. The solid metal pot rose with difficulty. Breaking everything in its path and blowing up three bladders along the ship’s hull.
Bringing the second to the surface was even more difficult. The rope got stuck twice, and Ivy had to replace the bladders many times. It was a hard job, but she was born for it. She was a sea-born.
After that, the hard part was done, and she only had to search for bags and chests of value. She found harpoons and lances, cutlery, and tools. Everything that was not in containers was put in baskets that she tied to the bladders. Every time she went back to the bell to have a small rest, Rob informed that the surface was pushing them to work faster, as the weather was worsening. That, of course, warmed her blood, but she was a professional and she didn’t let that alter her performance. Without jeopardizing her safety, she finished the job in a few hours.
As he picked up the last rope, he saw a metal box half submerged in the sand. On a closer look, she noticed it was a chest with a large padlock. She convinced herself there was still time. You don’t lock a chest with a padlock if there isn’t something valuable inside. A treasure perhaps?
Her mind fantasized. Most likely, the chest was part of the whaler, and the sailors on the surface would be glad she could get it back.
Ivy grabbed one handle and pulled, but even with her superhuman strength, the chest didn’t budge. It was filled with something heavy. Would it really be valuable? She returned to the bell, completely excited by the discovery.
“Uncle ordered us to return,” said Rob. “He said we need to set sail as soon as possible. Storm is coming.”
Ignoring him, Ivy placed the rest of the material and filled some bladders with air. Enough to help with her weight, but not to hinder the dive, since she had to carry them all at once. When she took the hammer, Rob insisted. “Uncle ordered us to return immediately.”
“You go first. I found something important. I will reach the surface before the bell, anyway.”
Rob answered, but the ocean muted his voice.
She tied the bladders to the chest, but it didn’t work. The box was stuck. She hammered the padlock until it cracked. Excitement intoxicated her. She grabbed the lock and put her feet down to give the final jerk when a stabbing pain shook her.
‘Look twice before touching anything.’ the old curmudgeon used to say. ‘Why you didn’t keep your distance?’ he’d have grunted. His voice whispering in her head.
Ivy dropped everything and checked her feet immediately. The sole had a puncture, from which a trickle of blood was coming out. She searched carefully to find what had stabbed her. There was nothing.
She left everything behind and swam to the surface. Mid-water, she tried to concentrate on her special sense, to look for dangers, but her heart was pumping hard, her brain blurred. her leg cramped.
The sting, mild ache at first, became an excruciating agony in a minute. She’d never experienced such terrible pain. The need for air became an obsession. She needed to get out. Surface. Air.
‘Underwater, always stay calm and focus,’ said Em voice, as if the old man was there. But her brain was not listening. Fear was taking over.
The tightness of her lungs. The pumping in her veins, the cramps on her legs. Nothing was more dangerous now than her own mind.
Her senses exploded into waves of information that terrified her. In the middle of the blue, without sight to the bottom or to the surface, Ivy looked desperately to all sides. She prayed to her soul animal not to appear at that moment. She looked down helplessly, but there was only blue. Nothing came.
Ivy gave a couple of kicks that hurt her soul. She was not sea-born; she was not a special kid. Only a scared little girl learning to swim for the first time.
‘Stay calm and focus!’ Em said. She closed her eyes tightly. Her leg was burning. Her lungs as well. She cleared her mind of pain and fear. She ignored the need for air. With a determination stronger than she had ever, Ivy swam to the surface with slow but powerful strokes.
The first puff at the surface hurt. Cold filled her lungs. A breath of fresh air that filled her with life and joy.
Stretching her will power further and ignoring the pain the best she could, she swam to the Ballerina. Her body barely responded, and the waves, now more rough than hours ago, made her swallow water.
That made her feel ashamed. The girl who was born in the sea. A girl with skills that made her unsurpassed in that element. She was now struggling to stay afloat.
‘How can you be so careless?’ would her uncle say. ‘You almost got yourself killed for what? a stupid chest?’
Ivy boarded the ship with extreme difficulty. A deed she usually performed with an easy kick of her legs.
She tried to hide her struggle. She didn’t want Em to notice. Luckily, he was busy securing the bell. The wind was howling, and the ship was rocking heavily.
“Ivy, to the wheel! Sou-est, full speed!” the old sailor screamed his lungs out.
A loud thunder made her turn. The sky was as dark as night. The Storm was not coming; it was already there.