Tom's Parallel World Pt. 07

Tom explained it was some kind of sonar device, blocking the Merpeople's whistle. He examined it to find what could only be a power switch. Thumbing it across caused the vibrations to stop, allowing him to ease the pins and needles in his hands.

With the device quiet, he dropped the lantern back into the water to let it sink to the bottom. Once more he blew three high-pitched whistle blows through his shell whistle. He listened but couldn't hear a reply or acknowledgement, so returned to the surface.

"That device is off now, so they should be able to hear us, so I've whistled again."

"I can't hold on much longer Tom... would you be able to swim me back to safety?"

"I don't know... It took all my strength to get here. Thomas is on the clifftop with all the other fisherdogs looking for wreckage. Is there any way we can signal them?"

"No, I used the last of my flares hours ago."

Tom ducked below the water again and blew the whistle three more times, but this time, he thought he heard three distant echoes back. He popped his head back up to see Captain Brown now looking furious.

"Tom... I can't hold on much longer... Please?"

"I think I heard a reply to my whistles then, so we may not have long to wait... I wouldn't be able to keep you above the water on my own in these seas, all the way back."

He dipped his head underwater to repeat his three whistles again, and this time heard three definite replies. Tom surfaced to see that the water had almost covered the rock, with the Captain struggling to keep his head above water, as the waves washed him back and forth. Now he was sure help was coming, Tom realised he had an opportunity.

"You now realise I was right about Balthazar."

"Whaaat? You're going boast, you told me so?"

"Why have you avoided the obvious, after we had proof of his duplicity?"

The Sea washed over the Captain, forcing him to lift his head even higher to breathe. He glared at Tom, thinking things over.

"Okay... We never thought he would go this far."

"We? You and Margaret."

"No... The king and I... Have you ever heard of keeping your friends close, and your enemies closer?"

Tom nodded, but this didn't add up. "The king? Why would the King be interested in what happens in Dogwatch Cove?"

"Because... You can't tell anyone this... Only Margaret knows..."

"Okay... what?"

"The king is my eldest brother... I'm third in line to the throne. The bureaucrats have tried to overthrow the king before, and Balthazar is one of the most powerful. So they put him in charge here, so I could monitor him."

"And he could try to murder you?"

"We didn't know he would go that far. This world isn't like this Tom."

"So how is Brock linked to all this?"

"We don't know... We thought Brock may work for him."

"I'd suggest it may be the other way around."

"Really?"

"My paranoia now says yeah, we know he has a submarine and it seems the technology for that sonar device, they want you out of the way..."

Tom didn't know how much time he had before help arrived and ended his opportunity to learn more. Something had been niggling him since he first spoke to Chrys.

"Why won't they stop the wormholes that brought me here?"

"I've told you, they are random, accidental ripples from the first tests."

"I don't buy that... Not that random that you can predict them... Let me guess, it's all down to the positions of the moon and planet's gravitational pull... So the ones that brought me in spring will repeat themselves in autumn?"

"Yes, they will return in autumn, but the scientists predict them..."

"I bet you, if I knew the orbit of each planet, I could predict them too, it can't be rocket science."

"So why the issue? You thinking about returning home?"

"No... But, you know how my paranoia has proven right in this case... What if I were a war-mongering parallel world? How would I perceive annual, predictable wormholes appearing and possibly knowing inhabitants of my world have gone missing as a result?"

"We've not had a problem before."

"No? You've admitted how previous visitors have gone mad, some possibly from my world, but what about the lizard people?"

"Not enough to be concerned about."

"Maybe, not in this world... Trust me, in my world, they'd treat this as an aggressive act."

"But they won't be able to predict them."

"If I can rough guess a time, then imagine how close they will be with scientists working on it. What about the lizard people? You do not know what they are like, except for the bodies in the sea. For all you know, they could amass an army waiting for autumn. You are not prepared to fight an invasion; you've never had a world war to know what you are opening yourself up to."

Even fighting the howling wind and waves washing over him, Captain Brown pondered. Trying to take it in, despite the precarious position he was in. Tom had one last rabbit to pull out of Pandora's Box, now it was open.

"So, why can't Becky become Top Dog?"

"You know how to push your luck... A few generations back, the bureaucrats somehow enlisted the help of the Queen to overthrow the king. Since then, they've never allowed any female to be in a similar position, not even mother, Margaret, nor Becky."

"Surely it is just a title?"

Captain Brown glared at him, just as a wave washed over him off his perch and he had to scramble back onto the submerged rock. "No, there is more to it than just a title..."

Just then, Flip and Flop popped up nearby, chattering in their squeaky language, saving Edgar from continuing his explanation, but not before Tom shouted, "Promise you'll tell me? I need full disclosure, Edgar."

Captain Brown glared ferociously at Tom for using his first name, just as three Mermen appeared with Pisces.

"We heard your whistle... Edgar, what happened?"

It took a whole raft of explaining to catch Pisces up on Edgar's position.

Then Pisces explained hers, "We heard Killer Whales in the area. Orcas kill merpeople indiscriminately, so with them and the storm, we left to head for deeper waters. This isn't on their migration routes, so we assumed the storm had brought them by accident."

Tom explained about the sonar device he had found and that it must have been the source of the Whale's song.

Tom swam down to find and return with the sonar lantern device to show a shocked Pisces.

"I've never seen or heard of anything like it..."

The mermen helped Captain Brown off his rocky throne, half carried and half floated him across the rough seas. The group headed to shore for Mermaid's Cove. Tom followed with Pisces, still carrying the sonar lantern, being flanked by Flip and Flop.

Tom caught Pisces up with his news on what Lucy and Peter had found about the genetic material in the yellow box that the Merpeople had found. He also told her about Balthazar's involvement in the Captain's false errand. Tom had to admit to ignoring her advice and biting the seaweed pod, much to her annoyance, but entertaining her when he described his resulting antics.

Pisces suggested the mermen head to the old Fisherdogs cottage beach, as it would be easier for Captain Brown to land. She sent Flip and Flop forward to tell the main group.

She and Tom swam ahead to Mermaid's cove to warn Thomas, so some fisherdogs could meet them at the beach and help the top dog reach home safely. Tom would also need to reach the freshwater stream to lose his tail before the beach disappeared underwater over high tide.

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To be continued. ~~~~~~~