The Neptune Project by Polly Holyoke Read Free Book Online Page B

his eyes fill with horror at what I’ve become, and he lets go of my hand. I fall back into the cold water, and Cam sails away, leaving me to cry my tears into the empty sea.
    The dream changes again. I’m four and I hate the life vest my parents make me wear whenever we go out on the zode. I wiggle out of the vest while they aren’t watching. I see a pretty orange fish deep beneath us. I reach for it and fall over the side.
    I sink quickly through the cold, dark water. I open my mouth to cry, and the burning seawater comes rushing into my mouth and throat.
    I sit up, instantly wide awake. This part of the dream is true. I’m drowning now, trying to breathe air! Gasping and panting, I rip off the oxygen mask. This is worse than my worst lung attack.
    Dimly, I realize I’m sitting right next to the water, and the larger waves are actually slapping and pushing at me.
    â€œNere, it’s time for you; you must go into the water and breathe!” my mother shouts.
    I don’t have enough air left in my chest to speak.
    :I’m too scared!:
I cry mentally instead.
:I don’t want to drown. You almost let me drown before.:
    â€œI know, sweetling, but you have no choice now.”
    She kneels and smiles at me tenderly, and the next moment she shoves me into the water. I scrabble at the slippery rock, trying to find a handhold, trying to climb out. I have to get my face out of the black water. I have to breathe oxygen now !
    Her relentless hands grab my head and force it under the water. I hit at her with all my strength, but she’s too strong for me. I try to rear back and swim away, but somehow she tied me to the rock while I was unconscious.
    :You’ll be all right, sweetling.:
I hear my mother’s words in my mind.
:I promise you. Just relax and breathe in.:
    My lungs are pure fire now. I have to breathe. I have no strength left to fight her.
    I open my mouth and the water rushes in, and I’m dying. Black spots dance across my eyelids. Then I cough and choke, and I’m not dying anymore. I can breathe. I inhale and exhale, trying to get used to the incredible sensation of cold water rushing in and out of my chest.
    I open my eyes underwater. Instantly, I realize my vision is different, too. I can see a carpet of purple and gray anemones growing on the rock floor far below me, small crabs scuttling about between them. Dozens of fish dart above the anemones, and clusters of starfish grow like strange orange flowers along the sides of the cave. I can see in the dark waters here better than I could before, even with a bright dive torch.
    :Nere, are you all right?:
my mother asks me urgently.
    :I-I think so.:
    I’m aware that Lena is in the water nearby me, and she’s thrashing and flailing about. Gillian is kneeling right above her, trying to hold her head in the water. While I watch, Lena lands a punch on my mother’s cheek.
    :Just relax and breathe in
—
you can breathe water,:
I call to Lena.
    She lashes out at me so violently that I give up and leave her to her terror. Instead, I pop my head out of the water and look for Robry. He’s on the other side of me, still sitting on the rock ledge, gasping for breath, his eyes dilated with fear.
    :Robry, don’t be afraid. I can breathe water fine now. You’ll be all right.:
    I strain against the harness holding me to the rock, and I reach out to him. I don’t want his transition to be as terrifying as mine was.
    :Take my hand, dartling.:
    He grabs it and slides down into the water beside me.
    :Just put your face in the water and breathe. It’s easy as anything.:
I try to keep my mental tone light, even though a part of me still can’t believe I’m breathing seawater.
    Because he trusts me, it’s easier for him. He puts his face in the water, and with incredible self-control, he breathes in. He chokes the first time, just as I did, but then he gets the hang of it.
    :This is so amazing,:
he