SYNOPSIS: It is now the year 1670 AD. Ranma Saotome, his adopted sister Ukyo, their panda-cursed father Genma, the Amazon Warrior Shampoo, and the Lady Akane of the House of Tendo have been taken prisoner by Portuguese traders in the Orient. The women are to be sold as slaves to the President of the Audencia de Panama, Don Juan Perez deGuzman, who is rumored to have a fetish for Asian girls. After a failed escape attempt in the Portuguese colony of Macau, Ranma and Company endure a long sea voyage south to Malaysia, where the ship battles a Dutch flotilla for passage through the Strait of Malacca. After winning the battle and escaping the Dutch, Akane is nearly raped and murdered by the ship's former cook. Ranma rescues her, and the cook is put to death by Captain Cristobal. As the ship continues its voyage north towards India, Ranma discovers the truth behind his relationship with Ukyo, and tries to kill his father for his deceits. Before he can end Genma's life, the ship is attacked by a sea monster. * * * "" Before Ranma could decide if she had heard Velacruz correctly, the ship shivered with a heavy impact. Timbers cracked and caulking burst from the hull in angry spouts of seawater. The alien wail of something in the water pierced her very soul in a moment of paralysis. The sound of Ukyo screaming wrenched her free, and she left her father chained up in a hold steadily filling with seawater. As she rushed up the ladder into the middle hold, she was nearly bowled over by a skinny young sailor shrieking with hysteria. She watched him dive behind a bale of silk and hide. The sporadic crackle of muskets rippled above, followed by the gutteral roar of the sea monster. Ranma bounded up the next ladder to topside, unsure of what she would find. ___________________________________________________________________________ J. Austin Wilde and Fission Park Press proudly present: RULER OF THE RAGING MAIN Part Five: The Tears of the Siren By J. Austin Wilde, K.B.C.S. Super Critical Reactor Axe Man, Fission Park Press wildeman@psn.net http://www.psn.net/~wildeman "Canst thou draw out Leviathan with a hook?" -Job 41:25 Chapter One The decks were awash as the ship heeled over with a punishing blow from a wave. Ranma could see Delgado and another sailor stumbling across the crazily tilting deck to reach the spinning wheel. A long serpentine shape stood out of the water aft, its green and gold scales glistening with wetness. At its top was a fearsome dragon's head. The striped trouser legs of the helmsman spasmed between yellow teeth the size of Ranma's forearms. Dark eyes the color of the abyss gazed directly into her own, stopping her cold for the second time. "
" Velacruz bellowed to her right. A shaky line of terrified sailors formed with musket cords glowing a dull orange through the blinding spindrift. "" The Bosun admonished them. "" Ranma watched spellbound as the sea monster stood high above them, seemingly motionless against the reckless sway of the ship. The Bosun's skirmish line dressed themselves hastily and took aim. The beast snarled viciously at them, and the Bosun screamed at his men to fire. Another ripple of thunder and choking smoke washed over the deck as the muskets discharged. She watched the balls skip and whine uselessly off the thing's hard scales. The sea monster roared in defiance, then dove at the deck. Men scattered in a panic as timbers crashed and the ship shivered once more. Ranma barely escaped the monster's enormous head as it crashed through the solid oak planking and then whipped back up into the air with a deafening scream of rage. "Ran-chan!" Ukyo cried from behind her. She spun on the slick deck to see Ukyo holding on to the skyladder rigging on the port side. Her clothes were soaked and her eyes were wide with terror beneath dripping bangs. Akane was with her, holding the limp form of Shampoo to her with one arm as she held onto the gunwale for dear life with the other. Shampoo was hurt; dazed but alive. A bloody stream ran down her face from her scalp. Even as Ranma saw them, the sea monster dove again towards the deck. Ukyo, Akane, and Shampoo were the obvious targets of its fury. Ukyo and Akane screamed, there wasn't time for anything else. "Ucchan!!!" Ranma cried. She leaped at the sea monster's head as it plummetted towards them. With a fierce cry, her foot slammed into one of the monster's huge black eyes. The great beast shrieked in agony, twisting its head and slamming through the deck well forward of where the three girls huddled. Ranma was pitched up into the air with the force of the impact with the deck, and she scrabbled atop the thing's head for fear of it snapping her up in its jaws. The smell of brine upon its algae slicked scales was nearly overpowering. Her foot was numb from the blow, for the black orb she had struck was as hard as stone. The beast screamed once more, and thrashed its head around trying to dislodge her. It had no arms or other appendages for the purpose, something for which Ranma was grateful. She clung fast to its spiny brow and held tight. The thing straightened up fully erect in the water and stood motionless. Ranma was certain that it would soon dive beneath the waves in an attempt to drown her. When that happened she would chance a leap onto the ship. The sea monster began to dive, not towards the sea, but once more towards the ship. Musket balls carreened off its scaly hide as others whipped past Ranma's ears. She screamed to no avail for the sailors to stop shooting. As the head reached the splintered deck, Ranma leaped clear. The monster jerked its neck towards her, jaws yawning wide to catch her. Ranma screamed again as she looked down the dark gulf of its throat and twisted her body with a spasm of desperation. Her hands caught a loose rope drifting free across the deck, and she hauled at it with all her adrenalized might. She could feel the beast's jaws snap snut behind her back and she felt the sudden pull of her tunic against her body. Hot breath felt scorching upon her skin as the garment shredded and she came free. The rope swung her towards the mainmast, and she let go in time to skid along the wet and ruined deck. The sea monster did not give up. Its jaws flung open and it twisted its neck once more to try and smash her flat with the side of its head. Ranma saw the shadow looming over her and somersaulted clear as it crashed once more into the ship. The mainmast shivered and splintered, and the creak and moan of canvas and rigging drown out the sea monster's roars. Ranma scrabbled to her feet in time to see the mast go down, and sailcloth and rigging envelop the thing. Velacruz, one of the few still standing, charged at it with his cutlass. He hacked away to no effect as the beast thrashed beneath the imprisoning shroud. Finally the very weight of that part of the monster that was still in the water dragged it free and pulled it over the side, taking Velacruz with it in a tangle of rope and netting. The violence ended suddenly. In its place there was stunned silence. The ship was brought to heel and put bow first into the waves. Delgado's voice was the first that broke the silence. "" Sailors, most of whom were battered and bleeding, rose from the ruins of the deck and called out for the Bosun. None had seen him go over the side. Others called for Captain Cristobal, who had never even appeared on deck. Ranma pulled herself to her feet and limped over to Ukyo and the other two. Shampoo rose unsteadily to her feet with help from Akane. The wound was minor, but being a cut scalp, looked worse than it was. "Are you okay, Ucchan?" Ranma asked shakily. The adrenaline come-down was making her tremble. Ukyo took her up in a desperate hug. "I-- I think so," Ukyo replied haltingly in her embrace. "How about you?" "My foot went numb where I kicked it," Ranma returned. "Other than that, I'm okay." "Is it dead?" Akane asked quietly. "I dunno," Ranma replied. "But I don't think so. Let's just hope it decides not to come back." "What if it does?" Akane replied in a frightened voice. "I dunno. How well can you swim?" Terror filled Akane's languid brown eyes. More terror than even the threat of the sea monster's return. "I can't swim," she whispered. Ranma's silence spoke volumes to her, and she stifled a sob. "" one of the sailors cried out to Delgado. "" The sailor crossed himself as soon as he had said it. Delgado cursed softly. Velacruz was the only one capable of turning the rabble of the crew into a fighting force. Now he was gone. "" he called to the sailor. "" the sailor replied. "" "" "" "" Delgado thundered. "" He didn't finish, because the serpentine form of the sea monster loomed out of the water before the ship. His eyes drifted up away from the sailor and locked onto the black orbs of the beast. His jaw slacked open and hung there. "" squeaked Father deGama from the ruins of the afterdeck. He crossed himself and dropped to his knees in prayer. Ranma and company turned as they saw Delgado's eyes lift to the sky behind them. The sea monster looked down at Ranma and roared. Sailors shrieked and scrambled around the deck in panicked confusion. There was simply nowhere to run from the thing and nowhere to hide. Nevertheless, that was Ranma's first piece of advice to Ukyo, Akane, and Shampoo. "Run for it!!!" she cried. The sea monster threw itself at the ship, and more specifically, right at Ranma. In the shuffle to get out of the way, Shampoo stumbled over Akane, who slipped over the side with a scream. "Akane!" Ranma and Ukyo cried. The sea monster hit between them as they dodged clear, crushing the deck where they had stood with an earsplitting peal of thunder and a spray of wooden shrapnel. Ranma once again threw herself into the air, twisting her body in midleap to escape the snapping jaws of the beast. It recoiled and dove once again, hell-bent to kill her. As Ranma rebounded off the shaky deck to once again take to the air, the monster was ready for her. In less than half a second, Ranma was snapped up in its jaws with a great clash of teeth slamming shut around her. The scant air inside the thing's mouth become gaggingly hot and foul in an instant, and its wet raspy tongue lashed at her, driving her towards its gullet. Beyond panic, Ranma doubled up her fists and threw them at the roof of the sea monster's mouth with all of her strength. Her hands bounced off the bony ridge of its palette, and the tongue spasmed. The choking stench of bile wrenched up from below as the thing gagged. Ranma fell out of its mouth in a daze towards the roiling sea. She hit the water hard, stars flashing against closed eyes, and the air was driven from her lungs. The sensation of water filling her mouth shocked her to lucidity, and she clawed desperately towards the sunlight and air. Even as she burst free of the surface of the sea and gasped for breath, an enormous shockwave slammed through her body, and drove her back down under the water. The sea monster had slammed into the ocean next to her, its alien shrieks piercing her heart under the water. She was almost out of breath, knocked silly by the force of the blow, and totally disoriented. She thrashed the water, clawing and kicking without guidance all while her heart thundered in her ears, and the cold of the sea penetrated her body. Tunnel vision fell upon her as the last of the air was spent; the tunnel narrowing more and more before her. The shrieks of the sea monster rippled through her body once more. Ranma felt a hand grasp her wrist distantly, as if it were someone else who was caught fast. Awareness dimmed. The tunnel was almost closed, and her mouth begged to open and let the sea rush into her lungs. She broke free to the surface once again, and gasped and choked for air without conscious thought. Blindly, she struggled through the water until her hands fell upon a floating plank. She clutched it to herself tightly and hung on in desperation. Pain was a fog in her brain, but slowly she came around. Ukyo and a spluttering Akane clung to a plank that bobbed close by. Shampoo-cat floated to his left on a piece of wood a little distance away, mewling weakly. The cut on her scalp had translated into a brown mat of blood clotted in her faintly purple fur. The ship was a good fifty yards away from them. It listed badly to one side, and its sails and rigging hung in ruins. The sea monster was hanging over the ship, waiting to strike. A sparkle of white light from the afterdeck caught Ranma's attention, and she squinted a look. Captain Cristobal stood there facing the monster. He held his hand on high in defiance of the beast, the gem on his finger flashing once again. "" Cristobal bellowed, at once the most alive Ranma had ever seen him. Power and majesty flowed through him, and an unnatural vigor filled his voice with dread import and unyielding wrath. The sea monster dove straight at Cristobal. A tremendous bolt of lightning crashed from the sky, impaling the sea monster through and through. Thousands of fingers of white hot plasma arced through its thrashing body, setting the ruins of the ship's rigging aglow with St. Elmo's Fire. As the thunderclap boomed, the beast fell straight across the ship, smashing it in half with a report equally deafening. Fire engulfed the hulk, and a column of black smoke rose high into the sky. Chapter Two They watched the ship burn for an hour or more before the remains finally slipped beneath the waves. Hoarse and distant cries of sailors echoed for time, before they drowned or were carried out of earshot. Rubble and debris floated past them, some of it still smouldering. They found a large piece of the ship's mizzenmast, and they crawled up onto it. After that, a crate of soggy hardtack and the battered tea kettle from the officer's mess floated by. The food was worthless, but Ukyo decided they could use the kettle to collect rainwater if necessary. When nothing else came floating by, they sat upon the mast, straddling it between their legs for a time in uneasy silence. No more voices could be heard in the distance. There was only the gentle roll of the ocean. "He's finally gone, isn't he?" Ukyo asked after a long while. It took Ranma a few seconds to realize that she was speaking of Genma. "I think so," she replied quietly. There was no way he could have escaped while still chained to the stanchions. He had probably drowned in the bottom of the hold before the battle with the sea monster had even ended. A horrible way to die. Ranma wondered if even her father deserved to pass on into the next world in such a way. Shampoo-cat looked around them, mewling mournfully. There was nothing but limitless empty sea. The sun was dipping low in the sky, and dark clouds loomed ominously in the dimming east. "Meeow!" she cried, pawing towards the darkening clouds. Ranma, Ukyo, and Akane followed the cat's paw across the horizon. "That can't be good..." Ranma intoned. "I can't believe we survived all this to die in a storm," Akane moaned. "We aren't dead yet," Ukyo replied, though there was little hope in her voice. "Ucchan's right," Ranma added, patting the mast they floated upon. "There's enough rope tied to this thing, we can use it to tie ourselves up to the mast and ride out the storm." Ukyo and Akane looked at him dubiously. "I hope," she added. "That's about all we can do at this point." They did what they could to prepare for the storm. Ranma decided to tie herself to the mast only when it seemed like there was no choice. Until then, they waited with silent dread as dark thunderheads pushed up from the clouds. After some time, Shampoo-cat meowed for attention again. She gestured with her paw to the spot where the ship had sunk. Ranma and the others followed her paw once again, this time spying a figure clinging face down to a piece of debris. It was Cristobal. The brief flash of white from his ring against the nearly set sun confirmed it. Ranma swam the distance to him swiftly. He was alive, but his face was drained and his skin was sallow and pale. He looked as if nearly every gasp of life's breath in him was gone. When Ranma touched him, he stirred briefly, and his eyes opened with heavy lids. "" he said in a hoarse whisper. Sorrow glimmered in his eyes. Sorrow and shame. "" Ranma told him in broken Portuguese. "" "" Cristobal replied with a ragged cough. "" Ranma looked upon the man with sorrow. As jailers went he was a decent man. Under other circumstances she could have even befriended him. "" Ranma repeated. "" The sun began to sink below the waves. Cristobal gave a rueful and ragged laugh. Ranma watched as the last of his life ebbed from him. She saw the setting sun reflected in his eyes as he too began to sink beneath the water. "" she cried, reaching out to him. As the last shred of the sun slipped beneath the sea, so did the last part of Captain Cristobal. Ranma lunged for the man in spite the fact that he was already dead. She caught hold of his hand and pulled, but he was too heavy for her. He slipped out of her grasp even as she began to sink with him. Ranma popped up to the surface with a cry of despair. Cristobal was gone. In her hand was the ring. It had slipped off his hand in death and ended up in hers. Its odd white gem sparkled for a moment with the bloody colors of the sunset sea. In that moment, Ranma was certain she heard a woman's cruel laughter in the distance. * * * Ranma returned to Ukyo and the others. They had seen Cristobal's descent into the depths from a distance, their eyes told her that no explanations were necessary. Ranma still clutched the ring in her hand, unsure of what to do with it. It was a beautiful thing. The gemstone was white and brilliant, though whatever it was, it was certainly not a diamond. Instead it looked like an agglomeration of rough quartz crystals. There was writing engraved in fine worked gold upon it, but it was some barbarian tongue that she could not understand. The ring was obviously valuable. Ranma didn't have any pockets, so she fashioned a loop of twine from a length of rope wrapped about the severed mizzenmast. She slipped the ring into the rope loop, and tied it around her neck. With a last look at the gem, she tucked the ring into her bosom while Ukyo and Akane watched in silence. The light was fading fast. The eastern sky was already swallowed in darkness, a darkness savagely pierced with brilliant white forks of lightning. Low and sonorous thunder rolled in the distance. The wind began to rise, and with it came a rougher sea. "I don't like this," Ukyo said to them. "Hold tight to the mast," Ranma admonished her. "We'll be okay." They pitched to and fro in the waves as the night sky fell upon them. The wind continued to blow hard enough to force them to keep their backs to it whenever possible or be blinded by the salty seaspray that burned their eyes. Rain began to fall, steady fat drops that pelted them mercilessly in wind driven sheets. Shampoo was by far the worst off of the four. Not only was she a soaking wet cat, and therefore miserable beyond the comprehension of humans, her claws could only do so much to keep her place on the mast. The others could at least wrap their full sized limbs around the splintered mass of wood. To Ranma's amazement, Ukyo at last took pity on Shampoo, and took her into the tattered folds of her clothing. Ranma watched the purplish cat cling to Ukyo with terror in her eyes, the first time she had ever seen Shampoo truly fightened of anything in her life -including her. Ukyo gave Ranma a shrug and a crooked smile, and gripped the rope that held her fast to the mast a little tighter. She might have said something as well, but Ranma couldn't hear it over the storm. As far as she could tell, the worst of the storm was to their left. The waves were thankfully carrying them away from the center of the maelstrom. There seemed to be hope for them yet, as long as they didn't freeze to death. The sea had gone from balmy and warm to bitterly cold with the rise of the storm, and the rain stung the bare skin it struck. As she looked for signs of the storm's passing, a huge wave took her by surprise, hammering them down with a wall of water. The foam exploded around them as the wave broke. She heard a scream and looked immediately for Ukyo. Her sister was still clinging to the mast, Shampoo wild-eyed and drenched in her bosom. She turned to look the other way in time to see the top of Akane's head just above the water by the flash of a lightning bolt. "Akane!" Ranma cried. Her hand slipped from the rope loop and she dove after her. "Ran-chan!" Ukyo shouted in disbelief. She was nearly lost in the dark swirling waters. Akane thrashed desperately to no effect. Ranma spurted deeper down into the sea and caught Akane's wrist. She tried to haul Akane to the surface, but the girl had absolutely no bouyancy. For a sick moment Ranma's heart fluttered in panic. Were Akane's lungs already filled with water? The girl continued to kick, however weakly, and Ranma once again tried to haul the two of them to the surface. It was no good. They were too heavy, and Ranma was getting weak. The cold sea was sapping her strength, and the pressure was starting to become too much. They were sinking into the abyss. She was going to have to let go of Akane. There was nothing else she could do. To continue such a hopeless rescue would kill her as well. She began to let go. Akane spasmed once more in panic, her eyes widened in terror but went unseen in the blackness. Ranma felt the air bubbles brush past her face as Akane screamed. A foot struck her in the midsection, blasting her own breath out as well. **STUPID AKANE!!!** she railed. **Now we're both going to die!!** By reflex she tried to draw breath under water. It flowed into her lungs like liquid ice and she choked hopelessly against it. She shuddered once and then went still as her body became numb with cold. They were still falling into the depths. How far they had gone, she did not know. There was darkness all around and therefore nothing to use as a reference. The distant rush and roar of the storm above them was dull and muted with the throbbing of her ears from the pressure. She wasn't sure how long it would take to die, but it should have happened by now. Perhaps her awareness of the end's proximity had granted her some degree of calm in the face of the inevitable. Perhaps she was already dead, and this falling was merely her passing into the void beyond. Would her mother be waiting for her? Would she even recognize the woman who had given birth to her -and died in the process? Akane was still in her grasp. The panic of drowning had made her grip even tighter on the girl. Ranma brought her close and held tight. They were making their final journey together. **Why aren't we dead yet?** Ranma asked herself. She could feel her heart pulsing strong and steady in her ears. She could also feel Akane's heart racing against her chest. They had to be alive. Nothing else made sense. Then again, the sensible result of having lungs filled with seawater should have been death. The pressure seemed to ease upon them, as did the cold. Before she could come up with an explanation for any of this, they touched down on the sandy sea bottom. Darkness continued to envelope them, but now at least they had something solid beneath them. And they were somehow still alive. Chapter Three Ranma sat on the sea bottom with Akane. The chill had left her body, and the sensation of pressure on her ears was gone. She had no light to see by, and only the swirling sounds of the ocean current around her let her know that she was still under water and not in a dark room somewhere. She was definitely breathing under water, there was no doubt about it. It wasn't as casual as breathing air, something she had done without thinking about it for sixteen years. There was a bit more effort behind the act, something that made her conscious and not a little bit anxious of each breath she took. As she had no idea why this was happening, there was no telling when her next breath of seawater would suddenly fail to sustain her. Akane was unconscious as far as she could tell. She was still alive, and breathing water the same as her, but she was unresponsive to Ranma's attempts to shake her awake. Shouting at her was useless; her vocal cords just didn't work when passing water over them. She tried to pick Akane up and try once again for the surface. It didn't work. Now that their lungs were full of seawater, they had absolutely no positive bouyancy. They settled back down on the seabed. As they did so, a faint glow reached Ranma's eyes from the blackness. It was impossible to tell what it was or how far away, only that it seemed to be growing in intensity. Another spot of blue-white light appeared on the right, quickly followed by a third on the left. Ranma spun around to see a fourth behind them. The lights continued to grow larger, and at last the seabed became faintly illuminated in soft diffuse light. Fish became visible where they had previously been invisible brushes in the darkness against her skin. Long feathery clusters of seaweed undulated with the current around them. The lights didn't seem to come any closer. Ranma strained her eyes to see what they were, but at best all she could make out were shadowy forms moving gracefully beyond the streamers of light. She called to them without thinking. Once again her voice was silent and useless. A great shadow suddenly loomed over her. She looked up to see an enormous whale pass overhead. Several other massive shapes circled high above, on the perimeter of the light. Rasping clicks, squeaks, and gutteral moans reverberated through the water, passing through her chest with enough force to make her organs tremble. Several breeds of shark appeared, circling in a counter revolution with the whales. Dolphins joined them; the two deadliest of enemies regarding each other with casual indifference. Soon after an enormous squadron of seahorses swirled about Ranma before peeling off to join myriad phalanxes of tiny yet brilliant silversides and long torpedo like tarpons. Skates and rays swooped low over her head like undersea bats before becoming disappearing phantoms in a wall of translucent jellyfish that shimmered in the soft flickering blue-white light. The sounds of so many fish and other creatures were a babel of clicks, swooshes, chirps, buzzes, and moans that assailed her ears from every point. All of this was new and frightening to Ranma, and she spun about the seabed in a fighting stance ready to strike at any creature that dared too close to her or Akane. They seemed to understand this, and kept out of reach as they swirled around the two of them. She wasn't sure what else to expect, but knew that if one of the whales or even one of the sharks decided to attack, her life would be over shortly in spite of the miracle that allowed her to breathe under water. A final sound permeated the cacophony of sea life around her. This was a low droning which slowly rose in intensity as it ramped up in pitch. The drone became nearly deafening before abruptly dropping off into silence. The silence was total then. The creatures continued their orbits. The seaweed continued to whip lazily back and forth. Not a sound was made. Even the swirl and swish of the sea seemed lost. Out of the brightest lights came a dark shape. Ranma watched warily as it coalesced into what appeared to be a man. Then she spied the fish tail that swished up and down. She had heard legends of such creatures. Mermaids, or in this case, mermen. Eating their flesh could make one immortal if one believed the ravings of drunken old fishermen. The merman stopped about five yards away from Ranma and hovered in place. He clutched a long spear in his hand, holding it in a guard position -nothing confrontational, but ready for use in a heartbeat. A second merman appeared, and took up a position across from his companion. Their skin was a silvery green, their scaly lower trunks a rich emerald hue, and their long black hair was braided with bits of shell, bone, and seaweed. Their eyes fairly glowed a warm amber in the light, and were fixed firmly upon Ranma. A third shape appeared, much larger than the first two. Ranma watched as a massive merman drifted up to float between the spear armed ones. He clutched a golden trident in his hand that seemed to sparkle as he moved it. He was at least seven feet tall, powerfully built, with deep set golden eyes that peered sternly from beneath a heavy brow. A large aquiline nose jutted out above a silvery beard braided with gold, mother of pearl, and polished bone. His hair floated wildly behind him, and his mouth was generous and pursed in a sly smile. He wore no other adornment save for a chain of gold links around a neck so thick and corded with muscle as to be nearly indistinguishable from his broad shoulders. He regarded Ranma and the prone form of Akane with scant flicks of his lambent golden eyes. He raised his trident over his head, and at once Ranma felt as if she had been struck with a massive blow that rolled across her entire body. She cried in pain and alarm, and to her surprise found that she had a voice again. The giant merman leveled his trident at Ranma, who tensed for combat. Instead of battle, the merman spoke in a rich baritone voice that seemed to resonate in Ranma's bones. "This is unexpected at the least," he said with a touch of amusement. "I had expected to find a corpse." Ranma didn't know what to say. She stood dumbly facing the merman. "I gave you voice to speak," the giant rumbled. "You may do so in as candid and frank a manner as your courage permits. Despite the legends which paint me vengeful and fulminous, I am tolerant of even the most knavish mortals." Ranma was still a little overwhelmed. She had a thousand questions, but the best she could manage on the spot was, "who are you?" The giant merman gave her an indulgent smile. "I am known by many names; Ulmo, Susano-o, Poseidon, Nereus, Neptune, and many others -whichever you prefer to use will be sufficient. Know also that I rule over all that lies upon or below the waves." "So you're a god," Ranma observed. Neptune smiled indulgently once again. "I simply am." Ranma was willing to accept that at face value. In spite of the fact that she was in the presence of a divine being, she found herself relaxing a bit. Neptune seemed very easy going compared to her expectations of a god. "Are you the one who is letting me and Akane breathe water? If so, thanks!" Neptune rumbled slow laughter. To Ranma it seemed that despite the laughter, the god wasn't all that amused. "In a roundabout way I am, though there was no decision on my part. As I said, I expected to find a corpse, not two living mortals." Ranma cocked her head. "I don't understand. If you aren't doing it..." Neptune thrust his trident towards Ranma. "You have the ring." The pig-tailed martial artist pulled the ring out of her tattered blouse and held it up to the light. The gem flashed an unnaturally pure white radiance. Neptune's eyes caught the light from the gem, and his previously jovial countenance darkened. "That ring is keeping you and your companion alive," Neptune declared to her. "It would be denied its chance to spread misery among mankind if it lay around a dead girl's neck at the bottom of the sea. He swept his arms wide and his trident flashed with light. "What you hold in your hand is the Tears of the Siren. The gem that flashes so brightly in the light is made from the crystallized tears of the Queen of the Mermaids, Nerial. She wept for the deaths of many of her children at the hands of greedy, foolish fishermen and mariners who killed for sport or to gain the flesh that might grant them immortality. Because she was my consort at one time she begged me for a way to punish the men who had cruelly slain so many mermaids. "She wanted vengeance, and it was not enough that almost all who partook of the flesh died or became slavering grotesques. In the end I granted her request and made that ring. Even then she was not satisfied, and dashed herself against the rocks. In death her spirit entered the gem, and there it resides still." Neptune cast a withering glance at the ring. "For over two thousand years has that ring brought misery and woe to those mariners who chance to wear it. Though I have long regretted my decision to make the ring, I have never been able to recover it and thus keep it from the injurious hands of those who pay the most homage to me. Nerial has thwarted me time and again." Ranma cocked her head. "Uh, if I can ask a question...?" Neptune's eyes flashed like pools of flaming oil. "Why haven't I simply taken the ring from whomever possessed it?!" he thundered. The sea trembled and all its denizens cried out in alarm at his booming voice. "Um... Something like that, yeah." Ranma replied meekly. She supposed that mortals asking gods dumb questions deserved such responses. Neptune continued with his explanation as if nothing had happened. "Even in death, my promise to Nerial stands. Such was the nature of my vow. So long as mortals possess the ring, I must continue to allow it to work its evil and so avenge the deaths of the mermaids. The ring has always passed from one hand to the next over twenty-one centuries of human reckoning. Not once has a mariner died that it did not find its way onto another's finger. At last when Eduardo Cristobal died, I thought the ring would join him at the bottom of the sea, whence I could recover it and keep it forever from the grasp of foolish men." Ranma's eyes fell upon the ring. It sparkled brilliantly, though now she no longer found it to be a thing of beauty. Instead she found that it disgusted her. "What if I just give it to you?" she asked. Neptune floated in silence for a moment. The god's eyes flicked from her to the ring and back again. Ranma found it impossible to read the god's expression. "You are a healthy lad," he began. Ranma gave him a look of surprise at this. "Yes, it's plain enough that you are truly a man. My eyes see much deeper than yours." He settled down against his trident. "You are indeed a healthy lad, you might well survive the ascent to the surface. For should you surrender the ring to me, you and your friend would no longer be granted the power to breathe underwater." Ranma looked to Akane, who lay motionless on the seabed. The slow expansion and contraction of her ribs was the only indication that she was even alive. There was no chance for Akane to make it to the surface, and Ranma already knew that she couldn't help her. "So if I give you the ring, you say I might be able to get back to the surface on my own?" "That is correct," Neptune replied. "But if I did, Akane would die." Neptune nodded impassively. "That would also be correct." Ranma was taken aback. "You wouldn't even help us as a reward for giving you the ring?" Neptune gave her a stern look. "I am not in the habit of granting favors to upstart mortals, nor am I about to begin for your sake. The choice is yours to make. Take the ring for yourself or surrender it to me." Ranma didn't like this arrangement one bit. It certainly didn't sound like much of choice. He couldn't just let Akane *die* -even if she was an arrogant, spoiled, unfeminine pain in the ass most of the time... "So what if I keep the ring?" "Then you would gain powers over the sea equal to my own," Neptune rumbled. Ranma's jaw dropped. "A word of caution, young mortal," Neptune continued. "Though you would indeed gain powers equal to mine own -for through the ring you draw upon me- you are but a fragile mortal, and not a vessel fit to contain such strength. There is always a price to be exacted for your feats. "Not least of which is this: you may only wear the ring for a year and a day before it will claim your life. Your span of days may be shorter, but they will be no greater. You may spare yourself this unhappy fate by giving the ring to someone else, as many have done o'er the centuries, but you will not grant them any longer span. At the end of the year and a day that you first took the Tears, that person who wears it will be claimed in your place. "Know also, that Nerial's tortured spirit will seek out the black hearts of others, and make them covet the ring. She will encourage them to commit murder and such crimes that will bring the ring to them, and thus continue her vengeance upon the men of the sea. From this alone has the most evil been wrought against seafarers, and kept it ever from my grasp." He thrust his trident at Ranma, the three tines crackling with light. "Make your choice! Though I have waited over forty mortal lifetimes to regain the Tears of the Siren, with the damned thing so close at hand, my patience is soon at an end!" Ranma looked again to the ring. A woman's voice that could only have been the Mermaid Queen's begged her to claim it, causing a cold chill to run down her spine. Her eyes glanced to Neptune, who seemed to be the epitome of serenity once again, lambent golden eyes fixed calmly on her as he waited for her to make her choice. She didn't want the ring, godlike powers or not. She looked to Akane last, lying on the seabed. She probably wouldn't even know what happened before the end came. She took the ring from around her neck and held it up to Neptune. "I don't want this thing," she began. Neptune began to float toward her, hand outstretched to claim the ring. "But I can't have Akane's death on my soul," she said evenly. Her heart fluttered wildly in her breast. She was defying a *god*... "You won't help us," she continued shakily. "So I have to take the ring." Neptune stopped and regarded her with a tight-lipped look. "I hate this thing already," Ranma added. She felt the surprising sensation of a bone dry mouth despite the fact that she was speaking under water. "And I don't want it in the world any longer than it has to be, so I swear to you that in a year and a day the ring will be yours..." Neptune's eyes flashed once again like pools of flaming oil. Ranma's will began to buckle at the sight of them. Then the god's eyes sparkled with mirth, and he began to bellow laughter. The seabed shook and the oceans fell silent. "A bold promise, little mortal. I look forward to seeing you keep it," he said with a rumbling chuckle. "Now seal your vow and place the ring upon your finger, or else give it to me and flee to the surface!" There was no turning back now. Ranma broke the twine loop and set the ring on her finger. She felt no different than before. At least not yet. "Well done, mortal," Neptune said. "Yet another soul for Nerial to keep." The sea life began to scatter away into the deep. The mermen drifted back into the dimming light. Neptune pumped his trident at Ranma, and began to fade away into the darkness as well. "Fare thee well, Ranma Saotome," the god said. "I shall await thee in a year and a day." With that, the seabed went black once again. Chapter Four Ranma found that she could still breathe. She stumbled in the darkness to find Akane, and to her relief the girl was still breathing as well. The sea swirled around them in darkness as Ranma thought about what she should do next. Just out of curiosity, she tried to remove the ring. It wouldn't budge. This didn't surprise her at all. "I could use some light," she said at last to the darkness. The sea remained black and impenetrable. Ranma swore to herself. "The least you could have done was tell me how to use the ring!" she cried out in the hopes Neptune would hear her. Neptune's voice didn't reply, but another's did. Nerial. ~You a wish for a light?~ the Mermaid Queen asked teasingly. ~Would a god *ask* for such a thing?~ "I don't know, you tell me," Ranma replied. ~A god *wills,* my sweet little man,~ she told her. ~A god never asks.~ Ranma grit her teeth. "I ain't a god." Nerial laughed sweetly. Ranma detected the faint sting of mockery in that laugh. ~Oh, but you are, Ranma! You are! For a year and a day you are!~ Ranma's hands crunched into fists. She was regretting her choice already. She then focused herself for the task at hand. "I said I want some light!" she shouted. The seabed became illuminated with a pleasant diffuse glow. ~Well done.~ Ranma wasn't entirely pleased. She had felt her heart skip a beat, and what seemed like her very life's breath pass out of her body for just a moment as the power flooded into her. She now fully understood Neptune's admonition. She had light to see by, but no idea where to go. "I need a place to take care of Akane," she said to Nerial. ~Walk. You're bound to find land sooner or later.~ Ranma was about to tell her just exactly what she thought of her advice when she sensed the presence of the Mermaid Queen fade away. She had a good idea that the Queen was through chatting, at least for now. "Damn. I guess I just start walking, then," she said to no one in particular. She didn't have any better ideas at the moment. She gathered Akane into her arms and began walking along the ocean bottom. The diffuse glow of light stayed with her, allowing her to gaze upon vast works of brightly colored coral and the squadrons of equally brilliant sea life that called it home. Far over her head she caught the blinding flash of lightning striking the surface of the waves, and judged the distance to be at least a hundred feet. She had thought it to be far deeper. She felt like she weighed a ton, else she would have tried for the surface right then. She walked for hours on end. The view never changed. There was nothing but an endless stretch of sandy bottom, coral, fish, and undulating seaweed. At long last the rays of daylight above stretched out stark fingers of radiance through the water. Creatures that had been hidden in the coral appeared, even as others retired. Exhaustion was close upon her, but she dared not sleep. She was too afraid that whatever powers she was using to breathe would fade without her constant efforts -or would Nerial see to it that she lived to see dry land? The arrival of the sun on the other side of the waves allowed Ranma to see the steady gradual rise of the sea floor, something she had been unable to detect with the light she had conjured. The rising seabed spurred her on, and her pace quickened. Land couldn't be far away. Nor was it. After only a mile Ranma could see and hear the waves crashing above her as the slope became much steeper. She had to throw Akane over her shoulders just to claw her way up the sandy shell-strewn slopes to the surface. The surf crashed onto the wet sand as Ranma appeared out of the water, Akane lying limp over her shoulders. She staggered a few more steps, enough to carry them out of the pounding tides, before falling to her knees. She nearly vomited the seawater from her lungs in searing spasms of pain. Each expulsion of the bitter ocean was followed by a desperate gasp of fresh air. She heaved and coughed and spat until at last her lungs were free, and then she fell deep into the thrall of exhaustion. Akane continued to burble water from her lips beside Ranma, before at last shuddering with a gasp of clear air into a deeper state of unconsciousness. In the sunlight once more, the ring flashed with a brilliant sparkle. * * * Ranma awoke some time before sunset. Her lungs ached from the exertion of breathing water, and her eyes, nose, throat, and sinus passages burned from the salt. Her skin was chafed and red from wind, water, and sun. She sat up and brushed the sand from her lips. Akane lay next to her, moaning something in her sleep. She leaned over her and brushed away the matted blue-black bangs from her forehead. Akane's eyes fluttered open. She squinted against the afternoon glare, trying to focus upon the face of Ranma. "R-Ranma?" she asked, not altogether certain it was him. "Yeah?" came the reply. Akane tried to sit up. Ranma helped to support her as the girl scanned the deserted beach. "Where are we?" she asked. Ranma glanced around. This was her first real look at the place. Seaweed was strewn along the beach as well as bits of wood that Ranma suspected came from the ill-fated _Deguello_. "I don't know," she said at length. "How did we get here?" Ranma looked down at her hands. Should she tell Akane the truth? More to the point, would she *believe* the truth? "We washed up here," she replied. Akane rose shakily to her feet and coughed. "I don't remember much," she began. "I remember the sea monster, and the ship sinking, and the storm that came after. I don't remember anything beyond that." She turned to look at Ranma. "No, that's not all, is it?" she asked her. Ranma looked up at her in time to see glints of waning sunlight sparkle in her shining brown eyes, and was caught speechless. "You saved me, didn't you?" Akane asked her softly. Ranma blushed for no easily defined reason. "What else was I gonna do, let you drown?" Akane looked away. The wind caught her short bob of hair for a moment and blew it carelessly over her eyes. "Thank you." Ranma jumped to her feet and gave Akane a lop-sided grin. "Aw, it was nothing." Akane sighed, seeming not to hear her. "There isn't any hope, is there?" she asked. "Huh?" "For getting home to Japan," Akane added sadly. "The ship is gone. We're stuck here forever." Ranma looked around. "I ain't giving up," she said. "Not now, not ever. We'll find a way." She kicked a seashell. "First thing we should do is explore a little and see if we can find food and water." There was something else Ranma wanted desperately to know. Akane read it in her eyes as she tried to look focused for the job at hand. Where was Ukyo, and did she survive the storm? They walked for awhile along the beach in silence. Though they did not travel the entire length of the coast, Ranma was of the growing impression that they were on an island of some sort. A good sized one, but an island nonetheless. There were abundant cypress trees, betel and coconut palms, and mangroves not far from the beach, which would give them some degree of shelter, if not food as well. There was even a good sized hill farther inland. It would probably provide a good vantage point for surveying the island, but for now they kept to the beach in the hopes of finding some sign of Ukyo or Shampoo. The sun was sinking low and red in the west. Ranma was suddenly aware that the passing of the day marked one less day of her now limited time left in the world. She looked to Akane, who plodded slowly along the beach next to her. Just what had she done in bargaining her life for Akane's? Akane noticed her stare. "What is it?" Ranma looked away. "It's nothing." Akane would have none of this. "Tell me anyway." "Not right now, alright?" Ranma retorted with a huff. "Fine," Akane shot back tersely. Ranma took an abrupt detour inland, leaving Akane to scramble to catch up. "Just where do you think you are going?" she asked. "It's getting dark soon," Ranma replied. "Unless you want to sleep in the open, we need to find a place to settle down for the night." Akane couldn't find anything to argue about in this. The cypress trees provided good protection from the chilly evening sea breeze, though they didn't find anything that looked like food. A small clearing of sandy soil seemed like a good place to stop. They were both weary and weak with hunger and dehydration. "Wish we could find something to eat," Ranma said upon sitting down the ground. "And some water," Akane added, joining her. "I'm too tired to look any more. First thing in the morning we'll search for a stream or something." With that she settled down to sleep, curling up into a ball. Almost instantly she was out. Her clothes were so ragged and torn from the sea monster's teeth that her entire back was nearly exposed. Akane could see the recent scratches and abrasions that marred Ranma's skin. She gnawed on her lip absently and then removed the outer most layer of her kimono. She spread it over Ranma and then lay down next to her to sleep. The sun had barely set over the horizon before the two of them were curled up next to each other asleep. * * * Dawn came cold and grey in the east. Akane awoke first to find her arms curled around Ranma for warmth. She quickly withdrew them and put a little distance between the two of them. Ranma for her part didn't even stir. Hunger was a dull ache in her belly, and her mouth was dry. She decided that it was an ill omen that she didn't need to urinate upon wakening. If they didn't find water soon, they were going to die of thirst. She shook Ranma awake. "...*snort!*...huh--wuzzat?" Ranma grumbled. "Get up," Akane directed her. Ranma sat up and looked around. "Damn. I was hoping I'd wake up back on the ship again..." "Instead of Japan?" Ranma's face clouded. "I stopped having those dreams awhile ago." She got to her feet. "How did you sleep?" "Terrible," Akane replied. "It was cold last night." Ranma looked down at her feet, where part of Akane's threadbare kimono lay. "No wonder, you're missing part of your kimono." Akane grit her teeth. "That was so *you* wouldn't freeze to death last night. Jerk." Ranma blinked a few times. "Uh, thanks, Akane. You shouldn't have." "Don't I know it," she muttered, picking up the tattered silk. They found a small stream of water after an hour of searching through the forest. The water was clear, sweet, and unusually warm. That didn't stop them from drinking their fill, though Ranma's curiosity was piqued. "Let's head upstream," she told Akane as the girl sat contentedly on the soft grass of the bank. "Why?" "'Cause I think this leads to a hot springs." Akane's brow furrowed. "Why would you...? Oh. Now I understand." "Exactly." The stream led them towards the hill, which made for another good reason to follow it. Ranma wanted to take a good look at the island in order to plan their survival. The basic needs had to come first, after that they could focus on other things. Like finding Ukyo and getting back to Japan. The hill was grassy and spotted with trees. Rough boulders of jagged black rock protruded from the ground here and there. The stream water became steadily warmer, until they could see steam wafting from the surface. It ended abruptly in a frothing spring surrounded by rocks. Ranma cupped the hot water in her hands and quickly splashed herself before it cooled. Akane watched in amazement once again as Ranma became male. He proceeded to stretch out his sore muscles and the kinks in his neck. "Finally," he gasped. "Sometimes I feel like I'm cooped up in a cage with that little girl body." Akane tried not to notice how his strong arms flexed or his chest heaved with each stretch and motion. If not for the fact that Ranma seemed to be presently oblivious to her presence, she might have thought he was doing it just to show off. "Feel better now?" she asked him. "Oh yeah," Ranma replied absently. "I needed this." He looked around. "Let's see about something to eat." The chill of morning swiftly gave way to a warm and humid midday. Beads of sweat trickled down their brows as they trekked along the slope of the hill in search of recognizable food. Finally they settled on a small grove of trees with bunches of long yellowish fruit. Other fruit bearing plants such as mangos and guavas were nearby. They decided to try the yellow ones first. They had a thick pulpy skin that was easily shucked to reveal a pale creamy fruit sweet on the palette and delightfully aromatic. One taste was all that was necessary to convince them to travel no further in search of food. It wouldn't be a very exciting diet, but it would sustain them for awhile. They ate their fill of the bananas and sat back on the hill to watch the empty sea. Clouds scudded on the horizon, fat and white, and seemingly unthreatening. Birds chirped around them. It was quite a peaceful island, really. Ranma had no intentions of staying any longer than he had to, but he did feel better knowing that they could survive with a minimum of effort. It would give him a chance to think of a way to leave. If he had to, he would use the ring, but for now he had to test the limits if its powers, and better it was here than the open sea -where mistakes were more likely to prove fatal. "Ranma?" He looked over to Akane, who was sitting thoughtfully next to him. "Yeah?" "I had a really strange dream before I woke up on the beach." He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Oh?" She looked down at her knees, which were covered by the dingy and tattered silk of her kimono. "It had you in it," she began. "You were wearing different clothes than you are now. They had blood smeared all over them, and your face was smudged with gunpowder." Ranma listened half-heartedly, eyes focused on the Tears of the Siren. The jewel looked quiescent, shining dully with the color of the distant sea. Nerial, if she was paying attention to him, was silent. Akane continued. "You looked really angry, more angry than I've even seen you with Shampoo. We were on an island, but not this one I don't think. It was a lot rockier. There was a ship too, but it had run up onto the beach..." Ranma turned to regard her as her voice drifted off. "Was that it?" She closed her eyes. "No. There was something else. I dreamed that you died because of me." "Huh? What are you talking about, Akane?" She changed the subject instead. "You said you were going to tell me something last night. What was it?" Ranma swallowed hard. The ring began to itch. He twisted it on his finger nervously. "I'm not sure what to say," he dodged. "I hardly remember last night." Akane's gaze met his and then fell slowly to rest upon his hand. Her breath caught in an inaudible gasp. "Does it have something to do with Cristobal's ring?" He looked down at the ring again. "Sort of." "Well?" There was an anxiousness in her voice that Ranma found a little disturbing. "I don't want to talk about it." She huffed something under her breath and turned away. Ranma stood. His shadow fell over her. Under other circumstances she would have been grateful for the shelter from the hot sun. Instead, his shadow felt heavy and oppressive. "I'm going to take a walk," he said in an off-handed fashion, as if he didn't care one way or another if Akane noticed, but needing to say something before he left. "You going to be okay here without me?" "I'll manage," Akane snorted. Ranma didn't see the flash of pain in her eyes because she had dropped her gaze to the grass. "Great. See you later." He walked down the slope of the hill and towards the forest of tall cypress trees and teaks. When he was just a tiny reddish dot against the lush green of the hill slope, Akane let out a sob. It was clear that she hadn't simply dreamed it all. The ring on his finger proved that. Why hadn't she noticed the horrid thing before? "I'm sorry, Ranma," she cried softly. Tears welled in her eyes, and she quickly brushed them away. "You shouldn't have agreed to take the ring for my sake." She watched him disappear into the grove. "I'm so sorry, Ranma..." END OF PART FIVE Author's Notes: 1. One of the things I miss most about not being on board a submarine anymore is the time spent in Sonar. Since I was a Nuke, it was considered unusual for me to spend any time in that tiny little room filled with computers and sound equipment -especially after I earned my dolphins. I didn't care. There were no windows on the Kam-fish, so the only way to experience what was happening on the other side of the pressure hull was to listen to it. I've heard the patter of rain falling on the surface of the sea high overhead, the clicks and rasps of killer whales, the frying bacon sound of millions of shrimp, and the sound of a sperm whale diving to a depth of a couple MILES in search of giant squid for breakfast -among other things. I tried to present in prose this incredible experience to you the readers as best I could. Perhaps someday an A/V standard will come about for email, and sounds can be bundled to play simultaneously with the text... 2. Many readers have questioned me regarding the _Deguello's_ voyage. Why, they ask, is the ship travelling to Panama via the Indian Ocean and an Atlantic passage when it would be easier (as it might seem) to simply cross the Pacific? There are two important reasons for a westerly (as opposed to a Pacific) passage: a) The invention of a precision marine chronometer would not come until the 18th Century, when a man named John Harrison invents one. Until Mister Harrison's invention, there was no accurate way to fix a ship's longitude, or its position east or west of a line stretching through an arbitrary point (today this is Greenwich, England) to the North and South Poles. A longitudinal fix required mariners to take sightings on conspicuous stars -recording the time they rose on the horizon and comparing that time with a nautical almanac that would tell them what longitude the observer was on to see the star at that position in the sky at that particular time. No accurate clock = no accurate longitude fix. Latitude, or the ship's position north or south of the equator, could be determined by the position of the sun at sunrise and sunset for any given day. Hence, navigation in the 17th and previous centuries was mostly by dead reckoning. Pilots maintained logs known as 'rutters' that kept records of previous voyages. The rutters provided the day's sailing course, and an estimation of the distance travelled that day, among other things. From these records the pilots consulted charts and made educated guesses of their position. Rutters to places like the Orient were very valuable, and due to the State sponsored "Companies" of the age (such as the Dutch East India Company), they were even considered State secrets. b) The prevailing winds in the Pacific strongly favor passage from the Americas to the Orient. Ships desiring to travel from Japan or China to the Americas would be required to sail very far north (like, say, Alaska), until they reached North America, where they would have to hug the coast south to Panama. There was a brief 'window' in and around the month of July where the prevailing winds allowed for a more direct easterly voyage, but this would not become common knowledge for another hundred years. Between these two reasons, it was much easier and safer to follow a coastal route along the Indian Ocean to Africa, travel around the Cape of Good Hope into the South Atlantic, turn west around central Africa and follow the dreaded Middle Passage to the Caribbean. Ships following this route could also make periodic landfalls for wood, food, and water -something a ship daring the vast expanse of the almost completely uncharted Pacific couldn't do. 3. One of Neptune's names, Susano-o, may be a bit of a shock to you if you read Krista Perry's "Hearts of Ice." Very early forms of the Shinto Amaterasu legends have Susano-o as Sun Goddess Amaterasu's twin brother, and to him "the Sea was given for dwelling and dominion." (-source: Padraic Colum, "Myths of the World," New York, 1930,1972; pp. 245) It was my intent that Neptune not specifically personify the Greco-Roman god, but become an amalgam of the world's sea-god mythologies. Fortunately, the sea-god is a wrathful, destructive, and unpredictable character in nearly every mythology that has one, so this wasn't difficult. 4. At last, the title of the story becomes apparent! Free The Nukes!