Reeves stared, not knowing what to say. He was saved by a faint buzzing sound. Miller took his phone from his pocket and looked at the screen. He typed something and put it back.
“I gotta go. Sensors picking up seismic activity. Might be related. Don’t know what they want me to do about it. A tremor’s a tremor. Not like we haven’t been expecting the Big One to—”
“Sir, what about everything we talked about?”
Miller leaned back, giving Reeves a once-over with narrowed eyes. Reeves ran a hand over his mouth, aware of how his face had tightened in horror.
Lowering his voice, he said, “How control is passed, sir. Targeting the merman?”
“I’ve spoken to the Secretary of State about this. We have official orders to go forward.”
“Did you tell him everything I told you?”
“Of course I did. But we discussed it in detail and we agree we can’t get to the merman without being attacked by the serpent. We need something to incapacitate one or both of them.”
A battle raged inside Reeves’ head. Half of him wanted to shout at Officer Miller for ignoring the facts he’d pulled straight from the only historical document ever recorded on the serpent. The other half of him knew his place.
“Sir, the serpent is indestructible. This won’t—”
“If the legend is true—” Miller paused, letting Reeves know that he did not, in fact, believe the legend was true. “—we’ll still get the merman with this. If power is passed as you say, then that’s not a bad thing, is it?”
Miller clapped Reeves on the back, a grin on his face that plainly suggested Reeves needed to take a vacation for his mental health.
A group of trainees passed by, heading to dinner. They acknowledged Miller and Reeves on the way, forcing Reeves to keep his rising panic in check.
He waited until they left the warehouse before continuing.
“Can’t you take out the merman with something that won’t hurt or kill everything within a several-mile radius?”
Miller gave Reeves a long, searching look. “You’re concerned about the environment?”
“Aren’t you?”
“I’m more concerned about what’ll happen to humanity if we don’t stop this.”
How could he convince Miller that mermaids could be talked to and negotiated with? These insane tactics could be avoided.
“Sir, we need to protect the innocent. The mermaids who are no more than victims of—”
He wished he hadn’t said it as soon as the words were out.
Miller crossed his arms. “Protect?”
Reeves tried to think of a way to explain. He needed Miller to know some mermaids could be trusted—but his every instinct was telling him to zip it.
“Bagh,” said Miller, not raising the volume of his voice.
Across the warehouse, a clanking noise stopped. Bagh appeared from behind an amphibian plane.
“Sir?”
“Bagh, tell Reeves what you told me the other day.”
“About what, sir?”
“What you heard about Reeves’ mission last year.”
Bagh glanced between them, forehead wrinkled. “They passed a pod of mermaids, sir.”
