Of Poseidon 02: Of Triton

front of her. Emma bites the end of a pencil as she watches Rachel scrawl on the page. Being ignored is not Galen’s favorite. “What are you doing?” he says.
    Emma looks up. “Oh. Hey. We’re researching that island on the Internet. Might as well do some recon while we’re waiting, right?”
    Brilliant. The Internet . Galen keeps forgetting that he’s not without his resources, either. The humans have their technology, but Galen has it, too. Plus, he’s got something better. Rachel.
    “The island is called Kanton,” Rachel says. “Do you want the good news, or the bad news first?”
    “Bad news,” Galen says.
    “Everyone who lives on the island is either government employees, or the family of government employees.”
    “Which government?” Emma asks.
    Galen taps her on the shoulder and motions for her to let him sit. Pulling her into his lap, he peers around her hair to the screen, trying to ignore her scent and failing miserably at it.
    “Some country called Kiribati,” Rachel says. “Never heard of it.”
    “Me, either,” Emma says.
    “What’s the good news?” Galen says.
    “The good news is that there are only about a dozen people living there. Not a whole lot of technology going on here like we thought. Their job is to keep the surrounding waters protected from commercial fishing. But”—Galen hates it when she says “but”—“there is a functioning airport on the north side. They could have already flown your friends out of there.”
    “Is there any way to find out if they did?” Galen says.
    Rachel shrugs. “I think it’s safe to assume that if the discovery of mermaids—sorry, Syrena —isn’t all over the news by now, then probably they’re still there. If your friends are smart, they’ll stay in human form.”
    “Why would they keep a big discovery like that under wraps?” Emma says, frowning. “It would be the biggest scientific finding in centuries. Maybe ever.”
    “Like I said.” Rachel takes a sip of her wine. “Maybe they haven’t shown them what they are. Maybe they think they just rescued some dumb humans from drowning or something. That would be the best-case scenario.” She snorts. “Maybe they got arrested for commercial fishing.”
    “Can you give us an advantage at all?” Emma asks Rachel. “Like, shut down their communications or something? Work your Rachel magic?”
    Rachel shakes her head. “I can’t find much about this island as it is. I’m not sure what kind of communications they have, but I’m guessing satellite phones or something. What I can do though, is create a distraction at the closest airport to them, which is…” Her fingers move deftly over the keys. “Puka Puka Airport in the Cook Islands. If I make landing conditions unsafe there or screw around with their flight schedule, and say, the next five closest airports around them, they won’t be able to export your friends until we’ve had a chance to get to them. Better make the first attempt count though.”
    Emma nods. “We will. And did you get the life jackets we talked about?”
    “Life jackets?” Galen says. He doesn’t like Emma and Rachel making plans together. Not because he thinks they’re being devious, but because he doesn’t like feeling left out. Not to mention that when Emma is making plans without him, they’re usually reckless. The only reason she’d keep a secret from him is if she was doing something he didn’t approve of, or didn’t want him to interfere with. After all, her motto is “Better to ask for forgiveness than permission.”
    Galen despises that motto.
    “I cleared out the sporting goods store this morning,” Rachel says. “I took what was on the shelf and made them cough up their stock in the back.”
    Galen tenses up. Emma laughs. “Don’t be jealous, Highness. Rachel still loves you more than she loves me.”
    “Aww! You guys are fighting over me?” Rachel says, pinching Galen’s cheek. “That’s so adorable.”
    “I’m not jealous,” he says, trying not to sound pouty. “I just don’t know why we would need life jackets.”
    “ We don’t,” Emma says, wriggling around on his lap so she can face him. Secretly, he’s delighted. “But humans do. And if my job is keeping the humans safe, then I should be prepared, right?”
    But Galen is too distracted by the close proximity of her mouth to be bothered with the words coming out of it. She must recognize it, because she leans forward as if giving him a chance