[Ranma][Fanfic] Ruler of the Raging Main Part 5

[Jamie and Bridget Wilde]

Previous installments can be found at http://www.psn.net/~wildeman/

C&C happily accepted!

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.

* * *

"<All hands on deck! Sea Monster off the port bow!!!>"

Before Ranma could decide if she had heard Velacruz correctly, the
ship shivered with a heavy impact. Timbers cracked and caulking burst from
the seams in angry spouts of seawater. The alien wail of something on the
other side of the hull 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 guttural 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
wild...@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
seawater. 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.
"<Form ranks!>" Velacruz bellowed to her right. A shaky line of
terrified sailors formed with musket cords glowing a dull orange through
the blinding spindrift.
"<Aim for the head!>" The Bosun admonished them. "<It's our only
chance!>"
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-cat 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 its
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 careened 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 drowned 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.
"<Velacruz! Make the guns ready in all respects! ...Velacruz!>"
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 trembling 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.

"<We can't find the Bosun!>" one of the sailors cried out to Delgado.
"<He must have fallen overboard, or was perhaps eaten by the sea monster.>"
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.
"<How fare the cannons?>" he called to the sailor.
"<We only have one left, sir!>" the sailor replied. "<The others broke
free from their stays and went over the side as best as we can tell.>"
"<Will it fire?>"
"<I don't know, sir. The touchhole is fouled from a blow.>"
"<Clear it!>" Delgado thundered. "<And get someone below to check for
damage and leaks. The rest of you rabble clear the decks and...>"

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.

"<God save us all!>" 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 was
there next to her. 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.

"<In the name of Neptune, begone from these waters!>" 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 smoldering.
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.
"<It's you...>" he said in a hoarse whisper. Sorrow glimmered in
his eyes. Sorrow and shame.
"<You going make it, Captain,>" Ranma told him in broken Portuguese.
"<Hold on little longer. I tow to others.>"
"<This is the last hour of my last day,>" Cristobal replied with a
ragged cough. "<Nothing you can do will change that.>"
Ranma looked upon the man with sorrow. As jailers went he was a
decent man. Under other circumstances she could have even befriended him.
"<Hold on little longer,>" Ranma repeated. "<Don't give up yet.>"
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.
"<Captain!>" 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 of 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 frightened 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.
"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 buoyancy. 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 buoyancy.
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 guttural
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 a 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 the cold radiance of satisfaction.

* * *

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 palate 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.
"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!