Another Piece Of Paradise Chapter 5 free porn video

Another Piece of Paradise By JJ This is a work of fiction (unfortunately). It may also contain adult themes and opinions that some may find objectionable. If you are not of the age to be able to view such things, then stop now. I'm writing in the universe of Patricia's "Changes in Paradise," If you have not read her magnum opus, and are interested in mermaids, then you should go right over to Fictionmania.tv and read them post haste. This story assumes that you have some understanding of her fantastic vision of mers. I'd like to thank her for expending so much time, energy, and thought on her story; it's what inspired me to start writing. I'd also like to thank her for her permission to write in her domain, and her outstanding suggestions and ideas for the story. I'd like to thank Len for his input, ideas, and work proofreading my grammar and spelling. As with Patricia's story, when you see a character's speech surrounded by brackets [word], they are using CHEW (telepathy, sort of). Also, reading Another Piece of Paradise chapters 1-4 is definitely necessary to understand what's going on. If you like, please leave a comment. I love to hear what people think of the story. Chapter 5 The "all glass" computerized bridge of the Alnasl was the pinnacle of modern civilian nautical technology. It was entirely digital, with heads up displays at each position so an operator could look out the windows and still see vital information. Modern radar, sonar, night vision, and even laser range finding were all integrated so that it was possible for the ship to be autonomous, if necessary. The display of technology was interrupted by three things: first, the holes in the starboard door and frame from a spray of 9mm bullets, secondly, the blood stain on the port side of the bridge from where Ben Smythe had dispatched who had fired said spray. The third thing that someone would not expect to find on the bridge of the yacht was the pair of identical blonde mermaids in the command chairs. Their green tails, each twice as long as their torsos, fringed with gold on their fins and flukes, hung down from their high seats and curled around and behind them on the deck. One set of flukes thumped the floor excitedly as its owner looked over the controls. The other fidgeted impatiently as its owner looked on, already bored. Their thick, silky, hip-length hair was arranged against the back of the chairs to cushion their gills against the high leather backs that looked like elevated luxury car seats. "This has freaking everything! You can set multiple waypoints and it just plots the course, it even takes currents into account, and the maps of the harbor bottoms and the depth sensors make it so that you can go anywhere in the world and dock it without a harbor pilot!" Kate exclaimed as she ran her hands across the map's touch controls. "Kinda takes the romance out of it, doesn't it?" Ann said as she looked around. "It's just like playing a video game, the 'wheel' is even a joystick." "I bet they said that when the sexton was made obsolete," Kate quipped. "At least we don't have to watch things like a pair of hawks while we're up here." "Why did you volunteer the two of us?" Ann asked. "I just wanted a change of scenery, something to do besides talk about mer stuff," she replied. "I get that, though we ought to be getting to know the new pods too," Ann offered. "I don't want to hang around with the new pods, I'm really missing Trevor and Rose, okay?" Kate admitted. "Being around complete pods just makes it hurt more," her excitement faded as she propped her elbow up on the armrest and supported her head in the palm of her hand. "Just hang in there a couple more days. We're almost back." Ann stroked the fringes of one of the pelvic fins on Kate's tail. "We could always fool around. Would that help?" she said suggestively. "Maybe," Kate pouted. Ann leaned over and kissed Kate's shoulder, working up to the nape of her neck. Kate started to smile and turned her head to meet her lips. They kissed for a while, then pulled back. "Okay," Kate agreed. "Fooling around would definitely help." "So, should each pod sleep together? I mean, most of us haven't bonded yet," Hailey asked on the back deck. "We can try it. If it's too weird, we can switch back," Indira said. "I'm willing," said Aluna. The other members of the unbonded pods agreed. "We'll stay on the deck in the chairs then, Another new pod should sleep in the bed we were in last night," Jaclyn offered. "Are you sure? We would hate to inconvenience you," Pierro asked. "We're sure," Janice assured him. "Then Jim's new pod should sleep in the owner's suite, since it has the largest bed, and my pod, that is so strange, will sleep in the newly- opened room," Pierro said. "Sounds like a plan," Jim agreed. Everyone split up to settle into the new sleeping arrangements. Aluna and Indira led Jim and Hailey to the room and picked up the remains of their old clothes off the floor. "So this is how royalty half lives," Jim said. "He liked his luxuries. The bathroom alone is bigger than our cabin," Aluna said. "Let me take those," she said as she reached for Jim and Hailey's bags. "We can take care of it. You're going to be our pod mate, not our servant," Hailey said. "Still feels weird to say that," she said as she laid out nightclothes for her and Jim. "It will take a while to get used to, though the way the mers talk about it, it's normal for them. Even Jason, Madhuri, and Elizabeth seemed to be accepting their situation," Indira said. "I'll ah, be right back," Jim said awkwardly as he picked out his nightshirt and shorts and turned towards the bathroom. "What are you doing?" Hailey asked. "We've done more than change clothes in front of each other." "Well, I..." Jim looked at Aluna and Indira. "You don't have anything we haven't seen before. Though now we actually want to see it," Aluna said with a smile. "Fine," Jim changed quickly into his night clothes and got into bed. Hailey followed and lay her head on his left shoulder. Indira and Aluna lay on his other side. Indira laid her head on Jim's right shoulder, Aluna spooned her in turn. "Is everyone comfortable?" Jim asked. Hailey's presence was familiar, but he still couldn't shake the feeling of strangeness from having more than one woman sharing his bed. "Yes," said Indira. "Quite," smiled Aluna. "Though we're used to having to share a bed." Hailey leaned over and kissed Jim goodnight. Jim looked at Indira, then back to Hailey with an uncertain expression. Hailey smiled appreciatively, then nodded. Jim turned back to his two new future pod mates, leaned down, and kissed Indira on the top of her head. Indira smiled, and Aluna raised her head up and received a kiss as well. "It's a start," Aluna said as she closed her eyes to sleep. Hailey leaned over, shut off the light, and curled back up on Jim's shoulder to sleep herself. Indira was already lightly snoring, a smile on her face as she lay surrounded by her best friend and future mates. On the next deck down, Madhuri giggled as she pulled Jason into the room. She felt lust for her future pod mates, and kissed Jason as she started pulling his shorts off. Elizabeth entered behind them, her own chest heaving with desire. She disrobed wordlessly, and joined Madhuri in stripping Jason. "They're enjoying themselves," Abbie said awkwardly as she, Pierro, and Marie heard the sounds of passion from the room across the hallway. The three of them lay in bed, though they weren't touching each other. Each seemed afraid to make the first move. Pierro didn't want to come on too strongly to the young women for fear of making them uncomfortable, and the two women weren't sure why Pierro was acting so disinterested. "They have started changing already. That may be a side effect," Pierro said. "So we'll be like that once we take their milk?" Marie asked. "I guess. You have been around the mermaids far more than I. I don't know what they are like from day to day," Pierro shrugged. Marie decided to edge closer to Pierro, she tentatively reached her hand up and placed it on his grey-haired barrel chest. He stiffened, but didn't move to dissuade her. "Abbie, are you okay?" Marie asked her friend, who lay on Piero's opposite side. Abbie turned to face the couple. She could make out the silhouette of the two of them entwined in the minimal lighting of the cabin. "Not really. Is it okay if I don't curl up with you too? I'm a little scared right now." "Do whatever you feel comfortable with," Pierro said. "Was he the only man you've been in bed with?" "Yes," Abbie wiped her tears at the memories of Mahmoud's abuse. "It hit me all at once when we got into bed. I'm sorry." "You have nothing to be sorry for. You deserve better. I, we, will be here to support you," Pierro vowed. "Yes," Marie agreed. "Thank you," She turned away from her future pod mates, but did scoot herself backwards until her back touched Pierro's arm. She closed her eyes and soon drifted off, and Pierro and Marie followed her. The enhanced hearing the mer's possessed, along with their mer senses, informed them of the activities in Jason's pod's cabin. "They seem to be getting along well," Manami said as she lay next to Josh in the hot tub. Josh ran his hands along the pelvic fins of each of his pod mates. "I missed you two," he breathed quietly. "You just finished healing and now you want to..." Manami trailed off, her objection forgotten as she responded to Josh's touch and the released pheromones. "I think, no, I know, I need you, okay?" he admitted. "You were gone, and the thought of you being gone forever was unbearable." "As nice as that sounds, and as much as we could use it, maybe we should try to stay in control," Jenna breathed heavily. "Nope, not gonna happen," Janice said as she grabbed Jaclyn and kissed her on the chez lounge they shared. Brian and Julie fell into heavy petting on the deck itself. "Okay, forget control," Jenna moaned as she stroked her hand on Josh's vent as Manami passionately kissed him. Josh released his vent and his member sprang forth. Jenna wrapped her tail around Josh's and took him into herself. Manami disengaged from Josh's mouth as he moaned and kissed Jenna, stifling her own moan as Josh began thrusting into her. Manami felt Josh's pelvic fin churn the water in the hot tub. She pushed forward, biting her lip as it stirred her arousal. Each of the two pods would renew bonds among their members that night, taking and giving comfort in kind through the amplification of mer bonds brought on by sex. After several hours and numerous partner switches within the pods under the stars, they both fell asleep, exhausted, but for the first time in days, sated. Ibrahim slowly opened the door to his cabin. He looked down the hall and saw Marco and Andre each sitting on folding chairs, talking about what other company teams they could join, now that it looked like most of their team would become mers. Ibrahim looked across the hallway, Rahman had opened his door as well, and nodded at Ibrahim. Rahman handed his leader one of the wrenches he'd kept as part of the tools he used when helping Ahmad maintain the launch and zodiac. They crept up behind the two mercenaries. "Maybe we should do what the rest of the team did? Be fish people?" Andre said. "There aren't any more available women," Marco said. "From what Jim told me, it sounds like we'd each need at least one." "Ben switched, care to give it a shot?" Andre joked. "Who says you'd stay a guy?" Marco said indignantly. "I'm better at hand to hand and you-" Andre was interrupted by four of the crewmen jumping him and Marco, punching and kicking them. The struggle was short, and after being dazed by the beating, the two mercenaries were bound and locked in a cabin while Ibrahim and Rahman took their UMPs. "Let's go," Ibrahim said. Four doors opened and the remainder of the crew emerged. They each carried tools for weapons. The group ascended the stairs to the main deck. Josh lay in the hot tub with Jenna and Manami sleeping on either side of him. Manami, he noticed, seemed to be clinging to him particularly fiercely. Knowing her, she was probably dealing with the shock of seeing one of her loved ones badly injured again. He figured that if she really were concerned beyond that, she would speak up, right? That, or he'd feel her emotions through the bonds they shared and react appropriately. The hole in his heart had shrunk and shifted now that he was with Jenna and Manami, but their pod still wasn't together again. What must Sarah be going through, with no one but Trevor and Rose around her? You left her alone! There it was, the old familiar guilt. It was completely irrational, he was needed for the rescue mission, but the feeling was still there. He could beat himself up better than anything. There was so much to do once they got home. Integrating new pods, reestablishing the bonds within his own. It would be a challenge, but far better than the alternative of mourning losses and... No, just going on with the remaining mers was unthinkable. Would Mahmoud really have carried out his threat to kill Manami and his unborn child? Josh was thankful that the dead man would never get the chance. Josh snapped out of his funk when his mer senses picked up a change in the people on the boat. It felt like the signals from the two of the security team on the lower deck had suddenly gone off-kilter. Even more alarming were the six people coming up the stairs. He disentangled himself from his two pod mates, who woke up. "Josh? What are you doing?" Manami said, annoyed. She understood when she felt his tension and rising anger. "What's wrong?" Jenna whispered. "Stay there. People coming up the stairs," Josh replied quietly. "Brian." He shook the other merman's tail. "What, man?" Brian groaned, then snapped to wakefulness when he felt the men sneaking upwards. Both mermen crept along the floor, supported by their fins and hands. The only light was the light of the moon and the few running maritime running lights on the yacht. The mermen's night vision was more than enough to see that the first two men were armed with guns. Brian motioned for the mermaids to get back and stay low. He and Josh moved behind furniture to let the first two men pass. Ibrahim and Rahman led the way towards the back of the parlor towards the stairs up to the stateroom level and bridge deck. He looked over to the deck chairs and hot tub, and they were strangely empty. Wouldn't a hot tub be where the mer-. Brian and Josh sank their barbs into the thighs of the two men with guns. Josh picked up the UMP by the barrel of the suppressor on the front of the gun once it fell to the floor, and stared at the four men armed with tools frozen in front of Brian and him. It felt like there was a volcano boiling in his gut. What would they have done to his pod mates? Would they have killed him and violated them? The thought of his wives being held down... He didn't want to hold back the monster inside him anymore, so he didn't. Abdi had been concentrating on not tripping over furniture in the dark as he moved through the parlor. The sound of two soft *thuds* ahead of him, coupled with moans as Ibrahim and Rahman fell to the floor. He heard gasps from the men directly in front of him, and saw strange forms laying on the floor ahead. Then all hell broke loose. Josh and Brian each attacked the man in front of them. Brian used his barb in his tail a second time, Josh rose up on his tail and swung the UMP like a club, roaring in anger as he smashed the lower frame of the submachine gun on the temple of the man in front of him as he reacted too slowly to avoid the angry merman's swing. The polymer handgrip shattered, and Josh dropped the ruined gun and set upon the next man, pushing off from his flukes and slamming into the man's chest, punching him as he drove him to the deck and landing three more powerful blows to his head once he was on the ground. Brian looked up at the final intruder. The man dropped the wrench he was carrying and started to raise his hands in surrender. Before Brian could say anything, Josh used his hands and fins to quickly move across the floor and tackle him. Josh flipped him onto his front, gripped him around the back of the neck with one hand, and twisted the man's arm behind him painfully, pulling his wrist up between his shoulder blades. "Please! No! Please! G-d help me I give up! Ahhhhh!" Abdi screamed. The monster holding him was so strong! He felt his shoulder pop as it dislocated and he screamed again in pain, he was sure the merman would tear him apart. "He won't help you! I am Iblis!" Josh snarled. "You're going down to my place!" "Good job man, you got'em." Brian tried to get Josh to think rationally again. "We need to know what they were up to, and he's the only one in any condition to talk." Jason, Elizabeth, and Pierro rushed down the hall and turned on the lights, and Jim and Hailey came down the stairs, handguns drawn, but they lowered them when they saw that the mers had dealt with the threat. "What happened? Elizabeth asked. "Looks like the crew tried to stage a takeover," Brian said. He turned to Abdi, "You better talk, my friend here is in a pretty bad mood." "I swear we weren't after the fishwomen!" Abdi said in heavily accented English. He'd seen his compatriots quickly taken down by the two mermen, and he could feel the press of Josh's weight on his body. There was no one coming to help him. "We wanted to take the boat. Ibrahim thought that you would leave once we turned it away from your island!" "What were you going to do once they left?" Jim asked. "We wanted to get Fredrick to pay us more, sell the boat, and the girls," he said painfully as Josh pulled on his bent arm a bit more. "You fucking scum!" Josh wanted to pull him apart and be done with it. "What happened to the men guarding you?" Elizabeth demanded. "We tied them up, they're downstairs," he groaned. "Please don't kill me!" "Let him up Josh, he's not going anywhere," Jenna said gently. "We're fine, you and Brian saved us again." Josh took a deep breath, then released and moved off of Abdi. The crewman lay in a heap on the floor, whimpering, his arm limp at his side. "I'll get Madhuri. Jason and I will take over the guard positions, could we get some help getting these guys back into their quarters?" Elizabeth asked. Pierro and the mers dragged the paralyzed and injured crew men back to their cabins, depositing them in beds. Abdi was prodded at gunpoint by Hailey, sobbing all the way. Madhuri looked over the head wounds on Marco and Andre. They weren't bleeding anymore, and their blood pressure was stable. They almost certainly had concussions, but would recover. "How are they?" Elizabeth asked as she walked into the cabin. Jim, Pierro, and their pods had gone back to bed after helping out, as had the mers. "They are going to have massive headaches when they wake up, but I think they'll be fine. No mermaid milk required," Madhuri sighed with relief. "They would have filled out two pods," Elizabeth mused. "As mermaids!" Madhuri responded. "They wouldn't have been happy with that." "They'd have gotten used to it," Elizabeth looked down at herself again. "It's still a little weird, but being a girl is becoming more normal all the time." "How long will it take for it to feel normal as a mermaid?" Madhuri wondered. "No legs, after all." "And you have such nice ones," Elizabeth smirked. "Thank you." Madhuri blushed as she finished packing up her medical kit. "But for living on the atoll, a tail and gills will be much more useful." "True," Elizabeth admitted as they left the cabin and walked back down the hall to where Jason waited on guard duty. "What about the crew?" Elizabeth asked. "Abdi has a dislocated shoulder that I popped back in, and some sprained joints, and the three men who were paralyzed should be moving later in the day," Madhuri paused. "Two men died. One had a broken jaw and skull fractures. I think it's pretty safe to say that he died from blunt-force trauma to the head from an angry merman repeatedly punching him. The other died from a single blunt-force trauma caused by the handle of a gun smashing into his temple." Elizabeth sighed. "Well, you pay your money and you take your chances." "Josh and Brian did a real number on them," Madhuri said. "Why don't you go to bed down here, Madhuri? Elizabeth and I can check on the patients until Jim and Hailey wake up for duty in the morning," Jason suggested. "I'd rather stay with you two," Madhuri admitted. "Especially after earlier tonight." Jason blushed. He hesitated for a moment. "I love you both. It feels weird, and sudden, but it's the truth. I know, I said it in the hot tub, but..." "You never need an excuse to tell us that you love us. It's fast, really fast, but I love you too," Madhuri confirmed. "I love you too," Elizabeth said. "Never thought I'd say that to a man." "I wasn't sure I'd ever say it to anyone," Madhuri admitted. "Do you think we'll add a fourth?" Elizabeth asked. "Depends on the person. If Andre or Marco had been hurt badly enough, I wouldn't have minded adding either of them," Madhuri figured. Madhuri, Elizabeth, and Jason spent the few hours before dawn periodically checking on the men in the cabins. By the time Jim and Hailey, accompanied by Aluna and Indira, relieved them, Marco and Andre had woken up, and Pierro was down in the galley with Abbie and Marie cooking. "They did what?" Frederick showed genuine shock for the first time since the voyage began. Captain Omar shook his head and rolled his eyes as they ate breakfast on deck. "They figured the risk was worth the reward. They figured wrong," Brian shrugged. "Fools," Captain Omar said. "I should get back to the bridge. Thank you for watching it last night," he said to Kate and Ann, who lounged in the hot tub on the back of the ship. "You're welcome, It was pretty easy, actually. We're up for doing it again tonight," Ann said sleepily. "Thank you," Captain Omar acknowledged them. "We should be back to your atoll sometime tomorrow afternoon," he informed the rest of the mers before returning to the bridge. "Is monitoring the ship all you did last night?" Jenna asked. "Nope," Kate said as she yawned. "Had to pass the time somehow," she smiled as she snuggled with her sister and closed her eyes to sleep. "Are you two okay?" Manami asked the mermen. She kept her mer senses focused on her own mate. "I'm fine," Brian shrugged. "They didn't really get the chance to do anything to me." "I'm fine too," Josh said quickly. Manami looked at Josh, surprised. She moved up next to her mate and laid her head on his shoulder. "You literally called yourself the Islamic equivalent of Satan," Jaclyn observed. "I wanted to scare him," Josh said, not even looking up at Jaclyn. His smile belied his emotional turmoil, like he was putting on a front as he hugged Manami tightly. "Well, it worked. Hell, it scared me," Brian said. Jenna moved up to Josh's other side and embraced him. "Are you two okay?" he asked his mates. "You were the ones he kidnapped. Did he hurt you?" "I don't want to talk about it right now," Manami said, tears forming in her eyes. "You never really answered my question," Josh remained silent, and just held his mermaids as fear and relief warred in his mind. "Fredrick, we need to talk," Janice said, turning towards the personal assistant as he ate breakfast on deck. "Yes?" he asked wearily. "If your late employer has other girls 'working' for him the way Abbie and her friends were, you need to make sure they get back to their homes. With a generous severance package," she folded her arms and stared him down. "The passports of all of the women are in His Highness' safe in his office. I'm the only living person with that combination, so that part shouldn't be a problem," Frederick considered. "Is there any part that would be a problem?" Janice said impatiently. "Only if His Highness' widow were to take control of his estate and question what I'm doing," Frederick said. "Under UAE law, she and the children automatically inherit, and since all of the children are minors, she is in control." "How likely is she to get involved?" "Princess Salma is primarily concerned with her own well-being. All of the children are raised by nannies. I think, so long as she is guaranteed the lifestyle to which she is accustomed, she won't care if I siphon off a million or two US dollars to pay for airline tickets and 'severance' for the four remaining girls," Frederick thought as he looked at his tablet, perusing the prince's accounts. "What was this guy's net worth?" Brian asked. "On his own, his personal wealth is about 3 billion U.S. dollars. He had control of considerable family assets though, including this yacht," Frederick figured. "He played financial markets wisely with the money he was gifted by the family when he reached maturity and when he married." "He didn't seem like some kind of financial genius," Jaclyn said. "More like a playboy who thought he could have whatever he wanted without any empathy for other people." "There was that too. His arrogance and feeling of invincibility were exacerbated by the financial success he had," Frederick agreed. "Just get it done. What can you do from here?" Janice demanded. "I can set funds aside. I'll just have to hope no one asks to speak with him personally until we return to Abu Dhabi. I can make up a story about a crew mutiny or pirate attack that killed him," Fredrick said. "Luckily, the crew's foolishness gives me most of the evidence I need." "Fine, thank you," Janice said. "If I hear that you've kept those girls enslaved..." "His Highness' widow won't want slave girls around. Her son is only 9, so he won't have any interest yet. I won't have any trouble once I get the passports," Frederick assured her. "Good," she said coldly. Frederick finished eating and left. With him gone, Jenna asked a question: "Should a few of us get in the water and try to contact the atoll with our telepathy?" "We should really stop the ship so that everyone can get off and back on safely. I think it's better that we just get back as quickly as possible," Jaclyn replied. "Fair enough," Jenna sighed. "It's just another day and half or so sweetie," Jaclyn tried to console her. "I know. I'm just worried about Sarah," Jenna said. Sarah woke up with her tail wrapped around Trevor and Rose. The two sleeping mers clung to each other tightly. She felt another pang of loneliness, and even though she didn't have much of an appetite, she unwrapped her tail and went off to find food. Exiting the grotto, she swam to their favorite oyster fields in the north of the lagoon. Harvesting and eating as she went, she concentrated on the signal of her growing baby in her womb. That made her feel marginally better, at least. As she swam to the sea grass plain, she felt a group of 20 or so signals speeding toward the southeast opening of the atoll. It didn't feel like her mates, or any of the other mers. It must be dolphins again, she thought. A week ago, she would have been happy to watch the younger mermaids frolic with the visiting pod. Now they just reminded her of what was missing in her heart. The dolphin pod sliced past her as she ate sea grass, sitting on the bottom in the middle of the plain, she watched the animals zoom past and perform their signature spinning jump. One of them, a female, swam around her slowly, looking her over. "What?" Sarah said aloud. "I don't have any fish to feed you, sorry." The dolphin clicked and squeaked a bit more, and moved around in front Sarah, floating stationary in the water. "I don't want to play with you, okay?" she insisted. The female made a long, slow, sad-sounding squeak, and nudged Sarah's pelvic fin with her snout. "Hey! Be gentle," Sarah said. She put her hand on the dolphin's head to push it away, when an image of the back end of a yacht, with humans and mers on it, appeared in her mind! She recognized her pod mates! They were free, and happy! Keeping her hand on the dolphin's head, she tried to pick up every detail of the scene. The sun was off positioned to the to the left and front of the ship, and the mers and humans, she recognized Hailey and Madhuri, seemed relaxed. Was she seeing a memory of a morning, or afternoon? If it was the afternoon, the position of the sun meant that the ship was heading northwest, which meant... [Rose! Trevor! They're okay!] she removed her hand from the dolphin and swam as quickly as she could back to the grotto. [Sarah? What...] Rose answered as she woke up. Sarah entered the grotto and collided with Rose and Trevor, squeezing them with a hug. "There are dolphins in the lagoon and they've seen our pods! They're on the yacht and I think it's headed back here!" she cried in happiness. "Really?" Rose thought for a second. "Right, your pod can communicate with cetaceans!" "Yes! One of them came up to me and wouldn't leave me alone, and when I went to push her away she sent me memories of seeing my pod, your sisters, and your parents' pod on the back deck of the Alnasl," she explained excitedly. "They all looked happy, and the humans around them were smiling too. The sun was off the left front of the ship, so if it was in the afternoon, then they're heading northwest, back here!" "Thank goodness," Rose sighed. "Do we know they ran into the ship in the afternoon? What day did they see it?" Trevor asked. "I couldn't tell. They don't give me information like that, just images and emotions," Sarah admitted. "But why would they look happy if they weren't heading back here?" "I really hope you're right," Rose told her, hugging her back. Josh was situated at the entrance of the main parlor of the Alnasl. He'd salamandered under the overhang to get out of the sun and maybe find a change of scenery. Instead, he stared at the dried blood stains left by Mahmoud, the crew men, and himself. If it hadn't been for his pod mates and the nearly miraculous healing power of the siren cells, he would have died here. He'd hesitated and let Mahmoud turn the tables on him. Looking further into the parlor, he saw a few smaller blood splatters. The other extreme: Unthinking rage. He'd chosen to go straight to violence and killed two men and damn near killed a third. He sighed and ambled around the blood to the small bar and began rummaging through the bottles. "I've seen that look. You want to get drunk because you hate yourself at the moment. It doesn't help," a deep voice said from behind him. Josh turned and saw Jim looking down at him. "Can you even get drunk?" "What makes you think I can't?" Josh asked. "You're practically superhuman. Four of you caught this boat in a few days, you were shot four times and don't even have a scar, and, well..." he nodded back towards the bloody scene. "Honestly, I have no idea. I figured it was worth a try," the merman looked at the bottle in his hand and was impressed. "Ever have a drink from a 4000 dollar bottle of cognac?" "Uh, no," Jim said. "Never had cognac. What is it?" "It's brandy, distilled wine, from the Cognac region of France," Josh answered. "I was looking for whiskey, but I've never had Remy Martin Louis XIII, so I figured I'd take advantage of the opportunity." "I'll have some," Jim said. "Kinda want to talk too." "Sure," Josh said as he reached for a couple of glasses. Josh uncorked the bottle and put two healthy pours in the glasses and passed one to Jim. They each quietly sipped for a moment. "It's good. Don't know that it's 4 grand a bottle good, but not bad," Jim said. "Have to agree. Better than your average brandy, but I think people pay for the label and bottle," Josh looked at the remaining liquid. "Not that I'm going to stop," He took another sip. "So, before you became Aquaman, what did you do?" Jim asked with a smirk. Josh scoffed at that. "I'm not Aquaman. No legs, no trident, and I'm certainly not king of anything." "You swim fast, you're strong, all you really need is the ability to talk to fish!" Jim insisted. "Whales and dolphins," Josh said quietly as he stared into his drink. "What? You're kidding!" Jim said. "My pod can touch a whale or dolphin and share thoughts and emotions," Josh admitted. "I fucking knew it! You are Aquaman!" Jim exclaimed. Josh rolled his eyes and shotgunned the rest of his drink, then poured himself and Jim another glass. "I was just a regular guy," Josh said. "I was going on vacation a few months ago when..." he fell silent as he remembered the plane crash. "When what?" Jim pressed. "Our plane went down. Sarah, Jenna, and Manami were passengers too. We should be dead twice over. Everyone on the plane died but us, and then we ran out of water..." he stopped again and drank. "Damn," Jim said quietly, putting two and two together. "Was it that crash between Hong Kong and Fiji? They never found anyone else." The merman nodded. "Well, long story short, one pod found us. Now I'm this," Josh motioned to himself. "What's it, you know, feel like?" Jim asked. Josh stared into his drink for a moment, looking for words and finding none. He was still out of sorts, and tried to solve it by draining his glass and pouring another drink. "There's so many parts of all this," he grew quiet. "I'm sorry if I'm getting too personal," Jim apologized. He looked over Josh, and it seemed like the merman looked rattled, vulnerable, rather than some mythical archetype. It made him more human, at least to Jim. "It's... it's alright," Josh said after a while. "You've never killed anyone before," Jim stated as he appraised him. Josh started and looked up at Jim. "No," he took another drink. "It's not going to get easier, and you won't forget the faces of the men you killed, but you have to try to think about it rationally," Jim said. "It was you or them. You protected the people you care about. If it feels bad, that means that you're not a monster, but you can't let it cripple you." "Yeah, I get it," Josh answered. He looked past Jim, out toward the deck. Jim turned and followed Josh's line of sight. Jenna was sitting in the deck chairs and talking with Hailey. Manami sat in another chair looking straight at Josh. "You seem to have a good thing going," Jim observed quietly. "I do. My pod mates mean more to me than..." He trailed off, fighting to hold his emotions back. "She's worried about you," Jim observed, tilting his head towards Manami. "I worry about her. She lost her sister in the crash. I never want anything bad to happen to her or our baby, but then all this happened. What kind of husband am I if I let her get kidnapped?" Josh asked. "You're the kind of husband who swam for days and attacked a yacht full of armed men for her," Jim answered. "I wasn't around when Hailey got wounded, they did let me leave my unit to go to the hospital and stay with her, though. I remember sitting next to her bed, kicking myself, thinking that I'd failed to protect her." "You were both in the army, right? You were with your unit," Josh said. "Unless you were in the same unit, you couldn't possibly have done anything about it." "Oh yeah, she was in Helmand, I was off in Kabul securing some Afghan government agency meetings," Jim sighed. "I know there was nothing I could have done, but it didn't matter. I felt like shit anyway." "So how did you get over it?" Josh asked. "Oh, you don't," Jim drank the rest of his cognac and smirked at Josh. "You're gonna feel like shit for a while. Over both the kidnapping and killing. You just have to embrace the suck, be there for her, and keep going." "That was totally unhelpful," Josh said ruefully as he refilled Jim's glass. "Would you rather I blow smoke up your ass?" Jim asked. "No," Josh answered. "I appreciate that." "You drunk yet?" Jim asked. "Starting to feel it," Josh said as he blinked. "Though not as bad as I remember from being human. You want to ask me some specific questions before I'm too far gone?" Jim drained his drink in one shot. "I'll still have a dick when I change into a merman, right?" he asked jokingly. "I mean, I can't see anything when I look at you, so before I pass the point of no return..." Josh looked at him, with as serious a face as he could muster. "Would it matter if I told you 'no'?" he asked. Jim had a look of shock on his face. "You're shitting me!" he exclaimed. Josh tried to keep up his serious expression. He failed miserably and burst out laughing. "Don't fuck with me like that, man!" Jim started laughing too. "Well, of all the damn questions, you ask that!" Josh retorted. "So answer it!" Jim insisted, slurring his words as the alcohol started affecting him. He filled his glass from the bottle again and began to take a drink. Josh smiled as he watched Jim. "It's hidden, but when it comes out, it's a foot long," he said under his breath with just a hint of bragging before taking another sip. Jim did a spit take, spilling expensive cognac on the already-ruined carpet and himself. Josh laughed as Jim looked at him in shock. "What are they doing in there?" Manami asked on the deck as she watched her mate and Jim drink and talk. "Jim's favorite method of getting to know someone is to drink with them," Hailey said. "If Josh hadn't gone to the bar, Jim would have. Is that okay?" "I guess," Manami pouted. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Jenna asked as she put her hand on her pod mate's tail. "We've been rescued, we'll be home soon, and we've made new friends." "I..." She looked at Josh as he explained more of merman life to Jim. "We almost... he almost... died. Why is he acting like he doesn't care?" "Maybe he thinks he's protecting us. Why don't you go over there and talk to him?" Jenna gently suggested. Manami didn't answer, she just folded her arms and looked down at her tail and fluke stretched across the deck in front of her. "I don't know," she said. "He does care. I could tell that he felt guilty before he started drinking," Jenna said, trying to console her pod mate. "He almost threw his life away," Manami replied. "Doesn't he understand how much we worry?" "I know. The mer bonds are so powerful..." Jenna trailed off. "But his instincts are to protect us first." "Then why didn't he kill Mahmoud?" Manami asked. "He was going to spare him, wasn't he?" "Probably," Jenna admitted. "But would you want him to just kill someone in cold blood?" "Look, I'm not an expert on your mer bonds, but I have been in a relationship for a long time," Hailey joined in. "Talk to him. Don't hold your feelings in." "Maybe when we get back home, you can go off with Josh alone for a while and work it out," Jenna suggested. "Okay, that sounds nice," Manami finally agreed. She went back to watching Josh and Jim drink together until Pierro brought lunch up from the galley as the yacht continued it's voyage back to the atoll. "I can almost smell the atoll," Jenna sighed in relief. The pods had spent the last day-plus since Jim and Josh had raided the bar teaching the new recruits about mer life. Giving them information about their abilities and how long it should take to change each of them once they got to the atoll. "How?" Ann said from the hot tub. "I just have this feeling. Maybe we're linked to the place, somehow?" Jenna said. "That's a question for the mer scientists," Janice said. "We certainly don't know everything about how siren cells work. Maybe the fact that you spent so much time there as you changed somehow linked you to the atoll." "Land ho!" Jim yelled. He appeared at the back of the sun deck where his pod had been enjoying the upper hot tub. "I've always wanted to say that! There are palm trees on the horizon!" he told them. "Home," Josh sighed. Jenna and Manami leaned into him. "Why don't you three swim the rest of the way?" Jaclyn suggested. "Are you sure you don't need us here for the rest of the afternoon?" Josh asked. "Sarah's been alone for too long, go," Janice said. "It's pretty obvious you need her too." Josh nodded. Jenna and Manami moved to the port side gunwale, levered themselves up and swung their tails to sit with them hanging over the side. Josh joined them. Before he jumped, he looked back to Brian and his pod, and nodded in thanks. Brian nodded back. He jumped, and his podmates followed him. The embrace of the warm ocean invigorated them and filled their mer senses with information again. [Let's go. Josh, Manami and I will draft off you.] Jenna said. Josh kicked hard, powering up to nearly 30 knots, passing the yacht. [Sarah, can you hear me? We're just about home.] [Josh? I knew it!] Sarah's mental voice replied. [Is everyone else-] [We're here, my love.] Manami sent back. [We're about 30 minutes out, I think.] Jenna sent. [Are you three okay?] Sarah tried to control herself. [Yes, my bashert.] Josh answered her. [We even have people for three more pods with us.] [Is Mahmoud...?] she asked. [Dead, but not by our hand. It's a long story. How have you been?] Josh answered. [Miserable. You three aren't allowed to leave my sight again.] she chided, half kidding. [We won't. We've missed you too. How is Trevor?] Jenna asked. [Healing.] Sarah confirmed. [He and Rose miss Kate and Ann though.] [They're still on the yacht with their parents' pod. There's some business that needs to be settled, and the new proto pods can't swim their way in, of course.] Jenna said. [How did you do it?] Sarah asked. [Did Hailey and Madhuri help?] [That's another long story.] Jenna said. [We'll be there soon.] [Hurry up, I need you.] Sarah urged them on. [Think we can speed up a bit?] Josh asked. [Punch it, Chewie.] Jenna said. [Absolutely.] Manami agreed. Josh accelerated, keeping tabs on Jenna and especially Manami, making sure they wouldn't feel too stressed as they sped through the water. Sarah surfaced in the cave and made her way out of the pool and over to the discarded tools from the survival belts. She picked up the signal mirror and checked her face. She realized with a scoff and a shake of her head how silly it was. They'd love her no matter what, and it wasn't like she had makeup or anything. She laughed, the anticipation of the return of her pod was making her giddy. She already felt the comfort and love of the bonds they shared returning as they got nearer, filling the hole that had opened in her heart. Sarah took a moment to look at herself. She did it so infrequently that she still marveled at her own youthened, enhanced face. "No wonder mermaids are always looking into mirrors in old paintings," she said. Tossing the implement down into the sand again, she turned and dove back into the water and swam through the tunnels, she wanted to be at the entrance of the lagoon to greet her pod. Josh, Sarah, and Manami could feel Sarah's signal as they approached. They honed in on her as she circled over the drop off. She swam out and met them, crashed into Josh and wrapped herself around him as they spun in the water. Jenna and Manami hugged her and Josh, each of them sharing rapid fire kisses with Sarah as she welcomed them home. "We missed you so much," Manami said. "I'm so sorry I attacked them." "We're never leaving each other again," Sarah said. "I couldn't bear it." The initial frantic excitement wearing off, and the symphony of their mer senses filled with each other's signals, the pod held each other, hanging in the water feeling each other's presence. Sarah kissed Josh deeply, then pulled back with lidded eyes, her tail's luminescence beginning to flash in silver, blue, and pink, the colors of her pod mates. Her mates' tails began to flash as well as they became aroused in response. "I hope they weren't expecting us to help with the yacht when it got here," Jenna said. "Not happening," Sarah declared. Josh opened his vent, and his member entered Sarah as they each groaned together. He kicked his tail to swim himself and Sarah, with Jenna and Manami alongside, into the lagoon. Reaching the sea grass plain, where their pod had made love so many times, Josh hovered vertically so Jenna and Manami could take their places at his pelvic fins. Sarah luxuriated as Josh thrust in and out of her. All of her fear and sadness at the thought of being without her pod were gone. The love, the bliss she felt when her mer bonds first completed during her change were all back, their lack for almost a week proving the adage that absence made the heart grow fonder. "I, love, you!" she cried as her first orgasm caused her to squeeze down on Josh inside her and release her milk. Manami and Jenna orgasmed soon after, adding their milk to the growing cloud. Josh felt each of the mermaids build toward orgasm a second time. He forced himself to hold off his own peak until they came again. Growling, he held Sarah's waist and thrust in fully as he climaxed into his mate. "I missed this so much," Sarah sighed, her eyes closed, she laid her head against Josh's chest. She pressed herself into him along her full length as if she were trying to merge with him. "Yeah," Josh agreed. "We're not done yet," Manami insisted, a needy look in her eyes. "Not even close," Jenna agreed. "Of course not," Sarah said as she backed off from Josh slowly, enjoying the feeling of him inside her as he slid out. "Go ahead," she said as she backed away from him to let one of her sister wives have their turn. Manami moved in, kissing Sarah before wrapping her tail around Josh and meeting his thrust. Sarah was about to move to Josh's pelvic fin when Jenna intercepted her. "Allow me," Jenna cooed as her hand moved to Sarah's vent and slid into her as she sucked on Sarah's nipple. "OOOOOHHHHH!" Sarah's eyes bulged and she made an unintelligible moan as a result of Jenna's surprise attack. "Jenna, you, oh G-d," she babbled as her pod mate pumped her hand in and out of Sarah's vent. "We missed you so much," her pink-tailed lover whispered lustily as she felt Sarah clench around her fingers. "I wouldn't count on getting any rest for a while. Once Manami gets done with Josh, she'll be over to pick up where I leave off." "Oh, shit, AHHHHH!" was Sarah's only response as she orgasmed again. The pod continued making love for hours. They celebrated their reunion and renewal of their bonds in their longest continuous lovemaking since Sarah's change. By the time they exhausted themselves and fell asleep, the sun was beginning to touch the western horizon. Two hours after Josh's pod went over the side, the Alnasl dropped anchor in nearly the same spot it had been in the previous week. Janice finally let herself relax a little bit as the anchor set and her daughters jumped overboard to find their pod mates. Frederick returned from operating the anchor, and she turned to address him with Jason, Elizabeth, Pierro, Jim, and Hailey surrounding her. "We're going to head into the atoll for the night. As nice as the yacht is, we want to be in the water, and I want to see my other daughter," she said. "Tomorrow, we'll move your pods onto the atoll and prepare to change Jason and his girls. We're going to stagger everything so everyone bonds with whom they're expecting to bond." "I think I'll make a special dinner for our new pods tonight. It'll be my last meal, so to speak," Pierro said. "Are you sure we can't convince you to stay?" "Thank you, but as delicious as that sounds, we'll pass," Jaclyn said. "Will you be okay on the ship with the crew here?" "The crew isn't going anywhere," Elizabeth promised. "At least not until we get off the boat." "And you-" Janice turned to Fredrick. "We have means of finding things out. If you go back on your word, you'd better move far away from water." "I promise, I will free the other enslaved girls and send them home with an appropriately large payment for each of them," Frederick said. "Good, because if you don't, we'll find you," Janice threatened him. She turned to the soon-to-be mers. "Enjoy your dinner. We'll see you on the western beach with the raft tomorrow morning. Pack light." Janice and her pod ambled down to the transom on the stern of the ship and slipped into the water, swimming into the atoll. "Did you hear that Elizabeth? You, Madhuri, and Jason get to be mers tomorrow," Hailey smiled. "Eh, I was a guy four days ago," Elizabeth shrugged. "How hard can it be to change into a mermaid?" she smiled and hugged Jason. "Sometimes your mannerisms are completely feminine, and sometimes, like that shrug, I see Ben come through," Hailey shook her head. "It blows my mind." "My personality didn't get wiped out, thank goodness. I've still got 44 years as a guy in my head," she tapped her temple. "Well, I'd better get cooking. Abbie and Marie are prepping in the kitchen, I don't want to leave them alone," Pierro excused himself. "Where are Aluna and Indira?" Elizabeth asked Jim. "Relaxing in the hot tub upstairs," Jim said. "After all they've been through, they deserve some time to just do nothing." "Amen to that," Elizabeth agreed. "Are you two going to join them before dinner?" "Sounds good. What do you think, Hailes?" Jim asked. "I think we should set the table, you know, be helpful," Hailey declared as she pulled on JIm's arm. "Mermaids are in charge, right Daga?" Elizabeth said as they left. "She was always in charge anyway," Jim said as he let his girlfriend pull him along with a smile. "Damn right I am!" Hailey said before opening the door and heading down to the crew deck and galley. Brian and his pod entered the lagoon. Their mer senses detected Josh's pod to the northeast, and Trevor's pod in the central grotto. [Is it weird that I'm happy that our daughters are all having sex?] Jaclyn asked. [They're mermaids in love, nothing wrong with that.] Julie said. [Wait until you have daughters.] Jaclyn replied. [They're always your little girl. Even if they were a boy until a few months ago.] Janice decided to take the hint her mer senses were giving her, and tackled Julie from behind as the feelings of arousal from the other pods overcame her. They kissed as they sank to the bottom. Jaclyn followed suit by wrapping her tail around Brian and kissing him, moaning as he opened his vent and entered her. [So much for getting to the grotto before we started.] Julie sent, "Oh, yes," she groaned out loud as Janice used her hand to bring her to climax. "For the main course, steak au poivre and smashed potatoes, with asparagus!" Pierro served the plates with a flourish. He'd raided the freezer that would have normally supplied Prince Mahmoud's dinners. Filet mignon wasn't normally on the menu for anyone else on the boat but Prince Mahmoud, Captain Omar, and Fredrick. "Um, what's this sauce?" Andre asked. "I deglaze the pan for the steak with cognac and heavy cream, then add some pepper and let it reduce," Pierro said. "It's delicious!" Hailey exclaimed as she chewed the meat. "It's going to be all seafood starting tomorrow," Jason said. "So chew slowly." "I'm looking forward to not being cooped up on the ship anymore," Abbie said. "Agreed!" Aluna replied. "The fact that the mers caught us in only a few days is amazing. I can't wait to have the freedom to explore the whole ocean!" "Let's just start with the atoll, okay?" Indira asked. "Very well, I can start with that." She smiled at her future pod mate. "My back itches," Madhuri said as she rubbed back and forth against the tall back of her chair. She reached behind her back and undid the strap of the bra she'd borrowed from Hailey to relieve the itching and discomfort. "Let me see," Jason said as he lifted the back of her shirt. "Getting forward, are we?" Madhuri teased him. "You're the one who undid your bra," he replied "You have two very faint red patches down either side of your spine," he ran his finger down each of them. "Oh, that feels nice!" She shivered. "I guess we're starting to get our gills." Everyone around the table looked at each other. Until now, even with Ben becoming Elizabeth, their changes had been confined to strictly human features. This was the first change that heralded their shift in species. "Well, we knew what we were signing up for," Pierro said. "What the mers offer seems very compelling." "I can't wait to swim with dolphins," Marie said. She put her hand on Pierro's. "I also can't wait to feel mer bonding for myself. They seemed so attached to each other." "The bits that we've felt have been... fun," Jason smiled. "I bet," Jim said. "Everybody finish your steaks before they get cold!" Pierro insisted. "I made gelato for dessert!" After dinner, the members of the security team sat around the table, enjoying one last evening at the end of the job. "I will say boss, you are much easier on the eyes than you used to be," Andre said as he leered at Elizabeth. "I'm spoken for, and you're drunk ya Rooskie bastard," Elizabeth teased back. "You trying to move in on my girl?" Jason said, pretending to be offended. "You know, if you want, you could ask for some mermaid milk tomorrow and we'd make you easier on the eyes." "Ha! Mermaid milk or not I'd still take you one on one. You'd be the new girl," Andre said before taking another shot of the vodka they'd liberated from the bar in the parlor. "Unlikely," Jason folded his arms, his new physique bulging as he contracted his biceps and pecs. Madhuri and Elizabeth smiled appreciatively at his display. "Anyway, I'll spare you the humiliation and leave tomorrow on the boat," Andre backed off. "Thanks," Jason laughed. "Oh, remember that job with the Swiss banker who wanted us to guard his cat?" Marco asked. "Ha! That fool wanted Daga to feed that cat from her own mouth," Jason said. "He was such a creep," Hailey said. "Why did we take that job?" "He paid us a ton of money, that's why," Elizabeth said. "I won't miss guarding rich ponces just to get paid." "Me neither," Jim agreed. "We had some fun too," Elizabeth said. "Monte Carlo..." she said wistfully. "That heiress loved you, I mean, Ben," Jim remembered. "She's hotter than that heiress now," Hailey said. "Thanks Daga," Elizabeth replied with a smile. "I still remember that night. She was, so very appreciative of our protection," she winked at Jason. "Well, hopefully the mermaid chapter of our lives will be just as interesting," Hailey said as she drained her glass of wine. "With less gunfire, hopefully," Jason added. Early the next morning Jason and Elizabeth helped Madhuri load several small waterproof containers full of medical supplies, mostly instruments like scissors and scalpels. "Jim, Daga and Marco are getting the launch ready," said Aluna as she and Indira came on deck. "I feel like we should have packed, but we don't have much, and it's not like we'll need clothes." "You should bring her picture!" Abbie said as she exited the cabin. "It's not weird, it's sweet." "Are you absolutely certain?" Pierro asked. He carried his favorite picture of him and Angela. "I don't even know how it will survive living on the atoll." "These containers are waterproof. You can keep it in one of them," Madhuri offered. "Please bring the picture. She was important to you! We would never ask you to give up her memory," Marie insisted. "Thank you," Pierro relaxed and handed the picture to Madhuri, who slipped it into one of the medical containers. Andre arrived, with Fredrick and Omar in tow to see them off. "You're really doing this, boss?" Andre asked as the launch arrived at the transom. "Jason, Madhuri and I are committed, and it looks like everyone else is too," Elizabeth said. She noticed that Omar and Fredrick had come to see them off. "Hello gentlemen." Omar looked distinctly uncomfortable as he looked at the newly changed woman. "I, ah, just wanted to wish you all well," he said uncomfortably. "This is still a little strange for me too, captain," Elizabeth said. "Thank you for seeing us off." "I imagine so. I only hope that you all find happiness," he smiled. "Will you be okay with just Fredrick, Marco, and Andre to keep the crewmen in line?" "It won't be easy, I imagine we're in for a sleepless month, but after being paralyzed, beaten up, scared half to death, and some of them getting killed, they seem sufficiently chastened," he commented. "I wanted to give you my best too," Frederick said. "You just make sure to do everything you promised Janice you would do," Elizabeth admonished him. "I said I would do it, and I'll do it," Frederick insisted. "I will make sure he does it," Omar said. "If nothing else, you are a man of honor, captain. Thank you," Madhuri said as she loaded the containers onto the launch. Each of the people going ashore joined Marco on the smaller vessel. Andre stepped forward. "I suppose this is where we say goodbye." He looked like he was actually getting emotional. "Thanks for everything Andre. You keep Marco out of trouble," Elizabeth said. "It's been an honor," the rest of the team nodded. "Dasvidaniya." He waived, just barely holding back tears as the launch pulled away. The launch motored into the lagoon towards the campsite. The former captives took in the beauty of the island and luxuriated in the warm sun and breeze that greeted them in their new freedom. Halfway across the lagoon, they picked up an escort of mermaids, they swam alongside the launch, leaping and spinning spectacularly, their hair whipping around and their tails shimmering in the sun as they welcomed the new residents of the atoll. Josh and Brian joined them. They didn't spin in the air when they leapt, but they did wave to the passengers when they jumped out of the water. All too soon, the launch stopped a few feet from the beach. Aluna, Indira, Abbie, and Marie jumped into the water and waded ashore, and Madhuri stacked her floating, waterproof containers and pushed them onto the sand with Pierro's help. "It's been, how you say, 'real'," Marco sighed, looking at his teammates. "We'll make sure the ship gets home okay." "Thank you. Are you sure you don't want to stay? You might not get this chance again," Jim asked. "Eh, someone has to keep Andre from drinking himself to death," he shrugged. "You and Daga just fill this place with babies, okay? Make all this worth it." "I don't know about that," Hailey laughed. "But we'll be fine. Thank you Marco." Each of the team members hugged and said goodbye before wading ashore. Once the boat was empty, Marco started the engine, gave one last salute to the team, and motored away, tears in his eyes. The mers floated deep in the waters of the lagoon, watching the launch speed back towards the yacht. "I'll make sure it leaves," Josh offered. "Brian and Trevor should wait with you, out of sight," Sarah said. "Make sure they leave immediately." "I agree," Janice said. "The mermaids will go to the beach and greet our new residents, we'll also give Jason's pod their third feeding, and Jim's their first." "I'll get to work making headbands and tiaras," Rose offered. "We need ten total, three for mermen, seven for mermaids... It shouldn't take me too long," she figured. "See you there," Janice agreed, and the mers split up. [It's going to get awfully crowded once they're all changed.] Jaclyn sent to Janice. [Now you think of that?] Janice asked sarcastically. [Seriously, we'll fill up the cave and the grotto when we're done. To say nothing of the stress we might put on the ecosystem to feed all of us, especially as years go by and everyone has kids, and grandkids.] Jaclyn fretted. [We can talk about it with Rose, later. Let's put on a happy face and welcome these people to the first day of the rest of their lives.] Janice smiled. Back on the beach, the mers-to-be watched the launch motor away. As it got smaller and the engine noise faded into the distance, the relative quiet of the atoll took over. The breeze in the trees, the quiet lapping of the waters of the lagoon, and the warmth of the tropical sun all drove home where they were, and what they'd agreed to. "Well, we've done it now," Hailey sighed. "No going back." "So where do I plug in my hair dryer?" Madhuri asked in jest, the soft chuckling of a few of the other people was her only answer. She set about moving her containers towards the raft. Even with its caved-in canopy, it was the only place she could see to store things. The mermaids, minus Rose, emerged from the water to greet the new residents of the atoll. Janice ambled up the beach as the humans paused and looked to her. "Welcome to your new home everyone. I know you're excited, and probably a little scared, but it will all be worth it," she said. Noticing the containers, she furrowed her brows. "What are those?" "I packed some medical instruments. Is there anywhere else to put them?" Madhuri asked. "As a matter of fact, yes," Sarah said. "We have a cave that we can swim to outside of the lagoon. It also has an opening in the ceiling on the island, and would be perfect for those," She turned to her pod mate, "Jenna, could you show them where the mouth of the cave is? Kate, Ann, could you go to the cave and take the containers?" "But we just got here, and now we have to swim all the way around to the cave?" Ann complained. "Please?" Janice asked. "Okay," Kate agreed sullenly as she and her sister turned to the water and swam off. "Oh, Madhuri, we need you to stay here," Janice said as she saw Madhuri pick up a container and started walking after Jenna, Pierro, and Jim. "It's time for your pod's third feeding," she smiled. "Really?" she asked as she handed the container she was carrying to Indira. "Hopefully we can fully change you three tonight," Janice confirmed. Elizabeth sat next to Manami, watching Madhuri feed from Sarah and Jason look at Jaclyn awkwardly. "Go ahead Jason. It's my last order as your boss. Or first as your pod mate, take your pick," she said before settling down and drinking from Manami. "Come on," Jaclyn told him. "You've already had my milk once," she said with a knowing smile. He just nodded and sat down, then leaned in to begin drinking. "We should tell Pat what happened," Julie said to Janice as they watched everyone feed. "You're right, but I want to get everyone settled and changed first," Janice agreed. Josh, Brian, and Trevor exited the lagoon and floated beneath the Alnasl. Each looked at the ship impatiently, willing the anchor to rise to the surface and the engines to start. "Last time I saw that hull, I almost died," Trevor said bitterly. "Hey, you went after a bunch of guys on your own to save the mermaids. That took guts, man," Josh reminded him. "Didn't work, did it?" Trevor scowled. "I couldn't even help with the rescue because I was stupid." "Josh let Mahmoud shoot him four times. That makes him four times as stupid as you." Brian made a joke to lighten Trevor's mood. "Do you need to talk to anyone?" Josh asked. "I'm fine. Who is there to talk to anyway? None of the newbies are therapists," Trevor testily replied "No, but one is a doctor, and several were in combat, Hailey was even wounded. Just think about it," Brian advised him. The three mermen hung in the water, waiting for the yacht to finish recovering the launch, until they heard the sound of a mechanical winch from the direction of the yacht's bow. "There it goes. Good riddance," Trevor growled. [Do we say anything else?] Josh asked Brian. [The mer bonds might help. Give him time for now.] Brian replied. The anchor finished retracting, and after a few minutes, the engines roared to life, and the ship turned to the southeast, away from the atoll. The mermen finally let themselves relax. [Let's just keep tabs on it with our senses.] Brian suggested. [We don't need to be out here, but we should stay in the water.] [Agreed.] Josh sent back as he turned away and swam back into the lagoon. Rose concentrated on the tip of a knife in front of her, using it as the focus to polymerize the metals in the seawater. The tiaras were surprisingly easy to create, the folded pattern on them that they knew mimicked the structure of their mer organs seemed to flow from the tip of her knife easily. "Three headbands, and I need three more tiaras," she said to herself. She took a break and stretched. The water around her could become depleted if she created large numbers of objects, so she needed to wait for it to circulate and replenish the trace metals and minerals that she polymerized. While she waited, Trevor entered the grotto and hugged her. She could feel him out of sorts. "How's the shoulder?" she asked tentatively. "It just hurts a little when I raise my arm above it. All things considered, I guess I'm lucky," he said. "And everything else?" Rose asked. "Getting shot sucked, obviously," Trevor said. "Seeing the yacht that belonged to the guy that shot me and took your sisters, back here again, just... I don't know. I felt like it was about to happen all over again," he tried to explain his feelings to Rose. "I'm here for you, and so are Kate and Ann. We're all back where we belong, that bastard is dead, and soon we'll have even more help to stop people that want to hurt us." She nodded to the stack of headbands and tiaras she'd made. "Yeah, I know." Trevor held Rose just a little bit tighter. "Thank you for taking care of me." "Of course. I love you, that's what people who love each other do," she replied with a twinkle in her eye. She wriggled out of his grip and took up her knife again. "Let me make these last three tiaras, and we'll take them to the beach. Honestly, it's been a while since we made new mers. I'm kinda looking forward to it." "The making, or what happens afterward?" Trevor asked. "When have we ever needed an excuse to do that?" She smiled impishly. "Never," He smiled as he watched his beautiful, amazing pod mate continue making the tiaras for the new pods. Jenna led the small group through the brush to the small mouth of the cave. She was actually able to find the path she'd originally made on her search for Josh and Manami a couple of months before, and Jim helped flatten any new brush that had sprung up in the meantime. "Here it is," she said upon recognizing the raised hill. "The entrance should be around to the west side... here!" she found the overhang, and with Jim's help, was able to move the palm tree that had fallen in front of the mouth the night of their first storm just enough to get the boxes through. "Hello!" she called into the opening. "Hey," came Ann's voice. "Send it down." "How big is this cave?" Jim asked as he handed Jenna the containers, and she handed them to Kate and Ann in turn. "Big enough for two pods to be up on dry land, and a third pod in the pool," Jenna answered. "Not a ton of room, but it's the only cave with an air pocket that we've found." "That's all there is!" Abbie said after the sixth container had gone down the mouth of the cave. "We're done, thanks girls," Jenna called back down into the cave. Her only answer was the sound of water splashing as the two mermaids exited through the tunnel. Jason sat in water just above his waist, his arms around Madhuri, who leaned into him, her bare skin against him, while she held Elizabeth's head against her chest. They'd finished feeding, and now waited as their changes continued. Astonishingly, the mers had told them that they'd likely have gills in a few hours. Rose and Trevor arrived at the beach and emerged next to the relaxing proto pod. "Hi there. We brought presents," she said as she and Trevor raised the tiaras and headbands dangling off of their arms. "Perfect timing," Jaclyn said. "Everybody should put theirs on," she announced to the assorted humans. "You might not have married a prince Abbie, but you get a tiara after all," Marie said. "They're beautiful," Abbie whispered in awe as she took one from Rose and placed it upon her head. "How do you make them?" "It's a little trick I do," Rose gave her a mercurial smile. After the mers-to-be had donned their headpieces, and the group transporting the medical instruments to the cave returned, it was time for Jim's pod to take their first feeding. "Jim and his girls should stay up near the raft while they feed," Rose advised. "Just to be safe, Jason's pod can stay in the water, and Pierro, would you, Abbie, and Marie like to go for a walk?" "I can show them where the spring is," Trevor offered. "Good idea!" Rose agreed. "Now, Hailey, when you drink, it's going to start healing your injuries within a minute or so. It's going to hurt, and you'll probably pass out for a while." "Okay," Hailey said nervously, though she was determined to follow through. "We'll be right here with you," Aluna said. Jim hugged his girlfriend and kissed her to reassure her. "Then let's begin," Jenna said as she salamandered up to the pod. Julie, Janice, and Rose approached as well, and Jim, Aluna, Hailey, and Indira began feeding. If you'd asked Hailey what she thought the end result of the job she and her team had embarked on five weeks ago, her turning into a mermaid wouldn't have occurred to her. Yet here she was, taking milk from Jenna that would start that process. She didn't feel any pain yet, even as she swore she could feel something beginning to move inside her. A few minutes after she finished drinking, a sharp pain shot through her abdomen. It felt like something was pushing her guts around, moving them to a new position. It was the siren cells restoring her small intestine to its original length. Another pain in her upper left back signaled the start of the growth of a new kidney. She curled up in a ball on her side and whimpered. Jim finished his feeding and hurried to lay down next to her and cradle her in his arms. Aluna and Indira joined them as soon as they finished. "It's okay babe, we're right here. I love you Hailes, you're the toughest person I know." Jim stroked her hair as he tried to soothe her. Her eyes were screwed shut, tears appearing at the corners. It felt like ants were crawling all over her back and belly as another pressure point developed beneath her hands. "Hngh!" she groaned. Her uterus, shredded by mortar shrapnel and removed by army surgeons, began to regrow from her cervix, and new fallopian tubes would fan out from the top and connect to the remnants of the old tissue and her regenerating ovaries. Hailey passed out as her healing continued. As this happened, Josh floated in his favorite spot over the sea grass plain. It was about 20 feet down, as near as he could figure to the place he'd first realized he was breathing underwater. It encompassed everything he loved about this atoll. The grass, the riotous colors of the fish as they darted in and out of coral as it stretched out from the edge of the plain to the west, and the peace he felt just hovering in the water, letting himself drink in the information about the world his mer senses fed him. He appreciated it even more now, after nearly dying, again, and thinking that he'd lost this bit of paradise. Thank you, he prayed. He then focused on feeling the ship move away from the atoll. It was beginning to reach the edge of his senses, and it hadn't deviated from its southeasterly course. It felt like a contaminant in the beautiful, natural rhythms of life on the atoll. Its movement away from the atoll meant he could feel the artificial electrical signals of the ship less and less. The rhythms of life: fish, coral polyps, the humans and other mers, became all that he sensed in the water. His mer senses might be settling down, but there was another disturbance in the water: himself. He felt unbalanced with his anger so near the surface. If he were honest, it had felt like that ever since the ship first arrived. Even now, he felt it lingering in his mind. Josh's anger focused on that ship. It rose up like a shadow and told him to sink the damned thing and drown everyone on it in retribution for the fear and hurt it had caused the people he loved the most. He was taken aback, again, at just how hateful his thoughts could become. The darkness inside was part of him, though. It wouldn't wash away, no matter how much it might worry him. An outright purge wasn't possible, but perhaps he could come to terms with it, control it, and focus it when he wanted to. He thought back to the moment he'd woken up on the beach after the kidnapping. Sarah had been right: he'd been afraid. The feeling he'd had when he thought of what those crewmen would do to his wives when they came up the stairs was also fear, and in both cases, he'd reacted to fear by becoming angry. He looked down and clenched his hands. He still felt the fear of losing his pod mates. People coming, taking them away, his unborn children lost forever. His anger flashed. Why did he react that way? What had Mahmoud said? That he'd rip his daughter out of Manami and put her corpse in a jar. He shivered at the memory of those words. When he heard them, he'd been dying on the deck, a failure, and his mates and his child would have paid the price for that failure. He felt absolute hatred in his heart. Who else was out there, willing to do just that if he failed again? They would never get the chance. He'd kill them all, go to war against anyone that approached the atoll. It would become a new Bermuda Triangle, where ships went to disappear because a sea monster lived there! As if his anger were weighing him down, he sank in the water, all the way down until he sat in the seagrass plain. He put his hands down, through the grass, and dug his fingers into the sand beneath in his seething hate. Josh stewed in that hatred. Fantasizing about watching other ships, belonging to other horrible people turning away when they heard the stories about their atoll. Then, as he visualized another ship turning away, he saw his family standing on the back deck. Not his pod, but the human family that had raised him. They were sailing away from the atoll, the monster he'd become. He saw his mother crying at the stories of the killing he'd done. It broke his heart, and made him turn his anger on himself for being such a terrible son. I'm a monster. He thought to himself. Was that what mermen were? He'd always had the idea that mermaids were the epitome of femine grace, embodiments of life and perfectly at home in the birthplace of life on Earth: the sea. But did that mean that mermen were the opposite? Were they the epitome of the merciless aspects of the sea? The sudden death that could, and did, occur at any moment, whether from predators or the environment? Trevor and Brian didn't seem like they had the same anger roiling in them that he did, though. Why? Maybe it was just him. Maybe his mates would be better off if he had died. Another, better man could have been their merman and protect and love them the way they deserved. In the depths of his despair, he looked up, questioning, why? Why had he survived the crash and found the raft and pulled the women into it? Why had the mers found them amidst the vast expanses of ocean, when all hope of rescue had been lost? He had no answer. The sun was almost directly overhead, and Josh could make out the rays of light scattering through the water as it made its way down to him. One tiny shaft in particular looked different from the others. It seemed to somehow wind its way through the deep water. This wasn't sunlight, the sun's rays didn't curve and snake through the water like this. As he looked at it, he could see that it was actually made up of five strands, twisted together, all going straight into his chest. It was the bonds, the visual representations of them that he saw through his enhanced senses with the gems Rose had made. Reaching out, he moved his hand around them gently. Feel our bonds, trust your heart, they don't lie. Sarah had said that to him on the beach the day they found out their baby was growing inside her. He focused on the bonds, and felt the love pour in. His wives and children, they were what he lived for, and he had to protect them. The dark part of him bubbled again, whispering into his soul, telling him that the power of his anger was the only way that he could keep his family safe. They don't have another merman. They have me. I have to be enough. He told himself. Sarah and Manami were pregnant with his children. If he'd died on the ship, it would have been as if he was pawning off his responsibility on someone else. But he couldn't be what he had to be if he couldn't control his own anger. Josh focused on his bonds to his pod again. There it was, they loved each other. It was pure, unadulterated affection moving between the members of his pod. It was everything people say they want from a partner, and they had it. How could he not do what was necessary to preserve this? The physical aspects of the transformation, as amazing as they were, paled in comparison to this feeling. I will be better. I choose to be better. He told himself. I am in control of me. He visualized the bonds flooding his body, helping him push his anger toward the back of his mind. He couldn't eliminate it, but he could control it. Rising off the ocean floor, he felt somehow lighter. The warmth of the water and the light of the sun mirrored the feeling in his heart. He stretched out his senses once again, and reconnected to the peace of the sea around him. This was one his favorite parts of being a merman. The electrical signals of the life around him and the pressure of the currents of the lagoon stimulated different parts of his senses. He welcomed those sensations in and let them flood his consciousness. The TVs in his head that he'd described to Sarah as they lay together on the beach were totally dormant. Without his anger overwhelming him, there was nothing polluting his connection to the sea. The ocean welcomed him and the other mers as its own creatures, reborn to live as a new part of the rhythm that had carried on for billions of years. Is this what it felt like to touch the divine, to understand the connectedness of the totality of creation? He had no way to know, but, was he even supposed to? Within the rhythm, he felt two mermaids approaching from the entrance to the lagoon. They were familiar, though they weren't the signals of his beloved pod mates, they were all at the campsite on the western beach. The two green-tailed mermaids accelerated towards him, they zipped by to his front and back, buffeting him. [Wake up old man!] Kate and Ann sent jokingly as they continued on towards the campsite. He came back into his own sense of self, becoming a separate drop instead of feeling integrated into the ocean. [Get off my lawn you kids!] he sent back with a smile. He could feel the rest of the mers, except for Brian, were at or near the campsite with the mers-to-be. They'd call for him if they needed him, he was happy right where he was. Hailey slowly came back to consciousness as the sun began to set in the western sky. Jim's hand gently stroked her back as she laid on her side in the sand. The sun felt warmer than it had when she'd fed and felt like it was hitting her from a different angle. She opened her eyes, then gingerly sat up to see her pod mates surrounding her. "How do you feel?" Aluna asked gently. "I feel... great!" She breathed deeply and smiled. "Better than I have in years," she lifted the bottom of her shirt, and saw, then felt, that the scarred area of skin across her abdomen was smoothing out. The scars from her injuries and surgery were less noticeable than they'd been before. "It'll take a couple more feedings to fully heal, but you're off to a good start," Janice said. Hailey turned and kissed Jim on the lips. Aluna and Indira hugged themselves to her. Their scars from being abused by Mahmoud had disappeared. "Thank you," Hailey said as she turned to the mermaids reclining on the beach nearby. "I feel like myself again." "My back's really itchy," Elizabeth complained as she sat up in front of Madhuri. Their pod had been sitting in the water for hours, feeling their changes continue from their third feeding. Madhuri pulled Elizabeth's sandy blonde hair aside, and saw two shallow crevices running down her back. They had short, pink fronds that retracted as they left the water. "Oh my... Jason, check me." She leaned forward. Jason moved her hair aside. "I don't know what I'm looking at, but..." He trailed off as he gently ran his fingers down one of the structures on Madhuri's back. She shivered at the pleasurable feelings his hand caused as they traced their way down her sensitive gills. Jenna salamandered into the water with Rose to check the new pod. "Those look like gills to me," she said brightly. "They sure do," Rose said. "I think we can change you tonight if you like," she offered. "What do you girls think?" Jason asked his pod mates. "I think I'd like to get this show on the road and not hold up anyone else's changes," Madhuri said. "Let's do it," Elizabeth agreed. "The sooner, the better." "Then we'll get started," Janice said as she approached. "Ladies, Trevor, it's time," she called to the other mers who were scattered along the beach among the humans. "Everyone strip. Those clothes won't do you any good anymore," Janice said as the mers approached. The proto-pod removed the last of their human clothing and tossed it to Jim and Hailey, who stood behind the mers. "Good luck guys," Hailey said, Breathing deeply herself as she realized that she'd never see her friends as humans again. The mers moved into the water, and Jim, Elizabeth, and Madhuri followed until it became too deep for them to walk. Three mermaids assisted one of the new pod members in swimming along the surface of the lagoon, it's waters tinged pink and orange by the sunset. The mers reached the center of the lagoon over the grotto that Josh's pod had changed in. "Your gills should automatically start working. If you feel like you need air, tap one of us on the shoulder and we can give you some," Janice said. Jenna surfaced next to her. "Josh and Brian are below, they'll meet us in the grotto." "Excellent," Janice said. "I didn't say this before, but, thank you for saving my life," Elizabeth said. "We were glad to do it," Jaclyn replied. The mers dove, pulling the new pod with them. None of the mers-to-be felt the need to ask for air on the way down, and soon they arrived at the grotto. Josh and Brian had cleared the rocks away from the entrance and awaited inside. "It's incredible," Madhuri said with a stream of bubbles. "Wait till you see it during the day," Manami replied. "So who are we changing first?" Janice asked. "We'll have Trevor stay out here to keep watch over whoever is waiting." Madhuri looked at her two lovers and slowly raised her hand. "I'll go," she burbled, her stomach doing backflips with nervousness. Manami and Jenna took her hand, leading her into the opening at the bottom of the grotto. She took a last, nervous look over her shoulder at Jason and Elizabeth before the two mermaids guided her to a horizontal position and pushed her through the opening into the grotto. She emerged into a darker space, scant light filtered through the fan coral above. She could just barely sense the presence of mers lining the outside of the grotto, and saw reflections of the dim light from their eyes. Rose approached her. "Remember to keep focus on what you want to be and what you want to look like. This is your change, we're here to provide siren cells and help you along." "Yes. I want an orange and black mottled tail, with yellow on my fringes," she said, locking in the vision of her mermaid self in her head. "Then drink, and receive your tail," Rose offered her breasts. Madhuri closed her eyes and began to drink from Rose. The power built in her, Rose's milk was extra potent because of her pregnancy, and she felt the concentration of the mers pressing in on her, willing her body towards her new form as they began to hum. She finished with Rose, who guided her over to Kate. "Do you wish to be one of us?" Kate asked. "Yes, with all my heart," she strained as the siren cells built in her system. "Then drink, and receive your tail," Madhuri fell on Kate's chest and drank deeply. She repeated the process with mermaids from Trevor and Brian's pods until reaching Brian himself. Her eyes went wide when he opened his vent. "It's alright," Rose said. "Jason will understand." Madhuri steeled herself and received Brian's contribution to her change before moving to Manami. The pressure, the energy was building so fast it felt like she could explode like an over-inflated balloon, but she held herself together while she fed from Josh's pod. She finished feeding from Josh, and felt a surge of power like an engine kicking over and roaring to life. She went stiff, her arms out to her sides and her head pointed straight up, the sound of the mers' humming filling her eardrums. She held her image of herself as a mermaid in her head as the transformation began. She felt her legs begin to knit together, and the doctor in her catalogued the anatomical changes as they happened. First her skin and other tissues on the insides of her legs merged, then her muscles began to reconfigure and her heels and tibias dissolved. She felt the urge to push down, and went with it, feeling her pelvis shift and more organs move around. Sharp cracks, followed by pain that announced more major skeletal changes. There go my femurs. she thought to herself as they broke, along with her tibias, into groups of multiple bones and stretched as she felt the urge to push again, feeling more abdominal organs shift downward and the new bones where her knees and ankles had been locking those joints together as her tail lengthened. She pushed again and her tail lengthened, and her toes and material from her fibulas shifted towards being the supports for the membrane of her flukes. Her mer organs finished forming, and she felt the first input from her mer senses. Madhuri felt webbing form between her fingers, and new sets of fins push out at her hips, knees, and elbows. Her tail's structure completed itself, and she felt a tingle as the color shifted from her human skin tone to bright orange and black mottles, and she gained yellow fringes on her flukes and fins. The tingling rush traveled up her human half and through her hair, gifting her skin and locks with hydrophobic structures. A great rush of energy left Madhuri as her change completed. Her tail curled up backwards over her head as she floated to a horizontal position. Her first cognizant thoughts after being released from her change were that she really liked the dappled pattern on the fan in front of her face. Then her brain caught up to where she was and what had happened. That's my tail! She thought excitedly. Straightening out vertically, she looked down at herself. Her thick, black hair had grown down to her butt, and below her waist was her mermaid tail, more than twice as long as her torso. She flexed the new and modified muscles for the first time, feeling their power as they rippled beneath her new skin. Rose smiled approvingly as she hugged the new mermaid. "Go show the others." Trevor meditated outside of the grotto. Elizabeth and Jason slept in a small clearing of sand below him, since the change could take hours. He sensed that things had gone well, and his senses were confirmed as he saw Madhuri emerge from the grotto in her new form. "Thank you for looking after them," she said. "Of course. How do you feel?" he asked. "It's beyond beautiful. I can't wait to share it with them." Madhuri moved to Elizabeth and gently shook her shoulder. "My brave warrior queen, your time has come," she said as Elizabeth's eyes opened. She couldn't see much in the dark water. Even the light of the full moon did little to illuminate the world 35 feet down for her still-human eyes, but she did hear Madhuri's new, crystal-clear underwater voice . "Is it done?" Elizabeth asked. "Yes, and now it's time to complete your journey," Madhuri answered. Her new, sparkling brown eyes mesmerized Elizabeth. "Did it hurt?" she asked as Madhuri guided her to the opening. It appeared to Elizabeth like a dark maw waiting to swallow her human self. "It's nothing you can't handle. I'll be right with you every step of the way," Madhuri said as she pushed her pod mate through. Jason woke up alone. Elizabeth had left him at some point in the night. He jumped up in a panic at being deep underwater, then remembered why he was here. He looked up and realized that he was being watched by three mermen surrounding him, floating vertically like silent sentries. "Your wives are waiting for you inside," Josh said with a tilt of his head towards the opening to the grotto. Early morning light illuminated the bottom of the lagoon. "It's never a good idea to keep your mermaids waiting," Trevor said. Jason nodded as he swam into the opening, unsure of what he'd find. What awaited him was Madhuri and Elizabeth, side-by-side, changed into the most beautiful mermaids he'd ever seen. Madhuri's orange, black, and yellow-fringed tail contrasted Elizabeth's new white tail with red fringes. The English mermaid's chest was larger than before, and her green eyes sparkled like the most brilliant emeralds as her sandy blonde hair floated around her like a halo. "Madhuri, Boss, you're..." he sputtered, awestruck, as he released a stream of bubbles. "You don't have to call me that, though we are in charge," Elizabeth said with a predatory grin. They guided him over to Rose to start his feedings. Jason's own pod mates would be the last he'd drink from. He went around to each mermaid, taking milk from them and moving on. He could feel their concentrated wills pushing in on him, guiding him towards his goal. At last, only Madhuri and Elizabeth were left. "Will you protect and love us and the children we make?" Madhuri asked. Jason blinked, Madhuri had never mentioned children. The possibility scared him, but not enough to turn down the love he felt coming from the mermaids before him. "I will," he said. "Then drink from me, and become ours," Madhuri said. Jason drank from Madhuri, then moved to Elizabeth before pausing. "I trusted you with my life countless times, now I'm trusting you with my heart as well. Come on Jee-Suk," she used his given name. "Complete our family." Jason fell onto her breast, taking her milk, then a dam broke inside him and he fell back, arms out, the change took him and he fought to hold the vision of himself as a merman in his head. Josh and the other mermen waited outside. He brought some grasses and oysters for them to have for breakfast while they waited. "How tough do you want to be on them when they're done?" Trevor asked. "At least as tough as we were with Josh," Brian said. "So not bad at all then," Josh cracked. "Two of them were military, they might expect something difficult." "I was in the Air Force!" Brian objected. "Was the actual military not an option?" Josh asked. "I didn't go humping hills with the grunts, but shit got tough sometimes," he crossed his arms, annoyed. "I'm sure, occasionally, there were only three-star hotels," Trevor retorted. Brian tried to be angry, but eventually a smile spread across his face. Josh and Trevor were getting better at talking shit. "Seriously though, my dad was an Air Police," Josh said in a conciliatory tone. "I know you were actual military." "So he was the enemy," Brian stated. "No bigger buzzkill than the APs busting me for speeding on base." "I'm sure you deserved it." Trevor arched an eyebrow. "Man I miss the car I had when I first got out of flight school." Brian shook his head. "'86 Buick Grand National. It was in great condition, and man did those guys in Mustangs not expect me to blow by them..." he remembered fondly. "Did Julie-" Josh stopped. They could feel that the change had completed, and Jason was done. Lust began to build in each of the mermen in preparation for the usual post-change sex. Brian looked at Josh, who held his hand out towards the opening into the grotto. "Oh, after you," Josh offered sarcastically. "You're learning," Brian said as a parting shot and swam forward, entering the grotto ahead of Trevor. Josh was about to follow when his three pod mates exited the grotto and tackled him. "Too many people in there," Jenna explained frantically as she wrapped her tail around her surprised mate and pawed at his vent. "Bring him out to play already!" she growled through clenched teeth. Josh obliged, opened his vent and entered Jenna, causing both of them to groan while Sarah and Manami settled onto his pelvic fins. Inside the grotto, Jason took in the sight of his black-fringed blue and red striped tail after he was released from his transformation. Almost immediately, he felt a blast of arousal crash into his brain. Looking around, two of the mermen had entered and gone straight to their pods, while the mermaids from Josh's pod exited as they ran out of space. Everyone's tail, including his own, lit up with color. Hands grabbed him and spun him around, before he could get his bearing, Elizabeth kissed him fiercely, practically sticking her tongue down his throat. Madhuri pulled him away and kissed him in the same manner. "Fuck me," Elizabeth ordered. Jason wanted to do nothing else. He was painfully hard, but he hadn't released his vent. Pulling with every muscle he could, he eventually figured it out and his new, enlarged member shot straight out, bumping into Elizabeth just to the right of her vent. He adjusted and thrust forward, entering his mate. "Oh, yeah," Elizabeth moaned as Jason slowly filled her. This was better than the sex she'd had with him on the boat, and far more intense than anything she'd felt while she was Ben. Madhuri looked on, trying to figure out how to quench her desires while waiting her turn. Looking around, she saw that each pod's mermaids had their tails wrapped around their merman, and the mermaids positioned to the sides were having almost as much fun as the mermaid in the middle. She noticed that Jason's pelvic fins were vibrating, pressing her own vent against the fin, she smiled and moaned as the vibrations stimulated her, quickly bringing her to an orgasm just after Jason and Elizabeth had their first. On the beach, as dawn broke over the eastern horizon, Hailey woke up entwined with Jim, but someone else snuggled up against her back and had an arm around her waist. Indira slept on Jim's other side, so that narrowed it down to Aluna. Despite knowing that the other girls would join her pod, and that she shouldn't be jealous, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy whenever she'd seen Aluna or Indira hugging Jim. Now that she'd had her first feeding and spent hours letting it work through her system, she started to feel a real connection to her two female pod mates. If not love, then, friendship. Okay, she thought as she looked down at Aluna's ebony arm around her waist, a very close friendship, but it was a start. Jim stirred, then opened his eyes. "Good morning," Hailey said to him. "Good morning beautiful." He leaned down and kissed her head as she laid it on his chest. "Am I not beautiful?" Aluna said playfully, her eyes still closed. "Of course you are," Jim said. "I would have complimented you if I'd known you were awake." "I was just enjoying the feeling of being close to Hailey," Aluna said as she squeezed Hailey tighter and moved slightly to rub her body against Hailey's back. "It feels nice to be close to you too," Hailey said, only slightly embarrassed at the feeling of another woman spooning her like Jim would have. "How do you think it went last night?" Jim asked. "Hopefully we'll find out today," Hailey said. "I really hate to break this up, but I need to..." Jim said. "Of course," Aluna said as she and Hailey rolled back a bit to let Jim maneuver. He cradled Indira and gently set her down on her back. "Bring some food, would you please?" Aluna asked. Jim nodded and walked off. Indira moaned in complaint. "Hey, don't leave me," she grumbled. "No one is leaving you," Aluna said as if she were speaking to a child. "Scoot over to us and we will keep you warm." Indira shimmied herself across the sand, snuggled up to Hailey, and put her head in the crook of her neck as Hailey hugged the smaller woman to her chest and Jim moved off to do his business away from the campsite. "Leaving me alone on the cold sand like that was mean," Indira said with an exaggerated frown. "Oh please! You were right next to us this whole time," Aluna chided her. Hailey laid between the two women, smiling as she enjoyed the closeness of their forming bonds. "Do you think pod life is anything like this?" she asked. "I hope so, this is very nice," Indira replied sleepily. "Me too," Hailey admitted quietly. 30 feet down the beach, Marie stood and took a drink of water from the same canteen Josh's pod had used months ago. Pierro lay with a sleeping Abbie as he watched the sun rise. "I hope we get to drink today. If we're going to be mermaids, let's become mermaids already," Marie said softly. "We need to be patient," Pierro said. "I'm sure the mers know what they're doing." "True, but I want to bond with you and Abbie. There's so much magic here that we keep hearing about, and I want to be a part of it," she sighed. "That's perfectly understandable," Pierro agreed. "I'll get food, let her sleep," Marie smiled. Pierro nodded and put his head back down onto the sand. The sun rose higher in the sky, and Jim and Pierro's pods moved under the palm trees for shade by midday. "You look so much more relaxed," Abbie said to Aluna and Indira. "I am, and I feel better physically than I ever have," Indira agreed. The humans turned as they heard noise from the water. Madhuri erupted from the lapping waves and belly flopped onto the sand. Sputtering, she turned over and sat up, her new tail sparkling in the sunshine. Jason and Elizabeth slowed before hitting the edge of the water, so they were still stuck, but hadn't crashed and burned like their pod mate. Elizabeth stifled a giggle, looking at Madhuri's sand-covered body, her black, butt-length hair flipped over in front of her face. "Are you okay?" Jason asked, concerned. "Yes," Madhuri said, gathering and tossing her hair over her back again. "Just a little embarrassed." "Sorry, we should have told you how to transition to land. You came in a little too fast there," Jenna teased as she ambled up to her. The rest of the mers finished emerging from the water, a few of them bearing collection bags full of grasses and shellfish. "Oh my G-d! You're beautiful!" Hailey exclaimed as she and the other humans walked up to the newest mers. "Thanks Daga," Elizabeth said. She turned to Jenna. "How the bloody hell do we walk?" "Let me show you," she demonstrated, just as she had to Josh before, lifting her tail up with her fins and flukes, and push-pulling the muscles along the side of her tail to create the salamandering gait that the mers used on land. "This is certainly handy," Madhuri said as she practiced moving around on the beach. "Just dragging my tail around would have been rough." "So, once we all eat, we'll feed Jim and his girls again, and Pierro and his girls for the first time," Janice announced. Marie smiled and Abbie practically squealed in happiness. After lunch, the mermaids settled down to feed the humans. Jason took his girls for a swim to make sure no one from Pierro's pod accidentally bonded with them. Jim's pod sat with Jaclyn, Janice, Julie, and Rose and began feeling. Jenna, Manami, and Ann sat to feed Pierro, Abbie, and Marie. Abbie sat next to Jenna, and was about to drink, when a question popped into her head: "Jenna, how did you get the pink shimmer in your hair?" "I just included it in the image of the mermaid I wanted to be when I changed," she shrugged. "Are you thinking of changing your hair? It's very nice hair," she reached out and brushed Abbie's brunette locks. "Just thinking of adding a little variety." Abbie smiled enigmaticly. "Baby steps. Lie down and let me feed you." Jenna patted her lap. Abbie did as she was told, and felt the siren cells start working their way through her body as she fed. "The plan is to give you another dose after dinner," Sarah said as she looked on. "We'll probably change Jim's pod this evening after we feed you a third time." Jason, Elizabeth, and Madhuri sped around the lagoon, over the seagrass plain, turning west and streaking along the southern edge of the lagoon before turning north again and swimming above the grotto where they'd changed. Jason dove low, and buzzed the top of the grotto at full speed, thrilling at how fast he could move through the water. Elizabeth and Madhuri weren't quite as fast, but could still outswim any fish. He pulled up vertical in the water and turned to let them catch him. They hugged him once they reached him, taking a momentary rest. "No wonder the mers caught the ship so fast!" Madhuri exclaimed. "I'm not even tired," Elizabeth said. "We must have swum at least a couple of miles!" "I could get used to this," Jason relaxed as he held his two mates."Elizabeth, are you still...?" "Yes!" She smacked his shoulder. "It was all an accident!" "It turned out to be a wonderful accident," Madhuri added. "Now I get both of you." "Good," Jason said. "Brian told me that the mermen get together and practice hand-to-hand combat designed for mers. I'm kinda curious to see what changes they've made to account for these tails." "Now that is something I'd be interested in," Elizabeth said. "But I guess I'll have to settle for making decisions with the other mermaids." "There's no rule that says you can't still practice martial arts," Madhuri assured her. "Just don't expect many of the girls to spar with you." "I can't wait for Jim to finish changing. He and Daga are going to love this." Jason looked around at their new environment. "It's so peaceful down here." "We have so much to learn, too," Madhuri added. "I really wish there was a doctor or biologist who's been a mermaid for a while that I could talk to. I'd love to know more about how all this works," she raised her tail to take another look at her fluke and smiled as it sparkled in the dappled sunlight. "There is a whole other island of mers. Maybe now they'll tell us about it," Elizabeth offered. "They kinda have to, right?" Jason asked. "I mean, I get not wanting to talk about it on the boat, but now that we're in the club, so to speak, I think we officially need to know." "Let's ask after the other two pods transition. There's enough going on without us demanding information," Elizabeth figured. "Agreed. Now, who wants to check out the north part of the lagoon?" Madhuri said as she swam off. Her pod mates followed, and the new pod continued exploring their new home and bodies. Marie stood after her feeding from Ann. She hugged herself as she felt the siren cells working on her. "Thank you, mademoiselle," she said. On a lark, she whipped off the polo shirt she'd been wearing and enjoyed the sun beating down on her naked chest. "Marie!" Abbie exclaimed. "There are more naked people on this beach than clothed!" Marie put her hand on her hips and cocked them to the side. "She's right," Jenna said and gave a little shimmy of her shoulders, which had a most enticing effect on her large breasts. "If you do that again, bambolina, I might have a heart attack," Pierro joked. "You'll have two mermaids of your own to admire," Marie said as she pulled him to his feet. She ran her hands up his chest and then pulled him towards the water. "Go on," Jenna said to Abbie, nodding her head towards the lagoon. "The bonding you're going to feel makes all the difference." "Even with other girls?" Abbie asked. "Oh yes," Manami beamed at Jenna and Sarah. Abbie's blush somehow deepened to an even brighter red. She rose and walked to the water to float and cuddle with her new mates. Josh, Brian, and Trevor watched the proceedings from the spot formerly occupied by the lean-to that had blown over months ago, the mermaids spread out to groom and braid hair, and the newly-fed humans congregated in the water while they bonded. "Feeling any better since yesterday Trevor?" Brian asked. "Yeah, the shoulder doesn't hurt anymore," he said briskly. "Good," Josh said quietly. "Should we build something new for them? I know the lean-to was nice to have when the sun got really hot before we changed." "Go ahead if you want to," Trevor said flatly. Josh gave Brian a worried look, and got a shrug in return. "Could you please stop talking behind my back?" Trevor said, annoyed. "I am fine." "We're both worried. You haven't been yourself since we got home," Brian said, gently. "Not that we blame you, but we're your friends, so we're concerned." "Like I said, I'm fine," Trevor said definitively. Jim did a slow backstroke in the shallows. He'd always enjoyed swimming, ever since the days of going to the local pool in his native Oklahoma during a hot summer. Soon, he'd be able to swim in ways he'd never dreamt of before, with the woman of his dreams and two more beautiful women by his side. Diving was a strange hobby for a soldier to take up, but he'd always used his leave, unless he had to see his mother or Hailey, to go somewhere he could at least snorkel. It relaxed him in a way he'd never been able to match anywhere outside of Hailey's arms. He wouldn't need that scuba certification anymore, that's for sure. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt small hands on his bare shoulder. He looked left and saw that Indira had caught him, and was smiling at him. The water was at neck height for her, and she held onto him as he stood up. "Hello," he said. He felt his affection for her increasing as she clung to his arm. "Hello!" Indira said brightly. Her black hair was almost halfway down her back. It had grown at least eight inches since their first feeding, and now it floated out behind her like a dark cloud. He felt her bare chest against his arm, and her hands gently stroking his shoulder and collarbone. "We haven't really talked, have we?" Jim asked. "Not really, but that's okay, Hailey and Aluna are strong personalities. I'll just have to get used to sneaking in time with you whenever I can," she teased him. "No, you won't," Jim insisted. "This is new for me too, but I want to make sure all of my pod mates are happy," he brought his hand to her face and stroked her cheek. "Thank you," she leaned into his hand. His hand was so large it reached from her lower jaw, up her cheek, to above her hairline. Her brown eyes looked up at him, filled with hope and a touch of nervousness. He leaned in and gently kissed her lips, and she closed her eyes and returned the kiss. Indira ran her hands over his ebony skin and into his hair, which had lengthened to just below his ears in a mass of tight curls. She broke the kiss and put her head on his shoulder, sighing happily. About ten feet away, she saw Aluna and Hailey quietly speaking with Rose, who floated on her back in the water, and gestured with one hand and held her belly with the other. She'd heard that Rose was pregnant, and given Hailey's interest in having children, it was safe to say she was asking Rose about any difference between human and mermaid pregnancy. She laughed softly as Rose explained something and Hailey and Aluna's eyes both went wide as they turned and looked at each other. "What?" Jim asked. He'd had his eyes closed as he held her. "I think our pod mates are learning about mermaid child bearing," she replied. "How about you?" he asked. "Eh," she shrugged. "Someday, probably. Right now, I want to concentrate on us, our pod," she leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes to enjoy the closeness. "So to get pregnant, all I have to do is think of the eye color of my child while I'm having sex with Jim?" Hailey asked Rose. "While looking him in the eyes," Rose confirmed. "Sarah did it accidently. I didn't expect Josh's pod to change on their own, so I didn't tell them before we left them here," she said sheepishly. "So I'm telling you now, before you change." "We'll remember," Aluna said as she smiled at Hailey. That evening, after their third feeding, Pierro's pod's second feeding, and dinner, Jim's pod was escorted from the beach just as Jason's had the night before. Aluna went first, then Indira. Now Hailey uncurled from her change. Her fiery red hair had lengthened to her ass, just as she'd described to Jim on the boat the week before. Her blue eyes sparkled like fine sapphires, and her forest green tail with purple fringes stretched out beneath her. She looked down at her webbed hands and back up at the mers surrounding her and marveled at the feelings of connection and love coming through her mer senses. Aluna and Indira swam up to her, while Josh, Trevor, and Brian exited the grotto to send in Jim. Jason's pod protected him outside. Aluna's tail was a mottle of red and orange, spots and smears of the colors danced across her scales, complemented by black fringes. Indira's tail was colored with orange and green stripes with white fringes. The national colors of her native India. The two of them hugged the newest mermaid, Hailey basked in the feelings of love coming from her pod mates as they waited for Jim. Outside the grotto, the nascent merman stood at the opening, on the same spot Jason had waited the previous night. "What do I?" he asked. "The mermaids will take care of you. Just do what they say, and you'll be fine," Brian assured him. "That's a good rule in general," Madhuri added. "Why aren't we all going crazy?" Jason asked. "You guys told me that if we had odd numbers of mermaids around us, we'd get super aggressive." "I can feel all of my mates right on the other side of that coral," Josh said. "We're only a few feet away." "Makes sense." This is nuts, breathing underwater with no scuba! Jim though as he exhaled and let his lungs refill from his new gills. Jenna emerged from the grotto and smiled at Josh before she approached Jim. "Your pod is ready for you," she said as she offered her hand to him. Jim hesitated for a moment. He knew instinctively that it was far too late to back out. The fact that Jenna had come for him meant that Hailey was finished changing. Still... "Get in there and get done already," Elizabeth coaxed him. Still giving me orders... Jim thought with a rueful smile. "They're all waiting for you. You should be able to feel how much they love you by now," Jenna said. "It's going to get even better." Jim stared at Jenna's offered webbed hand. This was it. He looked at the pink webbing between Jenna's fingers, and felt a twinge of fear. His eyes moved up her body until he found himself looking into her blue eyes as they almost glowed, reflecting the small amount of light in the lagoon. They were mesmerizing. Jim felt that he could stare into them forever and never reach the surface again. Then he remembered that Hailey looked like this now. Her eyes would sparkle like sapphire jewels as they made the child they'd always longed for. Steeling himself, he embraced his destiny, took Jenna's hand, and allowed her to pull him into the grotto. The first thing he saw was Hailey. Even in the darkness of the moonlit grotto, he could see her new body. His girlfriend, now pod mate, was a vision of perfection, her long hair and tail drifted as if the world was in slow motion. She smiled a smile that managed to look both predatory and promising as she floated over to greet him with a twinkle in her sparkling eyes. She took him by the shoulders and kissed him deeply. Aluna and Indira floated to either side of her. "It's finally time Jim," Hailey said. "Are you ready?" Dumbstruck, Jim nodded, totally entranced by the sight of his pod. Three hours later, after feeding from each mermaid and ending with Hailey, and being seized by the transformation, he unfurled his new tail. It was a mottle of forest green and tan with black fringes arranged like a camouflage pattern. His tightly curled hair hung down to the middle of his back, and he'd grown to 11 and a half feet long. His pod mates swam up to him while the mers switched positions so the pods could all mate. Hailey wrapped her tail around Jim's, and her pod mates wrapped their tails around hers. While she could certainly feel the lust, she didn't see Jim's member anywhere in the front of his tail. He seemed to be in distress, until suddenly he pulled the right muscle and opened his vent, and she reached down to guide him inside her as she'd done dozens of times before when they'd been human. She swooned, and gave herself over to the wonderful feelings, her bonds with her pod mates strengthening even further as they made love for the first time. Jim concentrated on Hailey as their eyes met, and for a split second, her face changed from one of overwhelming pleasure to a mischievous smile. He suddenly felt his member seized, Hailey's body squeezing him almost painfully and pumping at him. He quickly reached climax, and heard Hailey scream, along with Indira and Aluna reaching their orgasms. Once he recovered his senses enough to open his eyes, he saw Hailey, unconscious, still impaled on him. "What happened?" he asked, concerned. Aluna and Indira had laconic smiles as they held Hailey from each side. "You're going to be a father," Aluna said. Jim simply hung there in shock, his mouth agape. How could they be so sure? "Rose told us that mermaids control when they conceive, and how to trigger it," Aluna explained. "You and Hailey always wanted to be parents, and now you will be, with us to help you, of course." She kissed Jim. He marveled at Hailey as she came back to consciousness. "Hailes..." he said softly. "Hey soldier," she teased, then simultaneously kissed him and slid back from his member. She moved to the side and let Aluna take her place in the middle. "How?" Jim asked before he and Aluna both moaned as he entered her. "Your job is to satisfy all of us," Indira said, continuing to ride his right pelvic fin. "And your body is designed to make sure you can do your job." It was a job Jim gladly accepted. They and the other mers wouldn't fall asleep until the sun rose. Exhausted, but happy. Around midday, once they'd had a few hours of sleep, the mers went out from the grotto to gather food. Jim and Jason's pods stuck with more experienced groups so they could learn what was safe to eat as they went along. [We'll feed Pierro and his girls on the beach once we're done.] Sarah said. "How are you doing that?" Elizabeth said out loud. "Sorry, I forgot we needed to teach you how to talk with your mind," Sarah apologized as Jason's pod gathered around her. "How far away can we be and still talk to each other like that?" Jason asked. "Well, with a boost, I talked to a mermaid at an island that's an 11-day swim from here. We need to be in the water to use it though," Sarah replied. "So the rescue party couldn't communicate with the mers on the yacht," Elizabeth figured. "No, but they could feel their signals," Madhuri said. "Once they got close enough, the mermaids in the storage room told me the rescuers had arrived." "I remember. It definitely simplified the plan for taking the boat," Elizabeth recalled. "Josh figured it out for us by visualizing our mer bonds, then picturing sending the words down them to the mer he wanted to talk to," Sarah said. "As we practiced, it got more and more reflexive, now we can do it at will." [Like this.] "Thanks!" Madhuri said. "I'll go get Jim's pod, and we'll work on it." She swam off to where Hailey and Aluna were talking with Rose. [Let's head over, I'm sure they're hungry.] Jenna suggested, and her pod gathered up some food and headed for the beach. Marie ran her fingertips over Pierro's hairless lip and sighed. "I knew it was going to happen, but you looked so sophisticated with your moustache and your hair slicked back." "But he looks so much younger now!" Abbie argued as she fawned over him, running her fingers through his longer, thicker locks. Pierro just sat back and enjoyed the attention of the beautiful young women. Their feedings had given them a new health and vitality, coupled with the tan they'd gotten from being in the tropical sun so much. Marie's classic French features had only become more refined, while Abbie was beginning to remind him of... No, how could that have happened? Her nose had thinned, and her lips were fuller. His smile slowly fell and a feeling of guilt washed over him as he looked at her. "What? Is there something wrong?" Abbie said worriedly. "If what the mers said is true, then I think I've done you a disservice with my thoughts," he said. "You've been wonderful and patient, and I can't wait to be your mermaid," Abbie said. "Why would you think you've done something wrong?" "You look different," Marie agreed, brushing back her own long raven black hair and considering Abbie's face. Suddenly, she placed where she'd seen Abbie's new features before. "Angela!" "I look like Angela?" Abbie said, checking her face to see if she could feel the difference. "More like her sister, or a cousin. A mix of your features and hers," Marie confirmed. "I am so sorry." Pierro shook his head. "I didn't even realize that I was doing it." "It's okay. I'm flattered," Abbie assured him. "You can make me look like anything you want," Pierro said. "I'm going to be a mermaid, I was going to look different to start with. It will take a little getting used to, but I think I can live with a few different facial features too," she reassured him. "Besides, you're handsome already." She hugged him and laid her head on his shoulder. They heard a noise from the water and turned to see Josh's pod emerge with fish and sea grasses in their arms for their lunch. Marie floated in the grotto that night, watching Abbie change. Two pods waited outside with Pierro, while the three more experienced pods changed the girls. The hours seemed to pass quickly as Abbie's legs merged and lengthened, bones broke and reset into their new configurations, and fins grew out of her tail before it began turning turquoise from her flukes up with gold fringes along her fins. When the final change reached her hair, it didn't just make it hydrophobic, it turned the same turquoise color as her tail. Once the changed girl uncurled, several mermaids gasped. "Who knew we could completely change hair color like that?" Sarah asked. "Angara, another mermaid on Mermaid Island, had snow white hair," Rose reminded them. "Jenna's highlights inspired me," Abbie said as she ran her hands down her shaplier, bustier body, flexed her tail's powerful new muscles and pulled a lock of her hair in front of her face. "I feel so pretty!" she said, twirling in the water. "Yes, you are very pretty!" Marie said excitedly. "Can we continue?" "Of course," Rose said, moving to help Marie begin her change. Pierro waited in the water outside the grotto. He actually paced back and forth along the sand, nervous. "I know, the waiting is the worst part," Jim observed as he floated next to him. "Why don't you try to get some sleep?" "I can't, I'm too nervous," Pierro replied. "Is all this really worth it?" "It is so far." Hailey smiled as she put her hands on her abdomen. "Indeed. I'm so very happy for you both," Pierro said, remembering the conversation with Jim in the galley. It seemed very long ago, and his life, and his body, had changed so much. He was only just barely six feet tall, the shortest of the men turning to mermen, but he felt much younger and stronger already. To pass the time, he thought of applying his culinary skills to the ingredients he'd seen on the atoll. Even with, at most, a campfire to cook, he bet he could find some interesting flavor combinations to add some variety to the mers' diets. There was movement within the grotto, just barely visible through the layered fan coral. Josh, Trevor, and Brian emerged from the opening. "Your turn," Josh said as he floated near the opening. "Your mates can't wait to see you." "Thank you," Pierro nodded before swimming inside. Marie and Abbie took his arms and pulled him into the center of the grotto. Marie's tail was a beautiful violet, with gold fringes, and violet hair to match. She and Abbie smiled at him. "Are you ready to be the good man we need?" Abbie asked. "With all my heart," he said, awed by the beauty of the two mermaids. "Then focus on how you want to look, and drink from me," Jaclyn said as Abbie and Marie turned Pierro to face the blonde mermaid. He leaned down and began drinking, the power of the siren cells building in his body and the mermaids' hum vibrating his very being. As it had with the other mers, he felt the pressure of the mers' focus pushing him to become something else. The image of himself as a merman wavered in his mind. He grunted as he finished drinking from Manami, struggling. "It's okay, focus on me, on us," Marie said. Her touch steadied him, guiding him as he drank from Jenna, continuing forward. Eventually, he finished drinking from Marie, the last mermaid in the grotto, and he felt the engine of change kick over. Pierro felt his legs mend together, the bones break and reform, his flukes and fin form as his tail lengthened. Then his coloring came in: red and white diagonal stripes, with black fringes and webbing in his hands. He'd chosen the colors of his beloved A.C. Milan for his tail. The rush of change exited, and he uncurled. HIs hair was still the same jet black, he was slightly more muscular than he'd been, going from thin and lanky to a more well-cut physique. He felt the full rush of information from his mer senses, and the love of his pod mates through the mer bonds. His mates joined him in the middle of the grotto as mermaids and mermen swapped positions to relieve their lust with their pods. "Very nice," Abbie said as she wrapped her new tail around his. It began to flash with turquoise light as she felt the post-change arousal take hold. Pierro quickly figured out how to open his vent, but paused. "Are you ready?" he asked. "I love you, but I don't want to rush you." "Thank you for being patient, you're sweet, but I need you, now," Abbie growled and pulled herself down onto his member. Marie smiled and settled down onto Pierro's pelvic fin to wait her turn. The next day, the mers spread out, new pods pairing up with the more experienced pods to gather food and stretch their legs, as it were. Jim and Josh's pods gathered sea grasses together. Josh looked up as he gathered grass to see Jim approaching. "Hey man, I've been thinking about how you guys caught the boat. How fast are we?" he asked him. "We didn't get to our top speed, because we had mermaids with us and we were wearing belts, but mermen have been timed at about 50 knots," Josh replied. "Damn!" Jim replied. "So we're all that fast?" Josh shrugged his shoulders. "Come on, let's race around the lagoon and find out," He set down the grasses he'd collected and swam off towards the deeper water, Jim followed. Josh led them until they were over the grotto, then he turned and accelerated to maximum speed back towards the sea grass plain. Jim matched him stroke for stroke as they turned south just before they swam through the line of mermaids from their pods. "What the hell?" Hailey asked as her mate and Josh zipped past. "We're supposed to be getting food!" she called. "Josh might be testing him," Jenna said. "Mermen are all naturally competitive, and Jim is the second largest one on this atoll now. Let me get them back," she said, and concentrated. [Josh, Jim, we could use some help.] she sent. [Okay, sorry, just got excited, on the way back.] Josh replied. [I know you're eager to play with your new mer-bros.] she thought back ruefully. "I forgot that we can do that," Hailey admitted. "There's so much to remember I forget freaking telepathy!" she laughed. "There is a lot to remember, just take it as it comes, you've got all the time in the world to learn about being a mermaid," Jenna assured her. "How are you feeling?" "Excited, and happy," she smiled, fighting back tears of joy as she felt the signal of her baby. "We've wanted this for so long..." "I'm so thrilled for you," Jenna embraced her. [Hey, can we have Sarah, and at least one mermaid from each of the new pods meet us above the grotto, please?] Janice asked all of the mers. Sarah furrowed her brow, then handed her collection bag to Josh as he and Jim returned. "Who do you want to send?" Sarah asked Jim's pod. "I think Hailey should go," Aluna said, Indira nodded her agreement. "Okay then," Hailey said as she handed her collection bag to Jim and received a kiss on her cheek as she and Sarah swam to the west. They met up with Marie and Elizabeth on their way in. [Anyone know what this is about?] Elizabeth asked. [Hey, you're getting good at that.] Sarah encouraged her. [But no, I don't.] Soon enough they arrived. Janice, Jaclyn, and Rose floated above the grotto in the sunlight. Sarah thought that Janice and Jaclyn had plastered smiles onto their faces that reminded her of the look she'd have when she was about to give an employee bad news. Rose just looked nervous and fiddled with her hands. She and the three mermaids from the new pods came to a stop in front of them. "What's up ladies?" Sarah asked apprehensively. "We wanted to thank you for sharing your atoll with us," Jaclyn began. "it's been a big relief to know that your pod did so well on your own." "Thank you, but it was just as much of a relief for us when you showed up. We've learned a great deal, and there's safety in numbers," Sarah replied. "But..." Jaclyn continued. "There it is," Sarah said. "This had a definite feeling of a meeting where someone gets fired." "We can't fire you from being a mermaid!" Rose exclaimed. "We wouldn't want to, anyway." "Then what's going on here?" Marie asked. "This atoll is starting to get pretty full," Jaclyn stated. "We're concerned that we could be stretching its resources too thin with six pods, plus the children on the way." "That's ridiculous," Sarah said. "The atoll is miles across, the sea grass grows quickly, there are tons of fish, and we don't take more than we need." "Each person needs a certain amount of space, whether human or mer, to support them. We're worried that we're starting to get to the point where there won't be enough acreage, so to speak, to provide food for everyone in the long term," Janice said. "So, your pods are leaving?" Elizabeth asked. "Where will you go?" "There are lots of atolls in the Pacific, we found two about this size when we rescued Sarah's pod. This one, and another one about 150 nautical miles away to the north," Rose replied. "This is going to hurt Jenna," Sarah said to Jaclyn. "She really looks up to you." "I know," Jaclyn said sadly. "I like her too, but your pod doesn't need us anymore." "We've taught you everything you need to know," Janice said. "What about our pods?" Hailey asked. "There's so much to learn. We barely know what to eat." "Never mind the fact that we have a cave that we can use to safeguard the birth of Rose's baby, and we have a doctor now," Sarah argued. "Does any of that exist on this other atoll?" "Those are all good arguments, but we can find caves on the other atoll, we think, and mers have delivered babies without a doctor," Janice replied. "Your pod can teach the new pods." "When do you want to leave?" Sarah asked. "As soon as possible. I don't want Rose to get too far along before we make a long journey," Janice replied. "We'll get the new pods set up with the discs for their backs," Rose offered. "And we're always just a call away," she tapped her tiara. "You sound like you've made up your minds." Elizabeth folded her arms. "We have. We'll tell Pat about everything that's happened, and our move," Jaclyn said. "We've really enjoyed having you around. I was worried when you got here that you'd gang up on our pod and push us around, but I'm glad I was wrong," Sarah admitted. "We will miss you." "We'll tell everyone tomorrow. We just wanted to speak with the lead mermaids for each of your pods before we sprung this on the whole group," Janice said. The mermaids hung in the water for a moment. "Is that it then?" Elizabeth asked. "Yes, please let us break the news to everyone tomorrow," Jaclyn asked. "Sure," Hailey agreed, and she, Elizabeth, and Marie swam away back to their pods. Sarah floated in front of the other mermaids, her arms crossed. "Are you going to tell the new pods all about the Device?" Sarah asked. "Or is that something we get the honor of revealing?" Rose looked to her parents for guidance. Finally she nodded. "We'll tell them the whole story tomorrow." "Okay," Sarah's face and voice softened. "It really has been good to have you here. I don't know what we would have done if Mahmoud had showed up and we were alone. We would never have been able to rescue the captive girls on our own, or add to the number of mers so easily." "You would have figured it out. After all, you changed yourselves with no mers around. Besides, fish and guests smell in three days," Jaclyn joked. "Well, we're marine mammals, so that saying doesn't apply," Sarah quipped back. "Your pod will be fine, and so will the others," Janice assured her. "I know, I still think it would be easier with you around, but we will respect your choice," Sarah admitted defeat. "Just remember, asking for help goes both ways. If you ever need anything, let us know. The door is always open. If you, or any of the pods we haven't met yet need shelter or assistance, we're here for you." "Thank you," Janice said. Sarah turned and swam off to rejoin her pod. "We should do some loose, what are those called, dreadlocks, with your hair," Aluna said as she played with Jim's thick curls as Hailey approached. "Oh, those would be badass," Hailey agreed. "Should we do braids for you, Aluna?" "I don't see why we can't try it," she agreed. "Really, dreads? I don't want to look like Bob Marley," Jim looked to Josh for help, but the other merman just shrugged his shoulders and gave him a look that said that he wasn't touching Jim's predicament with a 10 foot pole. "Dreadlocks would give you a pretty cool look. You'll be much better looking than Bob Marley," Hailey tried to convince her pod mate. "Let's do it!" Indira said enthusiastically. "Three votes for, one against, and we're in charge, so you have to go along with it," Aluna said matter of factly as the three of them began working his hair into shape. [Sorry man, nothing you can really do about it. They want what they want.] Josh sent Jim in condolence. [I suppose.] Jim replied in consternation. "We know what you're doing. No griping between mermen over a private channel." Jenna poked her mate in the ribs. "Who, me?" Josh asked as he feigned innocence. "Yeah, you," she playfully mocked his deep voice. "I was just talking with my new friend Jim, giving him some support. He's getting used to this whole merman thing," Josh stuck with his story. "Uh huh," Jenna said skeptically. "It's alright Josh, anything for my girls." Jim rolled his eyes. "That's the spirit. Leave everything to us. We'll take care of our big stud merman and make him even more handsome," Hailey said as she reached around and ran her hand down his chest and abs, pulling back just before his vent. "Well, when you put it that way," Jim said. He let his pod mates fuss with his hair. "Perhaps we should braid your hair," Jenna said. She floated over and played with Josh's own brown mane. "Um..." Josh tried to think of a way to decline without hurting her feelings. "Oh come on, it'll be cute," Jenna kept poking, running her hands through his hair and enjoying seeing her husband squirm. Off in the southern part of the lagoon, Brian and Julie watched Pierro, Marie, and Abbie chase each other, darting around the boulders strewn across the bottom to practice maneuvering with their tails. "Remember when we were that excited about being mers?" Julie asked as Abbie pulled straight up and breached out of the water, jumping just for the fun of doing it. "I'm still just as excited about it," Brian said. "Are you okay?" "Yeah, just waiting for everything to calm down," Julie admitted. "It's been a rough week, and a weird month." "I know, Babe." Brian put his arm around her. In the distance, Marie duplicated Abbie's jump. "Once we're done with the move, things will calm down, I'm sure." "I hope so. Then, once Rose has her baby, and all of the stuff with world governments has settled down..." She hugged Brian and looked up at his face. "Yes." He smiled down at her. "Let's finally make our own baby." "Thank you honey." Julie leaned her head against her husband's chest and watched the new pod play. Rose settled down in the shallows later that afternoon to float and rest. She was getting less and less comfortable on land as her pregnancy progressed. It wasn't unbearable yet, but she much preferred the support of floating in the water. Her sisters and Trevor were off playing, and she took the opportunity for some solace, gently stroking her still-flat belly and thinking of names for her baby. Just as she was beginning to snooze, her mer senses reported the approach of two mermaids. They weren't her sister wives though, they were from one of the new pods. Abbie and Marie surfaced a few feet away from her, their brightly-colored hair standing out against the water of the lagoon. "Is this a good time? We'd like to ask something?" Abbie said as they floated next to her. "Sure. How can I help?" Rose asked, smiling placidly and continuing to rub her belly, savoring the signal from her developing child. "Pierro is thinking about cooking here, trying to adapt techniques to the ingredients here to give us a greater variety of flavors," Abbie explained. "Sounds interesting," Rose said. "He doesn't have any cooking implements. Pans, spatulas, a grill, things like that," Marie continued. "You made these tiaras," she tapped her own on her forehead. "Can you make anything else, like a pot or something like that? We want to surprise him." "Huh," Rose considered. "I haven't really tried anything like cookware before. The tiaras and the discs we wear on our backs, which reminds me, I need to make some discs for your pods, are all I've really done," she sighed. "Those are easy, they just flow out of the tip whatever I'm using to focus with only a little effort. Changing those designs is difficult, but possible. It couldn't hurt to try to make other useful things, I guess." "That's great!" Abbie exclaimed. "Actually, with those discs I mentioned, any mer can polymerize, though you'll have to practice it at first," she floated vertically to face the other two mermaids. "Let's go make yours, and I'll teach you how to polymerize and maybe make Pierro's cooking implements yourselves." "We can make them?" Abbie's face lit up with wonder. "You'll be able to work at it once we get you outfitted with your new mer jewelry," Rose began to move off. "Meet me in the grotto in a few minutes, I'll go get a knife and we'll get you set up," Rose dove away and swam for the opening of the lagoon to get to the cave. Marie and Abbie entered the coral-covered stone horseshoe where they'd transformed. Light dappled through the overhead fan coral, the normal current flows and background sound from the rest of the lagoon were blocked by the walls, lending the place a quiet, peaceful feeling. "It really is like a womb in here," Marie observed. "Quiet, warm, a perfect place to be reborn." "Is that what happened? We're still ourselves," Abbie said. "I remember everything, good and bad," She shivered at some of her memories. Mahmoud had been dead for only a few days, and even with the momentous changes she'd gone through, she wasn't far removed from being a slave girl. "Hey, none of that!" Marie admonished her. "That life is over, we're mermaids now! We never have to be afraid of any man." "Yeah," Abbie raised her fluke to look at it. The gold fringes sparkled in the sunlight. "This is pretty cool, isn't it?" she giggled. "It is," Marie smiled as she ran her hands along her sister wife's fringe. "I have some of my own bad memories too," she drifted off. "I know," Abbie said. "I remember some of those nights," they embraced, wrapping their tails around each other to comfort one another. Rose entered the grotto, carrying a knife. She slowly drifted towards the hugging mermaids. "Are you okay? If this is a bad time, I can leave and we can do this later," she offered. "No," Marie said as she turned towards Rose. "It's fine. Just some bad memories." "I can't imagine what you went through," she said earnestly. "From what I learned from other mermaids that were captives too, the best things you can do are to take your time, and focus on the bonds you share. I've seen them work miracles healing souls." "Thank you, we'll remember," Abbie said. "Whew, okay." She gathered herself, disentangled from Marie and straightened in the water to face Rose. "How do I make stuff with a knife?" "The knife is more of a focus. It lets us use the electrical current mers generate to polymerize, fuse, if you want, the trace metals and minerals in sea water into objects," Rose explained. "You're kidding," Abbie said, taken aback. "You turned into a mermaid with turquoise hair last night," Rose reminded her as she waved the knife up and down to indicate Abbie's new form. "Which I love, by the way. The lavender is gorgeous on you, Marie." "Good point," Abbie conceded. "And thank you!" she ran her fingers through her long, thick locks. "So, polymerizing," Rose continued. "It involves focusing on sending some of the small electrical current that we generate in our mer organs down to the tip of our focus here," She concentrated and a tiny spark appeared at the tip of the knife. "You'll feel some tightness in a few spots in your tail, but it's nothing to worry about," A small metal dot appeared in the water, and a stream of tiny bubbles traveled upward as the object grew and resolved into a small disc shape. "I'm not sure why, but the tiaras, headbands, and these discs are really easy to make," Rose continued as she finished growing the first disc, caught it, and started on the second. "How did you figure this out?" Marie asked as she and Abbie looked on in astonishment. "Trevor and I were scouting shipwrecks at the bottom of the sea near our home island," Rose smiled at the memory of the painting of Trevor she'd made. They'd been so busy they'd never gone back to retrieve it. "I found some oil paints, and I wanted to paint, so I caught some globules on the back end of a paint brush and started experimenting. I got into a groove, and painted a portrait of Trevor." "Oh that's so romantic!" Abbie swooned. Rose finished and caught the second disc. "I touched the brush end to the painting and concentrated, and an weak electrical current went through the picture, and it became hard, like it would in the air, and was stuck to the wall I was painting on." "It dried underwater?" Marie asked. "No, oil paints don't dry, they oxidize, I was actually oxidizing the paint as I went with the electrical current we generate by 'cracking' the water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen by focusing," Rose explained. "The oxidation hardened it and made it seem like a dry painting would on canvas in a museum or something." "So from that you went to tiaras and discs that amplify our mer senses?" Marie was confused. "Phoebe, one of the scientists and the original mermaid, actually, helped me," Rose explained. "I originally used oil paint and attracted the metals to the end of my paint brush, but I've refined it to where I can focus with a knife, though the colors from the paints aren't in the tiaras I've made on this atoll." "So, how do I do it?" Abbie asked. "Well, first you need to put these on," Rose handed her the discs. "I can do it without them, but other mers need the extra focus they give. Take one in each hand and hold them over your butt, rough side down." "Okay," Abbie was skeptical as she held the discs in place. "Oh wow, I'm tingling there." "Now move them a little until the tingling is strongest, then set them down. They'll stick to your skin," Rose instructed. Abbie did just that. She felt a tightening sensation in parts of her tail, and her mer senses become sharper, feeding her much more information, it was almost a sensory overload. "Oh wow! This is so cool!" She reached out her hand at the yellow strings that appeared in her vision. One trailed off in the distance towards Pierro, and another ran from her chest straight to Marie. "Are these our bonds?" she asked. "They're beautiful." She felt tears well up in her eyes in happiness. "Yes, they are beautiful," Rose agreed. "Marie you've got to try these!" she exclaimed to her pod mate. "Why don't you make them for her?" Rose suggested as she offered Abbie the knife. "Um, sure." Abbie took the knife nervously. "You'll do great my darling," Marie said to reassure her. "Alright hold out the knife and concentrate on the tip," Rose instructed. Abbie held the knife up and concentrated. "Now, I'll talk you through what the metals' molecular structure looks like. You concentrate on making the energy in your body focus on the end of the knife." Abbie pictured waves of energy moving through her tail, up her body, and all coming together on the tip of her knife. The feelings of tightness in her tail intensified, and tiny bubbles formed at the end of the knife, traveling upward. "Good, very nice," Rose praised her. "Go Abbie!" Marie exclaimed. Rose described the molecular structures of the metals dissolved in seawater that she'd included in the original tiaras. "Now, you should feel like something in the water is attracted to your focus point," Rose said. "I do." Abbie scrunched her face in effort. "Good. Concentrate on those feelings, and... There we go," Rose said as a tiny metal disc formed on the end of the knife. Abbie strained with the effort, pulling more and more material from the water around her, enlarging the disc. It slowly grew larger and larger. "Hey, relax a bit," Rose said. "You don't have to tense up. Just let your body do what it knows how to do." Abbie exhaled her air, letting her muscles relax, while keeping her mental focus on the particles in the surrounding seawater. Eventually, the disc fully took shape, and an instinctive feeling told Abbie that it was done, so she stopped pulling in new materials, and the feelings in her tail subsided. Rose caught the small disc and examined it. "Looks good. It even has the rough side like mine do. How do you feel?" she asked. "I feel fine." Abbie shrugged. "I just can't believe I made something appear from nowhere." "That's not what happened, but it's still pretty cool. Now make one more and I'll test them out," Rose replied. Abbie concentrated and made a second disc. Rose caught it, removed her own discs and handed them to Marie. Rose placed the newly-made discs above her own mer organs, and felt the same surge of input into her mer senses that she got from the discs that she'd made herself back on the island. "Well, do they work?" Abbie asked expectantly. "Yep," Rose smiled. "Perfectly. You did great!" she removed the discs Abbie had made and handed them to Marie in exchange for her original pair. Marie fitted her set of discs, and felt her senses sharpen and saw the lines of bonding between her and Abbie, and another line stretching out in the distance towards Pierro. "C'est magnifique! This is wonderful!" she exclaimed. "Thank you my love." She pulled Abbie into an embrace. "Can I pull apart the things I make? If I make a mistake, I don't want to have some piece of junk lying around," Abbie asked. "I haven't really tried, but then again I've only made tiaras and the discs," Rose replied as she considered it. "Just in case, try to be careful with what you make." "I will. I wouldn't want to ruin this beautiful place," Abbie said, beaming. "Good. Now, you get to practice by making the rest of the discs for Pierro and the other new pods," Rose said brightly. "I want to make a couple of other things too," Abbie said. Rose could practically see the gears turning in her mind. "Can I do this too?" Marie asked. "All mers should be able to once they have the discs," Rose shrugged. " The next day, the pods convened in the center of the lagoon. Brian and Trevor's pods faced the four pods that had changed on the atoll. Everyone could feel the unease coming from them as they floated in the water. "So what's up, guys?" Madhuri asked. Janice steadied herself, then started the speech she'd worked out: "Thank you for coming everyone. I, we, wanted to thank those of you who were on the boat again for helping to rescue the kidnapped mermaids," she paused. "We'd like to teach the new pods all about the history of mers, and give you the whole story of how all of this started," she continued. "Good, because I have a ton of questions," Madhuri interrupted. "Are there any doctors on the other island?" "Actually, there's a pod of doctors that stayed on Mermaid Island, along with several of the scientists. I'm sure they'd be willing to tell you what you want to know, once you get more practice with your telepathy and can set up a long range, boosted communication session," Janice answered. "Now, before we answer any more questions, or tell you all the full story, I wanted to announce that our two pods will be relocating to an atoll north of here." She paused while the new pods murmured to each other. "But, why?" Jenna asked. "We love having you around," she had a hurt look on her face. Jaclyn looked at her sympathetically. "We love being here," Janice replied. "But with so many new mers, we're running out of room to sleep and shelter, and frankly, we're worried that so many mers might start to overburden the atoll's capacity to supply food, especially with babies on the way." "The whole point of you coming here was to scatter from the main island and still have safety in numbers, and now you're leaving to be alone," Josh said. "Part of the reason we scattered was that so many mers were concentrated in one place. The more places we live, the more secure we are. There are plenty of mers here, so we can spread out more," Jaclyn reasoned. "So, clearly, Josh's pod is pretty attached to you guys," Elizabeth said. "Besides that, I owe you my life, and some of us owe you our freedom, and we want you to stick around." "Thanks, but we've made our choice," Rose said. "Alright then," Jenna said, dejected. "You might as well tell them about the other mers and Mermaid Island." "Okay," Rose said, then addressed the new pods. "There's an island about 1500 nautical miles northeast of here in Kiribati called '399'..." The next day, after loading up the two survival belts they'd brought with them, Trevor and Brian's pods assembled at the southeastern lagoon entrance. The pods staying on the atoll went to see them off. "You get these new guys trained up, and don't let them give you any shit," Brian said, jabbing Josh in the chest with his finger while smiling. "Don't worry. I'll get them up to speed," Josh said, then paused before continuing. "Thanks, for everything," he said with a serious tone of voice. He turned to Trevor. "You take care, and thank you. If you need to talk..." he trailed off. "We'll see," Trevor said flatly. He extended his hand. "It's been good hanging out, but I think a change of scenery might be what I need." "I hope so," Josh said as he took the offered hand. He shook hands with Brian as well. "You'll let us know when you reach the new atoll?" Jenna asked Jaclyn. "Of course," Jaclyn answered. "I'm gonna miss you." "I'll miss you too," Jenna held back tears as she hugged her friend. "I meant what I said. If you don't feel safe, feel free to come back. You and any other pods out there always have a place with us," Sarah offered to Janice. "I know, and thank you," Janice smiled. "Don't hesitate to call us if you need help either." "We will," Sarah nodded. "I can't believe you're leaving," Manami said to Rose, her eyes red with tears. "You'll be fine," Rose consoled her. "You've already been through so much, you are stronger than you know." Finally, once all the goodbyes had been said, Janice looked to Brian and Trevor. "Take us out guys, head north once we clear the atoll," she ordered. "You got it," Brian said, with a final nod to Josh and the other mermen, he and Trevor turned and swam out of the entrance. The mermaids from their pods turned and followed. They accelerated and quickly disappeared from sight into the deep blue ocean. Jenna and Manami held each other, and Sarah and Josh shared a sideways glance. In that moment, they felt all alone again. Elizabeth swam up to Sarah and put a hand on her shoulder. Sarah turned to the soldier-mermaid. "Hey, you're not alone," Elizabeth said. "You've still got friends on this atoll. We've got your back." "You're right, thank you," Sarah said, smiling back. She turned to see all of the mers, including her own pod, looking at her expectantly. The time for self pity was over, it was time to be a manager again. Abbie and Marie swam up to Jenna and Manami to console them, and the three new mermen gathered around Josh. "There's work to do, and things to teach. But first, Jenna, Manami, why don't you take the girls that want to have some fun to the outer reefs in the north?" Jenna smiled at Manami before looking back at Sarah. "I think we can do that." "Meanwhile," Sarah continued, "Hailey, Elizabeth, Madhuri, and Marie, let's talk in the cave about how we're going to divide up things to do around here." "Sounds good," Hailey nodded, along with the other three mermaids Sarah had mentioned. "And Josh, do whatever it is you guys do. Just try to not beat up the other mer-bros too badly, they're still new," Sarah winked at him. "I'll keep it to a few bruises," he promised, narrowing his eyes as he turned to the other mermen. Jason scoffed, and Pierro looked unsure. "Yeah, we'll see who has the bruises," Jim replied good-naturedly. "I think Jason and I can show you a thing or two." "I'd like to request a name other than 'mer-bros'," Pierro chimed in. "I'm not a big fan of it either," Josh admitted. "So think of a new one!" Jenna replied. "Until you do, you're mer-bros," she teased. "Let's go then," Sarah turned and led her group to the cave entrance outside of the lagoon, Jenna and Manami led Abbie, Aluna, and Indira to the north. Josh looked over the new mermen, all looking back at him expectantly. He gathered himself, meeting their gazes as they waited on his lead. He tried to speak with more confidence than he felt. "Alright gentlemen, let's get started." To Be Continued. Tails: Jim: Forest green and brown mottled tail, white fringes. Hailey; Forest green tail, purple fringes. Aluna: Red and orange mottled tail, black fringes. Indira: Orange and green striped tail, white fringes. Jason: Blue and red striped tail, black fringes. Elizabeth: White tail, red fringes. Madhuri: Orange and black mottled tail, yellow fringes. Pierro: Candy apple red and white diagonal striped tail, black fringes. (AC Milan colors). Abbie: Turquoise tail, gold fringes, turquoise hair. Marie: Violet tail, gold fringes, violet hair.