Fathom by L. Standage (spanish books to read .TXT) 📕

rumpled and dog-eared file looked as though Linnaeus had spent a lot of time perusing it. I opened the folder.

My mouth dropped open.

On the first page, a paper clip held the 4x6 photograph of a red-headed woman—the same woman who had given me the clam. I read the information scribbled on the page beneath her picture:

Name: Delfina

Origin: Pacific, namely North American reach

Specialty: reconnaissance, human relations

Current Status: security threat deceased, suicide

My heart pulsed as I stared at the information next to Current Status. Suicide? Had she given me the clam, then killed herself? In my horror, I couldn’t imagine why. What business did Linnaeus have with her? I flipped to the next page. This one also had a picture of someone I recognized: the man among my kidnappers who had lost a pinky. While the photo of the red-headed Delfina woman looked like a sneaked snapshot from far away, this one was close up and unsmiling, like a mug shot.

Name: Marinus

Origin: Australian Pacific reach

Specialty: Marine resident relations

Current Status: Earth bound, loyal

What did all this mean? Why did this Doran Q. Linnaeus guy have pictures of these people? Was he part of the mafia or something?

I flipped the page. The next page didn’t have pictures, only writing:

New information: Pacific King called Llyr. Queen Hydria. One son, one daughter.

Heir apparent…

The doorknob moved. I froze. I flipped the file closed and pushed it back to its place while the doorknob shook. In a panic, I looked for somewhere to hide. The lock clicked. I dove around the filing cabinet and hid behind the topiary.

The door opened, then closed. I held my breath, my heartbeat pounding in my head. Cramped in the corner, I held my hands over my mouth and waited.

Linnaeus sat down at his desk. The leather chair creaked as he scooted in. He sat still for a moment, a moment that dragged for eternity. I peeked around the topiary and watched the back of his head. If he needed something from his file cabinet, he’d find me for sure.

He moved and I flinched. He reached into a pocket inside his suit coat and pulled out a jangling set of keys. Then he leaned out of my sight. I heard the sound of a key turning in one of the desk drawers. He opened the drawer, took something out, and closed it.

He moved again, rummaging for something in his desk. Then, he went quiet… unmoving, hesitant, waiting.

Then, something happened.

Lights. Brilliant, soft, golden lights beamed from Linnaeus’ desk in all directions. They reflected off the blue water in the floor, throwing a greenish glow onto the office walls. White smoke rose in the center of the golden lights and formed an indistinct head and torso of a person, rippling and wavering like a colorless reflection on the disrupted surface of a pond.

Music started playing. Eerie, disembodied voices echoed and keened in a chilling harmony. I could only compare it to the call of a whale, only this was more musical, more beautiful, and more frightening.

Another voice spoke. This voice sounded human, but stranger. I couldn’t hear the words—at least not with my ears. They came to my head, only slightly louder than my own thoughts.

By the light of Lord Nereus, and his lady, fair Doris

Cast blessing to prosper the ocean before us

By sea, Lord Nereus, keep life in thy hand,

And grant by this sacrifice limb upon land.

I watched it with mingling awe and alarm, almost forgetting I was supposed to stay hidden from the man who shared in the vision. The smoky figure faded a little, then reformed itself as though it had more to say.

A knock sounded at the door. I jumped. The figure, the lights, and the voices disappeared as quickly as a television set switching off. Linnaeus opened one of his drawers and dropped the clam into it with a clatter. The door opened.

“Sorry to bother you, Mr. Linnaeus,” said a nervous female voice, “but there’s a problem at the assembly hall. Jerry wanted me to come ask for your help.”

“Can’t it wait? I’m extremely busy,” he replied tersely.

“It-it’ll only take a moment,” she stammered.

He sighed, growled, “All right,” and stomped out of the room. The door slammed. A key turned in the door lock.

I waited for a while, unable to move from a mixture of relief and panic. My galloping heart pumped waves of adrenaline throughout my body. When I found some control, I unfolded myself from the corner and crept over the bluish glass with trembling knees. I opened the drawer Linnaeus had just closed and found it.

The clam rolled a little in the momentum of the opening drawer. I picked it up. What was this thing? Certainly more than a clam. A vessel, they called it. A vessel for information Linnaeus would kill to get his hands on. That poem…what did it mean? Where did this vessel come from?

Should I take it? Doran Linnaeus would never know it was me. I could toss it over an ocean bluff. Or maybe watch more of the lights and voices. I might learn what this thing was for, why the red-headed Delfina woman wanted me to keep it safe, or maybe why Mr. Linnaeus wanted it so much. I slid it into my purse and closed the drawer. Still in a daze, I walked to the door, unlocked the knob, and peeked out.

No one in sight. I shut the door and walked down the hall, feeling like I left my brain twenty minutes in the past. Around the corner, down the hallway, toward the exit. I still couldn’t believe I didn’t get caught. But even more, I couldn’t believe what I had just seen. But it was there. Real. In front of my eyes. Some strange projection had come out of the clam.

I reached for the handle to the outer door, but it swung toward me. My stomach slipped to my shoes. There he stood, his head turned away, shouting at someone outside. Doran Linnaeus. He didn’t see me. I hurried