20. Chapter 20

Jayna turned towards the stands and gave Sid a small wave. When he waved in return, her chest filled with an intense fluttering that had nothing to do with the Merathlon.

She had been attracted to him from the moment she'd first seen him, but since coming with him to Manutai, there was a connection she could no longer deny. He was smart, caring, funny, and not above wearing a tail and singing the mermaid song to a bunch of children.

He was unlike any topper she had ever met. Yet he was a topper. And he owned Realms of Neptune. He was her boss.

Why did she have to fall so hard for someone so far off limits?

But if the Realms employees managed to buy the park, he wouldn't be her boss anymore. And while that had seemed like an impossible fantasy just a few days ago, the pieces had been falling into place as if by magic.

The Merathlon prize money would be another piece. All she had to do was win.

The thought gave her an extra shot of motivation.

She turned to Kalani. "Do you think I have a chance?" As soon as the question left her mouth, she realized she was asking about Sid as much as she was the Merathlon.

"You have an excellent chance. It's yours to lose."

Kalani was right. She had a chance, and she couldn't let it slip away. She resisted the urge to steal another glance at Sid and focused on the final event. "Merman Pala's right behind me. I'm not sure I can beat him."

Kalani put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "His size and strength will give him an advantage on the return leg. You have to get there first and catch the smallest, lightest fish you can."

She nodded and tried to relax. "Thanks."

"Check your gear one more time," he said.

Jayna ensured the fishing net was secured to her waist. She then pulled the mer-goggles over her eyes and powered them up. The augmented reality goggles had been a highly controversial addition to the competition gear, but practicality and safety had won out over authenticity, and Jayna was grateful for the information they provided.

Through the built-in display, she confirmed that both her trident and her merbreather were fully charged. She noted the location of the fishing grounds, as well as the relative position of her fellow mers.

Three short blasts from the conch shell reverberated through the stadium, calling Jayna to the starting line, and her anxiety surged.

"Hey," Kalani said. "You've got this."

"Thanks." She returned his smile but was not reassured.

She took her place at the starting line, and as she waited for the other mers to take their place behind her, she looked up at Sid again. Her mind went back to the night she had drenched his team during the Sirens of Atlantis show. She wouldn't be half as nervous if she was simply performing in a show instead of competing in the Merathlon.

But as she scanned the crowd filling the stadium, she realized that the Merathlon was a show. A high-stakes, unscripted show with an international audience and an uncertain outcome, but at its heart it was still a show.

If she focused on giving the best possible performance, she had a chance. With that realization, she relaxed and performed the simple breathing ritual that helped her prepare for every other show.

"Fifteen seconds," the official at the starting line said. Jayna nodded her acknowledgment.

When the conch sounded, Jayna took off with a splash. She pushed herself into a sprint and dashed from the stadium. She would have to slow down and set a more sustainable pace, but the theatrics demanded a spectacular start.

Jayna followed markers displayed in her goggles while underwater camera drones followed her. She did her best to balance speed, stamina, and style. She had to look good so people would use this footage and generate drips for her.

And Sid would be watching. The thought of him viewing the race on the jumbo stadium display while following her specifically on his personal screen gave her a shot of adrenaline.

The course went into the ocean past beaches and docks and out through a dive park with amazing statues of mythical sea creatures from around the world. A group of divers lined up along the course, and she waved excitedly to her live underwater audience. The diving spectators would certainly capture some impressive footage.

Past the edge of the dive park, the course headed out over an undersea cliff. Jayna checked the position of the other mers. As she suspected, Pala was quickly approaching from behind. Hers had been a healthy lead, but the big merman was powerful and fast.

She turned her attention to the school of robotic tuna swimming ahead. She was close enough to make out individual fish and saw that while they appeared to swim in a random pattern, they also stayed within a confined area.

Yet as she swam towards them, the fish seemed to keep growing larger without getting any closer. How am I supposed to haul one of those monsters all the way back to the stadium?

She followed Kalani's advice and scanned the school for a smaller fish. Once she identified one, she adjusted her trajectory to intercept it. But just as she prepared to strike with her trident the robotic tuna darted away with surprising speed, and she missed completely.

So that's how it is,she thought and set up her attack again. She allowed herself to descend deeper into the water and approached the fish from behind and slightly below. This time, she adjusted her attack to anticipate the burst of escape speed.

Her trident hit the tuna's tail. With a crackle of electricity and a stream of bubbles, the heavy robotic fish stopped swimming and immediately began to sink.

Jayna hadn't expected the fish to sink so quickly, and she had to scramble for her net and race after it. By the time she had reached the tuna and looped her net around it, she had descended much deeper than she ever liked to go. An alert in her goggles let her know the carbon scrubbers were struggling to keep up with her heavy, labored breathing.

Jayna swam towards the surface and the air she needed, but the dead weight of the robotic tuna dragged behind her, slowing her progress. She hadn't descended so far that she was in danger of decompression sickness, but she couldn't exert herself the way she needed to without overwhelming the merbreather.

She watched helplessly as both Pala and the third-place merman pulled ahead of her. There's too much drag, she thought. She pulled the fish to her chest and held it tightly. The reduced drag helped, and she quickly made it to the surface.

Jayna filled her lungs with air and pushed herself as fast as she could, but with her arms wrapped tightly around the heavy fish to keep it from sinking she struggled to catch up.

Then she remembered the stream of bubbles that had escaped the fish when she'd speared it. These things must have a swim bladder that keeps them buoyant. If she could just reinflate it, that would make the fish much easier to handle.

She examined the fish closely and found a small button deep inside its mouth. This has to work, she thought, and pressed it.

The fish immediately sprang to life, bending her finger painfully as the robot's programming kicked in and it struggled to get away from her. Fortunately, it was still secured in the net.

Jayna held on tightly, unwilling to let the fish get away. She wrapped the net rope around her right arm and wrist while she scrambled to grab her trident from off her back. The fish pulled hard, and Jayna found herself being dragged through the water while the rope bit into her arm.

After several long agonizing seconds, Jayna retrieved the trident from her back. She pulled on the net as hard as she could and jabbed the trident into the fish's side. The thrashing stopped, and the water around her was instantly still.

Jayna wrapped the fish in her arms, rose to the surface, and did a quick assessment of the damage. Her hand and wrist were raw where the rope had dug into her flesh, but she was otherwise unscathed.

Unfortunately, her display showed that in the few dozen seconds it had been active, the reanimated robotic tuna had pulled her off course. She had fallen from third place to a position near the middle of the pack.

Frustration welled up inside her, and only the approach of a floating streamer drone kept her tears from falling. But stories of perseverance and determination always did well in the Myst, so even if she didn't win, her dropper still might see a boost.

With a sigh, she attached the trident to her back and began the long slog back to the stadium. Come on, Aaramere. Time to finish strong and salvage what you can.

Almost as soon as she began swimming, a fresh wave of disappointment washed over her. While the Merathlon prize money wasn't enough to make or break the employee purchase of the park, it certainly would have helped. Her feelings for Sid would be so much easier to deal with if he wasn't her boss.

But she had blown her chance to win the Merathlon, just as she had failed to suppress her feelings for Sid. She had lost that fight when they clipped themselves together and pulled the chariot.

Remembering the way Sid had rigged the chariot gave her an idea. What if she hooked the net to her merbreather? That would take the pressure off her hands and allow her to swim more naturally. The ability to swim with both her arms and her tail might give her enough speed to make up three or four places.

As she had hoped, the hooks on the rope secured perfectly to the merbreather loops. As she secured the second hook, she had an even crazier idea, one she tried in vain to discard.

What if, with the net secured to her merbreather, she reanimated the robotic tuna?

For several long seconds she warred within herself, but the more she thought about it, the better the idea seemed. Letting the strong robotic fish pull her through the water would undoubtedly get her disqualified, but it would make an impression—and boost her dropper score in the process. The move was a huge risk, but if she was going to lose anyway, she might as well lose with style.

Jayna pulled the fish to her, making sure it was secured in the net and that the net was firmly attached to her merbreather. Then holding tightly to the rope with her uninjured hand, she shoved her other hand into the fish's mouth and pressed the button.

She barely managed to keep herself from being slapped silly by the fish's strong tail as it sprang to life. The tuna shot forward. The merbreather dug into her armpits.

Jayna held tight and added her own tail to propel herself. With each second, the gap between Jayna and the others closed. Pulling firmly on the ropes kept the fish moving in the right direction.

She splashed and thrashed through the water, pulled along by the strong robotic fish. She had no idea how long the fish's power would last. At least it was now only swimming away from her and not returning to the fishing grounds.

The artificial sea shelf that marked the boundary of Manutai loomed ahead, and Jayna pulled sharply at the tuna, desperate to guide it to the shallow platform rather than below the wamo.

The fish pulled her past one mer after another. At last, she was within sight of both Merman Pala and the stadium. She lowered her head and swam for all she was worth, passing Pala just ahead of the finish line.

Before she could relax and savor her victory, the tuna looped around the lagoon at full speed and headed back out to sea.

Jayna strained at the ropes, trying to steer the fish back towards the stadium lagoon. Her arms screamed in pain and exhaustion, but she kept the fish moving in a broad circle that looped back into the lagoon.

As the robotic fish dragged her towards the finish line the second time, Kalani splashed after her and speared the fish with a trident. It immediately went still.

He scooped both Jayna and her fish out of the water and held her close. "Are you okay?"

Relief washed over her. She dropped her fish and wrapped her arms around Kalani's neck. "I'm fine," she said. Only then did she register the wild cheering of the crowd. "Who won?"

Kalani laughed. "I have no idea, you crazy girl. The judges are beside themselves trying to figure out if what you did was legal or not."

Jayna waved at the cheering crowd and the hovering streambots as Kalani stood in the lagoon and cradled her in his arms. She found Sid in the stands and waved. He waved back.

The gesture made Jayna's heart flutter.

The conch sounded, and everyone in the stadium went quiet. "Since this is the first ever Merathlon," the announcer said, "the rules are still somewhat vague and ambiguous. You can be certain that the Merathlon board will be making some clarifying changes to future events. That said, there is nothing in the current rules, as written, that prohibit a mermaid or merman from utilizing the power of their fishing trophy in the race. Therefore, the winner of the first ever Manutai Merathlon is Mermaid Aaramere!"

The theater erupted in cheers and Jayna's heart swelled with happiness. She had done it! She tried to find Sid again, but Kalani held her tightly and kissed the top of her head. "I knew you could do it!"

When he finally released her, she looked for Sid in the stands but couldn't see him. Her heart sank a little, but the disappointment was soon replaced by anticipation, knowing she would be with him later that evening at the Jubilee Beach Bash.