Merfolk on Mars

Chapter 4

"I wonder who named Brasslantis? It's awfully similar to Sealantis," I pondered aloud while we waited for Corvus and Arai to return.

Isla shrugged. "Sealantis is based off of Atlantis, so maybe they chose a floating steampunk version?"

"I wonder where the guys are. They had better hurry up. We still need to get to the Leviathan."

"I'm just hoping all that steam prevents the people in Brasslantis from seeing the spaceship. The Leviathan might be one of the smallest ships in the merfolk fleet, but it isn't invisible."

"Now that I think about it, where are the other spaceships?"

"This moon is smaller than Rhode Island – there just isn't enough room for so many ships. They are hiding in the asteroid belt on auto-pilot. The King has the controls to bring them back in if we ever need them."

"That makes sense," I replied. "I wonder- oh! There they are- wait. What are they carrying?"

Isla and I stared at the two approaching mermen in disbelief. Each of them was carrying a chainsaw and an axe. The chainsaw Corvus was carrying was massive – it probably weighed more than most toddlers. The fact that his muscled body was carrying it like a twig simply wasn't fair.

When they reached us, I said, "Uh, I thought I asked for weapons?"

"We decided we didn't want to hurt anyone," Arai replied.

"So, why do you have chainsaws?"

"To cut through the walls, of course," Corvus said, as if it was the most obvious deduction in the world.

I eyed up the massive tool in his hands. "You couldn't find a bigger one, could you?"

His shoulders slumped dejectedly. "No. This was the biggest one I could find – and we even searched through all of the kelp trimming tool sheds!"

"We brought you axes, though!" Arai chimed in, tossing one to Isla.

Corvus passed the axe he was carrying to me, and I reluctantly took it. It was the real deal – heavy and solid, meant for slicing through the tough kelp bases. Why couldn't he have brought me a hatchet? Or at least something that I could pretend to hide?

"Umm, guys," I began, "if we plan to sneak into Brasslantis, then carrying chainsaws into a place that likely doesn't have tall trees isn't exactly the wisest idea."

"What? Why wouldn't they have trees?" Arai asked, clearly perplexed by the mere thought of no trees in a city.

"How am I supposed to know? Maybe they didn't like the idea of trees peeking out of the billows of steam when it is supposed to look like a cloud?" I was wildly grasping at straws at this point but didn't care.

"Let's take them, just in case," Arai said. "We can always hide them and return for them if we need to."

I just stared at the bulky merman, trying to determine if he had ever watched any spy movies or even understood the word 'sneak'.

He turned and began swimming away. "Let's go!" he called back. "You said we had to hurry – and sitting here does not accomplish that!"

I gritted my teeth but followed him, muttering to Isla, "I should have grabbed those worn-out coveralls when picking out his clothing."

Isla grinned but didn't reply. She swam beside Corvus, slowly falling behind the overly enthusiastic Arai. Leaving me to be the idiot in the middle. I was still trying to figure out why I was still carrying the axe, not to mention the towels.

We wove through the kelp forest. The leafy strands thinned and stopped, forming a clearing around the Seadragon Spaceship. The Leviathan. Unlike humans had assumed, it wasn't a mythical sea monster, but one of our high-tech spaceships.