“They’re much smaller than the females,” the pirate explained.
Laureline raised her eyebrows. “That’s good to hear.”
The little sub drew closer. “Um… aren’t we supposed to be looking for a cortex jellyfish?”
The pirate turned his disconcerting gaze on her. “You want to find the jellyfish, you find the Bromosaurs first!” He shook his grizzled head in a what are they teaching kids in school these days? gesture.
Laureline inquired, “Okay, so… how can you be sure that this one has a jellyfish in it?”
“They all do,” said the pirate. “Y’see… the Bromosaur blows out pure water, an’ cortex jellyfish can’t survive without it. That’s why jellyfish live on it all year round, and it’s where they get their hypersensitivity from.”
Laureline stared at him for a moment, almost more impressed by the hitherto-silent pirate’s eloquence and ecological understanding than the giant being in front of them.
They were close enough now that she could see that the Bromosaur had a single, huge nostril. And sure enough, a jellyfish clung on to its nose, just above the enormous hole currently expelling water.
The tiny submarine came to a halt facing the animal. Laureline was acutely aware that the Bromosaur was at least a hundred times larger than their vessel.
“Why are we stop—”
Her fingers tightened on the arm of the chair as the little ship was pulled forward. “We’re being sucked in!” she yelped.
The pirate looked completely calm. “You have to approach it head on,” he told her, in the same casual, knowledgeable tone with which he had explained the relationship between the jellyfish and the Bromosaur. He leaned over and said, almost conspiratorially, “It’s the blind spot in its vision.”
She gaped at him. She’d thought him crazy, then surprisingly knowledgeable, but now she was right back to “insane” again. The submarine was moving faster and faster. Her gaze was inexorably drawn toward the viewing bubble as she watched the talons of the claw crane on the sub’s front unfurl.
“Now,” the pirate purred, leaning forward as he maneuvered the crane, “here we go… as soft as silk…”
Laureline watched him, understanding now what he was going to attempt. “Can I help?” she offered. “I’m a good driver.”
The pirate kept staring raptly, his entire body focused on what he was doing. “Oh, it’s not about driving,” he murmured. “It’s all about… feeling.”
“I’m not bad at that either,” Laureline said helpfully.
“Shhh,” the pirate hissed, his face turning dark with a thunderous frown. She sank back in her chair, chastised, and let the pirate do what he’d been given three diamonds to do.
They were still being pulled in at an astonishingly swift pace. Laureline swallowed, hoping the pirate was secretly brilliant at his job.
Sure enough, at the very last possible second, the pirate steered up, the little sub managing to break free of the Bromosaur’s vacuum, and surged up and over the monster’s head. He moved the controls swiftly, and the claw crane latched onto the jellyfish on the way past.
“That’s the way to do it!” her companion roared, gleefully.
Laureline, relieved, was about to cheer as well when behind and below them, the Bromosaur abruptly reared up. With surprising speed for an animal that had been so slow and languid, it spun around. One moment she was looking at the creature’s broad back and tail, the next into a really big mouth with teeth that were as long as the man sitting beside her was tall.
“I thought you said they weren’t dangerous!” cried Laureline.
“Oh, they’re not,” the pirate said nonchalantly, adding, “except when you take their little buddy.”
“Great!”
The chase was on. Completely unruffled, the pirate kicked the vessel into high gear and it zipped over the creature’s back… and managed to dodge a second Bromosaur, who was apparently as outraged as its fellow that the little jellyfish “buddy” had been snatched away.
“We can’t possibly outrun them!” Laureline shouted.
“We don’t have to,” the pirate replied calmly. Laureline hated sitting by while others acted, but there wasn’t a lot she could do at this point other than hang on tight and hope the ship held together.
A massive tail lashed out, and the resulting surge of water sent the submarine hurtling forward. Laureline, though, now finally understood what the pirate’s strategy was. Up ahead, two of the giant, now-crumbling columns loomed like stone sentinels. The pirate was heading straight for the gap between them.
Laureline’s hands tightened on the chair’s arms. Come on, come on…
The sub zipped between the twin pillars.
The Bromosaurs didn’t; they slammed into the columns, their heads the only part of them small enough to get through, their shoulders smashing into the ancient stone so hard that a huge crack zigzagged along the length of one. Confused and angry, the two enormous denizens of the Galana Plains simply tried harder and harder. And by then, their tiny prey, and their even tinier little friend, had disappeared into the depths.
From behind, Laureline heard a loud, mournful bellow. She collapsed back into the seat and closed her eyes for the rest of the trip.
Laureline felt absolutely drained as she climbed out of the submarine, and she didn’t want to admit that she was pleased to find the three Doghan Daguis still waiting there. She’d half-expected them to vamoose.
Once Laureline was on the dock, the lid of the conning tower slammed shut and she heard the lock grind closed. That was fine with her. She wasn’t sure she’d have any civil words of farewell for the peculiar pirate after that last adventure.
“Well?” asked Blue.
“Were they biting?” queried Burgundy.
“Did you catch one?” Yellow looked excited.
“Yes,” Laureline replied.
They all turned to watch as the submarine’s pincers slowly rose out of the water, brandishing its gooey catch.
“There’s no time to lose,” said Blue.
“The cortex jellyfish is extremely fragile,” Burgundy explained.
“Show it images of Valerian—” said Yellow, and Blue finished, “—and it will show you what he has seen.”
“Sure, but…” Laureline looked askance at the jellyfish still hovering in the pincers’ clutches. “How?”
“You have to put it—”
“—on your head—”
“—down to the shoulders.”
Laureline grimaced in disgust. “You’re kidding.”
They regarded her with serious expressions. “Never when we’re working,” Blue assured her.
“Through a kind of osmosis—” explained Burgundy.
“—you will be able to communicate,” finished Yellow.
Laureline eyed the dripping, slimy mass with distaste. Part of her wondered if the Doghan Daguis were simply having a good joke at her expense. But she believed Blue when he denied it. They were slimy little information brokers, true, but toying with clients was bad for business. Speaking of slimy…
Gingerly, Laureline forced herself to pick up the slippery jellyfish, trying not to recoil as her fingers touched it.
On her head, down to her shoulders. Ugh.
She took a deep breath and steeled herself, then lifted the cool, clammy invertebrate. She paused when Blue spoke in a cautionary tone. “But be very careful—”
“—not to stay under there longer—” Burgundy continued.
“—than one minute—”
“—because then it starts to feed—”
“—on your memory,” Burgundy finished.
Laureline stared at them, aghast. She let out a harsh, short bark of utterly false laughter.