Chương 65

The Peregrine left Vermilion before dawn. She was an Iron Talon cutter built for rescue work rather than comfort: narrow hull, reinforced bow, two launch bays, and a medical compartment occupying the space another ship might have wasted on passenger seats. A Blastoise crest had been painted beneath the bridge windows. The Pokémon himself slept in a flooded cradle near the stern, cannons above water, one eye open whenever the engines changed pitch. Rine stood at the rail until Vermilion's lights disappeared.

Veyra kept all four paws spread against the wet deck. She had learned the ocean did not stay where a sensible body of water belonged. It climbed the hull, crossed the floor, and occasionally struck her face without warning. The third wave made her sneeze. Morrow created an illusion of a tiny umbrella over her head. The fourth wave passed through it. Veyra chased him through the spray while two deckhands pretended not to watch. Rine held the railing and let the sight exist beside the operation waiting ahead.

Terror did not become more respectful when no one laughed. The missing children would not be harmed by six seconds of joy occurring beyond their knowledge. Lyra joined him beneath the bridge overhang. Her Kadabra remained inside, conserving energy and avoiding seasickness through meditation. The last attempt to let him watch the horizon had ended with three floating buckets and a psychic demand that land behave more responsibly.

"Mara has a contact," Lyra said. Rine followed her to the chart room. The storm had moved east, leaving Route 20 beneath a bruised purple sky. Seafoam's western channels remained dangerous, but the eastern passage had reopened. A harbor patrol Fearow circled above the map projection, transmitting images through a camera harness. Mrs. Pell's face occupied one corner of the display from Vermilion.

"The crawler didn't drive all the way to Cinnabar," the retired clerk said.

"Those refrigeration units draw too much power. The old carriers swapped them onto shallow barges east of Seafoam." Mara enlarged a stretch of water between the islands and Cinnabar.

"No registered cold barge filed a route last night," she said.

"Then look for one riding low and pretending to carry fish." The Fearow's camera crossed three vessels. A League mail boat. A trawler with two Seaking pens. A flat grey barge moving without visible engines. The barge rode low. White foam broke around a shape tethered ahead of it. Dewgong. The Pokémon pulled the entire vessel through the current. Metal bands circled her neck and foreflippers. Each time her pace slowed, blue light flashed from a control box fixed behind her head. Veyra stopped playing.

Her growl reached the chart room from the outer deck. Mrs. Pell pointed at the barge's refrigeration mast.

"Polar Transit 8B. That is your seal." Mara issued orders. The Peregrine approached under harbor-inspection colors. Two League patrol boats closed from the south but remained beyond visual range. Blastoise entered the water without a splash and disappeared beneath the barge's expected route. Rine fastened Veyra's medical harness.

"Tracking and support," he reminded her.

"One electrical release only if retreat fails." She stared toward Dewgong.

"Helping her counts. Anger does not." Veyra looked at him. One bark. Morrow's containment band showed full cohesion. Rine checked it twice.

"Haunter may be aboard," he said. The Gastly's grin narrowed.

"You find. You do not chase through the hull alone." Morrow projected an image of himself wearing a captain's hat and leading an entire fleet.

"Two barks," Rine said. Veyra supplied them. The inspection signal received no answer. At four hundred meters, the barge changed course. At three hundred, its refrigeration mast folded sideways and exposed a mounted coilgun.

"Cover!" Mara shouted. The first metal spike struck the Peregrine's bow. Kadabra's Reflect turned a direct impact into a glancing blow, but the spike tore through the outer rail and vanished into the sea. Blastoise surfaced beside the barge.

"Hydro Pump!" his Trainer called from the lower deck. Water hit the coilgun before it fired again. The mounting twisted. A second Hydro Pump tore the weapon from its track and drove it across the barge without breaching the refrigerated hull. Iron Talon launched two boarding lines. Mara crossed first with an armored pair behind her. Lyra followed under Kadabra's Reflect. Rine waited the required five seconds, then ran across with Veyra beside him and Morrow hidden inside his shadow.

The boarding line touched the barge rail. Electricity erupted through the cable. One armored hunter convulsed and lost his grip. His safety tether caught him above the sea. Rine stopped. The entire deck had been electrified through the refrigeration system. His insulated boots protected him for the moment. Kadabra floated above the metal, but Mara's armor alarm began to shriek. Veyra's golden stripes blazed in answer.

"No Thunder Fang," Rine said. She lowered her head. Rine saw the grounding cable running from the deck grid toward a sacrificial zinc block at the stern. Someone had disconnected it and rerouted current through the boarding points. Twenty meters separated them from the block. Too far for a human to cross safely. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Not too far for a Houndour who had practiced moving while charge passed through her forelimbs.

"Grounded Step," Rine said.

"Only what the deck gives you. Do not generate." Veyra stepped from the insulated line. Electricity entered her left forepaw. Her ribs flashed white-gold. Pain struck through their aura bond, sharp enough to stop Rine's breath. He did not reach for her. He sent the rhythm of the training room instead. Walk. Contact. Release. Veyra touched her right paw beside a steel drain. The current passed through her body and grounded into seawater beneath the grate. Not all of it. Enough. She moved again.

Each step made the deck lamps pulse. Her heart monitor climbed but remained regular. Raichu's patient circle lived inside the pattern: movement, contact, release. Halfway to the stern, the control box on Dewgong's neck discharged. The Pokémon cried out. Veyra nearly lost the rhythm.

"Her next," Rine said.

"You first." One step. Green on the harness. Another. At the stern, Veyra seized the loose grounding cable in her teeth without activating Thunder Fang. She dragged it across the deck and pressed the clamp against the zinc block. The electrical grid collapsed with a burst of blue sparks. Every lamp went dark. Veyra released the cable and stumbled. Rine crossed the deck as soon as his meter read safe.

Doctor Vale's limit had not been phrased for an electrified barge, but Veyra had performed one sustained regulation technique and generated almost no current herself. Her monitor showed strain. No arrhythmia. He pressed his forehead briefly against hers.

"Done," he said.

"No more electricity." She remained standing. Blastoise broke Dewgong's tow chain beneath the water. A maritime medic reached the control collar, injected a neutralizing agent, and cut power to the shock contacts. Dewgong floated without moving until Blastoise placed one broad arm beneath her. The rescue continued without waiting for vengeance. Three armed crew members emerged from the forward cabin. Iron Talon's armored hunters met two. The third released Sneasel.

She landed on the deck in a low crouch, crimson ear feather pressed flat by the wind. A control collar circled her throat, smaller than Dewgong's and no less cruel. Sneasel — Female — Level 19 Type: Dark / Ice Current Potential: Yellow — Rare Innate Potential: Green — Uncommon Condition: stimulant exposure / muscular overstrain Moves: Scratch, Leer, Quick Attack, Icy Wind, Feint Attack, Fury Swipes Intent: conditioned aggression"Icy Wind!" the handler ordered. Sneasel exhaled a freezing gale across the deck.

Veyra planted herself in front of Rine. Fire rose beneath her fur, but her medical restriction tightened through his thoughts.

"Ember. Low sweep." Veyra breathed flame across the deck rather than at Sneasel's body. Heat broke the Icy Wind and forced the Ice-type sideways. She recovered instantly and vanished into Feint Attack. The technique did not rely on speed alone. It exploited attention, striking from the angle its target failed to guard. Veyra turned too late. Sneasel's claws cut three lines across her flank. No electricity answered. Veyra snarled and lunged with Bite. Sneasel twisted away. The control collar flashed.

Her body jerked back toward battle despite the open path to the rail.

"Collar receiver," Rine called.

"Right side."

"Ember!" Veyra fired a narrow burst. It struck the receiver, not Sneasel's throat. Plastic melted. The collar opened. Sneasel hit the deck, rolled, and rose with both claws spread. Her handler shouted another command. She looked at him. Then she ran. Not toward Veyra. Not toward revenge. She leapt onto the Peregrine's boarding line and crossed to the empty rescue deck. A League handler opened the containment gate. Sneasel entered and turned to watch the fight from safety. Veyra's aura carried fierce approval.

The forward crew surrendered thirty seconds later. The Haunter waited until everyone believed the deck was secure. Purple hands emerged from Kadabra's shadow. One was whole. The left ended in a shortened outer claw. Haunter's tongue passed through Kadabra's back. The Lick carried Ghost energy directly into his nervous system. Kadabra stiffened, spoon falling from one hand as paralysis seized his left side. Lyra spun.

"Psybeam!" Haunter vanished before the multicolored beam struck. Psychic energy scarred the deck. Then his eyes appeared inside the refrigeration wall. Hypnosis spread through the barge as a slow, violet pulse. Mara's armored team staggered. One sank to a knee. Lyra's eyes lost focus while she tried to support Kadabra. Rine pulled Dark energy around his mind. The pulse broke against it. Veyra remained conscious through her Dark typing, though exhaustion lowered her head.

"Morrow," Rine said. Nothing emerged. For one instant, he thought the Gastly had been caught. Then Haunter's grin changed. Morrow rose from within the larger Ghost's shadow, hidden by the narrow veil Rine had built around his core. He used Lick. The attack would not harm a Normal-type. Against another Ghost, it carried super-effective spectral force. Haunter convulsed and turned, one claw sweeping through Morrow's outer gas.

"Disable!" Morrow's eyes flashed blue-white. The Hypnosis pulse gathering behind Haunter's gaze collapsed. Haunter's Hypnosis was Disabled It would not remain unavailable for long. Long enough mattered. Haunter used Shadow Punch. The fist crossed the distance without missing and struck Morrow's core. His gaseous body scattered across the ceiling. Pain tore through their bond. Rine moved before thought finished. Not toward Haunter. Toward the refrigeration control panel.

The Ghost had placed himself between the defenders and the cold compartment because that was where the children were. The crew handler saw him and drew a pistol. Rine felt the man's intent in aura—the clean line from fear to decision. Dark energy gathered along Rine's forearm. One strike could crush the throat. He stepped inside the weapon's aim, trapped the wrist, and drove his elbow into the man's shoulder. Bone dislocated with a wet pop. The pistol fell.

Rine kicked it beneath a pipe and struck once behind the ear. The handler collapsed alive. Easy. Killing would also have been easy. The two truths no longer felt identical. Lyra recovered enough to raise a psychic barrier around Morrow's scattered core.

"Kadabra, Kinesis!" Kadabra lifted his remaining spoon. Haunter's depth perception twisted. His next Shadow Punch curved past Morrow and struck the wall.

"Mean Look," Rine commanded. Morrow gathered himself. His red eyes opened across every reflective surface in the corridor. Haunter froze halfway into the refrigeration unit, trapped between material and spectral space. He screamed. Not in fear. In rage at a lesser Ghost refusing hierarchy. Morrow drifted forward, damaged and shaking. Rine felt the desire to keep attacking. Glass storage. Painted numbers. Years of being tasted as weakness.

"Hold him," Rine said.

"Do not become him." Morrow's eyes narrowed. Mean Look remained. Mara fired a containment capsule. Silver mesh unfolded around Haunter and dragged him into a warded League ball. The lock flashed yellow twice before holding. Silence returned in fragments. Engine hum. Waves. The ragged breathing of people waking from Hypnosis. Rine opened the refrigerated compartment. Six children lay inside. Thermal blankets covered narrow bunks. An IV line ran from a central sedative pump into ports fixed at each bedside.

Their skin was pale with cold, but all six aura patterns remained present. Rine counted again. Six. Mara reached the pump first and identified the shutoff sequence. Lyra used Kadabra's telekinesis to clamp the lines while medics entered. No one tore out a needle for dramatic effect. No one shouted promises the unconscious could not hear. They worked. Rine found Eli in the third bunk. He recognized the boy from the missing-person image: brown skin, dark curls cut unevenly, a small scar beside the left eyebrow.

Green wax stained the edge of one thumbnail. Eli Corven — Age 10 Condition: sedated / moderate dehydration / mild hypothermia Immediate mortality risk: low with treatment The final line loosened something beneath Rine's ribs. Veyra limped into the compartment.

"You should be with the medic." Two barks. Her flank bled through three shallow cuts. Her heart remained regular. She sat beside Eli's bunk. The boy's eyes opened halfway. Sedation prevented focus. He saw gold light beneath black fur and tried to lift one hand. Veyra placed her paw against the bunk frame. One soft tap. Eli's mouth moved.

"Knew," he whispered. His eyes closed again. Veyra stayed until a medic asked her to move. The Cold Current carried more than children. Iron Talon recovered false adoption records, genetic screening kits, and invoices from the Cinnabar Thermal Annex. The newest manifest listed six human transfers as behavioral labor assets. Below them, a separate shipment had already been delivered east.

Recipient: Cinnabar Genomics Recovery Authority Container: CR-17 Contents: archival tissue cultures / origin restricted Authorization: GIOVANNI / VIRIDIAN RESTORATION TRUST Giovanni's name did not prove that Mewtwo waited beneath Cinnabar. It proved that the road from Viridian had reached the island long before Rine spoke. Mara sealed the manifest.

"We return the children to Vermilion," she said.

"Cinnabar's warrant team secures the annex."

"The container was delivered," Rine replied.

"And six patients need the medical bay aboard this ship." He looked at Eli. The choice was not difficult. It merely would have been, once.

"We return," he said. Veyra's medical scan recorded heavy fatigue, superficial lacerations, and no new mutation damage. Grounded Step rose to four percent. The regulation pattern forming into Charge remained unranked. Morrow's core required stabilization salts and several hours inside his ball. Neither received a miraculous reward for surviving. Experience settled more quietly. Veyra reached Level 15 Morrow reached Level 13 On the journey north, Veyra slept beside Dewgong's treatment pool.

Sneasel occupied the farthest open pen with her broken collar on the floor outside it. Haunter remained contained under Kadabra's watch. The six children slept in the medical compartment. Rine sat in the corridor between all of them. He sent Iona one message for Milo. Six found alive. Eli is with us. We are coming back. The reply arrived four minutes later. It contained no words. Only three recorded taps. Rine placed the watch against the floor. Veyra woke, lifted her head, and answered once.

Outside, morning opened over the sea. Behind them, Cinnabar's volcanic peak rose through the clearing storm, black against the light. Somewhere beneath it, an old project waited behind Giovanni's money and seventeen years of ash. They would go there. But first, they were bringing the children home.