Tidal Wave

Chapter 35

It was a single word and just a name, but it was the greatest thing Darya had ever heard. She tried to ignore the weakness in his message as she held onto the knowledge her father was alive. She pushed herself from the water as fast as she could while grabbing Marty"s hand in the process.

"What happened?" He shouted as he was pulled along her frantic journey.

"He"s alive, he said my name and he"s alive. Well, he didn"t say he was alive, but whatever. I can find him now!" She shouted to the empty beach sh.o.r.e as she dragged Marty towards the dorm room again.

Darya wasted no time in stripping off her suit and putting on soft cotton shorts and a big shirt. She pulled the laptop out from under the pile of clothes she had gone through earlier. Marty took her example and changed into something more comfortable for laying around in. He took a seat next to her on the bed and watched her surf the web for something he wasn"t sure she was looking for.

"If he only said your name, how are you going to use that to find him?" He asked her and watched as the pages flipped between a few at a time. He only caught the name of a couple of the sites and none of them made sense to him.

"It"s not his voice that will help me find him, it"s knowing there is something to find. Knowing that the connection is there I just need to make it stronger." He leaned back against the wall and laid his legs out on the bed and thought about what she said. "Is there a way to strengthen it?" Marty asked hoping the answer was simple.

"Yes, there is, and I need my mother"s help with it." He was surprised hearing she was going to tell her mother about all of this. "Do you want me to give you your phone on the charger?" He asked having already reached down for it and unplugged the small charger from the silver and black phone. When she didn"t take the phone from him his curiosity only grew.

"I won"t need a phone, I"m not telling my mother anything. She doesn"t need to know how our first week of school is going. She"ll only want me to come home." She explained. Marty"s brow furrowed as he watched her still staring intently at the laptop screen. "I won"t need to speak to her just read what she wrote a long time ago." She held up a notebook with scribbles and mindless ramblings of a scientist.

"You stole your mother"s research?" He asked, surprised by her actions. He never thought she would do anything like that.

"I didn"t steal anything, she gave me the notes in hopes it might help me with my school work. It"s not cheating or anything. I haven"t opened it before today. All I know is that there are all the different types of algae in here. Including the ones she created herself. The notes are from after she graduated so it has all of her thesis info and every hybrid of algae she created. Whether on paper or in reality." Marty followed about half of what she told him but rather than continuing to question her he sat back and watched her work.


"There was this type of algae that she bred herself. Not the one that made Johnson forget, but a different one that turned into this vibrant pink color when it matured. I remember seeing it last year and I asked her the effects of itShe didn"t know because she was still growing it, however, when I looked at the notes she took on it I realized she was growing it for me." Again, Marty didn"t know what she was talking about but her mother was the expert on algae and he wouldn"t deny what was in that notebook.

"What makes you think she grew it for you?" Marty asked while he took the notebook from the spot next to her and began reading about the algae himself. "Well for starters, she named it after me and it is shown to help the transition process. I think she was trying to make algae you can eat that would allow you to transform on demand. In my mind, she wanted me to be able to visit my father again. But that"s not what we"re using it for and that"s not what it does."

He was lost with what question he should ask next. Usually, he was sharp minded and right on the ball when it came to this sort of thing but he had to be honest with himself and with her. He was completely lost.

"Okay Dar, what are you using this alga for? And what does it do, you"ll have to dumb it down for me." He asked a lot of her and hoped she didn"t think he was any less smart than he always has been. "She tried to integrate the components of the Sarpa salpa fish with the algae. You know that fish has hallucinogenic properties to it. Pairing it with this algae can possibly guild me to my father." He looked up from the notebook and stared intently at Darya who had turned around with her news.

"That"s dangerous. That fish is dangerous. We can find a different way to find him." Her big green eyes stared into his deep brown ones and he saw what he feared. A sad and helpless Darya. He didn"t like seeing the fear and pain in her eyes but he also didn"t want her to hurt herself trying to find her father.

"If I can get the fish and the algae to work together then it won"t be so dangerous and it will allow me to sleep peacefully while I call upon my father through my dreams. It will guild me to him because I can connect with him through our link while I control my dreams. The only issue? We need to get a sample of the fish and the algae." Marty blew air past his lips for nearly a minute straight.

"I"m in. Let"s do this. We have the weekend off, we can sneak into your mother"s lab, she"s out of town this week isn"t she?" He asked and Darya nodded trying to think of a way they could get in without anyone knowing. Marty took her hand in his when he noticed how nervous she was. She squeezed his hand back in a thankful gesture but it didn"t make her feel any less stressed out or nervous about what they were about to do.