Listen to the Water | FULL SERIES | Wattys 2022 Shortlist | ✔

(3) Taiki: Island of the Singing Shoal

I stare at the Qiv-Kel before me as the revelation dawns. "You lied to them."

"Was scouting somewhere I wasn't supposed to be. That was a Karu dart in my arm. But I'm not the only one lying, am I? That group you came with isn't unaffiliated."

I grip the stone, but I've probably already given my answer away. Yaz did say we were independent of any other groups or resistances. She didn't tell these people about Underfarrow.

"Figured it was unusual enough to see a Signal hanging out with an Ashianti Kel, let alone an islander," says the Kel. "I'm not going ask who you're with because I'm guessing you won't tell me, but I've got one question. Is it around the islands?"

I swallow hard. Answering this one might deflect her from probing further into why we lied—I don't actually know the answer to that—and I really, really don't want to disappoint Yaz. "Gods' Teeth."

"Which end?"

I'm not sure I trust her enough to elaborate. I think she sees it, because she adds, "I'm not gonna sell you out. I just need to know proximity. You might know things."

"What things?"

She gnaws her lip. There's a long silence, then she finally asks, "Know anything about what happened to Osogo?"

Something happened to Osogo?

Ande's people sheltered around there after they wound up in the water; it's a tiny island at the far north end of the island chain, uninhabited both above and below the water. At least to my knowledge. It's not far from Underfarrow at all.

"What happened that you know?" I ask. "And how long ago?"

"No clue. All I know is that I went there to check in on its Burrower colony, and their nests were empty when I arrived. Scarcely a jellyfish between them. No sign of a fight. The Kel that attacked me said they found the place empty."

The words echo back to me from a near-identical conversation I've had before. I chase the memory, trying to pin it down to wherever I first heard it. It takes a moment. Then I land on the image of an injured Kel—Sami—on the shallow roots of an island. A mother; she mentioned her pup. We were just offshore of the fire-island near Ande's, and I found the injured Kel while foraging. I asked who'd hurt her. If it was the Karu only recently ejected from Kuna.

Kuna was empty when we found it, she said.

"You look like you know something," says the Qiv-Kel.

I startle back to the present. Conflict freezes my words immediately. I don't know if this is safe to tell people. I don't know who's on our side. Only this is our side, and even if I don't trust these people, Ande's formally aligned us with them. I just don't know how much I want to play along.

So I deflect again. "I didn't know there were other Kels on Osogo."

"The Burrowers?" The Qiv-Kel looks skeptical. "They've been there for generations."

"I don't spend much time there."

"You still look like you know something."

I do. I know about Kuna, but it's also been five moons since I was by Osogo with Ande and all of Ande's people, and that's not long at all on a generational scale. I didn't check around for other Kels at the time. I was out of my own mind for the first bit, but even after that, I didn't think to. But I do know what drove us off that island.

A cold, cold chill begins to creep up through my body. I ask slowly, "When was the last time you confirmed that Burrower colony was still alive?"