I snorted and tried hard not to laugh. This was funny, but in a sick way. "May I ask you then just why you wanted to work with me? You knew what my final goal was, you knew I wanted to find Atlantis. You knew it was my life's work. I never made it a secret. "

"It was my task to make sure you never found it."

"Then why did you just say I was one of a handful of people you considered worthy of knowing about you and your world?" I glared at him for a moment longer, then turned away. I wouldn't allow the one man who I thought had shared my dream to destroy that very dream. I tried hard to compose myself, but soon found the tears flowing down my cheeks. Jonas reached over and pulled me into his arms, no matter how hard I tried to pull away.

"I'm sorry I destroyed your dream. I never meant to hurt you. I knew the moment I saw you that you were to be part of my mate and family unit. I also knew it could never happen or rather shouldn't happen. So I tried my best to steer you away from my world. As far as you being a person we consider worthy, we've always had a list of topsiders we considered people we would tell if we could."

"Why are you telling me this?" I sniffed and tried once again to push myself away from his body. No person wanted to hear they weren't in line for the final prize.

"Lindsay, you would have never been saved if I hadn't already pet.i.tioned the council to allow me to bring you here. If you hadn't had your accident, I would have kidnapped you and brought you here. I already knew you would find us if left to your own devices. It was my opinion we didn't want you running around loose anymore."

This time I did shove myself out of his arms to look at his face. "What? I am not some thing you can just own or claim. Are you saying you would have let me die?" He gave me the lopsided grin I knew so well.

"I wouldn't say that..." he began.

"Well-just what the h.e.l.l are you saying?" I glared at him. "Maybe you should just shut up since you seem to be digging yourself a bigger hole."

He frowned. "This isn't how I imagined it."

"Just what did you imagine, Jonas?"

We both turned as if we were children caught at doing something we weren't supposed to. Maleka had walked back in the room with the water I had requested. I scrambled away from Jonas's arms to the other side of the bed.

"I'm sorry. It looks as if I've stumbled into something private."

"Please," I began and looked at her, "I didn't know he was with you. I wouldn't do that to another woman."

She looked amused for a moment, then quite serious. "I do believe you're telling the truth." Maleka looked sternly at Jonas. "You just scoot along, we'll find you later."

He looked at me first, then back to her. "Don't do something you'll regret later, Maleka."

"That's an emotion you hold in reserve, my love." She waited until he was out of the room before she planted herself on the edge of the bed. She looked me over quite thoroughly for a few minutes before she uttered a word. "I can see what he sees in you. Bruin will probably react you the same way."

My hand went up to my short locks and I ended up rubbing my neck instead. "IaIadon't know what to say," I finished badly. "You have got to be one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. I don't even understand why Jonas would want me at all."

She nodded. "And smart, too, from what I can tell. Maybe I was too hasty in my initial a.s.sessment of you." She watched me for a reaction, then started laughing. "I really have nothing against you. I'm just mad at Jonas for not really consulting us, meaning Bruin and I, before going to the counsel. Apparently, he just a.s.sumed we would all say yes and that includes you, too."

"I don't know what to say."

She patted my hand. "There's not much for you to say. A lot of what is happening is out of your control. The only thing you could have done is not gone out in the submersible today. I'm still sure in the long run, the outcome would have remained the same. If not today, then another one. But first, we need to get you out of the medical unit and to our home. You will not get acclimatized to Atlantis in here. This place is just like any other hospital. And I don't know about you, but I can find better things to do when I'm not ill."

I would have to agree with her there. If I stayed here, I'd never learn about the prison I now found myself in. And I definitely wouldn't be able to decide if it truly deserved the name of prison. "What does everyone do here?"

Maleka looked puzzled. "Do? Do you mean what's our individual function?"

I nodded. "You could say that, although I've never heard it referred to that way before. We normally call it a job or career. And Jonas said there was some issue about what I was going to do."

"I do recall something similar when I was in school on the topside. I pretty much can do what I want here. And Jonas never said to me there was a problem because if there were, you wouldn't be here at all. Why do you ask?"

"Well," I shrugged my shoulders, "it seems as if you would get bored having such a confined s.p.a.ce to live in. And well...I would just get bored anyway, unless I had something to do."

She laughed then, a melodious sound. "You really don't have a clue. I am surprised Jonas never told you anything. It makes me rather proud of him, now I think about it. You'll find we have quite a s.p.a.cious place on your world, and our world, which is far away from this one."

"s.p.a.cious? How can that be? I mean you're living under the sea. And what do you mean our world? We both live on Earth." My mind just couldn't get around what she said.

"Doctor..." she motioned for a man to her. "Is it possible to take Miss Lanigan to our home?"

"Princess Maleka, are you sure you want that responsibility? I mean she was quite anoxic when she arrived even though her color appears to be returning to normal. And then again, you never know what type of diseases or anything else a topsider might bring down to our world. We should quarantine her."

She smiled. "She wouldn't be down here if we didn't think she were a safe person. I do believe I can handle any situation that comes up, don't you think?"

"Princess, while you do know Atlantean medicine, topsiders are a little bit different to treat."

"Doctor Andrews, I do believe it's one of the reasons I decided to take a good part of my medical training in the topsiders' world. Please remember I did attend Harvard medical school after all and that's one of their premier schools. And this woman has been thoroughly investigated by the council. It is my understanding, my mate, Jonas, has already received approval from the council. I hope I make myself very clear in this matter."

"As you wish, Princess." The man inclined his head in her direction and went on about his duties.

Turning back to me, I could tell she was irritated. "Men, sometimes I just want to shake them. Even when all the paperwork and background information has been done, they still find cause to question things."

I laughed. "I see it doesn't matter what world you're in, males are still a pain."

"I think I'm really going to like you, Lindsay Lanigan." She frowned when she held up my bathing suit and shorts. "I see we're going to have to get you some clothes. You'll definitely have a limited wardrobe if that's all you have. The clothing we use here has a natural water repellent right in the fabric. Not that you're in the water for any real length of time."

I watched her intently as she gazed, almost disgusted, at my current attire. It was what I usually wore when I did research in the ocean and today was no different. "The doctor called you princess."

Pursing her lips, she frowned. "Yes, I'm an Atlantean princess. Although, I doubt the t.i.tle really means much any more as there are quite a few of us. The royal line has been quite prolific in producing progeny and my father was no exception in having a lot of children. We seem to be the backbone of our people."

"I thought Jonas said it was really important to procreate. He implied your people are dying out."

She sighed and pursed her lips. "Why don't you dress and I'll try to explain everything to you," she finally said, her face an impa.s.sive mask.

I slowly got up and was suddenly shy at my nudeness. For some reason, I wanted to hide my curves and held my hands over myself.

"Don't worry," Maleka said, "I won't look unless you want me to, Lindsay. s.e.xuality is different down here than in the topsiders' world, rather, your world. Your people seem to have many hang-ups regarding s.e.x."

I crossed my arms over my chest, pulling them even tighter around me. "Since you don't like my clothes, what do you want me to wear?" Her eyebrow arched in surprise. This was definitely not the direction she thought I'd take.

"We'll make a clothes stop on our way to our home. Women in our world like to dress a little differently, that's all. What you have with you will have to do until then as we certainly can't have you walking around nude. Even with our different feelings about s.e.xuality, being a nudist in public isn't acceptable here any more than it would be on Earth."

I nodded and reached for my clothes, covertly looking at her, wondering just what she thought of me. Pulling on my shorts over my bathing suit, I looked around for my shoes.

"What are you looking for?"

"My shoes," I answered as I continued to look in the corners and under the bed.

She grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the bed. "You don't need shoes here. There is nothing that will harm your feet. But, if you really feel the need to get some we'll pick them up at the shop I'm going to take you to on our way home. It's really quite quaint."

She dragged me out into the hall and I found myself in a much larger place. "This looks like a cave of some sort."

The walls appeared to be of some sort of smooth material and were very different from the hospital walls. It was as if the rock or reef, I wasn't really sure as to which one, was cut and polished. The color was a mix of what looked to be like fresh coral reef as well as embedded stones and sh.e.l.ls. I felt very soothed by the coloration and immediately at ease. Somehow, I felt people were supposed to feel that way.

Maleka smiled slyly at me. "This portion we actually hollowed out of an old existing coral reef. The walls were probably buffed when it was first created, but little has been done since then." She stopped and lovingly rubbed her hands along the smoothness. It was obvious from her touch she loved this place possibly more than life itself. I took in a deep breath as that was what I had wanted to be able to do all along. From my perception, I proved my love for Atlantis over and over again. She turned back to me.

"It has long since been covered by sand and the water above, which is protected by a bubble of sorts that our technology produces. But all will be explained in due course. Time has been our main enemy on this world. It seems to be moving quite quickly here recently."

Now I was surprised. "This world? What are you talking about? You keep talking about this world as if Earth were one of many." I stopped where I was and people b.u.mped into me, jostling me back and forth. I was pulled roughly out of the way and pushed against the nearest wall. She held me there while people tried their best to pa.s.s by without a glance in our direction.

Maleka sighed. She turned and swallowed hard as if choosing her words very carefully while watching the crowd around us. "You Earth-bound humans have never been very far sighted. It's one of the reasons I have been against trying to a.s.similate you into our culture. But I suppose we must, if we're going to save you and your planet." She licked her lips and gathered my right arm close to her again. "I guess if we were going to start with someone, it might as well be someone who already has one Atlantean lover."

Now it was my turn to take a deep breath. I still didn't know what she talked about when referring to this world or to save you and your planet but I was certainly intrigued. And she was correct in me already having one Atlantean lover. I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep him or take on the rest of his mates. This was so totally out of my realm, but then again it was obvious they knew more than I did as this was their world and not mine. "Okay, you have my interest. And I'm going to ignore the Atlantean lover comment for now."

"Jonas did say you were the adventurous type." She winked at me and continued to pull me along the wide pa.s.sageway.

I watched her for a moment long before turning my attention to the path where we walked. This hall was certainly a busy place. What appeared to be rooms, jutted away from the main corridor along the whole length of the wall. They, too, were hollowed out of the coral reef. Some had doors while others just had beautiful cloth coverings, instead of a solid object blocking the way. And there were people everywhere, beautiful people of all shades and types. They looked like they were from every part of the world, but I wondered just where this world happened to be, because I wasn't sure if it were on the one I had just left behind. Getting jostled yet again, I was brought back to the moment. I know my effect on men, and I know I'm smart, but at this point, I never felt more intimidated in my life. I was so out of my element it wasn't even funny.

Many people nodded toward Maleka with respect as we walked. They tried hard to ignore me and not to stare. It was obvious everyone had great respect for her as they made way for her to pa.s.s. It only made me wish I felt better and would not lean on her so much. It was almost too much to take in as we went toward some unknown destination.

Still, the whole place seemed light and airy, even though my impression was that we were at some great ocean depth. Looking up, I stopped, startled, as the ocean hung above me like a shimmering group of lights. I mean, sure, Maleka had mentioned the bubble, but I guess it didn't sink in just what she really meant.

"Amazing, isn't it?"

"What's holding it up?" I held my breath as if it would fall any moment.

"Don't worry, it's quite stable and has been in place for a long, long time. Millennia of your time actually." She allowed me to look a moment more before moving me along and out of the way. "No one can see it. It looks just like the ocean floor."

Again, she alluded to something I had no clue about, but I could tell she did her best to dissuade my fears over what I saw and where I really was. I certainly didn't understand it, and while that didn't mean I wouldn't, it did mean for the here and now I was very, very cautious, almost fearful, if truth be told.

"Just where are we going?" I finally managed to get out.

"Atlantis."

Now I was really confused. "What do you mean Atlantis? Aren't we in Atlantis already?" Her laughter rang out loud and clear. People stopped to stare at us before hurrying on their way.

"Hardly. This is just an away station. Atlantis is much, much bigger than this little station."

"An away station?" Now I knew I sounded like a total idiot.

"Don't get me wrong. This is a very, very huge away station. I'm a.s.sured it's one of the biggest located so far. But it's still a spot where we stay, and observe those here on Earth. But that's usually all we are allowed to do, observe, as we aren't supposed to intervene in any way in what happens on Earth or any other place we might go."

"That's what you meant about helping me." Suddenly, I understood one thing about what was going on.

"Now don't get me wrong, Lindsay, it isn't anything personal like I've said before. But you have to understand the risk we've taken even having you here."

"Why is my being here a risk?" Granted she didn't know me, but Jonas did. He knew my pa.s.sion about finding this place. Its discovery would delight any oceanographer. But I was a realist and I knew when to keep my mouth shut. I had learned that lesson long ago. Her walk slowed down to almost a crawl.

"Jonas has told me about your pa.s.sion regarding Atlantis and I'm sure he's tried to explain how we feel. I do know how you feel. Many before you have felt the same way, but we have yet to find that special someone who-how can I say this-truly understands our need for secrecy." She smiled at me. "Now those rare people are few and far in between."

I nodded my head. "Yes, I am...or rather was...pa.s.sionate about finding this place. But-but things change. Your community saved my life. If I have to carry this secret to my grave, I will, because I technically wouldn't be here if it weren't for you and your people. How can I destroy your lives when you gave me mine back?"

Maleka smiled slowly. "I hoped you'd say that. I know that Jonas explained this to you, as I heard him when I brought your water, but I feel the need to say it again. You do realize you will never get to go back to the surface of this world-of your Earth? Is there no one who will miss you?"

I swallowed hard. No, no one would really miss me. What little family I had, died when I was young, and all I have ever had was my pa.s.sion for Atlantis. "No...no one...and I really mean I have no one who will miss me. They will probably try to search for me in the days to come, because I did have some colleagues who I was quite fond of most of the time. And I do realize I will never go back, but I don't understand why."

"You will in time." She stopped quite abruptly and looked at me, her face taut with seriousness. "Before you go one more step, I need to know you will do as you promise, because once you go through this doorway there will be no turning back. This is a very special door which separates our worlds."

The door was a large structure made from a wood I didn't recognize one bit. It was very dark and looked to be very old. It went from floor to ceiling, touching the bubble high overhead. In the very center was a smaller doorway with what appeared to be a dull metal lintel over it, which was covered in what I could only describe as runes or some unknown language that looked like runes. People were coming in and out the smaller door. When it appeared to be opened, a slight shimmer was followed by a glimpse into what could only be described as another world. I watched people come in and shimmer out of sight very quickly without any apparent effects.

"Does it hurt?" I finally turned to look at Maleka.

"Hurt?" She looked surprised. "Heavens, no. If it hurt why would we do it? And there are many of us who go through this door on a daily basis."

I nodded. "All right, I'll go."

She smiled. "Great. First thing we do when we get to the other side is to go shopping. I want to get you everything you need to a.s.similate into our world."

Grabbing my arm, she pulled me forward. Stopping in front of the doorway, I ran my hands over the wood, then moved to the metal lintel, memorizing the feel of not only the texture, but of the rune-like writings, too. Reaching up, I stood on tiptoe and let my fingers run over the deeply etched letters. "What language is this? What does this say?"

"The language of the ancient Atlanteans I suppose. It's the language, which allowed the building of this portal or portage as some have called it. And I don't really know what it says."

I looked back at her. "Does no one speak this language? Are there more portals?"

"One question at a time." She held up her hand to ward off anything else I might say. "There are none who speak this language anymore that we know of, and even fewer who want to study it. Most of the people who might remember are what you would call shamans. The art was lost along the way like many things in our past. We are trying to reach out and embrace our past, but it has been difficult." She stopped for a moment.

"That's very interesting." My hands still caressed the metal.

"We've found three other doors like this. And we really don't know if there are more portals than those three. There are thousands of books within our library, that haven't been translated, so we don't really know anything about them except it connects your world and ours. I suppose it could have been a portal into other worlds as well, but I really don't know."

I frowned. "That has to mean something." My mind went into overdrive. This was certainly something I could sink my teeth into. "You know, linguistics were something I was really interested in during school."

"I know."

I got a sinking feeling. "What do you mean, you know?"

Maleka's face went blank. "Uh-we'll talk about it when we get to our house."

Suddenly I was almost reluctant to go. "I don't know about this."

"It's all right, you'll see."

She reached out her hand toward me and I reluctantly put mine in hers. I allowed myself to be led into the door, standing half in this world and half in theirs. It was definitely not what I expected. But then again, I didn't know what to expect. Certainly not the tingling sensation drifting through my whole body. It was almost pleasant in nature and I was sure if I stood in it for more than a few minutes that my body's senses would go haywire. Once through, I turned and looked back, seeing the image of the away station fade slowly with each step we moved away from the door.

"See, that wasn't bad, was it?"

I turned to see Maleka staring at me intently again. "Well...it didn't feel like I thought it might."

"It's never the same as in the movies." She chuckled.

"Nothing is ever the same as the movies," I answered. "This is much, much better." I looked around and saw slightly in the distance, a city unlike I had ever seen before. Where large Earth cities have a tendency to be dirty with smog and trash with misleading towers reaching to the sky, this one was clean and shining. It definitely appeared as if all the things we hadn't found solutions for, the Atlanteans had, at least in the matter of environmental concerns. The air was clear, the sky a deep turquoise and there were two moons high while a single sun hung low in the sky. There were no towering skysc.r.a.pers miles high even though there were some tall buildings. "You're a lot like us, aren't you?"