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2024-10-29 19:42:56After a few hours, the team returned from the exploration with boxes full of samples from the reef. Zaid looked at them with anger as they were chatting about how clear the sea was and how beautiful everything looked. "I must say, this dive went better than my expectations. The sea was clear, the corals were thriving and we managed to see new shoals of fish in the area. Shehzad, write back to the department at once and inform them about the latest development. Nadia, put the new samples in the tank. And Zaid", he said turning towards him, "I hope you learnt your lesson". "Yes", Zaid pouted. "Good! Now be a good boy and help Nadia with the samples. Nadir, set up lunch. We are starving!", the Professor called out. "Ok sir, coming right up!"
Zaid helped Nadia with the new samples. The new samples looked more of less the same from the previous expedition. "Was the trip really that good?", Zain asked Nadia. "Nothing out of the ordinary though", Nadia shrugged. "The reefs looked the same as last time. JB is just doing that to make you feel bad." Zaid sighed. "Right!", "And besides, we'll be coming back in a couple of weeks as well" Nadia replied. "The staghorns were bigger than before, other than that, nothing new. We did saw a new shoal of fish though. They didn't look like there's from around here. About the size of a parrotfish, purple in colour with white stripes on the sides." "Huh, never read about them before." Zain said. "Maybe they migrated from Oman." "Yeah maybe", Nadia said. "Let's just hope they're there the next time too. I wanted to take some pictures but the camera stopped working." She then called out to Shehzad and asked him to have a look. Shehzad came and check up the camera. "Well it's not any issue with the lens. Probably the motion. You were scared too much from that eel", "No I wasn't" Nadia replied back. Shehzad smirked, "Yeah you were. You basically flapped back to us when you saw it and it was just sleeping." Nadia then retorted, "Well atleast I didn't get scared of a plastic bag and thought it was a jellyfish". "It looked like it has stingers. One of them attacked me in the last trip", Shehzad said embarrassingly. "Attacked you?", Nadia laughed. "It just floated by. I couldn't tell who didn't have a brain, you or the jellyfish!". This went on for a while. "Will you two lovebirds cut it out?", Zaid saying annoyingly. "As you wish, Your Royal 'Lateness' sir", Shehzad said while taking a bow. "Very funny, now help me with these staghorns". "Sorry dude, can't help you. JB said you have to do it yourself and hurry up. Its lunch time!" Shehzad replied and then they both left fighting along the way. "JB said you have to do it yourself!", mimicked Zain as he began to put the samples in the tank. "At least help me with some of them but nope.", he complained to Nino who was doing a somersault in the tank. "Now where do I start? Menella in Tank 3, Echinogorgia in Tanks 7 and 8, Clathraria in Tank 9, oh wait, sorry Tank 12, Favites complenata in Tank 16 and Favites pentagona in Tank 23. Ugh!" It took him about an hour or so to assemble them in each of their respective tanks as he had to re-do the assembling because he mixed up the Favites species. He noted the initial observations of the corals and made notes about the nomenclature, shape, size, number of new specimens. But something else caught his eye in the Favites aquarium. It was a strange looking seashell lodged in the stony coral. He took it out and examined it. It was a black spiral shell with alternating white lines, about the size of a pendant. It looked like it died but that's not right. Shells are the non-living structure of the organism, how can it die? He pocketed it and thought to work on it later. He wrote down all the observations and headed down.They all sat down and had lunch. The professor had calmed down a bit after lunch and everybody was talking freely. He decided to let Zaid in on the next dive which was to happen in two weeks. They began to pack up the stuff and gave instructions to Nadir about the water adjustments. They will be back in two weeks for further observations. They drove back to Karachi on the coastal highway. By that time, the sun was beginning to set and the sky was a magnificent orange and the salty air made the scene all the more great. Zain stared out the window while thinking about the day. At least the day didn't completely go to waste. With the thought that they'll return next week, he smiled and anticipated their next dive.
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Somewhere in the Sea Chapter 05
Deep down several meters below sea level underneath Astola Island lies a kingdom unlike no other. Tall limestone buildings mimicking the coral reefs above are scattered across the city. Sea creatures as small as the jellyfish to large shoals of fish are also seen swimming peacefully.In the center of the kingdom lies the castle of the King Fadel who lived with his wife, Queen Durre and his two daughters Marjan and Sanho. Legend has it that the Haft Talar Kingdom was formed after the tsunami wiped out their homes in Maldives. So as to prevent any further damage and exposure to the human world, the King decided to take his people and move to the nearest uninhabited sea, Pakistan, where they moved to Astola Island. They named the kingdom Haft Talar for what the locals called the island.The king was moving around nervously as if he was waiting for someone. Fear was etched upon his face as he floated from one end to the other end of the room. The Queen sat on the throne deep in her thoug
Somewhere in the Sea Chapter 06
Marjan was standing from behind the wall and couldn't believe what she had just heard.Her mind was racing with all kinds of thoughts. Princess Sanho, her older sister Sanho, killed all those humans. She wouldn't hurt a shrimp, let alone kill somebody. A kind hearted person like herself couldn't possibly do any of this. No, they're lying! King Fadel stood there unable to say anything. King Fadel, a symbol of power and courage, was now a broken man. The council looked at him for any response but there was none. Then finally, he replied in a broken voice, "If.. If this is the case and... and Princess Sanho is the reason for all these killings then, she will be dealt with accordingly. Once she is captured, she will be charged with murder and sentenced to death" and then left. At dinner, everyone was quiet. The king just sat there with his head in his hands. The queen was devastated beyond belief, muttering "That is not true" or "they are lying" every now and then. Marjan was sobbing sof
Somewhere in the Sea Chapter 07
Marjan left the castle at midnight. The queen had given her instructions on how and where to leave the castle. "Don't swim out through the windows. You'll draw too much attention. At exactly midnight, the duty of the guards at the back gate changes, so you can sneak out of there then. Swim towards the North Gate and you'll see a secret exit down at the base. Take that exit and you'll be outside the kingdom. Once out, look up for the waves moving towards the shore. Use them as a compass as the island is south of that." Marjan left the castle at exactly midnight. Following the queen's direction, she reached the North Gate, found the secret exit and escaped. This was the first time she was out of the kingdom and everything looked so scary. The moonlight illuminated the vast reef and she could see small fish moving in shoals coming out to feed, anemones moving with the water currents, corals sticking their tentacles out to feed on the micro organisms. It all looked so beautiful, thought
Somewhere in the Sea Chapter 08
It was a bright and sunny day as the team was to leave for their next exploration at the reef. Zaid was excited. He set up the alarm before going to sleep and made it to their office before anyone else. The professor was surprised to see him this early and smiled. "Early today are we, Mr Zaid?", Zaid smiled and helped him put the equipments in the car. Shehzad and Nadia came in shortly after and were also surprised to see him this early. "Where did the sun rise from this morning?", Shehzad chuckled. Soon they were off to the island. Shehzad and Nadia were constantly poking at each other on who got to the lab first. Zaid looked out the window on the coastal highway and saw the waves crashing along the shore. He smiled like a little kid who was off to the candy store to buy sweets. He was finally going back to the sea. After 3 long hours, they reached the substation where they dropped off some of the equipment in the lab and took the rest and headed towards the sea. He and Shehzad plac
Somewhere in the Sea Chapter 09
The team ascended up to the surface and began to load the samples onto the boat. Professor JB got on and assembled them into the trunks. Nadia and Shehzad ascended with him and they also started to help him out. Zaid was the last one to return back. They helped him up and along with the samples, they collected a huge heap of plastic. The Professor was muttering under his breath, "Those dumb fishermen don't know what they're doing. Their recklessness is gonna cost us the entire reef. But they don't seem to understand". "What took you so long?", Nadia asked Zaid. "Just picking up some trash". Zaid was also furious by the number of plastic bags near the reef. Their department had already filed a petition in the court regarding the setup of regulations for the protection of the marine fauna around the island but so far no one has taken any interest in that matter. After a while, they began their journey back to the mainland. Zaid sat at the edge waving goodbye to the island. Despite the
Somewhere in the Sea Chapter 10
Deep down in the murky depths of the sea off the coast of Gwadar, there lived a colony of some of the most disgusting creatures that ever existed. They were sly and cunning and were known to cause trouble. Their ancestors were half humans and half birds who used to lure sailors to their death. But as human civilization grew, they hid in the ocean. Overtime, they lost their ability to fly and because they frequently mated with other creatures, their appearance completely changed. They now look like pale skinned humanoids with slit-like eyes, webbed hands, long nails, seaweed infested hair, dark lips, sharp teeth and the lower half is a black tail with spikes. The sirens were banished here after they attempted a coup against the mermaid kingdom.Now they live in caves in the abyss surrounded by darkness, feeding off whatever they can scavenge. This included dead fish, bones and even rocks. Surprisingly, plastic has no bad effects on them as they thrived around it while the other species
Somewhere in the Sea Chapter 11
Going back, Vex and Blitze sighed a breath of relief. At least they didn't get to see her wrath like the last time. "Thank God she's happy or we would have been done for", said Vex. "Yeah Zervius almost lost her life the time she went in '', replied Blitze. "Well, who told her to bring up the fact that we almost lost the prisoner. She had it coming", Vex said. "There's a difference between losing the prisoner and almost losing her", said Blitze. "Wow, you sound smart. Have you been hanging out in the sun again?", asked Vex. "Oh, stop it you!", blushed Blitze. Blitze then swam up to the surface to look out for the mermaids. Vex swam out and headed to the cave where they kept the prisoners. It was a very small cave closed by a door with hardly any lighting. The room was covered with jacked rocks and in the center, strapped in chains, was a mermaid. She held her head down with both arms chained to the wall. "Oye Princess!", yelled Vex. The prisoner looked up at the door. She looked weak
Somewhere in the Sea Chapter 12
In the days that went past the exploration, the team continued on their research work as usual. They were getting regular updates from the substation about the progress of the specimens and were keen to return back. Shehzad and Nadia were eating each others' ears as usual. Zaid was sulking behind the computer trying to complete the thesis. His background was filled with complaints such as, "You shut up! No you shut up! No, I get to the surface first! No I did!" The look on Zaid's face was comparable to a cat that has been forced to take a shower. He put on his headphones and typed on. "...with increasing distance from the shore, and provided that suitable hard substrate is available for attachment, coral communities become more diverse and abundant..."Through the haunting music of "Descent to the Ocean Floor", Zaid's mind drifted off. He thought back to the nightmare he had back then. It didn't mean anything, right? He had a lot of crazy dreams but none like this. Those half human-li
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The road was dark, lit up by the headlights of the cars passing by. They reached the coastal highway in about an hour and headed towards the city. It was the night of the full moon and the light shone brightly over the sea. Shehzad fell asleep in the car and Nadia was having fun taking his pictures.Suddenly the car got bumpy and began to slow down. The driver slowed down and drove it to the edge of the road. They had a flat tyre. "Aww man!", groaned Zaid and Nadia. "Now, now there's no need to worry. We have a spare tyre in the trunk. It'll just take a while and then we'll be on our way in no time", reassured the driver. They all got out of the car and looked around. The cold sea breeze felt heavenly against their faces. They were standing at the edge of the road overlooking the sea and its majestic beauty."Hey, isn't it the night when the corals will release their eggs?", asked Nadia. "Ah! I wanted to see that!", groaned Zaid as he completely forgot about the coral breeding season.
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Chapter 20
The fish and the corals started to hide in their homes. "Honey, you have to hide now! They're after you!", said flower pot. Marjan frightfully hid beneath the reefs. "Come out, come out wherever you are princess.", said one of the sirens. She was holding a spear head. "Come out and play. We're not gonna hurt you". "Yeah our leader wants to see you. She says that you'll be an excellent guest for her '', said another. They were approaching the place where Marjan was hiding. She was holding still. "Infidels! Filth! Get away from our homes!", Oldie shouted at the sirens. "Oh shut up you old twig!", snapped back the siren. "Don't you wanna meet your sister, princess? She's getting lonely with us", said one siren. "She's practically starving. She said she won't eat until she sees her baby sister". "Yeah the dungeons are a bit sad with just one mermaid in it" and then they all cackled loudly. "And don't try to use any of your fancy powers! We know all about them now. Thanks to Mi
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Chapter 19
It was a bright sunny day and the team was getting ready to go to the wedding. Zaid and Shehzad were wearing kurta shalwar and Nadia wore traditional clothes. The professor wore shalwar kameez with a coat on top and was waiting outside talking to the driver. Shehzad and Nadia were taking pictures with their phone while Zaid was playing Tetris on his phone. Professor came inside and talked to them, "So I just talked to the driver. The village is an hour long drive from the substation. The wedding festivities will start at around noon and will go on throughout the day. We'll get there at around 2 and leave at sunset. It might take a while until we'll be back home by midnight". '`Ok!", said Shehzad and Nadia. Zaid was busy beating his high score of 762. Shehzad smacked him on the back of his head. "Ow! Hey, what the- Oh hi Professor!", said Zaid massaging his neck. "Anyways", said the professor rolling his eyes, "We better hurry up if we have to get there on time." The team t
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Chapter 18
Things have been exceptionally difficult for Marjan. She was facing an internal struggle each day. On one hand, she was supposed to look for her sister of whom she had zero progress so far and on the other, she was starting to have feelings for a human she barely knew and above all, she saved his life. She was nervously swimming around the reef talking to herself. "Your sister is in grave danger and you're here thinking about some human who doesn't even know you exist. Mother would be highly disappointed in you. It's been several moons now and I haven't even figured out where Sanho is. I should resume the search, yes." So she focused on finding her sister and got back to work. She would ask the migratory shoals if they had seen a mermaid in any other region or not. But it's been almost a month since the last attack so it was extremely difficult for her to look for her now. And by now, most of them had forgotten that they had seen a mermaid or not. The reef's inhabitants we
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Chapter 17
Down in the abyss, Vex and Blitze swam down to meet Madam Roohar. "We are so dead!", said Vex nervously. "She's gonna kill us for sure", Blitze replied. "It was the perfect opportunity to get them. We were planning this for weeks and now the plan is all ruined. Oh! How are we gonna tell her that?" They kept thinking up ways to give her an explanation but couldn't. Finally they reached the entrance to her cave. There was nothing but silence at the entrance. Their minds were filled with a millions ways to run away and to never return but unwillingly they entered. The atmosphere inside was colder than usual. The anglerfish loomed over her chair. There were a few glowing worms moving along the walls making it more luminescent than before. Madam Roohar in her chair not saying a single word. "Umm.. Ma.. Madam Roohar?", Blitze stuttered. No response. "Madam Roohar?", she said again but no response. "Madam Roohar, we encountered a problem with the attack." Madam Roohar rose from h
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Chapter 16
Zaid was lucky to be alive. But during the entire trip back, he had to endure a two hour lecture from everyone on the boat. "How could you be so careless?", yelled the professor and the instructor. "You could have died and we wouldn't even have found your body. Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?" This went on for some time. After the professor cooled down, Shehzad and Nadia began. "If you want to die, just say so. We'll just push out the running boat next time", Nadia said sarcastically. Shehzad smacked him again at the back of his head. "Idiot!", he said fuming. And to make matters worse, a seagull pooped on his head when we were about to get off the boat. Zaid apologized again and again to everyone on the boat and promised to never wander off again. Professor accepted his apology and agreed to let him on the next dive. Shehzad and Nadia were not convinced though. Zaid had to make a deal to buy them dinner the next week. They forgave him then too.They got back t
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Chapter 15
In the weeks that followed, the team continued their work as per schedule. The reports from the substation were coming back with positive results. Until the day came for the next dive. As usual, the team packed up the equipment, headed for the substation, dropped their stuff off and went to the beach. The weather was a perfect sunny day and a little windy. They got to the island in about two hours. The instructor told them that water currents might vary this time of the month so stay near the reef floor and return back as soon as the work is done. They put their gear on and dropped into the sea. The reef looked beautiful as ever as they descended down. This dive's assignment was just to observe the growth of the reef and to take pictures. There was less trash as compared to the last dive. The corals were thriving well. There were a few new shoals of fish in the reef as well. They began to document it and take pictures. Invisible to all others, Marjan wa
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Chapter 14
"Oye Zaid!", Shehzad smacked him on the back of his head. Zaid came back to his senses. He was lost in his thoughts focused on the computer screen blankly with his headphones off. "Where are you lost?", Shehzad asked him. "He's probably thinking that his friend can't even take a decent picture", smirked Nadia. "Oh please", pouted Shehzad. "What do you want to eat? We were about to order lunch." "Oh, just a burger for me, thanks", said Zaid. During that time, Zaid completed the next few pages of the research. Shehzad uploaded the pictures and Nadia entered the readings in the database. Lunch arrived and they all sat down to eat. Zaid ate quietly while Shehzad kept eating Nadia's dish and they were fighting once again. The fact that he had a weird dream and then that feeling of something watching was just his mind playing tricks on him but then that photo? Is this all just a coincidence? "I know I love the sea but is there something else to the whole scenario? This has to mean something
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Chapter 13
Marjan spent her days living in the reef along with the corals. All of them had gotten pretty well together. She spent her day helping around the reef, cleaning around and making friends with the residents. Even Old Timer was complaining less about her and more on the coral politics. She was happy living with them but she still needed answers. What happened to Sanho and where is she now? Marjan kept asking around if they had seen another mermaid around but they all said the same thing. A rogue mermaid went about killing fishermen and then disappearing without a trace.The migratory shoals didn't report any recent attacks and everybody was relieved that things were back to normal but that still didn't explain where Sanho is. Marjan was worried that something might have happened to her. But something else was also bugging her. That human who she saw the last time. Will he ever come back? What's his name? What's he like? When can I meet him again? Everytime a boat passes overhead, she wo
