We're being erased, Pub. Wave by wave. Every year, the reef moves back another five miles, ten miles. And fresh water is almost gone. This isn't how it's supposed to be... 
- — Leeward
The Wake #6 is an issue of the series The Wake (Volume 1) with a cover date of April, 2014. It was published on February 26, 2014.
Synopsis for "The Wake Part Two"
In 2014, a creature was discovered at the bottom of the ocean, and it was soon revealed that it was one of thousands of intelligent, aquatic humanoids. 200 years later, nobody remembers how those creatures sank cities, or how they took back the oceans from humanity.
Swimming in the water, Leeward struggles to remain afloat as the merpeople converge on her. As soon as they get dangerously close to her, she activates a sonic device attached to the back of a trained dolphin, and the sound makes them swim around erratically in pain. Mounting her dolphin's back, she grabs one of the suffering mermen by the gills and kills it. Towed on a glider attached to her dolphin's back, Leeward sails back to the Outpost of Wallton on the coast of the Great American Barrier Reef, alighting on the docks. Given the dolphin's bravery, she has him given extra food over his two-days rest, and then heads out to sell her catch.
The ducts within the merpeople's heads are filled with a hallucinogenic fluid that is both illegal and valuable to the humans, which she sells in exchange for fresh water and goods. In this case, though, water isn't what she wants. Pub - her buyer and ostensible father figure - had told her of an electronic device called an ear, which is dangerous, because the Arm - the law in this age - is punishing people who play with technology. Leeward's fascination with this old junk worries Pub, who warns that sitting around in a wrecked airplane trying to listen for some message from beneath the water's surface is going to get her nowhere. As far as he is concerned, her chasing this legend of a message telling of how to catch all of the merpeople is just a legend.
In truth, Leeward has been looking for the world that was. She found a map of the United States hidden in the plane, and on it, she can see how much of the world was sunk beneath the waters of the ocean after the merpeople intentionally melted the icecaps so that they could retake the planet from humans. She has propped up this life of searching and exploring by illegally selling the mer-heads with the help of a buoy dolphin she got on the black market. She has since managed to superimpose her own map of the world as it is over the map of the old world. Leeward refuses Pub's warnings, warning that she can feel the merpeople erasing humans from the surface of the earth, wave by wave, every year. Whether there's something out there or not, she can't help but listen for the message, and no threat from the Arm will change her mind. Why, after all, do they care if she listens?
Meanwhile, in Crane City, where resides the largest reserve of fresh water in the thirteen territories, Governess Vivienne has captured a giant mer, and has been funding experiments to try to kill it, all to no avail. Unfortunately, the mers are getting bigger and bolder, attacking more dredgers every week, and their repellents are becoming less effective. In the meantime, she wants to cement her control over both the reef and the outliers - where men are mating with the mers.
With today's experiment failed, Vivienne's Arm General introduces her to a troop of soldiers whom she had been informed about. She explains to the leader of this troop that there are those in the more far-flung territories who don't understand why the nation's bird was changed from the eagle to the crane. She reveals that the crane was chosen because of its fierce territoriality, and its flourishing in water. Like the crane differs from the eagle, the country has changed. She dismisses him, but as he turns away, the general shoots him dead. This man had been the one who sold the ear, and he had been punished for it. Vivienne orders the general to find out to whom he sold it, and kill them too.
While sleeping that night, Leeward suddenly wakes to the sound of a voice coming over her makeshift radio, but as the signal fades, the Arm converges on her plane, placing her under arrest. Rather than go quietly, she makes a run for it. As she fights with them, she begs them to stop and listen to the message she's been receiving. When finally they catch her, they all stop dead when they hear the message grow clearer. The message is from Dr. Lee Archer, and she knows how to save the world.
Appearing in "The Wake Part Two"
Featured Characters:
- Leeward
Supporting Characters:
- Dash
- Pub
Villains:
- Mers
- Governess Vivienne
Other Characters:
- Sook
- Mr. Barlow
- Mr. Deed (Dies)
- Lee Archer (Voice)
Locations:
- Outpost of Wallton
- Crane City
Items:
Vehicles:
See Also