David looked around, and called up to his mate to circle around inside the voting ring as much as they could, without taking too much space in it, until the votes had all been cast. Since the dawn was approaching rapidly, he could see hundreds of curious eyes watching them from outside the ring of phytoplankton, and amused himself by trying to identify as many as he could. Some of the more intelligent looking ones, he ventured a wave too. A pair of mermaids waved back and flirted with him until Lace rocketed back to the surface.

“Oh gosh! This might do it! We are ahead and it’s almost dawn! You! You there!” She yelled out to one of the mermaids and one of the sea lions. “Go watch the other circle, make sure they don’t get a late ringer, but… Oh, I hope…”

“I hope too.” David sat in the rowboat, and Lace floated nearby, and together they watched the eastern horizon. Orion enjoyed seeing the multitude of species represented.

“Captain, last bucket is over.” A voice called out over the stern.

David nodded, and yelled back, “Keep the pace steady, but head out of the circle on the straightest heading. Wait for me there.” And he reached down and untied the dingy, letting it float in place as the Lily Rose drifted slowly away.

The Captain and the mermaid resumed their wait. “So, any good stories? Any drama? I suppose having the polling centers a mile apart might keep down some of it…”

“Oh some. But not all. You would not believe those lobsters. They burrowed up underneath, thinking to be clever, but then a whole ton of pebbles slid down the tunnels, almost crushed them all, and shrank the pile itself nearly a foot…” She was interrupted by the mermaid she had sent on the errand.

“Highness!”

“Don’t call me that!” Lace snapped. David snickered.

“Sorry, ma’am. They are having a fit there, you are right, we are just ahead! No more votes sighted on the horizon at all, and speaking of…” The sun slid just the tiniest sliver over the horizon, but it was enough to send beams of light racing across the ocean surface. The plankton ring disappeared at first light and sank back to the depths, to be replaced by more sun-loving species eager to get started on their daily photosynthesis.

“Is that it? How do we know?”

“There’s a signal. Here, in the ring of the winner.

“How long do we wait?” Other sea creatures, presumably members of Lace’s party, bobbed to the surface and also seemed to mill about, waiting. There was some small talk, and most tried to stay a good distance from David and his dingy. Lace had no problem staying close to him.

“It depends, mostly on how close it is. If one is obviously bigger, then it’s fairly quick. If they look pretty equal and someone calls for a count, it takes a lot longer.”

“Surely they don’t count every pebble!”

“Well, no. If they demand a count, someone will start counting, and someone else will run to the King and complain, and he will come and spell the piles so they count themselves. So it doesn’t take much more time than whatever is needed to find His Majesty and talk him into it.”

She had no sooner said that when, with no warning whatsoever, a fountain of water erupted from the center of where the ring had been. At first there were surprised screams, but they almost instantly turned to delight and happiness.

Lace screamed too. “This is it! It’s the sign! We won!” She threw her arms in the air dunking her underwater, which suited her fine because she could splash her tail about in a huge spray. Other creatures were displaying similar antics and shouting in their own way, which made for a small area of water that churned and howled like a cauldron of demons. A pair of whales even breached the surface, sending smaller animals scrambling to get out of the way before they landed. Dolphins danced on their tails along the perimeter. Mermaids hugged and laughed, schools of fish swirled and swooped around everyone. The chaos obviously extended far below the surface, and even above, as birds gathered to join in.

Lace looked around for David and didn’t see him, or the dingy. She panicked a little, but he splashed her from behind. He was treading water and trying to shake hair out of his face without sinking again. Orion bobbed up behind him, laughing, and swam over to chat to a merman nearby.

David tried to look annoyed but didn't quite manage. “You sank my dingy.”

“I'm so sorry! I thought maybe you’d drowned!”

“Do you think I could spend 72% of my life at sea and not know how to swim? Congratulations, by the way.”

Lace grinned. “Thank you. Could I call on you as a human adviser sometimes? I don’t intend to take a seat myself, but…”

“Sure. If I can still call you if I need advice too.”

“Deal.” They tried to shake hands but that ended up sinking David again and Lace, giggling, pulled him back to the surface.

He just gave her a formal nod instead. “May this usher in a new era of cooperation between all of the creatures of the sea!

“Is there any way I can thank you?”

Looking around, David replied “How about a tow back to my ship?”

***

THE END