Free The Tang Dynasty Underwater Pyramid by Walter Jon Williams Page B

pay for,” I said. “And there are relatively few Latin folk fans in Prague, believe it or not.” I took off my fedora and held it out to him. “But I didn’t realize you were an aficianado. If it’s authentic folk music you want, then it’s what you’ll get.”
    Jesse gave an amused little grin, reached into his Burberry, and produced a wad of notes that he dropped into my hat.
    “ Gracias, ” I said, and put the hat on my head. I didn’t realize till later that he’d stuck me with Bulgarian currency.
    I returned to my chair and took my guitarra in hand. Jesse hung around on the fringes of the crowd and talked on his cell phone. When the medley was over, I led the band into “Llaqui Runa,” which is about as authentic folk music as you can get.
    Jesse put away his cell phone, put on his shades, and sauntered away.
    But that wasn’t what put me in a bad mood.
    What had me in bad temper was the fact that I’d have to deal with the water ballet guys.
    *
    Three beautifully manicured pairs of hands rose from the water, the fingers undulating in wavelike motions. The hands rose further, revealing arms, each pair arced to form an O. Blue and scarlet smoke billowed behind them. The owners of these arms then appeared above the wavetops and were revealed to be mermaids, scales glinting green and gold, each smiling with cupid’s-bow lips.
    The mermaids began to rotate as they rose, free of the water now, water streaming from their emerald hair, each supported by a pair of powerful male hands. As the figures continued to rise, the male hands were revealed to belong to three tanned, muscular Apollos with sun-bleached hair and brilliant white smiles.
    The figures continued to rotate, and then the brilliant clouds behind billowed and parted as three more figures dived through the smoke, arrowing through the circles of the mermaids’ arms to part the water with barely a splash.
    The Apollos leaned mightily to one side, allowing the mermaids to slip from their embrace and fall into the water. Then the Apollos themselves poised their arms over their heads and leaned back to drop beneath the waves.
    For a moment the water was empty save for the curls of red and blue smoke that licked the tops of the waves, and then all nine figures rose as one, inverted, arms moving in unison, after which they lay on their sides, linked themselves with legs and arms, and formed an unmistakable Leaping Dolphin.
    The Leaping Dolphin was followed by Triton in His Chariot, the Anemone, the Tiger Shark, the Water Sprite, the Sea Serpent, and a Salute to the Beach Boys, which featured the California Girl, the Deuce Coupe, and climaxed with Good Vibrations. The finale featured more smoke, each of the mermaids rising from the water wearing a crown of sparklers while the six men held aloft billowing, colorful flares.
    “Magnificent!” I applauded. “I’ve never seen anything like it! You’ve outdone yourselves!”
    One of the Apollos swam to the edge of the pool and looked up at me, his brow furrowed with a modesty that was charming, boyish, and completely specious.
    “You don’t think the Deuce Coupe was a little murky?” he said.
    “Not at all. I’ve never seen a Deuce Coupe in my life, and I recognized it at once!”
    I was in California, while the rest of my band was on their way to Hong Kong, where they could expedite their visas to the mainland. I myself was traveling on a U.S. visa belonging to my cousin Pedrito, who was in Sofia and not using it, and who looked enough like me— at least to a U.S. Customs agent— for me to pass.
    Laszlo deVign— of Laszlo deVign’s Outrageous Water Ballet of Malibu— vaulted gracefully from the pool and reached for a towel, making sure as he did so that I had a chance to appreciate the definition of his lats and the extension of arm and body. “So, you have some kind of job for us?” he said.
    “Recovery of a coffin-sized box from the hold of a sunken ship lying on an even keel in sixty meters