Swamped

Karen woke up, slowly, and found herself in an ornate room. As she tried to stand, she heard a loud blaring.

"Please remain in bed," said a strange voice. "You still need time to recover. Strenuous activity is likely to only exacerbate your injuries."

She looked around, but couldn't see the source of it. She supposed it was better to just listen. But where was she?

The wall to her left was lined with bookshelves, but they lay empty and the wood was unlike any she had ever seen. On her right, she saw a large block of metal set in the wall - was that the door? But how did it open?

That question was soon answered. The door slid aside and beyond it was a beautiful woman with flowing hair. She was wearing a white coat, and...

And her feet looked more like flippers.

"I must apologize," she said. "We thought your vessel belonged to our enemies. Unfortunately, we acted before we could confirm."

"Where am I?" Karen mumbled. "Who are you?"

"Oh dear. The water pressure is a lot harder on your kind, isn't it? Your concentration must have been affected."

"What do you mean, my kind? What in the hells is going on?"

The woman remained strangely calm, despite Karen's frustrations. That was somehow more infuriating than if she'd been upset.

"Well, perhaps it will be easiest if I clarify what you already know. Have you ever heard of the merfolk?"

A book about merfolk, on a sailing ship? That's just asking for trouble. You used to wonder if merfolk were real, but it didn't even take a full month on this ship to learn how ridiculous that idea was, and how much sailors are sick of hearing about them.

Reading on, the book also seems to suggest that they've got technology far beyond anything humans or greblings have dreamed of. Which is even more absurd. They supposedly live under the water, what exactly do they need with fancy doors or strange weapons? What's next, merfolk flying machines? The whole thing's nonsense.

But it's still entertaining nonsense. Though not entertaining enough for you to feel a need to read any further once Donnie announces that you're probably fine to leave.

So. It's off to your quarters then, you suppose. Unless there's anything you can take care of along the way.