The Artemis Portal

"... I have this little story you should read, heed, catalogue, file, and worship. You see, this story proves animals have a soul. And if you don't believe that, ..."

That's how Samantha began, late at night on the mezzanine deck, telling Paul and all the other Navy insomniacs who wanted to believe in something beyond their own small worlds.

Before the worst happened.

Paul loved Samantha since childhood. He couldn't protect her from her father, but he did rescue her from the school bully and from sexual abuse on the ship. PTSD twists her mind, and the Navy sends her back home to Boulder, Colorado. Paul follows, becomes a cop. He protects people. She protects animals, communicating with them like telepathy.

Why can't she protect Paul from animals returned through the Artemis Portal to seek revenge? Did her animals murder Paul's previous girlfriend? Does Samantha love her father? How about Paul?

Then came the flood, and the school bully returns to finish what he'd started in middle school.