AQUA (The Elements Series Book 1)

by Korn, Tracy

  Arco laughs and raises his eyebrows at me. "Drone mind control system?"

  "After everything else down here so far, it wouldn't be the splittest thing. This, though? This ship is supposed to be able to withstand the pressure of 6,000 meters of water on top of our heads? What's the point of a little toy operating system like this?"

  "They're not meant to go too far…and everyone is supposed to be able to drive them, not just Nav class. You ready?"

  I start pressing my foot on the pedal to move forward down the ramp toward the seafloor, and Arco and I exchanging glances to check our sync. The lights from our Stingray and those of the others that have already made it down the ramp shine in all directions, illuminating small, rocky structures with hovering jellyfish that glow white and pink before they dart away in the light, along with a huge sea cucumber that looks like a cylindrical white pillow attached to a wide, flat fin at either end.

  "Stingray seven! Nice of you to join us. Who's your second, Mr. Hart?" Mr. Tark's voice is suddenly all around us.

  "Jazwyn Ripley," Arco answers.

  "Welcome aboard, Miss Ripley. Mr. Hart, please set your scope to Dayrunner, channel Zephir for comms, and try to keep up. That last part won't be too hard since we're still waiting for the rest of Green, so congratulations, you're not last out of port."

  I look around, but I can't tell where Tark's voice is coming from. I scan the dashboard and notice only a few controls—a few half-moon steering columns, a hatch control, a gauge that says climatizer, and a light labeled emergency next to another clear domed light. There are a few button panels on the left side near Arco, but I can't read them from my angle, and I don't see anything that could be a speaker.

  "It's a sonar wave. It came through the cap," Arco says, pointing to the window in front of us as he notices me looking around.

  "Of course it did," I say, shaking my head at the irony of having undetectable sonar wave communication inside the equivalent of a water scooter. We slow to a stop so Arco can adjust the communication controls that Tark just specified, and a feeling of tension squeezes my chest as I look out into the endless dark water and remember that there are people out there who need us. I take in a deep breath and try to blow it out slowly.

  "Are you sure you're OK?" Arco asks, reaching over to brush my hair behind my ear with his fingers, then lets his hand rest on my shoulder. His eyes search my face for something that he can't seem to find. "I know everything was...a lot back there. And so is this," he says, angling his head toward the spread of sea before us, then strokes his thumb across my cheekbone. I turn into it before I even realize I am. His hand is warm, and I close my eyes for a second, nearly convinced that when I open them again, we'll be on the beach back home soaking up the last of the sun setting on the day. When I do open them, he's leaning his head against the back of his seat, watching me and smiling to himself. "I don't know how to say what this feels like," he says, sliding his hand down to interlace his fingers with mine as he looks down at them intertwined, the smile overtaking him.

  "I think it feels safe, maybe?" I say, but it sounds more like a question than an answer. "I mean, everything here so far has just been anxiety, but with you now, it just feels—"

  "Safe," he says, agreeing, a decided grin lighting his face. A wave of adrenaline passes over me, and then a flood of warmth that actually makes me want to giggle, but I swallow it down and study his face. Color brushes his cheeks, and I can see him fighting to keep his grin at bay as his eyes dart to the floor.

  "Arco?" I say with a smile in my voice as he presses his chin to his chest, a few small laughs escaping from me like air bubbles. "Are you...blushing?" I say in disbelief. He laughs out loud now, then shakes his head, seeming to decide something as he lets go of my hand to hold onto the steering wheel, then begins pushing buttons on the panel to his left before he looks over at me again.

  "It's just a relief to hear that I guess," he says, still grinning as he enters a final combination. "I knew it was bothering me, but I guess I didn't realize how much—the idea of not being able to keep you safe, you know?" he adds, his eyes darting to me, but then quickly moving back to his controls. For an instant, my chest constricts sharply, and I realize that the anxiety he felt from his interview has never really dissipated.

  "Arco, you don't have to—" I start, but he interrupts me, stopping the trajectory of the conversation before it can really even begin.

  "Anyway, the other team is finally here, so I'm just going to transmit to Tark that we're going back. Five more minutes and you'd have fallen asleep in that seat," he says, smiling to one side.

  "No, it's fine, don't do that. I don't want to go back yet. Look what's out here..." I say, pressing my palm against the window next to me as three small pink and white jellyfish float by in the distance.

  And just like that, the moment is gone—I want to return to my point about the pressure he's been putting on himself to look out for me, but I don't know how to do that without also resurrecting the prickly tension that surfaces with it. I start to open my mouth to say something, to at least try, but the clear domed light of a moment ago suddenly turns green in the center console, and the illuminated words below it now flash transmit ready. Arco presses the glowing button, which makes it go out again.

  "All right. Well, just press that if you want to talk to the others. They have to be within 50 yards. Go ahead, push it," he says, nodding toward the console. I press the same button, and it glows green again. "Stingray seven operational," he says, then clicks the button off.

  "Copy, Stingray seven. Looks like we're all here," Tark's voice booms through our cabin. "We're going to mix it up a little now. Hart, Spaulding, Raj, Ling, and Dyer, take your pod 30 degrees south. You have one league at your disposal. Stay together, explore, and meet back here in two hours for reload and dismissal—we're going to run a little long today." Tark's voice is clear and direct, but did he just say we're going out there on our own?

  "Anywhere? We can go anywhere?" I say after his voice cuts out.

  "Well, within about three miles that way," Arco says, angling our Stingray abruptly left, which makes me bump into the wall on my right.

  "Ow," I rub my head and try to laugh, but it comes out more like a whimper. He sucks in a breath and winces.

  "Sorry..."

  "Taking point, Hart?" Tieg's voice comes through the air just as he and Jax appear on our right with Avis and Myra close behind.

  "Jax!" I shout, but he shakes his head at me and points to a green light on their dashboard. "Oh," I say, pressing our comms button again. "Jax, can you hear me?"

  "We can all hear you, sand dollar," Vox says, pulling up on Arco's side of our Stingray with Fraya next to her.

  "And now the party can begin—shall we away?" Ellis says, sidling up to Tieg's and Jax's Stingray on our right as we all move forward much more quickly than I would have expected.

  "What are we supposed to be doing, just looking around?" Fraya's voice comes through, and Avis answers.

  "Exploring! Can you believe we're three miles under water? Look at those stacks!" The term startles me for a second and makes me imagine our building complex back home, but then Avis shines a light on the rocks that spit out roiling, steady streams of black smoke just to the side of us.

  "It might as well be a whole different planet," another voice says.

  "Is that Liddick?" I ask, stretching to see past Arco and into Ellis's Stingray, which is on the other side of Vox's on our left.

  "The one and only,'' he almost sings, and I can't help but roll my eyes.

  "Try not to seduce any of the homestead natives while we're out here, Wright. They mate for life. We may never see you again," Arco says, then smiles wryly. "On second thought..."

  "Tempting, Hart, tempting, but then who would keep you on point?" Liddick replies, and I can just hear his smirk as our Leviathan grows smaller in the distance behind us.

  "How fast are we going? The ship is so far away already," I ask, looking at ou
r rear display.

  "About 20 knots," Arco answers. "These things move a lot faster than they do in the simulator," he laughs to himself, surprised.

  "Quarter-mile out so far, but we're blowing wide," Tieg says, and Arco enters something into the panel.

  "Increasing left thrusters two knots," Arco says.

  "Copy, adjusting for two knots," Tieg says, "Ellis, Vox, Avis, fall in. I'm reading some kind of undertow, but don't ask me how at this depth."

  "Yeah, yeah," Vox says.

  "Done," Ellis says, "but my scope says we've already been pulled out nearly half a league. Watch yourselves."

  "How is that even possible?" Avis asks, and Arco looks down into the circular grid in the middle of our console, all five of our crafts blipping a few lines left of center, the craggy rocks on the display looking like they only get larger the farther out we go.

  "There must be a gape over there somewhere. It's pulling us in," Tieg replies.

  "We need to angle out—cut in 45," Arco says.

  "Copy 45," Ellis answers.

  "What's up there? Spaulding, can you flood it?" Arco asks, noticing something in the distance, then checking our scope.

  "Where?" Vox asks.

  "Up there," Fraya says as Tieg's spotlight appears to our left.

  "It's just another crag," Avis says. "They're everywhere down here."

  "No, I see it—look under the crag. There's an opening with light in there," Vox insists, her Stingray starting to move toward Tieg's spotlight.

  "Let's go, Raj," Liddick says, his Stingray inching past us to veer off with Vox and Fraya.

  "Wait," Arco protests, "you can't just rush something like that. Plus the drift. Hey!" He flips on our spotlight to keep them in sight, and Tieg slows to fall back with us.

  "It's just a cave," Tieg says over the comms, still angling his light on the opening.

  "But what's making it glow in there?" Jax asks.

  "Can you hear that?" Arco looks over to me suddenly. "The humming? Does everyone hear that?" I look at him puzzled until I hear it too…a low frequency electrical buzz just like I heard in Ms. Plume's advisory session.

  "Now I do," I say, my heart starting to pound. "Liddick, can you—" a cloud of sediment kicks up in front of us as Vox's Stingray charges forward toward the cave opening.

  "Vox!" Arco yells, but she doesn't pull back.

  "Follow her!" Liddick's voice sounds over t he comms as his Stingray picks up speed and opens a gap between us. Arco pushes his hands through his sandy hair, then shakes his head.

  "So much for protocol," he says, pushing forward toward the glowing crag opening.

  "You're going in there? Are you split?" Avis asks, but is cut off by Myra.

  "It's OK, come on—we need to stay together."

  What are you doing? I think, focusing on Vox, but she doesn't respond. The buzzing electrical sound is stronger the closer we get to the cave opening, which is huge now that we're upon it, like a giant tear in the side of the rock face.

  "It's as tall as the Leviathan," I say, craning my neck as we cross the threshold. It's wide enough for only one Stingray to go through at a time, but once we're in, it opens up into a wider, shimmering rocky space where we can all see each other again. Vox's and Liddick's vessels have stopped, and the buzzing in here is louder and lower-pitched.

  Can you hear that? I think, focusing on Liddick, but he doesn't answer me either. Why isn't this telepathy working now?

  "What's making the walls glow like that?" Fraya asks, excitement serving as a lid to her nerves, which I can feel simmering just below the surface.

  "We need to keep moving," Liddick says, and pushes forward with Ellis as Vox pulls ahead of them.

  "We shouldn't be in here," I say, looking around at the white and yellow glowing rivulets in the walls, the tops of which I can't see. "Something in here isn't right," I say as my stomach starts to sink with the buzz growing in my ears.

  "It's on the grid—barely, but still on the grid—so we're not going to set off any alarms, don't worry. We should have just checked out the external structure before coming in here," Arco says, adding the last bit mainly to himself.

  "Wouldn't they have closed this off if it were dangerous?" Fraya asks over the comms. "I can't imagine they'd just let us have free range of the ocean floor without checking it."

  "Probably," Jax replies. "They're not just going to let the sea swallow us out here—they must have vetted it. Why else would they give us parameters?"

  "I just don't like jumping in without knowing what we're getting into," Arco says as we float deeper into the cavern, the gold light ahead of us now mottled.

  "Can't conquer waves from the shore, Hart," Liddick says from in front of us, just behind Vox's and Fraya's Stingray. Arco opens his mouth to respond, but is cut of by a high pitched frequency that completely drowns out the low grade buzzing we've been hearing.

  "FIVE METER WARNING, YOU ARE APPROACHING YOUR ZONE BARRIER. PLEASE RESUME APPROVED TRAJECTORY." The Stingray voice is female, but it's not Ms. Reynolt or Dame Mahgi.

  "All stop and reverse," Arco says, his face contorting at the piercing sound. Tieg and Jax have backed up in the cave to make room for us to follow, but as we do, a gap opens between us and Liddick's vessel. "Back out of there, Raj," Arco commands, and the Stingray in front of us starts to spin counterclockwise.

  "What's happening in there?" Myra's voice says over the comms.

  "Why are we stopped?" Avis asks, and I realize they must be sitting right behind Tieg and Jax at the mouth of the cave.

  "Lay off the pedal," Ellis says, evidently to Liddick, and their ship slows, but Vox's Stingray presses forward.

  "Vox, stop—Fraya, pull off the pedal," Arco says, and almost immediately, Vox's ship starts to spin clockwise. Vox's ripped scream of frustration comes through the comms, and a wave of anger crashes over me.

  "Fraya!" Jax shouts.

  "Vox, we can't go through there—we're at the barrier. You heard what Tark said," I call to her.

  "Pull off!" Fraya shouts. "Pull off so we can make the squealing stop. Vox, pull off!"

  "She's just being obstinate—they can't go anywhere like that except in a circle," Tieg says, chuckling to himself.

  "This isn't funny. We need to catch up to them. Come on…" Jax insists.

  "No, there's no room. Stay there or you'll jam us up," Arco says.

  "Vox, please; you have to pull out of there right now," I say, trying to keep my voice level until I see the huge, dark shadow passing just beyond their ship, which makes the glowing light all around cut in and out. "What the—Vox, there's something by you, pull off…you need to back up!"

  Her Stingray drags to a stop once the momentum dies, and as the silt clears, the dim glow of the walls reflects the thick, slowly moving bulk of something much bigger than our Stingrays swimming right toward us. Fraya starts to scream.

  "Vox, damnit!" Jax shouts.

  "What's happening!" Myra yells.

  "What is that? What are those slats?!" Fraya's voice is shrill and broken over the comms system, and I feel ice shoot down my neck. "Is it a shark?!" she cries with the last of a breath.

  "We need to go. Sharks can't dive this deep. Avis make sure you're clear. Spaulding, turn six and floor it," Arco hits a series of buttons, causing a whir to start up underneath us. "Raj, fall into my wake—adjust 12 degrees, then hit the back thrusters."

  "Vox, follow Ellis! We're right in front of him!" I call, but her craft doesn't move. Fraya is starting to cry. I can't let her spin out, not after seeing her after our interviews. She would flood Vox if she did, and then there would really be no chance of them pulling out. "Fraya, listen. You need to take a deep breath. You have to relax," I say, but then we begin to pull away from them. I grip Arco's forearm. "Hey! You can't leave them there," I say, and pull off the pedal I've been pressing. He crushes his lips together to catch the growl coming out as we start to spin.

  "Arco, what the hell! Go back! Tieg, turn around!"
Jax yells over the comms.

  "No! Spaulding, hold your line or you'll crash right into us," Arco says in response, then keys a combination into his panel that straightens our trajectory.

  "Don't you think I know that?" Tieg says, his voice clipped.

  "You can't leave them there!" Jax yells.

  "Arco!" I pull his dive suit sleeve in desperation and slam on my pedal, which must reset his button combination because we start spinning again.

  "We're out and racked at the side—the mouth is clear," Avis says.

  "Ellis, adjust to 45 and frog over me. I'll pick up. Jazz, let off your pedal right now, or I'll disable it for good." Arco bites off the last words as he cuts me a look that I've never seen before, then pulls off his pedal so we stop spinning, and finally, turns to me. "Listen to me—do you see that?" he says, pointing to the dark, slotted thing moving toward us in a flipping motion in the dim light of the rear console display. "If it's that big at this distance, it's going to be three times that big when it gets to us. This is not a weaponized craft, Jazz, and I'm sorry, but we have to go!"

  His eyes are set, and I know he's at least right about one thing: whatever that is, it's getting bigger the closer it gets.

  "We have to stay together—isn't that what Tark said?" I try not to lose control of my voice, but now that the high pitched alarm has stopped, the buzzing in my ears is getting louder. "Can't you hear that? You know what that is, Arco!"

  "We can't make them come, Jazz—we have to go!"

  "No! We can't leave them!"

  "Arco, I swear if you pull out of there!" Jax yells over the comms again.

  "I'm not doing this," Arco says flatly, and begins punching something into his panel.

  "Arco! 10 yards and you'll be off my grid—you just fell off Tieg's. Hurry up!" Ellis yells as their Stingray grows smaller in the distance.

  "They're all mouths!" Fraya yells over the comms. Arco's eyes are wide when he looks at me like he's desperately waiting for my permission. When I shake my head and yell again for him to go back, he pushes one more button combination, and we're suddenly moving forward again.