by Delia Roan
She raised her left arm, extended her middle finger at him, and smiled sweetly before stoppering the canteen to return it to her backpack.
Some sort of strange human gesture of acknowledgment, he thought. I shall have to remember that one.
He studied the grotto, walking along the shore to peer at the far wall. The entire space was barely the size of the communal sleeping spaces in Kreebo, yet it might have served as a camp at some point. Three large barrels leaned against a wall, and when he examined the contents, found them to be empty.
Washed here during a flood? But how?
His lamplight only reached halfway across the water, the light from the mollusks helped him see that Mel was correct. Unless they went back the way they came, they were trapped.
How had the barrels arrived?
He walked to the wall and examined the mollusks. He guessed they survived by eating some sort of algae growing on the walls. They were round, with almost transparent shells, and they flinched when he brushed them with a finger.
“Water mollusks,” he muttered. He peered over his shoulder, at the dark water. “Why aren’t they in the water?”
Jahle bit his lip and pried a chunk of rock out of the wall, taking some creatures with. He hefted the rock and tossed it as far into the lake as he could.
“Oh!” Mel jumped at the splash.
The rock floated down, and Jahle watched the glow of the creatures fade as the dark water obscured them. Suddenly, they blinked out. Jahle frowned. What in the…
“Oh!” Mel yelled. “I forgot!”
He turned to see her scrambling for a compact square carrier on her hip.
“Olex gave this to me,” she said, her face bright with hope. “She said it would help me get off this planet.”
She threw open the case and then frowned. She reached in and pulled out a squarish object with a bright silver finish. One side was entirely smooth, while flat silver buttons covered the others.
His eyebrows rose. Is that… He hurried closer.
“Whatever it is,” Mel said, rotating the object to examine all its sides, “Olex took great care of it.”
Jahle crouched beside her. “Let me see it. Yes, I know what it is.” He pushed one of the buttons and was rewarded with a hum and a buzz as the machine started up. “It’s a navigation cube.”
“Uh-huh,” Mel said. “Exactly what I thought. I said to myself, ‘Self, it’s a navigation cube, clearly.’”
That made him smile. “It will help us find our location. Give it a moment to process. It must contact the navigation satellites above.”
“What? Like GPS?”
He didn’t reply. Merely stared at the cube, willing it to make the connection to the hunks of metal floating above Geran which may or may not have decayed from decades of neglect.
His breath huffed out when the machine beeped and the flat display side began to show numbers. They streamed across the screen until the machine beeped again. A representation of Geran emerged on the screen.
For a second, Jahle saw his planet again. The basic readout rendered the image in shades of sickly green, but it was enough. Longing welled up in his chest. Geran. His home.
Then the machine beeped one more time, before zooming the image to a representation of where he and Mel sat. He blinked at the image, turning it this way and that, trying to make sense of it.
“What? What is it?” Mel said. “You see something?”
“Yes, I-” Jahle broke off and stared at the far wall. “It says that wall… If I am reading this correctly, that wall does not extend to the bottom of the water. There is a second cavern on the other side. Look.”
He pointed out the features to Mel.
“There’s also a tunnel on the other side,” Mel breathed. “Wait, there! Does it connect with a bigger tunnel?”
“Yes, that is an Ennoi-made shaft. Not a borebug one.” His fingers worked over the map. “We have been blessed. It is a shortcut. If we catch this tunnel here, we can be at the spaceport within a day.”
Mel hopped to her feet. “So we just swim across, get under the wall and boom! We are outta here like a bat outta hell!”
“I cannot swim.”
At his words, the triumph in her face faded.
“What?”
“I cannot swim.”
She stared at him. “That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Pardon me for growing up on a planet with water scarcity.”
“You said you had flowers! That means water!”
“It doesn’t mean swimming holes,” he retorted.
She bit her lip. “Ugh, fine. Okay. That’s okay. We just need a plan. Can’t swim…” Her eyes drifted around until they landed on the barrels in the corner. “But can you float?”
Only two barrels were in good shape. Mel rolled up her pants and tested them, spinning them in knee deep water. They were mostly watertight.
“Slow leak on this one,” she said, rolling it back to shore. “Other one is pretty solid. We can put our belongings in that one.”
“Will this work?”
She scratched her chin. “I dunno. It just has to work enough to keep you afloat. I’ll be the motor.”
They fashioned a pontoon by using the straps from the backpacks and sonar evaluator to lash the barrels together. Mel stashed the food and electronic devices in the watertight barrel and, biting her lip, she stripped off her jeans and sweatshirt and bundled them in, too. Jahle followed her lead before he slammed the lid into place with a fist.
“We got everything?” Mel said, hopping in place to stay warm.
Jahle averted his eyes. “I believe so.”
“Good,” she muttered. “Can’t leave anything behind.”
“We could head back,” Jahle suggested, eying the water. “Dogan might be gone by now.” No matter what the navigator had shown him, the far wall seemed substantial. They were taking a considerable gamble based on technology that was almost a hundred years old being correct in its assessment.
Mel shook her head. “No. This is a shortcut. I’m ready to leave this forsaken hellhole. I want to go home.”
Jahle said nothing, but his lips tightened. If it meant getting her closer to Earth, he would wade into that darkness.
Mel shook out her arms and rolled her shoulders. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
MELISSA
It’s just like skinny-dipping in Patricia’s pool, she told herself as she stepped into the water. Just colder.
Her toes slipped on the algae coating the pebbled bottom. Goosebumps prickled along her arms, but she kept walking. Somehow, the stillness of the surface made her want to slow her pace, as to not to disturb the water.
Her foot hit a rock in the water, and she stumbled forward. Her cut palms met the brackish water and she hissed. She cursed softly while rubbing the ache out of her toe and waited for the stinging in her palms to subside.
And no pool lights, she added.
With the lamps stowed in the barrels, her eyes strained to see in the darkness. The dim bioluminescence was enough to give her a vague idea of the landscape, but she struggled to make out details. Jahle seemed more comfortable in the low light. He wasn’t stumbling over rocks.
Behind her, she heard a grunt as Jahle lifted their makeshift boat and carried it to the water’s edge. When it hit the water, waves rippled out. She dragged the pontoon further into the water, and beckoned to Jahle.
“Are you certain this will work?” He eyed the lake.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “Just hold on tight, and I’ll take care of everything else.”
He hesitated. “We should lash ourselves together.”
Mel grunted. “It’ll be fine. Trust me.”
He keeps arguing and I’m going to drown him.
Grumbling, Jahle stepped into the water and waded out to her. While the water reached her knees, it hit him mid-calf. She walked
out further, until the water reached mid-thigh, and helped Jahle lower himself onto the pontoon, the straps crossing his chest and the barrels floating behind him. Mel resisted the urge to giggle. He looked like a child with water wings.
The apprehension on his face kept her from doing so. His skin burned under her hands and his eyes flicked across the water like a dragonfly.
She patted his shoulder. “Hang in there, big guy. We’ll be across in no time.”
I hope.
She grabbed a strap and wound it around her arm and tied a knot. If she pushed, she wouldn’t be able to see where they were going. She waded forward, tugging the pontoon. Jahle used his feet to propel them forward.
The water rose, covering her hips and belly. When Mel reached the edge of the drop-off she stopped, staring at the line in the water where the pale pebbles underfoot seemed to vanish.
That’s the way to freedom.
That’s the way to home.
That’s the way to Jen.
Her fist tightened around the rope, and she stepped forward, letting the lake engulf her. She gasped as the cold water rose over her shoulders and splashed her face. The taste of the brackish water twisted her mouth, and the smell made her want to gag. The strap tightened and she yanked, pulling Jahle into the water. The freezing water didn’t seem to bother him.
Breathe through your nose. Keep moving. Stay warm.
It took effort to move the weight of the pontoon and her passenger. Jahle flailed his legs, trying to help, but the majority of the effort fell on her shoulders. The chill of the water seeped energy from her muscles, but she gritted her teeth and kept going. The short distance seemed to grow with every kick.
When her hand brushed rock, she crowed. “Now we’re talking!”
“How will we get underneath?”
She bit her lip. With the mollusks this close, the light was brighter, allowing her to see the wall. She had expected it to be smooth, but it was rough, dotted with crags. To her left, she spotted one with enough width to which she could fasten the strap wrapped around her arm. She hauled Jahle closer to the rock, and he grabbed it, keeping one hand on the barrels.
“Stay here,” she told him. “I’ll be right back.”
“Wait!” He grabbed her arm as she turned. His eyes were wide and the pale blue light made his ruby eyes gleam lilac. He opened his mouth, but closed it again without speaking. His eyes searched her face.
Mel reached out and cupped his cheek. The warmth of his skin drove the cold from her hands. “Hey, don’t worry about me. I’m tough.”
He nodded. “You are a fighter.”
“Damn straight!” She grinned.
Before she could change her mind, she darted forward and kissed him briefly, letting the warmth of his lips soak into her own. Under the saltiness of the water, she could taste him. The flavor warmed her to her heart.
“Here I go,” she said, trying to sound as sure of herself as she could. “Wish me luck!” Before he could answer, she took a deep breath, kicked off from the wall and dove.
The gleam of the mollusks shone through dimly, but Mel still had to peer through the darkness. She worked her way past Jahle, resisting the urge to pinch his butt as she swam by.
To her relief, the navigator had been correct. The wall dipped, ending in a jagged curve of rough rock. She had to watch her back and avoid scrapes. The saltwater would sting.
The darkness beneath her seemed to go on for eternity. She rolled onto her back, using the rock to propel herself along. She kept her focus straight ahead, peering through the dim light, looking for the other side of the wall. She didn’t linger on what her death might be like if she got lost.
End soon, she prayed. End soon. Soon. Soon.
When the rock above her began to curve back upward, she swam with renewed motivation. Her head broke the surface on the other side and her ragged breaths echoed through the cavern. It was larger than the grotto, and far darker. The mollusks here weren’t as tightly clustered, but Mel hoped that the way they curved on the far side of the cavern meant the land rose.
She doggy paddled for a while, resting. When her breathing was back under control, she made the trip back. It went faster than the trip out because she knew the wall ended. When she broke the surface, she realized she had traveled at an angle. Jahle was several dozen feet away.
Too easy to get disoriented under there, she thought, as she swam toward him.
“Good news,” she said through chattering teeth. “It’s not far. It’s doable. We just have to figure out how we're doing this.”
They decided to abandon the leaking barrel. It was already waterlogged and heavy. Mel let Jahle undo the straps, and when the barrel with their belongings was free, she tied it to herself. She left Jahle clinging to the wall, using the faulty barrel as support.
It took effort to get the barrel under the wall, but Jahle helped. His strength kept it submerged while Mel tugged it under the rock. On the other side, it shot out of the water like a bullet, dragging Mel along. She looped the straps around a rock, but her frozen fingers wouldn’t bend enough to let her tie a knot.
Gotta get out of here before I get hypothermia.
“Stay,” she commanded the barrel. “Good boy!”
She swam back for Jahle. Her muscles felt rubbery. She was losing too much heat and energy to the freezing water. Her teeth clattering, she extended her hand to him.
“C-c-c’mon,” she slurred. “Gotta go.”
He frowned at her. “You look unwell.”
“S’cold, s’all. Gotta be quick.”
He hesitated, his arms still wrapped around the rock. The scales on his shoulders seemed to be moving in the water, rippling as if a current stirred them. “How far is it?”
“Not far” she said. “Trus’ me.”
With a nod, he took her hand. The warmth of his skin made the ache in her fingers worse, but she drew him close, pressing her front to his back. He placed his head on her shoulder. His weight dragged her down, and she had to kick twice as hard to keep them afloat.
“Grab the rocks,” she told him. “Use ‘em to push forward. I’ll steer.”
He cradled his cheek against hers. “I understand.”
“An’ hold your breath. Let’s go.”
She counted them down and they submerged. Within a few kicks, she became aware of how heavy he was and of the exhaustion in her muscles.
C’mon, Mel. You got this.
She kicked weakly, her arms wrapped around Jahle’s broad chest. He extended his arms and grabbed the rock, pulling them along. She tried to keep them on a straight path. Jahle reached for whatever handhold looked the most promising, but Mel guided them with her legs, pushing against his thigh with hers when he wandered too far to the side.
When something brushed against her lower back, she shrugged it off. My shirt. Bit of algae. The delicate touch repeated. Debris. My imagination. Something firm and solid stroked her back. A harmless fish… Light glowed from below her. She peered around Jahle’s body.
A tentacle writhed in the water beside her face, as thick as her forearm. It moved sinuously through the water, the little hooks along its length swayed as it moved. Bioluminescent patterns flickered along its length.
Mel’s eyes widened.
What the hell is that!?
A second glowing tentacle curled around her body, exploring her belly. Mel tapped Jahle’s shoulder frantically until he turned his head. When he spotted the tentacle, his hands tightened on the rocks, and his face filled with horror.
Mel clung to him. Her throat closed up in fear. The tip of the tentacle found her chin, and she clamped her eyes shut, stretching her face away from its prodding.
Will it leave us alone?
Or is it looking for a snack?
The hooks dug into her skin, placing a dozen shallow cuts across her skin. She exhaled sharply, pursing her lips to hold in her scream, and bubbles burst from her nose. The tent
acle tightened around her midriff, and began to tug, pulling her downward.
Jahle gripped the wall above, and she wound her arms around him with all her might. Where the hooks sliced her skin, the salt water burned, but she barely noticed as panic filled her mind.
The water pressed down on her, making her movements sluggish and ineffective. Her fingers couldn’t find purchase on his smooth scales. Her grip slipped, slipped… slipped…
No! No, no, no!
The tentacle yanked her backward, pulling her down to the bottom of the lake. Down to whatever creature lurked down there. Down to her doom. She watched in horror as Jahle’s shocked face grew smaller and smaller, and the surrounding darkness grew large enough to fill her vision.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
JAHLE
She tumbled away, her bright hair fading as the murky water surrounded her. Jahle released his grip on the wall, and grabbed for her, but she moved too quickly, propelled by the strength of the creature that had snagged her.
No!
She will not die! Not like this.
He curled his feet under him and, using the rock wall, he launched himself toward her, fingers splayed, every muscle in his body straining to find her in the darkness.
There!
He caught a glimpse of motion in the dark. The flash of her pale skin. The curve of a glowing tentacle, drawing her away.
You shall not have her!
She is my Avowed!
She is mine!
Jahle pushed aside his fear of the water and tapped into that part of him he had been avoiding since he woke in his new form. He had found his Avowed, and with the blooming of his second heart, he unlocked his Virtue of the Avowed.
The power deep within him stirred, responding to his call, and his body buckled. He twisted in the water, thrashing as his body changed. Scales like armor-plating exploded from his skin, interlocking across his body as his muscles elongated.
His bones broke and knit into new formations. As he stretched for Mel, he grew longer and leaner. He whipped his tail, propelling him forward, his talons reaching for her.
The transformation took a great deal of resources, and he his head grew light from lack of oxygen. Yet he kept his focus on Mel. His new muscles moved him through the water, and he caught up with her.
