by Chogan Swan
Leave the hickey though.
Una kept a straight face, looking at the colorful mark on his neck.
So say we all
She bared her teeth in a fierce smile. “Ready for round two?”
CHAPTER 14 – EL SALVADOR
Kest directed the jet of water across the sediment on the wedge of bulkhead he was clearing. The jet stirred up clouds and tendrils of murk that slowly dissipated as the deep water current carried it away from the light of the lamps. He'd been working this section of the wreck for days, squirting the buried hull with the ROV's pump or scraping the claw arm over the silt and mud to loosen it where it had packed tight.
Two kilometers under the surface of the South Atlantic, it was dark and constantly murky … claustrophobic.
Without warning, a huge, pale snout—and jaws filled with sharp jutting teeth—exploded in front of his face.
“Jesus!” Kest ducked, putting his hands over his head.
“Yeah, she just came by where I was working too,” Amber said with a chuckle. “It worked though, didn't it?”
“What? What worked?” said Kest, staggering to his feet and removing the VR goggles to rub his face. His chest was still thumping and adrenaline surged through his bloodstream.
“It's like my grandmother taught me …” Amber said from the seat to his right. “Those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. You did, and you were.”
“Yes,” Kest said, collapsing back on his chair. “He knows we are weak, so I'm sure He'll forgive me for using His name so abruptly when I was in absolutely no danger.”
Kest pushed his chair back, bent over and took a deep breath. “Though my grandmother might not be so generous if I ever do that around her. Then I could really be in trouble.”
Ayleana came up on his other side, reached around him and took the VR goggles as she patted his back. “Why don't you take a break and get some exercise?” she suggested. “You smell like you just had an adrenaline shower. I'll take over for a bit.”
Kest nodded. “Thanks, I'll do that,” he said. An image of a shark in the VR goggles wouldn't trigger any anxiety for Ayleana. He didn't need to worry about it setting off any blowback of emotions that would aggravate her condition. She and Amber had both mastered the trick of disconnecting body association from the visual sensors. But when big uglies below the sea surprised the great warrior, Kestrel Tashquinth-Avsar, he still screamed and had to take breaks to go out on deck to walk, run … anything, as long as it was in the open air and—hopefully—sunshine. It was just embarrassing—really embarrassing.
“You could have warned him,” Ayleana said to Amber as Kest walked to the door.
“Nah! It's how we humans learn, Aylie.”
Kest stepped over the rounded water-seal threshold, closed the door behind him and sighed.
Really embarrassing….
But I suppose you should expect that when one girlfriend is from another part of the galaxy and the other is six times your age.
Kest rubbed his face again and stepped out on deck. At least the sun was shining, and the wind from the west had tempered about as much as it ever did in the South Atlantic. He zipped his shell and started to move.
The XYMBI salvage ship El Salvador was just over 100 meters long—big enough to smooth out the waves and chop. The deck was long enough to let Kest reach a decent speed when running, and it had plenty of obstacles for parkour moves too—all features Kest appreciated without limit at the moment … especially after being at sea for months.
After twenty minutes, he'd managed to work up a sweat despite the wind-chill from the 45°F breeze. He paused at the bow to watch the waves for a few moments and spotted a dot in the sky to the north.
Kest pulled the monocular from his jacket pocket and scanned until he found it again.
Helicopter inbound—probably from the Falklands, RAF Mt. Pleasant.
It could have taken off from another ship in the area too, he supposed, as he exchanged the monocular for his phone.
Chopper headed in from north.
He sent the encrypted short-range text to Ayleana and Amber, copying it to Edward, in case his focus on the salvage project below meant he'd assigned no one to keep watch above.
Kest heard the hatchway from the operations room open and close as Ayleana and Amber burst out and hit the deck running, heading for the ship's ladder up to the command center….
Bridge, he reminded himself.
Already on the upper deck, Kest waited for them while he tracked the chopper. When Amber reached the upper deck, Kest held the monocular out for her, pointing at the dot that had now grown into a speck since he'd first seen it. Ayleana, he noted had continued on to the bridge. Kest followed. “Heading to the bridge, Amber.”
“Right behind you.” Her voice seemed distracted. Kest turned his head to check the landing pad on the stern deck as he reached the door to the bridge. Per standing order, it was clear when not being used. Today was no exception.
Inside the bridge, Edward stood at the monitor that showed a view feed from the motion-steady telephoto lens. He flipped through different filters, trying to cut through the glare on the windscreen of the chopper, but wasn't having any success. Ayleana, standing at his shoulder, pointed to the sensor ball on top of the chopper. “It's one of our OH-58 based Scouts,” she said. “The shape of the mast-mounted sight and the coaxial rotors and fans are all XYMBI modifications. You can tell we made the gun and rocket launcher too.” She turned. “Let's go, Kest. Landing pad duty calls. Radio silence rules apply, right Captain?”
“Yes, they do,” Edward said. “Amber is the signals landing officer.”
Ayleana snorted. “Just because she's been doing it ever since the first time a helicopter landed on a ship.”
“That's right,” Edward said cheerfully.
Kest stuck his head out the door. “It's one of ours,” he called to Amber.
“Get into a firefighter suit,” she called back. “Tell Aylie to be ready to rescue dive.”
“Are we going to winch them in?”
“They'll drop a cable if that's what they want.”
Kest nodded. Most of the landings he'd worked on the ship used cables and a winch to steady the choppers as they landed, but the sea was calmer than usual today, and wind gust was light. Edward claimed El Salvador had the best dynamic positioning control system ever used on this planet. Adding that to the active ship stabilizing system—which almost eliminated roll and pitch—made the landing pad almost like solid ground … except that it still moved up and down. But at least it did so in a vertical line. Kest slid down the ladder and ran to the lockers in the stern to suit up.
CHAPTER 15 – RECOMBINANT ELEMENTS
When the chopper slipped into a steady hover, Amber moved her arms through the marshaling signals almost without thinking as her hands became an extension of her mind. The XYMBI-customized OH-58 Scout followed her motions into the slot centering it on the landing pad. Timing the long, slow heave of the ship, she brought both her hands down, crossing them in front of her in the signal to land. The chopper dropped just as El Salvador reached the peak of the wave, and the skids kissed the deck a moment before the next wave began to raise the ship again.
The landing team moved in to secure the skids, and Amber raised her right hand to her neck, signaling the pilot to shut down the motor. As the rotors slowed, the door on the left opened and a tall girl with dreadlocks and chocolate skin clambered out.
Where do I know her from?
From Amber’s left, Kest, still holding the fire extinguisher, ran up to hug the girl, and it clicked.
Calypso. One of his roda.
The right passenger door opened and another girl climbed out. This one was as tall as Calypso. A thick braid of, red hair fell past her shoulders, and her skin was pale with a vibrant dusting of freckles. Holstered on her left side, she carried a western-style revolver—snug to her thigh—gunfighter style.
Even with her height, the gun sti
ll should have looked too big for her, but she carried it with a casual grace that made it seem part of her. She turned and pulled a toast-colored, palm straw western hat from the cabin and tugged it on, pulling the stampede string snug below her chin. Somehow, she even managed to carry off wearing the gleaming brass badge pinned to her blue-denim shirt. The tell-tale decorative knot dangling from her left-hand side pocket of her cargo shorts and the slender bulge in the pocket hinted at a knife ready to deploy in an instant.
That is a dangerous womanchild.
When the girl turned to look at her, it took Amber a moment to realize she knew this one too.
Kaitlin?
The tough kid they'd rescued in Texas had become a serious badass … someone who seemed to carry responsibility and authority with a natural tenacity.
I'd love to hear that story.
A motion from Kest caught Amber's eye. Her gaze flicked to him. He'd shaken free of Calypso and was walking Amber's way, looking at something behind her and to her right. He looked concerned. His arms were spread like he was trying to calm….
Amber turned to see Ayleana stalking toward the chopper, eyes fixed on the pilot's side. Her nose was wrinkled and her lips parted in a snarl. “Aylie,” Amber said in the calmest voice she could find. “Breathe. Be calm. Take control.”
A dark form—a female nii, lighter-skinned, shorter and stockier than Tiana—brushed past Amber and intercepted Ayleana, wrapping arms around her.
HumanaH!
At this short distance, Amber could hear the older branch-sister speaking nii to Ayleana in a calm, encouraging tone. HumanaH’s muscular arms enfolded Ayleana in an inexorable embrace. Barely pausing, she lifted Ayleana and carried her down the deck toward the bow as though she was a child. Ayleana bore it stoically, though she towered above her branch-sister and her eyes still burned, remaining fixed on the pilot’s side of the helicopter.
Amber sighed. “Well, I guess we know who the pilot is, don't we?” she said when she felt Kest move up beside her. Only one person in the world has that effect on her. She turned to look at Kest. “As we're the rest of the welcoming committee, we should go back and be welcoming.”
Kest—still following Ayleana and HumanaH with his eyes—nnodded. “Do you think Aylie can get past this?” he said.
Amber shrugged. “I think that's really up to her.”
∆ ∆ ∆
Kaitlin felt small. It hadn’t hit her until she’d climbed out of the helicopter where she and Caly had traveled squeezed in the back with the luggage. Then she’d only had a glimpse of the ocean through the windscreen when she peeked around the front seats where ShwydH and HumanaH piloted the chopper.
But now, out in the open air, it was ocean on both sides as far as the eye could see … and further.
From shore, Kaitlin had always loved contemplating the ocean. Its mystery drew her and made her wonder about far shores and other lands. Now she had ocean on all sides … no land at her back for an easy retreat.
She kept her eyes open, letting the power of it rest on her. When she was five, her father had held her in his lap as they had watched a storm over the ocean from the 3-story window of a resort hotel where they'd gone on vacation. Her mother stayed hidden in the bedroom, terrified of the waves and wind. Kaitlin tried to imagine herself surrounded by storm out here. It bothered her that her mind wanted to veer off from the notion.
“It took me some time to get used to it,” a warm male voice said behind her.
Kaitlin turned.
Windhover … Kestrel. She corrected herself. He wore a fire-fighting suit, and his copper-tanned face looked darker and his hair more bleached by the sun than when she'd met him on the road in Texas.
When I was naked.
She ignored the thought. “So you can get used to it then?”
“The feeling of being small sneaks up on you less often after a few weeks. Though after a month on a 30-foot sailboat, a big ship like this feels almost like being back on land to me.”
Someone else was approaching. Kaitlin turned. “Amber,” she said with a smile, holding out her hand.
Amber walked past her extended hand and wrapped her in a hug. “Kaitlin, acta vila, you must be at least two inches taller. Is that even possible in four months?”
“HumanaH says it's unusual in girls, but not unheard of. She's making sure I get enough calcium and doing mysterious things to keep my bones strong. I have no idea how she's doing that, but I feel fine. I asked her if she could work it so I could make it to six-feet two, but all she would say is that I'd have to eat a lot. I'm eating as much as I can and viewing that as a ‘yes’.”
Kestrel laughed. “I have so many women I can look up to all around me. It's a good experience for me, humbling.”
Amber laughed, letting go of Kaitlin and punching him lightly on the chest. “It doesn't matter when we're laying down now does it.” She winked at Kaitlin as Kestrel turned scarlet.
“Look at the pretty color,” Amber crowed.
Kaitlin allowed a little smile, not at Kestrel's embarrassment, but at Amber's clear staking of him as her territory. “Yes,” she agreed. “It makes the two of you look good together. Crimson and Amber.”
Kest rubbed his face. “This morning has just been so good for me. So humbling.”
“Can I have both of them, Kaitlin?” said Caly as she walked over from the other side of the chopper. “You' right. The two of them look good enough to eat, don' they?”
“Might want to reconsider that, Caly,” ShwydH said, shutting the hatch to the pilot's seat. “I am afraid Ayleana has a prior claim there.” He tapped his nose revealing his information source. “And given her current temper, I wouldn't try to cut in if I were you.” His lips turned up in the sharp imitation of a smile that always made Kaitlin feel like stepping back.
Caly's eyes widened. “Well, that is a lot of information, isn't it?”
“It's always better to know the territory,” Kaitlin said. “Makes things easier all round.”
Amber laughed. “So Sheriff,” she said, brushing Kaitlin's badge with a finger. “Of course I'm glad to see you again, but to what do we owe the honor of your … visit?” Her voice went up on the last word.
“It's more of an assignment than a visit,” Kaitlin said. “The ambassador sent me because I'm an elected official of a territory aligned with the Nii Federation. Maybe all the others were too busy with other tasks. I'm here to represent.”
“I'm a deputy,” Caly chimed in, her white teeth flashing in a huge smile.
“Sorry, Caly. I meant we're here to represent,” Kaitlin said, shrugging a shoulder and smiling. “I'm here to help however I can. I have no idea what y'all are doing way out here … yet. But Tiana said if we need to negotiate with other parties, especially governments, she wanted me here to be the spokesperson.”
Amber's forehead wrinkled, her expression doubtful. She glanced at ShwydH.
“Oh, you'll be glad she's on your side in all matters of diplomacy,” he said, answering Amber's silent question.
Caly laughed. “Up to an' including diplomacy's last resort, yeah?”
“From what I've seen,” ShwydH agreed.”
Caly laughed again. “Now that we are finally here,” she said. “Is someone going to tell us what we're doing in the middle of nowhere?”
“Oh that,” Amber waved her hand dismissively. “We're raising the Valishnu.”
“The what?” said Caly.
The spaceship that brought Tiana here in 1799. It's only about 2 kilometers from here … straight down. We got lucky. A bit further west and we'd have been dealing with the bottom of the Malvinas Chasm, and that’s about 5 kilometers down. We’re just lucky XYMBI has this really cool light-weight cable.”
CHAPTER 16 – VALISHNU RISING
It was 4:30 in the morning and already the sun was peeking above the waves. Ayleana maneuvered through the video feeds showing Valishnu—lit from three angles by the deep-water salvage drone’s floodlights as she lay
1,918 meters down on the edge of Malvinas Chasm—less than 100 meters away from the ocean floor's descent to another ledge another kilometer deeper. The sun might be rising where Ayleana stood, but 1,000 fathoms below it was always night.
Even though Valishnu was missing one nacelle and large sections of the wings, the corvette's bladelike grace called to Ayleana with a promise of adventure. But the memories of commanding her were still centuries of dreamtime away for her, stalled by a tumultuous maturity threshold.
