Embers in the Sea

by Jennifer M. Eaton

  I combed back my hair, squinting from the sting of saltwater and burning tears. I’d only seen CPR done in movies and television. I wasn’t even sure I was doing it right. But I couldn’t just sit there.

  Push. Push. Push. Twenty repetitions. I could do this. Breathe. Splash. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

  I slapped my palms to the floor on either side of David’s face. “Dammit, breathe! Don’t you dare leave me down here! Don’t you dare!”

  A serenity coated David’s features, like he was sleeping. I could just cuddle up beside him. Keep him warm, like in the woods so long ago. Was that too much to ask, to go back in time,—back to a day before we climbed onto that ship on the beach and splashed into this death trap of an ocean?

  I wiped my eyes. He’d travelled billions of miles, only to drown trying to save Earth.

  How was this fair? How was any of this right? This couldn’t be fate. This couldn’t be the end of our story.

  I gulped and turned to the rocky ceiling. The larger, white stalagmites shimmered, casting a dull glow throughout the chamber. Ethereal. Otherworldly. Their oppressive mass made me feel small and insignificant, as I had so many times before.

  God, why are you letting this happen? Please help me. Please give me the strength to—

  David’s frame twitched, and he coughed. Water ran down his chin.

  “Omigosh!” I pitched him onto his side as he coughed again. Holding back a sob, I fell on my rear when he inhaled on his own. I rubbed his back. “Just breathe. You’re going to be okay.” At least I hoped so. This was the part where they faded to black on television and you always assumed the half-drowned person lived a long and wonderful life.

  I stood and turned toward Ruby’s gelatinous mass. Parts of her back—or whatever that was, had darkened and lost its luster, as if her skin was drying. Where was Silver?

  Dropping to my knees, I leaned over the hole in the floor. Silver’s oval form spun and poked at the faded, floating tendrils.

  “What are you doing?” I shouted, and cringed as my voice echoed between the stone walls.

  A funnel splashed up out of the water and morphed in the air, forming Silver.

  He landed in a crouch beside me. “Her lungs are collapsing. She can’t respire!” He dashed toward her and separated, splashing back over her drying form before rematerializing beside me. “You have to help her. Please, do something!”

  “How can I help?”

  “I don’t know. You’re a land dweller. Don’t you know how to move something without water?”

  Sure, if it’s not made of melting JELL-O.

  I steeled myself. Get your head in the game, Martinez. You can do this. I glanced at David and nodded. Yes. I could do this.

  No. I would do this.

  I turned back to Silver. “How long can she survive out of the water?”

  Silver’s real body bobbed up and down before slipping back into the sea. Fabricated Silver didn’t even flinch. “We’re told that if we ever get caught in a vent, we need to get out within … ” His head jerked from side to side as if calculating. “About nine hundred and thirty-five of your heartbeats.”

  Yikes. If I remembered correctly from health class, that was probably about eleven minutes. And who even knew if that was accurate. She’d been on those rocks at least five minutes already.

  She was out of time. Maybe we all were.

  David hoisted himself to a sitting position. He glanced at me, holding his chest and breathing heavily.

  Yeah, that salinity in his lungs had to burn bad. I was on my own. At least for now.

  I swiped my hair behind my ears, wishing I had a rubber band, and faced Silver. “Okay. Help me out. What is this room? Why is there oxygen here?”

  “There are volcanic vents below us. They super heat the sea, forcing it to turn to gas.”

  And thus the warmth. Interesting.

  “Over the millennia, these ducts and chambers developed naturally, holding the air until released to flow through the oceans.”

  Silver held out his arms over Ruby. They dissolved into sparkling droplets and fell over her. I marveled as the liquid at his shoulders bubbled and pinched, growing back into arms. He seemed to shrink a little though.

  He lowered his newly-grown arms. “We have the same chambers where I come from above. We use them to cultivate food plants that will not grow underwater.”

  I walked toward him. “Wait. What? You grow food in these things? How do you harvest them if you guys turn into piles of goop in the air?”

  “They are flooded to allow entrance, and immediately harvested before the plants die. The air seals let the water in slowly so the crop is not destroyed. That is how they began flooding your chamber below; before they dropped the artificial viewing pane to euthanize you in a humane manner rather than having you drown slowly.”

  How considerate of them.

  I shook away the thought. The artificial viewing pane—he must have meant the wall that became clear so we could see out to the sea. “Is there a viewing pane in this room?”

  “No. This is an upper chamber. They are solid except for the main seal above that holds the air in.”

  I scanned the ceiling as Silver splashed more water over Ruby. “So how exactly does it work?”

  “The air seal is loosened to allow the gasses to escape the first chamber into the compartment above. The movement of the gas forces the water out of the compartment above, and fills the lower compartment with water.”

  I scrambled around the room, searching for anything that might not be permanent. “What would one look like?”

  He held his hands to his head, mimicking me. “I don’t know. We don’t have time for this. Please help me get her back into the sea.”

  If the air escaped, it would go up. Makes sense. So the next chamber would have to be high. My gaze drew upward to the rocky fissures about ten feet above.

  “I don’t see any … wait a minute. What’s that?” To the right of a stalactite the rock-face glistened, not dry like the rest. The material trembled, like a curtain stretched tight against a breeze. “That’s got to be it!”

  Silver folded his arms. “Maybe, but you can’t just open them. We use the power of the tides. You’d need to be incredibly strong.”

  “I’m working on that.” First, I had to get up there. But how? I’d need a ladder, climbing gear—

  David tried to drag himself up from the floor.

  —or a ninja alien agile enough to jump atop a twelve-foot security fence and strong enough to knock a helicopter out of the sky.

  Oh, guess what? I actually had me one of those.

  I scrambled to David’s side. “Are you all right?”

  He flopped onto his back. “We are not going up there.”

  One good thing about telepathy is you can cut right to the chase. “We have to.”

  “We’re not flooding this chamber.” He stood and blinked as if clearing a fog from his sight before striding to Ruby. “There has to be a better way.” He slid his palms beneath her and lifted, but her bulk oozed like gelatin between his fingers.

  Silver splashed over her and reappeared from the pond again. “She’s not conscious anymore.” He moved closer to David. “Please don’t let her die.”

  David’s gaze shifted to the fluctuating colors on the right half of the ceiling. A clear bead of moisture dripped down his temple, but I doubted it came from his damp hair.

  “You can jump that high,” I reminded him.

  I swear the swirling colors in his eyes formed tiny daggers.

  “I can’t do this,” he hissed.

  “I know you can.”

  “The water will come in.” He grasped my shoulder, his hand shaking. “No more water. You don’t understand.”

  But I did. He almost drowned. We both did. But like it or not, we were miles below sea level. Chances are we’d have to get wet again to get to our ship one way or another.

  �
�Ruby risked her life to save you. Are you telling me you’re going to let her die?”

  His gaze darted to the sagging blob of red flesh on the floor. His lip quivered.

  “I know you’re scared. But we all just proved that we’re going to do everything in our power to make sure we all get out of this together, and right now she’s drowning in the air.” I pointed to Ruby just as Silver splashed over her again. “Are you still the guy I fell in love with? Are you going to let this happen just because you’re afraid?”

  He took a step back, scanned the ceiling, and gulped. His expression hardened. “How fast will the water come in?”

  “I don’t know,” Silver said. “I’m not a farmer, but I would expect the chamber to fill at the same rate as the one below us.”

  I ran my palm across David’s back. “We don’t have a choice.”

  David nodded, but his hands shook. He walked beneath the shimmering part of the ceiling, setting his feet carefully on the uneven floor. I wished I could take away his fear, but I was just as scared.

  The speed of the deluge and possibility of the water being freezing cold were also a factor. I didn’t mention it though. We had enough to worry about.

  He looked in my direction and grimaced.

  Shoot. Please tell me he hadn’t been reading my mind!

  I’m sorry, stray thoughts and all … I can’t stop thinking, can I?

  He returned his gaze to the ceiling. Maybe he hadn’t been listening. He crouched and jumped. His fingers skidded across the top of the ceiling before he hit the ground.

  “It’s soft,” he said, “but thick, like a hide of some kind.”

  “Can you get it open?”

  His irises churned as he considered Ruby’s quaking form. “I’ll try.”

  Silver splayed moisture across her as David jumped toward the ceiling once again.

  David scraped and scratched at the edges of the seal repeatedly with no luck.

  “No!” Silver screamed.

  We spun toward him. Huge red, blue, orange, and yellow tentacles elevated from the hole in the floor, waving and flapping against Silver’s bobbing, cylindrical shape. His apparition gaped, faced us, and splashed to the ground beside Ruby as his real body succumbed to the flailing tentacles of larger rift dwellers.

  They’d found him.

  17

  Silver’s rounded frame sunk from view.

  I ran to the opening. “Let him go!”

  Several dripping, blue, waving tentacles rushed from the opening and flopped onto Ruby’s back. The flattened tendrils jerked before slipping back into the sea.

  I leaned over the hole. “Silver!” Not that he could hear me, or even answer. But I had to do something!

  Swirling appendages wrapped around Ruby’s dangling tentacles. Her bulk shifted toward the hole, leaving a dark red, bloody scrape on the ground.

  “Stop!” I screamed. “You’re hurting her!”

  Another tug brought her an inch closer to the edge. Red fluids oozed into small puddles in the rock floor.

  “I said stop!”

  I punched through the surface, knuckles sinking into thick, lukewarm goo. I yanked my fist out and tried to stand, but a bright blue tendril slapped my cheek. I reared back, but not before the suction-cup-covered appendage shot out, wrapping around my wrist and dragging me toward the hole.

  My feet slipped out from under me. I hit the rocky edge, huffing the air from my lungs before a forceful tug drew my face and shoulders into the water.

  I clamped my jaw shut. Saltwater lanced the inside of my nose, as a fishy tang spread across my tongue and pooled at the back of my throat. I thrashed, pulling against the cephalopod’s tendrils, until a firm grip latched onto my hips, pulling me back to the surface.

  I have you, David’s voice boomed through my mind.

  But that didn’t stop the giant blue octopus-thing from yanking me down further.

  The sea stung my eyes. Two ginormous yellow and orange glowy monsters smothered Silver’s dwarfed cylindrical frame before they sunk out of sight.

  My shoulder burned and a submersed pop resounded in my ears. Fire raked through the rest of my arm. I screamed, bubbles flowing from my throat. The burn. The taste! I gagged, allowing the sea access.

  David, help me! My heartbeat thumped in my head as I thrashed and punched at my captor with my good arm. The grip on my waist tightened, but I still seemed to drop deeper into the sea. Bright blue light from the monster below obscured everything as my vision started to fade.

  Stay awake, Jess. Stay awake and stay alive!

  I punched with the last of my strength, and a deep calm overcame my will to fight. It wasn’t really all that bad. The water was warm, relaxing. A nice long nap might be nice. Yes, I definitely needed a nice … long …

  A splash of bubbles perforated the silence, and someone tugged the tendril attached to my arm. They seemed to struggle, swirling the sea around us.

  Dark fluids muddied the ocean as I flipped over. The illumination above seemed distant, like a tunnel beckoning entrance. My sight clouded, until a strong hand gripped my wrist and hoisted me up through the shimmering circle above.

  I broke into the air with a gasp. Droplets streamed down my face as a blurry form carried me from the edge of the hole.

  Sleep. Still needed sleep.

  Someone scampered around me, and jostled me onto my side. I coughed, cringing at the burn surging up my throat and the throbbing agony in my shoulder. My stomach churned, and I opened my mouth, ejecting salt and sea. A warm hand slapped my cheek. A voice sounded in the distance. The hold, so warm. So strong.

  The blur around me focused to a blue deeper than the sea.

  David nestled my cheek to his chest. “I thought I lost you.”

  A fit of coughing riddled me before I retched. The ache in my stomach increased, and I heaved again. Ouch.

  My jeans squished as I shifted my weight. Why was I sitting in a foot of water?

  I rubbed the salt from my eyes. My fog slowly cleared, and David grabbed my cheeks.

  A lance stabbed through my shoulder as he eased me closer, our noses nearly touching. “Please tell me you’re in there.”

  “Yeah. What—”

  The sea rose, now not far from my waist. I gaped as the malleable hatch that had once sealed in our oxygen jostled and flapped against the rock formations above.

  “You got it open.”

  David kissed my temple. “Yes. Just before that thing grabbed you.”

  Forcing down my need to vomit again, I scrambled to Ruby’s side. Brilliant flashes traveled across her back and along her tentacles, but the swells only lapped her midriff. I splashed over the top of her with my right hand. My left hung useless at my side.

  David flanked me. “I appreciate us still trying to save her, but at some point we’re going to have to do that swim thing.”

  The hole in the roof mocked me. Getting through probably wouldn’t be the problem. It was getting an alien that couldn’t swim all the way up to the ceiling. Especially if I was down an arm. I continued to splash over my new friend’s trembling form. Come on, Ruby. I’m going to need your help here.

  I gasped and spun as a miniature funnel bubbled up out of the pond behind us. A glowing green tentacle darted out of the hole in the floor and whizzed toward Ruby. David lunged for the creature, tackling and twisting the flailing member. Something snapped, and dark fluids ran along the creature’s spotted emerald flesh and stained the nearby rock formation before the limb whisked back through the opening.

  “Nothing’s going to keep them out when the water gets higher,” David said.

  I clenched my teeth. Once David and I were treading, Ruby’s people would have the upper hand. I was a strong swimmer, but could I fend them off and keep David afloat? Not likely. Not like this.

  “I need help with my arm. I think it’s dislocated.”

  “Again?”

  I gritted my t
eeth. “Sorry. I’ve been fine for two years. Something about hanging out with you makes my arm randomly pop out of the socket.”

  His palm pressed against my good shoulder. My feet left the ground and the room became a blur. I’d barely gasped when my hurt shoulder slammed against the rock wall. Shards of exploding pain shot through my arm and lights flashed before my eyes as we slipped together to the floor.

  “Freaking warn a girl next time!”

  David stood. “It’s over, how about we focus on the positive?”

  The water licked my chin. There wasn’t much positive to look at here. I stood, massaging my arm. The sea splashed against my thigh. How high would it need to be before the rift dwellers could get in?

  Ruby swished and wiggled, turning her bulk completely around. I wasn’t sure if she was facing toward the hole in the floor or away.

  Thick, blue tendrils fumbled for her, but she lurched back. A pointed white beak jutted out from her center, snapping and catching one of her attacker’s appendages, slicing the soft flesh in half. Blood fogged the sea as the injured creature withdrew through the hole.

  Dang.

  The swells now buffeted my shoulders. David moved closer, his gaze trained on the ceiling, his breaths deep and labored. The sea swirled and pinched between us, fountained, and formed Maggie’s face—and nothing else—as if her head floated with no body to hold it up.

  “I will hold them away as long as I can,” Ruby said through Maggie’s lips.

  “Wait, you’ve been out of the water. Can you fight?”

  “Not well, but I can give you more time. There is no doubt they will get past me. You need to get to the next level as soon as possible.”

  My feet left the floor and I kicked to stay afloat. We whipped toward the hole in the ceiling. “What do we do when we get to the top?”

  “I will come,” she said.

  David glanced at me, gaping. I didn’t need a tether to read his thoughts. We were in deep trouble.

  Maggie’s face dissolved back into the sea. David tilted his nose up as our pocket of oxygen continued to shrink.

  “Remember to kick your feet,” I said. “And keep air in your lungs. It will help you to float.”