“What the—” I say. I turn to see a splash in the water and a tail—or something resembling a tail—throwing sparks into the air as it sinks back into the frothing ocean. Maya.
The Beast Down Deep
“It’s her!” Minchin yells from within the boat. “It’s her!” He hands over the wheel to the ship’s first mate and runs out the side to join us. “You guys done here? Coz she’s ours to get now.”
Why am I even listening to this? I can think of far better things to do with my time than hunt Maya. But when the boat lifts into the sky again, higher than the first time, I grab onto a slippery rope to my right. I realize we’re not hunting her at all. She’s hunted us.
The boat falls back down again, slapping onto the water’s surface with a loud bang and a sickening crack echoes from—somewhere below us. That can’t be good.
“Come on!” Minchin yells as he starts pulling at ropes and weapons and harpoons. I’ve never seen him laugh so much in his life, his eyes are wide, shining, near-crazed in his happiness. He throws instructions to us and, before I can talk myself out of it, I follow along. His energy is contagious.
And I know if we don’t get her right now, she’ll probably have us for supper. Still, I move it, meaning to get back to killing the Axiom as soon as all this is done.
Minchin throws a harpoon to Blair and Sanaa, then a smaller one to Franklin. He throws me a net and yet another cruel-looking harpoon. Then he pushes on a button by the side of the master helm that’ll bring out the piece de resistance. Six jet bots are now being deployed from under the boat. I see them rise from their dock below the boat and fall back into the ocean, just waiting for us to jump on.
“Gotta keep moving,” Minchin yells as he throws himself overboard. I can’t help but laugh at his absolute dedication to this—I don’t know if he even bothered to see if there was a waiting bot down there. Still, I look over, and before I change my mind, before I remember her sharp teeth too much, I jump over the railing as well, landing in the water right next to the bot. I scramble on it fast, not wanting to get eaten even before I’ve had a chance to go after Maya.
Drones are already flying up ahead, recording everything they can to show the people in Apex that this is happening. That we’re after their fake “cure” and that we’re about to die, I think, before I’m able to kill the negative thoughts.
I press on a tiny blue button on the console of the bot and a clear hard plastic rises up and over me, stopping only when it’s reached the other side, forming a round bubble just around me. Strohm had insisted these were brought along for the hunt though Minchin would have been happier without.
Okay. I place my harpoon on the back of the bot, and hope I won’t actually have to get that close to her. Here goes nothing.
Then I place my hands on the handlebars and lean forward, turn the headlights on the bot and head down, deep into the water.
I see the others have already done the same, their headlights throwing shadows and beams of small fish around as they all form a circle around her.
She’s deeper in the water than I expected, and she’s on the move. Or at least, I don’t know what she’s doing but she’s not her usual still, quiet shadow-down-deep self. She whips herself around and faces one of the bots head on.
I can’t tell who’s in that one, but she swims up, mouth wide open, as if to swallow the jetbot whole. Another bot closer to her back propels forward and starts hitting her with bullets—I know each one to be the size of my forearm, and I know each bot carries a dozen—any more and they’d be too heavy, wouldn’t be able to float back to the surface.
The bullets hit Maya in her side, making her whip back around again, moving towards the jetbot that attacked her. Behind her, dark blood streams into the water readily as the bullets lodge themselves in her and dig deeper, deeper, even deeper.
But they don’t kill her. If anything, they’ve just peeved her off. She swims faster towards the bot that’s now moving back, but not fast enough. Just as another bot starts throwing its bullets at her, she opens her mouth wide and closes it shut around the bot that made her bleed.
I try not to guess who it was. Then I realize I’d forgotten to put on my earcomm so I could hear what the others are planning. Fantastic. I’m running blind here. Well, not blind, but I have no clue who Maya just swallowed or what the others’ plans are.
Still, I inch my jetbot forward, meaning to hit her from the underside. Minchin had said she has only a few soft spots, the rest of her covered in a hard shell that’s impenetrable but for these massive bullets we carry.
I sink down, deeper, and finally look up to see her stomach as she whips and twirls around, attacking whoever’s hurt her ‘til now. I can’t find anything that resembles a soft spot. Still, I inch up slightly higher, hoping she doesn’t know I’m here.
I gulp at the thought of her size and the person she just swallowed. Was it Blair? I try to tell myself I don’t care, because maybe he did kill Abigail, despite my belief otherwise.
But I realize I do care, and I’d care if it were Sanaa too, Minchin. Maybe not Franklin. I wouldn’t mind if she were swallowed whole by Maya.
Then I see it—a small pink spot to the side of Maya’s belly. It seems to thrum as she moves. It certainly can’t be her heart—nothing that’s built as solid as she is would evolve with their heart out open like that. Right? I don’t try to think of the logic behind that, but decide that it looks vulnerable enough anyway, and I depress the button to send a bullet hurtling through the water to hit it.
But of course, I can’t shoot to save myself and we didn’t have any time to practice with these things. Else I would have suggested a target-seeking weapon of sorts. My bullet keeps going, just barely grazing her on the side, and ends up slamming into the boat’s underside instead.
“Fan-fracking-tastic Romy!” I yell. What in the world? But before I think of the damage I’ve caused Minchin’s boat, I sense a change in the water. Maya twirls again and faces down—she charges me head on. I have the boat move back, full throttle, but her mouth is wide open. She’s fast. She’s pissed, and she’s coming for me.
I keep moving back, and the bot’s going as fast as it can go. There’s nothing I can do from here. I’m just waiting to get eaten. I can’t see past her to see what the others are doing. And before I manage to pee my pants, Maya’s mouth goes over the jetbot. I see her rows and rows of teeth, then nothing as she closes her mouth and the jetbot’s lights turn off.
I sit and breathe, calming my heart for a moment. I can’t think straight if I’m in a panic, I tell myself. Yes, but you’ve just been eaten. I fight the thought. I’m still alive. I’ve only been swallowed whole. Ha! I’ve got to figure out how to get out of here and then laugh about this someday with my grandkids, I tell myself.
Not that anyone would believe this. Not that there will be grandkids, but that’s neither here nor there.
Still, I manage to calm myself enough and take stock of my surroundings—the little bit that I know without being able to see anything.
The sounds around me—and there are many of them—are muffled. It’s like I have cotton balls stuck in my ears. Still, there’s a distinct swish of liquid—of ocean water, I hope. And the occasional gurgle. Another sound—like a low-pitched keening coming from above my head.
What do I know about beings with rows of teeth that don’t bother to chew first?
They swallow you whole and wait for their stomach acids to digest you. I can’t remember how long that would take. I also know I can’t think of worse ways to die than being slowly digested in acid. Well I can, but not right this minute.
I feel around the jetbot’s console ahead of me. I turn on the lights, but they flicker—once, twice, one more time, and die out completely. I see the outline of something, but can’t make out what it is by the time the lights die for good.
I turn on the engine and it comes to life. Good, I think, at least it still has juice. At least it’s not completely damaged. The
rudders make a loud sound and liquid moves and sloshes around under the jetbot but otherwise I stay still, hopeful Maya’s swallowed some ocean water along with me and this isn’t just stomach acid.
At least there’s still air. Though I likely have mere minutes before even that is gone. Then my fingers move along the console some more and around the outline of the jetbot’s trigger buttons.
I know I have eleven left. I assume I’m in Maya’s stomach but it doesn’t really matter. I expect that these things could travel right through her. I don’t know much about weapons and trajectory and all that, but I know these things have enough power to move fast in the water.
With nothing in the way, I wonder how much faster they could be. So I move to press the thing. What’s the worst that could happen? I blow myself into oblivion along with a small chunk of Maya. So I press the button.
A missile shoots out from under the bot’s right-hand side and lights up the space I’m in for a minute. Then I see the other bot she’d swallowed slightly to the front of me, to my left. Blair’s big blue eyes stare back at me from out of the condensation forming in his enclosure. A second later, we’re in darkness again.
Oh you idiot. I’d forgotten about the other bot. And I nearly killed him. I fight the thought that there’s still a part of me that wants him dead, despite the warring thoughts in my mind. I can’t handle all these feelings right now. But I know where he is, I know where the rest of my missiles are. And I know my first task is to get out alive. Whether he comes with me or not. Right?
Then a high shrill from above reaches me. It’s unearthly. It doesn’t stop and gives me an immediate migraine. I fight a slight pang of guilt that Maya’s in pain.
But then she did try to eat me. I’m getting digested as we speak. Yes, says a small voice in my head. She’s defending herself from you and your attacks. For what? To appease the people in Apex by lying to them?
It doesn’t matter anyway. Am I about to die in here, wasting time arguing with my conscience?
As I reach for the trigger again, I see a bright light come from the front of the other jetbot and realize that Blair’s bot still seems to work. It lights up ahead and I see her—the inside of Maya—all lit up like the inside of these lanterns we used to play with in C-City when we were little. They’d never smelt foul like this though.
She’s all reds and browns and pinks on the inside, with all sorts of liquids dripping down the sides. Viscous, slimy, disgusting. Then I see bones and other remains of other snacks she’s had and turn my head away, to focus on Blair’s face.
He’s gesturing to me, waving a hand frantically but I have no idea what he wants. Then he’s pressing something hard on his console and gestures with his right hand up to his mouth as his left points to me.
Oh right, I think. He wants to talk. Well, unfortunately, I have no way to so I shake my head, negating his request. I cut the air near my neck, hoping he understands that I mean, “It’s kaput.”
He throws his arms up and stares at me. What now?
Well I don’t know, Blair. All I know is we have weapons. I’d expect him to have some ammo left too, though there’s no way for me to tell since I didn’t see how many he shot before getting swallowed.
I look ahead past him, to see where my missile ended but there’s no sign of it, hardly any sign of damage to Maya’s inside. Wherever we are, that way is farther away to the outside than I’d like.
So I undo my restraints and turn my head around to see what we’re working with. Still a distance, but I definitely see a distinct wall-like structure on the other side of which is the ocean, I hope.
So I have to move the jetbot around… but how? Blair’s staring at me as I work things through. I put my index finger up and twirl it once. He nods then shrugs as if to ask, “How?”
Oh how would I know? I’m just making things up as I go here. Then I notice he’s actually further away to the left than when I’d launched that missile.
So—will shooting more of them make my jetbot turn right? Or will I waste the only things we have to help us escape?
I show him my index finger again. I’ll try one, I think. I’ll still have nine left after that. And I shoot.
Blair’s eyes are globes now as he glares at me. What, does he think I’m trying to kill him? That’s rich. I’m not even on the right angle to do that.
I shoot another missile, and the jetbot pushes back, and turns even further to the right.
The keening around me gets higher in Maya’s distress but I pretend not to care. I ignore it and shoot more missiles until I’m facing the exact direction I need. I’m left with one last missile now as I face the wall to hopefully get us out of here. I press the trigger.
Eaten
I stare at the hole in Maya’s side that the missile’s left behind. It’s bigger than I expect, and ocean water gushes in, making my jetbot float high. I look behind me and see that Blair’s floating too.
Maya’s keening doesn’t stop, if anything it’s louder and it pulses in my bones. I hesitate. I didn’t want to make her death painful and excruciatingly slow, but there’s nothing I can do about that.
I depress the jetbot’s ignition and it starts up. Then I lean forward and it inches through the waves of ocean flowing in to meet us. Of course, by the time I get to her entrance, I have to stop again. The hole’s far too small for our bots to get through.
Our only option is to get out of them and make a swim for it. Are you nuts? I think, just as the idea runs through my head. That’s just death, isn’t it? Still, I look back at Blair and shrug, while I point at the tiny hole in Maya’s side.
I point at his bot and indicate a gun with my fingers. Do you have any bullets left?
He shakes his head, no.
Great. It’s infuriating. Getting this close, only to end up watching our freedom flee us. A loud rap on my jetbot’s casing makes me jump in the air. What the—
It’s Blair, out of his bot, waving in the water. He’s got his underwater gear on—his snorkelbot and visor.
I scramble to find mine as well, and by the time I have it on, he’s already swum up to the hole and he’s climbing through to the other side. I open the bot’s casing, and have my hands on the inner rims of the hole.
Then I peer through and see Blair’s already been picked up by one of the others. He’s being pulled up through the water by another bot. He must have contacted them before getting out of his bot.
I pull through Maya’s side, just happy that the keening isn’t in my bones anymore, and only swim a metre before I’m also being pulled up by another bot. I look down to see Maya twirl slowly in the water, as if to try to fix whichever sides we’d broken. Her movements are slower and she’s sinking into the depths below. Sorry, I think. So sorry I did this to you. All for a lie. All for PR. I’m so sorry. Then she’s out of sight.
The damage on Minchin’s boat is heavy—a hole the size of two jetbots on its starboard side, taking in water despite his efforts to fix it. “That’s what I get,” he says, “for not employing bots.”
Yep, I think, but don’t bother saying anything.
“What’ll happen now?” someone else says.
“Well now we die on the ocean,” Minchin laughs. “That’s okay. That’s a captain’s dream.”
It feels so—wrong. Surviving Maya, just to die out here anyway. Or maybe it’s right. Maybe it’s exactly what we all deserve for going after her in the first place. I fight my guilt again.
We sit in the captain’s quarters as he charts maps and stars and whatnot “the old fashioned way.” The storm around us hits hard from all sides as we stay huddled together, sipping hot tea, still trying to survive despite all the odds.
Minchin says, “So, who wants some alcohol?” He reaches for his stash of golden-red liquor.
Is it better to face the death sober? Is this really it?
“The jetbots are still working,” I suggest. “Well, three of them anyway, since one’s lost and two are in—Maya.”
So some would have to be left behind, I finish quietly for him.
“We could go get the ones out of Maya,” Sanaa says though her voice is resigned. She knows the impossibility of that. But then, what are our other options?
“Can the jetbots carry more than one at a time?” I ask as I look at the small size of Sanaa. Surely she and I can fit in one together. It wouldn’t be comfortable, and neither one of us would be able to wear restraints, but—
“You’d sink,” Minchin says, negating that thought. “Those bots can’t handle more than two hundred pounds under water, what with the missiles and the casing and the—
“What about without the casing?” Blair pipes up. “I mean, how much does all of that extra stuff weigh anyway?”
“And we wouldn’t need to have them go under water,” I agree. “We just need them to keep us afloat long enough to reach land.”
Blair looks at me appreciatively and I nearly forget that he’s my enemy. Then I narrow my eyes and turn my head away from him. He’s right—I’ll need his help, Franklin and Sanaa’s as well, to manoeuvre the EPrison. But after this mission, the ceasefire is over.
Minchin laughs as the storm roars and rages around us. “You lot are crazy, you know that? I like it. Let’s try it. What’s the worst thing to happen anyway? We die!”
He laughs even louder as he uncorks his bottle and takes a long drag from it.
Not an hour later, we have three working jetbots floating in the water barely moving as the rain whips and spits at them.
Sanaa and Franklin decide to ride together, Blair has Minchin with him, and I ride with the shipmate, Boon, though we argue for a moment over who’ll drive the thing. Finally, Minchin orders Boon to give in though he doesn’t look happy about it. Just what I need right now, another teammate who’s not really on my side. Still, I smirk as I take the helm and he sits quietly behind me.
Romy's Last Stand: Book III of the 2250 Saga Page 10