by Korn, Tracy
"What is it?" Arco says, squeezing my hand again as he tries to lift himself up.
"Stop, you have to be still," I say, pushing back on his shoulders.
"Tieg had to sever two of his fingers to free him from the ramp's hydraulic relay," Jax says quietly, "Dez and Myra patched that up, but they couldn't get him the disinfectant series until just a few minutes ago."
"What does that mean?" I ask, turning to him.
"The spores…" Ellis says, taking a seat next to Liddick, on the other side of Jax. "They're not airborne, so everyone is all right in here, but they're already in his body."
"Hell…" Arco says, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back against my shoulder.
"But can't the nanites fix that? Can't they sweep them out or something?"
"They would if they could keep up. The disinfectant series suppresses the spores' rate of replication, but since he didn't get it until just now, the nanites may not be able to outpace them," Ellis continues.
"And he's starting to shiver. That's the first stage," Avis adds just as a buzzing starts in my ears. Arco grips my hand, and Liddick's eyes flash to mine before he starts scanning the room.
"We need to get out of here," he says abruptly.
"Why? What's wrong?" Myra asks, wiping her face.
"Something is coming."
"Arco needs at least ten more minutes, and Pitt…" Dez's voice trails off, her icy blue eyes wide and afraid as she looks around the cave for somewhere to go.
"How do you know that?" Tieg growls, rounding on Liddick.
"He's right! I can hear it too," I say.
"Ripley…" Arco says, extending his arm. Jax moves in and helps him to his feet as Liddick jumps back in the Stingray and pulls out a piece of the console, which then conforms to his arm when he slides it over his sleeve. I clench my teeth against the growing buzz, and see that he's doing the same.
"It's all right, Dezzie," Pitt says, trying to get to his feet. Tieg leaps over to him with Joss, and they both help him stand as Myra gathers the contents of her medical bag and straps it into place on her back. "I'm all right."
"You're feeling better?" Myra's voice pitches as she moves closer to him, her hands on his face as she studies his narrowed green eyes. He brings her forearms down to his wide chest with his good hand and smiles at her. "I'm all right," he says. "Take the sweep and give it to Arco…it has the code paths on it." He detaches the smooth, silver panel from the forearm he's holding tightly to himself, then releases it into her hands.
"You got the sweep out?" Arco asks, looking at Jax in disbelief as he brings one hand to his head.
"Pitt did. Once we went sideways, I didn't think we were going to be able to wrench it out in time, but…he did. He got it."
"Get the Nav systems, and the med and supply kits," Liddick says, angling the panel on his arm at one of the narrow crag openings. "There's a tunnel system on the other side of this wall—we'll have to squeeze through," he says, gritting his teeth against the buzzing and now, the high-pitched squealing in our heads. Arco loses his balance and bends, bracing his hand on his knee as Jax gets under his shoulder to steady him.
"We'll get the kits and the Nav units," Avis says, nodding to Ellis. They dart in and out of the Stingrays one after the other and distribute the Nav panels and bags amongst us as Myra crosses to us and gives Arco the panel from Pitt. I strap the bag Ellis gives me onto my back, then cover my ears against the almost unbearable buzzing sound as the water alongside us starts to ripple like something has been dropped into it from above. The blue light of the cave walls begins to mottle, and a dark, undulating mass appears, then disappears again just below the water's surface.
"Go!" Liddick yells, reaching for Dez, "Get her through there," he adds to Tieg, who pulls her back with him.
"Tether!" Pitt calls out in a strangled voice to Joss, who moves to his side. Pitt looks down at Myra and cups his hand along her cheek, then pulls her in and kisses her forehead. He angles her chin up and looks into her eyes. "Go with Joss," he says, bringing his ruined hand to the side of his throat.
"Are you coming!?" she cries.
"I'll be right behind you," he answers, brushing his thumb over her cheekbone. She tries to kiss him, but he holds her shoulder at bay as his eyebrows draw up. He shakes his head and runs his good hand through her hair, then darts his eyes to Joss and nods. "Go now, please," he says. Joss leads her through the opening as she protests, and when Pitt drops his hand from the side of his neck, I can see the red lesions that have already started breaking through the skin.
I yell Pitt's name, but the piercing sound in my ears drowns out my voice. The surface of the water behind us breaks, and a flat, black mass rears, revealing slatted openings that I can only partially make out in the fractured blue light. Ellis and Avis slip through the rift, and Jax ushers me toward them with Arco. Liddick is standing in front of it waving us on, and when we approach, Jax shifts Arco to him and turns back for Pitt. Liddick maneuvers Arco through the opening where Avis and Ellis intercept him, then starts pushing me through so he can go after him. I stumble on the other side, but quickly get to my hands and knees.
"Jax!" I yell through the bottom of the opening as he moves toward Pitt, who puts his hands out in front of him to stop Jax from coming any closer.
"Come on!" Jax calls to him as the writhing, dark mass inches onto the ledge from the water behind Pitt, the scattered light glinting off the needle-like teeth embedded in the slats.
"Ripley! We have to go!" Liddick grabs the back of Jax's dive suit and drags him off balance back through the fissure just in time to stop him from lunging for Pitt, whose facial contours and jawline suddenly distort beyond recognition in bursts of mangled red and white cauliflower eruptions that swell and spread. Jax must not see this yet as he continues struggling against Liddick, who finally wraps his arm around Jax's neck and shoulders and wrestles him back to the ground. I sit on his legs to help weigh him down, then grip his shoulders to make him focus on me.
"Jax, stop! It's too late! Stop!!" I shout as the blue rivulets in the walls flash through the break, illuminating the air bell and the shifting, breathing mass that, in the seconds we see it illuminated, looks like the hatcheted underbelly of a mushroom as it pulls itself farther out of the water toward Pitt.
"Jazz!" Arco yells, moving to us with Ellis and Avis. "The map starts down that tunnel—everybody, go now!" He motions to another opening at the other side of the cave, then starts leading me to it with the others, but it's too late to avoid the sight of Pitt stepping backward into the opening and closing mouths of the blackness that envelops him, then pulls him into the water.
We hear water splashing under our feet when the high-pitched keening suddenly stops, and I don't look back as we run toward the tunnel—toward a new path I never saw coming.
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Acknowledgments
Special thanks to our friend at Overdun Productions, Kyle Bainter, for your time and beautiful cinematography for the AQUA book trailer. Your ability to capture what is in plain sight, yet unseen by so many, is inspiring. Many thanks to my beta readers for your keen eyes and honest feedback, especially Kaila Brusdahl, Dayandra De Miranda-Leão, Katelynn Pittman, Margarita McClain, Tracy Ortiz, Olivia Sigsbee, Katie Sokolowski, Cassidy White, Shaun Vellucci, and of course Rachel Carpenter, whose feedback became particularly invaluable editing. Countless thanks to my writing partner and jack-of-all-trades editor Ryan Bachtel for your tireless reading and collaboration over the year
s, and most importantly for talking me down from all those trees along the way. To my husband, James, for your support and vision in bringing my characters to life, and for your unyielding standards. I cannot thank you enough. They have all come to be living, breathing, people for me, and because of you, now others can see them too. And, of course, Mom, thank you for always believing in me, for being in my corner no matter what, and for giving me the will to fight to the end with whatever life laces up. Finally, without the daily inspiration of the teenagers I'm lucky enough to have in my life—my own children, and my students—I couldn't have imagined Jazz's quest for purpose, Liddick's fearless drive, or Arco's selfless courage. Thank you for being indomitable, brave, resilient, impossible people. You are the stuff of stories. You are the heartbeat of us all.
About the Author
Tracy Korn's years of teaching high school English have convinced her that teenagers are superheroes. Their resiliency, drive, and passion in making the world a better place inspired her character driven, high action and adventure debut YA novel, AQUA, which is the first in The Elements Series. The sequel, TERRA, is tentatively planned for release in the summer of 2016. Tracy holds Master's degrees from Indiana University in Secondary Education, in Language, Culture, and Literacy Education, and in Creative Writing. She lives in Indiana with her husband and their two very own superheroes.