by S. G. Basu
“Yes, that is the fastest path. But . . .” Kusha stopped, and Nafi sighed loudly.
“What?” Maia squinted hard at Kusha and Nafi. “Something wrong with it?”
Kusha and Nafi exchanged that curious look again.
“It’s about the part through the fissure,” Kusha replied. “It’s a very tight space, laid out like a maze almost. Also, it’s not a flat, straight road through the ground—it’s far from that. It’s a trap of chicanes, finally ending in a corkscrew that stretches halfway through the length of the abyss.”
“And then, we’re not exactly sure about the mouth of the fissure.” Nafi tapped on the map, pointing at the end where the thin line of the fissure met with the chasm of the Zsitanian Abyss. “This is where I needed help from Joolsae, but—”
“I can help,” Maia said eagerly. “I’ll try to dig up some information. And I can monitor our paths and our surroundings as you navigate.”
“At least we’re sure there’s a way out into the abyss,” Kusha added, “we just don’t know how it looks.”
“So, Dani, maybe we need to start researching the thrusters on our own.” Ren lay on his stomach, resting his head on his hands.
“How about asking Dill?” Maia inquired.
“We do not like Dill,” Ren said, smiling at Dani who looked away rather unapologetically.
“That’s all right,” Nafi commented as she gathered her books and stood up to leave. “We aren’t exactly asking Palak much either.”
It was funny to see how reckless they had all grown, Maia thought and chuckled inside. All they counted on was each other and nothing else.
31: The Deep Dive
The days leading up to the challenge went by at a dizzying pace. There were a few trial runs of the Aqumob up and down the chute to Dill’s classroom, all of which Dani and Ren handled exquisitely. Maia had sufficiently mastered the sounding probes to accurately analyze the environment even before sighting it. Kusha and Nafi had their maps ready without the sought-after help from Joolsae. Their mentor was nowhere to be found; it was as if she had vanished into thin air.
The morning of the challenge did not start well. In the girls’ dorm, Anja was sick. Loriine and Baecca did not cast a second look at the poor girl who lay exhausted in her bed. Maia, Dani, and Nafi, however, waited with her until she was taken to the infirmary. When the trio finally met up with the boys at the RC, they were running late. Rushing into the classroom, they found all the teams assembled and ready, but Aerika was yet to arrive.
“I’ll navigate; Nafi will help with the backup charts,” Kusha informed Dani and Ren as they huddled together. “Dani, will you be steering?”
Dani flinched. “Ren, you steer, I’ll be in the co-pilot’s seat,” she said decisively. As Ren nodded, clearly surprised at what seemed to be a sudden change of plans, Dani stepped away from the group. “I have to ask the trainer some questions. Be back soon.”
Ren stood staring for a few moments before following Dani toward where Palak and Dill stood. Nafi busied herself arranging the charts and maps while Kusha continued to gape. He looked sad and hurt, Maia noted, as she waited for him to speak. His gaze skimmed the floor before they came up again to meet Maia’s.
“Did you see that? Did you see how she snubbed me? Why is she doing this to me?” Kusha shook his head in confusion.
“She hasn’t been real chatty with anyone lately, Kusha.” Maia tried to reassure the boy.
“Yes, but I don’t see her ignoring anyone else so deliberately either,” Kusha argued.
“You’re the one who screamed at her, remember?” Nafi piped up. “Without a reason too.”
Kusha grimaced and hung his head. “I know I wasn’t very polite when I reacted to Hans’s message, but I was annoyed and frustrated.”
“Maybe you should apologize,” Maia suggested.
“I already have and she didn’t even say a word,” Kusha said with vehemence.
“Well,” Nafi crossed her arms and looked squarely at Kusha, “if you care about her as much as I think you do, you should keep apologizing until she relents. You can’t give up on love so easily.”
While Maia did not have a clue on how to react to that statement, Kusha seemed like he was ready to strangle the girl. Nafi shrugged and turned away casually, and then she looked back over her shoulder again.
“Just an honest suggestion,” she said before turning away.
Maia was about to ask Kusha some questions of her own when the sound of clicking heels reverberated through the corridor. Aerika had finally arrived.
“We are all here, with the exception of one girl. There is nothing to worry about, she will be fine,” Aerika said to the assembled groups. “Everyone follow me to the Dive Bay. There we will assign you Aqumobs and provide you with water gear. You will also pick up your personal weapons there, but remember, any use of them during the challenge will have to be well justified.”
The Dive Bay was down on the 200th floor, and a long walk from the atrium to the public section. It was a sprawling facility, much larger than the Upper Docks Maia had visited with Hans. The waterfront stretched long and wide through the middle of it, and at least a hundred Aqumobs and other water vehicles were moored along piers in the bay. Aerika led the way to the side of the bay reserved for the university, where a series of Aqumobs that bore the logo, the name of the UAAS, and sported the university colors, were anchored.
Aerika came to a halt. “You will find your water gear stacked inside those rooms.” She pointed to the series of changing rooms on one side. “After you have changed, you will board the Aqumobs that have been assigned numbers as per your core. Please wait for my instructions once you are aboard the Aqumobs. You will be taken by autopilot to the starting point outside Zagran, and only then will you be given driving control, so please do not try any smart moves before that. Good luck, play fair, and do not forget that all your activities will be monitored.”
It did not take Maia long to dress in the diving gear with university stripes. After they were all given mouthpieces for breathing in water in case they needed to dive in, Maia and her friends climbed into their Aqumob. The vehicle was not very spacious—the large instrument deck faced the front window and the pilot and copilots seats were right next to it. There were desk benches along the side windows, in one of which Kusha and Nafi settled down next to Ren. Since Maia’s task was mostly to study than actively navigate, she took the bench on the other side near Dani, secured her sounding equipment and buckled her safety belt.
As soon as the system checks were completed for all the Aqumobs, the vehicles dove under the surface of the water one by one. They were sucked into one of the long chutes that led in and out of the city and spewed out at the southern base of Zagran. All twenty Aqumobs lined up side by side at the spout, ready to start the sprint toward the Karnilian Caves.
“Pilots ready?” Aerika’s voice came over the speaker.
“Yes,” Ren replied in a small but resolute voice.
An anxious silence fell for a moment before Aerika said, “Go.”
The Aqumobs shot forward like a bunch of arrows streaking through the dark waters. At the head of the line was Aqumob 7, the vehicle with Karhann and his team. Following them closely were three other Aqumobs. The craft that carried Maia and her friends was sixth, and Ren steadily controlled the speed to hold their position. Everyone was heading for the Fourth Trans-Zsitanian current, from which they jumped off into the Antiotic 270 one by one.
“Slow down,” Dani said as they hit the Antiotic 270.
“The entrance to the fissure is coming up on the right before the next left turn,” Kusha informed. “We’ve to make a straight descent into a vertical opening.”
Ren slowed down considerably. Almost all of the crafts had zoomed past them.
“Right ahead,” Kusha shouted.
The intimidating blackness of the North Zsitanian Fissure loomed like a nightmare in front of them as Ren turned the Aqumob sharply to face it. Maia he
ld her breath as they careened into the darkness. Then her vision narrowed . . . chunks of gray rained down on her, blocking her mind, making it difficult to think . . . or breathe.
“Maia.” Someone shook her vigorously by the shoulders. “You need to focus. Keep scanning the surroundings.”
Nafi stood gazing at her.
“What happened? Did I pass out?” Maia said in sudden embarrassment. All she could remember was the overwhelming darkness.
“You made weird noises and looked all funny.” Dani shot a quick look backward. “Are you all right?
The Aqumob was speeding along a narrow path that was studded with rocks and reefs jutting out from all directions. A small beam of light from the craft dimly lit the grotesque shapes and forms that fell behind as the Aqumob sped past. Ren was hunched over the controls, jumping from one knob to another at a frantic pace as Kusha barked the directions.
“You okay, Maia?” Ren shouted in between the crazy routine.
“I’m fine.” Maia felt mortified to have created a distraction at such a critical time. She dove back to her own controls at the sounding instrument panels.
“Chicane Three coming up,” Kusha announced.
No sooner than he said that, the Aqumob went into a zigzag course through the rocks, coming ever so close to the walls, yet managing to avoid it by a thread. Maia avoided looking at the window, and tried her best to ignore that knot at the pit of her stomach. The craft streaked through the dark, grainy waters, in a reckless and frenzied rush that went on and on. Three crazy chicanes later, the Aqumob fell into a relatively long wide stretch of the fissure.
“How’s our time, Nafi?” Ren asked.
“Doing well, very well,” Nafi replied.
“Last chicane, Ren,” Kusha yelled.
“On it.”
A wild pitch of the nose and a seemingly uncontrolled roll to the left later, the vehicle followed a straight path again.
“The corkscrew is up next,” Kusha hollered.
“Dani, can you take the corkscrew please?” Ren sounded exhausted after the long ride through the chicanes. Dani did not need to be asked again; they quickly exchanged positions. Immediately, Kusha and Nafi swapped places as if on cue. Maia could not help shaking her head at the silliness of it all but decided to hold her tongue.
“We are at the cavern,” Nafi said.
They had entered a giant underwater cavern. From its other end, the path took a nosedive downward, and Maia hoped it would emerge in the abyss. The uneasiness she had felt earlier threatened to make a comeback as the Aqumob turned, hovered for a moment, and then fell in a dizzying spiral into the corkscrew. Maia fought it steadily, pushing away the thoughts of the dark unknown as the craft made its way at an ever-increasing speed down the vortex. She diligently worked with the buttons on the panel in front of her. The readings looked fine so far. They were in regular water; the density and the warmth were normal for the depth. Maia continued to look out for the mouth of the fissure.
“The corkscrew ends right here,” Nafi shouted. “Turn left for the exit.”
The Aqumob swerved, almost tilted out of balance, and rushed headlong into an inclined gap on the wall. The jolt that came immediately afterward threw Maia backward into her seat and then sideways on to the floor as the safety belt gave way.
“Sorry,” Dani yelled as she fought to straighten the vehicle. “I must’ve grazed the walls.”
“It’s okay, I’m fine.” Maia got to her feet and tied herself back in. It did not feel like she was hurt anywhere. She focused on the panels once more. “The path looks clear so far—seems like it will widen up shortly.”
“There’s no sign of damage to the mob, except for maybe a dent on the right engine module,” Ren said as he scanned the body sensors of the Aqumob. “I don’t see anything serious yet.”
“Not too far to go now,” Nafi said softly, anxiety throbbing in her voice.
Right then Maia saw the rise in the thickness of the medium around them, and it rose sharply with every movement forward.
“Guys, there’s something ahead of us,” she shouted. “It’s thicker than regular water.”
“Yes, we have to speed up,” Dani said, noting the rapidly falling counters on the speed monitor. “Ren, engage the supplementary thrusters.”
“Are you sure, Dani?” Ren asked. “We don’t know the boost capabilities fully. What if we overshoot?”
“We have to take our chances. We can’t delay any more or we will be stuck in this mire,” Dani replied. “Engage them, now!”
It didn’t seem like they would make it. The fluid around them was thick and dark like black oil. It swirled and slowed the tiny mob down to almost a standstill. And then the thrusters suddenly kicked in and a jolt threw them backward and sideways. The vehicle careened through the murkiness.
Soon the density counters started falling again and Maia breathed in relief. They were going to make it after all. “We’re getting back to regular waters again,” she announced.
Ren disengaged the supplementary thrusters, and the craft slowly returned to its regular speed.
“The opening is coming up now, slow down,” Nafi shouted as the Aqumob shot through a crevasse and into a huge ravine that stretched endlessly above and below them.
“Yes!” Nafi shrieked. “We did it. We made it to the Zsitanian Abyss.”
32: Timiti
It was a relief to be out in the open again. Everyone laughed, including Dani, who had not smiled in weeks. Their craft descended steadily toward the distant lights of the Karnilian Caves.
The strange agitation Maia had felt within the fissure still persisted however. As a sudden chill sped down her spine, Maia grabbed the desk tightly, wondering what could have gone wrong again. The darkness outside was not in the least unpleasant compared to the suffocating passage she had managed to survive, yet there was something that made her ill at ease. A flash of memories sped through her mind. She remembered her first flight lesson in Miorie with Herc and Dada watching anxiously from the ground. A brief stillness followed, and then the rush of memories started coursing through her again, as if someone was flicking through the pages of her mind.
She groaned, clutched her head, and closed her eyes. A small murmur rose behind her. A shuffle and a cry was all she heard before she opened her eyes again. Then she screamed in terror. Rising like a living wall next to the Aqumob was a huge black-and-white presence—a whale, a Timiti, peered through the glass and looked straight at Maia. Its eyes were dark, thick, and fluid. The inky eyes bore into Maia’s as she sat transfixed, spellbound by some magic.
“Someone make her turn away,” Dani yelled.
Maia felt a scream make its way out from the pit of her stomach and grayness spilled over her eyes. A pair of arms grabbed her, pulling her down from her seat and to the floor.
“Look at me, Maia.” Kusha held her by the shoulders. “Keep looking at me.”
Darkness overwhelmed Maia’s senses. Arms wrapped around her, pulling her close. Sweat streamed down her forehead.
“Faster, Ren,” Dani shouted. “Get us past the turbine farm as fast as you can. Engage the thrusters if you have to.”
A kick of speed. A faint conversation. A loud whir.
Then, as the whirring grew fainter again, Maia’s mind cleared a little. She was sitting on the floor of the Aqumob, and Dani was holding her in a tight embrace. Kusha was kneeling on her other side, fear etched on his face. Ren and Nafi sat at the controls; they kept looking back anxiously every other moment.
“What happened?” Maia tried to sit up.
“It was a Timiti whale,” Dani said, her face darkening. “Probably the one you conjured in your Saska.”
“I thought they didn’t exist anymore,” Maia said.
“Clearly, they do,” Dani replied.
“Why was I so upset on seeing it?”
Dani paused for a moment before replying. Maia noticed the hesitation ripple through her face.
“Timiti whales
are the mutated remnants of regular whale breeds we had in the oceans a century ago. Of all the species that perished during the warming of the Northern Waters, the Timiti is the only one that is said to have survived. They are creatures of darkness. It is said they live deep in the burrows of the oceans, but they invariably appear when there is a disaster waiting to happen, as if they like to thrive on the misery and the pain,” she said. “I didn’t want to scare you when it showed up in your Saska that day. I hoped that it was a manifestation of something you might’ve read or heard. But seeing that it turned up here when no one else has seen a Timiti in ages makes me think that there is something wrong . . . somewhere.”
“So, it’s like a bad omen?” Maia asked.
“Something like that,” Dani replied.
That explained why Dani had avoided discussing the whale that day, Maia thought to herself.
“They have strong sensory powers also. There are stories of Timiti whales being used to spy on the enemy; they’ve been used to read people’s minds. I don’t know if any of that is true, but . . .”
Maia sat in silence as Dani’s words trailed off. It had felt as if someone was flipping through her memories. She wondered if the Timiti was indeed trying to read her mind.
But that doesn’t make any sense. Why would it?
Maia shook her head in confusion. “How did I conjure it? This is the first time I ever saw one.”
Dani shrugged. “I have no idea, but there has to be a link, and it can’t be a good one since its presence didn’t exactly have a pleasant effect on you.”
Maia nodded, yet she failed to understand what that connection could be. The whale reminded her vaguely of something she had experienced before, something she could not remember clearly.