Aqueous by Jade Shyback

Author:Jade Shyback
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781939096104
Publisher: Red Hen Press
Published: 2023-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

With the roboticists stationed at their observation dashboards, the divers were led to a hidden hatch. It opened to reveal a staircase that we descended to discover that tucked away, beneath Robotics, there was a discreet cozen dock. It was a windowless room with a ring of circular markings on the floor. The circles on the floor were either red or green, and they surrounded a central table. The contents on the table had been covered by a large sheet.

This restricted area, which appeared to be for cuvier use, was probably their strategy room. Risk aversion missions would be formulated here and not shared with Aqueous residents. Panic, stress, and fear were not ideal at the bottom of the sea, so the cuviers would ensure our safety and ignorance when it pertained to anything deemed frightening. If any bad things were occurring, we probably wouldn’t know.

“I’d like to welcome you to Sub-Command. You may position yourselves at your desired airlock, but not you, Etan. You will not move until I give you the signal,” warned Keel.

Etan, not understanding why he was told to stay put, nodded proudly in agreement.

“The League Trial has begun,” Keel announced.

There were no visible airlocks. The room was empty. It would be difficult to choose an ideal pod if I couldn’t find its access point. I looked at the ceiling. It was opaque. I approached the table, but I didn’t have the audacity to uncover the shielded objects. Maybe that was the test. We would fail by uncovering or not uncovering the hidden items. No one touched the sheet.

“Oh man!” shouted Kyro, nearly falling to the floor. The ground beneath him had shifted, creating a hole, a tunnel, to what must have been the interior of a cozen. “They’re beneath us! Under the rings!” he shouted.

We started running, everyone but Etan, to the nearest rings, unaware of the consequences of choosing one color over another. I jumped inside the boundary of a red ring and began to descend. Purity gingerly stepped inside a green ring and nearly lost her balance as it started moving downward.

As I sank lower I surveyed the room. Several of the trainees were sinking like myself, while others, like Kyro, stepped off their rings altogether. Creighton quickly moved from a red ring to a green one.

Descending airlocks were used for propulsion pods. They were different from the mini-pods we inhabited which were engineered and balanced to float unobstructed to the surface, during an evacuation. With propulsion, cozens dangled beneath Sub-Command, ready for deployment, and could be propelled in any direction a diver chose.

Once descended from view, my airlock stopped.

“ATTENTION. ATTENTION. Prepare for cockpit entry,” alerted the AI Assistant as the floor of the airlock gave way and I slid downward into the seat. “ATTENTION. ATTENTION. Fasten your safety restraint,” it continued as I fumbled for the harness. “ATTENTION. ATTENTION. Launching will commence in three, two, one.”

My cozen disengaged, and like a fledgling falling from its nest, began tumbling, powerless, to the bottom of the sea.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.