Flower of Memory: An Amaranth Prequel by David M. Snow

Author:David M. Snow [Snow, David M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781990368035
Publisher: Flame Arrow Publishing
Published: 2022-06-21T23:00:00+00:00

9

The thermal shock is brutal.

With no landmarks to find his bearings, Skyler flaps his arms in a fierce struggle against the water cage that keeps him trapped. Panic overtakes him as there are no lights pointing to the surface. He groans at the strong pressure in his nose, then he feels a trail of bubbles coming out of his mouth. He places his hand near his lips to feel where the bubbles are rising. He shifts in the same direction. As the pressure in his nose decreases, he pushes with his legs to propel himself up to the surface.

He spits out brackish water and gasps for air, all the while trying to silence the panic threatening to take over his body—the fall, the darkness, the abyss, a story repeating itself.

No. He is alive, even if he is clueless about his whereabouts. The cold water stirs around him in a choir of splashes that sings his return to life. But for how long?

Did he fall into one of the Paragon’s loading bays? The relic hunter pools are on the opposite side of bay seventy-seven, the only likely place to hold a significant amount of water on board. There could be a breach in the ship’s hull, but Command would have warned the Archeans, wouldn’t they?

Emily’s familiar cry comes right before a splash of water that catches him by surprise. He swallows water and wheezes through a coughing fit as he pictures himself sinking to the bottom of the water, drowning. Luckily, his coughing fades into a lasting echo. The room must be rather large by the sound of it. He focuses, hoping to pinpoint Emily’s location.

Silence.

After a minute, Skyler can’t wait any longer and swims over to the earlier splash’s general direction. What if she is stuck at the bottom? Even if he dove, it would be useless! He hits the water hard to guide Emily as to where the surface is.

There is a gasp further away. She is alive!

This world of darkness clutches his throat while he shouts her name as if his life depends on it. Water finds a way into his mouth again, but this time he spits it out immediately.

“We’re screwed,” Emily says in a choked voice. “How are we going to get back up in this darkness?”

“You shouldn’t have followed me. It’s all my fault.”

“I jumped in willingly, Sky! Larson White is the problem. We wouldn’t be in this mess if he hadn’t teamed up with a bunch of drug dealers to supposedly help out starving illegals with his dangerous magic powder.”

“Still, it’s my fault. I should have made for the warehouse entrance.”

Emily sighs loudly.

“Excuses will get us nowhere. The Paragon won’t come to our rescue this time, and Mara, well she’s too busy winning over that agent through a tangle of lies.”

Something raspy rubs against Skyler’s leg, and his heart stops.

“Emily, was that you?”

No response. That raspy sensation, again, but sharper this time, as if someone was having fun scratching his leg with long, sharp nails.

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