One
So this is what dying feels like.
Anji Suun Pearce fought against the weights dragging her deeper into the water. Without the use of her hands, she knew it was a battle she wouldn’t win, but she refused to give up.
She took precious seconds to push each shoe off, then started kicking. She wasn’t making much progress, but at least she wasn’t sinking into the bottomless, watery depths. The next problem she had was the pressure on her lungs—and that little luxury she liked to call breathing. She’d need to do it soon, whether she was free of the water or not.
With renewed determination she kicked harder, her legs starting to cramp from the effort. She was going to die down here, without ever seeing Kiele again, touching him, knowing if he was all right—
No!
Her lungs wanted air, begged for air, and the pressure in her head from lack of oxygen left her dizzy. It was getting harder to focus, or remember why she fought so hard. The water was so cool on her skin, and she could simply float, rest for a minute, then—
God—focus, Anji.
She forced herself out of the growing stupor, though it became harder with each second she couldn’t breathe. Any time now, her lungs were going to mutiny, and suck in a big mouthful of water. Then Kiele would have no chance at all.
Movement froze her. Were there fish down here? Big enough to see her as lunch? That was all she needed. Stopping had her sinking again, even faster than before. She tried to kick, to get away from the fast approaching threat, and to keep from dropping even farther.
She screamed when the threat smacked into her, and did what she’d been fighting—she let the water in.
***
Kiele Suun gave up trying to free himself, but not before his wrists were bloody, his sensitive inner wrists throbbing from the abuse. He clutched the icy cement floor, forced himself to take slow, even breaths.
His right set of gills were already drying out, rippling from the need to be immersed. The blood still leaking from his left gills would keep them moist, but eventually the blood loss would cause him to black out, or smother his gills. Either would give the result his captors waited for. His death.
Worse, his failure walked Anji straight into her own death. The ache he tried to drown under his desperate escape attempt burst free, threatening to take him under. The one woman he had searched for his entire adult life, the one woman who called to his heart, was gone. If not for his need to stop the labs, and the faction behind them, he would allow himself to die here.
He ignored the building fire in his back and pushed himself up, ready for another go at the shackles. Better to fight, for Anji’s memory, for his people, than accept his fate.
Two
Anji coughed, and sucked in—air.
She was still in the water; she could feel its cold grip, still trying to drag her into the unseen depths. But strong fingers gripped her arm. Warm fingers. She pried her lids open, and stared into the last face she ever expected to see.
Melissa, the woman who had stumbled out of the alley in the city center, held Anji, pressing some kind of breather against her face. She tapped it, then hers, and Anji jerked when her voice echoed in the water-free void.
“It’s a portable breathing unit. The T’An designed it for humans, so they could swim down to the underwater city.” Melissa pointed below them. She looked down, and saw lights flickering through the dark water. “For all their space exploration, most of them still prefer the safety of being near the source. I got that damned weight belt off you, but I wanted to make sure you were breathing okay before I untied your hands.”
“Okay,” Anji whispered. Her voice sounded awful, her throat raw.
“You sucked in some water. The breather cleared it out, but you coughed up a good bit from your lungs. I’m sorry I startled you like that. There wasn’t a lot of time to play polite.” She moved around Anji as she
So this is what dying feels like.
Anji Suun Pearce fought against the weights dragging her deeper into the water. Without the use of her hands, she knew it was a battle she wouldn’t win, but she refused to give up.
She took precious seconds to push each shoe off, then started kicking. She wasn’t making much progress, but at least she wasn’t sinking into the bottomless, watery depths. The next problem she had was the pressure on her lungs—and that little luxury she liked to call breathing. She’d need to do it soon, whether she was free of the water or not.
With renewed determination she kicked harder, her legs starting to cramp from the effort. She was going to die down here, without ever seeing Kiele again, touching him, knowing if he was all right—
No!
Her lungs wanted air, begged for air, and the pressure in her head from lack of oxygen left her dizzy. It was getting harder to focus, or remember why she fought so hard. The water was so cool on her skin, and she could simply float, rest for a minute, then—
God—focus, Anji.
She forced herself out of the growing stupor, though it became harder with each second she couldn’t breathe. Any time now, her lungs were going to mutiny, and suck in a big mouthful of water. Then Kiele would have no chance at all.
Movement froze her. Were there fish down here? Big enough to see her as lunch? That was all she needed. Stopping had her sinking again, even faster than before. She tried to kick, to get away from the fast approaching threat, and to keep from dropping even farther.
She screamed when the threat smacked into her, and did what she’d been fighting—she let the water in.
***
Kiele Suun gave up trying to free himself, but not before his wrists were bloody, his sensitive inner wrists throbbing from the abuse. He clutched the icy cement floor, forced himself to take slow, even breaths.
His right set of gills were already drying out, rippling from the need to be immersed. The blood still leaking from his left gills would keep them moist, but eventually the blood loss would cause him to black out, or smother his gills. Either would give the result his captors waited for. His death.
Worse, his failure walked Anji straight into her own death. The ache he tried to drown under his desperate escape attempt burst free, threatening to take him under. The one woman he had searched for his entire adult life, the one woman who called to his heart, was gone. If not for his need to stop the labs, and the faction behind them, he would allow himself to die here.
He ignored the building fire in his back and pushed himself up, ready for another go at the shackles. Better to fight, for Anji’s memory, for his people, than accept his fate.
Two
Anji coughed, and sucked in—air.
She was still in the water; she could feel its cold grip, still trying to drag her into the unseen depths. But strong fingers gripped her arm. Warm fingers. She pried her lids open, and stared into the last face she ever expected to see.
Melissa, the woman who had stumbled out of the alley in the city center, held Anji, pressing some kind of breather against her face. She tapped it, then hers, and Anji jerked when her voice echoed in the water-free void.
“It’s a portable breathing unit. The T’An designed it for humans, so they could swim down to the underwater city.” Melissa pointed below them. She looked down, and saw lights flickering through the dark water. “For all their space exploration, most of them still prefer the safety of being near the source. I got that damned weight belt off you, but I wanted to make sure you were breathing okay before I untied your hands.”
“Okay,” Anji whispered. Her voice sounded awful, her throat raw.
“You sucked in some water. The breather cleared it out, but you coughed up a good bit from your lungs. I’m sorry I startled you like that. There wasn’t a lot of time to play polite.” She moved around Anji as she
Similar Books
