something off the pilot’s seat beneath his feet, and then pushed off again out of the open hatch, kicking furiously in an attempt to get away from her.
Annja did the only thing she could think of; she threw herself forward, thrusting the sword ahead of her at the same time.
The resistance of the water slowed her strike considerably. As a result she only managed to slash the edge of the blade across the man’s thigh instead of impaling him with it as she’d intended.
It might not have been what she’d planned, but it was enough.
The sudden pain across his leg made the otherdiver release his grip on the object he’d retrieved from the plane. It dropped away from him toward the bottom of the lake.
Having lost what he’d come for and facing an opponent armed with a weapon much more versatile than his own, the other diver apparently decided that discretion was the better part of valor and headed off into the gloom.
Annja’s dive watch was vibrating every few seconds now, the alarm telling her that she had less than five minutes to get to the surface. She could either chase after her assailant or recover whatever it was that he had dropped; she didn’t have time to do both.
She chose the latter.
Holding her sword in one hand and flicking her dive light back on with the other, she slipped over the side of the aircraft, hunting for whatever it was that the other diver had dropped.
She moved the light across the lake bottom, searching for any object that looked out of place. At first she didn’t see anything, but then she spotted a cloud of silt slowly dispersing a few feet away and she swam in that direction, hoping that it had been the falling object and not a fish that had disturbed the sediment.
Annja almost missed it, the leather of the satchel was the same dark color as the silt along the lake bottom, but fortunately the corroded buckle that held the front flap closed had enough shine left to reflect the beam from her dive light. She swam over, snatched it up, and then followed the guide wire all the wayback to her original dive point. She released her sword back into the otherwhere as she went.
Time, unfortunately, had run out.
As she rose slowly toward the surface, one hand sliding along the guide wire, she could feel the air she was sucking out of her tank becoming thinner and thinner. The tank was down to its last meager sips of oxygen; she estimated that she had less than a minute of air left.
Annja, however, had no intention of drowning at the bottom of an Alpine lake.
She sucked in as much air as she could, grasped the guide wire, and then hit the quick release on the buckle that held her weight belt around her waist. Even as that dropped away and began its descent to the lake floor, Annja was doing the same with her dive tank, shrugging out of the harness and letting that fall away behind her, as well.
The sudden difference in buoyancy allowed her to swim upward at a much faster pace.
Annja kept her hand on the guide wire, not wanting to reach the surface only to find an unbroken layer of ice trapping her beneath it, and fought to hold on to her breath.
She could feel herself starting to get lightheaded and she struggled to force the dizziness back, knowing she was a goner if she blacked out now. She kicked furiously upward, straining to go faster with every second, knowing that her life and Doug’s depended on her survival.
Above her, she could see the circle of light marking the dive hole.
Just a little farther…
Her head was pounding and her lungs were screaming at her to take in air, but she forced herself to ignore it all, focusing on the light above her to the exclusion of everything else.
Come on, come on, almost there…
She kicked with the last of her strength, her hands reaching upward for the light even as the dizziness she’d been trying to control finally swept over her, bringing with it a tide of darkness blacker than night.
She could feel her body going limp, could feel
Annja did the only thing she could think of; she threw herself forward, thrusting the sword ahead of her at the same time.
The resistance of the water slowed her strike considerably. As a result she only managed to slash the edge of the blade across the man’s thigh instead of impaling him with it as she’d intended.
It might not have been what she’d planned, but it was enough.
The sudden pain across his leg made the otherdiver release his grip on the object he’d retrieved from the plane. It dropped away from him toward the bottom of the lake.
Having lost what he’d come for and facing an opponent armed with a weapon much more versatile than his own, the other diver apparently decided that discretion was the better part of valor and headed off into the gloom.
Annja’s dive watch was vibrating every few seconds now, the alarm telling her that she had less than five minutes to get to the surface. She could either chase after her assailant or recover whatever it was that he had dropped; she didn’t have time to do both.
She chose the latter.
Holding her sword in one hand and flicking her dive light back on with the other, she slipped over the side of the aircraft, hunting for whatever it was that the other diver had dropped.
She moved the light across the lake bottom, searching for any object that looked out of place. At first she didn’t see anything, but then she spotted a cloud of silt slowly dispersing a few feet away and she swam in that direction, hoping that it had been the falling object and not a fish that had disturbed the sediment.
Annja almost missed it, the leather of the satchel was the same dark color as the silt along the lake bottom, but fortunately the corroded buckle that held the front flap closed had enough shine left to reflect the beam from her dive light. She swam over, snatched it up, and then followed the guide wire all the wayback to her original dive point. She released her sword back into the otherwhere as she went.
Time, unfortunately, had run out.
As she rose slowly toward the surface, one hand sliding along the guide wire, she could feel the air she was sucking out of her tank becoming thinner and thinner. The tank was down to its last meager sips of oxygen; she estimated that she had less than a minute of air left.
Annja, however, had no intention of drowning at the bottom of an Alpine lake.
She sucked in as much air as she could, grasped the guide wire, and then hit the quick release on the buckle that held her weight belt around her waist. Even as that dropped away and began its descent to the lake floor, Annja was doing the same with her dive tank, shrugging out of the harness and letting that fall away behind her, as well.
The sudden difference in buoyancy allowed her to swim upward at a much faster pace.
Annja kept her hand on the guide wire, not wanting to reach the surface only to find an unbroken layer of ice trapping her beneath it, and fought to hold on to her breath.
She could feel herself starting to get lightheaded and she struggled to force the dizziness back, knowing she was a goner if she blacked out now. She kicked furiously upward, straining to go faster with every second, knowing that her life and Doug’s depended on her survival.
Above her, she could see the circle of light marking the dive hole.
Just a little farther…
Her head was pounding and her lungs were screaming at her to take in air, but she forced herself to ignore it all, focusing on the light above her to the exclusion of everything else.
Come on, come on, almost there…
She kicked with the last of her strength, her hands reaching upward for the light even as the dizziness she’d been trying to control finally swept over her, bringing with it a tide of darkness blacker than night.
She could feel her body going limp, could feel
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