“By ‘we,’ you mean me and Sarbin.”
“Well, uh—”
“Just giving you a hard time, Matt. How close are we?”
“About fifteen meters.”
Sarbin said, “I’m going to move ahead of you, Carrie, to get into position to steady you.”
“Sounds great. Uh-oh, hang on!”
Varis’s body roiled again, and Carrie found herself crashing hard against Sarbin before she could dodge him. She rebounded off the Aquatile and found herself getting into the rhythm she’d discovered earlier—bounce off the vein wall, try to stay in the middle of the bloodstream, anticipate an upcoming curve…
I’m starting to get the hang of it, she thought. It could be worse—
Varis’s body jerked again, Carrie struck the vein wall—
And it gave way and she went tumbling head-over-heels and crash-landed against something smooth and rubbery. Whatever it is, at least it cushioned the blow, she thought. But blood spurted from the hole in the vein, covering her and whatever body part she was lying against.
Sarbin’s voice came over her datalink: “Carrie, are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” More low noises all around, and Carrie laid herself flat against the rubbery flesh beneath her. Last thing I want is to start bouncing around inside Varis. Then the Leviathan’s body grew still again. “I’m worried about the hole in this vein—it looks like Varis is losing a lot of blood.” She rolled to one side to get clear of the flow.
Matt broke in. “It looks like you landed against Varis’s bladder.”
“Oh, great,” Carrie said. “I’m going to forgo the obvious jokes. Sarbin, can you get to that hole in the vein?”
“I’m fighting against the current. It’s easier between pulses.”
Their surroundings rumbled again, but not nearly as strongly as before. “What the hell’s that?” Carrie asked.
Matt said, “Varis is eating. Mama-to-be gets hungry, especially after one of those seizures.”
Carrie tried to stand, but couldn’t get sure footing—the giant bladder gave at each step, leaving Carrie wobbling from side to side before falling back down. I wonder if Varis feels this unexpected urge to go, now, she thought. “I can’t reach back up toward the vein. Can’t stand up.”
Matt asked, “Can you follow the vein’s path? Is there some place where it’s closer to you?”
Carrie peered down the vein’s path. “It’s hard to see very far ahead of me. I don’t think so.”
“How about behind you?”
“Didn’t think of that. Didn’t want to consider backtracking, I suppose. Yeah, I see a place I can grab hold.”
Matt said, “You and Sarbin listen carefully. Sarbin, you’ve got to patch up the hole already in the vein. Carrie, while he’s doing that, you climb up onto that vein.”
“Onto it?”
“Look at the force of that blood flow—can you climb back into the vein against it?”
“Point taken again. So Sarbin fixes the already-existing hole in the vein—”
“And I create a new one for you to fall into rather than have to push against,” the Aquatile said.
“All right,” Carrie said, “I’m headed that way.” After another attempt to get to her feet, she gave up and crawled along the wobbly surface of the Leviathan’s bladder. Not the most dignified way of getting around, she thought. If I get killed in here, I sure hope Matt or Sarbin can get my body out.
Carrie concentrated hard enough on moving forward that she bumped her head against the bottom of the vein. Great. It’s huge, of course. Got to see if I can get myself up on it.
She moved to one side of the vein and tried to pull herself up with her hands, but her fingers couldn’t find purchase—its sides were too slippery, and she wasn’t tall enough to reach to the top.
Then the bladder beneath her gave way in different directions beneath her feet and she fell on her butt.
Damn, I hate this, Carrie thought. I don’t want people to have to place their hands over their mouths to hide their compulsive laughter as they explain how I died, trying to stand up on a Leviathan’s bladder, walking around like a drunk on a trampoline.
Trampoline? Damn. I need to catch on faster.
Carrie pushed herself up yet again, balanced carefully, then bent her knees and jumped straight up.
About ten centimeters at best. That’s all right, Carrie, she thought. Get the rhythm going. You can do this—it’s just like great sex. Another bounce, and another, and Carrie managed a bit more height each time.
At the third bounce, Matt’s voice came through her datalink: “Carrie, what are you doing over there?”
She grunted at the effort of another couple bounces. “Trying to jump high enough to get on top of this vein. What’s happening?”
“Varis is urinating up a storm—it’s like a yellow cloud behind her.”
Unexpected laughter burst from Carrie and she lost her rhythm and almost fell. So she did feel the urge. “I’m using her bladder as a trampoline—uh-oh.” The bladder was quickly growing flaccid, providing less bounce with each jump. Continuing the sex analogy, I guess. Well, now or never.
A final thrust with her legs, and she leaped toward the curved side of the vein, grasped its rubbery flesh as high up as she could, and scrambled up with her legs until she was lying on top of it.
Yeah, just like great sex, all right. Worn out now. If I were a man, I’d be ready for a nap. I have to keep going, though.
Sarbin said, “I’ve sealed the hole you fell through, Carrie.”
“Great. You see where I am now?”
“I do. Are you ready?”
“Ready as I’m going to—” A hole opened up right in front of Carrie and she fell into Varis’s bloodstream again. An immediate pulse started her on her previous path once more.
“Carrie, wait—I have to seal this hole.”
Carrie flipped around and fought to swim against the current. The Leviathan’s pulse shot her backwards that much more every ten seconds or so. She watched in amazement as Sarbin’s stubby arms and hands aimed a suture beam and sealed up the hole she’d fallen through. With that accomplished, the Aquatile deftly folded up the device and returned it to the pouch. “Ready?” he asked.
“Sure am,” Carrie said, and flipped around to proceed on their previous path. It was only when she relaxed to let the Leviathan’s steady pulse propel her through the bloodstream that she realized how out of breath she was, how much her leg muscles burned, how badly her ribs ached from one of the many blows she’d taken against the vein walls. She said, “Matt, please tell me we’re near the baby.”
“You are, actually. In fact, Sarbin needs to get in front of you to hold you in place.”
“Here I go,” the Aquatile said, and easily glided past Carrie to precede her in the Leviathan’s vein.
“Just a little farther, Sarbin,” Matt said. “I’m going to try to position you and Carrie at a spot where the vein presses right up against the womb.”
“Just tell us when,” Carrie said.
“Just a moment. Now, Sarbin—hold her right there.”
The Aquatile flipped around in an instant even as Carrie tried her best to paddle against the bloodstream. Once again she was impressed with how quickly such a large being could move. But when Sarbin pressed the tip of his snout against her back, his fluke flapping insistently to keep them both in place, she groaned with pain. “Can you turn your head a bit? You’re killing my kidneys.”