“I’m not!” Bobbie Ray wailed, trying to shake the water from the fur on his hands. He was shivering and wet through.
“Get up to the top,” Titus ordered. “I’ll have you beamed out of here in no time.”
The other two cadets reluctantly retreated as he flung gear from his pouch–water flask, extra rope–leaving only the necessities, with just enough room to spare so he could wedge his jet‑boots in.
Standing hip‑deep in the hole, wincing from the biting cold water, he glanced back up at the cadets. “Hang tight!”
They didn’t look reassured.
Taking a deep breath, he ducked under the water. Immediately he knew it wouldn’t work. The surge of water welling up carried him back to the surface.
As he broke into the air again, he was saying, “All right! It’s all right! I’ve got an idea.”
He quickly removed the jet‑boots and strapped them on. Water was nearing his waist now. He didn’t care if it killed him, he wasn’t going to give up this time.
Diving down headfirst, he got around the jag in the fissure and then turned on the boots. The jets churned the water and almost drove him into the rock wall, but he eased off the power and used his hands to guide him down to the tunnel. Underwater, even with the handlight, he could hardly see, so he groped his way down, feeling the scrape of rocks against his coveralls as the boots propelled him through the water.
He knew he had reached the tunnel by the strong surge of the current pushing him in the direction he wanted to go. But he was running out of oxygen. His jaw clenched as he gunned the boots, squinting his eyes against the pressure of the water as he shot through the murky light cast by the glow of the jets.
Everything was getting dark and hazy, and his chest seemed ready to burst. Titus wasn’t sure he was going to make it to the vertical shaft.
* * *
Jayme felt sorry for Bobbie Ray, huddled next to her at the top of the talus slope. “Maybe it won’t reach this far,” she offered.
Bobbie Ray was wiping at his fur with the fleshy palm of one hand, smoothing and smashing it, pressing all the water out. Then he would twitch and shake, making the damp hair stand out again. Then he would pick another patch and begin the whole process over again. It seemed like more a nervous reaction than an effort to dry himself.
“Do you think he drowned yet?” Bobbie Ray asked, unable to meet her eyes.
“Umm,” she murmured, “by now, he either drowned or got out alive.”
“Are you going to try it?” Bobbie Ray asked.
Jayme wasn’t aware that her calculating glances at the hole had been that obvious. “I’ll try it before I drown in here.”
Bobbie Ray went back to stroking his fur, concentrating on every swipe.
“I’ll help you,” she assured him.
“That won’t do any good. I could barely pass the Starfleet swimming requirements. And you don’t know how hard that was for me.”
Jayme silently patted his knee. She wasn’t sure she could make it, but every bit of her mind and body was focused on that hole, ready to dive through the water and turn on her jet‑boots just as Titus had done. Even if it killed her. Because that was better than sitting here until the water rose up around her chin.
“I just wish I knew if he made it,” she murmured.
“Wait a few more minutes. Maybe he’s at a public transporter terminal right now. There was one right outside the access port.”
They both stared at the hole.
* * *
The shaft was full of water, too. Titus desperately revved the boots, aiming straight up, his hand clenched on the control so tightly that even if he drowned he knew he would surface.
When he thought he was passing out, he broke into air. A shower of water rose with him, and his surge in speed left him gasping and laughing and, when he finally could, crying out in relief. Arrowing up, he raised both arms, trying to pick up more speed, thinking about Jayme and Bobbie Ray back in that death trap.
He was going so fast that the opening approached before realized it. Braking, he hit the ceiling and bounced down, managing to twist in midair so he would land on the floor of the access entrance.
Still panting and gasping, almost hysterical with his near miss, he rolled over in the dirt, trying to wipe away the muddy dust that settled on his face and eyes. When he could finally see, Starsa, Moll Enor, and Nev Reoh were several meters away, standing in the access room and staring at him.
“What happened to you?” Moll Enor demanded.
“What are you doing here?” Titus said at the same time.
Starsa raised one hand slightly, blinking in amazement at his dramatic appearance. “I listened outside your door the other night, and I heard you planning to come down to the caves without me–”
“You what!” Titus interrupted.
“I followed you,” Starsa admitted, “but then the hole started filling with water, and you didn’t come out.”
“We beamed over when she called us because we were afraid you were in trouble,” Moll Enor added.
“Jayme and Bobbie Ray!” Titus forgot about Starsa’s gross invasion of privacy–just one of many. “They’re trapped in a cavern. We’ve got to beam them out fast–”
“I already tried that!” Starsa interrupted. “You went below the network of seismic regulators. The active energy field is interfering with the sensor locks on the transporter.”
“That’s why we brought the sonic cutter,” Reoh agreed as Titus clutched at his hair.
“Where?” Titus demanded. He grabbed the cylindrical unit, practically ripping it from Reoh’s back. Leaving the others to follow as best they could, he turned his jet‑boots on and jumped into the shaft, hardly breaking his fall toward the rising water.
Jayme and Bobbie Ray were treading water, barely six feet over the original opening into the cave. “It’s easy,” Jayme told him. “Just dive and when your boots are pointed up, hit the jets.”
Bobbie Ray nodded glumly, more concerned with keeping his chin out of the water than judging the angle of the hole. Jayme reached up, but she couldn’t touch the low‑hanging ceiling.
“We’re running out of time. You have to try it,” she told him.
The Rex took a few deep breaths, then a few more, hyperventilating to get enough oxygen in his system. With a thumbs up, he splashed awkwardly under the water. Jayme peered through the brackish water, ready to cheer as he dove through the hole. But even before his hindquarters went through, he was pushing back out and paddling frantically up for air.
He grabbed onto her, almost pulling her under as he sprayed her with water. “Let go!” she shouted, trying to pry his fingers off her. She gulped air just before going under. Then her instincts kicked in and she was more concerned with getting away from him than helping.
“I’m sorry!” was the first thing she heard. “I’m sorry!”
Jayme tried to catch her breath, treading water out of his tremendous reach. She knew Titus had brought then down here because he wanted to get one over on Bobbie Ray. She had agreed to come along became, secretly, she also wanted to see the dashing know‑it‑all brought down a few notches. It seemed like all the girls in the Academy–except for her and Starsa–thought Bobbie Ray was the hottest thing in a uniform. She couldn’t get over the fact that all her friends were drooling over that smug, self‑satisfied grin. Now his whiskers hung almost straight down, dragged by the water at his chin. If only Titus could see him now.
But they hadn’t counted on this.
The water was rising. She could almost touch the ceiling. But she couldn’t desert Bobbie Ray. “Now what do I do?” she moaned.