Oceanna Blue

Chapter Nine

It had all gone so very wrong for Sam. She raced up into the mess hall and took in her surroundings. Water was coming in from above. Wherever the mech was trying to break in, was near the top. Looking around, Sam could already see the water creeping in from the lower level. She only had minutes to do whatever it was she needed to. With a sigh, she hoped Blink was out of the way, before running up towards the storage room. She only had one real chance at this.

THUMP

With a snarl, she ran for the s-bend. Ducking around the corner, Sam stumbled as she hit the water. It was already knee deep and the sudden pressure tripped her up. But the volume of water was enough to stop her from hitting the floor. Getting up, she waded around the corner before stepping through an indoor waterfall. On the other side was thankfully clear, but water still ran down the floor. She ignored it as she ran for the storage room, which seemed intact. Stepping into the room, she found the generator, and immediately activated it.

THUMP

The walls vibrated and Sam heard the volume of moving water increase so much, her helmet dimmed the audio around her. Connecting the plasma welder to the generator, Sam opened the schematics for the device on her comms unit. Scanning through, she found the controls for the cooling unit. It took her only moments to cut them free and she dropped the useless metal at her feet. But that caused the generator to shut down out of safety.

THUMP

Sam grit her teeth as she located the safety override and using the plasma welder, cut that out as well. Pulling her shiv, Sam cut out the wires from both devices and started tacking them together. Then with the instructions from the comms unit, she hardwired the control unit to the generator and activated it. Immediately she got a warning and her comms unit tried to deactivate the generator.

THUMP

"Piece of shit!" Sam snarled.

The sound of tearing metal cut through the audio and Sam glanced over her shoulder. Water was lapping at the doorway and all she could see out the door was white mist.

"Come on!"

Tapping away at the comms unit, she tried desperately to get it to activate the generator. But every time it started, the comms unit got the signal that there was a problem and shut it back off again. Sam sighed and opened her messages. She looked at Henry's name and tapped the icon.

I'M HERE FOR YOU SAM. I'M SCARED TOO.

It was the last communication she'd received from a human. The last line that made her want to cry. The last thing she wanted to read. With a sigh. Sam tapped the comms device to the generator and made sure it began to activate. Before jamming the plasma welder into the comms device. It only took a moment and the last connection to humanity went dark.

THUMP

Sam grit her teeth, before looking at the generator. Water was slowly pushing up the side, so Sam disconnected the welder. There was no shutdown option now. The safety unit was gone, the control unit was hardwired and the comms unit was unable to send the shutdown signal.

The Yamato suddenly bounced. The sound of metal on stone filled Sam's helmet and the audio was again cut back. The room shifted violently and the contents of the storage were churned. Things fell off shelves, tools bounced off Sam's helmet and the generator pitched over, landing on her side.

"SHIT!" Sam snarled.

The only thing that made sense was the Yamato was sliding down the rest of the way to the very bottom of the valley. It wasn't all that far, but it wasn't all that smooth either. When the Yamato bottomed out, the lower end bounced up and everything inside the storage room tossed upwards. This time when gravity reasserted itself, Sam was completely buried. Debris covered her from every angle and all she could see was the power generator in front of her. With pressure on all sides, Sam didn't know her orientation. All she knew was that she was covered. She could start digging in any direction and only serve to make things worse, especially being underwater.

THUMP

"Oh, fuck you," Sam grumbled.

Wriggling, Sam managed to make a little space around her hands. Then by kicking, she made room for her legs, but that still didn't give her an obvious up. But a low rumble filled the water around her. Glancing around, she didn't see what was causing the noise straight away. So she activated her headlamp on wide. Then she saw it. Small bubbles on the generator. It was boiling the water around it and the bubbles moved off to Sam's left.

THUMP

Sam snarled as she kicked and thrashed. The weight of the machinery and tools in the room was a lot. But their buoyancy helped some. Now she knew what way was up, Sam concentrated in that direction. Twisting and shoving, she slowly righted herself. But by the time she was facing the same direction the bubbles were moving, the small trickle was now a rolling boil. Forcing her arms up, Sam started shoving. Combining that with kicking things under her feet, she slowly began to emerge. Just about everything inside the room had been dumped out over the floor and she had been buried at the back of the room in the deepest part.

THUMP-SCREEEEEEEE!

Sam froze at the new sound that echoed through the water. With a final few kicks, she got her legs free and kicked away from the stream of bubbles coming up beside her. She knew the generator was going to go critical. Being submerged would extend that timeframe, but she didn't know by how much. The water was chest deep leaving Sam to swim over to the doorway. Checking around the corner she didn't see anything other than rapidly rising water. Slipping out of the room, she saw the arm of the mech come around the corner at the far end.

"Oh shit," Sam muttered.

The mech dragged itself to the end of the corridor. It was too large to stand, but with its powerful arms, it had no issues dragging itself through the ship. So with nowhere else to go, Sam kicked hard for the lower levels. The moment she moved, the mech sensed her and tried to turn in her direction. But its bulk worked against it, wedging it in the sharp corner of the corridor. She moved as quickly as she could, as the mech forced its bulk around the corner. As Sam made it into the hall, the mech shoved off the far wall, sending a huge wave of water towards her.

Kicking hard, she caught the wave from behind and Sam tumbled forward, smacking her head on the ceiling in the process. The faceplate held up, and the helmet did its job, leaving Sam more annoyed than hurt.

"Fucker!" She snapped.

The water level was high enough with the downward angle of the corridor, Sam had to finally dive. Kicking below the surface, she made for the s-bend. The scrape of metal told her that the mech wasn't far behind. She just hoped that the s-bend would slow it down enough for her to escape. Grabbing hold of the corner, a massive impact hit her from behind and slammed her into the wall. She could feel water running up her leg and Sam knew her suit had been breached. Kicking off the wall, she snarled as a sharp pain lanced up her foot. She gasped through the pain, but yelped when a tremendous pressure slammed down on her bad foot.

Looking down, Sam was horrified seeing the mech had a hold of her again.

"Fuck you!" She snarled, kicking at the oversized pincer.

The mech didn't respond verbally. Instead it started squeezing her boot and Sam went cold feeling the pressure crushing her injured foot. Scrambling for an idea of how to escape, she missed the white form that rounded the corner behind her. But she couldn't help the scream when it blurred between her.

The moment her vision filled with white, a metallic crunch signalled the release of pressure around Sam's foot. Kicking away, Sam grit her teeth to ignore the pain as she desperately tried to escape. Thick soft bands wrapped around her middle and Sam cried out as water started rushing around her. She caught a brief glimpse of the inside of the mess hall, before the thing around her pulsed a single word she recognised.

"Friend."

Closing her eyes, Sam ignored the pain in her foot as Blink rushed out of the Yamato as quickly as it could. As she tumbled and tossed, she felt the water seep further into her suit. Not that it mattered, with everything left back on the Yamato. Bursting into the open ocean, Sam looked around at the surrounding reef. It glowed beautifully around her. She watched the blurring lights race past as Blink tried to distance them from the Yamato. Which was a good thing, as the valley lit up in bright, white light. For a brief moment, everything took on a surreal quality as all shadows were extinguished. It was like the sun came from everywhere at once. Followed by a massive impact that thudded through Sam's body.

Blink dropped her and Sam, stunned from the shockwave listed in the water as her friend seemed to struggle with it's own reaction to the blast. As she rolled in the water, Sam caught sight of the Yamato. The section of the ship that had survived was now open in the middle. The edges of the metal, even now, were cherry red and Sam could see debris floating in the current.

"My home," she sighed and let unconsciousness take her.

It was the feeling of drowning that snapped her awake just a short while later. Sam's head hurt terribly, but that was the least of her concerns. Shifting her orientation, the water inside her helmet drifted away from her mouth and sat under her chin. Pushing her legs down, Sam let out a choked sob. The small ebb of air from the canister told her she still had time, but time to do what? She didn't know.

Reaching out, she felt the floor around her. It was rough, uneven. It felt like the same stone that surrounded the Yamato. Activating her headlamp, the wide beam filled the space. It was an underwater cavern of some kind. Looking around, it was large, spacious with a tall ceiling. The current ebbed and flowed back and forth, providing a gentle rocking motion. It seemed to her that the cavern was a widened section of a tunnel. Behind her the tunnel seemed to lead away, while ahead, it went up, before lowering out of view.

With no other options, or a way to check how much air she had, Sam started swimming. She kept the pace low and made sure to keep the water in her suit from reaching her face as the air pressure slowly drove the water out. The ache in her foot made her grimace, but it only reminded her that for now, she was still alive. Swimming along, the slight bubble of the air coming into her suit fizzled to a stop and Sam sighed.

"Please don't let me die alone in a dark cave," she mumbled to herself.

With only a few minutes to live, Sam continued up towards the highest point in the cavern, Sam looked down the other side and froze. Before her was an assortment of debris from the Yamato. Even as she watched, a squid creature swam in with an armful of items. It haphazardly dumped them on the floor, before pausing. It's face swivelled to her and it flashed excitedly.

"Friend," was the only word she picked up before it shot off down the corridor.

But that wasn't what concerned her. It was a room-sized air canister. As quickly as she could, Sam dove. As she pitched down, water rushed into her helmet as the last air rushed out. Sam grit her teeth as she realised her mistake and kicked hard. Her eyes burned from the salt water, but she held them open anyway. The pain in her foot was nothing compared to her fear of drowning and she put in every effort to reach the bottle.

Sam didn't stop swimming until she impacted it. She had no idea if it were damaged, but it was her last option. Gripping the valve, Sam twisted hard. Immediately a jet of air blasted out and Sam spent a moment making sure it was right open. The jet of bubbles shot out several feet, before rising quickly to the top of the cavern.

Pitching upwards, Sam tried to swim. Getting to the top where the air would collect was her only chance. But she was weighed down and in pain. Reaching up, she unclipped her helmet and slipped it off, letting her hair float about. Then she opened the suit itself and slipped out. The diving weight carried it to the bottom, while Sam kicked for the roof. As her helmet drifted away, the light dimmed and shifted. But she could still see where the bubbles were moving.

On a regular day, the swim would have been easy. But her desperation to reach the canister had used up a lot of oxygen. Now, having to kick for the surface, she was using the little that was left. Her adrenalyn was up, that was fuel to move, but it burned more air. Kicking hard, her foot ached horribly with each movement. Her vision began to dim and Sam, without fully concentrating, accidentally let out some breath. The roof of the cavern got closer and closer with every moment, before the light from her helmet went out.

Without thinking, Sam cried out underwater. All the air in her lungs escaped as she thrashed frantically. Her hand smacked into something hard and she grabbed a hold. Without thinking, Sam yanked herself closer, bashing her head on something in the process. She ignored the sharp sting in her hairline as she thrust her face against the stone. The tickle of bubbles was on her nose. Forcing her face into the tallest crack she could find, she puckered her lips and sucked.

SUCCESS! A small breath of air, followed by a splash of water. Sam immediately coughed up the water, but held herself firm and tried again. Another small breath of air, but this time no water. She forced herself to count for two seconds before going for a third. With each breath of air she took, it got easier and easier. Her entire life was consumed by the idea of breathing. Bit by bit, minute by minute the level of air increased and the water receded from the roof. Soon Sam could open her eyes, but she could only see dark stone. It was pitted, jagged, and porous like basalt. A faint blue pulse from below told her that one of the creatures was nearby, but she wasn't going to put her face in the water to check which one.

Minutes later, when she could turn her head, the creature was gone. She was trapped within a small bubble less than a metre wide. The air was pooling into a natural indent in the ceiling that was just deep enough to allow her to float without hitting her head on the very top. The current still shifted from side to side, so she had to hold something to avoid hitting the walls. But she could breathe, and she was alive.

"Friend," a light flashed below her.

Unlike the others that moved in and out, this one came close. "Blink?" Sam asked.

The big creature came to the surface, "Friend," it flashed again.

Without thinking, Sam put her arms around the creature. It seemed to tense for a moment, before it wrapped her in its tentacles. She clung to Blink as it bobbed in the water, just high enough to let her breathe, and just low enough to keep itself comfortable. And without any shame for the fact she cried. She cried for her people. She cried for her planet. She cried for her soldiers, her friends, the war and now the loss of her home.

"I did it once, I can do it again," she declared.

"Help," Blink replied.

Sam just smiled as she felt the firm tentacles stroke across her skin. They were soothing, and she was so very tired.

***

The awkward thing went limp. Blink wasn't sure what to do. The awkward thing wasn't swimming anymore. It just clung limply and its breathing changed. The creature thought about it for a moment, before wondering if the awkward thing had a rest cycle. It wasn't like its own, where it shut down higher functions, but still remained aware. This looked more like death, but without the dying.

Blink worried about dropping the awkward thing into the water. It needed to breathe sky, but there was nowhere to rest. So maybe that's why it rested now. Looking around, Blink watched it's brethren bring things into the cave. They had been reluctant at first. Blink had explained to them about the monster, and they worried. But when it described the big flash and the monster going away, they became concerned about the awkward thing's home. They were unsure about the awkward thing breathing sky, but accepted Blink's explanation anyway. So with the help of several adults, they found and brought as much of the awkward thing's belongings as they could.

It was only sheer luck that one of the first things to come was the thing that leaked sky. Blink wasn't sure how it held so much, and worried about the sky pushing away all the water in the world if it was left on too long. But there were other things that had been found. Movement in the water told Blink the youngling had escaped its parent. The child was foolish, but innocent.

"The awkward thing is sleeping," Blink flashed.

"Awkward thing is friend," the youngling replied. "Awkward friend?"

Blink vibrated with amusement, "Awkward friend."

As the next adult came in and deposited a handful of items on the bottom, Blink spotted something.

"Youngling, please retrieve that item," Blink gestured with a tentacle. "Be careful not to get tangled. Parent will not be happy."

"Yes elder," the youngling replied, before darting through the water.

Blink turned its attention back to the awkward friend. It still felt conflicted about the amount of physical contact. And it wondered if the awkward friend had similar ideals about the difference between strangers, friends and mates. Though mating may be difficult. The awkward friend only had an egg chamber. It seemed to lack an ovipositor completely.

Truly an awkward thing.

Chapter Ten

Sam let out a slow breath, ignoring the bubbles, before biting the mouthpiece and taking another shot of air. Lowering the canister, she stuffed it into the pouch tied around her waist on a belt. The fish she was watching drifted ever closer in the current. She didn't have a lot of time, so she got ready with her spear. When the fish drifted into range, she darted out from the crevice she hid inside and snapped her arm straight. The fish writhed frantically for a few moments before falling limp, impaled on three of the metal prongs.

As quickly as she could, Sam stuffed the fish into a separate pouch on her waist, before clipping the base of the spear to the same belt, allowing it to swing below her with the pointed end facing away. That let her use both hands as she kicked off from the bottom. Sam took her time in the permanent twilight of Oceanna Blue. This close to the village it was relatively safe, and they routinely checked for biters. But it always paid to be cautious when in the open.

She hadn't strayed far. Only far enough to reach some nearby reefs where she could hunt for her own meals. And if she got lucky and caught more than one, she contributed back to the village. But it was her skills at cultivating the yellow fruit that cemented her place in their little society. They had no knowledge of farming and didn't understand how plants could grow. The first time Blink saw her cramming fruit into crevices around the village he'd questioned her about it. But now, months later as the new plants had emerged and began to grow, the rest of the squid just left her to it. All except Squirt, the young one who had decided she was its friend. Squirt had watched her with enthusiasm and asked lots of questions, not unlike a human child.

Now, after a crop of fruit came in, the pair of them worked together to plant new vines and tend to the existing ones. And in the years she'd been down in the depths, the space vines were now a small forest. The squid loved it. The thick vines kept away predators who refused to swim through it, but also attracted smaller fish into the area. '

Exhaling as she swam through the vines, Sam brought up the air canister and took another breath. She was well practiced at it by now and knew her limits.