Beta Planet: Rise (21 page)

Left turn ahead. Then right. Then right. Small jump.

Geon surfed like he had never surfed before. Everything just clicked. His turns were balanced and decisive, his acceleration was unwavering and strong, and he anticipated waves milliseconds before they hit him, jumping over them and slicing through them. As he approached the first small ramp, he crouched down and surged up it, jumping into the air and grabbing the middle of his board as he grabbed a BPS.
Not a big trick, but it will do.
In his earpiece Sabien’s voice came in again.

“Geon, you’re doing great! Keep it up, bro.”

Left turn ahead. Then left. Then bar-slide. Then left.

The students cheered louder and louder as Geon slowly began to close the gap between him and Eiso. The louder the cheers got, the more it seemed to throw Eiso off his focus and he even snapped his neck back once to see where Geon was.

Right turn. Small jump. Hard Right. Hard Left.

Geon could see ahead that Eiso had regained his composure and was now furiously shredding the waterways ahead.

I’m too far back. I’m just too far.

Geon took another small ramp, this time grabbing the front of his board and then the BPS and landed without losing balance. Pushing his feet down as hard as he could, He shot after Eiso, who was making the last turn before the large last ramp. Geon looked at his statistics in his Aurelens display and could see that even with the BPS, he was still three seconds behind.

“Sabien. He’s too far. He’s—”

“Geon, I know.”

At that moment, Geon knew what he had to do. He knew that Sabien knew as well.

“Sabien…”

“Geon. Go for it.”

As Geon came blasting out of the last right turn, his eyes fixed on the last large ramp in front of him, its jet black imposing skin glistening as the rain pelted down on it. Eiso was just crossing the finish line, and Geon knew there was only one way to try to beat the other team now.

This is it. Don’t be scared. Breathe Geon, breathe. You can do this.

He crouched down, gritting his teeth and waiting for the impact. The front of his board hit the ramp with a thump and went careening up it as his legs burned, trying to keep his body stabilized. Just as he was nearing the end of the ramp, he compressed his body and waited to release it. At just the last moment, he released himself into the air.

The world was a blur for the next few moments in time. Geon felt himself spinning, twirling, flying, and flipping. The dark water below and the dark sky above blended into one. He lost track of which way was up and which way was down. He felt himself twisting… falling…

twisting…

falling…

sky…

water…

water…

water…

can’t breathe…

help…

HELP!

Chapter 10

It wasn’t until Geon was completely submerged, engulfed in the dark, tumultuous liquid, that he even realized he had hit the water. He had become disoriented from the jump and was now thrashing underwater, trying to figure out which way the surface was. There was no sunlight to guide him and he couldn’t see the floor, and the now-inflated air-cast around his head impeded his vision even more. The currents and the weight of his board seemed to be pulling him downward, deeper into the dark abyss. He tried to fight the pull and thrashed upward, hoping the surface was there, but he couldn’t make any progress. Water entered into his nose, his mouth, and his lungs, and was burning inside him like it was on fire.

Relax, Geon. Relax. Don’t fight the currents.

He tried to calm down as his lungs began to ache from the pressure.

Need oxygen. Need to breathe. Feeling dizzy.

Losing all perspective and direction, Geon kicked his legs and stroked his arms in the water, trying desperately to push himself any which way he could.

Need to lose the board.

Geon closed his eyes and with his last ounce of energy, reached down with both arms and unclicked the board from his feet. As soon as it fell, he felt the weight and pressure greatly relieved and his sense of up and down now righted, but at this point, it was nearly too late. He had swallowed too much water and been under for too long. There was no energy left to swim. He felt his body falling deeper, weakened and tired, and in his chest his lungs felt like they were ready to explode. Above him, he could now see the silhouettes of other people diving in and swimming down toward him.

Please help. Anyone, please!

He reached his arms out as far as he could, hoping someone would grab it. His body twisted and fell and he was now looking down toward the bottom. Just as he began to lose consciousness, something at the bottom came into view.

Something reflective. What is it? Something at the bottom. It looks like, a structure, with a bubble… what is that? It looks like… can’t see… can’t breathe… so tired… it hurts…

The world faded to black. Not a sound to be heard. Not a thing to be seen.

The next few moments went by in a blur. One second, Geon was underwater, losing all consciousness, and a moment later he was laying on the ground above, loud voices around him shouting, and being pummeled in his chest by someone. The voices were muffled, mixed together. He couldn’t make out what they were saying and he couldn’t seem to open his eyes to see them. The world was fading in and out. He felt himself coughing, the scorching water leaving his lungs. The world faded out again, this time for nearly a day.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Head hurts. Throat hurts. Chest hurts. Feel dizzy. Stomach feels ill. So tired. Think I might throw up… I might… I mig—

Geon turned to his side and vomited into a small container on the side of his bed. It burned coming out of him and left the fishy, salty aftertaste of seawater in his mouth, but his stomach felt somewhat better.

So dizzy. Where am I?

“There you go, my boy. Dat’s much better. You get rid of all of dat poison from your belly okay?”

Geon recognized Mama V’s voice but he couldn’t see her. Everything was hazy, blurred. He turned to his side and vomited once more.

“This feels like déjà vu, doesn’t it? You laying there and all of us around you? Well, thank God for that medic’s spew-bag placement. Quite fortuitous wouldn’t you guys say?”

Geon recognized Sabien’s voice this time. He tried to lift his arms to rub his eyes but couldn’t muster the energy.

“Geon baby, don’t you move okay? Mama V is right here and we gonna take care of you. You just relax okay? Allea vat’s wrong vit him, he looks blue. Like a blueberry or something.”

Geon felt Mama V’s warm hand engulf his own.

“That’s normal, Mama V. He’s experiencing some post liquid-asphyxia symptoms. It will pass after some time.”

“I like blue!” Kumuki squeaked.

Geon’s mouth felt dry and sticky as he tried to respond to them.

“Where… what… where… am… you?”

“Where
am
you? Uh oh, guys, we might be looking at some partial brain damage here.”

“Sabien, shut up. Geon, it’s me, Allea. Here, can you feel me?”

She put her small hand on Geon’s chest and he nodded gently.

“Don’t worry, Geon, your vision will be back shortly. You’re just experiencing some trauma. You almost drowned, G. But don’t worry okay? You’re safe now at the clinic. Just relax… take it slow.”

Geon was relieved, but frightened at the same time.

I could have lost everything again. And for what? A stupid game.

He was enraged at himself for pushing too hard.

“I’m sorry guys. I shouldn’t ha—”

“Geon don’t say that,” Allea said her voice quivering and her eyes welling up with tears. “This isn’t your fault. The coaches should have cancelled the race. It was too dangerous out there. The water was so rough and the visibility was horrible. I’m going to talk to Headmaster Ulie about this tomorrow and make sure it never happens again!”

“Allea, take it easy,” Sabien interjected. “Let’s not do anything rash right now. G, don’t blame yourself. You were amazing out there today. I’m really proud of you.”

Sabien’s face slowly came into view, though still distorted. Geon could see that he was in a small raised bed, with curved bars on the side that looked like ribs and a clear dome over the top of him that displayed his vitals and other information. He turned his head and saw Mama V and Allea looking at him, their faces concerned, but relieved.

“Kumuki. Where’s Kuk—”

“He’s right here, Geon,” Allea said as she motioned behind her. “He was really worried about you.”

Kumuki stepped forward and Geon could see that he had a terrified look on his face and his eyes were glistening.

“Hey, Geon. I’m… I’m so glad you are okay.”

“Thanks, Kumuki. Thanks,” Geon said with a half-smile as he slowly reached out his hand for a shaky back-five.

“You haven’t heard all of the story yet, G. Kumuki here jumped in the water and risked himself to save you. He nearly drowned, himself! But it was really courageous of him. Kuki, that was really brave of you,” Sabien said as he patted Kumuki on the shoulder. “Next time, though, when you think about jumping in the water…
don’t
. I can’t save
everyone
at once you know! But still, it was brave.”

“It really was,” Allea added as tears slowly came down her cheek. “But it was foolish. Kumuki, why did you jump in there? You knew Sabien and the other riders were trying to pull Geon up!”

Kumuki looked at Allea and shrugged bashfully and said softly, “I dunno. It’s Geon. He’s my brother.”

Geon felt a deep sense of gratitude. He knew Kumuki couldn’t swim very well and yet he risked his own life to save his. This was the first time Geon had a true sense of connection with Kumuki, and the first time he realized that every member of his family would do anything for him.

“Kumuki,” Geon softly said, his voice cracking. “Thank you. I owe you, brother.”

Kumuki smiled and nodded his head a few times.

“Well, G. I guess you owe
me
another one too,” Sabien said more loudly now a smile appearing on his face. “How many does that make it now, like, ten? Well no matter, who’s counting anyway?”

“It sounds like you are, Sabe,” Allea said quietly shaking her head from side to side.

Geon looked at Sabien and thanked him for saving his life.

“Well it wasn’t just me, G,” Sabien modestly admitted. “A few of the riders helped in grabbing you and pulling you out. It was quite a scene.”

Geon nodded and his eyes widened as he spoke again, “Did we…
win
?”

“Not even close!” Sabien exclaimed. “You made a pretty great leap there at the end, but over twisted, under-spun, miscalculated, and pretty much just lost complete control of your entire body in the air. You hit the water hard as a rock! It was one of the worst jump attempts I’ve ever seen. And waaaayyyyyyy short of the finish line!”

“Yup! Wayyyyyy short!”

Kumuki stretched out both his arms to show Geon how far off he was.

Geon felt humiliated and ashamed but the others didn’t seem to care, all of them grinning from ear to ear as Sabien explained how Geon’s body contorted in the air, how loud it was when he hit the water, how the spectators all gasped in horror, and what the expression on Coach Aquila’s face was like.

“Mercor made Mako. That’s first in individual performance for our team. I made Porpoise… second of course. And Savon made Otter. Unfortunately since you didn’t finish, you made Flounder… disqualified. But don’t worry about it, G. We’re still so proud of you. Oh and Shiv made Urchin. That’s basically the worst personal award you can get. It means he had a seriously dishonorable performance.”

“Why did Shiv do that?” Allea asked. “Ride so slowly through the track?”

“I’ll tell you why,” Sabien said. “He could see how rough the water was and wanted to put pressure on Geon to try to make up for it. He knew there was a chance G would get hurt if he pushed too hard.”

“Guys, I’m sorr—”

“G, don’t even worry about it. Forget Shiv. It’s just a race, and there will be many more. We’re just glad to have you back. And to be honest, this
was
one of the most memorable races of
all
time! I mean, I bet you the students are all talking about it right now. Actually that reminds me, Allea, can you send a message to the school and students and let them know he’s okay?”

“Already done, Sabe. Bonsi and the twins are on their way right now.”

“Hold on a minute. First off, Mama V don’t know if she gonna let my baby Geon race again on dat crazy board. I have to think about it for some time. And another thing. Dis is not a disco okay? You not having all people from the school coming here and bothering my Geon! He needs to rest and heal. You tell your friends to come back when he is much better okay?”

“Okay, Mama V,” Sabien said with a frown. “But it may interest you to know that one of these students is a girl. A very pretty girl. A very pretty girl that Geon may-or-may-not-have-a-slight-link-with. A very pretty girl that Geon may-or-may-not-have-a-slight-link-with-who-might-also-make-Geon -feel-good-so-that-he-can-heal-fast—”

“Okay, ENOUGH, Sabien! Mama V gonna allow it dis time but if it gets out of hand Mama V gonna put her foot down and then you know vat happens okay?”