He heard shouts from behind him. Then a shot. Then another shot.
He tried to get a look before he was dragged below. He managed to see Mano hitting the deck. He could also see Kaja, blood pouring from a wound in his shoulder. Then he was hustled so quickly down a set of metal stairs that he could barely keep his balance.
He passed several dozen Real People, none of them armed; they jumped out of the way of The Rediscovered Dawn commandos. Several of them averted their faces, as if they were afraid to be noticed.
They went down two more flights of stairs until Kavika was certain they had to be below the water level, then they turned and crossed from the barge to one of the skyscraper boats. Cold radiated from the connecting metal hall.
The demarcation between the two ships was stark. Where the barge was darkness and shadows, the new ship was all light and chrome. Kavika felt the thrum of generators beneath his feet; they’d need a lot of power to keep all the lights going. They went down one more set of stairs before they came to a door. The commandos beat against it. After a moment, it was opened by a young Real Person.
“Commander Chiroc wants this one held for later.”
The Real Person made a face. “Just a Pali Boy.” He shook his head and turned away. “I guess the frog has never seen one before.”
Kavika was ushered into a room that opened into a long hallway with barred doors on either side—a jail.
“Never mind what he wants him for. Just make sure nothing happens to him.”
They threw him into the first room, and he fell to his knees. The overhead light revealed a thin mattress on the floor and a bucket. He heard the cell door slam and lock behind him. He turned and sat, drawing his knees up and wrapping his arms around them. He felt the cold of the ocean. He felt the cold of his friend’s deaths.
So much for his plan.
K
AVIKA REALIZED THAT
he’d been hearing an irregular tapping noise just below the threshold of hearing. He didn’t know how long it had been going on, but now that he concentrated on it, he heard it clearly.
He stood and searched his cell. There was a mattress and pail, and nothing else. The back wall felt colder than the others, though; the ocean had to be on the other side. The cold seeped into his bones. He figured he was down about fifty feet.
He heard the tapping again, louder this time. No, he corrected himself, it wasn’t louder, he was closer to the source of the sound. He pressed his ear to the wall and it was louder still.
Then he jerked his head back.
The sound was coming from outside.
It took a moment, but he realized that it could only be the Water Dogs. No-one else had access to the water like they did. Although the commandos were armed for war, he doubted if they’d brought any diving gear. But he reminded himself anything was possible.
He reached out and tapped in turn. Five taps, then four, then three, then two, then one.
The sequence was repeated back to him.
He repeated it back again, then counted to five.
Someone did the same.
“Hey!” Yelled the jailer. “Keep it down in there. No tapping.”
Kavika tapped three more times, then stopped. The tapping was all fine, but where would it get him? It wasn’t like whoever was on the other side would be able to free him. He started thinking about what had transpired. The deaths of his friends served to demonstrate how serious things were, but the biggest let-down was that Ivanov had turned traitor.
The temperature in the cell was rising, sharply. Sweat beaded on his brow. He could swear that the metal wall had taken on an orange tinge. Orange and now... red. And it was even hotter. Suddenly a rope of flame leaped at him, followed by a stream of sizzling sea water.
Kavika leaped to his feet and backed away. He almost called for help, but stopped himself. The Water Dogs had brought along a cutting torch. They’d somehow tracked him below decks.
Fear and elation coursed through him. He was going to be rescued—if he didn’t drown first. He stepped to the side of the arc of light that ate angrily through the metal hull, well aware that when it went, he’d be in the path of a blast of water.
Kavika jumped when jailer came to the cell door.
“What the hell is that noise?” he asked. Then he saw the red-hued wall. “What is that? What have you done to my cell?” The man opened the door, locked it behind him and pocketed the key, then strode towards the wall.
“I don’t know how you did this,” he began, placing his hands over the red wall and the gushing water, “But—
aiieee!
” His flesh sizzled and burned. He leaped backwards, staring in shock at his blistering hands. Then the wall collapsed inward, sending a disc of metal squarely into his face.
The gushing water was almost impossible to navigate and the cell was filling quickly.
“Help!” came a cracked voice from down the hall.
Was that... “Lopez-Larou?”
“Help me—Kavika? Is that you?”
The jailer was wedged against the cell door. Kavika was already knee deep in water. He dove for the man’s pants, latched his fingers around the key and jerked it free, then fumbled with the lock for a moment before opening it.
The water swept them both into the hall.
“Lopez-Larou!”
“Over here.”
He had trouble pinpointing the direction. He tripped and flopped down the hall, the water surging past him. He screamed her name again, but there was no response. He peered into the cells; all were empty except the last one, where she was standing against the back wall. When he got inside, he saw she’d been badly beaten. Her lip was torn at one corner and her nose was a bloody pulp. “Come on. I’ll get you out of here.”
He turned and they fought their way back up the hall. Now the water was knee deep throughout the jail area and rising fast. By the time they got back into his own cell, it was up to his waist. But he was in no hurry. They would have to wait until the entire room filled before they could swim out.
Lopez-Larou opened her eyes and managed a weak smile. “I was hoping you’d save me.”
I was hoping I would too
, he thought to himself.
He took a deep breath, and before he could tell her to do the same, the water was over their heads.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
K
AVIKA PUSHED
L
OPEZ-
L
AROU
through the gap in the hull first, then followed after her. As soon as they were outside, strong hands grabbed them, and the Water Dogs propelled them forward at great speed using their powerful flippers.
Kavika could feel the pressure building in his lungs. A light grew, ahead of them in the water, until in a hollow rush, he was brought into a diving bell. Two Water Dogs joined him, one holding a Cousteau tube, the other lugging Lopez-Larou.
The distance between the surface of the water and the top of the bell was about five feet. A hose stretched from the top of the bell to the surface somewhere, allowing those inside the chance to catch a breath and depressurize if necessary.
“Get her,” he said, his voice echoing in the metal bell as he realized that Lopez-Larou wasn’t breathing.
The Water Dogs worked as a team. One supported Lopez-Larou above the water line while the other compressed her chest and pumped air into her lungs.
But there was no response to their efforts. He saw them glancing at him out of the corners of their eyes.
“Don’t stop!” he urged. “Keep trying.”
They did as he asked, but it was clear that the more they administered to her, the less chance they thought she had of survival. Maybe she’d been too badly beaten. Maybe she had something broken on the inside. Maybe it had all been too much for her.
They tried to stop again, but Kavika was maniacal about saving her. The inside of the diving bell rang as he screamed at them to resuscitate her.
Then finally she coughed. They turned her head so she could expel the sea water. She brought up gouts of phlegm-laced ocean.
Kavika blazed with relief as he pulled himself over to her. He took her from them and cradled her head against his shoulder.
“Hey... hey, there. Everything’s going to be all right now.”
Her coughing slowed. Tears bubbled from the corners of her eyes. Finally she said, “They hurt me, Kavika. They hurt me bad.” She pulled her shirt down, revealing nine tiny wounds that Kavika knew well.
Rage shot through him. Rage at the pain they’d caused Lopez-Larou. Rage at the murders of his Pali Boys. And rage at the traitorousness of Ivanov.
“They said I could be their donor,” she coughed. “They were going to take me back with them. They were going to use me.” She coughed again, this time bringing up water.
“That’s okay,” he whispered. “We’ll get them.” He shivered with the cold, or anger, or both. “We are going to get them.” He held her until she was able to use her legs to support herself in the water, then he turned to the Water Dogs. “Where’s Chito? What’s the plan?”
The one nearest him had a mole where his nose met his left cheek. “There is no more plan. We’re to take you to safety.”
So everything had gone to shit. That was just great.
The Water Dogs waited until they were ready, then they propelled them through the water between a series of bells. Twice Kavika thought the distance between them was so far he wouldn’t make it, but make it he did. All he had to do was fight against the cold.
Eventually they came to the last bell. This one was made of glass or plastic. Outside, Kavika could see what could only be Ivanov’s submarine.
He turned to the Water Dogs. What were they doing? Why had they brought him here?
“Wait,” said one.
The other caught his breath, dove and swam to the submarine. He knocked several times against the hull with a piece of metal he pulled from his belt. The effect was immediate. Bubbles shot from the side of the submarine as a torpedo tube opened.
The remaining Water Dog gestured for Lopez-Larou to go inside, but Kavika wasn’t having any of it.
“What are you doing? Don’t you know that Ivanov turned traitor?”
The Water Dog shook his head. “It’s not that way.”
Kavika’s eyes shot wide. “The hell it isn’t! I was standing on the barge when he stood by and watched my friends get stabbed in the brain.”
The Water Dog kept shaking his head and acted as if he hadn’t heard Kavika. “It is not that way.”
“I heard you the first time. Saying it twice doesn’t make it true. Where’s Chito?” He raised his voice. “I want to talk to Chito.”
“He’s inside there,” said the Water Dog, pointing.
“He’s in the sub?” Kavika asked, incredulously.
The Water Dog nodded.
The other Water Dog returned to catch his breath. He gave his compatriot a look, who in turn turned to Kavika.
Kavika’s eyes narrowed. “How do I know that you aren’t leading us into a trap?”
“Would we free you from the Real People’s ship to take you into a trap?”
Kavika felt his concern falter at the logic. Still, he had to be sure. He glanced at Lopez-Larou, who was suffering but stable. “I’m going first,” he said, then took a breath and let himself down into the water.
Once under, he swam into the opening of the torpedo tube. This was the second time he’d been in one; he’d been told about the first time, but only remembered flashes of it. Once inside, he waited for something to happen. The tube was large enough to hold two of him if necessary. What were they waiting for? His air was going fast. He felt a buzzing in his brain, taking over all coherent thought. He hammered at the metal door. Then, with a hollow
click
and a
snap,
the water gushed out and the chamber filled with air. In a matter of seconds, the door opened and he was pulled into the torpedo room of the submarine, gasping.
Hands hooked him under his arms and lifted him. It was the muscle-bound Anatoli who helped him to his feet. Chito was there, as was Kirill, the short mechanic who kept the ship running. The yellow light in the room brought out the man’s scars, said to have come from an old engine room fire.
“Ivanov sends his regards,” Kirill said, tripping slightly over the English consonants.
Behind him, Anatoli and Chito closed the door. Anatoli pressed a button and Kavika could hear the gush of water as it refilled the tube.
“What do you mean, he sends his regards?”
“He knew you’d be angry. Better let him explain. Just know that he is on your side, not theirs.”
Kavika’s head spun with the information. How long ago had he made a deal with the Corpers, or The Rediscovered Dawn, or whomever? Whose side was he on, besides his own? “Chito, what’s going on?”
The Water Dog smiled grimly. “We knew for a long time that Ivanov was in the employ of the Corpers. We approached him a few years ago. Given the chance, he joined us. We’ve had a secret cooperative against the Corpers and the Real People ever since.”
“And you didn’t let me know?”
“Donnie Wu knew. But the information died with him.”
“Were you going to tell any of us?”
“We were, but Ivanov felt that you wouldn’t understand. He wanted to explain it to you himself. He still takes the death of your father seriously. He blames himself for that.”
The tube gurgled behind him, seeming to take an eternity. Then Kirill pressed a button to clear the water, and in short order they had Lopez-Larou on her feet.
Chito took one look at her. “Let’s get her to the med unit.”
Kavika carried her down the hall, escorted by the others. When they got there, one bed was already full. Liko lay ensconced in bandages. The last time Kavika had seen him, Jacques had shot him in the back. The Water Dogs must have rescued him and brought him here. His heartbeat, on the monitor by his bed, was slow but steady.
They put Lopez-Larou on another bed. Oleg, the ship’s medic, came from behind a curtain and began to work on her. Kavika recognized him as the one who had taken care of him after the monkey had been removed. Oleg pushed Kavika out of the way, working with the brusque efficiency of midwives and nurses.