Jake rode the wave in and out of
consciousness. Between one time and the next, the power died in the ruined
flyer, and he woke in the cold, dark water. Any light that might have filtered
down from the sky was blocked by the slab of mountain that had carried the
flyer into the river.
The crabs kept him company. As
his eyes adjusted to the low light, he saw them climbing all over the flyer,
picking off the toxic red algae. They had a kind of grace as they moved,
delicately plucking the algae with their smaller pincers, and waving their big
pincers at each other. Were they fighting or communicating with each other?
They climbed up and down his
useless legs, probing but never damaging the biofilter. When they climbed into
his lap and onto his chest, he could see the slender tubes that curved out of
their mouths and slipped into the biofilter. This always brought another wave
of euphoria, and Jake rode it into unconsciousness again.
How long had it been? When he
didn’t report back from Kamayashi, surely the Commander would guess where he’d
gone. They’d fought over Gontun often enough. Rather, the Commander yelled at
him, stalking around him as if he could intimidate a pilot, and Jake stood at
attention, staring at the ground and fighting the cocky grin that had always
infuriated his own father.
The Commander might throw his
hands up and declare Jake a good riddance, but he would come after the payload.
Wouldn’t he? Come to think of it, that payload wasn’t prepared for complete
submersion. Would it be destroyed? Would it damage the river ecosystem? Kill
the crabs? Kill him?
The
biofilter wasn’t meant for extended complete submersion either. He wasn’t sure how long it would last. It felt like it had already been longer than it should. The filter drew enough oxygen from the water, especially since he couldn’t move, and enough
sustenance to keep him alive. It would probably fail before he starved to
death, and then he would drown. Comforting thought.
Dogs in house:
|
Houdini, Brindle
|
Time writing:
|
Too long!
|
March word
count:
|
7,121
|
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