Time Salvager (Time Salvager #1)(34)

Elise looked at him and quivered. “Why are you glowing? What’s happening here?”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I have to go.”

Tears streamed down her face as the water rushed into the room, creating dozens of small waterfalls. “Go where? We’re trapped. All those poor people.” She wiped her sleeve against her face and looked at him.

James checked the pressure. They were sinking into the ocean fast. He had held off jumping because of her. He should have left minutes ago.

“Good-bye,” he said, trying to convince himself that he meant it this time.

“Smitt, jump me back,” he thought.

“About damn time,” Smitt responded. “Jumping in five, four, three…”

James watched Elise as the water rose up to her waist. She looked terrified but kept her composure. “I guess you’re right. Good-bye, Salman. At least we won’t die alone.” She reached out to him.

She was wrong. James closed his eyes. He couldn’t stand to look at her right now. He couldn’t even provide her that small comfort. In that instant, he loathed every fiber of his being.

“Two, one…” Smitt said.

“I’m sorry to leave you,” he said, his voice breaking. “And good-bye.”

“Jumping!”

James waited for the yellow flash. Nothing happened.





THIRTEEN

EXPLAINING

James froze in shock as the mesh of metal closed in around them. Both his atmos and exo were straining against the outside pressure caving in on them. “What’s the problem, Smitt?” he thought urgently. “Why didn’t we jump?”

“Hang on, checking,” Smitt responded. A few seconds later: “You’re still too close to the tear. You can’t jump until you’re downstream!”

“Why the abyss were we not informed? I want someone’s head when I get back! Is it from an illegal jump?”

“I don’t know, James. The tear is weak; you must be on its edge. You just have to hold out a little while longer. Stay alive!”

James checked his levels: 35 percent. He was cutting it close. Elise huddled close to his body. If she got more than half a meter away from him, the pressure would kill her. Should he let go?

Elise closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling as she struggled to remain calm. Her lips moved as she whispered a prayer. James could feel the rapid beating of her heart. She opened her eyes and looked straight into James’s. “Mom said it’s useless to waste tears. It was nice knowing you, Salman.”

“Hold on,” he said, wrapping an arm around her waist and squeezing her tightly. He threw out two kinetic coils and parted the debris, pushing it aside as he launched at the wall. Then with a concentrated burst, he punched a hole through it with a third and escaped into the open water. They found themselves floating deep in the ocean. Wreckage from the surface rained past them in slow motion, disappearing into the darkness below. Above them, an angry red and yellow kaleidoscope of lights danced on the ocean’s surface.

Elise touched the edge of the shield. “How is this possible? How are you doing this?”

“Stay close to me,” he said as he pushed upward. Between keeping the shield strong against the underwater pressure and maintaining the integrity of the netherstore, his levels were depleting rapidly. He had to get to the surface and lower the drain. If the container failed, this job would be a complete loss.

A moment later, his head broke the surface. They were floating on the ocean in the middle of a firestorm. The water burned from the oil that had ignited on the surface. Explosion after explosion blew more plumes of smoke into the air. The normally clear blue sky was tainted with black clouds that blotted out the sun.

With Elise still clutching his waist, James swam toward a piece of floating wreck. He powered them onto the platform, taking a few cautious steps as it bobbled on top of the fiery waves. Elise let go of him and tried to step away.

James tightened his grip and pulled her back abruptly. “Stay inside the shield.”

She looked like she was about to snap back, and then hesitated. The two stood close together and watched the remnants of the Nutris Platform, the destruction stretching out as far as the eye could see. There were still people alive. At least a hundred survivors clung to fragments of the wreckage.

How had history reported this a total loss? First-response teams to this disaster arrived within hours. Surely, some of the people here must have held on until rescue. James checked the readings in the area and then realized why: there was so much radiation, someone might as well have dropped a nuclear bomb on top of them. The poor survivors floating out there hoping for rescue would be dead soon from a fate worse than drowning or fire.

Elise struggled to get away from him again. He held her even more tightly.

“Let go of me.”

“Listen, Elise,” he said. “There’s enough radiation here to cook you to a crisp.”

She stopped struggling and looked up again at the glimmering shield surrounding them. “And this thing is protecting us from it?” she asked.

He nodded.

“And that’s how we were able to survive underwater?”

He nodded again.

Her mouth fell open. “That’s not possible. I mean, technology like this doesn’t exist.”