Starfall (Starflight #2)(59)
Kane shared a glance with the others. Clearly, there was no arguing with her, so he hoisted the guard onto the table. “Fine, we’ll do everything we can. But if it comes down to him or one of us, he stays. Understood?”
She dipped her chin.
“We need to plan a way out.” He turned in a circle to get a feel for where the water was rushing in the fastest. Those breaks would provide an exit. He spotted a few fissures that weren’t wide enough to squeeze through and then noticed a new torrent of water flowing in from the station platform. It flooded the space with so much force he was submerged to the waist before he could blink. “Looks like the tram tube snapped in half. Once the pressure’s even, that’s probably our best bet.”
Cassia tried to speak, but she was already covered to the chin. Kane guided her hand to the edge of the table and yelled, “Everyone, hold on.” He gripped the ledge at the exact moment his boots lost contact with the floor. The four of them held on tight as the table began to swirl in a tidal pool of current. Their floatation device had solved one problem and created another. Once the dome was fully submerged, they’d have to swim back down to reach the tram station.
The higher they floated, the more amplified sounds became in their shrinking pocket of air. Metal screamed and wood groaned against the steady churn of water. The crystal-blue sea was now a cold, dark soup littered with debris that crashed into him at every turn. Salt stung his eyes and blurred his vision. Soon light began to fade, casting them in a ghostly glow. He stretched his neck to peer at the fiberglass ceiling, and what he saw made his heart slam against his ribs. The horizon was barely visible as a streak of blue through bubbles of leaking air.
Then the sky slipped away.
He felt someone squeeze his hand, and he glanced over to find Cassia watching him with a question in her eyes. He knew her well enough to understand what she wanted, to make amends so that if they died today they would go as friends. But he shook his head, refusing to let her quit. If she wanted his forgiveness, she would have to survive and ask for it.
The ceiling rose up to meet them as the dome tanked underwater, sinking toward the ocean floor with alarming speed. Kane watched the pocket of air shrink. He shouted, “Dive for the tram chute. It’ll get dark fast, so hold hands and stay together.”
“I changed my mind,” Solara hollered, clasping Doran’s palm. “I want my wish now.”
There wasn’t time to laugh. Raising his face to the ceiling, Kane filled his lungs and then dipped below the water, dragging the unconscious guard with him.
At once, noises dulled, taking on a sinister tone as the dome continued to groan under pressure. Kane kicked his legs while blinking to acclimate his eyes to the salt. Soon he was able to squint well enough to see a dim path toward the tram station. He swam with his free arm, but each forward momentum was lost as the guard’s body jerked him backward. Cassia caught up and helped tow the weight, which resulted in a clumsy tug-of-war that slowed them down even more. Panic rose in his chest, and she seemed to sense it because she shook a finger at him. She pointed at his hand and then at her own, communicating that they should work together. They tried again, this time syncing their movements, and before long they were able to make some headway.
Doran and Solara had overtaken them by so far that Kane could barely make out the shadowy outline of their legs. He swam harder, hoping Cassia would match his pace. His lungs made him buoyant, so he released half a breath to help him sink deeper. He hoped there was a pocket of air inside the tram station, because he wasn’t even halfway there and already his chest burned.
When they made it into the station, everything turned black. Without sunlight he could no longer see Cassia to sync their breaststrokes. He didn’t even know if they were swimming in the right direction. The sensory loss made his urge to breathe nearly unbearable. Pressure filled his face until his head felt ready to explode. His hope faded until he detected a new sound, different from creaks and groans. He heard voices shouting—and if they could shout, then they could breathe.
There was air in the station.
Drawing on all his strength, he kicked upward, pulling the heavy body with him. He was so desperate to breathe that he would’ve let go if the anchor weren’t his only link to Cassia. Just when he didn’t think he could swim any farther, his face broke the surface and he drew the sweetest lungful of his life. He gulped it in, one breath after another, until his body was sated enough to notice the details around him. He heard Cassia surface and gasp, and then the echo of Doran and Solara speaking from somewhere farther away. Still blind, he felt below the water for the guard’s neck and hauled him up. Kane scissored his legs to stay afloat, but he was tired, and keeping the man’s head above water was hard without the leverage of something fixed to hold on to.
“Cass—” he said, cutting off as his mouth filled with water. He spat it out and spoke in a rush. “I can’t.”
“Let me help.” She wriggled closer to relieve some of the burden, but she sputtered and coughed as the weight dragged her under.
“It’s not enough. He’s too heavy.”
“Stay where you are,” Doran called. “We’ll come to you.”
The sound of splashing carried through the darkness, growing nearer until an arm struck the top of Kane’s head.
“Sorry,” Solara exhaled into his ear. “I can’t see my hand in front of my face.”