Kau faced her with a concerned expression. “Can you check on Maia while you’re there? I haven’t heard from her in a while.”
Cyan walked toward the door then stopped. “Please, let me know if you come across any sign of John.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Simms said.
LIGHTS CAME ON as Cyan walked down the hall to quarters, but an uneasy darkness there remained thick and unmoving. “Mack? Where are you?”
“In your room,” he said.
“What?”
All sleeping quarters had underwater view windows. Mack had his forehead pressed against the glass. But instead of clear, bright blue ocean with fish swimming by, stacked layers of black sea cucumbers blocked all sunlight. Crawling mouth holes puckered and sucked while their tentacles groped for purchase the way they did on Smith’s helmet.
Cyan shivered. “Oh my god.”
“I may just be the guy who fixes things ‘round here, but I think you’re right, and these dogs are up to something.”
“Is it just this window?”
“Nope. Every one of ‘em.”
“How do you know?”
“Checked. Can’t find Maia either,” Mack said.
“Kau asked me to check on her. What am I supposed to tell him?”
Mack pressed his lips to the glass and kissed.
“That’s bloody disgusting. Get your shit together. We need to find Maia.”
“I think she’s out there,” he said.
“What?”
“Thought I saw her speargun just over there, before these fuckers came and covered the window.”
“That’s impossible. They can’t move that fast.”
“Didn’t you say that topside? About their mass exodus down the devil’s throat.”
“Do you think that’s what happened to John?” Cyan said, holding in a sob.
Mack backed away from the glass. “Let’s find Maia. Then we’ll go after John. She’ll be all right. Don’t you worry.” He led her out by the arm.
CYAN AND MACK circled the deck and met at the stern where they found Maia’s shoes.
“Looks like she went in for our din-din,” Mack said.
“Then where is she?” Cyan scanned the water’s surface. “I don’t even see the float she uses to bring up her catch.”
“Possible she were the one caught this time.” He climbed down and stretched his leg out from the last rung of metal stairs that went into the water. After a minute, he pulled in Maia’s yellow mask and snorkel. “She couldn’t have gone far without these.”
“We’ve got to tell Kau.”
When they stepped back into comms, Captain Richards looked up at Mack. “You figure out what all that rattling was? It’s happened again twice now.”
“Didn’t make it to engineering, cap’n sunshine, but I think I know what the problem is.”
Cyan walked over to Kau and whispered in his ear.
“What?” Kau pushed away from the desk and stood.
“Calm down, mate,” Mack said. “She’ll be right.”
Cyan rolled her eyes. She wished he’d stop saying that. Especially since she knew he thought the rori had killed her. Murdered by sea cucumbers? No way.
“Smith find any signs of John?” Cyan said.
“No,” Richards said. “He’s suited up again and is heading to Shelf 9.”
“Other than the ones he ran into on the bottom of Shelf 5, has he come across any more of the black sea slugs?” she said.
“Three hundred meters down any hole, everything’s black. Is there something we should be concerned about?” Captain Richards glared at her.
“I don’t know, exactly,” she said. “What’s on Shelf 9 that’s so damn important?”
“That’s classified.”
“Then anything I’ve got to say about the slugs is likewise.”
“Where’s Maia?” Kau shouted.
He’d never raised his voice before. Mack and Cyan looked at one another with wide eyes.
Smith’s voice came through the comms speakers. “Heading into Shelf 9.”
They all turned to his video feed. Richards hadn’t lied when he said it was black down there. The cave walls absorbed the light beaming from Smith’s ADS.
“Can you get a close-up of the rock on the sides?” Cyan said.
“I’m in charge here, Dr. Blake. In fact, all non-authorized personnel, leave the room.”
“Piss off, Captain,” she said.
Richards reached for his sidearm. “I’m not asking. Taylor?”
Taylor stood up with a pistol aimed at her.
Mack put his hands up. “Oy. Stay calm, mate. We were just leaving.” He backed up and pulled Cyan along with him. “Come on Kau. Let’s get Maia.”
They left comms ass-first and didn’t utter a sound or turn around until they passed the corner. Cyan broke their silence. “What the hell, Mack? I wanted to—”
“Get shot?” he said. “They’re not going to let any of us see what’s down there. It’s classified. Don’t you get it?”
“He’s right,” Kau said. “I listened while I was in there, playing dumb so they spoke over my head. The military hid something back in the caverns of Shelf 9. Something dangerous.”
“Great,” Cyan said.
“Forget about it. Let’s get some gear on and head down. We need to find Maia and John and bring them back. Then we can figure out what to do about the diggers.” Mack headed for the equipment room.
Kau followed. “You know I’m too big to get into any of that. You two go. I’ll get on the lab computers and set up your A/V. You need me here in case the soldiers try something stupid.”
“They’ve already done that, but you’re probably right,” Cyan said.
“Cy, suit up.” Mack had already donned half his gear. “Put the drysuit on. We don’t want the… uh, cold to get in.”
He loaded their vests onto nitrox tanks and checked the regulators and gauges. The air mixture had to be just right for deeper dives. “I’ll carry these up,” Mack said. “Grab knives, spearguns, lights, flares, and whatever else you can carry.”
“You really need all that?” Kau said.
“I don’t want to take any chances.” Mack headed for the diving deck.
“Let me make sure A/V’s working before you jump in.” Kau walked toward the lab.
After putting on his Predator full-face mask, Mack helped Cyan with hers. “Can you hear me?” he said.
Cyan nodded. “Loud and clear.”
“Copy that,” he said. “Kau?”
A high-pitched squeal, static, and then Kau’s voice came through the Predator’s speakers. “Audio’s solid. Turn each other’s cameras on.”
Mack pushed the button on the side of Cyan’s mask.
“Cy’s is working,” Kau said.
Cyan adjusted Mack’s camera then turned it on.
“Cams are up and recording. The pressure in your suits is good, too. Be careful down there.”
They gave each other the thumbs up in front of the cameras for Kau.
“Fill up,” Mack said. “Let’s float to the hole.”
“I’m right behind you.”
Mack stepped off the deck and into the water. He submerged less than three meters then popped to the surface. She followed him in, eyes fixed on the bottom as they moved toward the devil’s throat.
“You seeing this?” Cyan adjusted her mask.
“Yeah,” Mack said.
“Are those all rori?” Kau said. “They look like they’re moving as fast as you.”
“Reckon that’s ‘cause they are, mate.”
“Doc, what did you do to them?” Kau said.
“Since the Cook Islanders let other countries come and harvest them to near extinction, we genetically altered them to increase filtration. That’s it. The breeding rate and motility of these are… It’s unprecedented. Are you recording all this, Kau?”
“Yes, Doc. But I’ve got a bad—”
“Don’t say it,” Mack said. “We’ll go around the platform and look for Maia.”