“Or die,” Jaideep said. “I mean, seriously, you call it a suicide dive?”
“Yes,” Les said.
Sandy watched Erin with an intense expression on her face but said nothing.
“Your electronics won’t work during an electrical storm,” Erin said. “You will be effectively blind and deaf for a period of minutes before you break through the cloud cover.”
“Blind and deaf?” Alexander asked, brushing a stand of hair over an ear.
“Yes,” Les continued. “The only thing you’ll be able to see is the blue glow from the other divers’ battery units, and flares if they are authorized. And the only thing you’ll hear is the wind.” He studied the recruits and volunteers for their reactions as Erin continued her simulated headfirst dive.
The subtle signs told Les that everyone was terrified, even Trey. As if in response to Les’ thought, the boy’s Adam’s apple bobbed with a swallow.
Jaideep massaged the bottom of his gold hoop earring. Alexander and Eevi took a step closer together, arms touching. Sandy twisted a lock of hair, and Jed kept scratching his right elbow.
Erin did another backflip in the wind tunnel, earning a hoot and holler from Jaideep, but his brother didn’t look amused.
“We’re really doing this?” Vish asked.
Jaideep grinned. “I am, but you probably aren’t going to last very long.”
Erin, back in a stable falling position with her arms and legs out, directed her helmet at the boys.
“Pay attention,” she said. “The move I just did is how you go from a suicide dive back into stable position.”
They watched for several more minutes until Erin instructed Les to shut off the tunnel. He pushed the kill button, and as the propeller slowed, she sank back to the floor, her boots clanking on the metal surface.
She took off her helmet. “Who’s next?” she asked, eyes sweeping the crowd.
Les looked back over the new divers. As he had expected, his son raised his hand.
“I’ll give it a shot,” the boy said eagerly.
“I bet they found habitable land,” Ada said with a wide grin.
“Are we taking bets now?” Katrina asked. She sat at the head of the table, where most of the crew were still discussing whatever might be in the data that Bronson continued to download from his station.
There was excitement in the air, but Michael didn’t share in the thrill. He was worried about the fate of the Sea Wolf. It was just so painful to think that Timothy would abandon the divers on the island after everything he had done for them back at the Hilltop Bastion and again in Florida.
Michael pulled the herb stick out of his mouth and shook his head. Like most of the officers and passengers, Ada had no real idea what was twenty thousand feet below the airships.
“Don’t hold your breath,” he said. “Mags would have told us if they found the Metal Islands or anywhere else that looked habitable. Sounds like this is more historical data.”
Ensign Dave Connor nodded. “I agree with Commander Everhart. My guess is, they found some new type of mutant.”
“We already know that,” Layla said as she wrote in her journal. “I’m already documenting it. They described vultures and hogs. Never seen either of those creatures in the wastes back in North America, have we?”
“No one that survived to tell the tale of anything like that, I don’t think,” Michael said.
“I still think they found a place we can call home,” Ada said. “At least I can hope, right?”
Michael could see why Katrina had picked Ada for her crew. She was smart and always upbeat. Not many people on either ship shared her unquenchable optimism.
“What’s your money on?” she asked Bronson.
The elderly officer shrugged his hunched shoulders, not turning from his station. “Another ITC facility. Probably with fuel cells and other stuff. That’s my guess. But I’m just an old man; what do I know?”
Michael couldn’t help grinning. Bronson was more than just the oldest man on the bridge. He was also the wisest, and he reminded Michael of Jason Matthis, the librarian from the Hive, who was still recovering from the beating the militia put on him several months earlier, during the purging of the ship’s archives.
Layla and Michael had visited him a few days ago. He was eager to hear how her job of restoring the archives was going.
The rap of a cane on the metal floor came from the other side of the room. Bronson held up the walking stick. “Five more minutes left on the download.”
“Guess we’re going to see who’s right,” Michael said. He checked on Layla, who continued writing in her journal.
“What’s your best guess?” he asked.
Setting down the pencil, she said, “I don’t really have a guess. I just hope it will help us restore some of the history on the ship. We’ve lost so much.”
A warning sensor beeped from the main console. Michael stood and moved over to check the monitor.
“What is it?” Layla asked.
“Looks like a problem with gas bladder nine on the Hive. It’s losing helium.” He picked up the radio and buzzed Samson.
“Go ahead,” came a disgruntled voice.
“Samson, you see the report on gas bladder nine?” Michael said.
“It’s under control.”
Katrina stepped over to the station and motioned for the radio. Michael handed her the receiver.
“Keep us updated, Samson,” she said. “I want to be able to move at a moment’s notice.”
She hung up the receiver and looked over to Dave. “Ensign, pull up the weather map and report.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Everyone turned to the main monitor, where their location came online. Two blinking green dots on the overlay represented the Hive and Deliverance. Still linked by their aluminum coupling beams, they were currently sailing south of the Florida peninsula.
“Winds out of the northwest at fifteen knots,” Dave said. “I’ve been tracking a storm front of sixty miles. Barometer is holding steady.”
Katrina stroked the sides of her mouth. “Switch to the map showing the Sea Wolf’s last known location.”
A new map came up, with a line curving between Cuba and the Bahamas. They were just west of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Michael had a feeling he knew exactly what she was doing. He studied the map, looking at the dense red fog over Jamaica and Hispaniola.
“The Metal Islands have to be somewhere to the south,” she said.
Another beep sounded, and everyone on the bridge looked over to Bronson, who was leaning close to his monitor, with his spectacles just inches away.
He looked up from his screen, confirming with a nod that the data was completely downloaded.
“All right,” Katrina said. “I want to take a look at this with Commander Everhart and Timothy Pepper, alone.”
Ada let out a groan, and Layla’s brow furrowed.
“Let’s go see what Magnolia sent us, Commander,” Katrina said.
Michael followed her to the office off the bridge. The AI’s hologram emerged inside the quarters. The dark-skinned image stroked his perfect beard and looked at Michael. Something about his eyes seemed different, as if Timothy already knew what Magnolia had sent them.
Both Miles and X had injuries, but they were still moving fast. They were alive and had accomplished their mission of finding a radio, but none of that would matter if they couldn’t get back to the Sea Wolf.
They took a different route down the mountainside to the beach, and this time X was letting Magnolia lead. She hadn’t complained yet, although he knew she was just itching to tell him they should have kept an open channel to Pepper.