PYRA AND THE TEKTITES

by Rebecca Melanie Sunquist

Part 6: Inundated!

The hatch had swung open too far. Pyra leaned out to grab the handle, and missed. The bottom of the tunnel was already wet now. If she couldn't seal the hatch, the bubble chamber would flood, and she would drown. She leaned farther out...and spilled from the chamber into the tunnel.

The wall of water buffeted Pyra, and carried her tumbling along the tunnel toward the docking chamber. Salt stung her eyes, and froth clogged her nostrils. She tried to stand, and fell forward. A holographic image from an entertainment 'gram flashed in her mind--a program about surfing--and she stretched out like a surfboard to ride with the flood. Plastic scored her elbows each time she brushed against the sides of the tunnel, but she was able to hold her position at the crest of the flood.

At last she washed into the docking chamber. Yellow hair plastered her face as she regained her feet, with water swirling all around her. It began to fill the chamber. Pyra cleared her eyes and looked around for anything that might help her. In the curved ceiling of the docking chamber she spied a closed hatch that might allow her to escape...if it were not already filled with water...if she could open it from this side...if she could stay afloat long enough.

Water swirled around her knees, and soon reached the bottoms of her shorts. She strode against the flood toward the side of the chamber. The wet shirt chilled her skin, and she shivered. Better, she thought, to stay in the water, which was now up to her waist. The Mockingbird began to bob in the water, and she dove away from it and began to swim. If the craft bounced on her, water or no water, it would crush her.

The hatch was almost under water now, the chamber almost half filled. No longer could Pyra stand and touch the bottom. Struggling to remain afloat, she took a mouthful of water. It tasted salty--a seawater tank had ruptured. And what about fish? Sharks, Ichthia had said. What if...?

Something brushed her left leg.

Pyra gave a little squeal of surprise and swam away, kicking hard. If the sharks had gotten free... She scouted the water's surface for dorsal fins, but saw only froth. The water continued to rise.

Suddenly the water expanded throughout the docking chamber, and formed irregular spheres of various sizes. The circuits that powered the Aquarium's artificial gravity generators had failed. In zero gravity now, Pyra began to float among the spheres of liquid. She had to breathe carefully, in the spaces between them. The spheres collided with one another, and merged, and broke apart again. Others dashed themselves against the sides of the chamber, and reformed as they floated away. Dark shapes emerged from the water and splashed back in, their swimming motions a form of flying.

And then Pyra spotted a huge, dark shape bearing toward her. It struck spheres and splashed droplets from them, its tail fluttering up and down. Not a shark, she thought...please, not a shark.

A dark gray snout nudged her leg. The creature opened its mouth. "K-k-k-k-k-k-k-kkkk."

A sphere of water broke apart over Pyra's head, and she choked and sputtered. Water flooded her mouth, and swallowed and coughed. It tasted salty, and of fish. A cloud of droplets engulfed her, and she could not breathe.

The porpoise nudged her leg again.

Startled, Pyra took another mouthful of water. In midair, and surrounded by globules, she began to founder and splash. A warm and wet body rose against hers, and she wrapped her arms around it and held on for dear life. The porpoise's dorsal fin pressed against her left cheek, and the tail flukes gently fluttered up and down, as if the creature had learned to use them to fly. Water globs shattered against them...and then they were in clear space momentarily. Pyra drew a huge breath, and another, holding onto the porpoise all the while. Her ear pressed against the slippery skin, and she thought she heard its heart beat.

"K-k-k-kytch?"

"I don't---" Pyra began, and stopped as a huge sphere splashed over them. She sputtered, and spat hair from her mouth. "Understand you," she finished.

She tried clucking like a chicken. The porpoise did not respond.

Ahead loomed the side of the chamber. They were drifting steadily toward the hatch Pyra had spotted earlier. Was it possible that the porpoise knew where to take her for safety? The porpoise twisted slightly, forming a crescent with its body, then straightened. This maneuver took it between two large water spheres, and allowed Pyra to draw another breath. Another sphere dashed itself against the wall, and showered them with droplets that caromed off in all directions.

The porpoise twisted again, and almost bent double, then slowly straightened so that it drifted backwards toward the hatch. As they reached the side of the chamber, the porpoise cushioned the impact with its tail flukes, bending and bending until they came to a complete stop.

Pyra straddled the porpoise's back like a horse and tried to reach the handle of the hatch. Her fingertips brushed against it, and she stretched as far as she could...and a sphere of water splashed over her and knocked her off the porpoise. She bounced against the wall and began to float across the docking chamber. Her arms and legs thrashed in the air, to no avail. The porpoise glided toward her. Again she climbed aboard, but now their momentum was carrying them to the other side of the chamber. They rode with it, the porpoise bent double again, and pushed away with its tail.

"A little higher this time, Sam," urged Pyra.

The porpoise twisted slightly to avoid a glob of water, but Pyra's outstretched arm caught it, and it splashed over them. On recovery, the porpoise over-corrected, and they drifted up toward the ceiling. They were going to collide with it, Pyra saw, and she tried to work her way under the porpoise. A drifting balloon of water passed between them and the ceiling, and they used it to cushion the blow. Water splashed into Pyra's nose, and she tried to sneeze it out.

The porpoise laughed.

The hatch was a scant two meters away. The porpoise wriggled along the wall toward it, and Pyra helped by pushing off with her feet. She sensed the approaching sphere of water, and turned to look. It was headed directly for them.

And just under the surface lurked three dark shapes, each over a meter long. They already had their mouths open.

Don’t Miss PYRA AND THE TEKTITES, PART 7: 'SHARKS! ' appearing on this site on 10 December 2002.

PYRA AND THE TEKTITES appears EXCLUSIVELY on the AOIFE’S KISS/KISSES FOR KIDS sites courtesy of prize-winning writer Rebecca Melanie Sunquist.