Page 6 of Whispers of the Deep

There was another elevator. A glass one that was definitely not repaired enough to ride yet. But it would have to do. She might have to hold her breath for a while, but she’d get to the upper levels.

The damn thing was outside.

Hissing caught her attention. Another leak? That would explain the emergency protocol, but... She turned just in time to see the massive black tail that hit her in the chest and sent her skidding across the floor. Her hip hit first, sending a bright spark of pain up her spine until she slid to a stop ten feet away.

And her jaw fell open as she stared at the massive undine crouched on the floor. His clawed hands scraped the metal, the screeching making her wince almost more than the glare on his strange features.

“You,” she hissed.

It was the same damn undine. The same one who had ruined her first dome work and then tried to kill her.

She couldn’t mistake him. That black tail and vibrant blue edges had to be uncommon in his species. Besides, his strangely handsome face mottled with anger and those black eyes glared at her with so much hate it could only be him.

And then he made a noise, deep and booming in his throat. She swore it was the same word she’d just said.

You.

They stared at each other, and she wondered if she’d have to fight him. Mira had the upper hand. This wasn’t underwater, after all, and he didn’t seem to be moving all that well. But then she saw him make a strange gulping motion with his entire body.

Was he... holding his breath?

Oh shit. Her eyes widened as she looked him over. It made sense that he’d be holding his breath. But she had the strange feeling he should be able to breathe like her. He had a similar face to hers. A kind of nose and a familiar shaped mouth. A chest that rose and fell outside the glass, but apparently not inside here.

No one had ever gotten their hands on an undine, dead or alive. No human knew how they actually functioned. They’d always thought undines were like fish. They had to be in the water to breathe. So… how long could he hold his breath?

It shouldn’t matter. He’d shattered her first big project, and somehow gotten himself stranded inside their building. He could rot like the rest of the fish for all she cared, but... it felt wrong.

This wasn’t just a fish. He was an intelligent, thinking being who had bested her even though she’d given him the damn answer. Letting him die felt like she was letting a person die, and that wasn’t who she was.

So now she had to get both of them out of here. Without either of them dying.

Because that was the easiest option, apparently.

Sighing, she coughed into her sleeve to clear her lungs before rolling onto her hands and knees. “Okay, big guy. I know you can’t understand a word I’m saying, but we need to work together to get out of here.”

His black eyes followed her every move, tracking her. He clearly didn’t trust her.

He had no reason to. Their kinds had been fighting against each other for centuries, if the legends were true. Undines killed humans out in the ocean. Humans killed undines whenever they got the chance.

Tit for tat, she supposed. One person hurt, so did the other. It was their way of life.

He could get her to that elevator outside these walls, though. And she could get him out of here. Her boss would probably fire her for it, but, hey. Maybe he wouldn’t figure it out.

This whole plan would require her to touch the undine, however, and he was looking rather sickly. Or that the sight of her made him want to vomit. Whatever it was, he was definitely more pale than he’d been just a few minutes ago.

Damn it, she had to stop worrying about the fish in front of her and figure out how to save them both. Okay, plan. Plan, plan, plan.

Mira frantically looked down the hall where she’d come from. If she flooded this area, none of the engineers would be able to return. All their things would be destroyed, and that meant, unfortunately, that the entirety of Beta would struggle to fix anything. They really needed better city planning.

So first things first...

Bolting back the way she came, she ignored the undine as it swiped at her legs with an ugly growl. The thing really hated her. Feral beast.

The end of the hall had one of the blast doors. It had never been used, because why would anyone seal the engineers into their home? Skidding around the corner, she slammed into the wall and hit the big red button. And then darted underneath the blast door back into the tunnel.

It sealed her in with the undine, with less air than before, so she was really running out of time.

Mira sprinted back toward the undine. He’d coiled around himself, hacking and coughing until he finally seemed to... leak? Water gushed out from his ribs and she was certain that he’d died. Maybe undines turned into goo when they passed and that was going to make this whole thing difficult.

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