up out of the waves Jaz expertly maneuvered the vehicle to within a few feet of Orion’s back deck making it easy for Cruz to jump to the sub’s ladder Scampering up the rungs he dropped through the top hatch she’d opened for him Emmett Lani Bryndis Sailor and Dugan were seated in a semicircle around a woman in the pilot’s seat Jaz had olive skin and wide dark gray eyes rimmed in purplish black eyeliner She’d twisted her long black hair into a side ponytail and a gold hoop earring was caught in her thick hair Welcome aboard Thanks for doing a U-turn No problem Cruz moved past Bryndis to sit at the end of the bench Her fair hair was braided into two loose pigtails Pale blue eyes glanced up at Cruz She smiled He melted And stumbled Emmett caught him before he did a face-plant Sailor put a hand to her mouth but it did little to mute her snort Jaz nodded to the empty seat next to her You can sit here if you want That’s perfect exclaimed Lani Jaz Cruz is a sub pilot too Not officially corrected Cruz He slid into the copilot’s seat I went through all the training though I uh never actually took Ridley out of Orion’s docking bay But hey I’m a great pilot on land That got a laugh A joystick in each hand Jaz backed the sub away from the Orion Once they were about 20 feet from the ship Jaz tapped her computer screen and they heard a whirring noise The ballast tanks on each side of the vehicle began venting Cruz knew the tanks were used for buoyancy buoyancy They released air allowing the sub to sink To rise the pilot filled the tanks with air from the compressor The submarine slowly descended beneath the choppy waves Ridley to Orion We are good to dive dive dive Jaz said into her headset The sub glided through the turquoise waters at a downward angle Jaz flipped on the headlights Hundreds of silvery blue fish parted half 10
darting left and the other half zipping right Cruz wondered how they decided who went which way Some people think we’ve explored every inch of the Earth and there’s nothing left to see said Jaz If only they could come down here We figure that at least one third of life under the sea is still undiscovered Since there may be as many as a million different species in the oceans that leaves plenty for you guys and your kids and their kids to find She’d no sooner spoken the words than a spotted eagle ray glided toward them Its triangular fins flapped like wings in the water It’s so beautiful cooed Sailor It’s so big gasped Emmett It’s so leaving said Jaz as the ray’s long thin tail tapped her side of the bubble Start taking photos explorers Your MC cameras are connected to Orion’s computer so you’ll also get identification data on your subjects unless of course you discover a new species Everyone began snapping pictures Cruz aimed his camera at a spinning spinning vortex of yellow Bengal snappers thought of the word photo and shut his eyes for the required two seconds When he opened them he saw a tubular trumpetfish swimming vertically Cruz took another picture After that came a spotted potato grouper an orange black and white striped Seychelles anemonefish and a silvery white geometric geometric moray eel with black dots sprinkled on its head The little spots in a geometric pattern practically dared you to connect them Cruz couldn’t capture all the action fast enough Soon a rocky bulge emerged from the blue haze We’re coming up on the atoll’s barrier reef said Jaz She was giving Cruz a sideways glance Wanna drive You mean it I do She handed him his own headset grabbed her tablet and they swapped seats Removing his MC camera Cruz replaced it with the radio headset and settled in behind the console Cruz wrapped his hands around the 11
right and left joysticks At last It was happening He was piloting Ridley Jaz bent toward him I confess I read the former AD’s log He mentioned mentioned you Cruz swallowed hard H-he did He said you were an excellent student and ready to pilot Ridley under supervision It was a comfort to know that Tripp thought Cruz was up to the task a small comfort considering the former sub pilot had also tried to kill him Ridley Ridley Topside Cruz heard a man’s voice over his headset He swung to Jaz who nodded for him to answer Orion’s call Topside Ridley said Cruz Go ahead Yeah Ridley time for a comm check Copy that Topside said Cruz We are currently holding at eighty nine feet Ready for readings said the Orion crewman Jaz was pointing to the oxygen gauges to remind him but Cruz knew what to do Main oxygen twenty-one hundred PSI reported Cruz Reserve oxygen twenty-eight hundred PSI Main twenty-one reserve twenty-eight echoed the crewman Cabin pressure is half a PSI above one ATM said Cruz Life support systems are good Visibility is about fifty feet Continuing our descent Copy that Ridley Have a good dive Jaz gave him an approving grin It had been a test And Cruz had passed Scanning the teal waters Cruz sat taller He eased the left joystick forward The sub responded gently banking to the right Driving a
