Dark Water (A Dark Life Fanfiction) [edited]

Chapter 6

Stepping out of the elevator, I saw Gemma and Ty entering the meeting room. As I walked in silently, I looked at Ty and Gemma. Ty's finger was pressed to his lips, telling Gemma to remain silent.

"Crops or cash, the 'wealth' is bleeding us dry!" Raj Dirani barked, jabbing his seaweed cigar at Representative Tupper.

Gemma shifted nervously beside Ty. Raj did seem pretty savage; considering his diveskin was split open to reveal his hairy chest that gave a baby seal a run for its money. Raj snarled continuing his rant.

"And what do we get for it? A few lousy supplies sold wholesale, a ranger that hates getting wet, and a doctor that can't make a fist! No offense, Doc."

With a half-smile, Doc tipped his hat to the assembly. Doc couldn't perform any real surgery and the station's infirmary was no hospital. I watched with increased interest.

"Lately, we're not even getting that. We're down to using the Trade Station's Liquigen and now that's almost gone," Ty's Pa said motioning to the empty tanks. Gemma looked like she was about to puke. Ty nudged the trash can over to her and talked her down about the place sinking. I listened, watching Representative Tupper.

"Now if you're all voiced your complaints, I'll get to the point of my visit. On behalf of the Commonwealth States, I'm here to ask you capable folks to give your help to catch the Seablite Gang," he announced.

I stared, my nerves firing rapidly. Many settlers argued that it was the ranger's job. Frankly, it was but Ranger Grimes couldn't do his job. I knew he gets seasick very easily. It's pretty obvious he was now.

"You lot are always going on about making Benthic Territory more independent. Self-governing. View this as an opportunity," Representative Tupper said, smiling smugly.

"How do you want them? Dead or alive?" Raj asked.

Representative Tupper smirked, "Your choice," he said so coldly it would have raised goose bumps on a corpse.

I stared hard at him. "That's inhuman!" I snapped turning heads. "They're still human, aren't they?"

My mom rushed over to me, pulling me out to keep me quiet. I frowned at her, storming away. I adorned my helmet, grabbing my manta board and heading up to the Surface Deck. Once on the surface, I jumped into the water, rocketing under and heading home. Slowing my manta board, I glanced back at the Station as it disappeared into the blackness of the sea. Heading home, I turned on my high beams so that I could see. Ahead, a shimmering wall of bubbles erupted from the sea floor like a geyser.

Bursting through to the other side, I cut my manta's motor and tipped back my helmet. Since my lungs were already full of water, I walked along the sea floor with ease. I sighed softly, watching the schools of fish sway in unison over the acres of kelp that my parents cultivated. Walking over to where my house, which was designed to look like a giant jellyfish, I swam up into the moon pool. I tossed my manta board over the ridge and in turn hoisted myself up.

On the inside, everything looked like a normal house. The water level stayed where it was due to the fact the air was pressurized. Looking around my house, I noticed that some things had been moved. One of my pictures was missing from the shelf. Shrugging it off, I went to the sink to cough up the seawater that still filled my lungs. The one thing about having my strange gift was that I'd never get used to the feeling of drowning.

Suddenly something moved behind me. Spinning around, I caught a glimpse of someone slipping out the moon pool into the darkness. I quickly ran to the window seeing a larger shadow heading away from the property line. It was heading towards my mom's friend Shurl's property. I hurried about my property, making sure all of my father's equipment was where it should be, and then checked on the livestock. All seemed fine. Nothing was missing. All except the one photo that I couldn't even remember was of.

After finishing my chores, I grabbed my manta and then a mini harpoon gun, holstering it to my thigh. Looking through the bubble screen, I could see the faint lights of Shurl's property. About fifteen miles from Shurl's, I could make out Ty's Reaper, the equivalent of a giant tractor on land. Starting my manta board, I shot off toward Shurl's property. The frigid water made my skin tingle. I hadn't even noticed that I had left my helmet back at home.

I looked about as the temperature changed. I had crossed the property line where the bubble screen should have been. Their fish were scattering and dying. A wave of horror washed over me. I twisted the hand-grips, heading to where the Reaper was docked. I clipped my manta board to it and swam up to the moon pool. I climbed out and instantly started coughing. Ty grabbed my arm, standing me up.

"Are you stupid?!" he snapped.

"No! Now we need to get Shurl and Lars out of here! This house will start to deflate soon!" I snapped back, gesturing to the fact the power was off and the house was starting to loose pressure.

Shurl ran up. "Ty, I can't leave them!" she blurted. A float of goats followed her, bleating loudly.

Ty groaned, helping Gemma load them into the Reaper. Shurl gave a grateful nod as she descended into the Reaper to tend to Lars, who was unconscious.

"Ty..." I murmured, staring upwards as a ripping sound filled my ears. Something was tearing on the second floor.

Ty quickly instructed Gemma how to navigate the Reaper. Closing the hatch, he pushed it down so that it'd sink. The Reaper took off into the darkness towards Ty's home. He turned to me as the ceiling behind me collapsed. The room tipped, sending dive equipment everywhere, Ty ran to grab a manta board. Flipping up his helmet, he inhaled fresh Liquigen and dove into the moon pool. I looked about quickly before jumping in myself. There were no spare helmets.

I swam quickly away from the sinking house. Fighting through the Reaper's wake, Ty made it clear. I barely made it. Behind me, the house sank like a dying creature. A swirl of water dragged me to the sea floor. I looked over my shoulder, watching it collapse. As silt was kicked up across the property, I could make out a faint shape that I assumed was Ty on the manta board.

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Hope you liked it! Chapter 7 coming soon. please comment and vote :)