No Moon

Deep Water and Scales

With an almost-delicate sound, the floor vanished, and Human-Amir plunged straight down with a shout of surprise, only for more water to pour from the ceiling atop him in a torrent.

Humans could swim, but not well enough to withstand hundreds of gallons of water thundering down.

Vree lunged for the water, but two of his crewmates grabbed him before he could actually make it. He struggled against their hold, but they held fast. They were exploring an abandoned base, and the humans both insisted on coming along. When asked, they simply said they were curious. Now one of them might be dead.

"The human is drowning!" he snarled and hissed at his crewmates, ears flat against his skull and teeth bared. "Let me go, damn you!"

"That water is near a hundred meters at least," Ript told him, panting with the effort of holding him back. He was smaller than Vree, but he had help, and Vree did not. "You will sink like a stone and both of you will die."

"We will find a way!" Vree struggled harder. "Humans are difficult to kill and swim well!"

"Humans are, but you are not human!" Bitt said from the other side. "and you can barely swim in still water. Perhaps-"

The argument was interrupted by the sound of pounding feet behind them. Vree looked over his shoulder in time to see Human-Nerea shoot past them at a run.

She hardly paused to yank off her light dress and kick off her shoes before she took a running dive into the torrential water.

Fizzt wasn't quite fast enough to grab the crazy, naked, human, and then she was gone under the surface.

"To the water's edge," Vree commanded, and shrugged off the other two who had loosened their grip in shock. As much as he hated to admit it, they were right. He could not swim, and there was no use in dying without a cause. "Find a way to turn off the water."

The water overflowed its containment and was rising quickly, but their humans had yet to reappear. Ript joined Fizzt at the control panel. Vree tugged Bitt towards the clear tank, and the lower levels to try and see if their humans were still alive in there somewhere.

Clouds of white bubbles obscured their view, but Vree peered through them anxiously nonetheless, his tail lashing with anxiety. He liked both of the crew-humans and did not want to see them dead so soon after meeting them.

"Got it!" Ript called, words heralding the end of the downpour. Just in time, as the water was halfway up Vree's thighs and would be above waist-height on a human. There was a river flowing out the door, but it didn't seem to be lowering the water level any. "Can you see them?"

"No," Vree replied glumly, although he kept looking nonetheless. "How long can humans hold their breath?"

"Four minutes is average," Fizzt spent the most time talking to the humans. He was younger than much of the crew and found the humans to be more interesting than alarming. "Human-Nerea said more, sometimes but we were interrupted before she could clarify."

Vree sighed, and stared into the tank, wondering how long they should wait before giving up. As the water cleared, something large flashed red and white though the dark water. It was barely visible through the water-splashed synth-glass, but it flashed again and Vree took a hurried step back.

Scales.

"There is something in there," he called, and ran up to the surface to try and get a better look. "A large marine creature with scales."

"Did you see blood?" Ript wanted to know, and Vree shook his head, relieved that he did not. "Or movement? Anything?"

"No, I- wait!" he stared into the water, and then scrambled back when he did indeed see movement, heading quickly for the surface. "Look out!"