“All clear,” Ensign Ryan shouted. “The storm is below us.”
But not a soul on the bridge was listening. Everyone, including Captain Ash, was huddled at the porthole windows before the bridge. Where they had known only darkness, they saw light.
With no time to outrun the storm, Ash had used the turbofans to rise above it. Silence washed over the room as the ship ascended higher into the sky. Ash squinted and shielded her face from the dazzling glow. They were looking at a sight that none of them had seen in years: the sun.
The ball of fire hung suspended in an ocean of blue. The clearest, most beautiful blue that Ash had ever seen in her life. High above the dark morass below, thin yellow clouds drifted, their translucent outlines fired with golden light.
But overshadowing the beauty was the failure of Raptor’s mission. Still without the cells and parts, she would be forced to send all three teams down to Hades.
Jordan cupped his headset and pivoted away from the view. “Captain, I just got a message from Ty …” He paused and caught her gaze. “We have a casualty.”
“I thought all four divers made it back,” Ash said, keeping her voice low. Ryan and Hunt looked in their direction but didn’t speak.
Jordan shook his head. “I’m afraid Sam Baker was killed, but we did manage to recover his body.”
Ash allowed herself one final look at the sun before turning away. “I’m going down to the HD facility.”
“Wait, Captain,” Jordan said. “Samson also sent a message. His team managed to get one of the reactors up and running. It buys us a bit more time.”
“How much time?”
“Not much, but enough to give Raptor a breather.”
Ash looked at her watch. It was almost noon. Raptor had been gone only a few hours. She considered sending Apollo and Angel to Hades now but didn’t want to risk maneuvering into the storm twice. “Send out the message. All three teams dive at four o’clock p.m.”
Ash was already moving up the stairs before Jordan could reply. Her escorts waited outside the bridge, though she wasn’t sure she needed them, considering how empty the corridors were on the way to the HD facility.
The other teams were already at the launch bay when Ash arrived. Word of Sam’s death had traveled fast. The divers had crowded around the plastic dome of the recovery room, eager for any tidbit of news.
A heavy cloud filled the dome as the surviving members of Team Raptor held out their arms and turned slowly under the cleansing misters. Below them, a body lay on the floor, as inert as the deflated balloons around it.
Ash moved past Cruise and his team and stood on the redline border surrounding the dome.
A remotely operated chain with a grappling hook dropped from the ceiling and latched on to the top of the dome. Sharp clicks rang out as the locking mechanisms unlatched.
“Back up!” Ty shouted, waving the crowd of divers and technicians away.
Ash followed them back to a safe distance. For a moment, she didn’t feel much like a ship’s captain, because there wasn’t much she could do right now to help.
A subtle shift in the Hive’s course rumbled through the launch bay. Ty waited for the turbulence to pass before giving the all clear. The grappling hook lifted the dome into the air, spilling mist from beneath it, which the floor vents sucked away.
X was first to stumble out. His dented black armor, spotless from the rigorous reentry cleanse, sparkled under the bright LEDs. He took a moment to scan the room, found Ash. He pulled off his helmet, set it gently on the floor, and came over to her.
“We didn’t find any fuel cells or valves,” X said. “But we did find this.” From his vest, he pulled out two laminated pieces of paper—maps, by the look of them. One was covered in drying blood. He handed her both of them. “At least we’ll know where we’re heading when you send us to Hades.”
“Thank you,” Ash said. “I’ll get these to Samson immediately for review.” X ran a hand through his sweaty salt-and-pepper hair. He muttered something under his breath, then said, “When do we dive again?”
“Samson was able to get one of the reactors back online,” Ash said. “Bought us some time, but not much.” She turned to face the divers who had huddled around. “Go and rest; spend some time with your families. Meet back here at three o’clock. You all dive at four.”
Teams Apollo and Angel left the launch bay in relative silence, but Ash could hear their silent protests in her mind. She was about to send them to an almost certain death. Cruise stopped in the doorway to stare at Sam’s body, glared at Ash, and stalked out of the launch bay.
“Promise me something, Captain,” X said.
Ash turned back to X and the remaining members of Raptor. Heartsick already at having lost a diver, now she was about to lose many more. Under the glow of the LEDs, X looked twenty years older. He had wrinkles she never noticed before, and a streak of gray that the light seemed to accentuate.
“Sure, Commander,” she said. “What is it?”
“Promise me someone will look after Tin when I’m gone.”
“I promise. I’ll send someone to your room as soon as you dive.”
X shook his head. “No, Captain. I mean when I’m gone for good. Promise me Tin will be taken care of if anything happens to me.”
She put her hand on his shoulder. He seemed to sink under the weight of her touch. “I promise you, Tin will be taken care of.”
X turned to look at Sam’s broken body. Magnolia was sobbing, and Murph put an arm around her. No others words needed to be spoken. Like Cruise, everyone on Team Raptor knew they were likely to join their comrade soon enough.
* * * * *
X wandered the halls on his way back to his apartment. The ship was on lockdown and eerily quiet. He walked with his flashlight shining down the dark, empty corridors. An odd feeling that he couldn’t place came over him. He breathed in the cold air and studied the paintings on the next bulkhead. The longer he looked at them, the stronger the feeling grew. Sam was dead, but X had never felt more alive.
And he hadn’t even had a drink.
Seeing the newfound strength in Tin had inspired something inside him that he hadn’t even known still existed. For the longest time, the guilt over not being able to save those he loved most had haunted him, leaving a scar that only he could see. So he had poisoned his body with ’shine, wishing deep down that his luck would finally run out on a dive. Now he had a chance to redeem himself. If he could save the Hive, he could save Tin and fulfill his promise to Aaron.
When X arrived at his apartment, he knocked hard and twisted the knob. The door creaked open to the flickering of a candle near the end of its wick. His eyes gravitated to the curled-up silhouette of Tin on the living room floor.
“Hey,” Tin whispered. He rubbed his face and took a seat on the couch. A mess of mechanical parts from some new project littered the floor.
“Are you okay?” Tin asked, looking him up and down.
“Yeah,” X lied as cheerfully as he knew how. “You hungry?”
“Kinda.”
“Should still be leftovers,” X said, grabbing a bowl of apples and a bottle of water from the kitchen and returning to the living room. He set the bowl on the table in front of Tin. The boy’s eyes searched the fruit, but instead of grabbing an apple, he stood and wrapped his arms around X.
“Thanks,” Tin said. “For looking after me.”
Not knowing what to say, X patted the boy’s back. In that second, time seemed to slow. His senses picked up every detail around him: the sounds of the rattling ceiling fan and the cough of the wall heater. He saw the wax crawling down the stump of gray candle as it hardened into a puddle on the table. He caught the sour whiff of his own sweat, and the sweetness of the apples. He wanted to remember it all exactly this way. It was the moment that he realized he loved the boy as he would love his own son. He had always known that he would gladly give his life to keep Tin safe, but now he felt it in his bones.
Instead of filling him with despair, it made him smile. He flicked the tip of Tin’s foil hat, and they both grinned.
They ate in silence for several minutes. X felt every second, each one bringing him closer to the dive that would take him to Hades. He hadn’t even told Tin he was going yet. On his walk from the launch bay, he had reflected on the things he would tell Tin, knowing that whatever he said would likely stick with the boy for the rest of his life. But now, with the shadows closing in around the faltering candlelight, X didn’t know what to say.
“X?” Tin whispered. “What’s wrong?”
“Sorry. Just …” He shook his head and sat forward on the edge of his seat. It was time to tell the boy the truth.
“I have to dive again in a few hours—this time to Hades.”
Tin tilted his head ever so slightly. Studying, scrutinizing.
“I won’t lie to you. Hades is a very dangerous place. That’s why Captain Ash is sending in all three teams instead of just one: we’ll have better odds of success.”
“You don’t think you’re coming back, do you?”
X’s heart sank. “I’m not sure anyone will make it back, but as long as we send the crate up with the parts …”
Tears welled in Tin’s eyes.
X reached out and said, “I’ve already made arrangements with Captain Ash. You’ll be looked after. You’ll be fine.”
Tin stood up, pulling away from X’s fingertips. “Who else is going to look after me? Huh? Who?”
“I’m not sure,” X replied. “But Captain Ash reassured me—”
“I don’t want someone else to look after me!”
X rose to his feet. “Tin, I will do everything I can to come back. Everything. I promise.”
“That’s what my dad always said. But he didn’t come back, and you couldn’t save him.”
The words stung, but X didn’t blame the boy for saying them. “Tin, please. I’m doing this for you and everyone else on the ship. Just like your father did.”
Tin tightened the string of his hat around his chin. “Why do the people I love always have to be the ones to die? Why can’t someone else dive?” He wiped a tear away and sucked in a long breath.
“Because there aren’t many people left who can do what your father did or what I do,” X said. He kept his voice as calm as he could, hoping the boy would understand.
Tin shook his head. “There are plenty of people on this ship, but it’s always the ones I care about that die.”
X reached out, but Tin ducked and stormed away to the bedroom. He stopped outside the door and said, “I’ll be better off on my own. Better off looking after myself. Everyone I ever cared about has died anyway. And now you’re going to die, too.”
X slowly walked over to him, but Tin slammed the door between them. X pressed against the door with both hands and lowered his head. “Tin, please. Please don’t make me leave this way. I’m doing this for you. For the Hive!”
The only response was the faint sound of sobbing. X backed away, his mind racing. Only a few hours remained before the dive, and everything he had begun to rebuild with the boy was wrecked. He was tempted to go find a drink to take his mind off things, but instead he wrapped himself in a blanket and lay down on the couch, hoping Tin would someday forgive him for what he had to do.
* * * * *
X slept fitfully for the next hour. His thoughts were scattered and chaotic. He finally gave up trying to rest and relit the candle on the table. Then he padded over to the bedroom and gently pushed the door open. The glimmering golden light illuminated Tin’s still body through the open door.
X slipped inside and knelt beside the bed. The boy’s eyes flicked and quivered beneath the lids. He was in deep sleep. The events of the past few days had worn him out.
“I’ll save the Hive, Tin,” X whispered. “I’ll make sure you get to grow up. And someday, you’ll be an engineer, or maybe a farmer. You’ll do great things. I know it. You’ll build things and help people. And maybe someday you’ll understand why your dad and I had to keep diving until it killed us.”
He put his hand gently on Tin’s shoulder for a moment. For the past year, X had done his duty and dived without much thought beyond a hangover and a death wish. But feeling the boy’s back move up and down reminded him that there was something in this world still worth living for and protecting.
* * * * *
An hour later, X was suiting up in the HD facility. Tony and Cruise were already there, checking their gear and loading two plastic crates in the center of the room. Both team leads were freshly groomed, their shaved heads glistening under the bright LEDs. It was a ritual for them. Pretty silly in X’s opinion, but if it helped psych them up for the dive, it was fine with him.
“You guys ready?” X asked.
Cruise ran a finger back and forth over his jaw. “What do you think?”
X looked Cruise up and down. “I think you better down some electrolyte tablets. You look like you had a few too many last night.”
Tony let out a snicker. “I told you not to get so stupid, man.”
“I’m fine,” Cruise said. “You pick your poison, X; I’ll pick mine.”
“Last I checked, I’m not hungover for this dive.”
Cruise tilted his head at X as if trying to get a read, but X turned his back, bending over the boxes to examine the contents. They were filled with assault rifles, magazines, flares, medicine, food, water, climbing gear, and extra boosters.
Cruise hovered over him. “You think we really have a chance down there?”
“If we make it through the storms, yeah, maybe,” X said, double-checking the gear.
“At least we got some real firepower for this dive,” Cruise said. He crossed his forearms, which made his biceps bulge. “We run into any of your Sirens, I’ll blow ’em to itty bits.”
“A word of advice,” X said, glancing up. “If you make it to the surface and you see anything down there, run.”
Cruise clenched his jaw.
“You hear me, Cruise? No time to kill the local wildlife on this dive. Your priority is the mission objective. No cowboyin’.”
“I heard you the first time,” Cruise growled.
The other divers and team technicians drifted into the room. X scanned each of them. Murph and Magnolia were the last two inside.
“Atten-shun!” came a stern voice at the entrance. “Captain on deck!”
Captain Ash and Lieutenant Jordan strode inside with two soldiers on each flank.
“Briefing in fifteen,” Jordan said.
“You heard the lieutenant,” X yelled. “Suit up and meet in the briefing room in fifteen.”
The launch bay came alive with the sound and motion of predive rituals. Plates of armor were fastened and boosters clicked into place. Chutes were checked, double-checked, and checked again. Mirrored visors were polished with spit and rags.
Ty gnawed on his herb stick and waited with his tablet to run diagnostics on Team Raptor’s gear. X held up a finger—almost ready—then checked on Magnolia and Murph, who were helping each other with their armor.
“You guys get some rest?” he asked, kneeling to pull the laces tight on his boots. He grimaced as he stood up.
“I did,” Murph replied.
“Some,” Magnolia said.
“Good, because you’re going to need it.” He turned instinctively to look for Team Raptor’s fourth diver, then remembered. He still couldn’t believe Sam was gone. If only they had left a minute sooner. A goddamn minute could have saved his life.
X slammed his battery unit into the slot in his chest armor harder than he needed to. In less than an hour, he would see the cursed heart of Hades, and more Hell Divers would join the ranks of those who had perished there.
* * * * *
Captain Ash’s fingers gripped the ancient wooden lectern. Every man and woman sitting in front of her knew what was at stake. She would make this quick.
Ash nodded at Jordan. He flipped the lights, and a map of Hades emerged on the wall behind him. Stepping to one side, Ash said, “This, as you all know, is Hades. Industrial Tech Corporation had a campus on the eastern edge of the city. This is where they manufactured the parts of airships like the Hive. Chief Engineer Samson has studied and analyzed the maps Team Raptor retrieved.” She paused to nod at X and his team.
“We’ve authorized the use of heavy weapons and extra flares for this mission. You are to deploy the flares when you jump, to help guide you through the storms,” Jordan said. “Once you make it through, your DZ is on the outskirts of the industrial zone. To give you the best chance of survival, we’ve plotted three separate courses for the teams: here, here, and here.” He pointed to dots marked “Raptor,” “Angel,” and “Apollo.”
“After you land, you’re to rendezvous at the ITC HQ and campus. There are multiple buildings and warehouses in the area, but Samson has identified this building as your target.” Jordan pointed to a single structure. “We’ve preloaded the coordinates to your minicomputers. Once you acquire the fuel cells and pressure valves, you’ll return to the crates and send them back to the Hive.”
Ash cut in. “After you drop, we’ll move out of the storm and wait at a safe distance for you to return.” She loosened her grip and bent over the podium. “You have twenty-four hours to complete the mission, at which point we will move back into the storm. If we detect the beacons from the crates sooner than that, we’ll swoop in and retrieve them. Make sure you’re with them. Any questions?”
In the silence, Ash scanned the faces, stopping on X. If anyone could inspire the others, it was him.
“You want to say anything, Commander Rodriguez?” she asked.
The veteran diver stood and pushed in his chair, then walked to the front of the room and stood beside Ash. He ran his hand over the scar above his eye. She had seen him do it before when he was nervous.
“If we fail today, the human race is gone forever,” X said. “But we’re not going to let that happen, are we?” He brushed off his dented armor, using the time to command the gaze of everyone in the room. X had a presence about him—something Ash felt whenever he walked into a room. The thought of losing him made her throat constrict.
“Today we dive to a place no Hell Diver has ever returned from—a place that many of you have been told is cursed. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you Hades isn’t as bad as they say. Magnolia, Murph, and I have seen what’s down there. It’s nothing pretty. But like the rest of the surface, Hades isn’t cursed. And those things, the Sirens—they can be killed. You stay focused and alert, and you will survive. Those things may control the surface, but we still control the skies. Today, we’re going to make sure life continues up here.”
“Damn right,” Tony muttered.
“We aren’t going to let the Hive go crashing down to earth without a fight, are we?” X said, his voice louder now.
“Hell no, we aren’t!” Cruise shouted.
“We aren’t joining Ares!” another diver yelled.
“No,” X said. “We aren’t. Because today we’re going to dive faster, smarter, and stronger than we ever have before. Today we dive …”
The other divers roared in unison, “So humanity survives!”