Needless to say, Celeste was not happy about the arrangement. She and James walked behind the former Diver in silence, though James could swear that he could feel her anger in the way she walked, the way she breathed. In an odd moment of distraction, he realized how much could be communicated without words. He was pulled away from his thoughts when Celeste leaned over to whisper in his ear.

“Can we trust him?” Her tone indicated that they couldn’t, but James shrugged.

“Despite who he is, despite what he’s done, I think he’s being genuine in helping us.”

Celeste narrowed her eyes at James. It would seem that he was now guilty by association. “You do know he could be taking us straight back to be locked up, right?”

James nodded and sighed at the same time. He had the same concern, but unfortunately, they were out of time and out of options. All they could do was put their trust in a man who perhaps didn’t deserve it. They had only made it half way to the central ship when they noticed movement on the ship ahead of them. James squinted his eyes to see what it was.

A group of regulators were having a discussion with each other. They looked concerned. One of them looked over in their direction and his eyes lit up. James felt stupid for how long it took him to connect the dots. They were looking for him and Celeste. Before James could decide whether to flee or charge, a hand clamped down on his neck.

“Follow my lead,” Jarl said in his drawling voice.

The group of regulators rushed over just as the three of them reached the platform of the ship.

“Jarl, thank the winds you found them. It would’ve been our necks if we didn’t find them soon. Give ‘em over.”

The regulator reached out his hands. He was a gruff man. A patchy beard worked itself across his face, and his eyes drooped giving the impression that he was always squinting. Even still, Jarl didn’t seem threatened.

“I will take them myself, Kashin. Orders from the top. I’m to take them to Captain Shamran Immediately. He wants you all to guard the bridges of Vessel Fourteen.”

“Vessel Fourteen!? Why does he want us all the way over there?”

Jarl shrugged. “Please, feel free to go and ask him, but he’s in the middle of an interrogation, and we all know how grumpy he can be with lack of sleep.”

Kashin hesitated for only a second before nodding. “Better to ask for an explanation in the morning.”

“Indeed.”

Celeste shrugged off his arm as soon as the regulators were out of eyeshot and continued towards the central ship with a huff. James looked up at Jarl and was surprised to find him smiling, though there was something distinctly sad about the way it sat on his face. James caught up with Celeste and let Jarl take the lead. Just like when they fled the ship earlier, the bridge was unmanned, making it easy to get on deck. Once inside, James and Celeste quickened their pace, forcing Jarl into a jog and then a run to keep up. James looked back once or twice to see how he was managing. It was clear that he was struggling to keep up, but it was also clear that he wouldn’t complain. James thought about slowing his pace, but the thought of Kiri being hurt drove him forward. He found himself increasing his pace rather than slowing it down. He and Celeste didn’t even slow down at the numerous sets of stairs, taking them three or even four steps at a time all the way down. They had reached the bottom of the second stair set when James heard a loud crash behind him. He looked back to see Jarl sprawled on the floor at the bottom of the stairs.

He must have tried to skip some of the steps to keep up with us, James thought.

James was glad to see Jarl quickly rise to his feet. Though his lip was slightly bloody, he seemed fine.

“Come on, let’s go,” Jarl said while fighting back the pain in his voice.

Celeste moved to go. James hesitated for a moment but considered that Kiri might be in much more pain than Jarl. He moved to follow Celeste, and that’s when he heard it. The sliding of a door.

“I don’t know. I’ll check it out.”

James recognized the voice. It was Charlie’s.

“Yeah, yeah. Well, tell whoever it was to knock it off. I’m trying to relax in here.”

James recognized that voice as well. It was the voice of the Diver he liked least of all, Duke. His voice still had that hint of condescension that reminded him of Zeke. James looked towards the door in horror as Charlie stepped out into the open. There was a moment of extreme tension as he locked eyes with each person in the hall before finally resting on Jarl’s. James held his breath, wondering what Charlie would decide to do. He had been the one to let them escape before, but how far would his kindness would stretch, James didn’t know. There was an eerie silence that hung in the corridor as Charlie and Jarl looked at each other.

“So, what was it?” another voice asked, Sven’s voice James realized.

Charlie slowly turned back to the open door. “Nothing. Must be the engine room acting up.”

Charlie shut the door before James could hear Duke’s irritated reply. James and Celeste looked up at Jarl, who nodded to them.

“We’re fine. Charlie won’t say anything to them,” Jarl assured them.

James hoped he was right but didn’t have the time to dwell on it. After slowly walking passed the door, he and Celeste took off again down the hall with Jarl still struggling to keep up.

Before long, the three of them were at the corner that James and Celeste had stopped at before. The same two guards stood like sculpted metal at the end of the hall. Jarl took a deep breath.

“Alright. Same as before. Follow my lead,” Jarl said, placing his hands on their necks. James half thought that Celeste would immediately shrug it off. She didn’t, but James could hear her teeth grinding together. Everyone took a collective breath inward as they emerged out into the open. The shouts came immediately.

“Stop and identify yourself.” The tone of the regulator’s voice made it clear that this was an order and not a suggestion.

“Easy now, Hyte. It me, Jarl. I caught these two walking about on Vessel Nine. You’re looking for them, yes?”

They approached the regulator, who was brandishing a short metal bar the size of his arm. James had never seen a regulator use their weapons and he certainly didn’t want to experience it himself. The two regulators looked at each other and nodded.

“We’ll take them from here,” Hyte said, his eyes still cautious and untrusting.

“Nonsense. I will take them. You will watch the corridor as you were ordered. If the captain put two of you on guard, I’m sure it’s for a good reason.”

“No can do,” Hyte said. “Captain Shamran said that no one gets by.”

“Wouldn’t that mean that the kids couldn’t pass either,” Jarl said, rolling his eyes. James was amazed at how well he wore the face of superiority.

“Quit trying to count the gusts, Jarl. We’ll bring the kids through to Captain Shamran, but you’re staying here.” Hyte sighed and shook his head. “Don’t worry. We won’t take the glory from you. We’ll make sure he knows that you’re the one who caught them.”

James could faintly feel Jarl’s hands tighten on the back of his neck.

“No. I will be taking them. My rank is above yours. You don’t have the authority to stop me.”

And with that, Jarl started to walk forward. He had only gotten two steps before Hyte planted the butt of his weapon into Jarl’s gut, making him lose grip of James and Celeste and crumple to the ground. The second regulator quickly grappled James and Celeste so that they couldn’t run away.

“I was the one who trained you,” Jarl spat through labored breathing.

“And you trained me well. Captain Shamran’s orders rank above your status as a previous Diver. As long as we are following his orders, we are free to detain you.” He looked down at Jarl and shook his head. “We will be the ones to take them in.”

Hyte gave a gesture to the other regulator and James and Celeste found themselves being carried down the hall. James was about to start struggling against the grapple when he locked eyes with Celeste. She gave the slightest of nods, and James understood. There was no need to fight, not yet at least. They were trying to find Kiri and this man would take them straight to her. So, instead of fighting the regulator’s grip, James gave into it, complying with the man’s pushes and pulls.

They stopped at a door after a few minutes of walking. The door looked like every other door that they had passed, yet more secure, with four locks running down the side, all of which seemed to be unlocked at the moment. The regulator reached out and knocked on the door in a distinct rhythmic pattern. A few moments later, he slid the door open and pushed James and Celeste inside. They were met with the sight of Kiri, cheek bruised and lip bleeding, having her hands forced into a long bin of dirt that sat on a table. Tears fell from her cheeks and, as if attempting to catch them, flowers and plants emerged from the soil beneath her hands. In direct contrast to Kiri, Shamran wore a look of intense excitement.

James didn’t think. He just acted, pulling with all his might against the grip of the regulator that held him. His previous compliance served the purpose of giving the regulator a false sense of control, leading him to loosen his grip on the two. As such, James was easily able to break the man’s grip with a quick and powerful yank of his body. The motion caused the regulator to curse, which in turn caused Shamran and the other regulator, who was still holding Kiri’s hands down, to turn and face him.

Well, I’m free and I’ve created a distraction, but now what? James asked himself.

Luckily Kiri answered that for him. As the regulator focused on James, he instinctively loosened his grip on Kiri’s hands, giving her just enough wiggle room to pull them free. Before the regulator could react, Kiri grabbed two handfuls of the dirt, flinging one at Shamran and one at the regulator that had been gripping her arms. Both hit, blinding them momentarily. They cursed and screamed, the regulator wiping at his eyes and Shamran barking orders as he blinked away tears. The next image James saw was Kiri running straight for him. At first, he was elated, but that feeling quickly turned to concern as he noticed she wasn’t slowing down. Just as James was fearing that she might tackle him, Kiri moved to the side, going around him and slamming with all her might into the regulator behind him. The man crumpled to the ground along with Kiri and Celeste, who he had still been holding. Kiri was the first to her feet. She quickly dragged Celeste to her feet as James emerged into the hallway with them. He momentarily thought about using the Divers’ rope to descend to the ground but didn’t know the way there. Vessel Nine, however, he knew very well, and if everything went to plan, they would have allies there. People who would help defend them.