Nic’s emotional roller coaster was ramping up another hill.

He began the day nervous about Team Scarlet’s mission to recover the Red Terraforming probe from Planet Nereus. Trepidation gave way to eagerness, and then to anger, a hunger for vengeance. That vindictive impulse was tempered with the thought of five strangers dead from some terrible accident, regardless of their illegal activities on the planet.

But now that they appeared to be alive, Nic was back in fight mode. He was prepared to throw down with any Black Planet Engineering operatives who threatened his mission.

He even welcomed it.

Nic drove the four-seater Centaur over the damp terrain of Nereus while Perri flew close behind in her Harpy. “RTIFIS says we only have one waypoint left,” Nic told Team Scarlet. “If this isn’t it, then we’re out of luck. Cross your fingers that it pans out for us.”

“I am crossing every crossable digit on my person,” Maqsud replied.

“What are the odds we actually complete this mission successfully?” Perri asked. “This has already turned into way more than technical difficulties like Hansen told us in his beacon. Just saying...”

Nic shook his head once. “We’ll get it done. Just stay focused. I know it’s our longest mission yet, but it’s worth that double payout from Red Terraforming once we cross the finish line.”

“I don’t know about y’all,” Jarek sighed, “but I’m ready for a hot meal, a shower, and a long sleep after this. In that order. This SimSuit’s chafin’ me, man...”

Just hold out a little while longer, Nic thought. Then we can prove to Hansen Dyne, Red Terraforming, and everyone else exactly why we’re Team Scarlet. It didn’t occur to Nic to include his own name in that list.

Or that he had something to prove to himself.

It was misting as they closed in on their final destination. Tiny, almost imperceptible water droplets, too light to be called even a sprinkle, permeated the cold air around them. It was alien to Nic, someone who had been raised in a subterranean, indoor facility for his entire life, but at the same time it reminded him of Earth—a planet where he’d never been. He beamed with pride at the thought that his squad’s actions on this day would earn them the right to compete in the Wargame for a planet brimming with such natural beauty.

“There’s the waypoint,” Perri announced, sounding dejected. “I don’t see anything.”

“Another couple minutes of drivin’ and we’d go right off the cliff onto the ice again,” Jarek muttered. “That the waypoint up there?”

“That’s it. That’s what my HUD says, too.”

“It might just take some looking,” Nic encouraged them.

“Looking? Nic, it’s a probe,” Perri chuckled bitterly. “It’s bigger than our vehicles. If we can’t spot it now, it’s not here.”

His heart sank; he persisted in his optimism, even though he knew its futility. “Just give it a chance. We’re almost there. Everyone, split up and look for any signs of the probe—parts, scuff marks, even a pebble out of place. We have to find something. It couldn’t have just vanished.”

He didn’t know that to be a fact—he was just desperate for it to be true.

The waypoint, a spinning, holographic diamond overlaid on Nic’s HUD, faded from view once they arrived, and then all five members of Team Scarlet disembarked their respective vehicles and parted ways. They fanned out in all directions, scanning the ground with their proxybot cameras for any clues to the probe’s whereabouts. They were as thorough as Nic demanded of them. The longer they looked, the more he worried they wouldn’t find anything.

“It ain’t like there’s a cave around here or somethin’ where it could have gotten lodged,” said Jarek. “It’s all flat. Unless it’s out there, in which case it might as well be in the Andromeda galaxy!” He gestured wildly to the alien sea, grayish-blue waves lapping at icebergs that crashed gently into each other. “At what point do we call this a wash and send a beacon back to Red Terraforming? We ain’t surveyors, scientists, or trackers—we’re Wargame players. And where does Hansen get off sending us—”

“Jarek, you brilliant, magnificent oaf of a detective you—that’s it!” Maqsud exclaimed. “That’s where we’ll find the probe. What did I tell you when this all started?”

“What?” Perri asked. “Max, what are you talking about?”

Maqsud pointed at the ocean. “Nic, you said yourself that probes don’t just vanish. This is the endpoint of the trajectory laid out by RTIFIS. We’ve covered the rest of the ground already. Who’s to say our target isn’t taking a swim as we speak? Where better for Team Obsidian to dispose of the competition’s property, to buy time to ensure they were in the running for Nereus? I knew I was right to request a submarine!”

“It’s quite alright, RTIFIS. We’re fully capable, limber young robots. We can take the plunge ourselves!”

“Absolutely not,” said Perri.

“Not for 100,000 credits,” Jarek scoffed. “If Red Terraforming wanna hit us up for double that, maybe.”

“No, Max is right,” Nic said, taking a few steps toward the cliff. He folded his arms. “It’s the only explanation that makes sense. We need to get in that water and take a look. If we don’t find anything then, fine. But I’m not aborting this mission without exhausting our options.”

“Nic, if we lose these proxybots, that’s comin’ outta our paychecks, is it not?” Jarek countered. “You really wanna risk that lookin’ for this probe, when we don’t even know for sure if it’s down there? We don’t know what’s down there, for that matter!”

Nic gave Jarek as stern a look as possible through the emotionless visor of his mechanical avatar. “This is the mission, Jarek.”

“You really gonna order us to dive into the ocean on an alien planet where the surface topography ain’t even mapped, let alone whatever’s under that water, all in search of some busted probe that shouldn’t even be our job in the first place?” Nic nodded. Jarek hesitated to reply, sighing and grabbing at his temples in exasperation. Then he stood at attention and nodded back. “Okay. I’m in, then. Lead the way, boss.”

“[Scarlet 1,]” said Shanti, “[I’m afraid.]”

Nic turned to her and said, a little more gently, “It’ll be okay, Shanti. We’re going to make a plan. It’ll all be okay.” He cast a glance at the parked Harpy. “Perri, please tell me that thing has more than one cable.”

She shook her head. “Just the one. Why?”

“We’ll have to make it work, then. You won’t be diving with us.”

Perri jumped and kicked her heels together in the air. “Yes! Score!” Then she cocked her head. “Wait, why not?”

“Because you’re going to keep us from drowning down there... so to speak.” Nic motioned for everyone to huddle up. “Team Scarlet, listen closely. This is the plan...”

***

Nic was the first one to take the plunge into the ice-cold ocean. “I’ll see you guys under there,” he said, looking back at Scarlets 2, 4, and 5. He added, “Please don’t stay here and not dive once I go.”

“Drat,” Max snickered, “I was half-tempted to do just that until you said something! Now I’m a quarter. Mm... call it a third.”

“I’m serious.” With that, Nic called up all his memories of swimming-based sims he’d played at Paradigm Prep, plus the real-life lessons he’d been forced to take in the PPI gym’s tiny pool. Those were years ago, though. Just remember, he reminded himself, that you’re not really here. You’re on the Corvette, in the Simnasium, safe, warm, and dry... well, sweaty, but same difference. Okay, no more stalling!

Nic’s proxybot dove off the edge of the cliff and into the dark blue water.

said RTIFIS helpfully. Nic blinked and he could suddenly see underwater much more clearly, even in the shifting shadows of the gargantuan icebergs that prowled all around him.

At first, he wished he could have remained blissfully unaware.

The deep, watery abyss surrounded him in all directions. Some of the icebergs were shallow enough that he could see past their undersides to other icebergs in the distance; the others stretched impossibly deep into the ocean. Yeah, that’s kinda what icebergs do, he told himself. Not sure what you expected... Okay, this isn’t so bad. It’s just water. It’s just water, and we just have to do a little diving.

A deep, thunderous splash sounded in his proxybot’s audio receptors—Jarek was the next to join him, followed by Maqsud, and a few seconds later, Shanti.

“My word,” Maqsud whispered into the team chat, since their proximity chat was useless underwater. “This is truly a sight to behold... ‘Ocean is more ancient than the mountains, and freighted with the memories and the dreams of Time.’ Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Earth, twentieth century.”

“Thanks, I was starting to feel comfortable until you said that,” Nic joked. “Let’s focus. Perri, drop the line, please!”

A few seconds passed before Nic heard a fainter, daintier splash overhead, the sound of the hook at the end of Perri’s cable penetrating the surface. RTIFIS outlined the thin cable with a highlight of green, making it easier to pick out visually. The hook drifted lazily down toward them—just out of reach. “That’s as close as I can get it without getting the Harpy wet,” said Perri. “I’m already parked on the edge of the iceberg. You good?”

“That should work just fine, Perri,” Nic replied. “We’ll only need it at the very end. Thanks. Stay ready and wait for my signal.”

“I’d like to request your patience with me in advance.” Maqsud nervously touched the back of his head, looking around. “I’m not the greatest swimmer in the galaxy, you know?”

Shanti added, “[I’m not a good swimmer either.]”

“I can swim just fine,” Jarek said with a shrug. “But it ain’t a race. I don’t mind waitin’.”

“Jarek’s got the right idea,” said Nic. “Let’s stick together as best we can.” With that, he led the charge, tucking his head to his chest, somersaulting, and pushing his way through the water with cupped hands and kicking legs. They descended into the dark depths of the sea.

The strength of the proxybot actually made swimming easier than he thought it would be. After only a few minutes had passed, he glanced over his shoulder to find that some of the shorter icebergs were a huge distance behind them, and the five divers were starting to cross the lower thresholds of the taller bergs as well. Nic smiled at their quick progress.

“I can already see the bottom,” said Jarek. “See it?”

“Not yet,” said Nic, but just a few seconds later, he did—he made out some prismatic black rock structures, similar to the ones they’d seen on land, jutting out of the sandy floor. “There it is. I knew it wouldn’t be too deep this close to shore. The probe’s gotta be around here somewhere!”

“[I think I see it,]” said Shanti.

“We’re getting it done, Team Scarlet!” Nic declared proudly. “Good eyes! Ah, there it is! Finally!”

Nic’s HUD highlighted the outline of the fallen Red Terraforming exploratory probe on the seafloor. There were no obvious signs of damage or dismantling; he wondered if Team Obsidian thought that dumping it in the ocean would be more than sufficient to get rid of it. They didn’t count on us looking all the way down here, he thought with a grin.

“Okay RTIFIS,” said Scarlet 1, “we’re about ready to haul this back to the surface and complete our mission. Please confirm the black box is onboard.”

The AI answered him,

“It’s about damn time,” Jarek laughed. “Woo! I’m gonna be eatin’ a bowl of cereal with some rehydrated milk within the hour!”

“Didn’t you want a hot meal, Jarek?” Maqsud asked. “I can cook for the squad, you know. A nice stew to warm the simulated bones after this frigid excursion?”

“That sounds nice.” There was a pause. “But I’mma have some cereal too, because that craving’s not goin’ away.” Scarlets 2 and 4 shared a laugh.

RTIFIS interjected.

BLACK BOX: 460m NE, 2.6km DOWN

“Seriously?” Perri snorted from the surface.

Jarek scoffed. “What the... That can’t be right, can it?”

“RTIFIS, ping again, please,” said Nic warily. His heart began to race and his skin prickled with sweat.

“Oh, I can see the trench quite plainly,” Maqsud said cynically, clicking his tongue. “How lovely. It couldn’t be as easy as recovering a lost probe from the bottom of an ocean across the galaxy, could it? No, we must venture deeper still, it would seem! Might the black box plunge even farther into the mantle of Planet Nereus? To the core, perhaps?”

“Don’t give the universe any more bright ideas,” said Nic. “You were the one who said it would be in a trench earlier today.”

Max shrugged. “Foresight is but one of the many accursed blessings of wisdom.”

Nic sighed. “You heard the AI, Team Scarlet. We’re going deeper.”

“Two more kilometers underwater?” Perri asked incredulously. “You guys are seriously going for it?”

“We have no other choice. Let’s go—before some current or something swipes it away forever.” Nic led his squadmates toward the trench ahead of them, dreading the profound darkness that not even his HUD could illuminate much anymore.

Dammit, Red Terraforming, he thought bitterly. This planet had better be worth it.