Chapter 23: Disaster

“Hey, guys. You're hitting bottom in 2.”

Ilia's voice roused Joe from her comfortable doze. She hadn't really been asleep, but she definitely wasn't awake.

She was tucked into Kai's body, her back on his front. It was probably about time to get dressed anyway, staying down without the warmth suit much longer could probably be bad.

“Kai.” she sat up and smiled down at him. “Kai, time to get up.”

His eyes opened slowly, he might actually have fallen asleep since they stopped, not all that long ago. The temperature wasn't all that cold to him, it was probably extremely comfortable.

“Are we there?” he asked, sitting up as well, trailing his hand along her side, brushing her breast making her moan a bit.

“Yes.” she said, her voice breathy. “Time to get the tap back.”

He kissed her shoulder. “S'agapo, Kyma Kardia.”

“S'agapo.” she said back, her accent horrible. “But time to work.”

He nodded and reached for the suits that they had turned into a bit of a bed.

By the time that the thud of the sub hitting the floor shook the sub a bit, Joe was laying down in front of the controls and Kai was turning off the lights.

All they needed was the tap since they were pulling out. No point leaving it there. Casual observation would have no need of it and leaving it there might actually do more harm than good.

So Kai took his place at the controls of the arms and Joe looked into the deep darkness of the bottom of the sea.

Was it just her, or was the darkness not as dark as it had been before? She still couldn't see but she thought she could make out Kai's silhouette.

Or maybe it was just wishful thinking and her imagination.

Just like before, he directed her on how to move the ship as he used the mechanical arms to pull off the tap.

“Hey, Kai?” Joe said suddenly. All she had to do at this point was keep the ship steady as he worked.

“Yes, Kyma?” he answered, his voice slightly distracted.

“I was just wondering,” she hesitated as the thought of how to phrase it, “...what happens next?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean with us.” she clarified. Even as the sentence slipped from her lips, she regretted it. She had ruined more than one relationship by asking that. For some reason, it always seemed to make the guy feel pressure and made him want to run.

She never intended that, of course. It wasn't that she planned on them dropping down on one knee right there. She just wanted to know exactly where the relationship was, where it was going, how fast it would get there. Joe was smart, analytical, and great with working out puzzles. But relationships were always a mystery to her. The understandings of its intricacies was completely beyond her comprehension.

So that left asking but it always ended badly.

She was sure that the silence after her question was exactly what that meant. Kai was regretting it, she knew it. She was too fast, too much pressure. He would want out. He would-

“Whatever you want.” he said at last.

“What?” she cocked her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“We are whatever you want us to be.” he told her. “I told you, merfolk don't have as many definitions on a relationship as you humans do. I'll follow you where ever you want to go.”

“Y-You mean it?” she stuttered and blushed a bit.

“Of course.” he said. She felt him shift his weight then his lips were on her ear and he whispered, “I'll even ask you to marry me when ever you're ready. Kyma, the sub is listing left.”

“S-Sorry.” Joe blushed more as she repositioned the sub.

He finished removing the tap in silence but she could practically hear his smirk through the darkness.

“Done.” he said, moving the arms back into position. “Let's surface.”

Joe set the sub to auto-surface as Kai wrapped his arm around her shoulders and began kissing her neck. She didn't realize he was such an affectionate type. But then again, she wasn't complaining.

“So,” she turned in his embrace and wrapped her arms around his neck, “what do you want to do on the two hour trip up?”

He chuckled softly as he lowered himself towards her.

XXXXXXXXX

“Uh, Ilia?” someone called out to her.

“They're fine.” she said automatically as she eyed her half finished self manicure critically. “We don't need to check on them.”

“But-”

“They're already coming up.” she cut him off as she starting filing her other hand. “Leave them alone.”

“Ilia, something is heading towards them.” some one else called out quickly before she could talk over them.

“What?” Ilia looked up from her nails. “The submarine?”

“No, smaller.” the guy working the sonar said, one hand keeping his headphones on. “It's sounds like it's...swimming.”

“Can we get visual?” Ilia asked.

“Not with the sonar machine knocked off the ship.” the guy shook his head.

Ilia jumped up and slammed her finger down on the comm. button. “Guys!”

XXXXXXXXX

“Guys! Something is headed right towards you!”

Kai looked up as Kyma tilted her head back, both of them looking at the control board as it took a second for her words to make sense in their passion fogged brains.

“Wait, what?” Kyma said as Kai lifted himself off her and she turned back over on her stomach.

She was reaching for the controls when it happened.

XXXXXXXXX

“It's made contact!” a man called out.

“Start emergency surfacing!” Ilia ordered. Emergency surfacing was inelegant and could prove dangerous on the sub and people inside from the rapid decompression. However, it was faster than normal and would get her friends to safety quicker.

“Ilia, I have a call for Joanne.” a woman's voice called over the intercom from the comm. room.

“Kind of busy.” Ilia snapped.

“She says it's important.”

“Fine!” Ilia said as she bit her lip in worry.

“It's coming back towards them.” the sonar guy called out.

The screen in front of her flashed and a woman's face blinked on screen. She looked surprised to see her. “I'm sorry, I meant to speak to Joe-”

“Joe's busy right now.” Ilia cut her off. “Can I take a message.”

The woman seemed upset by Ilia's cutting voice. “O-Oh, I-I'm s-sor-ry I-I j-just-t...”

“Point!” Ilia snapped.

“My n-name is Brooklyn.” she stuttered. “Joe as-sked me t-to find w-whatever might m-make this.” she held up the photo of the scrapped bottom of the ship where the sonar machine had been torn off.

“Did you?” Ilia asked, sufficiently distracted.

“Well, from the shape, o-one would think it to be a c-claw.” her stutter began disappearing as Ilia calmed down. “But there aren't any mythical sea creatures with claws. In fact, the mark was made with a mass of muscle whipping across the bottom of the ship.”

“A mass of....sweetheart, English please.” Ilia shook her head.

“Tentacle.” she clarified. “More specifically, the tentacle of a, more than likely, female kraken-”

“Kraken!” Ilia jumped in shock. “As in the giant, squid thing from movies?”

“Well, it's not a squid. It's a-”

“Sweetheart!” Ilia snapped.

“Y-yes.” she squeaked.

“And is this thing known to attack, oh, I don't know, submarines?” Ilia asked.

“No.” she shook her head. “They're actually quite gentle creatures most of the time. However, they can be trained for aggression-”

“That's all I need to know.” Ilia looked up. “Guys, get our people up, now!”

“Ilia we have a confirmed leak on the sub.” someone called out. That thing is ripping the sub apart.”

“How close are they to the surface?” Ilia asked.

“Kai would survive exposure to the water right now.” someone said. “But not Joe.”

“Then move the sub, faster.” Ilia snapped. Joe had taken CBI's, but Ilia didn't know how far she could count on that stuff.

“Ilia, what's going on?” Josh asked, walking in and looking around.

“There's a fucking kraken attacking the sub!” she shouted.

“No!” he looked shocked. “Where are they?”

“Not close enough to us.” Ilia looked at the main screen where the flashing dot marked the depth of the sub. Far too deep for Ilia's comfort.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Joe cried out as another slam knocked both her and Kai across the sub.

Kai already assured her that the sub was rising, but that really didn't make her feel better.

Because the red, flashing, blaring alarm was piercing the air and, to her horror, there was a leak on one side of the sub. And, at this depth and pressure, a leak was so powerful it was like a laser and could easily cut her in half.

Joe and Kai were both trying their hardest to avoid getting near it as the sub was knocked around like a child's play toy by whatever was out there. Kai didn't have time to look out the window and see it.

“I don't think we're going to make it to the surface.” Joe tried to get to her knees but it was hard considering the last hit knocked the sub sideways and it was trying to right itself.

“The sub is filling too fast.” Kai agreed as he put his arm around her shoulder and kept her close to him. There was about an inch of water around them and it was rising. The metal of the sub groan as the pressure inside the sub tried to equalize with the pressure outside. If it did, the sub would implode in on itself, killing them instantly.

Another hit knocked them over into the freezing water.

“Hold on!” Kai released her and reached for his zipper.

“What are you doing?” Joe asked, she was starting to shiver.

Kai ignored her, he continued stripping. It wasn't until he was removing his pants legs from the pant legs that she saw the gills that were forming on his hips, his scales starting to show.

“Kai...” Joe looked surprised. Without water, he couldn't breath. “Why are you-”

“We're going to end up swimming.” he explained, his gills flexing trying to get a breath, as he removed the legs and threw away his shoes so his fin could form without issue. The sound of his bones popping mixed with the groaning metal.

“Kai, I can't swim in this water.” Joe felt her eyes widen in shock as fear and dread mixed a panicky cocktail in her belly. “I'll die! The pressure alone will completely crush me.”

“Calm down.” Kai said, his voice sure and unafraid. “We should have passed the-”

Another hit shoved her into his arms. His legs were elongating, taking up all the available space in the sub as they joined seamlessly together.

He was suffocating, Joe looked at his gills. There wasn't enough water for him here.

“We should have passed the cliff already.” he continued, his voice thin without any air. “I can survive from here on out.”

“Kai, I'm human!” Joe pointed out. Was this it? Was this where she died?

“You have my blood in you.” he took her head in his hands and looked her dead in the eye. “My blood in you. You don't have to do anything but survive. I can swim, fast. And the second we get out of here I'll shoot us straight to the surface.

“But...” Joe had so many protests, so many excuses, so many fears in her head she couldn't grasp a hold of one to make an argument. Especially since right there, on the forefront of her mind, she knew that the sub would never make it all the way up.

As if to prove her point, another slam opened another leak perpendicular to the first one. They were showered with water as it started rising around them.

“Kai...I...I can't...” Joe whimpered, terrified. Every part of her being knew that, just outside these walls, that suddenly seemed far too thin, death waited for her.

“Changers change form by willing their bodies to take a new form.” he told her. The water level was halfway up his hips. It was just enough to give him enough oxygen to live. “I do the same to change my body. It's a matter of the mind, Kyma.”

“I...” Joe shook her head. CBI's just didn't work like that for humans.

“Your mind is your greatest strength, my love.” Kai kissed her forehead. “Will your body, will the CBI's. Have faith in me. I will get you to the surface I swear it.”

Joe, knowing she had absolutely no choice, nodded as she felt tears well up in her eyes.

“Take a deep breath.” Kai instructed. “ Squeeze every muscle in your body.”

Another hit sent them spinning in the water.

“I love you, Kyma.” he kissed her quickly as another pair of leaks opened up and the ship groaned again, unable to handle the different pressure levels inside and out.

“I love you.” she said, her body shaking as the sub stopped rolling.

“Hold onto me.” He said unnecessarily. She had her arms wrapped around him and was holding him with bruising force. “Squeeze all your muscles, hold your breath. Kyma. You'll be alright.”

She nodded.

He moved his hands up so they were covering her ears. Trying to protect them from the pressure the water would exert on them.

“Put your nose in my neck.” he said, bringing her close.

The next hit ripped the hull back completely and water rushed in.

They both took in a deep breath.

A moment later, Joe felt the pressure.